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Joe Biden’s criminal justice legacy is more than just the 1994 Crime Bill
By Kent R. Kroeger (June 3, 2020)
We, Americans, are living in dark times, though far from the darkest of times.
And, no, I do not blame Donald Trump for George Floyd’s death and the subsequent rioting, though Trump’s organic inability to show empathy for other humans crushes any hope that his words will lead us from this dark place.
And I also don’t blame Joe Biden, the author of the 1994 Crime Bill that many claim is responsible for this nation’s high incarceration rate. Along with his daily offering of platitudes from his basement, bland even by centrist candidate standards, Biden has singled out Trump’s cavalier attitude about police violence for creating an environment where something like the Floyd tragedy was inevitable.
More troublesome about Biden, however, is his lifetime penchant for exaggerating (and, in some cases, manufacturing) stories of his political accomplishments. As comedian Jimmy Dore describes the presumptive Democratic nominee: “Joe lies about his record more often than he blinks.”
Not exactly true, but closer to the truth than comfortable.
“I’m the most progressive presidential candidate in this race,” was Biden’s go-to line during the 2020 nomination race when pressed…
