Culture Warrior in Chief

Gene Healy

“We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue,” President Joe Biden implored in his inaugural address, a speech that used the word unity no fewer than 11 times: “Unity is the path forward.”

It’s a familiar tune, one we were hearing from presidents long before it started to feel like the country was coming apart. “A kinder, gentler nation” was George H.W. Bush’s formulation. “I’m a uniter, not a divider,” the rendering of his feckless son.