Column: None Dare Call It Socialism?

Stephen Collinson is well-known among conservatives as the most hackneyed of the hacks at CNN. The CNN Politics Twitter account promoted his latest online essay with the words “President Biden to showcase his moderate radicalism in his big congressional address.”

“Moderate radicalism”? Doesn’t that make about as much sense as “quiet loudness”?

Collinson argued "Biden's quiet radicalism is expressed through a huge pandemic rescue bill, a larger proposal that redefines the concept of infrastructure, and a massive health and child care blueprint.” In other words, a socialist blueprint

Politico gushed with this headline “Biden Just Gave the Most Ideologically Ambitious Speech of Any Democratic President in Generations.” Our socialist media won’t use the S-word. They use words like “bold” and “ambitious” and repeat phrases like “go big or go home.” As if you couldn’t say a Soviet five-year plan was “go big or go home.”

At CNN, Collinson spun furiously against the radical reality. "Republicans have struggled since the presidential campaign to portray Biden, a classic Washington Democratic centrist for 50 years, as some kind of raging socialist who wants to bring down US society," Collinson wrote. "As a White, elderly man, Biden is a difficult target for Trump-loving conservatives, who like to portray racially diverse Democrats as a threat to what they see as Anglo-Saxon cultural traditions."

Ted Cruz described Biden’s approach as “boring, but radical.” Cruz adviser Omri Ceren tweeted out Collinson’s essay complete with CNN video with these words on screen: “Ocasio-Cortez: Biden Exceeding Expectations of Progressives.” When the socialists say Biden is “exceeding expectations,” he’s proposing a socialist agenda.