An ugly speech by a desperate man, one that included this bon mot: “Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace? The side of John Lewis or Bull Connor? The side of Abraham Lincoln or Jefferson Davis?”

It’s pointless asking him to be more respectful of Senate Republicans. But you’d think he’d consider Joe Manchin’s and Kyrsten Sinema’s feelings considering he still needs both of their votes if there’s still any chance of passing Build Back Better. “You support slavery and segregation” isn’t a great opener on negotiations.

Also, since when does Joe Biden have a problem with George Wallace?

The demagoguery here is inversely proportional to the likelihood of the filibuster rules being changed to pass voting rights, and deliberately so. Biden knows that this effort is doomed to fail and he knows that many progressive and African-American voters will be royally pissed off about it when it does. His best play with the bad hand he’s holding is to pound the table angrily, showing them that he’s on their side, and hope that they blame Manchin and Sinema instead of the entire party when deciding whether to turn out in November.

Like I say: Ugly.

Not a great look for President Norms. Maybe it’s time for Ben Sasse to return to the floor of the Senate and recite Biden’s stirring defense of the filibuster from 2005, something he did last March but which should probably become an annual tradition for Republicans.