Nothing about Joe Biden suggests we should believe he will ever be different than he ever was. In fact, he’s resolute in being exactly what he’s always been. And thus we are all once again subjected to his unique blend of clueless gaffes and shameless defense of draconian policies. Is he merely a confused codger hopping from campaign stop to campaign stop, or is he a shrewd political operator with a mean streak a mile wide?

In fact, he’s both. With centrism crumbling, it is easier to see these words and gestures for what they are: woefully out of touch, evincing a sense of gross entitlement. Few people sincerely buy the idea that he will diverge in any meaningful way from his past of prevaricating and double-dealing. When you tell the rich “nothing would fundamentally change” under a Biden presidency, as he recently reassured a group of wealthy donors, you tell it to the rest of us, too.

And so when an old video surfaces of Biden saying he would throw ravers and rave promoters in jail, as it did in mid-June, there is no reason to believe he wouldn’t try to do the same or something like it as president.