Tag: 2024 Election

Democracy, but not Biden, is on the ballot?

W.J. Astore

The bizarre opening weeks of the Democratic primary season

Democracy, President Joe Biden has said, is on the ballot this year. But often his Democratic rivals won’t be on the ballot, nor is Biden himself officially on the ballot in New Hampshire in two weeks. (Indeed, the DNC refuses to sanction, i.e. support, the NH primary.) What gives?

Next week (1/15), the Iowa caucus for president is being held for Republicans and Democrats. Apparently, official results for Democrats won’t be available until March. Then there’s the famous New Hampshire primary, always the first in the country and this year on 1/23; Biden’s name isn’t even on the ballot for Democrats there.

The first Democratic primary that apparently counts for the DNC is in South Carolina on 2/3. Why is that?

You’ll recall that in 2020 Biden lost the Iowa caucuses to Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. In New Hampshire in 2020, Biden came in a distant fifth. But he was able to win in South Carolina with a big push from Barack Obama and Congressman James Clyburn, a major powerbroker in SC, even as other candidates like Buttigieg were pressured to drop out and throw their support to Joe. (Buttigieg’s reward was a cabinet post as Secretary of Transportation for which he is eminently unqualified.)

The fix is in for Biden in 2024, to state the obvious. Iowa and New Hampshire are both being sidelined because the DNC knows Biden is vulnerable in these states. But South Carolina, the DNC believes, can be controlled, can be counted on for a decent showing for Old Joe. Thus South Carolina was moved up in the 2024 primary calendar precisely to demonstrate allegedly strong support for Joe.

This weekend, Biden was in South Carolina, the only primary that seems to matter

I was listening to a podcast with Matt Taibbi and Walter Kirn as they discussed some of these Democratic (but not democratic) machinations:

Matt Taibbi: And by the way, not just with Trump, with people like Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips. I mean, they just got wiped off the ballot in Florida, which seems crazy to me. Then there were these other machinations going on in the Democratic side with New Hampshire and Iowa. The Iowa caucus results. The Iowa caucus is the easiest thing in the world. It used to be the simplest, most beautiful, I think, expression of democracy in America. You could go to it. You could sit there and watch people argue and horse-trade and do all that stuff, and everybody would move to one side of the gym, and then there’d be other crowds in other places.

And then at the end of the night, they would call up one phone number and there would be a human being at the other end of the line who would tabulate a pretty small number of districts, and you would get a result. And there’s absolutely no reason why that should take a lot of time. Now, they’re announcing that they’re not even going to have results for the Iowa caucus until March 15th or some ridiculous thing.

Walter Kirn: Who announced that?

Matt Taibbi: Iowa.

I hadn’t heard that Biden’s two main Democratic challengers, Marianne Williamson and Dean Phillips, had been “wiped off the ballot in Florida.” But it’s true: Biden’s name was the only one submitted by party apparatchiks there. 

Biden just might win the Democratic primary in Florida. Ah, sweet victory, and against such long odds!

As Biden claims “Democracy is on the ballot” in 2024, the DNC and establishment Democrats are doing everything in their power to deny democratic choices to their voters.

Are you confused? Deflated? Tired of the BS? Look over there: Trump! Bad! Vote for Joe: he’ll save “democracy” from Trump! 

As my dad taught me, sometimes you have to laugh to hide the tears.

Biden Kicks Off His Campaign Echoing Washington at Valley Forge

W.J. Astore

Trump is on the ballot!

Yesterday, Joe Biden kicked off his reelection campaign by visiting Valley Forge and echoing the dark times of George Washington in 1777-78 during the American Revolutionary War. In a campaign speech that lasted about 30 minutes, Biden declared that “Democracy is on the ballot,” by which he meant Trump is on the ballot. Biden denounced Trump and his MAGA supporters for the “insurrection” they launched on January 6, 2021, when “hell was unleashed” at the Capitol. We nearly lost America on that date, Biden opined, due to the Trump-inspired “violent assault” on democracy.

As a teenager, I loved to collect stamps, just like FDR did

Going further, Biden described Trump as “sick” and “despicable” and noted how recent language about “vermin” and “poison” echoed that of Nazi Germany. Trump and MAGA, Biden said, seek to “bury history” (or “steal” it) and “ban books,” with Trump himself being a sore loser who refused to admit defeat. Biden reminded the audience that being president is about duty and service to your country, including the willingness to walk away peacefully, relinquishing power gracefully when you lose.

All in all, it was a coherent speech that Biden read competently from the teleprompter. He occasionally came across as angry, especially when shouting for emphasis, but overall Biden, though he looked his age, appeared to be committed and engaged.

To me, the main problem with Biden’s speech was that it focused almost entirely on Trump. The essence was “Trump bad,” therefore vote for me, Joe Biden, to secure America’s future, with that “future” left entirely unspecified. The Trump future would be violent, racist, and divisive, marked by vitriol and vengeance, so Biden claimed. A Biden future wouldn’t be that, apparently, but no other details were offered. Biden offered no positive vision.

Biden closed his speech with the usual boilerplate: that America is “the greatest nation on the face of the earth” and “the greatest nation in the history of the world.” Biden said “We know America is winning,” but what exactly we’re winning was left unspecified. Rhetorically, Biden asked “Who are we?” then enjoined us “Just remember who we are.” Huh? Then he said we’re the people who emerge stronger after every crisis. Does that mean we should wish for another Trump crisis so we can emerge stronger still?

Finally, Biden used a phrase that Hillary used to use for us commoners: “everyday people.” Remember when presidents used to say, my fellow Americans, when addressing us? Now we’re “everyday people” as opposed to what, exactly? Someday people? In Washington, I gather there are special people, the elites, the best and brightest, like Joe Biden, and then there are the masses, the everyday people, like you and me.

And I think that’s a big problem for the Beltway crowd: the “everyday people” might just prefer Trump and the chaos he represents. Come November, we’ll find out.

How to Beat Trump

W.J. Astore

A Winning Platform

News that the Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that Trump is ineligible to be included on the presidential ballot due to his encouragement of and participation in “insurrection” during the January 6th Capitol riot is being greeted as tidings of comfort and joy in many quarters, especially among Democrats facing lengthening odds in the 2024 election. Is this the way to beat Trump: to bar him from the ballot due to his alleged crimes against the Constitution and the country?

Readers of Bracing Views know that I’m not a Trump supporter, nor for that matter do I support Joe Biden. Trump, I wrote back in March of 2016, disqualified himself from office when he boasted during a debate that U.S. troops would follow his orders irrespective of their legality. The man is most definitely an ignoramus and therefore is a menace to himself and to others.

That said, being an ignoramus is not disqualifying for the presidency.

After a swift appeal, I’d wager the U.S. Supreme Court will reverse the decision of the Colorado Court, putting Trump back on the ballot. What then? 

I think it’s relatively easy to defeat Trump in November 2024: run a candidate whose views and deeds correspond to the views and desires and priorities of the vast majority of Americans. The working and middle classes.

Cartoons like this one are frankly unconvincing

If I were a candidate for the presidency, and wanted to maximize my vote vis-a-vis Trump, here are a few things I’d support:

  • Higher wages for American workers. A hike in the federal minimum wage to at least $15 an hour.
  • Health care for all. Use the common wealth for common health.
  • “Free” college education at state colleges and universities. (By “free,” I mean subsidized at a tolerable level for students, with tuition and fees capped at $2000 a year.)
  • Legalization of marijuana for personal use across the USA.
  • Criminal justice reform that would greatly reduce the number of non-violent offenders held in prison.
  • Major reductions in military spending and a commitment to peace and diplomacy.
  • With the hundreds of billions saved from reductions in war spending, a major commitment to rebuilding American infrastructure, including the creation of a new Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) tied to alleviating damage due to climate change.
  • An end to divisive rhetoric and talk of “deplorables” and “blue and red” America. A national celebration of and renewed commitment to the U.S. Constitution.
  • The salute of brave people willing to inform Americans of crimes being committed in their name. The return of Edward Snowden to America and a celebration of his patriotism and service to America. The pardon and release of Daniel Hale from prison. The dropping of all charges against Julian Assange. A commitment to freedom of speech, the press, and indeed of all Constitutional rights.
  • Privacy for the people; transparency for the government.

That’s ten positions that I believe would garner the support of a majority of Americans in the 2024 election.

The problem is that the main rival to Trump in 2024, Joe Biden, is a “nothing will fundamentally change” guy who lacks the will, energy, and wherewithal to motivate and unify the American people behind these and similar popular positions.

What does Biden have going for him? Well, he’s not Trump. That’s seemingly the beginning and the end of Democratic messaging. And it’s not enough. Which is why Democrats are so excited about the Colorado Supreme Court’s ruling.

That court ruling isn’t going to stop Trump. What will stop Trump is a candidate of courage and conviction who truly wants to serve the people. All the people, equally. The obstacle to be overcome is a Washington establishment, including most especially the corporate owners and donors, the big money people, that is determined to block any candidate or any party that is truly dedicated to the Constitution and to the needs of the people writ large.

Biden 2.0?

W.J. Astore

The Curious Case of Dean Phillips and the Democratic Party

I first noticed Dean Phillips, a Democratic Congressman from Minnesota, a few months ago. He started appearing on mainstream media shows like Meet the Press to suggest that Joe Biden might be a bit too old to run for reelection and that he, Dean Phillips, might be a viable option, a Biden 2.0, if you will. (I say Biden 2.0 because Phillips praises Biden and basically agrees with everything he’s done.) Subsequently, Mr. Phillips has announced a bid for the presidency, garnering notices in outlets like The Guardian and The Atlantic (the latter magazine is a neocon mouthpiece for establishment Democrats).

Biden 2.0? Congressman Dean Phillips (Wikipedia)

Whereas Democratic progressive challenger Marianne Williamson has been completely ignored by the mainstream media, Phillips has won considerable praise. Take this gushing beginning to a piece posted at the end of October at The Atlantic: 

DEAN PHILLIPS HAS A WARNING FOR DEMOCRATS

By Tim Alberta

OCTOBER 27, 2023

To spend time around Dean Phillips, as I have since his first campaign for Congress in 2018, is to encounter someone so earnest as to be utterly suspicious. He speaks constantly of joy and beauty and inspiration, beaming at the prospect of entertaining some new perspective. He allows himself to be interrupted often—by friends, family, staffers—but rarely interrupts them, listening patiently with a politeness that almost feels aggravating. With the practiced manners of one raised with great privilege—boasting a net worth he estimates at $50 million—the gentleman from Minnesota is exactly that.

But that courtly disposition cracks, I’ve noticed, when he’s convinced that someone is lying. Maybe it’s because at six months old he lost his father in a helicopter crash that his family believes the military covered up, in a war in Vietnam that was sold to the public with tricks and subterfuge. I can hear the anger in his voice as he talks about the treachery that led to January 6, recalling his frantic search for some sort of weapon—he found only a sharpened pencil—with which to defend himself against the violent masses who were sacking the U.S. Capitol. I can see it in his eyes when Phillips, who is Jewish, remarks that some of his Democratic colleagues have recently spread falsehoods about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and others in the party have refused to condemn blatant anti-Semitism.

What a guy that Dean Phillips is!  He’s earnest!  A gentleman!  Yet he’s tough too, ready to defend the Capitol armed with a pencil!  He’s rich and Jewish and ready to take on his fellow Democrats, who are hesitant to condemn “blatant anti-Semitism”!

Maybe Phillips is simply on a quixotic quest, an ego trip, but I don’t think so. I think he’s been given permission by the Democratic establishment to run against Biden. In essence, he’s a younger, richer, Biden, a 2.0 version in case Joe falters in the next year.

Again, my guess (I stress “guess”) is that he’s been given the nod to run so that Democrats can say Biden does have challengers within the party, that the DNC supports democracy, while at the same time providing a viable backup in case Biden stumbles badly, whether due to advanced age or dramatically falling poll numbers.

If Biden remains relatively strong, Mr. Phillips will quietly slip away, with a couple of winks and perhaps a clap on the back from the DNC. But if Biden is behind catastrophically to Donald Trump next spring or early summer, Phillips may emerge as the Democratic version of Trump: not quite as rich, not nearly as radical, but the model of a successful businessman who allegedly knows how to fix America and put us all “back to work.”

In the person of Dean Phillips, the owners and donors are hedging their bets.  With Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete not ready for prime time, Phillips could be the new Biden. The DNC most certainly prefers Phillips to a Democratic challenger like Williamson or (obviously) third-party/independents like Jill Stein, RFK Jr., and Cornel West.

Stay tuned, America. If Biden falters, Biden 2.0 is already ready to roll in the person of Dean Phillips.

For the Children!

W.J. Astore

The Stunning Banality of Democratic Messaging for 2024

It’s not often I get a personal letter signed by former President Barack Obama. It came in yesterday’s mail, and of course it was a fundraising letter for the DNC and the Biden campaign for 2024. Obama is selling Joe Biden as “delivering a better future for our children and grandchildren,” but how the future will be better because of Biden is left unspecified.

Biden, I’m told, is for freedom and opportunity. He wants “a brighter, more inclusive, more hopeful future,” whereas the Republicans are “extreme” and want to give “even more tax breaks for billionaires” along with banning more books and attacking “our fundamental rights.”

Well, obviously the Democrats are against Republicans and for freedom, our children, and I suppose puppies and rainbows as well. And Biden, according to Obama, “feels the struggles of American families in his bones.” No wonder Biden looks so old and moves so slowly!

Seriously, nothing in the letter tells me how Biden is going to help those struggling American families. There’s not a word about raising the federal minimum wage, about single-payer health care, about student loan debt relief, about helping the unhoused, and so on. Remember LBJ’s ambitious “War on poverty” in the 1960s? Forget about anything like that. Just vote for Joe, “who truly knows how to get things done in Washington.” Really?

If American families are struggling, as they are, shouldn’t Biden be working his tail off to get them the relief they need? There’s no help in vapid phrases like Biden “carries your dreams with him wherever he goes.” No wonder he’s muddled and confused at times: he’s carrying all our conflicting dreams with him in his head.

I’m not sure the photo postcard included with this fundraising plea sends the message the DNC wanted to send. It shows Obama and Biden yukking it up. What about those suffering families, Barack and Joe?

Vote for Biden Because Trump

W.J. Astore

And don’t ask questions or demand action

At the presidential level, the U.S. political scene is grim. Donald Trump is the likely Republican candidate. No other Republican approaches him in terms of popularity. Yes, he’s been indicted four times, complete with a mug shot, but these indictments aren’t enough to derail his campaign. If anything, they may make Trump look like more of a populist gangster/rebel, instead of the billionaire tool that he is.

The mug shot seen ‘round the world

The Democrats are going all-in on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, but there’s no platform of substance they’re selling. The basic message is vote Biden because Trump. In a fundraising letter I received from the DNC, the message was that Republicans are too dangerous, too extreme, and otherwise beyond the pale. So I was urged to give money to the DNC so that Joe and Kamala can “finish the job.” Which job they’re supposed to finish was left unspecified, though there were glittering generalities about freedom, safeguarding abortion rights, and the like.

Interestingly, Democrats continue to argue that any third-party candidate, and especially Cornel West of the Green Party, is a spoiler for the Democrats. The idea that more candidates might spoil Republican chances as well isn’t addressed. This tells us something about the reality Democrats are facing. Support for Biden is shallow and mostly unenthusiastic. Hence the tacit recognition that additional candidates will hurt Biden’s chances more so than Trump’s, whose supporters are more keen on their guy.

Maybe, just maybe, the Democrats should recognize this problem and run a new candidate that can garner stronger and more enthusiastic support at the polls? Nah, that’s crazy talk. Let’s go with Joe and see what happens. And if he loses, you can always blame the voters for voting for West or some other third-party candidate.

Honestly, the DNC would rather lose with Biden than win with a more progressive and charismatic candidate. This is because the DNC represents the corporate capture of the Democratic Party. To win with a truly progressive candidate is a loss for the party as it’s constituted today. To lose with Biden is a win in the sense they can fundraise off “resisting” Trump. The DNC goal is that nothing shall fundamentally change in the way they do business, meaning that Biden is the most “leftist” and “progressive” candidate Democrats are ever likely to see. (Biden, of course, is a pro-war, pro-business, pro-banker, pro-fossil fuels, pro-prison, pro-status quo president. In your heart, you know he’s right.)

What is to be done? As I’ve said before, I know what I’m going to get with Trump. I know what I’m going to get with Biden. And I know that’s not what I want. So count me among the “spoilers.”

Biden/Harris Campaign Slogan: No, We Can’t

W.J. Astore

Tacking to starboard, stuck in place, the USS America under Joe Biden is groaning in protest

In America’s two-color political universe, by which I mean blue versus red, whenever I criticize the blue team, I get accused of supporting the red team. But I believe in a multi-color world, not a bicolor one. Even green is an acceptable color! So, as I critique Joe Biden today, rest assured I never have voted, and never will vote, for the red guy, Donald Trump. I’m going green in 2024 with Cornel West.

With that longwinded prologue, I’d like to announce the Biden/Harris unofficial campaign slogan for 2024: No, we can’t.

It may sound familiar. Fifteen years ago, Barack Obama embraced the energy and optimism of “Yes, we can.” He also promoted “hope” and “change.” After eight years of Bush/Cheney, those simple slogans resonated with Americans, and Obama/Biden rode to victory in 2008 exuding confidence and a can-do spirit. (Of course, the results in office were, shall I say, disappointing.)

The good old days that never quite were.

But that was then, this is now, and when you go to JoeBiden.com, you get a message that suggests we reelect Joe to “finish the job.” Which job needs to be finished is unspecified. Vague words about protecting freedom and democracy and feel-good imagery is about all you get. Add it up and you get a de facto message of little hope and no change—just more of the same.

The Democrats think that a bland message of normalcy will be enough to prevail against Trump, who seems to be indicted now almost daily. Again, I’m no fan of Trump and won’t be voting for him. But why should I vote for Biden? What compelling reason or even message is there to convince me?

I haven’t heard one other than “Trump is very bad.”

A friend tells me Biden’s record as president is respectable and that he’s tilted left of center. I’m baffled by this claim. Biden/Harris have told me we can’t get Medicare for All; indeed, we can’t even get a public option. We can’t get significant student debt relief. We can’t get a $15 federal minimum wage. We can’t reduce the Pentagon budget and spending on wars and weapons. We can’t stop building more nuclear weapons. We can’t stop drilling in sensitive areas such as pristine wildernesses and offshore waters.

You see where I’m going here. When it comes to progressive agendas, “No, we can’t” is the true motto of Biden/Harris. Corporate Joe and his VP sidekick appear to have little empathy for the working classes and the hurting. Imagine a president coming back from vacation, as Biden recently did, and being asked about deadly wildfires in Hawaii and declaring that he had “no comment.” How hard is it for a president to muster words of sympathy for the suffering people of Hawaii while promising speedy federal aid?

For some reason I’m in a nautical frame of mind (forgive me, my Navy brethren).* As the USS Trump takes on water from multiple torpedo hits (indictments), the USS Biden sits dead in the water, having run aground on the shoals of incompetence and indifference. There is no Bernie Sanders this time around to rally the youthful crew to rock and re-float the boat. Perhaps Americans should search for a new ship to board?

A favorite book is “The Caine Mutiny” (please read it if you haven’t; it’s thrilling as well as hilarious in spots). The Caine was a tired old ship headed for the scrap heap after World War II and its commander, Queeg, was addled and (much worse) cowardly. The ship nearly sinks during a powerful storm that paralyzes Queeg; only a mutiny by its crew prevents disaster. America, our ship of state, faces storms of its own. Do we have confidence in captains like Trump or Biden to lead us through the tempest to calmer waters? Maybe it’s time we mutiny?

My friend believes Biden is a competent captain who’s making good headway even as he tacks to port. I see an increasingly tired and confused commander who’s furiously tacking to starboard even as the ship of state groans, making no progress as it’s battered on those aforementioned shoals.

*Feel free, Navy brethren, to offer your own nautical metaphors, which I’m betting will be better than mine.

Trump and Death by 1000 Indictments

W.J. Astore

If you can’t beat him at the polls, beat him in court

If you’re like me, you’ve lost track of the number of charges against former President Donald Trump. He’s facing at least 78 criminal charges stemming from three indictments: the Stormy Daniels case, the classified documents one, and now the January 6th riots/”insurrection.”

Readers of Bracing Views know I’m not a Trump supporter. In fact, in March of 2016, I wrote an article stating unequivocally that Trump had disqualified himself from running as president (he’d stated troops should follow his orders even if those orders were unconstitutional). That article was the most popular one I’ve ever written in terms of “hits,” but of course Trump prevailed as many Americans concluded that Hillary Clinton would be even worse of a president than a narcissistic and clueless con man.

Interesting image from CNN that superimposes Trump on the charges against him stemming from the classified docs case He sure looks guilty, right?

Democrats seem to think the way to “kill” Trump is death by a thousand paper cuts inflicted by all these legal charges and indictments. I don’t think so. I think most Americans know what Trump is. They know he’s a rogue and a scoundrel. They know he paid off Stormy Daniels in a dodgy, probably illegal, way; they know he shouldn’t have had all those classified documents around; they know he’s a sore loser who lashed out in petulant and dangerous ways on January 6th; but they also know Democrats aren’t offering much of an alternative except four more years of Biden/Harris. Their motto might be: More of the same, only more!

The way to beat Trump is to offer real changes of substance that will help Americans who are struggling across our country. But we’re not going to get that from Biden/Harris. Just look back to all those campaign promises, vintage 2020, that haven’t come through, such as a $15 federal minimum wage, substantial student debt relief, a single-payer option for health care, and a ban on oil and gas drilling on federal lands.

Democrats always have excuses here, someone else to blame, like Joe Manchin or the Senate parliamentarian or the conservative Supreme Court. But what matters to voters is results, and Biden/Harris haven’t succeeded in producing results consistently. Truth is, Biden is an aging president, a stumbling figurehead rather than a strong leader, and Harris is deeply unpopular. It’s not exactly the “dream team” the Democrats are running in 2024.

In these increasingly Dickensian times, the Democrats keep shoveling billions of dollars to the Pentagon and to Ukraine while offering a new Cold War with Russia and China. Main Street USA may wish to declare war on those two countries, if only to get money from Congress.

Alternatives exist for the Democrats, of course, such as Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Yet the Democratic establishment is too busy mocking or smearing them to listen to their ideas for substantive changes.

The Democratic establishment, it seems, is content to roll the dice in 2024 with Biden/Harris, preferring even to lose to Trump than to win with more progressive and dynamic candidates. Perhaps they truly believe they can “kill” Trump through all those indictments and charges, the equivalent to death by 1000 cuts.

It’s a strategy, I guess—just not a winning one.

If Biden Loses, I’m to Blame

W.J. Astore

Here we go again

A friend of mine is calling out his progressive friends for saying they’ll vote third party in the 2024 presidential election. Basically, his argument is this. We know Biden isn’t perfect. He leaves much to be desired, notably in obvious signs of his mental and physical decline. But we also know Trump is a monster. And, since Trump and Biden are currently running neck and neck, at least in the polls, your only real “choice” is to vote for Joe against the monster.

In sum, a vote for a third-party candidate of deep integrity and strong character like Cornel West is really a vote for Monster Trump.

A vote for Cornel West is a vote for Trump?

As I told my friend, telling people they’re making a big mistake by voting for a candidate like Cornel West is not the most effective way to win their hearts and minds. Telling them they’re throwing away their vote or that they’re really voting for Trump is hardly persuasive. In fact, it’s alienating and insulting.

If Joe Biden and the DNC want to win my vote, I want to see promises kept, progressive policies enacted, and corruption stymied and reversed. I want to see concrete results. I want changes in policy. I don’t want what Biden promised CEOs when he decided to run in 2020: that “nothing will fundamentally change.”

On so many issues, Biden has reneged on promises or otherwise failed to deliver for the working classes. He’s not a pro-union president. He hasn’t raised the federal minimum wage. He’s failed to deliver on student debt relief. There is no public optionfor health care. He’s approved oil and gas drilling in the most sensitive areas. Meanwhile, military budgets continue to soar as the Biden administration postures for a new Cold War with Russia and China. And I’m simply supposed to ignore this woeful record and vote for Joe because Trump is allegedly worse.

My friends tell me I expect too much from Biden and the Democrats. That they’re hamstrung by the Republicans. That Joe is doing the best he can. That I need to give Joe more chances. And so on.

But Joe Biden and the Democrats couldn’t even protect abortion rights. Barack Obama promised to codify Roe vs. Wade into law as his “top priority” but then abandoned his promise once he took office in 2009. Biden, of course, was his VP and has a long record of being critical of abortion rights. Again, however, we are told that Biden is the best hope for restoring rights that he’s never been keen on supporting, let alone protecting and extending.

If Biden loses in 2024, let’s be clear. It won’t be because some progressives voted third party. And it won’t be because of Putin or Russia or rigged voting machines or what-have-you. It will be because Biden simply couldn’t win enough votes in the right places. Because not enough voters believed in him. That’s not on people like me. That’s on Biden and the DNC.

Does Russia Have Legitimate Security Concerns?

W.J. Astore

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Echoes JFK’s Peace Speech of June 1963

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is running against the Democratic establishment’s position on the Russia-Ukraine War and for the presidential nomination of the party in 2024. He recently gave a peace speech in New Hampshire that echoed the sentiments of the peace speech given by his uncle, President John F. Kennedy, in 1963.

In New Hampshire, RFK Jr. speaks for the possibility of peace and against the MICC and its forever war

In his speech, RFK Jr. stated that Russia has legitimate security concerns, that NATO expansion to Russia’s border was a betrayal of promises made to leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev, and that America’s military-industrial-congressional complex (MICC) is enabling forever war rather than actively seeking an end to war. He was also careful to say he abhorred Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine.

I’ve already heard RFK Jr. being called a “Putin enabler,” if not a Putin puppet, for suggesting that Russian concerns about Ukraine’s inclusion in NATO are in any sense legitimate. Doesn’t he know, one reader asked, that Putin rejects Ukrainian identity as a country and a people? Doesn’t he know Russia is killing civilians in terror bombings? Why is he acting as an apologist for Putin’s many war crimes?

Obviously I can’t speak for RFK Jr., but I think his message is plain: a state of permanent war is causing deep harm to American democracy, what’s left of it, and any sustainable U.S. recovery must start with a rejection of war and massive military spending, including the more than $100 billion already devoted to what has become a proxy war in Ukraine. That war has greatly contributed to the rhetoric, and increasingly the reality, of a new Cold War with Russia (and China too), strengthening the MICC’s call for even vaster sums for wars and weapons in the cause of maintaining U.S. full-spectrum dominance around the globe.

Like his uncle, President Kennedy, RFK Jr. fears a world-ending nuclear cataclysm, an event that becomes more imaginable as the Russia-Ukraine War continues to escalate. Again, at no time did I hear RFK Jr. express support of the Russian invasion or its brutal methods; what he did express support for is diplomacy as a way of ending the bloodshed while reducing the risk of nuclear Armageddon.

Any reasonable diplomatic effort would have to recognize the legitimate security concerns of Russia, just as that same effort would have to recognize those of Ukraine as well.

Those who advocate for peace often face the charge of being puppets, enablers, or apologists for enemies who are usually presented as monstrous. All credit to RFK Jr. for departing from standard neocon rhetoric and practices and for extending an olive branch to Russia.

Arguing for more war is easy. It even wins salutes (and money) within today’s Democratic establishment. Striving for peace is far harder, and like his uncle, RFK Jr. has decided to take the harder path. More of us should join him.