
W.J. Astore
Last night, I caught a snippet of MSNBC as the panelists talked about the upcoming debates between two white men in their late seventies. Nobody mentioned that a woman of color in her late thirties had also qualified for these debates, and an Iraq war veteran to boot: Tulsi Gabbard.
Today, I saw an article at the New York Times with the plaintive title: “Was It Always Going to Be the Last Men Standing?” Here’s the online summary of the article:
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I like that little caveat of “essentially winnows.” Because Tulsi Gabbard is still in the race, has qualified for the debates (under the old rules), and is being treated like a non-person by the cynical, corporate, manipulative, and dishonest Democratic National Committee.
People are still telling me to “vote blue no matter who,” even as Tulsi is denied her right to be heard, and even as the DNC conspired to eliminate all moderate challengers to Joe Biden so that they could block Bernie Sanders.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden, to put it gently, has shown serious signs of decline and will be 82 years of age in 2024. He has called for cuts to social security and has been a water boy for decades for credit card companies and their usurious interest rates. He voted for the Iraq War, supported job-eliminating trade agreements, and is a servant of Big Pharma and the health insurance industry. among other faults. And has everyone suddenly forgot his creepy tendency to touch women, to sniff their hair, and otherwise to invade their personal space?
If only we had a woman of substance to challenge these two ageing white men, Biden and Sanders. If only she was principled, perhaps even a different religion (Hindu?), perhaps even a woman of color, perhaps even a war veteran, perhaps even principled in her stance against wasteful, regime-change wars.
But where are we to find such a woman? Because I’m sure the DNC would embrace such a paragon of diversity committed to truth-telling. Wouldn’t they?
Update (5:05 PM EST): Tulsi eliminated from the final two debates with a new DNC rule:
For what it’s worth, I posted this personal note on social media: