Tag: Trump

Kamala Harris and the Democrats

W.J. Astore

The Last Best Hope of America?

It’s convention week for the Democrats, which brings me to concerns expressed by a couple of loyal readers. They tell me I’m being too hard on Kamala Harris and the Democrats. They say I’m missing a much bigger picture when I criticize them. That bigger picture is the threat of another Donald Trump victory, which very well could end elections in America, or at the very least produce a much more conservative and reactionary judiciary than the one we already have. They point to Project 2025 and challenge me to write about it and denounce it.

Together with this is one reader’s optimism for a Harris presidency. She may not be the best choice, this reader admits, but she’s shown some progressive chops. And strong support for her within the party has grown organically as she’s raised over $200 million from mostly smaller donors, money that could help her to move away from corporate agendas and in progressive directions.

And that’s all OK with me. I’m willing to hear criticism of my positions and priorities. Indeed, that’s a big reason why I started Bracing Views, not only to air my thoughts but to hear responses from others.

As I thought about this feedback, I saw this headline and story at the New York Timesthis morning:

Harris’s Muscular Patriotism: At her first rally with Tim Walz, Kamala Harris delivered a riff about their quintessentially American backgrounds. She grew up in Oakland, Calif., raised by a working mother, while he grew up on the Nebraska plains, she explained. They were “two middle-class kids,” she said, now trying to make it to the White House together.

“Only in America,” Harris said, as the Philadelphia crowd burst into a chant of “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!”

This sort of unabashed patriotism doesn’t always come naturally to today’s Democratic Party. But it has been central to Harris’s presidential campaign. In her ads and speeches, she portrays herself as a tough, populist, progressive patriot.

Chart shows how Americans describe the country, by partisan and educational groupings.

Source: New York Times/Siena College poll, Sept. 2022 | By The New York Times

Given all this, it’s not surprising that most voters consider the Republican Party to be the more patriotic one:

Chart shows how Americans see parties in terms of patriotism. 25% see the Republican Party as “very patriotic” while 18% see the Democratic Party as such.

Source: YouGov April 2024 poll | By The New York Times

The far left plays a role here. Parts of it — think of Noam Chomsky— can be disdainful of the U.S., describing it as a fundamentally oppressive country. Liberals, not conservatives, tend to argue that immigrants are forced to move here because of the consequences of American imperialism. Liberals are more likely to have qualms about national institutions like Thanksgiving, the military or the flag.

The most prominent left-wing movement of the past year — the Gaza protests — is a case study. The movement has not merely called attention to the high civilian death toll in Gaza; it sometimes portrays the war as an extension of U.S. immorality. Protesters have pulled down American flags and defaced a statue of George Washington with the word “genocidal.”

The America-skeptical left isn’t the Democratic Party, of course. But the left does exacerbate many swing voters’ concerns about the party — namely, that it isn’t cleareyed about a dangerous world. These same swing voters generally don’t like Trump, but they do appreciate his apparent toughness on trade, immigration, crime and more.

Harris combines patriotism with muscular promises to defend the interests of ordinary Americans. “Being president is about who you fight for, and she’s fighting for people like you,” the narrator in a campaign ad says. Her ads explain that as a prosecutor, she took on murderers, child abusers, drug cartels, big banks and big drug companies.

Harris’s flip-flop on immigration embodies both the toughness and patriotism themes. As a presidential candidate in 2019 — when the left was more influential in the Democratic Party — she favored decriminalizing border crossings. Today, she promises to protect Americans from gangs and fentanyl flowing across the border, and she criticizes Trump for blocking a border-security bill.

The image that accompanied this story showed a person wearing a Kamala Harris t-shirt in which she’s depicted as Captain America.

Given this article and many others like it, I don’t think my two readers have to worry about Kamala Harris being treated unfairly by the corporate-owned news (the CON)!

According to the New York Times, Harris is going to outmuscle Trump for who can be tougher on crime, drugs, and illegal immigrants. As Captain America, she’s going to be even more muscularly patriotic (or blindly nationalistic, my wife quipped) than Trump. The only concern is killjoys on the “far left,” who think mass destruction and genocide in Gaza is wrong. They don’t think America is the greatest, goodest, bestest country in the world. But Kamala does!

Sadly, Bracing Views doesn’t have quite the same market penetration as the New York Times, so my critique of Harris and the Democrats will hardly make a dent in all the partying and enthusiasm for Kamala this week. It does seem to me, however, that the tactics being used here are yet another case of the Democrats faking left and running right.

Anyhow, here’s a reply I sent to a loyal reader and friend about my approach to Kamala and the Democrats:

I’m not anti-Harris per se.  She has such a thin record that who knows how she’d make decisions.

I am against how Harris is being shoved down our throats as an almost savior-like figure.  I am against the Democratic party, which is why I left it and am now an independent.

I am also against Trump and the MAGA crowd.  I wrote article after article denouncing them from 2016 to 2021.  Do I have to repeat all that again so that I can be “fair and balanced”?

I get that you see Trump and MAGA as major threats, much more so than the Democrats.  I see a different threat, I suppose, a uniparty that embraces empire, militarism, colossal spending on wars and weapons, and a foreign policy agenda that may yet produce World War III, whether the figurehead at the top is Trump or Harris.

I was hoping the Democrats would offer a REAL alternative to Trump with respect to the issues I cited above, but Harris is a lightweight in foreign policy whose description of the Russia-Ukraine War should really scare you for its ignorance and vapidness.  She, like Trump, will spend $2 trillion on new nukes.  She, like Trump, will brag that the U.S. military is the finest in the world, thus the Pentagon budget will continue to soar toward $1 trillion as the Pentagon continues to flunk audit after audit. She, like Trump, will keep the weapons flowing to Israel so that Gaza can be made Palestinian-free, giving more living space to Israel and Bibi.

Will Harris be more populist at home?  I guess.  Will she be friendlier to LGBTQ+ and pro-choice movements?  Definitely.  Is that enough to vote for her?  That’s up to the voters to decide.

Harris is basically trying to play from the Obama book, “Yes, we Kam,” supported by big-money donors who expect a big return on their “investments.”  Again, maybe she won’t be as bad as Trump domestically, but, as they say, the lesser of two evils is still evil.  How long must we wait for a non-evil candidate?

If we don’t push the Democratic party to offer something other than corporate tools, we’ll keep getting corporate tools like I believe Harris to be.

I stand by that response. For many Americans, the Kamala/Walz ticket is attractive, but I will continue to criticize it, as I will Trump and the MAGA crowd. For I think neither party, and certainly neither candidate, is the last best hope of America.

Readers, what do you think? Should we be enthused by the Harris/Walz ticket? Is it time to embrace the politics of joy? Should we not criticize the Democrats because the MAGA Republicans are worse? Should I write more articles that are critical of Trump, because there are not enough of those already in the CON? Fire away!

Selling the Russia-Ukraine War to Trump

W.J. Astore

This Week in U.S. Militarism

During his one debate with Joe Biden, Donald Trump made the audacious claim that if reelected in November he would end the Russia-Ukraine War before his inauguration in January. While it’s doubtful he could do that, the boast certainly disturbed self-styled supporters of Ukraine like Senator Lindsey Graham.

Graham recently made an appearance to highlight strategic minerals in Ukraine. He said Ukraine is sitting on $10-$12 trillion in various “critical” minerals and metals and that Putin must not be allowed to seize, mine, sell, or otherwise share them with China.

Mr. President, we cannot allow a strategic minerals gap!

Trump, in general, has been skeptical of providing an almost open-ended commitment to Ukraine, to the tune of roughly $200 billion in aid since Russia launched its “special military operation.” This new emphasis on Ukraine as a business partner sitting on a “gold mine,” a mine that could be stolen by Putin, seems tailor-made to convince Trump, a businessman with an affinity for gold, to keep funneling weapons and money to Ukraine if he does indeed win reelection in November.

A trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon you’re talking real money.

*****

This week in U.S. militarism: I was scrolling through my CNN email feed this morning and noticed this headline:

Army officer wins Miss USA
Michigan’s Alma Cooper was crowned the new Miss USA on Sunday, capping a tumultuous year of pageant controversy.

A U.S. Army officer is Miss USA. At least she’s used to obeying orders. 

Back in January at CNN, I noted this headline: US Air Force officer crowned as 2024 Miss America.

Miss America, 2Lt Madison Marsh (from the AF Website). Taken at the Daytona 500 Speedway, where she was engaged in recruitment and PR

This truly must be a first. Both Miss USA and Miss America are serving U.S. military officers. My only question is this: What’s wrong with the Navy? How come the Army and the Air Force are dominating the beauty pageants?

In all seriousness, public relations teams for the U.S. military must think this is a major coup, but it seems so strange to me to mix beauty pageants with military service. I recently caught Miss America on NESN (New England Sports Network) doing an on-air interview wearing mufti and a tiara. She attended the Air Force Academy, where I taught for six years. She’s smart, ambitious, accomplished, and obviously pretty.

She may yet fulfill her dream of becoming an Air Force pilot. Will she then launch missiles and drop bombs, perhaps on whatever country is threatening Israel in the Middle East? At least those on the receiving end of those missiles and bombs can say they were killed by a former Miss America.

There’s something very strange going on here.

Trump’s Superlative Acceptance Speech

W.J. Astore

The Greatest, Most Magnificent, Bestest Ever!

When Donald Trump talks, you can count on plenty of superlatives. He reminds me of a carnival barker, the one who says: Step right up and see the ugliest monstrosity ever, the biggest creature ever, the smallest elephant ever (the size of a toy poodle!), the most beautiful mermaid ever. It’s the kind of act that grabs your attention even as it wears on you (or entices you enough to spend your $20 only to see a toy poodle with a tusk duct-taped to its poor head).

In the way he mixes occasional truths with hyperbolic superlatives, Trump is a clever salesman. Unlike Joe Biden, Trump readily admits America is in decline. Most Americans sense this and agree with him. His solution is a vague “Make America Great Once Again” slogan, complete with the usual tax cuts for the rich and promises to end the “invasion” at America’s southern border, the worst in all recorded history (those superlatives again).

Educated to be a careful engineer as well as a discerning historian, I am both aghast at many of Trump’s wild claims and entertained by them. I find them absurd but also frequently amusing. They’re not examples of careful and judicious thinking, and they’re not meant to be. Trump knows how to entertain a crowd. What he doesn’t know how to do is to unite and lead a country.

Wear a bandage on your right ear in solidarity with him.

Here’s an extended excerpt from Trump’s acceptance speech from last night. I’ll highlight a few words/claims that illustrate the Trumpian style, with a few comments of my own in [brackets]:

Under the current administration, we are indeed a nation in decline.

We have an inflation crisis that is making life unaffordable, ravaging the incomes of working and low-income families, and crushing, just simply crushing our people like never before. [Great Depression of 1929?] They’ve never seen anything like it.

We also have an illegal immigration crisis, and it’s taking place right now, as we sit here in this beautiful arena. It’s a massive invasion at our southern border that has spread misery, crime, poverty, disease, and destruction to communities all across our land. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. [Mongol invasions? Napoleon and Russia? Nazi invasions?]

Then there is an international crisis, the likes of which the world has seldom been part of. Nobody can believe what’s happening. War is now raging in Europe and the Middle East, a growing specter of conflict hangs over Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, and all of Asia, and our planet is teetering on the edge of World War III, and this will be a war like no other war because of weaponry. The weapons are no longer army tanks going back and forth, shooting at each other. These weapons are obliteration. [I wish Trump had directly mentioned nuclear weapons here.]

It’s time for a change. This administration can’t come close to solving the problems. We’re dealing with very tough, very fierce people. They’re fierce people. And we don’t have fierce people. We have people that are a lot less than fierce, except when it comes to cheating on elections and a couple of other things, then they’re fierce. [I can’t help it: this is a funny line.] Then they’re fierce.

So tonight, I make this pledge to the great people of America.

I will end the devastating inflation crisis immediately [By waving a magic wand?], bring down interest rates and lower the cost of energy . We will drill, baby, drill. Can you believe what they’re doing? [That’s exactly what the Biden administration is already doing.]

But by doing that, we will lead a large-scale decline in prices. Prices will start to come down.

Energy… Raised it, they took our energy policies and destroyed them. Then they immediately went back to them, but by that time, so much was lost. But we will do it at levels that nobody’s ever seen before, and we’ll end lots of different things. We’ll start paying off debt and start lowering taxes even further. We gave you the largest tax cut. We’ll do it more.

Now, people don’t realize, I brought taxes way down, way, way down. [For whom?] And yet we took in more revenues the following year than we did when the tax rate was much higher. Most people said, how did you do that? Because it was incentive. Everybody was coming to the country, they were bringing back billions and billions of dollars into our country. The companies made it impossible to bring it back. The tax rate was too high and the legal complications were far too great. I changed both of them, and hundreds of billions of dollars by Apple and so many other companies would work back into our nation, and we had an economy the likes of which nobody, no nation had ever seen. China, we were beating them at levels that were incredible. And they know it. They know it. We’ll do it again, but we’ll do it even better.

I will end the illegal immigration crisis by closing our border and finishing the wall, most of which I’ve already built. [Trump built it himself?]

On the wall, we were dealing with a very difficult Congress and I said, “Oh, that’s OK. We won’t go to Congress.” I call it an “invasion.” We gave our military almost $800 billion. I said, “I’m going to take a little of that money, because this is an ‘invasion.’” And we built — Most of the wall is already built, and we built it through using the funds, because what’s more, what’s better than that? We have to stop the invasion into our country that’s killing hundreds of thousands [Does he mean by drug overdoses?] of people a year. We’re not going to let that happen.

I will end every single international crisis that the current administration has created, including the horrible war with Russia and Ukraine, which would have never happened if I was president. And the war caused by the attack on Israel, which would never have happened if I was president. Iran was broke. Iran had no money. Now Iran has $250 billion …

You get the idea. My brother used to say, jokingly, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re so great.” It’s a joke that applies well to Trump.

Here’s another saying, this one taught to me by my dad: “The empty barrel makes the most noise.” It’s a lesson I often recall whenever I hear Trump speak.

Trump Thoughts

W.J. Astore

A Quintessentially American Figure

Today, I thought I’d write about someone who’s uncontroversial: Donald Trump.

My reflections are impressionistic and random. Regular readers of Bracing Views know I won’t be voting for Trump (or Biden for that matter), so my comments here are not meant as an endorsement. With that said, let’s dive in:

When Trump was trying to get rid of Obamacare, he naturally had no replacement plan in mind. At the time, I read that Trump allegedly turned to his advisers and said, Why don’t we simply give everyone Medicare? It sounds like Trump: a simple solution to a problem he wants to put behind him. Of course, it was also the goal of Bernie Sanders and progressives. Trump’s advisers quickly told him he couldn’t do Medicare for All, and Trump dropped the matter. (I’m not sure this story is true, but it sounds true.)

As a businessman, Trump has a knack for discerning bad deals, so it’s not surprising he hit on NATO as a “bad” one. Why was America spending so much, allegedly to defend Europe, when Europeans themselves were spending far less for their own defense? Does America even need NATO? Once again, Trump’s advisers intervened, keeping the U.S. in NATO even as Trump did win commitments from some European countries to spend more on their militaries.

Trump ran in 2016 on the idea of draining the swamp, after which he surrounded himself with advisers drawn from the swamp, especially retired military generals. They were allegedly the “adults in the room” who were meant to control Trump’s worst impulses. What they ensured was that nothing fundamentally changed in the Trump administration, especially for the military-industrial-congressional complex and similar power complexes.

I’ve read, and I think it’s probably true, that Trump expected to lose in 2016. He ran because the Republican competition was so weak, and it gave him a platform to rebuild his popularity, which he apparently wanted to parlay into another lucrative TV deal. That November, Trump was as surprised as most Americans were when he won. He should have listened to his wife, Melania, who predicted he would win if he ran.

I’ve called Trump a con man, and I stand by that. And he’s a good one! He is absolutely shameless and will slap and stamp his name on anything to make a few bucks, whether it’s Bibles, towers, vodka, steak, sneakers, a university, you name it. This doesn’t make him a “bad” person. It makes him a shameless and therefore highly effective grifter.

Trump recognized in 2015 that the Republican candidates arrayed against him were nowhere near as skilled as he was at attracting attention and selling illusions. That’s how he was able to dispatch JV competitors like Low Energy Jeb, Little Marco, and Lyin’ Ted so quickly. In this, he was aided by Hillary Clinton and the Democrats’ “pied piper” strategy of encouraging Trump. Be careful what you wish for, Hillary.

Trump, unlike so many U.S. politicians, occasionally blurts out a big truth. The Iraq War was a disaster. The U.S. is in decline and is no longer the “greatest” nation. NATO is obsolete. Far too many people are dying in the needless and awful Russia-Ukraine War. We’re in Syria to steal its oil. We want Venezuela’s oil too. If you think Russia has killers, so does the United States. And so on. It’s not Trump’s cons that piss off the establishment. It’s those rare truths that Trump lets slip that they despise.

Yes, Trump is a con man, but he’s a genuine con man. He is exactly what he appears to be. In this sense, Trump is more genuine—more real—than most politicians, Republican and Democrat, who pose as public servants even as they practice their own grifts.

“War Paint” was the first idea that popped into my head when I saw this image

Trump, whatever else you can say about the man, often has superb political instincts. His raised fist and cry of “fight, fight, fight” after the assassination attempt made for stunning theater. The blood smeared on his face looked like war paint.

Trump, in sum, is a complex man, talented and flawed, perceptive and undisciplined, intuitive and uninformed, determined and manipulable. What he is not, in my opinion, is a public servant. What he is likely to become is our next president.

If so, one can only wish he shows a capacity for growth and a spirit of true public service. Whatever else he is or becomes, he is a quintessentially American figure.

Donald Trump Survives Assassination Attempt

W.J. Astore

An Update

Last night, Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

The shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed. He was apparently a registered Republican. He was armed with an AR-15 and fired eight times. He was 20 years old.

It’s unclear whether Trump’s ear was bloodied by a bullet or from shrapnel.

The shooting produced an indelible image of Trump bloodied yet standing defiant with his fist raised.

Reactions reflect the polarization of our times. With no evidence, people suggested the event was staged, basically a photo op for Trump. Tell that to the one bystander who was killed and another two who were critically wounded.

The usual cry of “violence has no place in America” was nonsensical, given America’s violent history and its ongoing facilitation of violence across the globe.

Some commentators have opined that Trump, in his defiant stance, won the 2024 election last night. Though I wouldn’t go that far, Trump’s supporters will certainly be even more highly motivated to vote for him in November, whereas motivation within the Democratic Party is on the wane.

“We’re off our rockers,” my wife said this morning, and as usual she’s right.

Here’s hoping that this will be the last violent event of this highly polarized election season.

The Distraction of Joe Biden

W.J. Astore

What genocide? What war? What militarism?

Joe Biden has become a major distraction. Much like Donald Trump, he’s demanding far too much attention.

As genocide continues in Gaza, as war continues to rage in Ukraine, as America continues to pursue militarism both at home and abroad, all the press can talk about is whether Biden should stay or go.

The answer is obvious: he should go.

Sure, Biden remains capable of having a “good” day in the sense of doing OK at a rally while reading prepared remarks from a teleprompter. Yet it’s impossible to ignore brain glitches where he introduces Zelensky of Ukraine as President Putin and suggests his vice president’s name is Trump instead of Harris.

America faces serious issues, especially working- and middle-class Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. Their stories are rarely told in the corporate-owned media as Biden’s flubs and stubbornness and Trump’s lies and showboating grab nearly all the attention.

A new (and desperate) ploy I’ve seen on Twitter/X is Biden supporters arguing that a failing older man is better than a lying one as president. That argument assumes Biden has a strong record as a truth-teller when it was gratuitous lies and flagrant plagiarism that ended his presidential campaign in 1988. Besides, is it really true that Biden, a man visibly in mental and physical decline, is the only choice Democrats can muster to defeat Trump in 2024?

Let’s look at one chart that shows Biden’s record. Since he became President, military spending has soared as social spending has dipped.

And this man, Democrats say in reverent tones, is the new FDR?

I suppose their counter would be: Trump will be worse! So, it’s the old “lesser of two evils” argument.

Biden and Harris continue to run a campaign devoid of any message other than vote for us because Trump will be worse. That empty message, and Biden’s visible decline, produce images like this:

Exactly. Which “job” is the Biden/Harris team so intent on finishing? No one knows since they’re not saying. Vague messaging and a confused candidate are almost certain to lead to a Trump victory in November.

And if that happens, those to blame will be clear, starting with Biden, the DNC, and all the scheming powerbrokers behind the scenes like the Obamas and the Clintons.

Refreshing the Tree of Liberty in America

W.J. Astore

How much blood will it take?

Why are progressives so powerless in America? Is there any hope for radical reforms here that favor the 99%? Stimulated by a question from Jeff Moebus, here’s some thoughts on this crucial issue, lightly edited from the comments section of a previous article:

As a kid, I loved to collect stamps, and I still have a small collection

jg moebus

I’m curious, Bill: What do you think the RNC’s Main Goal is?

In any event, given that that is the DNC’s Main Goal [suppressing progressive voices and power within the Democratic Party], why haven’t the Principled Progressives of America formed their own political party so as to give Americans that choice for Systemic Reform come election time?

Is at least part of the problem that a significant number of Americans disagree with and, in some cases, categorically reject the principles, policy proposals, and promises of Progressivism? Which may explain why there are no “Progressives” in Washington, eh?

Bill Astore

Jeff, the RNC seems content to ride the Trump wave, knowing that Trump can be controlled and perhaps coopted as well.

Trump lacks core principles, so I think the RNC’s main goal is to shove Trump in directions that are consistent with RNC imperatives, such as lower taxes on corporations, financial deregulation, and the dismantling of the welfare state and anything that smacks of socialism.

What do you think?

jg moebus

I agree completely with your assessment of the RNC, Bill. Especially the part about Trump being controllable and cooptable. If he wasn’t, he would have never become a President who completed a full term in office.

In any event: Do you have any thoughts as to why the Principled Progressives of America have not formed their own political party so as to give Americans that choice for “Systemic Reform” come election time?

Bill Astore

Damn good question.

My guess: lack of money. Corporate cash isn’t flowing to progressives. Plus some progressives have been coerced, manipulated, or otherwise propagandized to believe they can “push” Biden (or Harris etc.) in progressive ways. Of course, it’s total BS.

Recognize as well that progressives were burned by both Obama and Bernie. Finally, progressive energy is sapped by “woke” cultural issues rather than focusing on class issues and an antiwar agenda that would also prove attractive to some on the Right as well.

That’s my quick take. Of course, the other part is the corporate media that smears progressives as “far left,” Putin puppets, and therefore untrustworthy and unelectable.

jg moebus

That’s a pretty good quick take.

So the problem, basically, is that there are not enough Americans ~ especially those with money to spend on politics ~ who agree enough with the proposals of Progressivism to actively support it and actually work to make it happen.

Can you think of any way to change that?

Bill Astore

Strangely, Jeff, I wrote a reply and it disappeared on my own site!

Here’s what I think I wrote: What we need, as Bernie said, is a political revolution, but then Bernie decided not to lead it.

How do you effect this “progressive” revolution? It’s extremely hard because so many powerful forces are arrayed against it:

1. Both major political parties in America are against progressive reforms.

2. Corporate elites are against them.

3. Corporate media is against them.

4. Coercive forces such as police forces of all stripes are against them.

What is required is a mass movement willing to be disobedient organized along class interests. A movement of left, right, and center. A movement of the 99% against the 1% (and the .1 -.01%).

Rich and powerful “citizens” (and recall that corporations are citizens now) will not simply hand over power. They will have to be persuaded, convinced, and possibly coerced.

Also, the rich and powerful know how to divide, distract, and demobilize the masses, while keeping the many as downtrodden and debilitated as possible. Hence all the “unhoused” people we see, all the immigrants, all the poor people suffering. Those poor unfortunate souls are partly there to scare the rest of us.

Thomas Jefferson famously opined that “The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” (That’s from memory.) Who is willing to bleed, and how much blood must flow, and even then, will it get any better?

It’s easy to be cynical and pessimistic here, but those are paralyzing forces. Instead, we have to be optimistic or at least determined, else the USS America will continue to slip under the waves of mass corruption and bottomless bankruptcy. And by “bankruptcy” I mean spiritual and moral as much as financial.

What say you? Is there any hope for meaningful change in the USA, and how can that be implemented without violence?

******

Rather than putting the onus on Jeff Moebus, what about you, loyal readers? Can meaningful change be effected in America that actually helps the 99%? That moves the country into less militaristic waters? That restores liberty and power to the people? If so, how, and at what price?

One essential step: campaign finance reform. A country where money=speech is by definition a plutocracy. Another essential step: a radical downsizing of empire and a Pentagon budget reduced by 50%. But with a corrupt Congress that loves money and the military, how are these changes to be made?

Does it matter who’s president?

W.J. Astore

George Clooney for POTUS!

All my life, the punditocracy has told me that being President of the United States (POTUS) is the world’s toughest job, making enormous demands on physical fitness and mental stamina. And now the Democrats are telling me that Joe Biden is and remains the fittest candidate to serve as POTUS for another four years.

Since Donald Trump emerged as a candidate in 2015, the punditocracy has told me he’s a menace to democracy. That he must be stopped at all costs, else America faces authoritarian fascism. And now the Democrats are telling me that Joe Biden is and remains the fittest candidate to stop Trump and the Republican march of fascism.

Well, I have some faith in my lying eyes, and based on them, I know Biden isn’t up to the challenge of being POTUS for another four years, nor is he the fittest man to stop Trump and “fascism.”

The Democrats’ decision to stick with Joe Biden suggests the person who serves as POTUS really doesn’t matter: a cardboard cutout would suffice. It also suggests Democratic powerbrokers really aren’t that worried about Trump being a fascistic dictator, nor will Rachel Maddow end up in a gulag for dissidents.

But let’s assume for the moment that Trump really represents fascism on the march in America. Who’s the best person to defeat him?

He’s ready! Clooney, I mean, shown on the left with then-VP Joe Biden

In what passes for politics in America today, why not a celebrity with name recognition and charisma? George Clooney, anyone? He’s handsome, a relatively young 63, and smarter than your average bear. He can act too, not a disqualification for the position of POTUS.

Alternatively, why not Dolly Parton? Or someone like her? Sadly, Dolly’s husband is suffering from Alzheimer’s and she’s curtailing her schedule to be with him, but she’s got the looks, the business savvy, and the sass to take on Trump.

Assuming Democrats smarten up and stop believing their own BS, they should seek unconventional candidates with the mettle to challenge Trump. Heck, why not Susan Sarandon? The Democrats blame her activism whenever they lose, as in 2016, so why not run her as a candidate? At least there’d be some validity to blaming her for Trump’s victory if he should win again in 2024.

What say you, readers? Who’s the unconventional Democratic candidate who might, just might, hand Trump his lunch while protecting what’s left of U.S. democracy?

(A mason’s assistant who was working on my chimney a few weeks ago suggested Keanu Reeves. If he saved humanity from Agent Smith and the machines in “The Matrix” trilogy, surely he can save America from Trump. Keanu seems like a good dude, but he’s Canadian, so he can’t run. Sigh.)

P.S. Just kidding. We all know Bibi Netanyahu is the best candidate. Talk about bipartisan Red and Blue love. No wonder Bibi wears the imperial purple!

In Last Night’s Biden-Trump Debate, America Lost

W.J. Astore

Two Angry Old Men Tell Us Much About America

Last night’s political debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was a sad spectacle. Clearly, Biden performed poorly. Trump, I suppose, was Trump. The CNN post-debate commentators were universal in saying the Democratic Party is panicking after Biden’s appearance and performance, almost as if they were reading from the same script. It’s finally OK in the mainstream media to state what’s been obvious for years: that Biden is simply too old and infirm to serve as president for another four years. Look for Biden to be replaced as the Democratic candidate, though how gracefully remains to be seen.

Neither candidate did well in last night’s debate

Biden started poorly and never fully recovered. He walked out haltingly. His voice was raspy. He was arguably over-prepared, talking too fast, spouting too much detail, looking confused. A low point came when he lost his train of thought and then concluded by saying “We finally beat Medicare.” Trump pounced. If this had been a fight, the referee would have stopped it then and there.

There’s a catchphrase from a Clint Eastwood movie that “A man’s got to know his limitations.” Biden doesn’t know them, not anymore, and the people around him are doing him a grave disservice in continuing to push him forwards, in continuing to prop him up. It’s time for Biden to retire, to be a one-term president, which was initially the plan when he ran and won in 2020.

After the debate, Trump walked grumpily off the stage. Biden stood there, seemingly at a loss, until Jill Biden came and guided him carefully down a few steps to greet the moderators.

The debate itself was a charisma-free zone. Both men spent most of their time bashing the other. It was a house of frowns. As I watched and took notes, I wrote this: Biden and Trump trade insults while America burns.

In a rare burst of pseudo-agreement, Trump and Biden both said their opponent was the worst president in U.S. history. Both also had surprisingly weak and inept closing statements.

That being said, Biden and Trump did offer a sharp contrast. Biden continues to assert America is the envy of the world, the best country bar none, with the finest military in all of human history. For Trump, America is a failing state, a “sick” country, akin to a “rat’s nest,” overrun with illegal immigrants.

Turning to foreign affairs, both men eagerly supported Israel, with Trump going the extra mile in saying he wants Israel to finish the job in Gaza, the job being genocide of the Palestinians there. Interestingly, Dana Bash, the CNN moderator, said only that Israel’s massive offensive in Gaza had killed “thousands” of Palestinians. She, of course, said nothing of ethnic cleansing or genocide, and neither did the candidates. Pro-Palestinian protests went unmentioned.

“We’re a seriously failing nation,” Trump said, and he’s right about that. The problem is that Biden is too old to run again and Trump remains temperamentally unfit to serve as a public servant at any level. Both men toward the end got into an argument about their respective golf handicaps. It was really that bad—and that out of touch with the needs and concerns of workers and families across America.

If Trump Wins, Resist Him!

W.J. Astore

Because Democracy

These are strange times in America. Today the New York Times is telling me there’s already a movement afoot to resist Donald Trump if he wins the election, in the cause of defending democracy, naturally. Here’s the blurb:

Top News

The Resistance to a New Trump Administration Has Already Started

An emerging coalition that views Donald J. Trump’s agenda as a threat to democracy is laying the groundwork to push back if he wins in November, taking extraordinary pre-emptive actions.

Now, as I’ve said on numerous occasions, I won’t be voting for Trump or Biden. I’m not a Trump supporter and I hope he loses. Yet, assuming the election isn’t “rigged,” as Trump likes to say whenever he loses, I’m prepared to accept the result as an expression of democracy, or at least as much “democracy” as the electoral college in America permits us to express.

I’m glad an “emerging coalition” is planning something, apparently, to curb the worst excesses of Trump and the Republicans. I hope this coalition will act to end Israel’s genocide in Gaza, pursue diplomacy to end the Russia-Ukraine War, pursue peace wherever and whenever possible, lower the threat of nuclear war on the planet, and cut the Pentagon budget while rebuilding America. How about fighting for America’s workers, raising the minimum wage, providing affordable health care for all that’s untied to employment, and similar steps that put the health and welfare of people first.

Or, is this “emerging coalition” motivated purely by animus against Trump and his followers? Is it still going to fully fund the Pentagon and wage war across the globe? In which case I’m not so excited.

Again, I come back to this question: If an “emerging coalition” is so worried about a Trump victory, why not put forward a candidate more fit to beat Trump than Joe Biden? Don’t “resist” Trump after he’s already won again—defeat him at the polls by putting forth a dynamic candidate with a populist worker-first platform.

I’m with James Madison that the biggest threat to liberty and freedom in America is perpetual war. War breeds authoritarianism and weapons built in the name of war represent, as Dwight D. Eisenhower famously said in 1953, a theft from the people. Weapons do not represent an “investment”; quite the reverse. And incessant preparations for war are not a recipe for peace.

If you truly want to defend democracy, resist war and the authoritarianism it breeds. Make major cuts to the Pentagon budget and invest in education and health rather than death and destruction. That’s the “emerging coalition” I’d like to see.