James Dean he ain't, our prospective authoritarian. Instead he gives us the smirks of the class clown. The posturing swagger. The threats and insults of the play ground bully. MAGA loves a tough guy. (No offense, Harrison Ford - but it's like a dystopian Indiana Jones.)
DJT's acolytes treat him as if he's somehow glamorous. And devout. You'd be inclined to think he'd read the Old Testament in the original Hebrew and Aramaic.
I've been rude on the topic of the MAGA "We're White Boys" frat twice here already. They are full throated in their support for a fundamentalist Christian nation. (So long as someone gets hurt they're ok with it.)
I am hesitant to criticize Biden because a win in November is so important. A few months ago I was optimistic about the President’s chances. But I started to hate him for shipping arms to the Israelis. Anthony Blinken can visit the region as many times as he wants. Our government won't call out Netanyahu for his deceptions.
The domestic stats are in Joe's favor. Not the polls, worryingly. But economic indicators are robust. Job creation is at an all time high; wages are rising; inflation is ebbing.
Inflation: every modern economy was affected by the pandemic. The US leads the developed nations in recovery. Furthermore, major corporations have profited enormously throughout. Exxon, Chevron; General Mills, Kellogg's and Nestlé. All have been bringing in added billions as a result of price gouging. It's unfair to make Biden a target for rising prices. The situation has largely been out of his hands.
But! The debate missteps that have given the President a deer-in-the-headlights aspect that was seemingly lacking during earlier phases of the campaign. I would happily vote for VP Harris. And yet in politics there's no assured road to success. By voting you go with the vehicle that will get you closest to your destination (attributable to an African American woman writing on the internet). That individual in my case is President Biden. Given his wholehearted support of a genocidal regime, however, it can be painful to accept that he is my candidate.
I don't need to elaborate on the alternative. Just months ago Jared Kushner was speculating that once it's rebuilt, Gaza would make excellent beach front property. Donald Trump will double down on Israel's right to "self-defense." (38,000 dead Palestinians, mostly women and children. Orders to evacuate, only to have the refugee camps bombed. Netanyahu openly prefers Trump, he's indicated. Hard to imagine the nightmare in Gaza getting worse - but it would.)
And Ukraine. I don't support the Russians by any means. However, according to Le Monde Diplomatique Zelensky was participating in negotiations to end the war in March of 2022. A few weeks after the fighting started, in other words. Russia's main demand was that Ukraine not become a NATO ally, though joining the EU wouldn't be problematic in terms of the agreement. What happened? Western leaders weighed in, the UK and the US. Zelensky was urged to fight to the bitter end. Until victory against the Russian aggressor. The war might have concluded quickly, had it not been for our intervention.
Is Joe Biden aware that any escalation of the Ukraine conflict could lead to a nuclear standoff? Of course. And yet he ships the Ukrainians sophisticated weapons. Interestingly, before the war our arsenal was fast becoming obsolete. Ukraine provided a new market. What a perfect setup for the arms manufacturers!
The Reagan/Gorbachev accords for decommissioning select nuclear armaments in 1987 provided the framework for historic cooperation. As I've mentioned to friends, Gorbachev made it explicit at the time that the Soviets did not want NATO countries on their border. I mistakenly thought this stipulation had been agreed to in writing. “Just a verbal agreement,” I was told by several people. Translation: it doesn't matter. I imagine Putin remembers this facet of the final negotiations!
Indigenous pueblos in this country know the drill. Agreements with US officials, in their case written agreements, weren't considered valid, either.
I don't think Putin wants to march across Europe. His primary objection was to Ukraine’s inclusion in NATO. I don't claim to understand his motives. But verbal assurances in 1987 were, I imagine, taken seriously, from Gorbachev onwards to modern day Russia.
In Gaza the weapons manufacturers win again. Perhaps that should be the main focus of any movement for justice. Shutting down the amoral war profiteers, for whom any war means the assurance of wealth.
Biden's support (never much to speak of) has declined further as he gives the Israelis blanket permission to decimate Gaza. According to our own law shipments of weapons are prohibited in the case of widespread human rights violations. Yeah. Never mind.
There is no question. If a theocratic Christian nationalist government does not fit your bedrock beliefs about justice, equity and progress, there is no other choice but to Vote Blue.
But let’s be realistic. The United States is widely seen as a nation that no longer has any claim on promoting human rights. (I studied Latin American history. So that bit about "democracy and human rights" rings very hollow.) With Israel, the official hypocrisy of our government is writ large. The carnage aside (for the moment) this was a reckoning for past and current crimes, now made visible on the world stage.
[Of course, the authoritarian in the wings, DJT, has been shot since I started writing this. Expressions of sympathy and support have been forthcoming from any number of democratic leaders. They are stronger individuals than I (there's a reason why I'm not in government). We are on the cusp of our first military dictatorship. My sympathy is, I suppose, a reflection of my character.]
Donald Trump. A treasonous contender for the presidency. I wish him a swift recovery.