Politics bits: Possible bipartisan issues; Unsettling videos & commentary about Biden v. Trump

Possible bipartisanship? 

At this point, criticizing radical right Republican Party authoritarianism often seems mostly redundant. At least it is a way to keep tabs on how the threat is developing and the tactics being used to kill democracy, civil liberties and the rule of law. Guess there's some value in that.

At present, Biden frames his campaign as one of finishing the job of stopping Trumpist extremism, which he says he was elected to do in 2020. That platform, coupled with Trump's platform of stopping corrupt, evil, socialist Democratic Party tyranny and atheism is probably most of what the public is going to hear from now until the Nov. 2024 elections. Which side is out to defend democracy and oppose tyranny and which is out to destroy democracy and establish tyranny will be the focus. Both sides accuse the other of being the democracy destroying tyranny supporters. Aside from that, there will probably be limited policy debate. 

This list of issues focuses on what PD believes might be a basis for some policy discussion and bipartisanship that might appeal to people looking for something more than which side is evil and which is good.

1. Rural poverty 

2. More food banks 

3. Better hospitals 

4. End social promotion in high schools*  

5. More (equalized) education spending in poor zip codes 

6. Discuss social class concerns and policies to deal with problems, e.g., stagnant wages and cost of living increases 

7. Pass the Afghan Adjustment Act to keep out allies from being sent back and slaughtered by the Taliban in Afghanistan; the Act provides a path to permanent residency for the more than 70,000 Afghans paroled into the United States in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan

* I didn't know that was an issue

The problem with Biden

A couple of videos and comments that PD cite have cast the election differently for me, but not in a good way. The problem is that, bad as the Biden vs. Trump possibility is, it seems inevitable to too many people. In this video, Steve Schmidt lays out the problem of Biden vs. Trump.

• Biden failed to stop the American radical right extremist movement or its threat to democracy

• Most people will be voting against the side they believe will hurt them the most

• Biden won the 2020 election by a few thousand votes spread across three states - Trump absolutely can be re-elected

Here Schmidt argues that because of his age, Biden is not a good choice for 2024.

PD comments: You know I have ambivalent feelings about Steve Schmidt. But he made a statement acknowledging that nobody really wants Biden (65% of Dems surveyed would prefer he not run), and that he didn't really "start the job" he wants to "finish" re: putting Trump and his minions out to pasture. However, note the way he frames the "rematch" as almost "inevitable"-- as if the second time there would be a recognition of Biden's victory if he won, and the claims that we have an illegit president could be put behind us. He doesn't say that in those exact words, but I think one can infer the message by paying attention to subtext that lies between the lines. Maybe you'll hear it differently though. So, here's a link to Schmidt's statement on Biden's run. It *might* be an interesting way to raise the question about whether or not DP readers feel let down or not by Biden's performance, and whether they think this "rematch" is a road that could lead to both the GOP moving past the claim that Biden's not our "legit" president as it was "stolen." Also, it might be asked whether they have any faith that Biden and his admin (esp. including the AG) will really do anything more than they did this time. Just a suggestion. Here's the link to Schmidt's insightful but in my personal opinion carefully phrased, ironic endorsement for someone he admits he'd rather not see running: Steve Schmidt: No one wants Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden in 2024 election | The Warning

Biden's re-election announcement.

Biden says he wants to finish the job. But to a large extent he can't finish one key job because he and his useless Attorney General Merrick Garland failed to prosecute Trump. Time for prosecuting the at least the four or five obstruction of justice felonies Trump committed during the futile Mueller investigation has run out. The same is happening with other prosecutable Trump felonies. 

If it were not for the mountain of evidence of treason and crime the House 1/6 Committee forced into the public spotlight, Garland would not have even tried prosecute any Trump crime. Biden and Garland left the head of the snake untouched. Now, it is too late. Poll data indicates that Republicans are going to vote for Trump even if he is convicted of a crime, which GOP propaganda will easily dismiss as a partisan witch hunt. By May of 2021, it was obvious to me that Garland had no intention of even investigating Trump, much less prosecuting him. I was criticized for being too impatient at that time, but I was right. Garland was and still is a total failure and a disgrace. 

Simply put, Biden has failed to deliver on what he claimed was his key reason for running and being in office.

PD comments: Biden and his admin (esp. AG Garland) have done so little about MAGA that as he now concedes, they're not only back but strong enough to get the executive branch, and thus he sells himself as all that stands between US and Trump/ism. How exploitive. How manipulative. So this is one of those occasions where my advice to talk about Dems seems pertinent.

One last open question: Is it really a "done deal" or fait accompli-- this "rematch?" Mightn't Biden -- and for that matter Trump -- lose the primaries?" I mean stranger things happen. Why frame this as "inevitable" which seems to accept the cynical quasi-emotional blackmail of Biden's basic message-- "Hey, it's either me or Donny?"-- and is that really self evident? If everyone who says they don't want him (including those who didn't love him the first time round such as now-Biden supporting Bernie and the Progs) criticized this move by Biden as yet another broken pledge (he strongly implied he would be a 1 term -- transitional president -- a bridge to get us safely past the plague of Trump which, he said, is what made him want to run ) might he not lose credibility on being the anti-maga default to guy??

His anti-democracy talk has been all about East Europe and Taiwan, with nary a word devoted to our own tenuous democratic footing here at home. If media, social media, blogs, etc. all called him out on the BS that he's any kind of MAGA fighter at all, his whole appeal to saving Democracy at home might founder. There may be other qualified and younger, more contemporary thinking candidates being eclipsed by this power hungry guy who has compared himself (seriously) to FDR. Anyway, I'd be interested to learn more about what DP readers think about his launching a campaign so explicitly tethered to "finishing the battle for Democracy at home" against Trump/ism/MAGA. Just a suggestion.

In one of my replies to your question about suggestions, I mentioned another case of Democratic hubris and hypocrisy during a time of emergency level crises in the judiciary. Again we have Biden defending the destructive behavior of Diane Feinstein who has prevented the 1 person majority (hers is the swing vote) Judiciary Committee from making up for decades of lost time in bothering to appoint good democratic judges. Everyday, Biden and most Dems plead powerlessness due to GOP capture of the judiciary, and here we have BIDEN, SCHUMER, PELOSI AND DO-NOTHING DURBIN ALL CIRCLING THE WAGONS AND PROTECTING THEIR FRIEND DF WHO WON'T EVEN BE RUNNING AGAIN (i.e. she knows her health makes it all but impossible). Schumer's cynical ploy to pretend he would get a "temporary replacement" (as if he's so stupid as to not know Repubs won't oblige!); Pelosi's low-shot in suggesting this is all about sexism and ageism (when actually the age question is one that has been discussed openly for both male and female politicians-- including an editorial in the NYT which questioned the wisdom of Biden running again for that reason) and Durbin's strange combination of using DF's absence as an explanation for his own inaction and yet his support that she "have the time she needs to make her own decision" right down to Bernie Sanders stating that nobody should tell her what to do, she should only step down if that's what she wants-- all of this smacks of do-nothingness, of weird complacency as all methods of abortion continue to be stripped away in plain view.

It's hard for me to argue against that. There is no way to deny the failures of Biden and the Democratic Party leadership to defend democracy. 

The question is this, what should be done at this point? Write letters to younger, prominent Democrats asking them to run and be as bipartisan as they can? I'm at a loss.