One Chance

Anybody who suffers the physical indignities of a bad back can share how a debilitating “episode” transpires. First, there is the sudden twinge, which immediately stirs the pathway of anxiety as the sufferer recognizes a telltale sign that a downward spiral may be in the offing. Separate and repeated spasms follow, each with their own serving of a fresh stab of pain. At some point the individual assaults merge into one long siege of discomfort, intermittently punctuated by agony when the beleaguered is forced to make various movements. Basically, hell on earth until the cycle completes itself.

Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign made clear his election would be one long and massive bout with chronic pain for the nation, as his relentless lies attacked the torso of our democracy. From the start Fox/AM’s Frankenstein shocked our system as he ignored long abided markers for veracity and personal attacks on opponents; MAGA was a spasm of repressed grievance and resentment. By the time Election Day arrived it was fair to ask what country the candidate was describing as he hissed about dystopian ruin our first black President and his progressive abetters were responsible for. Even back in 2016, his entire campaign’s leadership team certain of defeat, with each securing a personal lifeboat attuned to future ambitions they hoped would successfully erase the taint their embrace of MAGA slathered on their resumes, Trump promised he wouldn’t concede, repeatedly blaming a “rigged” system for his circumstances.

Now, 22,000 Presidential lies into our nihilist odyssey, Election Day nears and we can’t be confident our daily dose of disabling sciatica won’t do all he can to foment civil war if he loses. But even worse, we can’t be near certain he won’t win! That’s a disgrace we don’t deserve to live down and, should we manage to make it to the other side still intact as a going democratic concern, can never afford to forget.

Yet and still, with November 3 ever closer it’s essential to the DR’s mission statement that it dwell some on what we are voting to usher in, if for no other reason than as a response to critics who claim way too much of the last 2 1/2 years has been spent railing about what we should be forcing out! Joe Biden has developed a nice little tag line that decency and integrity are principle issues on the Decision/2020 ballot. The only people arguing against those broad strokes are spewing certified MAGA false equivalence about Biden’s regrettable tolerance of his son’s career moves being on a par with the ethics catastrophe this President embodies on the hour, a Clinton server redux. So, to go along with Biden’s obvious observation, three basic desires should strengthen our resolve as we wait in lines that can’t move fast enough.

Treating Allies as Friends Instead of Foes:

No matter how aggrieved one felt four years ago that America was footing too much of the burden for common defense against adversaries such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran, it’s certain very few actually believed the proper gist of US diplomacy should be to, not simply insult allies, but actively undermine their governments. Germany is a perfect case in point. Not only has Trump spent the last four years constantly exhibiting his personal insecurities toward German Prime Minister Angela Merkel, berating her in both public and private, while lying about Germany’s position vis-a-vis Russia, but Ambassador Richard Grenell, a bunker poodle, has actually courted right-wing extremist political elements throughout the country he serves in.

Egregious doesn’t cut describing such actions. A vote for Biden accepts the previous notion that guided our foreign policy: American security is only as strong as the alliances it leads, and effective leadership requires respect for the led. Anything less is abdication. Statecraft is not an opportunity to score points with an incumbent’s base, or stock his quiver with rally punchlines; it is one of a President’s most important duties, one which history will be especially mindful of. Vote for the candidate who understands what before MAGA was taken for granted as obvious and indisputable.

Recognizing the Federal Government’s Importance to Our Quality of Life:

Nothing is more fundamental to Fox/AM’s nihilist narrative than the presumption federal careerists aren’t worth the cost of their cubicles. From Rush to Hannity, Varney to Carlson, and everyone in between, Fox/AM addicts, which for the first time includes our current POTUS, wake up and go to bed convinced no federal department – with the most notable exceptions of the Pentagon and Homeland Security – is anything but counterproductive and fully expendable. Two developments this week illustrate the lengths Trump and company will pursue to fulfill the prophecy Roger Ailes created thirty years ago, and how harmful such efforts are to most all Americans.

Vanity Fair reconstructed a March 20 meeting between a select group of American business heavyweights and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner; the subject was a rapidly expanding Covid-19 crisis and the best way to coordinate a federal government response. Attendees were stunned by what transpired. Instead of any outline of a federal plan to supply states with the essentials most were short on, like PPE, ventilators and testing supplies, Kushner declared “free markets will take care of this.” Several participants later recounted they figured he misspoke or their hearing was off, but no, Kushner meant every word. Any doubt was dispelled when he began to rail against New York Governor Mario Cuomo, knee deep in Covid sickness and mounting death: “Cuomo didn’t pound the phones hard enough to get PPE for his state…. His people are going to suffer and that’s their problem.” Most in the room were left speechless. What words are available for responding to such wretchedness?

Meanwhile, today Ronald Sanders, the Trump-appointed head of the Federal Salary Council, resigned in protest over a White House surge he called “nothing more than a smoke screen for what is clearly an attempt to require the political loyalty” of thousands of federal workers and their supervisors. Even the Soviets understood party members could not make the trains run on time by themselves. Apolitical government careerists, specialists in their fields, are essential. Trump and his son-in-law not only clarify their disdain for that proposition, but also the notion federal services beyond making war, purging immigrants or stomping protesters, are necessary at all.

A vote for Biden firmly rejects such rubbish in support of the reality that a country as large and geographically daunting as ours requires robust capabilities to coordinate and deliver on mandates the states often lack the resources to provide for themselves. Without that capability, we devolve into the “States of America,“ which dramatically weakens our nation.

Respecting the Office You Have Been Elected to Serve and Administer:

Whether it’s snide remarks about the White House being “a dump,” ceaseless efforts to sully his predecessors’ achievements, or disgracing the office by constantly abasing it to merely a prop in support of megalomaniacal hubris, Trump does nothing but injure the institution he was elected to protect and sustain. If we really don’t revere our Executive branch of government anymore, why even continue with the charade? From day one of his candidacy Trump bellowed he was doing us all a favor tolerating a term or two as POTUS. That so many actually embraced such guff as attractive delineation of his run for office provided all the red flag any thoughtful observer required to comprehend we had a big problem.

America and the liberty it is designed to reflect relies on three branches of government, each with its own specific role to play, and all expected to both compliment the actions of the others, while also providing vital checks when excesses arise. Do we want judges who scoff at justice and remind any and all they could be billing $500 an hour? How about anarchist lawmakers? Why would we countenance a President with disdain for his office? Say whatever you want about Joe Biden; nobody can claim his fondest dream isn’t becoming POTUS. There is zero doubt he will respect, even cherish, the office he serves, making every effort to leave it stronger and more vital than he found it. And the disarray he is certain to encounter makes that quality perhaps as important as any.

Fact is, EVERYTHING is on the ballot this time around! Four more years of what we currently endure will end the American experiment. Whatever faults or strengths Joe Biden now exhibits really do pale in comparison to the specter Trump’s re-election poses. However, obsessing on a negative is a very depressing way to pick a President. Fortunately, we can be confident Joe Biden checks plenty of the boxes one should require of who we honor with our country’s highest office. Accepting less, as we have learned these last near four years now, will make your back hurt… a lot! BC