What the hey? Starting a political post with a LOTR* nerd meme?
I guess it tangentially relates to what I have to say, but...caught your attention, eh?
When I go back into The Strait Line Wayback Machine, I see that in prior major elections, I made at least some attempt to post about the issues before us, and less about the candidates and their personality.
This was certainly true in 2008** and 2012. There was some shock over McCain's terrible Vice President pick, and again with Romney's. But for the most part, I tried to post about the major issues ahead of us. I made a deliberate decision in 2012 to post a series that dealt with major issues one at a time, and not much about condemning Romney as a person. I thought that McCain and Romney were wrong on many issues, but I didn't fear them as individuals. I may disagree with them, but I did feel like they cared about the country and its people.
In 2016, I was stunned and horrified at the Republican's selection of Donald J Trump, a dangerous man unfit for any public office, much less the Presidency of the United States. This led to more posts warning my conservative friends that this was not a choice they should make, for the sake of the country and the entire planet. Nevertheless, if you search, you can still see I had posts discussing major issues.
Not so this time.
Yes, I still feel strongly about many things. Faithful readers will know the litany: Medicare For All (universal health care, if you prefer), $15 minimum wage, Green New Deal, common-sense gun legislation, LGBTQ rights, police reform, the end of voter suppression, a return to international diplomacy, protecting and improving public schools and more accessible higher education, removing the cap on Social Security contributions, a better tax system. All of these are important. And if we don't move on some of them, especially climate change, it will endanger the entire planet.
These are all important, and I have no doubt that a Biden/Harris administration will get us at least discussing them. Unfortunately, there is one issue that, uh, TRUMPS them all.
That issue is
A RETURN TO DECENCY
We must first and foremost remove the narcissistic bully who is destroying everything great about America.
Everything else pales next to that.
I can't list everything he has done. That would take volumes. Every day he breaks apart the norms and institutions that have bound us together.
Biden may not be the progressive dynamo I want him to be. But there is one thing that he undeniably is, and that is DECENT. He is empathetic. He is caring. He wants to work to solve American problems, and his ego is not so big that he refuses to listen to others, including the best advice from medical and scientific experts.
His first instincts will not be to ban others based on religion or race.
He will not build walls as a substitute for comprehensive immigration reform.
He will not abandon allies and let them die, like Trump did with the Kurds.
He will not separate children from their parents, or put them in cages.
He will not call Nazis very fine people, or praise QAnon.
He will not cooperate and collude with foreign governments, as Trump has done with Russia.
He will not try to bully other countries into granting him personal favors.
He will reach across the aisle and work with Republicans (I remain skeptical as to how well that will work, but I know Biden will try, as Obama did). Although he may rightfully talk ill of Trump, he is not going to turn Republicans into the enemies of the people, as Trump does with Democrats.
He will stop messing around ignoring the devastating COVID-19 virus, spreading rumors, refuting science, trying to pretend that having 4% of the population and 25% of the cases is a success, and instead deploy the full force of the federal government to get us over it and SAVE AMERICAN LIVES.
He's not going to obstruct justice or be swamped by a web of criminal and semi-criminal enterprises.
He's never going to say, "I take no responsibility at all!"
The most crucial thing Biden has said came in his universally praised acceptance speech -
"But while I will be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American President."
Yes, it's true. Politicians say a lot of things. There is often puffery, exaggeration, and outright lies. But on this statement, I believe Joe Biden.
Unconditionally and absolutely.
Let's return to decency.
Let's give Biden/Harris the landslide they deserve.
*LOTR refers to Lord of the Rings. Yes, in addition to politics, I am a big old nerd. Deal.
** Truth is my blog wasn't operational until 2009, but nevertheless, my early posts were more issue-oriented, and in 2008, the way I wrote in other places or talked to others was more issue-oriented.
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