I’m certainly not a political insider, and in times like these, who would want to be? My first vote in a Presidential election was 52 years ago and I haven’t missed one since. My vote went to the losing candidate as it has many times since, but at least back then, I could vote for someone whose policies and character I supported. Now, my new normal is voting for someone who is not exactly, or at all, the person I had in mind, but is still leagues ahead of the alternative. That was then, this is now, voting for someone you were enthusiastic about— as Kurt Vonnegut would say, wouldn’t that be nice.
In the 1960’s and 70’s the political division between parties seemed intense, but compared to today, well, there is no comparison. Americans and Vietnamese were still fighting and dying in a senseless war, the Watergate break-in was, so far, kind of a minor story (that would soon be very major), Richard Nixon was re-elected in a landslide but would soon become the only President ever to be forced to resign.
Back then engaging in illegal activities and lying about it was taken seriously, –-by both parties. Back then people “worked across the isle” routinely, now not so much. Back then voters irrespective of party leaning, could find some common ground, now, they seem to be “in different worlds”.
Vietnam and Watergate, issues that polarized voters and the major political parties are long behind us, many of todays voters weren’t even born yet, so they see them through the lens of history books and movies. But as history does tend to repeat itself, there are some pretty striking parallels between today, the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.
The war in Vietnam divided families and the nation, today, the war in Gaza does as well. The civil rights movement, gay and women’s liberation engulfed the nation, while today, the the Black Lives Matter movement and the struggle for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion prove that we are far from a post-racial society, or a society that has no gender bias.
Lyndon Johnson, whose impoverished childhood and homespun image belied his persona as Master of the Senate, but in some ways fit his presidency, was–a bit of a parallel to “the scrappy kid from Scranton who beat the odds”.
Richard Nixon saying “Well, when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal” — hmm, that sounds just like something Trump is saying, in addition to a few other alarming things. Strange, if Trump were re-elected, due to his 34 felony convictions, he couldn’t own a gun, but he could launch nuclear weapons.
Of course he denies he is guilty of anything and would be “the last to use nuclear weapons”, but he kinda has a history of serial lying. As we saw in the June Presidential debate, he barked out a string of lies to tightly woven together the smallest grain of truth would be hard pressed to find a gap anywhere.
While it is very true that President Biden did stumble spectacularly, at times sounded incoherent and seemed to be somewhere else, he also failed to press Trump on his lies, his unhinged ranting as well as his gaffes.
Notably, the moderators did not press Trump either and in the aftermath of the debate, there are plenty of calls for Biden to step aside from every corner of the media, but few calls for Trump to step aside. Why not? if for no other reason than his being a convicted felon, it mightmake way for a Republican nominee who might occasionally speak truthfully and one who might forcefully denounce the anti-democraticProject 2025 that Trump, lying again, claims he knows nothing about. Yes, dream on.
SO, what a mess. While Biden’s decision to continue in the race or drop out is his to make, it seems that voters, are grateful, mostly, for what he has done and are hoping he will leave it at being that “bridge” he said he would be prior to his election.
While Biden continues to insist he is the only one who can beat Trump, Trump seems to be afraid that Biden is the only one he can beat. So they agree at least, on who the Democratic nominee should be. We know Trump is, was and always will be the ultimate narcissist, Biden isbetter than that.
I do know that no one is irreplaceable, no one,– if that were true it seems the human race would have been out of luck long ago.
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