The Unfolding Tragedy Of President Biden--

The Unfolding Tragedy Of President Biden--

(And a comment from a friend, with my reply)

The simple fact that Clarence Thomas is not yet the subject of Impeachment hearings for his conflict of interest regarding rulings on Executive Privilege for Trump in light of his wife's deep involvement in the Coup (not just January 6th) speaks volumes. 

The fact that President Biden has not taken action to expand the Supreme Court in light of their fascist majority literally trying to break up the United States, impose theocracy and trash the 14th Amendment also tells a story. 

The President who is a good man, operating under extreme adversity,  is either deluding himself or is being misadvised by corrupt corporate linked centrists, who still believe it is possible to achieve "unity, bipartisanship, and healing" with Trump's base. 

In one of Biden's speeches two weeks ago, he attacked "Ultra-MAGA" as one of the most extreme movements in US history. So, right there you can see it. He is attempting to distinguish between "just plain old everyday regular MAGA" or MAGA-Lite, and Ultra-MAGA. He believes that he can win over Trump supporters by casting an "extremist" light of some of them, that they are divided, that some are not racist, sexist, homophobic, pro-Putin, in favor of tearing down government regulation, of cutting taxes for the wealthy, overturning Roe vs Wade, banning books, ad nauseum. And this is the tragedy. He is both correct, and he is utterly wrong at the same time.

He doesn't understand what this is, even though he is the target of it, and has watched it grow like a specimen in a Laboratory. And like the bad plot of a sci-fi movie, the specimen is now eating the Biologists, Lab workers, and the equipment. And the lead scientist is saying, "we must save the project, the specimen isn't all bad". 

Consider this. In 1928, the Nazi Party got 2% of the vote in the German national elections. In 1930, after the US stock market crash and effects of the global depression hit Germany, their vote soared to 28% because of social and political chaos and division, which the Nazis exploited. 

In 1932, Hitler's party received 37% of the vote and he was devastated, and spoke of committing suicide because it was not a clear cut majority, and if he came to power it would have to be part of a minority coalition, not what he wanted. His response after being "appointed" Chancellor of a minority government was to have his thugs set fire to the German Reichstag, blame it on Communist terrorists, and assume emergency powers which he never relinquished. 

The point here? Hitler never had a majority in a free election. And the Nazis themselves, like MAGA today, were divided between the Stormtroopers (S.A.) led by the left leaning Grego Strasser and Ernst Roehm, and Hitler's military/industrial base. So Hitler purged the Stormtroopers along with  all of his political enemies or rivals In the Night Of The Long Knives, (even murdering ex-Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher) and never looked back. 

President Biden continues to make the same mistakes as the German Social Democratic Party and Christian Center Parties in the 1930's. He believes that Trump's influence is weakening, his base divided, and that by avoiding head to head conflict, he can split off a chunk of it in the period leading up to the mid-term elections. They are trying to win at electoral politics flanked with legal strategies, and demonstrate their committment to democratic values by appealing to a GOP "center" that has been gradually purged in a slow motion Night of the Long Knives. 

The "MAGA-Lite" moderates to which the White House is orienting have virtually no representation. They have retired from Congress, been driven out, or isolated. In the meantime, Biden's appeals to bipartisanship with the GOP have antagonized Progressives and Greens, demoralized many African Americans, youth and especially Women who see the White House as far too passive while their rights are being attacked. Democratic constituents remain loyal to the President because there's no other alternative, but how does that manifest this coming November? Who can claim with confidence that 2022 will spell the end of Trump's drive to return to power? 

This is what happens when you listen to pollsters, focus groups, and Analytics experts, who see people as "pieces" and events as part of "trends." They cannot grasp the concept of cataclysmic change which is not subject to numbers games and courtroom challenges, because they are immersed in "groupthink."  They miss those moments in history which are the most important turning points, because being statistically oriented toward past trends, they never see them coming. Literally, they are searching for the proverbial "light at the end of the tunnel" which is the oncoming train. 

So, "MAGA", both the good old regular "Lite" version and "Ultra," are succeeding in ramming through laws which will cause mass murder, and what does the White House do? They have the DOJ file a legal brief. And they tell Democratic constituency leaders who are almost convulsing in distress, "hold your fire, sit tight, we have a plan." The same plan put forward by Hitler's opposition in Germany which said, "let Hitler be Chancellor and have his run, he'll make such a mess of things that we will take it all back in the next elections."

And as we all know, there never was another free election in Germany until after Hitler was dead, and The Third Reich with him.  History doesn't repeat. People tragically repeat the same mistakes. 

We have an opportunity to change the whole battlefield and the course of the conflict, just waiting there for us to show up. That opportunity is in Pennsylvania, where we have the essence of "Ultra-MAGA" running for Governor on Adolf Hitler's program. If we lack the passion, foresight, courage, attention span and Democratic unity to mobilize ourselves in a timely fashion against this "thing," then frankly, we will get the government we deserve. That, in my view is where things stand at present.

(My friend's comment and dusagreement)

["I agree with much of what you said, but disagree with some.  This is not all on Biden or his administration.  He is President of all the people in this country and, as President, must try to serve and appeal to all voters.  So, his calling out UltraMAGA was spot on.  But it is not up to him alone to deal with the MAGA threat of facism and he can't "fix" the problem on his own.  So to foist the responsibility on his shoulders, as your opening seems to do, is misguided and unfair.  That Blacks, millenials, women, progressives, and others are "unhappy" with him shows how short-sighted and, frankly, selfish they are because he's not addressing the specific issues they care about.  

We are in a fight for our country as a democracy; honestly, some of us in a fight for our lives.  People need to see the broader picture, need to understand that their specific issue can't be resolved unless we have a stronger majority in Congress and claw back our rights in our individual states by rejecting MAGA governors and state legislatures.  

Your analysis of Hitler's rise and the takeover of facism in Germany, of course, is absolutely correct and the parallels to what we've been witnessing these last six years or so is terrifying.  Doug Mastriano is terrifying and organizing to defeat him is crucial.  I would submit, however, that defeating DeSantis and Rubio and Abbott and Patrick and Kemp and Perdue and a dozen others, as well as dozens of state legislators in a couple dozen states, is equally crucial.  We must turn those statehouses for, as we've seen in Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma, it is there that the real battle against facism is raging."]

(In reply to my friend)

["_________your insights are valid and well thought out. I don't think that I put it all on President Biden as I have alluded to a clique of centrist advisers who are misadvising him, because they have corporate influence.

There are a number of things which the White House could have done, and didn't do, because of the advice to not antagonize the "center" of moderate Republicans.  These omissions I would characterize as tragic. That is why, among other things, they did not go to war over the filibuster, we have no voting rights bill, we have no infrastructure bill, we have no Green New Deal. 

The worst and most malignant obstructionist in the Senate, McConnell, has been praised repeatedly by the President as a great friend, Senator, etc. Why, for blocking every single thing of substance except for the self-serving ass-covering budget on Ukraine? Is McConnell really the leader of the GOP moderates who is deserving of Biden's praise? Well, we'll see how moderate he is when he endorses Trump, and votes to Impeach Biden next year, along with his other "old friend" Lindsey Graham. Bank on that, if he is still in the Senate.

Also, I think the blanket characterization of those unhappy with the White House as selfish is overstated. The leaders of the Voting Rights fight around Stacey Abrams were "stiff-armed" according to them by Biden last year when they tried to get something going on the filibuster. He wouldn't get on the National teleconference they had for no good reason, delegated Harris to do it, and she spoke with them for two minutes, then got up and left, taking no questions. They were so upset they boycotted Biden's speech in Atlanta earlier this year. I don't think they were being selfish for not getting attention on "their issue." I'm against single-issueism on principle, like you. However, Voting Rights are as universal an issue as there is, and because the White House did not act forcefully or in time, now we will have 26 States running voter suppression and canceling votes.This is why proposals for a diffuse general campaign to unseat GOP Governors is ill-conceived and unworkable, in red states where they will have election police (goon squads) at the polls, and state election officials who will cancel election results.  That is what I mean by tragedy.

The tendency in a national crisis is to want unity and circle the wagons around the President, almost out of reflex, especially ones under attack from many directions like Joe. I'm not attacking him. I'm putting a spotlight on a group of strategists who are incompetent and/or corrupt, the same group which supported the bankrupt policy of "Triangulation" by Bill Clinton with the Gingrich led GOP in the 90's  which I've written about profusely, this year and several before. 

The President is "the rope" in a tug-of-war between the corporate centrists and FDR Dems, and he is now being pulled in the wrong direction. Every time he misses the opportunity to do something historic, like the first two examples I opened with, with, it is due to this centrist influence. 

And the idea of "Ultra-MAGA" necessarily implies the existence of moderate MAGA. I've addressed this before as a form of denial. The roots of it is that most well meaning people don't want to face the painful reality of the devolution of a significant number of our people. They have friends, family, neighbors, church groups who still, after everything, defend Trump, despite his Sedition, defense of Putin, calls for violence, calls for race war, endorsement of the Nazi replacement theory, and attempts to overturn the election. The belief in a moderate MAGA is, in my view, a tooth fairy view, driven by the fact that most people don't want to believe that people in their own lives who they care about are fascist. Too many don't want to rock the boat of family, career, social acceptance. Many people have broken up their families over these things, not unlike the US Civil War pitting brother against brother. I'm not accusing you of denial, I'm simply stating it's pervasive influence as a fact of social reality. 

Biden doesn't need a army of lawyers to defend him from criticism. He needs people to make themselves heard and break through the palace guard which is walking him and the nation into disaster. We need to pull hard on the rope and get him in full fighting mode, which as I've said, means fighting MAGA domestically as if they were Putin, which ironically they are in more ways than one. 

January 6th was our Fort Sumter. Lincoln, like you, believed that the President serves all Americans. But, that didn't prevent him from carrying out his awful responsibility to reunite the Union, and defend the Constitution. Most people, including the President choose to believe such a conflict is not yet underway. That's where we disagree. I hear frequently "we're not there yet." "There" is frightening. So, we often avoid it until it we have passed it by. 

I appreciate your input, and willingness to engage in public dialogue. I'm not trying to win arguments, or "mansplain" rather to encourage my friends to look at things from a different perspective. I'm happy to keep the discussion going, and in fact it's what I hope for when I write. Thanks again, take care."]

(Photo credit Newsweek, McConnell, wife Elaine Chao, President Biden)