Comparisons of Donald Trump to autocrats and dictators, past and present (to say nothing of his friendships and professed love affairs with some) have steadily been made over the last nine years. With “America’s Hitler” written by J.D. Vance to a friend in 2016 clearly the ironic metaphor of the week.
And in the week that is, who is most likely to facilitate Trump’s return to the Whitehouse other than Joe Biden. He, who according to numerous press accounts, most prominently, consistently and insistently in the New York Times, has hunkered down.
Jason Crow
Hunkered down so insistently that he semi-coherently berated Colorado Representative, Jason Crow, on a Zoom conference when Crow and other reps voiced concerns about Biden’s electability and his effect on down ballot congressional races. After incoherently invoking both Crow’s and deceased son, Beau Biden’s, Bronze Stars in his harangue, the President lurched into coherence with “I don’t want to hear that crap” and later told Pennsylvania Representative Chrissy Houlahan that he didn’t believe the polling data she cited demonstrating Biden’s electoral weakness.
Biden hunkered down so selfishly that he told George Stephanopoulos that “if he lost in November and everything [Biden was] warning about comes to pass in January” that he’d be ok. “feel[ing] as long as I gave it my all, and I did as good a job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about.”
Hunkered down so self-righteously that he proclaimed that only “the Lord Almighty” could convince him to stand down and only the “elites” were pushing for that. Echoing a favorite MAGA punching bag in Milwaukee this week.
Beau and Joe Biden
All this hunkering down makes another Third Reichian metaphor obvious, of a once-powerful leader in extremis and aware of imminent demise. While awaiting that ending in a bunker.
Sad, given the long and excellent record of the Good Soldier Joe. And saddest because it needn’t have happened and the diminished chances the new Democratic ticket of Harris/Shapiro will have in the short time Joe and Co. have given them.[1]
The same leaders who tardily delivered the message to Biden could and should have done that last fall, a full year before election day 2024. As I opined in HL 177 “Joe Biden, It’s Time For Your Goldwater to Nixon Moment” 11/8/2023.
Kim Jong Yun & Donald Trump
Once they (Schumer, Jeffries, Pelosi, Durbin, et al.) failed to do what was urgently and obviously necessary then, it fell to Biden’s family to act like patriots from Rehobeth instead of joining him in the bunker like Peaky Blinders under siege in Manchester.
Nevertheless, it finally will happen in the week that will be, come Monday, July 22, 2024. That is all that realistically is left to act while preserving any decent chance of success and for avoiding a destructively chaotic Democratic Convention and the return to the Whitehouse of “America’s Hitler.”
[1] My barely prescient prediction of the ticket. Jettisoning Kamala Harris is neither justified nor viable. Among her three likely running mates, Gavin Newsom brings too much California controversy, Gretchen Witmer makes for an as yet problematic all female ticket. Leaving Josh Shapiro who brings Pennsylvania, one of three must win states.
I write this a few days after Biden withdrew. The night after Biden committed political suicide at the debate I watched Bill Maher on HBO. Chris Matthew’s was a guest and uttered something I found interesting. Something like, “There is an element of the Democratic Party that would rather lose with Kamala than win with anyone else.” This constituency got what it wanted. To me the weeks it took Biden to come to reality was more about preserving Kamala than an old man’s delusion that he remained capable of being president going forward. You really shouldn’t run for president if most people would be too afraid to get in a car with you driving. So Kamala is our nominee. May the force be with her. And let’s hope her ascent doesn’t result in Trump Part 2
Mr. Smith, the reason Joe & Co are putting us trough this is the primary subject of HL 189 ie their insistence, self-righteousness and selfishness – character traits Biden has always had – and I tangled with personally a few times (see my testimony during the Breyer confirmation on this site ) the difference is that he doesn’t have the capacity to use them as weapons just as shields these days and then there is the family. At this point an open convention would be folly. There should have been real primaries but as discussed in the post. L
Thanks, Lloyd. Why is Joe making us end it this way? My thought is that there should be a respectful non-adversarial debate among the Democratic candidates who might choose to stand for the nomination, including the VP. Then let the delegates vote. The super delegates can weigh in starting with the second ballot. The supers had the wisdom to nominate Obama in 2008, (More wisdom than I had at the time.) Cory Booker has been posting his heartfelt messages. He did a great appearance with Stephen Colbert. Kamala Harris carries Hillary-like baggage, perhaps even more so. Cory might do well at the top of the ticket. Pete Buttigieg would make a nice VP contrast to J.D. Vance whom he took down on Bill Maher. Perhaps the Vice President will recognize her liabilities and choose not to run this time. Shapiro gave a terrific healing statement about the fire fighter who died at the Trump rally. If he is willing, he would be a good option.