American democracy needs the re-election of President Biden
During the June 27 presidential debate, Donald Trump threw Molotov cocktail after Molotov cocktail of lies.
It is a shame that President Biden had a virtual inability to make his case, because he has a strong case to make.
Crime under Biden compared to Trump has fallen dramatically—virtually every kind of crime from petty to violent. Corporate profits under Biden are near or at a record high. Job creation reflects an economy that is the strongest in the world. President Biden made the point that under Trump the us deficit soared to its highest level in history relative to GDP. He inherited a deficit and such an economic decline that made inflation inevitable. There was no adequate answer to the supply chain issue short of a surge in inflation. That surge in inflation was aided and abetted by Russia’s naked invasion of a sovereign country.
That aggression caused energy prices to rise substantially until the petroleum reserve was opened. Trump did his best to splinter NATO and Putin exploited this. Yes, the aggression had to be deterred and Biden was His Own Man in doing this! Despite his diminished capacity to articulate himself during the debate, Biden has taken the lead in recognizing the stakes of Russian aggression. Anyone familiar with the policy of containment that started post World War II and articulated so well by George Kennan understands that a resurgent Russia in Europe and aligned with Iran in the Middle East is a global threat for strategic influence across the globe.
Trump essentially parrots Putin’s talking points and his disdain for America’s commitment to Ukraine is a clear example of that.
Under Biden, the United States has become the largest exporter of energy in the world! It is a shame that President Biden couldn’t articulate that fact during the debate last night, during which President Trump misinformed about America’s weakness and energy dependency. I fully agree with Biden’s infrastructure bill and the various benefits reaped by so many districts across the country. Republicans are benefiting from that money in their districts.
Biden recognized we had to get out of Afghanistan. It wasn’t going to be pretty. But he wasn’t about to make the mistake that Russia made when they foolishly believed that they could occupy this hostile and tribal land permanently for geopolitical purposes. Yes, it was an ugly exit, but I’m glad we’re out. So was Vietnam an ugly exit. There is no perfect extrication from the occupation of a country whose indigenous people are fighting for sovereignty and see the occupiers as enemies.
Trump criticized Biden mercilessly for his handling of the exit from Afghanistan. I wish President Biden had been able to forcefully delineate the fact that we are no longer entangled in the web and quagmire of trying to fight a war of terror in a land that we do not understand.
Trump would have America believe that constitutional guarantees provided by Roe v. Wade resulted in late-term abortions as the rule rather than the exception. President Biden pointed out that no such abuses resulted from that law whatsoever—and such abortions occurred only in the rare occasions when the life of the mother was in danger. President Biden continued to make a very good point that the decision regarding reproductive health should be between the woman and her doctor. I only wish he had made that point more loudly, forcefully, and definitively. Trump fully mischaracterized the law and that mischaracterization should have been thoroughly refuted.
Trump would have had the country believe that insurrection of January 6 was meaningless! He would have us believe that the insurrectionists that attacked the Capitol that day were ‘freedom fighters’, falsely imprisoned. It is a shame that Biden couldn’t have made him pay for those comments. Trump told the country that the violence that we all saw, violence that injured about 250 police officers, some seriously was a media manipulation. Several were killed that day. All because Trump played the fiddle while the capitol burned.
Trump had information about Covid well before the American people. He tried to suppress it because he did not want it undermining his economy and rising stock market. He did not want it on his watch, and as a result untold lives were lost due to his burying the information. Yes, he wanted to use bleach as the cure!
President Biden’s stimulus package during Covid provided an essential psychological safety net from which the economy roared back. President Biden relied on science to inform his decisions including taking steps to mandate distance learning in the public school system. He also implemented federal funding for mass vaccinations to try to prevent an untold, enormous loss of life. During the debate, Trump criticized Biden for these measures. And once again Biden simply did not fight back strongly enough to make the point that his cautiousness was correctness. Too little was known about this deadly disease.
Yes, Biden made the point that Trump was a convicted felon. A stronger Biden would have driven that home. Trump’s charges—his turning of the narrative that President Biden is a felon—should have been fertile ground for shredding Trump as a convicted criminal. No, Biden did not do that, and had a bad night.
Polling is showing that Trump’s barrage of lies, and evasion of answers has caused his negatives to rise. From what I’m reading this morning Biden’s fund raising is surging.
I am going to go out on a limb and say America will distrust Trump; his hatred and anti-democratic values will be transparent and Biden—with some better moments ahead aided by some strong surrogates—will win this election. I firmly believe Trump will be turned out again. It is not the strongest that survive, but those that adapt. Biden will adapt. Because his principles are solid.
Trump and misinformation, the spinning of false narratives will be transparent. In the end Trump will be the emperor with no clothes. I predict a Biden victory. Do not replace him. He had a bad night. He will have a great acceptance speech. American democracy requires the reelection of Joe Biden.
Bruce Farrell Rosen