
What pushed me over the edge was a recent poll in which respondents were asked whether Presidents Trump or Biden had accomplished more in office. Astonishingly, Trump prevailed by ten points! It’s difficult, nay impossible, to believe that Americans actually believe that this man who left the country in a shambles, did better than his normal, mainstream, norm-respecting successor. Did the people who opted for Trump forget about his calamitous mismanagement of the pandemic; his cabinet of grifters, fools and incompetents; his dismantling of essential international agreements; his racism, misogyny and anti-Semitism; his 30,000-plus documented lies; his Muslim ban; the highest personnel turnover of any administration; his weaponization of the Justice Department; his reckless mishandling of classified documents, including war plans and nuclear secrets; and of course, the January 6 culmination of his Herculean effort to overthrow the government and remain in power? I could go on, but you get the point.
In contrast, President Biden pushed through a spate of legislation designed to tackle some of the nation’s most vexing problems, including lowering drug and healthcare costs; the largest-ever investment in climate change mitigation; gun safety legislation; the largest-ever investment in mental health services; the Chips and Science Act; the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; the American Rescue Plan; leading America to the lowest inflation rate in the developed world; the PACT Act expanding healthcare coverage for 3.5 million veterans exposed to burn pits; revitalizing NATO and supporting Ukraine in its war for survival; reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act (which Trump allowed to lapse); and more.
The heightened concern about Biden’s age is another conundrum hard to understand. Trump is only three years younger and quite obviously in far worse physical and mental condition than Biden. Trump consumes a horrible diet and does not believe in exercise (riding around in a golf cart doesn’t count). His daily diatribes and incoherent interviews demonstrate a severely compromised mental capacity that looks to be deteriorating with every new outburst. In fact, the age concern should be all about Trump.
Republicans’ eternal quest for false equivalences, e.g., equating Hunter Biden’s possible indictment for tax evasion and gun ownership while a drug addict with Trump’s 91 (and counting) felony indictments, is “whataboutism” carried to an extreme.
Perhaps the most shocking development is the disdain of Trump and his followers for democracy and their desire to replace America’s greatest contribution to Planet Earth with authoritarianism. Trump late last year called for “terminating the Constitution.” Yet this is the person tied with President Biden in recent polls.
This is stunning. Given the balance sheet noted above and his contempt for the Constitution, how can anyone prefer Trump? It is mind-blowing. Moreover, his professed intentions should he re-claim the presidency are chilling: bailing on Ukraine; another round of playing footsie with murderous thug dictators like Putin and Kim Jong Un; dismantling NATO; replacing thousands of dedicated civil servants with MAGA cronies; and weaponizing the Justice Department (once again) to serve his personal grievances. He has vowed to use a second term to “lock up” his political opponents and pledged to be his supporters’ “retribution.”
Yet, none of this appears to be siphoning votes from this mad man intent on destroying America.
Dick Hermann
September 8, 2023
Note: I will be presenting a book talk on Mother’s Century on Wednesday, September 13, at 7:00 PM at the Cherry Hill, New Jersey Central Library, 1100 Kings Highway North…and a book talk on Eminent Riparians on Monday, September 25, at 6:00 PM at the Wood Library, 134 North Main Street in Canandaigua, NY. If you happen to be in either area on those dates, you are cordially invited to attend.