Day of Fur Gale

We're doomed.

Joe Biden's disastrous, unfocused, incoherent performance in last night's Presidential Debate didn't quite guarantee Trump a victory in the upcoming election, but it sure didn't help improve Biden's chances. My impression is that Trump didn't lose any voters who were already leaning toward him, while Biden certainly gave his supporters pause. As for undecided voters (if they actually do still exist), I have no idea how they'll react. 

If both candidates were offering more of less the same thing, except for maybe a few policy differences, I would be inclined to support the more coherent, less senile candidate. But the differences here couldn't be more stark: Trump is promising an authoritarian dictatorship, establishment of a fundamentalist Christian autocracy, an executive Presidency immune from all laws, the end of women's autonomy over their own bodies and reproductive choices, and the end of environmental regulation, responsible climate policy, and safe food and water. I honestly believe that, if Trump is elected, I will never see another true American election in my lifetime. 

Imagine you're taking a voyage by sea and have to choose between two different ships. One  is rusty, obviously already sinking, and listing badly to one side. The other one looks seaworthy, has a professionally trained  crew, and is spotlessly clean. But the captain of the latter boat is old, and although he has an impeccable record, he mumbles, rambles, and seems unfocused at times. The captain of the other boat, the leaky one, speaks almost continuously in easily disprovable lies and is a convicted felon and a notorious cheat and fraudster, but otherwise seems alert and energetic. Would you take your chances on the leaky boat due to the age of the other boat's captain?

I'm angry. I'm angry at Joe Biden for not rising to the occasion and delivering the performance the occasion demanded. I'm angry at the DNC and Biden's campaign for letting the President take the stage last night in the low-energy, muddled state he was in. It was widely reported that Biden had spent days preparing for the debate up at Camp David, but there was absolutely no evidence last night of that prep. Whoever decided, "Yep, our man's ready," should be fired immediately.

Look, I'm not a particularly big fan of Joe Biden's. He wasn't my first pick for the Democratic candidate in 2020, and he wasn't my second or third pick either. But on the other hand, I haven't been displeased for the most part on his performance this term, and am impressed by the Administration's many accomplishments despite a non-cooperative Congress and an outright hostile Supreme Court. And I honestly and sincerely believe that a second Trump term would be disastrous for the United States and the whole world. 

And as if Biden's performance wasn't bad enough, this morning that hostile, as well as partisan and corrupt, Supreme Court ruled to overturn the so-called Chevron doctrine, effectively limiting the ability of federal agencies like the EPA, the FDA, and OSHA to regulate the environment, health care, worker protection, food and drug safety, telecommunications, the financial sector and more. The decision is a major victory for those conservatives who've been wanting to dismantle “the administrative state.”

These are dangerous, perilous times, and what we need right now is a President who respects the rule of law, wants our environmental, workplace, and food and drug to be safe, and prioritizes American democracy. That ain't Trump.