Again, it's Biden vs. Trump

And, again, I sound the drum beat for a landslide for democracy

This vital midterm election is again, as in 2020, essentially a battle between President Joe Biden vs. former president Donald Trump. Biden has made it clear why, like Lincoln before him, he wants to retain our country's commitment to democracy and a government for the people, of the people, and by the people. Trump has made it crystal clear why he is in favor of an autocracy, like Joe McCarthy before him, that wants a country ruled by a single party with a dictator at the top, much like his friend Putin in Russia, Xi in China, and his bromance buddy Un in North Korea. If Trump endorsees take prominence next week, we will have a number of key battleground states being run by election-deniers in positions of power to reverse the vote of the people according to their whims and wants. This will unalterably tatter the fabric of our relatively fledgling republic into, in effect, a third rate banana republic, rife with bloody coups, rampant gun violence and vigilantism, and racial and religious bigotry, discrimination, and, yes, even ethnic cleansing.

Joe Biden is a decent man, there is no doubt about that. Donald Trump is a coarse bully and bigot, and yes, insurrectionist and traitor. There really is no doubt about that. He is reminiscent of the white slave holding plantation owners of the dreadfully lengthy and violent slavery era, of which this country has never atoned for, even years after an horrendous Civil War. They were arrogant and evil men, mysogynists, rapists, racists, human breeders, and demigods, bent on using human beings as slaves to advance their position and wealth. Things really haven't changed much. Women, Blacks, Jews, Moslems, Mexicans, Native American Indians are still demeaned, denigrated, and denied full rights, respect, and protection in our supposedly liberal democracy.

And Biden himself has been denigrated and defiled with memes and monikers more appropriate to a common criminal than a President of the United States. But that tells what exactly the Republican Party has devolved into. Joe Biden has done good things for ordinary citizens: infrastructure, jobs, health care, alternative energy. Though he struggles with inflation (which, I might remind you that means an increase in wages as well as prices!), he has remarkably lowered the deficit more than any administration in years. He has done things for the international community via military support for the Ukraine, strengthening NATO, and providing vaccines to Africa. He has tried to right the wrongs of Trumpian immigration policies, including stopping the building of a politically motivated, wasteful, and ineffective wall on our southern border. He has not only not defunded the police but has strengthened their budgets and actually lowered the crime rate around the country, despite Republican lies to the contrary. About all the Republicans and Trump did on that score was to call the Capitol rioters on January 6 patriots and ignore the service of the Capitol police and DC police did on that day to protect our legislators--and their own Republican Vice President--who cowered in fear for their lives in basement bunkers. The Party of law and order? Hardly. Trump never called the family of slain officer Brian Sicknick or attended his funeral!

And what did Trump do as president? He drove up the deficit with tax cuts for the super rich. He did nothing for infrastructure. He tried to axe the Affordable Care Act which gave health insurance to millions. He offered crazy remedies for Covid-19 that would have killed people quicker than the virus itself. He engineered the appointments of three radical religious right wing justices to the Supreme Court. He tried to disembowel NATO, and supported the UK's Brexit which undermined the EU. And he instigated and organized a coup against our rightfully elected government.

So what is driving the pollsters to predict a Republican sweep next week? One conservative commentator, David Brooks, thinks it has to do with a discrepancy in levels of education between voters of opposing parties. There are many more college educated Democrats than Trump Republicans. I agree with him, but there are, in fact, more registered Democrats in this country than Republicans. So the answer is more turnout than anything else, which is why I keep sounding the drum beat for Democrats--and independents--to get off their couches, get to the polls, or dig out those mail-in ballots they misplaced and fill in those boxes that will give Democrats--and Joe Biden--a stunning landslide victory on November 8th.