The Democrats' Hubris, Denialism, and Delusionality may cost Americans Democracy
The Democrats' Hubris, Denialism, and Delusionality may cost Americans Democracy
Narcissism Strikes Again
While the Supreme MAGA Court issued a ruling on July 1st that presidents are above the law by granting presidential immunity and thereby effectively rendering the United States a dictatorship, it's up to the character of a president if s/he abuses this newly minted imperial power. Joe Biden, equipped with good character, is not anticipated to do so.
America is transitioning from democracy to autocracy unless the United States electorate and the Democratic Party save democracy in the November 2024 election.
It's not without precedent that the Democratic National Convention (DNC) has flexed its we-know-better-than-you arrogance, having overridden a groundswell of popular support for beloved Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-VT) in 2016 in favor of a D.C. establishment figure in Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton under President Barack Obama.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, former chair of the Democratic National Committee and a key figure in the DNC apparatus, was considered a villain in thwarting Bernie's 2016 ascent to being the Democrats’ presidential nominee, sidestepping and circumambulating the populist will of the people in favor of a “safe” bet in Hillary.
Then, with Hillary as party standard bearer in the default lead over Bernie, FBI Director James Comey sabotaged Hillary Clinton’s all-but-sure win 11 days before the election by distracting and refocusing the American electorate on the so-called threat of Hillary Clinton’s emails (“But her emails!!”) on her own private server, which turned out to be a nothing-burger that nonetheless led to Trump's win and his installment of MAGA far-right Supreme Court Justices who would strip women of their rights to bodily autonomy by overturning Roe vs. Wade.
Trump's toxicity has trailed after him with his conservative majority Supreme Court with devastating and deadly consequences, all of which Hillary predicted along with her accurate assessment of Trump being “Putin's puppet.”
The Illiberal DNC
Tulsi Gabbard, a 2020 presidential candidate, has written a description of the DNC playbook process, in her new book For Love of Country:
It’s all part of the DNC playbook….It’s a 3-step plan they deploy against candidates who refuse to fall in line.
First they try to ignore you, as though you are not a candidate, and you don’t exist. They do not want people to know you’re running for president.
Second, if that doesn’t work, they try to destroy your reputation, discredit you, and smear you, using their partners in the propaganda media. They try to define you before you have a chance to define yourself. They relentlessly publish one article after the next depicting you as a kook or fringe candidate so that voters will not take you seriously.
If that doesn’t work, they go to step three - total destruction. They pull out all the stops to try to cancel, to destroy you completely.
As I recount the ridiculous chain of events above, most notably Hillary's emails and the improbability of James Comey facilitating the election of Trump and the fall of Roe, I can't help but wonder what other asinine domino falling will lead to Trump's reelection.
It was a matter of happenstance that both Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini attained power, as America's first woman Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright wrote in her 2018 book Fascism: A Warning.
Like Trump, Hitler attempted to overthrow the German government in November 1923, but unlike Trump, Hitler admitted it. In the intervening years, Hitler continued to amass power, such that by 1933, elderly German president Paul von Hindenburg capitulated to accepting Hitler as leader.
Echoing the rise of Hitler, it is now 9 years later since Trump entered the political scene in America in 2015 when he rode the escalator down at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for president, and just as the Nazis saw some setbacks in the intervening years between 1923 and 1933 similar to Trump being out of office from 2020 to 2024, Americans find themselves in a parallel track with an elderly president in Biden and a Fascist in Trump competing for power.
It was also an odd chain of events that led to Fascist dictator Mussolini becoming prime minister of Italy. King Victor Emmanuel was caught between a rock and a hard place between Socialists who wanted to destroy the monarchy and roughneck Fascists. After the Fascists began to occupy media sites and government buildings on October 28th, 1922, the King believed the Fascists could defeat the army, so the King sent a cable to Mussolini requesting him to replace the prime minister. In a game of brinkmanship, Mussolini's gamble paid off, and he became prime minister without winning an election or violating the constitution.
“President Biden saved our democracy by delivering us from Trump in 2020,” the Texas Democrat said in a statement. “He must not deliver us to Trump in 2024.”
Rep. Lloyd Doggett, on Tuesday, became the first sitting House Democrat to call on Biden to withdraw from the race.
In this dire matchup of democracy vs. autocracy in the much anticipated November 2024 election, the fascistic Republican Party is playing hardball and intends to seize power no matter what. Their mindset is not even on the same playing field as the previous rules of engagement as outlined by democratic norms and the Constitution.
The conservative Heritage Foundation’s president, Kevin Roberts, the ringleader of the ominous Project 2025, a bedrock conservative manifesto for Trump's Agenda 47 should he win in 2024, went viral over the weekend in a hair-raising clip in which he said, “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
With this fascistic and violent threat, Project 2025 has reached a fever pitch in the zeitgeist in the past few days. This manifesto has been characterized as a dystopian blend of Hitler's Mein Kampf, Atwood’s The Handmaid's Tale, and Orwell's 1984.
As the battle for America's leadership is currently pitched, it is a contest of wills between a kindly old man and a venomous conman.
Of this current trajectory, I'd rather tease out a postmortem/autopsy (if such a thing as possible) of what went wrong during the election for Biden in the form of a preemptive SWAT analysis whereby America assesses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the current course of action of keeping President Biden as the presidential nominee for the Democratic Party.
Biden's strength world over, if not in the divided states of America, is that Biden is a sensible, honest, straight shooter with a good heart. His weaknesses include being old and increasingly out of touch. Recycling Obama's signature phrases, “the idea that…” or “the notion that..,” ring tired, stale, and out of step with the times and the electorate.
NYU Professor of Marketing and public intellectual Scott Galloway offers extensive commentary on how the Millennials and Generation Z are being increasingly left behind economically and otherwise as Boomers and the Silent Generation refuse to relinquish power. Galloway asserts, “The polls now say moderates and young voters will opt for criminality over senility.” Of Biden, Galloway has written, “The narrative now stands at “I am an old man and, worse, another malignant narcissist who won’t get out of the way.”
There is an anxious chatter about, in so many words, Biden's hubris, arrogance, and, yes, low-grade narcissism to do with his stubbornness to cede power to a younger generation who is more in step with what these complicated times demand.
Ineffectually, in an attempted comeback from his dismal debate performance on June 27th against Trump, Biden, in an interview on Friday, July 5th, with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, was crucially asked, “And if you stay in and Trump is elected, and everything you're warning about comes to pass, how will you feel in January?” Biden responded, “I'll feel, 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.” Unfortunately, this answer is woefully inadequate as it does not address the incredibly high stakes of impending fascism and instead offers a personal, pat answer befitting of what a parent may tell their child who lost their bid for school president and also reflects an oxygenarian lacking verbal dexterity to be sensitively thorough in his response for upcoming generations.
Further, Biden dropped the ball when Stephanopoulos pitched him a softball question, “Did you ever watch the debate afterwards?” “I don't think I did, no,” Biden replied. At a time when so much is being made about Biden's viability to carry on another four years due to cognitive decline as evidenced by his abysmal debate performance, this answer is tragic in that it underscores and implicates memory lapses. Biden's attitude of “Everything is going to be alright; we are Americans, and the good guys always come out on top!” reflects both he and the DNC’s cavalier, hubristic arrogance that is unsuitable for the threats at hand in Trump.
There is still opportunity to be had if the DNC can be quick-footed, disproving charges of arrogance if they reroute this election with a younger candidate not facing cognitive decline. Then Joe Biden can obviate yet more tragic loss for his family and preserve his legacy intact.
Biden has endured a painful personal history that includes losing in a car crash in 1972 his daughter, Naomi Christina Biden, and the mother of his children Neilia Hunter Biden. On top of these unspeakable losses, his son, Joseph "Beau" R. Biden III died in May 2015 from brain cancer.
It's time for Biden to step aside, avoid more loss, and let new leadership steer America forward.
Resources:
Jul 8, 2024: President Biden called Morning Joe for an exclusive interview about his debate performance, why he's not getting out of the race, and why he believes he's the best person to beat Donald Trump.
Jul 5, 2024: The Democrat Contenders Who Could Take Down Donald Trump by Steve Schmidt—1 in 3 Democrats want Biden to remove himself from the ticket but who could step up and stand a chance to take down Trump? Steve Schmidt breaks down the possible future of the Democratic parties and shares which contenders have the best chance to win in November.
Jul 8, 2024: We Are Running Out Of Time by Steve Schmidt With President Biden doubling down on his intention to remain in the race, the clock is ticking for the Democrats to make a change. Steve Schmidt breaks down what's at stake for the country if nothing is done to stop Donald Trump and the MAGA movement.
Jul 7, 2024: The 2nd American Revolution (TalkTV with Trisha Goddard and Prof. Sam Vaknin) The 2nd American Revolution and MAGA are reminiscent of other transitions from democracy to autocracy in history: from the Weimar Republic to Nazism and when Republican Rome became imperial.
Nov 15, 2023: Danger of Old Leaders (Cognitive Decline, Cognitive Reserve) by Prof. Sam Vaknin—Old people are more experienced and less mentally ill (certain mental health disorders ameliorate with age). But they are affected by cognitive decline and impairment which render them heavily impaired and, therefore, dangerous.