September 30, 2020
Last night’s “sh-tshow” masquerading as a debate left us demoralized and terrified. Every loathsome aspect of Trump’s personality was on full display— he was dishonest, hateful and boorish. Over the course of 95 interminable minutes, his braying voice oozing with contempt, Trump mocked Biden’s intellect, dishonored his dead son, and instructed white supremacists to “stand by.” The debate, something we endured, rather than watched, left us all exhausted by Trump’s barrage of vitriol.
Biden spoke for all of us when he called Trump a “clown.” He could be forgiven for his breach of protocol when he told Trump to “shut up, man!” (Source: “Trump incessantly interrupts and insults Biden as they spar in acrimonious first debate,” by Anne Gearan, Phillip Rucker and Annie Linskey, The Washington Post, 9/30/20).
Trump’s performance was hardly surprising, given that it had been merely 48 hours since The New York Times’ bombshell reporting exposed him as a serial tax cheat and terrible businessman, who is in debt to the tune of almost half a billion dollars to who knows who. Trump knows that remaining in office is the only way to stave off almost certain financial ruin and possible prison time. Is it any wonder that he spewed venom and insults in an effort to make us all as miserable as he is?
What is most dispiriting is not Trump’s performance. After all, cornered animals attack. What is most dispiriting is knowing that even after this performance, 40% of this country will continue to support him. 40% of our fellow Americans will support a poop flinging baboon if he promises to deport Latinx folks and imprison Black ones. It is knowing that people considered by their peers to be “principled, brilliant lawyer[s]” will sprint over the grave of RBG and jettison those “principles” to accept a Supreme Court nomination from a walking national security threat in a cheap suit.
The awful truth is that the most contemptible elements of our society have coalesced around this man- the bigoted, the greedy, the misogynist, the religious zealots fighting modernity. Our only hope is to beat Trump so resoundingly that we force these people back to the fringes where they belong.
We know Biden is not a stellar candidate. Most of us cringed when he described police brutality as the fault of a “few bad apples,” or at the alacrity with which he said he didn’t support the Green New Deal. Yet, we also know that Biden has the most progressive policy platform of any Democratic nominee in history; one that seriously addresses climate change, wealth inequality and systemic racism (Source: “Biden Goes Big Without Sounding Like It,” by Peter Beinart, TheAtlantic.com, 8/3/20). We also know that Biden is a decent, empathetic, honorable man and we know all too well what Trump is. Last night was a preview of what we can expect if Trump is re-elected. We have 34 days. Make them count.
#FairFight
#BidenHarris
#Indivisible
“Our only hope is to beat Trump so resoundingly that we force these people back to the fringes where they belong” is what you wrote. 40% hardly represents a “fringe.” No dear, this is America.
Their noxious ideas need to be pushed out of the mainstream