-by Patrick Toomey
As of this writing, it’s painfully apparent that Joe Biden will remain atop the Democratic ticket. Whatever momentum the anti-Biden boomlet had appears to have petered out. The likes of Jerald Nadler have come back into the party fold, and Squad members like AOC and Ilhan Omar are also on board. Only two incumbent senator, Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Peter Welch (D-VT), ever publicly supported the boomlet.
The disconnect between what Dems say in private and what they do in public has never been more obvious:
As a party, they are apparently trying to get on board the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. Senators and MOCs who should be headed to the lifeboats are, instead, heading to the bar or going to listen to the ship’s band knowing, all the while, that the ship will likely sink.
I’ve watched the donkey lose its tether to reality far too many times in the past 45 years, but, given the clear consequences of Trump II, the party has hit rock bottom here.
Now is a good time to recall W.B. Yeats’ “The Second Coming”:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
It’s a little hard to call the Democrats the “best” at this point, but we know that they lack all conviction. We sure as hell know who the worst who “are full of passionate intensity” are.
In 1972, H.S. Thompson used the following analogy that is entirely apt now:
Trump likely falls asleep each night thanking whatever god he worships for gifting him with Biden as an opponent. Trump can do little else, but he is a master at perceiving weakness and immediately going in for the kill. He has, for him, shown remarkable restraint while the attention is on his opponent’s manifest lack of capability. He will ruthlessly exploit Biden’s weaknesses in the coming months.
I was thinking that the political gods had gifted us by exposing Biden’s visible decline early enough that something could still be done. Had Debate I occurred in the fall as normal, we would be stuck with a nominee who couldn’t think clearly or speak coherently. Alas, the party mandarins chose to return the gift to sender.
In closing, I note this excerpt from the Talking Heads’ Life During Wartime:
This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey-dovey
I ain't got time for that now
If only the people entrusted with saving us from Drowsy Don and Project 2025 (a/k/a MAGA Kampf) would not fool around when there is no time for it now and would react commensurately with the gravity of this crisis.
Addendum:
A new poll released this morning by Ipsos shows that most Democrats think Biden should end his campaign and pass the baton.
The Dems created their own freaking fiasco. Either way it’s bad. If the high up Dems think chaos would be a great look think again. Harris or no Harris would be a disaster either way. The Dems knew all along for ages - ha ha - that Biden is old. Now they’re bailing at the last minute? Way to go Dems - NOT. We are screwed either way now. Thanks for nothing.
"The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity."
There is no best anymore. there are only the worst and the almost worst. THAT has been an apt description of the voters who vote in this shithole since nixon.
"I was thinking that the political gods had gifted us by exposing Biden’s visible decline early enough that something could still be done."
Not if you only recently had this epiphany. Biden exposed himself as ideologically and morally lacking his whole life. He exposed plenty about his corruption and willingness to do nazi bidding for the sake of his own career with the thomas confirmation. And he showed everyone who was watching the increasing degree of diminishm…
There have been developments since this post was originally written that indicate that the anti-Biden boomlet may not have died out yet. If he performs tolerably in his presser this evening, the boomlet will lose considerable steam. If his performance is similar to his debate peformance 2 weeks ago, all bets are off. It it's somewhere in between, who the hell knows.
I still don't understand why the likes of Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Ilhan Omar have stayed behind Biden thus far. The fact that the Clooney NYT op-ed (which was released after I wrote this post) appears to have had significant effect speaks volumes about the current state of our politics. I guess that, when a party relies …