Democracy 2024: # 46

I never know how to start these posts and every Saturday I dread the task of writing these. I want to stop but I will be more disappointed in myself if I give in. Whenever I finish these posts, as rambling and perhaps as disjointed as they might be, I feel a sense of relief and at least some small accomplishment. The political situation of the present day is difficult enough for me as a disillusioned Republican, who basically is in a state of political homelessness, but the explosion of anti-Semitism, seen on both the far left and far right, and the mainstreaming of it has been hard to come to grips with as a Jewish-American. Many of the people engaging in this behavior likely do not even realize the poison they are dispersing. One particular simple-minded "soft" bigot will probably put excepts of this post on his website.. Through it all, I very much believe in the power of the First Amendment and free speech for Americans, even when that speech is painful to me.

 

While I did not get to really see much of it live, I was heartened to see such a large (and peaceful) crowd converge on Washington D.C. on Tuesday in support of Israel, the fight against anti-Semitism, and of course calling for the release of the hostages who continue to be brutally held by Hamas.Those hostages seem to not even matter to the United Nations or the global critics of Israel. In the United States, photos of the hostages have continued to be ripped down by left-wing activists, some of whom insist, as they are being filmed, that Israel is holding the hostages. Thankfully all attendees of this event were well-protected even as some did not make it to their destination because bus drivers refused to transport them to the site.  Addressing the massive crowd at this D.C. rally were the bipartisan Congressional leadership. That sort of thing is nearly unheard of this day and age, so let us appreciate it while we can and salute Speaker Mike Johnson, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and Senator Joni Ernst (whom was there to represent Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.)

On this broader topic, Elon Musk, a favorite of the MAGA crowd is receiving a lot of blowback for endorsing anti-Semitic sentiments and theories. Basically, a group of people on the right, such as Tucker Carlson, are smugly suggesting that Jewish-Americans have no right to speak out against or be angered by left-wing anti-Semitism, because many of them have contributed financial support liberal causes or merely because Jewish-Americans have historically been loyal voters for Democrats. Speaking for myself, before Donald Trump came along, I could never imagine I might ever vote for a Democrat and I do not feel good at all about the one I did vote for. I still hope to not to have to vote for one again, but these theories, including the "white replacement" nonsense, which the far fight spreads and which has contributed to real violence in America are completely out of the bounds of political discourse. Jewish-Americans do need to keep in mind who they are voting for and the ugly alliances with anti-Semites that Democrats have had for some time but as long as Donald Trump remains the force behind the Republican Party, there is not really much of a moral high-ground to be had.

Tik Tok was in the news a lot this week. After weeks of the Chinese government manipulating algorithms or whatnot to cause duped, dumb young Americans to be supportive or "understanding" of Hamas or believing that Israel is a destructive force in the world, now Osama bin Laden is a folk hero for some young liberals online. How quickly so many people forget what happened on 9/11/01 or may not have even been taught about events that happened before they were born. At least that took several years though. What happened to Israel on 10/7/23 was justified or even celebrated by some leftists in America within a matter of hours. Tik Tok is a big reason why. Of course, the ultimate irony of the Chinese app is that there is actual genocide going on in China against Muslims complete with concentration camps. Nobody seems to care or even know much about the Uyghurs though. There are no protests against China on college campuses or outside of subway stations or even outside DNC headquarters. It is far more convenient for the TikTok generation to focus their ire on Israel and America.

This was the week that Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at a summit in San Francisco, which the Democrats in charge of deemed worthy of cleaning up for the first time in a long time as to not look bad in front of the visiting Communist dictator. Biden stood by his assertion at a press conference this week that Xi was a dictator and I am glad he did even if it angered the Chinese. Why should the President of the United States deny what is obvious? Those on the right who are looking for any excuse or reason to criticize Biden should check themselves at times. Biden does plenty of things worthy of criticism but this would not be one of them. We have no idea though what really went on behind closed doors between the two leaders in regards to issues like Taiwan, fentanyl, human rights, spy balloons, and of course TikTok. At the minimum though, apparently we are getting some new pandas shipped to us to replace the ones that were sent back recently as if they were Elian Gonzalez.

 

Capitol Hill continues to produce numerous headlines. Now that the Ethics Committee has released a scathing report, it seems more likely that freshman New York Republican George Santos will be expelled for the House, even with not yet having been convicted of any crime. After months of being defiant, Santos is now saying he will not seek reelection, but who can take him at his word? He will probably file for the seat wearing a fake mustache.

 

In other Congressional news, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is accused of having delivered a shot to the kidneys of Republican Congressman Tim Burchett, one of the people who  helped depose McCarthy as Speaker. The former Speaker denies that any physical contact was intentional, but who is he kidding? That sounds exactly like something McCarthy would try to do. For his part, Burchett did not call the cops and is not taking part in any attempt to bring about an Ethics investigation (though Matt Gaetz has filed one) and simply says he feels sorry for McCarthy to be so broken at this phase in his life.

 

Continuing the theme, Republican House Members are insulting other Republican House Members. That is to be expected. It is too bad Jerry Springer has passed away or he might have Marjorie Taylor-Green and Lauren Boebert on his show for a discussion on which of the recently divorced MAGA darlings is a bigger "slut."  Matt Gaetz could play the role of Steve Wilkos and break up the physical fights. More traditionally, House Democrats and House Republicans bickered and engaged in some name calling at committee hearings and while we do not hear as much about it, I am sure Democrats are having some heated moments internally as well over Israel vs. Hamas.

 

Finally, Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin, a martial arts expert, engaged in full out political theater and challenged the head of the Teamsters Union to a fistfight while the union boss was testifying at a Senate hearing. The union boss at least pretended to be interested in fighting Mullin and I guess considering his role, I cannot blame him for that, but it was a bad look for all involved. Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders had to intervene and make sure everyone kept their "butt" in their seat. In my views, this was a completely planned stunt by Mullin and made him look ridiculous, no matter what nasty things the Teamsters head had said about him on Twitter/X. Mullin needs to toughen up to be in politics if he is that sensitive of a tulip regarding online criticism.

The big news in the Presidential race was that South Carolina Senator Tim Scott dropped out without even most of his staff knowing in advance. The writing was on the wall for some time, but I am a bit surprised he did not try to see if he could make a showing in Iowa. In that state, the popular Republican Governor Kim Reynolds recently endorsed Ron DeSantis but many feel like it will not matter. Trump is far ahead in Iowa and Nikki Haley may be gaining quickly on DeSantis there as well. It seems like those who might be conflicted between Trump and DeSantis are just going with the "guy they know." New Hampshire is a different story. Haley is certainly ahead of DeSantis there and might be very much within striking distance of Trump if the shrinking field were to shrink further. Chris Christie, the one Republican candidate to have visited Israel since the terrorist attacks, is certainly draining votes from Haley in  New Hampshire, but if he were to finish ahead of DeSantis there, it might mean that the race then narrows to a two person contest between Trump and Haley. This is the sort of old-school Presidential primary political forecasting that junkies used to love in cycles past. For now though, the dynamics of the race state to state, even a two person contest, favor Trump. Presidential politics has been anything but predictable though over the past decade. Incidentally, the same polls that show Trump ahead of Biden, show Haley would be a good deal further ahead of Biden. Only one of these Republicans will not be spending a lot of time in a courtroom during the fall campaign next year.

 

Not all was great for Haley this past week though as she made a statement in which she seemed to say that anonymous social media posting should not be allowed and that every sort of post must be linked to a particular person. I am indeed troubled by that sort of suggestion and what it means for free speech. Critics pointed out that some of our Founding Fathers wrote the Federalist Papers under aliases. Haley was off base here (and I think she is prone to gaffes) and Trump and DeSantis supporters alike attacked her for it and predicted it would hurt her campaign. A couple of days later, Haley seemed to back away from what she suggested and I sort of think this will be forgotten before too long. I will also point out that in 2015, Donald Trump said basically the same thing about people posting on Twitter and how they should have to reveal their names.

There will of course be a general election at hand before we know it. Right now, the polls are showing that Donald Trump would defeat Joe Biden in such a match-up. That is not a result  that many "smart people" either Democrat or Republican expected would be evident at Thanksgiving 2023, but that is where we are. Joe Biden is simply not a strong candidate. Ultimately, he may still win and many people will point out that incumbents Presidents have "come from behind" before, and that is true. Sometimes though, they have lost, most recently in 2020 when Trump lost his bid for reelection because the general election was a referendum on him and his Presidency. In 2024,, Biden will be the incumbent, and probably does not want the framing of the race to be a similar referendum.

 

So, while I probably missed a bunch of things that could be mentioned, I feel like I got a lot in this week and indeed I do feel a bit better now for "venting" about politics.

 
I will now feel even better by stating "Am Yisrael Chai." (The Jewish People Live)