White House Race- February 17, 2024

It felt like many things have happened over the past week that are worth mentioning, but none worthy of a major focus. From a writing perspective, this seems like an organizational challenge, so I am just going to try to break it down by day.

Sunday-

It was the Super Bowl and a time to tune out about politics.Is that ever possible though? Joe Biden had skipped once again what had been a Presidential tradition of a pre-game sitdown with the network broadcasting the game, that was a mix of soft and hard news questions. Many feel this was a lost opportunity, especially with all the Swifties tuning in.

However, Biden does not do many interviews these days as any gaffe he makes, which are frequent, receive much attention. Instead, his campaign debuted its new Tik Tok account with a pretty cringy video that made the 81 year old President look even older and more un-hip than ever before.

All that aside though, why is Biden on TikTok? It was not long ago, when his Administration banned the device on government apps and said that it was a national security risk. However, in their desire to reach young people on the platform which has also become overrun with pro-terrorist vitriol against Israel, Biden appeared in a video. So, is it a national security risk or not? Does your potential political benefit outweigh that? They seem to think so and that is a very negative statement about Joe Biden.

Somewhat of a more traditional ad appeared on the Super Bowl in which the Robert Kennedy Jr. SuperPAC pretty much used images of him over the horribly cheesy and outdated music and theme that his uncle had used way back in 1960. Many Kennedy relatives said they were offended by this. The Independent candidate sort of apologized to them and said he had nothing to do with it, but continues to feature the ad on his social media. Personally, I noticed an image of RFK Jr.skiing in the ad, which seems odd, because one of his brothers died doing that.

Monday-

I will take this point to note that after the horribly bad week Joe Biden had prior in regards to the Special Prosecutor Report, Donald Trump sure did an amazing job of stepping all over the anti-Biden narrative by his own craziness. The statements Trump made threatening NATO allies that he might encourage Russia to attack them, which I briefly mentioned last week, attracted all sorts of criticism and I think has potential to hurt the presumptive Republican nominee among whatever amount of persuadable voters may be out there.

Despite the fact that only two states have voted thus far, Trump has exercised his dominance over the Republican Party by basically firing his once hand-picked RNC Chair and replacing her with an even more vocal election denier. He also is putting his daughter in law as the RNC Co-Chair. I will note that Maureen Reagan was indeed the RNC Co-Chair during the final stages of her father's Administration, but that was a bit different, as the Gipper was not seeking reelection at the time and was currently President.

Now, Lara Trump is basically saying that all RNC money will go towards Donald Trump. Down the ballot races apparently will not matter. Many want the Republican Committee to be devoted to paying for the legal judgments incurred by the self-proclaimed billionaire in place of anything more directly election related. To say the least, Nikki Haley is complaining about this, but the die seems to be set.

On another front, Jon Stewart is returning to the Daily Show on Comedy Central after many years away. It is not a show I ever really watched but I did catch his monologue on YouTube this week. In it, he makes it very clear that he views Trump as the largest threat facing democracy but also pretty sharply skewered Biden for not being the strongest possible person to stop Trump, especially related to age.

As could be predicted, Biden fans (or those who are going through the motions) were heavily critical of Stewart. They believe that no criticism of Biden should ever be aired during an election campaign. In some ways, it is hard to blame them. Basically, the entire national political career of Barack Obama, even up until now, has been without him being the subject of any truly negative comedic commentary. While plenty on the right were merciless towards Obama, the late night comedians and shows like Saturday Night Live never basically spared him, especially during his terms as President. Any Obama satire was more complimentary in nature towards him than negative. That had never happened before or since for a President. SNL has continued to mock Trump more than Biden (though that just might be opportunity) but Biden does get made fun of a whole lot more than Obama ever did. Of course, he is older, whiter, and far less "cool."

 

Tuesday- 

First Republicans in the House managed to finally impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, by a one vote margin. I talked about that in greater detail last week. That was soon knocked off the news though by the fact that the House GOP majority would shrink by one.

 

In New York, Tom Suozzi, always the favorite, but considered to be in a very tough race, reclaimed the Congressional seat he had vacated and which went in the interim to the infamous George Santos. In his win, Suozzi won by a larger margin than expected and by more than some late polls were predicting. Democrats were understandably pumped. After all, they needed some good news. I will mention that Suozzi did much to keep Biden at arm's length during this special election campaign, even as Biden had won that district by eight points in 2020. On issues like the border and Israel, Suozzi often sounded more like a Republican than a Democrat. Those were the issues local and national Republicans thought could cost him, but once again Democrats outperformed the polls and their greater success at early voting, (especially when a blizzard hits on Election Day) benefited them. Since Trump hates early voting, many of his supporters do not take the opportunity and that has hurt them. The issue of abortion probably also hurt Republicans in this race.

While the unconventional Republican nominee in this race was perhaps a less than stellar candidate after all, there was really nothing earth shattering here. Suozzi won by basically the margin that Biden had won the district by and showed that 2022 was the anomaly. Despite that, Trump viciously attacked the losing Republican (a black Jewish female immigrant) for being "foolish" and not embracing him more. Of course, Trump had lost that district big too when he ran. so his theory makes little sense.

All of these things should continue to be warning signs to Republicans about the political weakness that Trump brings to all of them, especially in suburban, upscale areas. Suozzi might be the hero of the week to some on the left, but they pretty much have to admit he ran against them and their tactics in order to win. Obviously, it worked, and if national Democrats were a lot more Suozzi-like, their party would be in far better shape heading into November.

Wednesday-

I think I can largely skip this one. I talked in my Super Bowl result post yesterday about the terrible shooting at the Super Bowl rally in Kansas City. In the meantime, Congress continues to be at odds over foreign aid issues, as Trump controlled Republicans walk the line about complaining about problems at the border but not wanting to do anything about them. There have been mixed messages galore about what can get done to provide aid for Israel and Ukraine. The fact of the matter is though that Trump does not want to help Ukraine and many of his minions will fall in line behind that.

Thursday-

This day's news largely took place in courtrooms.

 

First, a New York City judge ruled that the criminal trial of Donald Trump over his hush money to Stormy Daniels will get under way late next month. The substance of the charges are probably the weakest ones against Trump and the harder to generate public outrage, but for those hoping to officially make Trump a "convicted felon" by Election Day, this will probably be the best and possibly only chance.

 

 There was all sorts of drama down south in Atlanta. The saga of District Attorney Fani Willis and her now former (married) boyfriend who is also a prosecutor on the case is too complex to get into on detail.  Trump and his fellow co-defendants are of course trying to get Willis and her team kicked off the case for an unfair conflict of interest because money was exchanged by the two lawyers who are being paid by the government as part of their romantic involvement. This can be used as a delay tactic if nothing else.

First, the ex-boyfriend testified, and then to the surprise of many, Fani Willis took the stance herself and it all made for some combative moments and riveting television. I thought this prosecutor taking the stand on live television would turn into a disaster for her, but she seemed to have a strategy. It felt like she was auditioning for a slot on "Real Housewives of Atlanta." I think Bravo would be lucky to have her. She definitely would know how to "read a bitch" She also seemed to relish the opportunity to paint her ex as a male chauvinist. So, why is he still making so much money to be on this case as your colleague?

Willis tried to do whatever she could to make the questioning about her appear racist or sexist. I think in many ways she put on an unfortunate and shameful performance. However, it probably will work on not getting her kicked off the case because she only needs to convince the Judge, who seemed a bit shell-shocked by the whole thing. Defense attorneys need to prove that her actions make it impossible for their clients to get a fair trial. It does not seem like what she did rises to that level. Willis was expected to take the stand again on Friday for "repair work" from her own legal allies, but they apparently seemed that would not be needed.  Still, one should be able to objectively say that her decision to get involved with the other lawyer (whenever it began) was a very bad idea from the standpoint of personal and professional conduct and ethics and that these actions in the most high profile case she will ever have put the entire effort at risk.

Friday-

The first thing to mention is that retiring West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin announced he would not be running for President as a third party candidate, after publicly mulling it over for months. This really puts the No Labels effort to find a centrist alternative even further behind the eight ball. I am not all that surprised, but of course regret that Americans like me will probably not have the opportunity to see a name on the ballot of someone who we can at least not feel disgusted by voting for. There is always the write-in option, which I will likely do in my non-competitive state. The fact is that Joe Biden is such a terribly weak candidate and everyone knows it, and thus nobody wants their legacy to be that they cost Biden the election against Trump. Biden and his people should consider the possibility that their legacy might wind up being that they elected Donald Trump by losing to hm in a race that should never have been run.

Later on in the afternoon, the decision on the judgment phase of Donald Trump's civil fraud trial in New York City came down. It was staggering bad news for the one time mega-developer and his horrible adult sons, who probably never really had a chance in life to be decent people, considering who their father is. Trump owes a hell of a lot of millions of dollars, even more than he did before, and that has to be eating away at him. He will continue to pay the victim though for political purposes. Some of his supporters are already trying to raise money to pay his fines on GoFundMe. Such is a cult.

The biggest news of the day from my perspective is waking up to the news that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had been reported dead in his Russian prison camp. While this is probably not a huge surprise, he did appear healthy in a video the day prior. He was just 47 years old.

Nobody knows precisely what happened, but safe to say, Vladimir Putin had him murdered. He has done that to so many people in his country and others before who have dared to oppose him. The Russian government is already taking steps to not release Navalny's body. They definitely do not want anyone to be able to figure out what happened.

President Joe Biden issued a strong rhetorical response to Putin on this event, but the words seem hallow. A long time ago, he said there would be severe consequences for Putin if Navalny died? Will there be? Beyond the U.S. still attempting to aid Ukraine? Probably not. Putin sees weakness in the Congress and the political weaknesses of Joe Biden and took the opportunity. This is not to say that Putin, the brutal murderer and terrorist, is not completely and totally responsible for this atrocity. In the meantime, useful idiot Tucker Carlson, who gave a non-challenging interview to Putin, is focusing on how clean the subway is in Moscow and how cheaper things are at the grocery stores. Well, for one thing, Russians make a lot less money and pay a lot more proportionally than most Americans do, but there are many other things Tucker should be taking into consideration.

People around the world, for all eternity, should study the life and courage of Alexei Navalny, a martyr for freedom and for his country. I admit that I do not know as much about hm as I should. May his death not be in vain.

MAGA acolytes reacted in despicable ways, even as Trump has remained completely about Putin and Navalny after the event. Some claim that they took Putin at his word when he recently said he prefers Biden to be reelected instead of Trump. Gee, how dumb are they? They claim that Navalny never would be killed if Trump was President. The facts are that Navalny was first poisoned when Trump was President. He did not die then, instead he bravely returned to his country, was imprisoned when Trump was President. Trump, as President, never said a word.

Even worse, some are trying to claim that Trump is the American Navaly and that Biden is trying to make it so he dies in prison.That is almost even too ridiculous to address. For one thing, Trump has due process in the courts. He is also running for his country's top job. That comparison of Trump to Navalny is insulting and anti-American. Trump is far more like Putin, at least in his desires.

Nikki Haley has continued to be harsh on Trump after Navalny's death. Former Vice President Mike Pence remarked once again that "there is no room in the Republican Party for apologists of Putin." If these two politicians actually mean what they say, there is no way they can ever endorse Donald Trump this year. We will be watching.

Saturday-

As the week ends, I am still thinking of Navalny and all the victims of Putin, including the millions repressed within Russia. Americans should be thinking of them, and the brave people of Ukraine, and the courageous people of Israel, the Palestinians victimized by their own terrorist leaders, and people all over the world who yearn for the freedom we have (at least now) in America. Elections are about what kind of country and what kind of people we are. It is far more than "the economy, stupid."

While we cannot turn back the clock, I am always mindful how much better America and the world would be today if Mitt Romney would have been our President instead of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, or Joe Biden.

Yesterday, in speaking of the death of Navalny, the retiring Utah Senator Tweeted out the passage:

Isaiah 5:20–“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”