White House Race- June 8, 2024

We owe so much to the Greatest Generation. Those who fought and won World War II were the generation of my grandparents and every day there are fewer and fewer of these Americans remaining. As is often said, those who went overseas to fight fascism and those who remained at home to help support their efforts "saved democracy." That is a pretty heady thing to think about and those of us in this day and age really cannot imagine what life in America might have been had they failed. Now, we are 150 days away from a democratic election in which two men, familiar to Americans, and both a generation behind the Greatest one, are vying again to become the leader of the Free World. The result of that contest will impact what democracy looks and feels like for my generation and those that come after.

All of this seemed especially relevant this week because it was the 80th Anniversary of D-Day and there was much in the way of remembrance and ceremony in France, involving world leaders and many of the remaining veterans, who stormed those beaches, and are fortunate enough to have survived that day and the eight decades since to sit in wheelchairs, in many cases, and be appreciated publicly. It is hard to imagine that any of them might be able to return to Europe for the 90th anniversary.

In considering the 80 year milestone, there was much made, and I thought a lot myself, about the halfway point, which took place 40 years ago in 1984. I do not remember it personally but at the time, the 40th President Ronald Reagan, who served in World War II, but definitely not at the level of combat as those om D-Day represented the United States as President and spoke emotionally and movingly in two well-remembered speeches. At the time, he was our oldest ever President at 73, and a solid favorite to win reelection that year. Much of what he said about the "Boys of Pointe du Hoc" and the promise made by Lisa Zanatta Henn to her father, made its way into the campaign advertisements that year.

I would have first become aware of Ronald Reagan's activities on D-Day 1984, ten years later, on the 50th Anniversary. By then, I was a huge Reagan fan, and likely saw the speeches on C-SPAN or read the transcripts in a book. Ten years after that, on this weekend, 20 years ago, Ronald Wilson Reagan passed away. I remember those days very clearly as America paid tribute and remembered the President's devotion to the cause of freedom.

On this first week of June, we have an 81 year old President seeking reelection in a contest that looks to be abour dead even against a 77 year old opponent, who also once held the office that Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan did. Neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump ever served a day in the military. From my personal perspective, there is much to dislike about both. However, at these times, when freedom has been greatly threatened in Ukraine, and targeted acts of inhumane terror to the people of Israel, we would be smart to think about the Greatest Generation and about the leadership of President Ronald Reagan.

For all his many flaws, and all the criticism he has deserved, the current President, who visited Europe this week, and spoke moving words written for him to deliver about D-Day and its meaning, and the cause of freedom today is a million times more worthy of the Presidency than his opponent, a selfish, unstable demagogue who despite claims to the contrary and the insistence of his die-hard supporters, represents the very worst of America.

It must have been quite a week for Biden. While he was overseas, his son is on trial in Delaware on federal gun charges, being prosecuted by the Justice Department his father is in charge of. Those who insisted that the American people must respect a guilty verdict in Trump's recent trial will need to be consistent if Hunter Biden is soon found guilty himself. His father has pledged, rightly so, that he will not pardon his son, if it comes to that, but if Hunter is convicted, it will certainly be a horrible personal blow for the old man, and could very well affect how people perceive him as able to do his job. If Hunter is found not guilty however, many on the right will cry that the "fix was in" all along.

This week's trial featured testimony from Hunter's ex-wife and his oldest daughter. Also taking the stand was the prosecution's chief witness who happens to be the widow of Hunter's beloved brother Beau who in my view horrifically become romantically involved with him during their period of shared grief. She is the one who threw the gun in question away in a garbage can, and also admitted that she did crack cocaine with her brother in law/lover. First Lady Jill Biden was present for most days of the trial, except for D-Day when she was in France. She then returned to Delaware for just one day, before flying back to France for a State Dinner. There are probably legitimate questions there about how exactly those trips were paid for, but one can understand why she would want to be at the trial of the man she helped raise since he was very young.

Hunter Biden is receiving a fair trial and if the verdict goes against him, he should be held accountable, as any other American would. In the grand scheme of things though, his situation is far less important than what America and the world is facing in correlation with the upcoming election.

Though goofy MAGA folks take any opportunity to deride Biden, especially due to his age online, there were some pretty good visuals for the incumbent this past week. He looked "Presidential", much like Reagan did, speaking with the waters of Normandy behind him. It also helps a bit to make him look somewhat younger, when at other opportunities, the people in camera-shot behind him were about 20 years older than him.

For a variety of reasons, I am unable to do what I did in 2020 and actually force myself to cast a vote for Joe Biden. However, if I lived in a swing state, I probably would have to force myself. The alternative is far too horrible. Unlike any other President we have ever known, Trump sees nothing, literally nothing, beyond his own self-interest. He has been quoted as calling the war dead "suckers and losers." He once asked his Chief of Staff, "I don't get it. What was in it for them?" His supporters may feign outrage when this is brought up, but any of them with an ounce of intelligence know he definitely said it and definitely meant it. In World War II, America stood up to and defeated a dictator. Trump says he wants to be a dictator. Maybe just for one day, but that one day would be one too many.

In a few months, America will have a choice to make. It may not be a choice they have any enthusiasm about, but it will be a choice, and those who live in any state or in a couple of specific Congressional Districts, that could legitimately go either way, that burden of choice will fall hardest on them. It is cliche to say that their actions to preserve democracy and freedom should be far easier than what our boys faced on D-Day.

We all should know by now what Trump really thinks of those who serve in the military, or who have been Prisoners of War, or whom in any way say or act in any matter that goes against his personal wishes. He certainly could not ever mean the words below spoken yesterday by Joe Biden:

"American democracy asks the hardest of things: to believe that we’re part of something bigger than ourselves.  So, democracy begins with each of us.  
 
It begins when one person decides there’s something more important than themselves; when they decide the person they’re serving alongside of is someone to look after; when they decide the mission matters more than their life; when they decide that their country matters more than they do.  That’s what the Rangers at Port — at Pom- — Pointe de Hoc did.  That’s they decided.  That’s what every soldier and every Marine who stormed these beaches decided."