Monday, March 16, 2020

PRESIDENT JOE AND THE BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE


Donald Trump makes his problems disappear. But this virus is unlike any problem he has ever faced. He can’t lie his way out of it because it is too out in the open. He can’t tie it up in the courts, or have Bill Barr investigate it, or Lindsey Graham defend it, or Mitch McConnell kill it.

They (Jared and Miller) sent the president out to reassure us that the demon virus was under control. They gave him the script. I am sure they begged him to stick to it. To truly succeed, he would have needed to be astonishingly presidential.

He would have needed to be frank about his failure to act quickly. He would have needed to demonstrate his grasp of the crisis and his ability to stem it. And, he would have needed to summon (or at least fake) that thing called empathy.

Instead, he did it his way, unloading lies and propaganda to cover-up his epic failure, and to try to spin it into a huge success, but this time, no one was buying it. The more they send him back out and the more he speaks, the more he exposes his ineptitude. He never bothered to learn the basics of being president, because, in his mind, when it came to making big decisions huge, perfect, wonderful, beautiful decisions he could always trust his gut.

But, not this time.

He botched the response to the virus and his precious stock market turned on him. How disloyal! How ungrateful! He was sure he could lead it by the nose and make it dance to his tune, but as he continues to trip over his own feet, investors keep running for the hills.

And this virus is not finished with him yet.

Nor is this virus finished with us. We watch helplessly as the disease curve climbs, the death toll rises, the disruption factor soars, and the economy nose dives.

Trump voters wanted an outsider to come to Washington and shake up the system, and they got it beyond their wildest dreams. Gone are the experts. They were just establishment elites. Out are many career civil servants. They were deep state, never-Trumpers. Removed are many “unnecessary” safeguards and regulations, instituted by Obama. Those were bad for business.

So, here we are, practicing social isolation for the greater good, and more likely than not, looking to our state houses for the leadership that once upon a time came from our White House.

The terrifying Trump-Republican joyride will end in November. That was already a near certainty.

Way back in June, the Trump campaign’s internal pollsters told him that he would lose to Biden in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin – the states where he beat Hillary by the thinnest of margins.

And to make it worse, those poll results were leaked to the press. Trump then did what Trump does. First, he denied that the poll results existed, then he called them fake polls, then he said he never trusted polls anyway. And then of course, he fired several of the pollsters.

Hillary lost when black urban voters and suburban, college educated women turned out in less than Obama numbers, while Obama’s blue-collar voters opted for Trump. The 2018 midterm elections and the Democratic primaries have signaled that the defectors of the Obama coalition have regained their senses.

To that coalition, we can start welcoming those 401K-Chamber of Commerce-Country Club Republicans who are now unhappily watching their wealth slip away. We can say what we want about their motives, but they know lousy management when they see it.

Indirectly addressing that lousy management, Joe Biden said this:

“No president can promise to prevent future outbreaks, but I can promise you this: When I’m president, we will be better prepared, respond better, and recover better. We’ll lead with science and listen to the experts. And I will always, always tell you the truth.”

He didn’t promise miracles, just honesty and competency. And right now, honesty and competency sound pretty darn good.

Following his unexpected landslide victory in the South Carolina primary that lifted his candidacy from the grave, Biden gratefully thanked the man who made it happen, Jim Clyburn “for lifting me and this campaign on his shoulders.”

How about that! Gratitude and humility might come back in style.

Entering the all-important Super Tuesday primaries with the personal heartfelt endorsements by Pete, Amy, and Beto, instead of spiking the football, he said this: "Look, I view myself as a bridge, not as anything else. There's an entire generation of leaders you saw stand behind me. They are the future of this country."

Yes! Our next president understands his purpose and the unique role that history and the voters have given him. Job #1 is to stop the joyride and take away the car keys.

Last night Joe took one giant leap forward by promising that his running mate will be a woman. We don’t yet know the identity of our very first Madam Vice-President, but I think we can be confident that she will embody the values demonstrated by President Joe.

Life is about to get harder, and even as it does, we will find reasons for optimism not unfounded, wishful thinking, but based on solid evidence. We will see that evidence only if we keep our eyes open and refuse to be blinded by the fear of a small desperate man, clinging to his own alternative reality.

Let Joe Biden’s resiliency in both his personal life and political life serve as a reminder of who we are as a country.

Comedian George Carlin sometimes ended his on-stage routine by waving goodbye to the audience and saying: “Take care of yourself. And take care of someone else too.” 
                        
So, in the coming weeks and months, do what George would tell you to do. It’s who we are.


Bruce Coltin
Surviving Trump Two Minutes at a Time

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