Joe Biden and the Democratic Party

 

“Three days into our post-Roe reality, the rallying cry from top Democrats remains largely unchanged: vote harder.

“It goes without saying that the right, Donald Trump, the shockingly well-organized anti-abortion movement, Mitch McConnell, the entire GOP, and extremist judges are responsible for the end of Roe. But for me, in the two months since the world first learned of the draft opinion of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe, there's also been a startling vacuum of leadership in the struggle to protect abortion rights. For me, it really seems like Democratic leaders read the leak back in May—and decided that singing ‘God Bless America’ on the steps of the US Capitol, along with a poem, would suffice for a response once the decision became official.

“I wrote about the demoralizing effects of watching this White House continue to decline to use its authority and mount a fight that matches the brazenness of Republicans. But I'm curious. How are you guys feeling about Joe Biden's refusal, thus far, to take on actions like eliminating the filibuster and expanding the court? In the face of catastrophe, is ‘vote harder’ enough for you?”

—Inae Oh
Mother Jones

 

Commentary:

I am afraid that today’s Democratic Party’s ill-advised priorities, political stupidity, schizophrenic identity, split coalition, endless procrastination and vulnerable candidacies will enable the Republican Party to take over the House and Senate in 2022 and the presidency in 2024.

What Biden and the democratic leadership need to address before it is too late, besides the antiquated filibuster and Freedom to Vote Act, is the lack of unity in the Democratic Party (e.g. centrists Manchin and Sinema); Republican propagation of lies; the ongoing Republican subversion of the next elections; the Republican attempt to rigged the voting system in their favor; the Republican focus on voting in partisan supervisors for elections; Republican gerrymandering; Republican legislator purges; Republican sabotage of the U.S. mail system; Republican attacks on Medicare and Social Security; Republican (or theocratic) takeover of the U.S. Supreme Court; rising American religious fundamentalism; the pandemic and its effects on healthcare; the unvaccinated and their effects on hospitals and the economy; the global demand for thermal energy; the climate crisis; the education and teacher crisis; cyber security; immigration reform; corporate corruption; pharmaceutical greed; wage stagnation, inflation and reflation; Russia, China, North Korea...

What Biden and the democratic leadership also need to address is an expansion of Medicare to include dental, vision and hearing benefits; an expansion of the Child Tax Credit; an ample reduction of prescription drug prices; the availability of healthcare for those who cannot afford it; the income inequality and unfair taxation of the wealthy elite, and the Build Back Better legislation, to name just a few.  

-Glen Brown