The old saying is that in politics You campaign in poetry, and govern in prose. And never has that been more true than with President Joe Biden. Although with Biden the poetry is more like an Irish limerick than Keats, and the prose is more like Studs Terkel or Mike Royko than Shakespeare.
Biden campaigned in poetry by pretty much promising everybody everything. And in truth Biden has really tried to carry through on his promises. But because you govern in prose, Biden hasn’t managed to give everybody everything they wanted, and so they’re all pissed at him.
I want to use two groups to make my main point. Nobody has done more to try to please his African American base, especially women African American voters than Biden. Biden named the first ever African American woman as his Vice Presidential candidate, and now she’s Vice President. And he followed through on his promise to appoint the first African American woman to the United States Supreme Court. But since with a razor thin majority in both the House and the Senate, Biden wasn’t able to come through on voting rights or police reform. So the glass is only half full.
The same thing for Hispanics. Biden has done pretty much everything he could with the hand he was dealt. He has appointed more Hispanics to senior management and even cabinet level than anybody else, and he has taken executive action to improve minority business ownership, including Hispanics. But thanks to two turncoat Democratic Senators, Biden has been unable to successfully deal with either DACA or comprehensive immigration reform. So again the glass is only half full.
But the despicable exposition put on today by the racist redneck Tennessee House of Delegates just not only changed, but laser defined the paradigm going forward. Because in a disgusting display of raw racism, the Tennessee House expelled two young, popular, talented African American legislators while letting an older white female legislator keep her job. And when the GOP legislator who cast the deciding vote admitted that the woman legislators skin color was the reason she survived the die was cast.
Because nobody has heard rhetoric or seen visual imagery like this since the days of the civil rights movement. In both of their defense statements the young black legislators pretty much specifically stated that they were not House Negroes who were there to sit down and shut up. And as a result, both of them are out of jobs tonight.
But the scene in the rotunda of the Capitol in Nashville was even more stark. More than 1000 students, mostly white, along with their parents treated the African American legislators as if they were heroes returning from the wars. And the loud bellows of Shame! Shame! Shame! that echoed from the rotunda into the House chamber only served to remind the GOP legislators that they were on the wrong side of history.
Today was devastating for the GOP chances nationwide in 2024. For the simple reason that it was raw and visceral. Older African Americans can immediately flashback to the civil right struggles of the 1960’s. And younger African Americans have heard those stories over the table at family gatherings since they were just out of diapers.
And since not a single national GOP figure has come out and spoken against the Tennessee House for their outrage, then that means that the national GOP is cool with the overt racism. Which takes them all, nationwide, back to the racist Jim Crow days. Come November of 2024, the African Americans will be out in near or record numbers to put the final nail in that coffin once again.
But what about the Hispanics? Well, The enemy of my enemy is my friend. However short they may have fallen in their promises, in their actions the Democrats have shown that they have the Hispanic’s best interests in mind. And the Hispanic community has had nothing but cold comfort from the GOP. And if the GOP manages to subjugate the African American vote, who is the next most logical minority for them to go up against? The Democrats may not be prefect, but at least they’re not antagonistic.
And here’s the wild card. In the last three elections the 18-24 vote has turned out in record numbers. They are more liberal, tolerant, and they know that it is up to them to clean up the mess that their parents have left for them. They have no time for overt racism, of any minority, nor any discrimination against the Latino, AAPI, or LGBTQ communities. I foresee that they will once again be out in record numbers in 2024 to put the GOP in their graves.
From a single snowflake, an avalanche can grow. The racist rednecks in the Tennessee legislature today thought that they were just playing local politics. And instead they ignited a national conflagration that may just consume the national GOP in 2024. Nice work morons. What’s next, kicking newborn puppies?
If they could find some new born puppies they would kick them. The South needs to organize and the Democratic party leaders need to check their egos at the door and take off the gloves. They can’t be afraid to point out all ‘culture war’ crap that is not supported by the Bible. In fact the Bible and Jewish text say Sodom was destroyed because they were Republicans. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the Sodomites killed a servant girl that gave an immigrant food. Sodomites were the Republicans of 400 B.C. Oh, one of the things they did was give beggars a marked coin and then when the beggar bought food the vendor would call the authorities. I don’t remember if they killed the beggar or just ran him out of town.
And the republiCLOWN party is financed by putin.
Fat asses mentally ill boner buddy….
Not all parents left a mess for their children to “clean up”. Not all Hispanics nor POC vote for Democrats. Not all youth vote and not all youth vote for Democrats. A larger number of Hispanics and POC than I care to imagine vote for gqp. I get tired of being blamed for creating the mess the country is in. My child doesn’t have to clean up after what I did because I voted with conscience and integrity for the best candidates that were out there, Democrats all. Thank you for letting me vent.
Tennessee represents everything bad about America.
General Sherman should have done a better job of burning down the south.
“the prose is more like Studs Terkel or Mike Royko than Shakespeare.”
Just a nitpick here but Shakespeare did NOT do prose. He wrote his plays through poetic forms; it’s mostly done in blank verse but it’s also virtually all written in iambic pentameter.
True, but doesn’t lessen his point – Biden’s work IS more like Terkel or Royko than any form of poetry, and GOOD ON HIM for that! 🙂
I am really disappointed in your complete covering up for Biden. He made promises that he had no desire to keep and knew he wouldn’t have to with the Senate situation. He is against getting rid of the filibuster as it has “tradition” behind it. He never actually fought for any of those things because he never wanted them. Yes, he did some good things but he definitely did not do what could have been done. I hope he goes out to pasture and someone comes forward, like Bernie, that will actually FIGHT for the American people.
He has been a very effective president while getting it from right wing nuts and people like you on the left. When he quits I doubt he goes out to pasture, what are you a cow?
Straight to personal insults? I am a progressive who sees the writing on the wall. According to the scientists, we have entered the 6th great extinction. Of the previous five, 4 saw the death of over 70% of all life on the planet. The fifth was caused by a gigantic amount of volcanic activity which spewed huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It caused the death of over 90% of all life on this planet. We are so running out of time and this man and I believe he is mostly a decent man, is standing by and doing nothing. Even allowing new drilling in the arctic. I was raised in a republican family but converted by RFK. I thought about voting for Reagon but proud to say that I voted for Carter. Yes, he is infinitely better than the opposition but he is completely a corporate democrat who owes way too much to the corporate donors. We don’t have time for corporate politics. I am so glad that I never had children although there was a time that I wanted them so badly. At least when I leave this planet, I am not leaving anyone behind to suffer the consequences of our actions and inactions. Now try talking issues and not personal attacks.
Sorry Patty, I’m gonna have to disagree with you. I don’t think you really have any deep appreciation or understanding of just how impossible the job of president is. There are 300 million people in the country and although there are two parties, and were I American I would def vote Dem, I still HATE Bernie because he is the definition of self-hating Jew, notwithstanding that I would be a Dem. In short, there may be two parties in the States, but there are 300 million points of view, and everytime a president makes a decision that pleases someone, he still leaves 299 million, 999 thousand. 999 people unhappy. And THAT is the nature of the job and why liars ALWAYS get elected and then disapoint, and anyone who doesn’t understand that (I’m guessing, YOU) is always disapointed. A president MUST choose his battles if he is going to be effective in ANY of the things he wants, and a smart one chooses his battles to win the ones that are the MOST important. A black female VP and a black female SCOTUS justice are MONSTER victories. Give credit where it is GENUINELY due, Patty !!
Well I would say these dimwits lit a little campfire for their barbecue. Problem being the campfire was next to a bonfire. Which everyone thought was ok because it was summertime and time for a party. Now what no one expected was the bonfire was in the middle of a very dry forest and the forest caught fire and sent everyone running around trying to get it under control to no avail. This fire was going to catch hold and burn and burn.