Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory

I’ve said more than once that Trump was inches away from being a transformational president. The main impediment was his obsessive narcissism and his predilection for believing crazy-ass conspiracy theories. He truly was as gullible as his most crackpot fans, and they rightfully saw themselves reflected and amplified in his titanic stupidity.

That said, Trump was the least hide-bound of our recent presidents. He knew nothing about government or politics and so was liable to do anything. When COVID hit, he might have just rolled with a robust global response, spent as much as was necessary, and come out the other end looking like a hero. But the narcissist took over. He didn’t want COVID, and thought it wasn’t fair that he had to deal with it. Then came the flood, and it basically washed his sorry ass out of Washington.

Next guy, next fail

The talk about Biden back in January 2021 was that he might be the next FDR. Not even close. Roosevelt had a more expansive view of what was possible, fueled in large measure by the massive upheaval of the Great Depression and the growing power of labor. While Biden, on the other hand, is not entirely afraid of spending money, he has not moved aggressively on our most pressing problems. He, like the rest of the Democratic party’s octogenarian leadership, still has his head stuck in the 1990s.

Take COVID (please). The President has the authority to waive patent rights on the vaccines. He should have started with that, pushed production to developing countries, and used what resources are necessary to lead a global vaccination program. That is the only way to end this thing – that and providing free testing, free masks, free every freaking thing to our own people. Now, after ridiculing the idea, the administration plans to start sending people tests … upon request.

What the fuck? Why the impediment? And why did you wait so long to do even this much? It makes zero sense to wait until after the holidays to get this done, but they’re targeting January 15. Jesus Christmas.

Promises, promises

Let’s face it – COVID is still the mess it is because the Biden administration has not stepped up the way they needed to. That is a titanic failure, and I’m not clear on how they can recover from that. Add that to the Build Back Better fiasco, his abysmal border policy, and the student loan bait-and-switch, and you’ve got a trifecta. And I haven’t even touched on their foreign policy (well, I did last week).

The student loan piece was in the news this week. Biden extended his federal student loan payment freeze until May of next year. Of course, he promised loan forgiveness, which is arguably within his power to deliver without legislation. What the hell is he waiting for? Young people to completely write Democrats off?

We live in an era when financial services companies, like SoFi, do TV commercials about the burden of student debt and how even just a modest debt restructure is cause for a frantic happy dance. Low expectations are now baked into the cake for recent graduates.

Biden needs to turn this ship around. Trouble is, he’s more like Captain Peachfuzz than Horatio Hornblower.

luv u,

jp

Check out our political opinion podcast, Strange Sound.

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