by Margaret Kimberley, published on Black Agenda Report, October 28, 2020
Biden always obliges Trump by denying that he will do anything that rank and file Democrats want and that would in fact increase his odds of winning.
“Trump is at his worst and the Democrats are, too.”
The 2020 presidential election has created multiple episodes of mass psychosis across the country. President Donald Trump bears much of the blame by his very presence in the White House. Four years after the trauma of his electoral college victory he still knows how to trigger millions of people.
He threatens to disqualify mailed ballots and negate the results if he loses. He instigates his armed militia minions to “poll watch.” The resulting Trump Derangement Syndrome caused otherwise intelligent New Yorkers to stand on early voting lines for hours because they think that doing so will send the 45th president packing. Of course, the electoral college invalidates the will of voters in safe states like New York, that is to say those where one side has a big lead. The only people who will decide the election live in a handful of so-called swing states and only they need to make herculean efforts to vote for president.
“The electoral college invalidates the will of voters in safe states like New York.”
There is much more confusion to be had, as black people descend further into the depths of a political void. The entertainer Ice Cube had some sort of discussion with the Trump campaign team to discuss a Platinum Plan for black people and all hell breaks loose in what passes for discourse in the black community. In this time of muddled thinking all one need do is provide a grain of truth, as in Democrats taking black people for granted. Then add a plan which claims to take black people out of jail, build them houses and businesses and give money to historically black colleges and voila, a tumult of foolishness arises.
On the other hand, is Ice Cube worse than the black misleaders who lie on behalf of the Democratic Party, and never lift a finger to help their people in any meaningful way? Of course, Ice Cube and other celebrities will get attention, whether they claim to support Trump, like 50 Cent does, or say they will start a new political party, a la P Diddy.
But people who really talk about the radical change needed get no attention. Trump’s rants or Ice Cube’s opinions or televised debates which ignore important issues all get the headlines.
“In this time of muddled thinking all one need do is provide a grain of truth, as in Democrats taking black people for granted.”
The last debate between Trump and Joe Biden was another corporate Debate Commission effort to control the narrative and prevent any meaningful discussion from taking place. Biden says the word Covid over and over again as if it is a magical incantation. Trump repeats the word socialism which seemingly has the same effect on his supporters and accuses a right wing Democrat of belonging to a group that he constantly demonizes. “I beat the socialist,” is just one memorable statement from Biden. He always obliges Trump by denying that he will do anything that rank and file Democrats want and that would in fact increase his odds of winning.
Meanwhile millions of people are suffering from unemployment, loss of homes, and loss of health care in the wake of the Covid pandemic that Biden talks about so much. But he hasn’t said what he would do as president to make their lives whole again. His plan consists of platitudes and a promise to do more testing and tracing. Trump owns the Covid disaster but it isn’t clear how Biden would undo any of the damage he caused.
Trump’s supporters are showing their aggression and fear that the man who represents them may leave office. They turn out in droves to his rallies and surely some of them will make good on his directive to, “Stand by,” and presumably wait for his orders to create mayhem. The collapse of what is left of the American political and economic system has turned sensible people crazy and made the “deplorables” live up to the moniker.
“Trump owns the Covid disaster but it isn’t clear how Biden would undo any of the damage he caused.”
The word fascist is thrown around rather too easily among people who rarely engage in serious thought. Despite the many debates about how fascism can be defined, there is a characteristic which everyone agrees upon. Fascism thrives where there is weak opposition. The same people who are in a constant state of upset about Trump seldom ever discuss what is needed to defeat him.
A fascist can’t be defeated by a watered down version of himself. Biden and the Democratic Party establishment are committed to doing as little as they can get away with while still hoping to win election. The millions of unemployed who should be engaged in bringing victory are ignored instead. There will be no stimulus plan to help them until after Election Day. They may go months living in desperation while the duopoly political leadership posture for public relations purposes.
No wonder everyone is a bit off kilter. Trump is at his worst and the Democrats are too, pretending to be for inclusivity and fairness while promising rich funders that nothing would fundamentally change. Millions of people look to Election Day to breathe a sigh of relief, when in fact they will have to struggle regardless of the outcome.
Margaret Kimberley’s Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. Her new book, Prejudential, looks at the history of US Presidents treatment of people of color. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well at patreon.com/margaretkimberley and she regularly posts on Twitter @freedomrideblog. She is a member of the Administrative Committee of the United National Antiwar Movement. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.