Biden V. Trump: Whoever Wins, We Lose

As the 2020 US Elections loom closer, America has never before felt this divided. For most Americans, it seems like a transformative moment in the history of the United States, a pivotal point history. You can already imagine countless authors preparing to write the alternative histories of the United States! Imagine a World Where Trump Had Two Terms! Imagine a World Where Trump Had Lost! Etc.

Bernie Under The Bus

For young democrats, this election cycle began with such promise. They clamored for Bernie Sanders, hoping that after the great darkness that they saw with Trump, Sanders would usher in a new dawn. They had hoped, as did many, that with such a wild swing towards everything they saw as wrong with America, that America was now finally ready to accept responsibility for its people, that students might not have to toil forever under back-breaking loans, that corporate greed would be kept in check, that a hint of the healthcare most other First-World countries enjoy would finally be enjoyed by Americans. That, with a candidate they could back, young college-educated Americans would turn out in record numbers, and Sanders would fight both the old political dinosaur and the corporate oligarchs for a better future.

It was a delusion, of course. No such thing was possible. I predicted, back in August of 2019, that Sanders would be dropped, and that Biden would be the so-called ‘democratic’ candidate. No crystal ball needed, it was all too predictable…par for the course.

Parties? More Like Color Themes

Here’s the thing, and it’s obvious to anybody who can see American politics from some distance; there aren’t two major political parties in the United States, there’s only really one corporate party, but it’s offered with two color themes; red and blue.

It’s not really politics at all, it’s wrestling.

The pretense of difference between the two major political parties is good for almost everybody. It’s good for television networks like CNN and Fox News, who can always pretend to be in some zero-sum rivalry. It’s good for most politicians, who can make it clear which ‘team’ they’re on, and draw in gullible voters who are generally more than happy to virtue-signal whatever values play well to their peers by wrapping themselves in the freedom-loving reds or the rights-loving blues. It’s good for the corporate lobbyists who pay both sides handsomely for their compliance and get their way no matter who wins. In fact, you can see how this goes; it’s good for everybody involved, except for the average American man, woman, and child.

The biggest issues facing America today (and there are many) are not exclusively the creation of the Republican Party, although this is what Democrats would have you believe. When it comes to major issues, both parties are complicit. What did Obama (with then VP Biden) do to stop systemic police racism against blacks? Nothing. What did the democrats do to stop the privatization of prisons and the accompanying legislative measures that made sure those prisons would always have maximum occupancy and therefore generate maximum profits? Nothing at all. How does the United States rank globally on education? It’s in 26th place, far behind heavyweight China (at the top rank), but also far behind some much smaller countries such as Liechtenstein, Estonia, Macau, or Belgium. Health? The United States is 11th, behind leaders such as the UK, Australia, and The Netherlands.

All this while the United States ranks 1st economically, and has a GDP of $21.44. All of which begs the question — where is all the money?

When it comes to foreign affairs, the distinction between the two parties breaks down under far lesser pressure; What did the Democrats do for the Middle East and Palestinians? Less than nothing. Obama bent the knee to AIPAC, just as every other American candidate who wants to be taken seriously must do, and promised them an undivided Israeli Jerusalem. It was Robert F. Kennedy who broke the USA embargo on selling weapons to the then-nascent Zionist occupation back in the day, and decided that Israel is America’s ‘special friend’. Has ANY Democrat done anything to pull back the American Empire with its more than 800 military bases strewn across the globe? No, that’s not how the game is played.

The Money

No matter which party wins, corporate lobbies control the internal economics of the United States and the military-industrial complex controls the role the USA plays across the global stage; creating wars, selling weapons to both sides, and fostering dictatorships so long as they serve American interests. Eisenhower warned Americans about all this, but it’s as though nobody paid any attention whatsoever.

The Real Left Lives In The Margins

The reduction of all politics in the USA to those two supposedly different political parties, though — has insidious consequences. Anybody who tries to run on an alternative platform is at best ridiculed as not having a snowball’s chance in hell or, at worst, accused of ‘stealing’ votes that might’ve allowed a leading party candidate to win. This plays out in a horrific fashion, essentially destroying the very notion that each voter has a voice. Voters are made to feel that they have a moral duty to vote for a ‘viable’ candidate rather than the one their conscience dictates. This is a view enforced not only by both political parties but by all politicians belonging to those parties, by their supporters, and even by supposedly liberal freedom-loving media outlets. I still recall being utterly disappointed when I saw John Oliver, for instance, mocking the candidacy of Jill Stein, a ridiculously clear example of punching down by a major ostensibly leftist media figure.

The voter-bullying continues unabated online, by people who either genuinely don’t know better, or who are desperate for marginal progress if that’s all they believe they can get.

I commented, saying that vote-shaming is a despicable way to force people into voting for one of two parties which are both bought and paid for by corporate lobbyists and which both represent almost identical corporate and military interests. How democratic can a culture be when democrats don’t want you to vote your conscience?

Real Change? Not On The Menu

I remember back in 2008, when Mike Gravel, who had served as a Senator from Alaska from 1969–1981, decided to run for the presidency. Gravel knew he didn’t have much of a chance, and it was quite clear that he used his campaign as a platform to propagate some of his ideas. Gravel was against the war in Iraq and always had been. He called for the immediate cessation of military involvement in Iraq and denounced any escalations against Iran. Gravel suggested a Constitutional amendment that would bypass highly funded lobbies by recognizing the people of the United States as a fourth branch of the federal government, allowing the people to vote, via direct democracy, to initiate and pass legislation. Gravel also proposed a national sales tax that would replace the income tax and make the IRS redundant. Gravel also emphasized his support for a single-payer national healthcare system, nuclear disarmament, and same-sex marriage recognition.

What happened to Gravel, you ask? Let me ask you back, how many of you even remember ever hearing about him? Gravel was sidelined, both by the Democratic Party and by every single Television Network in America. When he was actually given time to speak, he spoke more bluntly than Bernie Sanders ever did, all of which has made me often refer to Sanders as ‘Gravel-Lite’.

Think I’m exaggerating? Watch!

Gravel was fearless, both in suggesting actual change and in confronting candidates from both parties with their failure to commit to any real change themselves.

Compared to Mike Gravel, Bernie Sanders seemed like a much easier pill for Washington to swallow, and you’d think that he came at the perfect time, when the DNC would be willing to make some concessions to young voters in order to win back the presidency, or more importantly, to take it away from the monstrosity that they claim to see in Trump.

One would think that a man like Bernie Sanders, who condoned Obama’s kill-list, declared he’d support Hillary Clinton if she were nominated and is so unwilling to detach himself from the DNC as to eventually support even Joe Biden, would be considered a viable candidate for the Democratic Party. One might think so, but one would be wrong. As I, perhaps cynically, anticipated, the Democratic Party would rather lose the Presidency than risk losing lobbyist money.

Which brings us back to where we stand today…

Whose America Is It Anyway?

Young Democratic voters find themselves enamored with young icons such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the youngest woman ever to serve in the United States Congress. Ocasio-Cortez is spell-binding, and her videos go viral every other day, not because she is a young attractive woman, but because she is knowledgeable, well-read, always well-prepared, incisive in her arguments, ruthless yet always courteous with her questioning of government officials, and always fearless. Ocasio-Cortez is a glittering example of the very best of what America has to offer. After college, Ocasio-Cortez worked as a bartender and waitress to help her mother. She launched a publishing firm in an attempt to portray the Bronx positively and worked for the National Hispanic Institute, a non-profit.

With examples like these, who does the Democratic Party offer the young voters of America, burdened by student debt, hoping for Universal Healthcare, and wondering why the most powerful economy in the world has more prisoners (more than 2 million) than China (around 1.7 million), a totalitarian state with more than four times the population of the USA. How exactly does this make the United States the beacon of freedom that it claims to be?

The Lesser Evil

Of course, anybody who actually has been paying attention knows that Biden isn’t an ideal candidate, and isn’t really progressive at all unless we choose to void that word of any real meaning.

Biden has been accused of inappropriate conduct with several women and young girls, and yet, somehow Democrats tend to minimize his transgressions. Biden is also quite cozy with lobbyists, but again, with Trump looming as the greater evil, the average Democrats seem to let that slide, the same way nobody seems to care that Biden is not only unwilling to reduce military spending, he’s actually discussing increasing it.

I heard Biden speak on the 15th and he said that the most sacred obligation America has is towards its military. Sure, he’s catering to veterans, but what’s he really saying? That American civilians are somehow less of a concern than those enlisted in Empire? The best Americans, then — are precisely the antithesis of somebody like Mohamed Ali Clay, who famously said:

“My conscience won’t let me go shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big powerful America,” he said at the time. “And shoot them for what? They never called me nigger, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father. … Shoot them for what? How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail.”

Biden is as ‘establishment’, as status-quo, as it gets, but again, democrats are so focused on removing the Great Big Orange, that they don’t seem to care that much about what Blue Monster replaces him. They think that voting for Darth Vader will allow them to defeat Palpatine.

Biden The Racist

Biden’s racism is no great secret, and anybody who’s been paying attention throughout the years knows about it and has heard it. Speaking about his soon-to-be ‘buddy’ Obama, Biden famously said “You got the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

And perhaps you remember this particular nugget:

“We should challenge students in these schools. We have this notion that somehow if you’re poor, you cannot do it. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”

His racism also comes with a trademark arrogance. When speaking on The Breakfast Club radio show with Charlamagne tha God, Biden let this one loose when Charlamagne told him he had more questions:

“You’ve got more questions?” Biden replied. “Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.”

Should we discuss his infamous 1994 Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act? Biden pushed it as hard as he could, knowing full well that it would impact blacks far more than whites, put more Americans in jail, and result in the imprisonment of people who should be treated for their addictions and not jailed for them. He insisted, for more than a decade afterward that he was ‘proud’ of it, and only now, that he’s running for president, has he decided to call it a ‘mistake’.

Does anybody honestly believe that he’s really changed his mind?

Biden The Predator

Let’s ignore for a moment that I myself know a woman who herself knows three women who’ve had to deal with (to say the least) uncomfortable situations with Joe Biden. Let’s ignore that completely.

When Tara Reade accused Biden of sexually assaulting her, Biden’s responses in interviews were characterized by a panel of behavior experts and interrogation experts as deceitful. It’s an interesting analysis to watch, and you can see it right here:

The same panel found Tara Reade herself far more convincing, again, if you’re interested, you can watch that here:

Whatever you believe about Tara Reade, the experts say that Biden was covering something up, he was lying, and he was deceitful.

Biden The Corrupt

Should we even discuss the issue of the Hunter Biden emails? No, you don’t want to hear about that, nobody does, apparently. Which brings us neatly to the real problem…

The Double Standards of So-Called Democrats

I don’t like Trump any more than any sane person could, but what grates on me is the incredible lack of integrity displayed by supposed democrats when it comes to Biden. These are the people from whom we’re supposed to expect better. We already know how bad Trump is, we already know the concessions to ethics and morality that the Republican party has made in order to back him both as a candidate and as a president, none of that is at all surprising. What I myself do find surprising is the pitiful desperation that drives good people to not only back somebody like Biden, but refuse to acknowledge just what kind of a monster he has proven himself to be.

Democrats will pounce on Trump’s history of sexual abuse but are willing to vote for a man who’s only marginally better on this issue.

Democrats will pounce on corruption and nepotism within the Trump family, but conveniently ignore it when it comes to Hunter Biden, even choosing to believe that the whole issue is a smear campaign by the ‘Russians’. Joe Biden himself reiterated that, making the claim during the presidential debate, that it was a “Russian Plan”, despite the fact that the FBI itself has categorically stated that the Russians had nothing to do with it.

Rolling Stone magazine, once a proud counter-culture magazine featuring the likes of Hunter Thompson, has been bending over backward for Biden. In a front-cover feature that no particular author was apparently willing to take credit for, Rolling Stone claims that Biden is ‘Donald Trump’s opposite in nearly every category”, and that (this quickly becomes laughable) Joe Biden “evinces competence, compassion, steadiness, integrity, and restraint.”

How can anybody say this with a straight face?

While arguing against the appointment of Amy Coney Barret for the Supreme Court, democrats also conveniently ignored that Ruth Bader Ginsberg herself had said that “The president is elected for four years not three years, so the power he has in year three continues into year four. Maybe members of the Senate will wake up and appreciate that that’s how it should be.”

Well, now she’s been confirmed, so the worst possible consequence (if we’re looking at the long term, and that’s what we should be doing..) of a Trump presidency has, arguably, already taken place.

The Worst Possible Result of This Election

I’m not Paul Atreides of Dune, and I cannot claim that I can project into the future long enough to know what’s worse for America. Whether a Biden presidency would be worse than Trump continuing for four more years. What I can say is this —

Biden is old, racist, abusive, corrupt, deceitful, and frail. He stammers when he speaks and has a bad temper. He’s angered by questions and is prone to snapping at people who do question him, telling them that they should “vote for Trump” instead. This is a man who has little to no personal merits. He knows it as does his entire campaign. His ‘credibility’ (such as it is) is founded not on who he is, but on his affiliation with the “articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking” Barack Obama. His current sales pitch relies not on him being Biden, but on him not being Trump.

Biden is a man deeply in bed with corporate lobbies, deeply aligned to American Imperialism and Zionism. He won’t do anything to help blacks, who will continue to suffer systemic racism at police gunpoint. Under Biden, I have no doubt that African Americans will continue to be incarcerated in private prisons filled by laws designed precisely to give them greater occupancy and generate more profit. The list goes on…

The greatest threat of a Biden victory is that it’ll put democrats, liberals, and all vaguely leftist Americans to sleep. They’ll feel that the game is done, that the Big Bad Drumf has been defeated, and that all is good with the world. They will go to sleep, and let Biden and Harris be the monsters that they are, unopposed, and feeling that they’ve been granted a popular mandate. The left will lose all the steam it gathered in opposition to Trump, it will unwind, and let Biden go unchecked, as he fulfills his obligations towards the lobbyists who brought him to power, the media that made him seem like a worthy candidate, a DNC that sold out the young, compromised their Sanders, and gave them a Joe Biden instead.

People often say that a vote for a third-party candidate is a vote for Trump. No, it isn’t. It’s a vote away from the DNC. It’s a vote that tells them that they need to do better than a Biden if they want to remain relevant. It’s a vote that says people are sick of choosing between the lesser of two evils and want to vote for a president they can admire and respect, and who’s there to serve them, rather than lobbyists and interest groups and a two-party establishment that cares for nothing but it’s own survival.

It’s a vote for democracy.