It just gets worse and worse.
If we thought the silly spectacle of Donald Trump vying to become President again was embarrassing and unedifying, what his rival Joe Biden is treating Americans to right now is just as humiliating.
The calls for Biden to stand aside and let someone else run as the Democrat candidate have been growing ever since that abysmal first presidential debate a fortnight ago.
But the clearly struggling 87 year old is refusing to step aside. At this point, he is essentially holding the Democrat Party hostage.
It’s beginning to resemble one of those classic Star Trek episodes where the captain is deemed unfit to remain in command and the crew have to either convince him to relinquish command voluntarily or find a legal way to relieve him of duty.
Except instead of Spock trying to deal with a psychologically compromised Captain Kirk, the Democrats are trying to deal with a cognitively compromised US President.
This latest twist has rendered the entire US presidential election even more of a horror/farce story than it already was.
They now have a criminal, would-be insurrectionist former president running against a medically unfit sitting president that his own party doesn’t even *want* running.
And THAT is the state of American democracy.
Even celebrities like George Clooney are now calling for Biden to step aside: though why a Hollywood actor has any relevant voice in this issue is questionable.
In truth, the crisis now facing the Democrats is of their own making – and it’s one they thoroughly deserve.
They propped up Biden in 2020 and beyond as the centrist or establishment figure who could stand against Trump: for one thing, pressuring the much more energised and more popular Bernie Sanders to drop out of the race for the second election in a row.
They’d already done the same thing in 2016, forcing Sanders to step aside for Hillary Clinton – a maneuver that backfired spectacularly come the actual election.
And yes, Bernie was weak to capitulate *twice*, essentially betraying all his supporters and all those who had helped fund his campaigns with small donations.
But the Democrats’ cynical strategizing – even though it just about won them the 2020 election – was always destined to lead to a humiliating state of affairs like this one.
Because the reality is that Biden wasn’t just propped up because they felt he could beat Trump: he was propped up also because, once again, they were unwilling to let the left follow through on the natural momentum to lead the charge.
Both Biden and Hillary were as much about suppressing the left as they were about stopping Trump and the right.
As a result, they first had the nightmare of losing that 2016 election to Trump and co, and now the nightmare of being stuck with an ailing geriatric statesman who refuses to step aside.
They could’ve been calling for Biden to step aside months ago, because the writing was already on the wall.
That they’ve left it this late to speak up has made the situation even worse.
And who is there to replace him? Bernie Sanders is probably not being considered. Talk of parachuting in Michelle Obama – a woman with no political experience – seems bizarre and desperate: and would make this already bizarre race even more a farce.
And would they really want to put up Kamala Harris – a Vice President who has seemingly been AWOL for four years and who nobody likes – against Donald Trump? That would be suicide.
Their absolute best option would be Alexandra Ocasio Cortez: but would the establishment-oriented DNC be willing to back her, and would AOC even want to take on such a poisoned chalice this late in the game?
Which leaves them nowhere: except in chaos and hurtling towards defeat.
But, again, this is what they deserve. Karma, as they say, is a bitch.
It would be hilarious to watch: if it wasn’t for the fact that the opposition candidate who’s going to benefit from all this farce is someone who’s a direct and proven threat to democracy and will probably refuse to leave office after his next term is up, potentially triggering a Civil War scenario (again).
That’s what all the Democrats’ maneuvering has led to. Meanwhile, the Republican Party had already ceded itself to Trump Inc. entirely. Meaning *both* parties are absolute jokes at this stage.
Even before these latest turns or Trump’s various criminal trials, the overwhelming sense of this election was that American democracy looked tired and on its last legs.
This whole, vast and layered arena of American politics and society… and the best thing the system could produce was these same two old men for the second time? Neither of whom are fit for high office.
That first presidential debate was painful: it was like watching two grouchy residents in an old folks’ home.
The state of American democracy is an absolute embarrassment.
This bizarre mix of comedic farce and actual political nightmare with truly high stakes has made the whole thing too jarring to even contemplate anymore.
