as seen on tv
Senator
http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/12/politics/joe-biden-book-tour/index.html
Well, THAT didn’t take long. Before democrats could even take a victory lap for holding onto the Virginia governorship and their majority in the state legislature, they were pushed off the front page by Trump’s asian tour of important allies and trading partners.
The press is struggling to find a downside in this trip, and came up with two:
- North Korea’s lil’ Kim snarked that Trump was “old”. Trump tweeted back that Kim is “short and fat”, omitting the additional descriptor: “mentally deranged”. Our president didn’t want to needlessly provoke the boy king by reminding the world how Kim executed all his “old” relatives (including a half brother) by means such as poisoning, point blank anti-aircraft gunfire, and feeding them alive to wild dogs. Proof positive that “Game of Thrones” is somehow reaching North Korea, despite the firewall intended to block free information?
- The second “catastrophe” is even more serious. Someone caught Trump – yet again – making a funny face during a photo op. OMG, we thought this nightmare was finally over, once Obama and his endless smug/eyes closed mugging for the camera was no longer "a thing".
Back to the democrats’ dilemma.
How bad is it? It’s gotten SO BAD that some really old guy (older than Trump, Lil Kim!) named Joe Biden is claiming he’s going to run for president in 2020. No fooling – you can’t make this stuff up. Check out the link.
I see a hand at the back of the classroom. Yes?
“Miss ASOT – is this the same Joe Biden who dawdled in 2016 as fellow democrats beseeched him to save the party from Hillary? And who has all but stated outright that he was bullied into not entering the race by the “mean girls club” of Hillary, Debbie Wasserman Shultz, etc?”
Yes, my friend. That would be the one. A guy who was scared off from running by a couple of girls is now attempting to convince the nation that he’s the best guy to stand up to Lil Kim, Iran’s ayatollahs, Cuba, Russia, Syria’s Assad, ISIS . . . .
Of course, it might be Terry McAuliffe running in 2020. The guy who vacated the Virgina governorship to take a full time job creating PACs, campaign exploratory committees, and fund raising. Before Terrence was governor, though, his full time job was spear-carrier for the Clintons, so there’s THAT to consider. The Clinton brand is now seriously tarnished.
Ok, if not Biden or McAuliffe, how about Cory “do nothing” Booker? Democrats would be hard pressed to find someone more Obama-esque: virtually no paper trail. He's “articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking” (Biden’s 2008 description of Obama). What else could they want?
Or if you think millenials are more important to democrats’ 2020 prospects than improved black voter turnout, why not resurrect Bernie Sanders? Half of all young graduate with worthless liberal arts degrees believe socialism is a better system than the democrat or republican parties. Bonus factor – Bernie is REALLY old! So if someone hasn’t fed Lil Kim to his own dogs by then, a Sanders candidacy will drive short-round really crazy. (“Hey! Round eyes! Pay attention to me! You’re all begging for nuclear war if you make Sanders president!”)
Whom do I NOT expect the democrats to nominate in 2020 after the next iteration of crooked primaries? Not a woman (been there, done that, too soon for a replay); not a hispanic; not an LBGT; or a jew (Schumer, in case you’re not paying attention); not Jerry Brown; not Mark Cuban, or any other corporate CEO. No . . . it’s going to be an insider the democrat establishment can control. Not a Trumpian figure who would run on making a clean break from failed policies. Legacy failed policies are the only thing which democrats have: ballooning entitlements; drug legalization; ceding control of public schools to teachers unions; higher taxes. Without those policies democrats no platfform.
America does seem ready for a (stronger) 3rd party. However, I'm NOT saying 2020 is the year we’ll have a president who is neither "salt or pepper". But if a charismatic habanero, or vegan tofurky, or socialist makes a strong bid, the GOP might just luck out and be able to re-elect Trump, and again prevail over a divided left. The politics of racial identification may go from being the democrats' safety net to its Achilles heel.
In the meantime, look to Trump and team to try and swiftly capitalize on their asian success in the middle east.
That process has already begun in fact. The USA just opened its first permanent military base in Israel (yeah – like youI thought we probably had at least one already). Trump is aligning himself closer with Sunni regimes like Egypt (an army running a country) and Saudi Arabia (vowing to go moderate). The Iran deal is about to be buried. If Trump can broker some sort of Palestinian peace deal (a long shot still, at this stage) he will have achieved something that has eluded every US president from Truman to Obama.
Realpolitik has certain advantages over appeasement. History is clear on that point. However, China and Russia play Realpolitik much more skillfully than we do.
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