Politics: What Biden Has Done; What Trump Means

 Strange, strange days? Or just a sign I'm not so bright?

I have this question for myself – did my being in prison during COVID-19 leave me without the understanding of the country as it is? I have a sister who gets very angry about having had to wear masks and thinks the country is in danger. I don't get the anger at the masks – if it makes other people comfortable, wear them. I also do not understand the people I see driving cars without anyone wearing a mask. It is the emotional response that eludes me. Then, too, I have COPD, and figure if anyone has anything to worry about it is me. There is a sourness that I cannot feel.

This sourness seems to me the product of Donald Trump. I cannot recall any other politician who made a success out of a whiny, humorless, hateful personality. DeSantis has the same qualities combined with the aura of a dullard, but he has not been all that successful outside of Florida.  No, what seems to make Trump a success is his being loud. He gives the impression of will and force.

Biden says little, has a sense of humor, and quietly goes about getting things done. This does not seem to be enough – Where did it all go right for Biden? Facts blunt Republican attack lines:

Rosenberg added: “His argument for re-election has gotten much stronger over the last few months. It’s getting very unclear how the Republicans are going to go after his record as president and what it means is that you’re probably going to see in the short term a much more significant ratcheting up of attacks on him as a person or father and not as a president.”

With the numbers trending in Biden’s direction, there may be greater incentive than ever for Republicans to focus instead on his age, his vice-president, Kamala Harris, his son Hunter Biden and the threat of impeachment over an alleged foreign bribery scheme for which they are yet to provide evidence. “Culture war” attacks around gender identity and “wokeness” could also intensify.

Elsewhere and other countries also worry about the damage done and the dangers presented by Trump. In Australia there is already a book on the subject, reviewed under  Will a win for Donald Trump in 2024 threaten Australia?:

Like me perhaps you are still coming to terms with the Trump presidency. After four years of ubiquitous coverage and surging cortisol, I began thinking he was Australia’s president. I’m not ready for four more years of fairy floss hair, barking recriminations and the impossible slipperiness of fact. Yet it might be time to start preparing for that eventuality.

First, one conjoined question needs posing: What did it all mean and what would another round mean for Australia? Answering is the eminently qualified Bruce Wolpe, US Studies Centre policy expert and advisor to Australian and US centre-left politicians, with his book Trump’s Australia: How Trumpism Changed Australia and the Shocking Consequences for Us of a Second Term.

Maybe my depressions issues have made me overly sensitive to mental health issues that corrupt my comprehension of reality. Except, it seems to me lots of others are the ones divorced from reality.

sch 8/14