On Friday afternoons when I was a kid, my brothers and I would tag along to the local cattle auction with my dairy farmer father.
After a few hours of watching (and occasionally bidding on) cows trotting around the ring to the singsong cadence of the auctioneer, Dad and his fellow dairymen would crowd into the small adjoining smoke-filled coffee shop to swap yarns instead of cattle.
Coffee was 25 cents a cup. Cream and sugar — and refills — were free. (The dollops of whiskey from mickeys tucked into some farmers’ coveralls were off the books.) Starbucks it wasn’t.
At modern-day Starbucks outlets, thirsty patrons can choose from more than 170,000 combinations. A “routine” coffee order — “venti white mocha, quad shot, two shots on the bottom, two on top, almond milk, extra hot, caramel drizzle inside the cup, extra whip cream” might ring in at eight or nine bucks, and customers don’t bat an eye (nor do they add whiskey.)
It's astonishing that America, the country that gave us Starbucks and its mind-blowing menu of coffees, can’t seem to generate decent options for the most consequential choice of all: the American presidency. This cycle, it’s down to two old men, Joe Biden and Donald Trump: the first one likely demented, and the other probably nuts.
Biden is almost certain to lose. Which sounds, well, crazy, when you consider the tumultuous nature of Trump’s first presidency and the fact that he’s up to his eyeballs in litigation even as he blusters his way to election day in November.
Some of you will remember Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign in 1992, conducted amidst a prevailing recession. The phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” — coined by campaign manager James Carville — played a big role in enabling Clinton to unseat incumbent George H.W. Bush.
Today there’s no recession. The American economy is going gangbusters. The stock market is charting all-time highs. Unemployment is down to 3.8 %, well below the long-term average of 5.7%.
So why is President Biden so unpopular? In a phrase, “It’s the wokeness, stupid.”
Out-of-touch leftist Democrats have buried the country under an avalanche of foolishness. And many, many Americans are fed up.
Most Americans, for instance, still believe (rightly) that men are men and women are women. Most Americans don’t buy the fiction of gender fluidity; and they’re appalled by the aggressive push to “transition” children from one sex to the other.
Most Americans aren’t down with males competing in women’s sports, no matter how many times mainstream media celebrates the “bravery” of the likes of Will cum “Lia” Thomas, who muscled his way into the women’s side of the NCAA pool and hoovered up all the medals. Nor are they cool with males invading women’s shelters and women’s prisons.
Most Americans are deeply dismayed by the mutation of education into indoctrination, and by the steep decline of universities into echo chambers of “progressivism”.
Most Americans have had their fill of “critical race theory”, of “toxic masculinity”, of “Black Lives Matter”, and of the incessant drumbeat of “diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
In a nutshell, Democratic thought leaders have become America’s “rot leaders”, and they’re presiding over the rapid decay of American institutions.
And rank-and-file Americans have had it.
Most Americans, if asked, would enthusiastically endorse Martin Luther King’s famous 1963 proclamation at the Lincoln Memorial:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
That was King’s dream. But sixty years on from that speech, America is instead caught in a nightmare of reverse racism and cancel culture.
In 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton infamously dismissed Trump supporters as a “basket of deplorables”. It probably cost her the election.
Today, that basket is even bigger. All those Americans aren’t deplorable — but they certainly find the state of the country deplorable. And most of them blame the party of the “woke”.
Add in the ongoing pain of inflation (sure, most Americans are working, but they’re working flat out to afford basics like gas and groceries and diapers), capped by Biden’s doddering public performances, and I wouldn’t bet a lousy quarter on the Democrats’ chances of retaining the Oval Office.
The Dems need to wake up and smell the coffee. They need to discard the woke B.S., and they need a standard-bearer who is oriented to person, place, and time — and most days, that ain’t Joe Biden.
They won’t do any of that. It’s probably too late, in any case. Which is why next January Democrats will be crying into their decaf java chip frappuccinos as a triumphant and belligerent Trump installs himself once again behind the Resolute Desk. And they’ll have only themselves to blame.
Presently, the Democrats remain in full-blown denial, unable to bring themselves to believe they could possibly lose (again) to Donald Trump.
But as for those of us watching this spectacle unfold with a mixture of dread and fascination: we can’t believe this is America’s choice.
Totally agree, but would say this:
I think most sensible people look at the economy (correctly) as very unstable. Yes the stock market is at an all-time high, and yes, lots of people are employed. BUT...
The same car (Toyota Prius) that we bought in 2014 for 34K is now 53K. Prices of groceries have gone way up, as has the price of gas. Not to mention homes. A meal at MacDonald's (which I personally find disgusting, but...) has doubled in price in 10 years.
For those who understand money printing, they know that the stock market success is artificial. Housing prices are a dangerous bubble. Things feel like a house of cards.
And although we have little unemployment, just try to find someone to work on hour house or car. Try to find a doctor, or a vet. We have lots of diversity officers and bureaucrats, but fewer people with real skills who provide goods or services of real value.
I think the economy is one of those realms where those of us who haven't had the common sense educated out of us can see that the emporer is as naked as a jaybird.
No kidding...especially considering the whole DEI narrative, they get two old white guys to chose from, who as you say one is likely suffering from dementia, the other is nuts.
I have come to the conclusion, no matter what you think of Trump, the world was actually safer when he was president. His volatile personality kept Putin, Hamas and the rest of the rogue leaders at bay. Putin would never have invaded Ukraine under Trump, just as Oct 7th would not have occurred under Trump. Perhaps it would have postponed the inevitable til 2025 but that we will never know. One thing I do know, the Democrats are constantly stating that Trump will cause WWIII yet here we are with Biden and quite possibly on the verge of WWIII due to his attempts to play both sides of this war which is just wrong on every level.