Several balloons and one earthquake ago, President Joe Biden delivered his 2023 State of the Union address. It was televised by every network. And I didn’t watch.
I usually do watch anything of national significance because I want to see and interpret it for myself, not filtered through third-party interpreters. But I was only vaguely interested this year, and when Biden started off speaking at twice his normal speed, I turned to other activities. I just wasn’t up for a lengthy over-rehearsed speech. An hour later when I looked to see if he’d finished, he was still talking. I was more than a little surprised to see him still on his feet and talking, but even so I turned away again.
Apparently I missed a pretty good speech, one met with a boorish lack of decorum from Republicans. Not surprising, but still, there are times and places for good manners and this was one of them.
What I took away from what little I saw and heard was the in-your-face reminder that if anything happens to 80-year-old Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris will eagerly assume the presidency. Ugh!! I dislike her intensely, and as Veep she has been a big nothing burger. The thought of her as president makes my blood run cold. If only Biden would pick a different running mate this time …
I don’t dislike Biden. I think he’s been an okay president. But I wish the Dems would/could nominate someone younger. I don’t know who that would be. And it’s really too late for anyone to mount an unofficial campaign for the position. No Democrat is going to challenge Biden if he wants to run.
The problem is, we know Biden beat Trump in the last election and could probably do it again. But if DeSantis or some other younger Republican gets the GOP nomination, can Biden beat that person? Given the recent years in DC, I’ll probably vote Democrat regardless of who the candidates are. But I don’t expect to be happy about it.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders delivered the Republican response to Biden’s address. I didn’t watch her either. I can’t stand the Huckabees. But I caught one of her comments in a news video:
The dividing line in America is no longer between right or left.
The choice is between normal or crazy.
I’ll ignore the questionable grammar and say she’s right (er, correct) about that. But she has her parties mixed up. The “crazies” are the Republicans, not the other way around. However, being one of them, she doesn’t understand that.
Top image: Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy
I find it alarming to read a comment by a sensible person like yourself that you’ll “probably” vote Democrat, Susan. Your deliberate inclusion of the adverb – aaaarghh !: I cannot comprehend that there are ANY circ.s in which you need it.
In fact I agree with you – as seems to be an established pattern; but even so, the adverb sends chills down my spine. The GOP is now a body that should be cancelled, disbarred, forbidden and any other synonymous verb; for regardless of the several bodies within it during the last general election that hoped to be able to replace it, nothing has happened and it’s still the collection of horrible extremists it’s been since – oh, probably Newt Gingrich.
Whoa, relax. I didn’t mean “probably” with the idea that I might vote Republican. There are far more than two political parties in the U.S. And there’s the option to not vote at all. Not to mention we don’t even know for sure who the candidates will be.
As for me, I can’t see voting Republican in any circumstance, given how the God Awful Party has changed. An independent? I voted for Anderson and Perot and the results speak for themselves. Yes, Biden is far too old. I would have liked very much to have seen Michael Bennet as the nominee in 2020 but apparently he, sensible, smart, bi-partisan minded, lacked enough charisma for the circus tent that is today’s Democratic Party.
I’m always surprised that you or anyone outside of Colorado knows Michael Bennet. He was supt. of Denver Public Schools for a year or two and my son met him there a few times. Spoke highly of him. But you are correct — no charisma. He’s a very smart, very nice man. It’s a wonder he survives at all in Washington. Jon Huntsman was the last Republican I thought I could vote for and that was back in 2012. Nope, the GOP today is totally off the rails and I wouldn’t vote for any of them.
Yes, Joe Biden is old, but far from senile. (I’m not crazy about Harris either.) But obviously there is no comparison to the narcissistic sociopath that the GOP still “firmly” backs. Quotes because the GOP is as capricious as MAGA is so proudly mired in nostalgic fantasy. Could Joe beat trump again? It will be harder as the GOP have been tinkering with election regulations in “battleground states”.
My remnant of optimism … I don’t have one. If trump returns, the USA is over and he will wreak such havoc that his second term wont even run its full 4 years. IMHO, trump is the result of decades of educational decay mixed with the arrogant exceptionalism from being the WWII victor and largest world economy. As Carville eloquently put it: “stupid people vote for stupid people”.
No, I certainly wouldn’t call him senile. But 80 years is 80 years, and the likelihood of a serious health event is growing. The idea of Kamala then becoming president is alarming. Certainly not as alarming as the idea of trump or one of his ilk become president, but alarming nonetheless. I fear the enemy within more than other nations. History’s lessons about the fall of great empires is not irrelevant …
I’d love to see someone young run for president. I think Biden has done a tremendous job, but we need new energy.
I’ve noted before that I really like Buttigieg, but he still seems a little too green. There may be some good Democrat governors out there. I’ve heard occasional mention of our Gov. Polis running at some point, but I can’t see him as president. I think it will take a nationally known entity to challenge Trump. And he must be defeated.
One of my favorite people in the world is Ralph Nader. But I have never forgiven him for running as a third-party candidate and in effect handing the presidency to George W. Bush. I did not vote for Nader then, and I cannot imagine a scenario where I would vote for a third-party spoiler now (unless and until we reimagine our voting system).
I wouldn’t waste my vote on a third-party candidate. With our current political system, one of two candidates will run the country — and I want my say as to which it will be. Third-party candidates, while they certainly have the right to run, are ultimately just egotistical spoilers.
Great post.
Thanks