By Musa Iqbal
The first presidential debate between the two contenders - incumbent Joe Biden and returning challenger and former president Donald Trump - was an unmitigated disaster that stunned not only the American public but the carefully maintained and imperialist-controlled American media machine.
American voters have had experience with both candidates leading the polarized nation - Trump from 2017 to 2021 and Biden from 2021 until now.
Both presidents have brought catastrophe not just to the US, but globally. This upcoming election will be between the same candidates as in 2020 but with worsening conditions domestically and globally.
The debate, which took place at CNN studios in Atlanta and was scheduled early in the election cycle, was a disaster from start to finish.
Trump and Biden both lied, avoided questions, and delivered childish remarks toward one another with the maturity of pre-adolescent children - far from the norm of any world leader.
Trump delivered his usual chaotic antics in between racist remarks and question dodging. After becoming the first American president to be convicted of a felony crime (which of course, is related to cheating the electoral system, and not the numerous imperialist crimes that come with the day-to-day of being the president of the US), Trump doubled down on his bid for the presidency, accusing Biden of weaponizing the state in order to stop him from becoming president.
Trump blamed the worsening shape of the American economy on Biden’s policies, primarily citing the migrant crisis at the southern border multiple times, even during unrelated questions.
It is worth noting that Biden has more or less continued Trump’s border policies, even continuing the infamous border wall that Trump started and maintaining horrific migrant detention centers where border patrol agents exploit and abuse migrants seeking asylum.
The migrant crisis is a direct result of economic warfare against Latin American and Caribbean countries, something both Biden and Trump have maintained.
Trump repeatedly refused to answer the questions, running out of time multiple times as he riffed on unrelated topics such as his own trial, the January 6 2021 Capitol Hill riot, and criticism of Biden.
He was reminded of some questions several times while continuing to ignore them, a classic Trump deflection strategy that he has mastered over the years.
Decades of experience of being a real estate con man has made it a predictable strategy for him, which makes it all the more concerning that the moderators did not force him to answer the question or even fact-check him on his numerous false claims even once, particularly around the performance of the economy for everyday workers.
Biden’s performance was similarly catastrophic. From the get-go, Biden’s statements were filled with gaffes and confusing delivery. He delivered numerous false statements and blanket answers that failed to seriously address any question.
Furthermore, he dived into several off-topic answers multiple times, and even collided with Trump’s childish remarks and antics, going jab for jab once on the topic of golfing (a sport the majority of Americans do not play or even watch).
On one hand, Biden would claim that under his administration, the economic issues were going in the right direction. When pressed on matters like deteriorating conditions for Black communities, Biden would deflect and blame Trump, citing that Trump’s administration left a mess for him to clean up.
But a lot of Biden’s policies are a continuation of Trump, making the two administrations virtually the same on a range of topics.
The inability to differentiate himself from Trump while not offering any promising answers even for current issues his administration is involved in shook viewer confidence in Biden’s ability to lead the nation.
Furthermore, Biden continuously mumbled or trailed onto other topics mid-sentence, causing panic over his mental ability to lead. It is reported that many Democratic officials were in a state of panic during the debate, as signs of mental deterioration were crystal clear.
Biden’s poor performance even raised the eyebrows of various establishment media outlets that typically praise and defend him. The New York Times editorial board released an op-ed asserting the best way for Joe Biden to serve his country was to step down and let someone else run.
This sentiment was shared by numerous Democratic analysts and political commentators who have backed Biden throughout his current term.
Other pro-Biden Democrats asserted that Biden was just having a bad debate night, and looked to his campaign rally the next day as proof for their claims, where Biden seemed refreshed and energetic.
However, netizens on various social media platforms attributed this to Biden being more awake during the day and “sundowning” at night, as the debate was scheduled for 9 pm ET. Sundowning is a term typically associated with those who suffer from Alzheimer's disease, or senior dementia.
Many are wondering if it is too late to swap Biden out. The Democratic National Convention is scheduled for August in the city of Chicago, where widespread protests against Biden are expected as the genocide in Gaza continues to be a main rallying point for millions of people.
Thousands are expected to bus into the midwest city to protest Biden’s role in arming Israel, amongst other issues.
Spectators have even hypothesized that the reason for the debate being scheduled unusually early in the cycle may be to pressure the Biden administration to step down before the convention, as it would take some months to build up a voter surge for a step-in candidate.
However, Biden has maintained that he will run, despite mounting pressure for him to quit.
Even if you ignore the depleting mental and physical conditions of both Biden and Trump, there is no doubt that both presidential candidates are racist imperialists, even before their mental and physical degradation in recent years.
Biden was in favor of segregationist policies during the peak of the US civil rights movements. Trump is a lifelong racist, much like his father Fred Trump, whose questionable business exploits since the start of his career included exploiting undocumented workers and denying black people housing from his real estate projects.
Neither of them has flinched when it comes to their support for the racist Zionist occupation.
Both have also worked to cut already small social safety nets Americans have, like Social Security and Medicare.
In one portion of the debate, the candidates fought over who has better intentions for Israel, with Trump affirming Israel’s mission to destroy Hamas, and calling Biden weak for not doing more.
Trump even used “Palestinian” as an insult, something which Biden did not criticize or call out, causing concern from numerous human rights groups and pro-Palestine activists.
In fact, some of the most heated portions of the debate were over who was a more effective warmonger, with Biden standing by his military decisions in support of Ukraine and Israel, while Trump lauded his decision to assassinate top anti-terror commander, General Qassem Soleimani.
The same passion could not be found around topics like economic relief for everyday Americans or the environment in the face of worsening climate catastrophes.
Both used COVID-19 as an excuse for why they were not able to do more for the American public, while easily catering to the needs of the military-industrial complex and Wall Street.
The American economy is suffering from inflation, wage stagnation, a lack of jobs inaccessible industries, and job destruction and wealth depletion as a result of capitalist greed - relaxed laws allow jobs to be outsourced to cheaper countries while the rise of artificial intelligence promises more jobs being dissolved.
A deteriorating economy guarantees social suffering. Crime continues due to a lack of jobs, education, and opportunity, while politicians rely on a brutal, racist police force to maintain order.
Instead of solving crime at root issues such as funding in education and social services, politicians are persuaded by the prison industrial complex and police unions to fund law enforcement militarization and expand criminalization of minority populations, creating a prison labor force that can create goods for cheap.
Combine all of this with the US billions of dollars of spending on Ukraine and Israel - the former a proxy war against Russia, and the latter a genocidal campaign against the very existence of Palestinians.
It is evidently clear that US presidents do not work for voters, they work for the ultra-wealthy imperialist elite that profits off resource theft and exploitation.
In a sense, it would not matter if it was Biden versus Trump or anyone else running. The day-to-day affairs of the imperialist system remain intact, with just slight preferences on how money is shared between the capitalist elite of the US.
The Democrats and Republicans do indeed differ on certain issues strategically and tactically, but at the end of the day, the American institution they represent is committed to imperialism and the execution of “Manifest Destiny.”
The world, and the American people, are held hostage by this incompetent criminality. The real positive and tangible change will only come when more Americans decide enough is enough.
Musa Iqbal is a Boston-based researcher and writer focused on US domestic and foreign policy.
No comments:
Post a Comment