I was reading an article in the Washington Post by Dana Milbank which reminded me of a term which I’ve been wanting to use in describing the incredibly thoughtless attacks being directed at President Biden by, you guessed it, DEMOCRATS! Now, I have to add, I’ve NEVER “joined” the democratic party although for the past 30 or so years I’ve found myself regularly voting AGAINST republicans. If you believe the reporting coming from the so-called “liberal media” you’d think democrats have control of legislation coming out of Washington DC. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. To me, the result of this “mis-reporting” has led to what Milbank referred to as a “circular firing squad” – the term which has been on the tip of my almost 75 year old tongue – which I couldn’t manage to remember.

Milbank made several good and prescient points in his opinion piece titled “Give Biden a Break” which you can read, if you’re so inclined, by clicking HERE. I’m not going to get into details of what Milbank wrote other than to say I agree with his premise. I’ve stated here before that I was NOT a “Biden supporter” when he began his campaign, but I’ve come to appreciate, in my view, he’s the perfect president for the times we’re dealing with. The FIRST (and main) reason I’ve adopted that attitude is because he was probably the ONLY democrat who could have defeated Trump, which was “mission number one” in the 2020 election.

Of course, true to form, the democrats do seem to have trouble “walking and chewing gum at the same time” which came through “loud and clear” when they failed to win seats which SHOULD have been winnable in various races in both the House and Senate. The Biden election simply showed that MOST Americans were fed up with Trump and his cosa nostra type administration – even though the MOB references didn’t really appear too often in the “mainstream” media until the evidence of Trump’s cavalier disdain for our constitution and system of laws began to show itself as the House Select Committee on January 6th began to roll out some of the MASSIVE trove of evidence of the CRIMES committed by our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING (ex) president and his sycomphants during the public hearings – which STILL have a long way to go.

Now you have large portions of America wondering why the Justice Department hasn’t stepped in to put a stop to the LAWBREAKING of an ex president – which includes SCAMMING hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars from his unsuspecting flock of “ditto heads” – telling them the money was intended to help him “fight (non existent) voter fraud” but funneling the money, instead, into his personal political campaign “war chest.” The non-existent political fund was titled “Official Election Defense Fund. Of course, just as he LIED to cause his “ditto heads” to storm the Capitol Building in D.C. he LIED about the existence of the fund. Instead, he’s allegedly been “pocketing” the money. (After all, the man has a lot of financial liabilities to attend to)

So, for people like me, getting RID of Trump was object number one in 2020. Now, what democrats SHOULD be focused on is providing President Biden with a significant INCREASE in the number of democrats in the Senate while – AT THE SAME TIME – focusing on keeping a majority in the House. The issues which they can RUN on are clear – ANY time in the coming decades when republicans control the Senate, for example, means it will be near impossible for President Biden to fill empty court openings – most importantly, the Supreme Court. And, this would go for whoever follows in Biden’s “footsteps” WHENEVER he leaves office. For all those people complaining about Biden’s lack of an aggressive response, for example, to the oveturning of Roe v Wade I have to say, “Take just a moment to think!”

These would be the same people who found that Hillary Clinton wasn’t worthy of their vote back in 2016. Well, that was the decision that led to the Dobbs decision overturning Roe. And, with a 50/50 split in the Senate – which includes Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema – there’s really NOTHING Biden can do – other than what he’s attempting, which are (will be) executive orders which either won’t stand up in court or which can simply be discarded as soon as another republican gains the “Oval Office.” And, to me, someone who pays fairly close attention to political news, EVERYTHING I’ve heard coming from President Biden’s mouth seems appropriate. For those who don’t like being reminded of the importance of VOTING I would say, “The republicans have you right where they want you!”

I’ve listened to endless complaints about the price of gas and inflation as the reasons “progressives” are disenchanted with President Biden. My first thought when listening to or reading these complaints is, again, “Give it some thought!” Neither the inflation nor the price of gas (being too high for some) is Biden’s fault. We live in a multi-national economy whether we like it or not and the efforts by Biden and his democratic predessors ALWAYS encounter the obstacle of “Moscow Mitch” when trying to mitigate these problems. I originally thought that Moniker fit Mitch McConnell to a “tee” after I had learned of the Russian money and influence intertwined into his campaign coffers – but, of late, I’ve been feeling McConnell is doing the “bidding” of Vladimir Putin – who is bound and determined to see America’s 240 year “experiment” with self government come “crashing down.” Every effort by the Biden administration (and democrats in Congress) to mitigate (with a longer term outlook) the root causes of inflation, for example, are BLOCKED by McConnell in the Senate via the outdated filibuster.

Once again, the ONLY solution to this problem, in my view, is providing Biden with MORE democratic Senators while maintaining democratic control of the House. This SHOULD be a singular message of democrats – yet, as usual, they’re “fighting amongst themselves” – the perfect antidote to what is needed to VOTE republicans into the history books. To me, and I’ve been paying attention to politics since the days of Dwight Eisenhower, Biden is the MOST progressive president – based on his political philosohy (ie “Buld Back Better”) – since the days of LBJ and the “Great Society.” As I remember Johnson’s time in office – a legacy virtually destroyed by the Viet Nam “war” – we got the “birth” of Medicare, we saw the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – monumental legislation moving this nation closer to her ideals. (And, there was more – as Johnson wanted to fight the “War on Poverty.”

Biden’t proposed “Build Back Better” legislation, which was first pared back by both Manchin and Sinema (by half) before they BLOCKED it (although there were 50 republicans who also voted to BLOCK it) – was based on the philosophy of “Bottom up Middle out.” This legislation was aimed right at the American people who needed it – single Moms (and Moms in general), children, young people aspiring to gain a higher education, and on and on – INVESTMENTS in the American people starting from the “bottom up.” To me, that SHOULD be the purpose of the federal government – aside from Judicial and Security issues – legislation aimed at the “Commons.” This is what happened during Eisenhower’s time in the “Oval Office,” it happened during JFK’s and LBJ’s time in office only to face years of a “right wing” backlash to INVESTING in our people beginning with the election of Ronald Reagan.

Actually, the idea of INVESTING in America’s infrastructure and her PEOPLE goes back to the days of FDR and the “New Deal.” To this day, you still hear of republicans complaining about the “New Deal” which was the fundamental source of the great American Middle Class which flourished until Reagan took the oath of office. I’m not going into the details here of why I believe Reagan was the pivotal point in “modern” American History leading to the discontent among her people which exists today – I’ve done so adnauseam in the Archives – I will simply say republicans have become expert at causing “we the people” to argue amongst ourselves over cultural issues which have little to do with what should be the focus of government. And, in this “light,” the saddest part, to me, would be “progressives” talking themselves out of what would actually lead to solutions to their issues.

Republicans succeeded in defeating Hillary Clinton in 2016 leading to the THREE judges who made the difference in the Dobbs decision to overturn Roe. Once again, it’s NOT Joe Biden’s fault – that was going to happen whether Biden defeated Trump or not. “Progressives” want to see democrats do something legislatively to “codify” Roe – but, that’s IMPOSSIBLE under the present structure of the Senate. So, does it make sense for them to be BLAMING President Biden? (Honestly, I have to wonder how many of those doing the complaining failed to vote for Mrs. Clinton in 2016) Once again, the SOLUTION will require MORE democratic Senators – and that would include Senators willing to either remove the filibuster all together or to “carve out” and exception for women’s health care. (For that matter, also an exception for VOTING RIGHTS)

Thinking about all of this (and more) is what had me searching my brain for the term “circular firing squad” – which seems to be all too appropriate in describing what’s going on in the democratic “message machine” these days. Watching this all play out – to me – is extremely frustrating – because it seems too obvious that just a little thought by some key people could lead to a UNIFIED democratic response to the “slow motion coup d’etat” going on in America – from the republican party – as I’m typing this. What is necessary seems so OBVIOUS to me I find myself, as I have for years, shaking my head at the “big tent” party those of us who shudder at the idea of this right wing, white nationalist republican party gaining power once again. Do American “progressives” really have such a short attention span they can’t remember the reign of Trump?

OMG – my instincts tell me, if “we the people” allow this to happen we DESERVE what we get. Another of my “pet peeves” – when it comes to the “circular firing squad” has to do with Biden’s decision to pull “we the people” out of Afghanistan. I’m still wondering, “what the hell were people expecting” when President Biden was faced with the choice of pulling the troops out based on an agreement made by Trump or putting in another SURGE of American troops to block the progress of the Taliban which resulted from Trump’s agreement. (I have to add, I agreed with Trump, the troops should come home) There was NO “smooth” way to make this withdrawal. (As I said earlier re: Reagan – I’ve explained this on numerous “rants” in the Archives) Too many Americans are either too young to remember the withdrawal from Viet Nam or weren’t paying attention back them – but, the bottom line is there’s no “smooth” way to exit a war you’ve LOST.

The PROOF America’s “adventure” in Afghanistan was futile was the speed with which the Afghan troops “dropped their weapons” in the face of the Taliban offensive. To me, Biden did the right thing in ending America’s FIASCO in Afghanistan and, instead of complaining about the Afghans who wanted to leave and weren’t able to do so, the focus SHOULD have been on the over 120 THOUSAND Afghans who were evacuated along with the last of the American troops. That was WAY BETTER than what happened in Viet Nam when the American troops were brought home. Sometimes I think to myself, republicans don’t need to make “attack ads” against their democratic foes – the democrats do it for them. Again, thanks to Dana Milbank for reminding me of the term “circular firiing squad.”

Final Thought: The issues which could be included in this “rant” seem almost endless. As a former teacher in a high poverty public (Middle) School I find all the attacks on our public education system and the dedicated teachers who work hard to educate America’s children offensive. Why aren’t democrats fighting back HARDER on issues such as “Critical Race theory?” for example. I spent the last 23 years of my working life teaching sixth graders and I never heard that term – nor knew what it meant – until this past couple of years. I’m still not totally sure what it means. My guess is the fight against “CRT” somewhat mirrors the so-called “lost cause” which permeated (permeates?) America’s South post the Civil War.

Are we not supposed, now, to teach our children the TRUTH when they’re studying American history? Are we worried that the TRUTH will make students (especially white students) uncomfortable? My experience tells me being “uncomfortable” can lead to some amazing LEARNING experiences. I grew up reading text books which HID the TRUTH about the issue of racism in America and I felt a sense of relief everytime I learned MORE about our TRUE history. It’s NOTHING to fear – the purpose of studying HISTORY is to prevent repeating the same mistakes which came before “us.”

To me, this SHOULD be an easy issue which to find UNISON among “progressives” in the messaging designed to motivate more people (especially young people) to participate in their privilege of VOTING this November. Democrats will need an overwhelming response to overcome some of the voting restrictions republicans have passed in the past 18 months. This is NO time for the “circular firing squad.” The FAULT here, and in almost EVERY issue, lies with the republican party. The UNIFIED message SHOULD be focused on the importance of voting them out of office. (As many as possible)