Call it a national catastrophe, not a re-match

American politics has become a proving ground for the proposition that malice, incompetence, corruption, dishonesty, extremism and weirdness are the rocket fuel for success. What were once disqualifying vices have become the golden gate to power, fame and fortune within a broken society where conflict and contempt are billion dollar industries.

There is little talk about the obligations and responsibilities of citizenship from political leaders who lack the imagination, vision and conviction to break the country free from this dreadful moment.

During the early months of his presidency, the dutiful scribers who take stenography and trade tidbits of gossip in a commodities market of inanity and nonsense that is called political journalism were comparing Biden to FDR.

The man who sought the presidency as the only Democrat who could defeat Trump has become the fuel for Trump’s resurrection. The Biden candidacy was always a modest proposition. He positioned himself as the only Democratic candidate who could defeat Trump, moderate the growing political insanity and serve as a stable bridge to the future. According to candidate Biden, President Biden was going to be a transitional figure that led a national recovery from four years of division and dishonesty.

President Biden abandoned those goals and, combined with the utter failure of his administration to communicate clearly and effectively, has wrecked his presidency. He has propelled the extremist movement into position to take control of the US House of Representatives and scores of legislative chambers across the country. The US Senate remains harder to predict because of the combination of exceptional Democratic candidates like Tim Ryan and the terribleness of a slew of GOP candidates like JD Vance and Dr. Oz.

There is much speculation in the media about a Biden-Trump rematch. This rematch is neither fated, predestined or inevitable. If it occurs it will be a national catastrophe and Donald Trump will be the likely winner. This must not happen. More than anything else, it is a Washington, DC, delusion wrapped in a greater delusion that America will tolerate an 82-year-old incumbent president who has lost control and has been outmatched by events running against a twice impeached, disgraced and violent insurrectionist.

The Biden presidency is not yet completely sunk, but it is well on its way. Politics is not a fair business. Joe Biden claimed the vice presidency in a year where the Democratic Party had more than its share of fair winds and following seas. Biden is no different than Bush in ‘06 and ‘08, Clinton in ‘94, or Obama in ‘10. He is the drag. Democratic candidates who cannot find their way to break ranks criticize the Biden economy and effectively communicate against the radical Supreme Court, $5.00 gas, exploding interest rates and inflation, the extremist movement and societal insanity are doomed. The misery index is something with which most Americans will no doubt soon be re-acquainted.

The Baby Boomers took presidential power in America in 1992.  It has been the longest generational run in history. It is time to bring it to an end. Forever. Twenty-first century America is a mess for many reasons. One of them is the reality that we are being ruled over by a selfish gerontocracy that clings to power like a crypt keeper to his scepter.

America needs a vision for reform, renewal and better. It isn’t just our politics that is broken. Apathy, indifference and disconnection have led America to a dangerous place. Where exactly is the abyss?  How close are we?

What if we thought about it in a different way?  What if we thought about it in terms of how close we might be to the creation of a ‘just society?’

There have been no untroubled times in America, and it is certainly true that we live in the greatest hour to be alive in all of human history. We live at the edge of an age of wonder and possibility. What if we had leaders who were interested in building, not breaking? What if we had leaders who could reconcile instead of fight? What if we had leaders who could dream and think and work together.?

We can have all of those things and more if we want them. Freedom requires commitment. A people who are soft and apathetic enough to lose it are unlikely to find the grit to recover it.

Perhaps though, it is the people who have plenty of grit. Maybe it’s just that they get terrible choices from a completely broken system that it is well past time to renew, reform, and make new again.