WESTMINSTER WEST — Make no mistake - our country is being incinerated.
I'm not referring to the awful wildfires that have ravaged the United States for the last four-plus years. I'm talking about the Trump effect.
Since he slithered down that gilded escalator on June 16, 2015 and bellowed out his hatred of immigrants as an opening salvo, Trump has managed to promote, bully, and lie his way into the political and social fabric of America, mainly by escalating hate and fear.
He has thrown the windows open to racists, xenophobes, and misogynists so they can scream their vitriolic filth far and wide across the land.
Along with his Republican enablers, the Orange Sasquatch has wreaked deep havoc and chaos into the inner depths of America's government by gutting it, unraveling our system of checks and balances, and gravely undermining our country's standing in the world.
How ironic that his initial motivation was greed, using the 2016 presidential campaign as a gigantic branding opportunity for his business empire, a house of cards built on bankruptcies, tax evasion, fake success and, of course, daddy's money.
No wonder the Democrats are panicking at the merest whiff of a Trump victory to a second term.
The DNC and corporate media giants, sans Fox, seem determined to get their dirty mitts on this campaign to ensure that their chosen one, Joe Biden, is the nominee - just as they did with Hillary Clinton in 2016, and we're all paying for that fiasco.
In the case of Biden, if this latest attempt becomes a “third time's a charm” victory, I predict it will prove to be a bitter and dangerous defeat for Democrats, our country, and the world - in other words, Trump will trounce him.
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Given all the squeals and warnings by Washington insiders, you'd think all the progressive candidates have three eyes, which might explain why they see the real state of our nation more clearly.
Every citizen has a right to cast their vote for the candidate they support, be it a vote of pragmatism or passion. My beef is that it seems like some Americans spend more time watching their favorite shows than they do researching the candidates.
Here's an extreme, and I hope rare, example: Years ago, a workmate asked whom I thought she should vote for. When I replied that it was her decision to make, she said that she would vote for a certain candidate because he was handsome.
When I looked into her face, I was stunned to see that she was serious. She said that she didn't have time to do any research, so she'd go with that criterion!
Even relying solely on a favorite news show and watching a few debates is a cursory delve, at best. One news show isn't going to dig deep, and the debates are a joke - they're geared more toward egging on candidates to get down and dirty within a 60-second limit or come up with the wittiest of zingers - gotta capture those eyeballs in order to cash in on the big advertising bucks and keep the big suits happy.
The garish stage sets say it all - flashy and shallow.
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Naturally, part of Joe Biden's lead is mere name recognition, but the herd of pundits give people an easy sound-bite choice: Biden is the experienced, moderate darling of the Democratic party, the messiah who can win back the working-class whites who went for Trump in 2016.
There's a reason Biden has lost two previous bids for his party's nomination - he ain't no messiah. He's a corporate Democrat who has a record that is very long and checkered, as well as a reputation as a bumbler.
In addition - let's be honest - he's past his political prime and out of step with today's America.
A minor but telling case in point: For those who missed the third debate, one of Biden's recommendations to parents was to play the record player at night so their children could learn more words.
Full disclosure: I still have a record player. But these days, how many families with children do?
This statement was part of his rambling and often incoherent response to a question regarding slavery and reparations.
Huh?
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Joe Biden has set my teeth on edge ever since the Anita Hill hearings in 1991, where his role in that painful circus was downright slimy and arguably resulted in the confirmation of a sexual predator, Clarence Thomas, to the highest court in the land.
Even so, I wanted to do my homework on Biden before focusing in on the more progressive candidates whose views are closer to my own.
I always take my right to vote very seriously and honestly believe that this election will be the most important presidential contest in my remaining lifetime.
So do I give Joe Biden credit for his many years of service and some of his work and votes?
Yes, but here are just four of many issues that trouble me.
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1. Women. “I don't think that a woman has the sole right to say what should happen to her body,” Joe Biden said in a 1974 magazine interview.
Biden supported anti-abortion measures, including support of the 1976 Hyde amendment, which prohibited federal funding of abortions, thus thwarting a woman's right to choose.
In the 1991 Anita Hill hearings, the consensus at the time was that Biden was most concerned with his own reputation. He allowed Republicans to shred both Ms. Hill's reputation and her allegations of Judge Thomas's lewd, sexual harassment.
Biden also denied the testimony of two women who corroborated Professor Hill's statements and could have proven that Thomas had perjured himself.
These hearings can be viewed online, and they're stomach-turning.
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2. Race. In the early 1980s, Biden worked with segregationist Sen. Strom Thurmond to prevent federal busing mandates proposed in an effort to integrate schools.
During the 1980s into the mid-1990s, Biden was instrumental in a number of “tough on crime” laws. These changes resulted in harsh mandatory sentences without parole and an increase in the number of offenses eligible for the death penalty.
The laws also called for civil asset forfeitures of personal possessions - even if a person was never charged or convicted.
Biden worked, once again, with Thurmond on some of these laws - laws that resulted in great sentencing disparities between whites and blacks.
These laws resulted in the mass incarceration of black men - still a major issue today.
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3. Ties with the banking industry. Delaware is known as a tax haven and the land of the financial industry, including MBNA, a bank whose assets include a huge credit-card division.
MBNA was Biden's largest donor throughout his Senate career, and his voting record aligns with their interests.
Biden voted for ending Chapter 7 for individuals filing for bankruptcy. The remaining Chapter 13 option was much more onerous for individuals, which resulted in a ruinous, long-term financial nightmare for many families.
In 1999, he voted to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act, which many view as the major reason for the 2008 crash.
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4. Foreign policy. I could write pages on Biden's unwise, hawkish support and enabling of many foreign policy debacles.
I'll just mention one: his support for the Iraq war.
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My research on Joe Biden confirmed many concerns that I had and taught me much. I hope that my fellow citizens do some research on any candidate that they're considering in the Democratic primary.
I realize it's a hard lift given our too-busy world, where, for many of us, it takes multiple jobs just to keep your head above water and care for loved ones - I get it, I live it.
Yet, it is so very important to make an informed vote.
This election will affect all of our lives for years to come. An informed vote is not just a duty, it can be a life changer.