Joe Biden Archives - Institute of History, Archaeology, and Education

American Revolution 250th: Can Bush and Obama Save It?

August 30, 2024
by Peter Feinman

There has been big news on the American Revolution 250 front. Two former Presidents and First Ladies were named honorary co-chairs on August 1, 2024. Before turning to that event, let’s put that announcement in perspective starting with a blog in 2020.

The American Revolution 250th and Joe Biden: An Historic Opportunity

November 6, 2020

JOE BIDEN AND THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 250TH

The 250^th anniversary of July 4, 1776, will not occur in the upcoming term but what President Biden does will shape what happens. Just because everything is on hold now [due to COVID] as it is for the Pilgrim quadricentennial doesn’t mean anniversaries aren’t already occurring (Boston Massacre, March 5, 1770). Biden will have choices to make about how to proceed. It may not seem like the most pressing issue for him to address right now, but I would say given the divisions further exposed in the election, now is the time for him to seize the moment and put his stamp on his vision of America. May I recommend the following:

1. Appoint Presidents George Bush and Barack Obama to co-chair the existing commission for the American Revolution 250^th.
2. Also appoint them to cochair and revise the existing 1776 Commission to a broader call to develop a new national narrative for the 21^st century.
3. Our shared story is one that

celebrates that the world is a better place because of the existence of the United States of America

confronts the ugly actions which have occurred in American history

calls for continuing the journey to fulfill the vision and ideals expressed at our creation.

Biden has only one opportunity to make a first impression as the unity President of the United States who can talk the talk and walk the walk. Let it be an historic one.

Obviously that did not happen. Instead the United States Semiquincentennial Commission remained mired in controversy which was the title of my blog near two years later in 2022.

Controversy at the United States Semiquincentennial Commission

July 1, 2022

My suggestion that Joe Biden name George Bush and Barack Obama as co-chairs of the federal commission seems better and better. For now, local and state organizations should think about Plan B. Nationally, it seems like we are on the Titanic with the iceberg dead ahead in broad daylight and we are aimed at it.

Nothing happened although things did improve. Now, this month over three and a half years after my initial recommendation, looked what happened.

Aug 1, 2024, 2:15 PM

America250 is excited to announce that President George W. Bush, Mrs. Laura Bush, President Barack Obama, and Mrs. Michelle Obama will serve as Honorary National Co-Chairs of the national effort to celebrate and commemorate the 250th Anniversary of the United States.

As Honorary Co-Chairs, President and Mrs. Bush and President and Mrs. Obama will lend their voices to the nationwide effort to mark this historic milestone.

The momentum behind America250 has never been greater. We look forward to working with the presidents and first ladies to ensure that the 250th is a celebration for all Americans, from sea to shining sea.

President Bush and President Obama are leaders with unique American experiences. Collectively, their platforms, voices, and stories will inspire Americans across the country to join together in celebrating America’s 250th.

As Presidents and First Ladies of the United States, their stories are foundational to the American story. We hope that their unique voices will help encourage everyone to participate in this pivotal commemoration.”

-Rosie Rios, Chair, America250

They are honorary co-chairs so I do not know how deep their involvement will be. It might range from being figureheads on a letter head to active engagement with the project. Only time will tell.

Speaking of time, the clock keeps clicking. There is less than two years now to the big event in Philadelphia on July 4, 2026. So what do these appointments mean in this context? Obviously nothing will be done in this legislative session. As for the next one, it would probably be necessary to wait until at least February if not March until all the election dusts settles. That would 16 months before July 4, 2026, and the looming cessation of the federal commission.

Is there an infrastructure set up to handle the distribution of funds through the state 250th commissions?

Are there funds to be disbursed?

Do all states even have a fully active staffed and funded 250th commission?

Based on an online 250th program I recently participated in, there are states which have nothing in place. Given that this is an election year, the odds are any action will be deferred to the new governor and legislatures. That means with 15 months to go, we may start seeing some action.

During the bicentennial, many new historical societies were created. That will not happen this time around. Maybe there is no need for any new ones; all the ones that need to exist already have been created. In fact, sometimes the people who created these small history organizations after the bicentennial may still be there. Getting the next generation to step in and step up has proved a challenge.

For events after July 4, 2026, these appointments probably mean nothing. The commission is not geared up to function then anyway.

As to the growing groundswell in support of the 250^th, that may be a pipe dream. Neither political party has weaponized the 250^thyet. Here we are in the middle of a presidential election with talk of democracy being on the line and still no mention of the 250^th by either candidate or the current president. Perhaps a member of the press might ask them about it.

H-Early-America Call for Papers: Remembering the American Revolution at 250

The academic list-serve H-Early America has put out a call for papers that raises some of the questions which our honorary co-leaders of the 250^th might ask.

There will be a host of events throughout the country to commemorate this momentous milestone, but also deep soul searching about the meanings of the revolution, independence, and liberty, and the proper way to commemorate such an event. To participate in these conversations, H-Early-America invites essay submissions for Remembering the American Revolution at 250, a peer-reviewed publication hosted and freely available on the H-Net Publications Platform. Published essays will appear online on an open-access model, ensuring a broad readership.

One may question how much “deep soul searching about the meanings of the revolution, independence, and liberty, and the proper way to commemorate such an event” will occur. Jefferson historian Annette Gordon-Reed writes:

We approach 2026, the 250^th anniversary of the country’s founding , with legitimate reasons to question whether the American experiment — always an imperfect and fragile work in progress — will survive in a recognizable form that, at least, maintains that the will to believe in a notion of progress toward a more perfect union. It has been disheartening me and, judging from the comments I receive from people across the country, to many others, to realize that so large a part of our citizenry has seemingly given up on the experiment and now seems to prefer the cultural values and strongman style of government one sees in authoritarian regimes in places such as Eastern Europe (“Harris Earned Her Place in History,” NYT August 25, 2024, print).

A more likely event is July 4 celebrations as usual only bigger. Be that as it may, here are the five topics in the call for papers.

1. Global Revolution: How are the Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Founders remembered overseas? What are the stories of George Washington statues in Europe? How have states that joined the Union after 1776, such as Florida and Louisiana, remembered the revolution?

2. Texts of Revolution: How do we remember and interpret various, especially lesser-known, documents from the American Revolution? How have resource projects enhanced the availability and accessibility of these documents? How can we use these documents in our teaching?

3. Revolution–-or Not? : How did those indifferent or antagonistic to the American Revolution or who viewed the British as the side of liberty view and remember the events? How have African Americans processed the tension between their remembrances of freedom and enslavement and national remembrances of independence and the Revolution? How did families with divided loyalties work through their differences?

4. Remembering Revolution: How have we remembered the American Revolution? What aspects of the Revolution have we willfully forgotten because they were unpleasant or inconvenient? How have books, historians, and popular media contributed to the remembering or forgetting of the American Revolution?

5. Revolution for a New Century: How do we adjust the teaching of the American Revolution as we face new challenges from political leaders? How do historic sites address the need to include a broader set of voices? How do we communicate the history of the Revolution to the U.S. public in the 21st century?

Even if one does not submit a 5-8000 word research essay, these topics provide plenty of opportunity for discussion in historical societies, libraries, social studies classes, teacher workshops or wherever one gathers to have deep soul searching discussions.

For questions contact:

Abby Chandler, University of Massachusetts, Lowell

Darcy R. Fryer, The Brearley School
Patrick Luck, Florida Polytechnic University
Niels Eichhorn, VP of Research and Publication, H-Net
Contact Information: america250@mail.h-net.org

1774 AND THE 250^th

Finally we need to keep in mind that the 250^th anniversary of the American Revolution has already started. The year 1774, the year of the First Continental Congress, has been the subject of multiple blogs.

Here are some 1774 events that I happen to be aware of.

Orangetown Resolutions

On July 4, 2024, about “80-plus rabble-rousers celebrated the 250^th anniversary of the Orange Town resolutions at the ’76 House in Tappan.” The restaurant is better known as the “prison” of John André whose capture in 1780 occurred after the federal commission will have expired. According to the Orangetown Crier from the Orangetown Historical Museum and Archives, the Orangetown Resolutions, coincidentally adopted on July 4, 1774, were read aloud. They expressed the great anger at the audacity of the British Crown to impose its unfair taxes on us. The Tappantown Historical Society and the Historical Society of Rockland County joined in the celebration.

Suffolk Resolves

Here is a notice about an event which occurred on September 9, 1774 and is being celebrated on Aug 31, 2024.

RESOLVED!

This Saturday, August 31, 2024, the Milton Historical Society, in partnership with the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts Freemasons, the Dr. Joseph Warren Foundation, the Massachusetts Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Massachusetts Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Children of the American Revolution and the Old North Bridge Society, will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Suffolk Resolves.

The Suffolk Resolves, primarily authored by Dr. Joseph Warren, was a bold declaration in 1774. This document outlined the Bay Colony’s grievances and a strategy for resisting oppressive British policies in response to the Intolerable Acts imposed by Parliament earlier that year. The Resolves were a precursor document to the Declaration of Independence and marked one of the first official acts of the Continental Congress.

The Suffolk Resolves House, originally known as the Daniel Vose House, is where the Suffolk Resolves were approved and signed on September 9, 1774. Paul Revere delivered the document on horseback to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. Today, this historic site is preserved by the Milton Historical Society.

In response to the Suffolk Resolves, King George III gave a speech to Parliament on November 30, 1774, condemning Massachusetts, accusing the colonies of rebellion, and declaring the colonists “open and avowed enemies.”

Such events should be held in municipalities throughout the country and not limited to the original 13 states or Massachusetts. We are fast running out of time to remember 1774 two hundred and fifty years later.

Joe Biden: We Are a City on a Hill and the Eyes of the World Are Upon Us

August 6, 2024
by Peter Feinman

The Shining City on a Hill: Commentary on Reagan by Bryan Caplan

Vladimir Putin agreed to step down before he reaches the age of 80.

Xi Jinping agreed to step down before he reaches the age of 80.

All African strongmen agreed to step down before they reach the age of 90.

All African strongmen agreed to step down before they reach the age of 80.

All aged leaders agreed to step down when voted out of office by the people they rule.

All leaders regardless of age agreed to step down when voted out of office by the people they rule.

Obviously, this is not what happened or is likely to happen. Nonetheless, the action of Joe Biden will have long-lasting impact. It will set a standard for others to draw on. It will become a rallying cry for people seeking to oust rulers who are past their prime and need to be replaced.

On the other hand, there is the example of Donald Trump. He, too, has set an example for leaders around the world. Not only should leaders not step down, they should take whatever means are necessary regardless of the so-called vote.

Consider this conclusion to a recent article on Brazil.

[Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union] took the stage with Eduardo Bolsonnaro, in front of a giant graphic calling for “amnesty” for the Brazilians imprisoned on Jan. 8. To get a rise from the crowd, Schlapp teased that Donald Trump might be watching.” Eduardo Bolsonaro said that Trump’s return could mean “consequences” for the authorities currently persecuting the right in Brazil. “With Trump’s election, we can see a major turnaround. And we will, God willing.

Schlapp added:

Donald Trump’s gonna win. And when he wins, America is gonna start to lead again [because we are a city on a hill and the eyes of the world are upon us].(Trumps of the Tropics: As Brazil’s Far-right Leaders Plot their return, they’re (Still) Taking their Cues from America’s MAGA Movement, (New York Times Magazine, August 4, 2024, print).

So the eyes of the world are upon us, but which part of America they are seeing is problematical.

TALK THE TALK

In the incredible swirl of events since Joe Biden announced to the world on July 24 that he would not be a candidate for presidential election this year, his words have often been overlooked. I suggest that they will live on alongside his action and become part of history, that is, a speech that is remembered and taught.

… America is at an inflection point, one of those rare moments in history when the decisions we make now will determine our fate of the nation and the world for decades to come….

On that day [my inauguration], I told you as I stood in that winter — we stood in a winter of peril and a winter of possibilities, peril and possibilities [and like Benjamin Franklin I had the pleasure to know it was a rising sun of the world’s last best hope as we battle to make the world safe for democracy and are not a country of carnage]. We were in the grip of the worst pandemic in the century, the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, the worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War, but we came together as Americans, and we got through it. We emerged stronger, more prosperous and more secure.

He defined America in cosmic terms without pandering to evangelicals.

America is an idea, an idea stronger than any army, an idea stronger than any army, bigger than any ocean, more powerful than any dictator or tyrant.

It’s the most powerful idea in the history of the world. That idea is that we hold these truths to be self-evident. We’re all created equal, endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, life, liberty, pursuit of happiness. We’ve never fully lived up to it, to this sacred idea, but we’ve never walked away from it either and I do not believe the American people will walk away from it now.

Biden practically waxed Lincolnian as he drew his speech to a close.

We are a nation of promise and possibilities, of dreamers and doers, or ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things….

The great thing about America is here kings and dictators do not rule, the people do. History is in your hands. The power is in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands.…

We’re the United States of America and there’s simply nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together.

Amen.

These words practically vanish in the news cycle but they will be remembered in history.

Ronald Reagan could have said these words. Trump/Vance could not. Soaring rhetoric will never be their calling card. Nor will optimism unless it is about themselves. America’s place in world history will never animate them. Their America will always be small. Harris/Walz, too early to tell. Whether or not the United States are a people of vision will be on the ballot this election year and with global consequences even if the candidates do not speak about it directly.

WALK THE WALK

In today’s world, there is no place for a lameduck President. The challenges abroad are growing. They would tax the strength of any President even one in the physical prime of life. One hardly knows where to begin.

Ukraine and Russia
Israel and Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis
Iran
Venezuela
Sudan and Darfur
Niger
Bangladesh
Pakistan
China and the South China Sea, trade, technology).

This list of crises would be enough to keep anyone busy. The Axis of Evil Aggression is relentless. The United Nations cannot provide the leadership the world needs. Only the United States can. Undoubtedly foreign issues will not get the attention they deserve in the coming weeks and months during what is left of this presidential election campaign. There will be little opportunity to have substantive talks with the candidates on these issues. The best one can hope for is a sound bite or talking point. There is no venue for a state of the world and America’s place in it presentation. How to pronounce the first name of the presidential candidate and what is her race is the limit of the MAGA mental necessities or interests. Meanwhile the world still looks to the United States for answers and help.

If Biden Makes a Gaffe, How Will Trump Know?

June 26, 2024
by Peter Feinman

The Thrilla in Manila (Neil Leifer for Sports Illustrated)

The thrilla in Manila is upon us. Or the Devil and Daniel Webster. Or Williams Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. Or Earth 1 versus Earth 2.

We are at point which tonight may determine the outcome of the American Presidential race. For all the talk about it being too early, it really is not since the campaign for the 2020 election never ended. For one contestant, it may be his last chance to show he belongs in the ring. For the other candidate whose home is the professional political wrestling arena, it may be another chance to show that the real world cannot touch him.

Let’s consider some of key points over the debate which may be obscured.

1. Joe Biden is not dead. That is a funny way to begin a description of the confrontation. It attests the success of his opponent and Foxhub in painting Biden as someone still at death’s door after five years. Nothing Biden does seems to shake this image so even if he is still standing after the metaphorical 15 rounds it will be explained away that he was drugged like a Russian athlete to over perform. It also attests the stark reality that Donald Trump controls the narrative and not the President of the United States

2. Donald Trump is an elite stander. I am still not sure what it means to be an elite stander but if Biden is standing too that will be explained away. On the other hand, this absurd comment provides an opening in the match should Biden want to take advantage of it.

Was Franklin Delano Roosevelt an elite stander?
Is Texas Governor Greg Abbott an elite stander?
Are the participants in the Special Olympics all elite standers?
What about the wounded veterans who may not be able to stand? Besides being losers and suckers do they also fail to measure up?
What about for people with disabilities in general?

Here we see the limits of the mental necessities of the seventh-grade smart-aleck-dumb-aleck. It’s a funny line unless you stop to think about it. Then it is simple-minded at best and an example of someone and his staff who lack the mental necessities for the White House due to their inability to think things through.

3. Donald Trump is always the dumbest person in the room except at a MAGA rally. Suppose Biden discusses his foreign policy actions and mentions a slew of countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and the Middle East. Then suppose he commits a gaffe in naming the country or its leader. How would Trump know? The usual way is denied him. Foxhub will have the opportunity to take Biden to task after the debate but will be unable to do so during the debate. This means the people who watch Foxhub will be able to laugh and laugh at the gaffe after it is spun to them. Meanwhile the people who watch CNN or MSNBC or who read the real morning papers will not. By that time, the Biden side will have the opportunity to issue a corrective. It won’t matter to MAGAs but it will to others.

4. Singing in the Shower – As everyone knows, in the shower, you are the world’s greatest singer. It is only when you leave the shower for the real world that the truth catches up with you. So as long as Trump is on Foxhub or in his professional political wrestling arena he is on safe grounds. He can say anything with fear or even awareness if what he is saying is true in the real world. However, he will not have that luxury in the CNN debate. No doubt he will do his best to transform the stage into an arena on Earth 2. But there will be no live audience to provide him the energy he needs to sustain himself. He will be muted if rambles on for too long. In short, the conditions of the debate are configured as best as is possible to keep Trump in the real world, a place where he is not very comfortable.

Think of his recent comments about Milwaukee. First, given his limited mental necessities, he is only capable of judging something in a strictly binary manner. It is either the greatest ever or the worst ever. The worst Secretary of State ever. The worst treaty ever. As if he has studied the history of the United States and can intelligibly make such an argument. He speaks in binary, apocalyptic terms about what would happen if various legal actions were taken. On the one hand the President should have immunity if he sends seal team 6 after his opponents. On the other hand, Biden is condemned for sending armed FBI agents to violate his home with orders to kill him. But there is no contradiction there because Biden is not the real president anyway.

Second, Milwaukee is a city, therefore it is carnage. What else do you need to know?

Facts are meaningless to Donald Trump and to MAGA, so if Biden decides to speak in facts, he should be aiming for the national audience and not waste his time trying to convince Trump to leave his alternate world for Earth 1.

The issue will be not only what happens in the debate but how it is spun afterwards. Think of January 6. People saw the insurrection live on TV as it was happening. People saw elected officials running for their lives. People heard Republicans condemn the actions and inactions of the President of the United States in fomenting the action.

Then what happened?

There were FBI plants?
There were Antifa agitators.
It was peaceful political protest.
They are hostages.
They will be pardoned.

See how the description changes. Have the number of people who think the election was stolen from Trump instead of him trying to steal the election changed in more than two years. Now Trump is a champion of freedom in the United States!

No matter how people have been convicted; no matter how people have lost their license; no matter how people are waiting for their day in court, nothing has had any impact on MAGAs. And nothing ever will.

So even if Biden holds his own and wins in the same way Nixon won the debate on radio while Kennedy won the same debate on television, what will change in the American electorate? We are a storytelling species and the fact is Earth 2 has a superior story told by a persistent and robust storyteller even if he does not have the facts on his side and his mental necessities are deteriorating.

Will College Students Allow a Hamas-Israel Agreement?

May 12, 2024
by Peter Feinman

Many college campuses have been convulsed in protests over the Israeli-Hamas war. The exact number fluctuates as new ones emerge and the police and/or college administrators quell the peaceable political discourse by taking students and outside agitators hostage. Presumably if tried and convicted in federal court they will be pardoned.

The mantras of the protestors are “river to sea,” intifada, genocide and various woke terms like “settler colonialism.” Many comparisons are made to the events at Columbia in 1968 given the school’s leading role in 2024 as a spark for the nationwide outburst.

But the parallels with Vietnam are not exact. In fact, there is a wide difference which needs to be explored. While the Vietnam War went on for years, involved many American casualties, and helped Richard Nixon squeak out a victory in the 1968 presidential election. The Democratic incumbent stepped down while his leading rival was the assassinated Robert Kennedy and not the gadfly Robert Kennedy, Jr. There remains a serious question to be answered. What happens if in the near future there is an agreement between Hamas and Israel even if only a temporary one?

SHORT TERM

If Israel and Hamas agree to a temporary cessation of hostilities and an exchange of prisoners, what will be the impact on protesting college students? For now, the protestors are parroting the phrases of Hamas (and Iran) in calling for the destruction of Israel. If instead, Hamas enters into an agreement with Israel, what is there to protest? If there is a cessation of violence and an exchange of prisoners, then the call for intifada or river to sea takes on a brand new meaning. How do you protest against Israel if Hamas has entered into an agreement with Israel? Such an agreement takes the wind out of the protestors’ sails. If Hamas decides to work with Israel in some way, what is there to protest?

There is an easy test between the disconnect of the desires of the Palestinians and those of the American students. When for a brief instant, it seemed as if peace would break out in Gaza even if only for a short period, what were the reactions? In Gaza, Palestinians were celebrating. They were dancing in the street. They have no love for Hamas and the war which Hamas initiated on its own to the detriment of the Palestinian people. By contrast, there was no such celebration on the campuses of American colleges. For the pro-Hamas students, a treaty will Israel that still leaves Israel in existence, is no treaty at all.

MIDDLE TERM

If the time line is extended, then the position of the protesting college students becomes even more precarious. Here are some things that could conceivably happen in the middle term if Israel realizes that when you are in a hole, stop digging.

1. An Arab peacekeeping force could replace the Israeli troops in Gaza (Tom Friedman). If the “occupying force” consists of other Arab forces then the call for river to sea, intifada, and genocide disappears. These Arabs will then train Gazans to be the local police. These Arabs will then help create a local infrastructure devoid of Hamas participation. All this is antithetical to the protesting college students’ mantras.

2. The security deal that was on the verge of being signed is now back in play. It would join Israel, the United States, and Palestine in an anti-Iranian collation. We have already seen how a coalition of western allies plus Israel and Jordan were able to dispatch the Iranian drones recently launched against Israel. A formal security agreement would signify that Iran has little wiggle room to affect a river to sea outcome.

3. As a result, Saudi Arabia would be joined more closely to the United States. This would include weapons purchases and a possible development of civilian nuclear power as Iran claims it is seeking to do now.

How could American college students protesting for the river to the sea accept these peace terms instead?

LONG TERM

In the long term, people are now beginning to discuss in the long term for Gaza that is not based on the rule of Hamas. The idea of a long term involvement and shared oversight of Gaza is under discussion. The ongoing presence in Gaza of personnel from friendly Arab counties would permit the development and emergence of homegrown Gaza leaders free of the Hamas taint. It would make up for the years during which Hamas suppressed and oppressed the very people they claim to champion.

In this view, it is possible to imagine Gaza transformed from an isolated area it is today. It could become a Mediterranean commercial hub centered on trade, tourism, and innovation with the creation of a middle class no matter how farfetched it might seem at present (Peter Goodman, 4/30/24 NYT print). Such actions requiring decades would bring about the integration of Gaza into the global economy. The power of Iran would be reduced accordingly. The very presence of such long-term plans would undermine Hamas. It would demonstrate a long-term commitment to Gaza that is antithetical to the constant wars of Hamas. College students in the United States would be furious since such developments are contrary to what they espouse.

WOKE

The fixation by the college students with Israel is revelatory. Students concerned about the violent abuse and murder of other people have plenty of targets in the world if only they would choose to look. For example, that other war involving the United States between Ukraine and Russia. Sudan is another.

But “woke” was designed to target the actions first of the Anglo countries – United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and South Africa (before) – and only secondarily other European colonial powers no longer in existence. It was not intended for other relationships. In this environment, Israel serves as a living proxy for all these countries and their now collapsed empires. For people who speak the language of colonial settler, Israel is the perfect target even though Arab Palestinians are not native to the land, they are not indigenous.

Remember how MAGAs refused to be vaccinated against COVID so as not to give Biden a win?

A similar scenario is playing out here. The more Biden puts the brakes on Israeli military expansion, the less the woke will be able to generate outrage for their agenda. The more the United States and its friends in the region act in concert to bring the fighting to a halt, the less the woke will be able to generate outrage for their agenda. The more the United States and its friends in the region act in concert to replace the river-to-sea rule of Hamas with plans to make Gaza a Hamas-free part of the West, the less the woke will be able to generate outrage for their agenda. By the time colleges resume in the fall, the situation will be very different than it is today.

The more leadership Biden shows in ending this phase of the conflict and presenting an alternative to Hamas, the more the outrage will dissipate … except for those students who want Hamas to continue to oppress, repress and suppress the Palestinian people.

Biden Boldly Goes Where No President Has Gone Before

February 22, 2023
by Peter Feinman

Kirk never took a ten hour train ride. Beam me up, Scotty.

Joe Biden has boldly gone where no American President has gone before. His journey into a war zone where there are no American troops will be remembered with alongside previous American Presidential combat trips. Who can forget John Kennedy’s proclamation that he was a Berliner at the Berlin Wall or Ronald Reagan’s call to tear down that very wall in Berlin or Donald Trump’s clearing of Lafayette Square for a photo op. These are the defining moments of a presidency producing images that endure throughout history.

As one hears about the intricacies of the trip Biden undertook, one can almost hear the theme from Mission Impossible playing in the background. But now that the journey is complete, one has to ask what did it accomplish, what difference did it make?

This blog will be a bifurcated one because the significance on the global stage does not correlate with that in the domestic arena.

LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD

With this trip, Biden asserted his position as leader of the free world. He is not the leader of the unfree world. However those countries have been put on notice that he is the leader of the free world. In particular, this applies to NATO. That organization has been reinvigorated, unified, and is set to expand. None of these developments are what Putin sought when he launched his special military operation which ended up being war. The Donald Trump era of America alone and thrashing NATO is over … at least until the 2024 presidential election.

As the leader of the free world, Biden has drawn a line in sand in Ukraine. He can no longer allow Ukraine to lose. North Korea/South Korea and North Vietnam/South Vietnam divisions of Ukraine are unacceptable. There are no negotiations possible since only victory is acceptable.

PETER THE GREAT

With this trip, Biden has put Putin on notice that his dreams of Peter the Great will not be fulfilled … at least as long as Biden is President. Biden’s visit serves as a declaration that he will not allow Ukraine to fall on his watch. That means however Putin ratchets up the intensity of the Russian effort, it will be matched by Biden. There is no victory in sight for Putin.

Way back on February 6, I asked Is Putin Winning?: Joe Biden’s Moment of Truth. I wondered what Biden would do. I wrote:

The United States has expended a great deal of military equipment and moral leadership on behalf of Ukraine. Can the United States afford to just walk away from that because we fear Putin?

If we do walk away, it not only means Russia has triumphed over America, it means that China, Iran, and MAGAs have too. Far from being an isolated event, Putin’s war against Ukraine has become a world war. Think of the fuss raised over the Chinese spy balloon. Now imagine what it would be if America fails in Ukraine.

In some ways, Putin’s war against Ukraine has become Biden’s Cuban Missile Crisis.

I was not expecting an answer so quickly. One might think that Putin has received and understands the message. Now he is relegated to waiting for Western unity to crack or his lackey to return to the White House in 2025. Only then if Biden is re-elected may we learn that Putin is willing to live in the real world. Whether or not the Russian/elites military are willing to wait that long is another matter. We need to convince them that Russia is not our enemy, Putin is, and that we have a common enemy in China.

AMERICAN LEADERSHIP: DEMOCRATS

For someone with one foot in the grave – assuming he was not already dead – Biden has had a remarkably active and robust first two+ years that would make a younger President proud. Given his domestic legislation triumphs and his world leadership role against Russia and its authoritarian allies, it is hard to imagine any Democrat challenging him. So far none has. No Democratic office holder has undertaken any actions that would signify a move towards becoming a candidate.

But one needs to keep in mind that the 2024 election is a long way off. Joe Biden easily could step down on the grounds that he has achieved what he sought to achieve and then some; now it is time to turn the ship of state over to someone else. The sticking point including for those who say they don’t want Biden to run again is who that someone else should be? At this point there is no obvious successor despite the longstanding tradition broken by Obama of choosing one’s Vice President to be the successor. On the other hand, there is the example of John Fetterman. At lot can happen in a couple of years. Great athletes tend not to retire at the top of their game; they tend to wait until they have started to decline excluding any career-ending injury.

One should keep in mind that Biden does not get any credit for his achievements. He has every right to be proud of what he has accomplished. Yet somehow that has not translated into any boost in his popularity. People still say with a straight face and in all sincerity that he has not done anything. One wonders what if anything can break through that mindset.

AMERICAN LEADERSHIP: MAGA

“The President of the United States chose Ukraine over America, while forcing the American people to pay for Ukraine’s government and war,” tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) “I cannot express how much Americans hate Joe Biden.”

“Breathtaking that President Biden can show up in Ukraine to ensure their border is secure, but can’t do the same for America,” January 6 co-conspirator Rep. Scott Perry tweeted.

Rep. Matt Gaetz Gaetz and Greene are co-sponsors of the Ukraine Fatigue Act that aims to undermine support for Kyiv as the Russian invasion of its European neighbor moves into its second year. Greene wrote. “We must impeach this America Last fool before it’s too late.”

So far the Republicans have the upperhand over the MAGAs in Congress. How long that will last remains unknown. MAGA’s think differently. They have no interest in the President of the United States being the leader of the Free World. They prefer Putin to Biden. So while the call for premature withdrawal has no traction now, the situation could change.

For the moment at least, Biden has created a historically defining moment with his visit to Ukraine and speech in Poland. In the future Railroad One may become a tourist trip. If the Democrats are smart they will contrast Trump’s submissiveness to Putin at Helsinki with Biden’s defiance at Kyiv. They will contrast Trump’s “perfect phone call” to undermine Ukraine in his first impeachment with Biden’s “One year later, Kyiv stands. And Ukraine stands. The Americans stand with you, and the world stands with you.” One year ago today, Trump praised Putin for his genius, the savvy leader who had a strong army for peace. Putin expected to be in Kyiv shortly afterwards. Instead the war has not only been Zelenskyy’s moment of glory, it has become Biden’s too. Will the American people realize that?

MAGA’s Have “A Beautiful Mind:” There Is No Cure

February 20, 2023
by Peter Feinman

“A Beautiful Mind” is a movie about Nobel-Prize winner John Nash. He had delusions and was placed in a mental hospital by his wife. The movie plays somewhat loose with the facts as should be expected. Nash’s schizophrenia didn’t truly develop until the 1960s, after he had graduated from Princeton and married Alicia Nash. Apparently the visual delusions were made up for the film in order to capture the spirit of his real psychosis. The real Nash heard voices that mocked and argued with him constantly.

At times, Nash thought the voices were coming from aliens or angels. At the height of his madness, Nash believed that aliens were sending him encrypted messages through the New York Times and that any man wearing a red necktie was a member of a secret international communist organization. He feared that the government was working with extraterrestrials to destroy his reputation.

While there is not an exact one-to-one correspondence between Nash and MAGAs (or QAnons, there are lessons to be learned. Specifically there are three mental necessities that seem to lacking or in short supply in the thinking of MAGAs. They complicate the chances of the MAGAs ever abandoning their alternate reality for the real world no matter what “evidence” is presented. These are:

1. the ability to connect the dots
2. the ability to think things through
3. the ability to cope when confronted with the real world.

Actually they are very good with the last one – they simply shut it out.

CONNECTING THE DOTS

In the movie, Nash is superb as connecting the dots. The image shown here is from a scene where Nash is not operating in a state-of-art spy center as he hallucinates. Instead he is in a dilapidated run-down shack or barn. He is diligently clipping newspaper articles and photographs and connecting them with string. Periodically he “mails” proofs of the conspiracies he has uncovered to his recruiter. These real mailings are intercepted by his friends who save them until a climactic moment in the movie.

Previously I have written about the limitations of the mental necessities of our immature child loser President. He can only connect two dots. For him that is the ultimate achievement. That’s the way he was born. No surgery, no drug treatment, no analysis can remedy that shortcoming. For anything beyond two dots, he has to outsource that level of thinking.

Sean Hannity was a key person in that process. He has a superb ability to connect the dots even when there was no connection. Think of Seth Rich. It’s not easy to construct an alternate reality but, Hannity did it. Night after he proclaimed that he had unraveled the mystery and connected the dots of the Fake News Russia hoax. He did so until the lawsuit of the Rich family shut him up.

Even so, the technique survived. A critical component of the true MAGA mind is the belief that someone has connected the dots and made sense of the world. They gravitate towards the QAnons, the Steve Bannons, and, of course, Foxhub itself. They know that they can rely on these dot-connectors to present to them an explanation for what is going on. Disconnecting them from those dots is not going to be easy (see below).

THINK THINGS THROUGH

We have had numerous examples on the failure of MAGAs to think things through.

Think of the MAGA denunciations of gas prices over $5/gallon as if they never would come down. Think it through.

Think of the urgent need to shoot down all the Chinese balloons over the United States even if they turned out to be high school science projects. This “shoot first” policy is a perfect test case of the dangers of having a fully armed population where everyone can take the law into their own hands by shooting first and asking questions later. Think it through.

Think of the not-yet-indicted loser president exclaiming after the redacted portion of the Fulton County special grand jury report was released:

Thank you to the Special Grand Jury in the Great State of Georgia for your Patriotism & Courage. Total exoneration. The USA is very proud of you!!!

He must think Bill Barr is still the Attorney General and he had just squashed the Mueller Report. And with his “perfect phone call” we witness a replay of his first impeachment.

Here we have a redacted report that eliminates the names of the targets who will be indicted and he is claiming total exoneration! What will he say when the full report is released. Think it through.

In addition, he demonstrates no awareness, interest, or concern for the people who have been identified as targets, who now may be accused of perjury besides the election issues, and who may be indicted… and then transform into Michael Cohen! Think it through.

Finally, think of the MAGA House committees chomping at the bit to launch a series of investigations.

Think of the House committee investigating the politicization of the Department of Justice. Now it turns out the DOJ was politicized but it was by Donald Trump.

Think of the House committee investigating corruption due to foreign money. Now it turns out that Saudi Arabia is the key to the corruption and Trump and his son-in-law are the ones who need to be investigated.

One presumes that House Democrats will hold MAGA feet to the fire on these items.

One hopes that the appropriate Senate committees will launch their own investigations into the real politicization and corruption which had occurred.

THE REAL WORLD

MAGAs have had to cope with disappointments in the real world before.

1. Seth Rich did not turn out to be the key to the Russia hoax.
2. The August 14, 2021, date for the restoration of the rightful President to the White House as predicted by Pillow Head and Séance Sydney has come and gone.
3. The Inspector General report that was going to expose the Russia hoax turned out to be a nothingburger that confirmed the investigation was legitimate.

MAGA thinking has not changed.

1. The House Select Committee report with the testimony from all those Republicans did not move the needle.
2. COVID is still a hoax and the vaccines should be investigated and/or banned presumably for polio, measles, and other diseases.
3. The election still was stolen.

In January, a recount was held in Lycoming, PA. MAGAs pressured the hand re-recount of 60,000 votes. The results were a net change for the incumbent who had won the county with 69.97% of the vote. He gained 8 votes bring the total to 69.98%. It had no effect. Instead he reaction was “We’re not done” (NYT 1/16/23). The County Director of Elections Forrest Lehmann despaired that an encounter with facts would not change their minds. Since the recount, the department has received “a series of crazy requests. They are insane,” Lehmann said sounding a lot like a Foxhub broadcaster.

Speaking of Foxhub, the emails and texts of the Foxhub personalities on what they wee actually saying when the camera was not on have just been released. Or at least some of them have. Do you think MAGAs will finally see the light and say “Gosh. I have been wrong this whole time. Joe Biden really won the election.”

Cope by denial. At one point the idea of having the three night Foxhub performers jointly say that Joe Biden really won might have made a difference. It’s too late now.

Recently, a reporter interviewed some people at a MAGA event. The two people claimed that Donald Trump was still the President in 2023. The interviewer was somewhat surprised by that answer but continued in true reporter stance maintaining his cool. The two people insisted Donald Trump was the President. In response to a question about the military, they paused because they had not thought things through. Then they rationalized that there had to be two militaries, a good military which reported to Trump and a bad military which reported to Biden. This question was asked prior to Biden’s trip to Ukraine.

Questions not asked (or asked and not shown) were:

1. If Donald Trump is the President now, then why does he claim the election was stolen?
2. If Donald Trump is the President now, then how can he run for a third term under the constitution?

We have just had proof that that stolen election will be on the ballot in 2024. In Michigan, the Democrats swept all the statewide elections in 2022 and even flipped the state legislature. This means Michigan will be a battleground state in 2024 strictly based on the actual vote. So how did the Republicans respond to this defeat in the real world? Two election-deniers battled each other for the leadership position in the Republican Party. The vote-counting was delayed due to the use of paper ballots and hand-counting! What have they learned from 2022? Nothing except to urge the Party of Republicans.

In an interview with Sean Hannity, the now announced candidate Nikki Haley said:

We have lost the seven out of eight popular votes for president. It is time that we get a Republican in there that can lead and that can win a general election.

At that point Hannity should have taken her to task. Republicans lost five of six elections from 1992 to 2008 but MAGAs won the popular vote in 2016 and 2020.

One may anticipate that 2020 will be on the ballot again, that candidates will be asked if the election was stolen, and if Biden is the legitimate president. They will be put on the spot in the primaries and the winner will be put on the spot in the general election. I have not seen polls yet for 2024 comparing a candidate who thinks the election was stolen with one who does not. Republican candidates will be obligated to claim the election was stolen. Eventually someone will ask Nikki Haley about her “oversight.” The minds of MAGA will not be changed not even by the disclosed Foxhub emails. But they will become more a more a laughingstock to Team Normal as they stick with the insane craziness and the candidates who support it.

Civil War Update: The Battle of Gettysburg 2022 Elections

November 9, 2022
by Peter Feinman

In the battle between Donald Trump and the Constitution, the 2022 elections may be considered the Battle of Gettysburg. The current Civil War is being fought differently than the last one. That Civil War was fought at National Park Service sites. This one is being fought through the voting at all levels and the occasional violence on January 6 and with a hammer.

It is easy at this point to be caught up in the details of individual elections and not see the forest for the leaf. The Battle of Gettysburg 2022 Elections is a critical one in the determination of who will win the overall war. This midterm election was an anomaly because, as previously stated, there were two Presidents were on the ballot. Although neither one was actually on the ballot, the vote in part was a referendum on both 45 and 46.

Under normal circumstances, one would expect 46’s party not to fare well. In the past there have been tidal wave shifts against the incumbent President. Everytime a voter saw a gas price while driving or food prices while shopping, the voter was reminded that a change was needed.

On the other hand, when an 82-year old grandfather was struck with a hammer, the voter was reminded what was disgusting and repulsive about 45 and his followers. To watch Tumpicans take joy in and make fun of the hammer attack was a bridge too far for many Americans. Are these the type of people you want in charge of the country?

Fortunately for Trumpicans, many voters still vote local, the price of gas or my party. But others worry about the threat to democracy.

BATTLEGROUND

The time immediately prior to the Battle of Gettysburg 2022 Elections represents the high water mark for the Trumpican forces. Just as Napoleon and Hitler were going great guns for a while, eventually they reached their limits and it was all downhill from there. Similarly, for the Confederacy, Robert E. Lee’s campaign into Pennsylvania marked his deepest penetration into the North. Once the Union prevailed at Gettysburg, it was back to the South. Similarly, Trump’s sally into Pennsylvania led to a double defeat of his two-handpicked candidates. Republicans already debate the squandered opportunity of the nomination of two Trumpicans.

Up until Election Day, it was full speed ahead for Trumpicans. Republicans were purged from the Party either through retiring or by being primaried. Occasionally, some would win, but in general all those who favored impeachment were gone. Instead, people who supported the claim that the election had been stolen were the nominees.

Laws had been passed to suppress the votes of Democrats.

Candidates had been selected to ensure the vote count be favorable in 2024.

Supreme Court cases had been filed so only gerrymandered state legislatures could decide who had won.

An army of vote suppressors had been recruited and trained.

The only thing left was the actually vote.

THE BATTLE IS ENGAGED

The same person who predicted a red wave in 2018, predicted one in 2022. He was so sure of the results, that a week after the election on November 15 he was prepared to announce his candidacy for2024. Apparently, he is becoming more and more ballistic about his not being in the White House now and more and more difficult to be handled. Perhaps old age is beginning to affect his mental necessities where he increasingly obsesses over his lost past. The White House has become his Rosebud except it never was his to own in the first place.

The Battle of Gettysburg 2022 Elections expose him as a loser. Sure he can influence who wins a Republican primary. Sure he can “endorse” who wins in a Republican district. But once a candidate has to venture out into the state electorate, the results are not as favorable.

2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

45 the Loser has direct significance for the 2024 elections.

Previously I had suggested that DeSantis would wait until 2023, before issuing a challenge. That timetable needs to be speeded up. 45 already was fuming about DeSantis long before the 2022 Election Day. Then he decided to fire the first formal shot by giving DeSantis one of those clever junior high school nicknames. He further sought to undermine any potential presidential bid by DeSantis by threatening to smear him and his family. Now DeSantis is a big winner with a huge financial stockpile and 45 is again a loser.

The future does not bode well for 45. Two trials already are underway in New York related to the Trump organization that no one will defend because they are too busy taking the Fifth. It is only a matter of time before he is indicted for Mar-a-Lagogate and vote tampering in Georgia. The House Select Committee will issue its report further documenting 45’s effort to overthrow Constitutional rule in the United States leading to further legal complications. As people lose their fear of retribution, even more of them may be willing to come forth. In short, he has nothing good to look forward to legally in the next two years. His legal woes will be like those gas signs, a constant reminder to the voters why it is time to move on.

How many people are going to run in 2024 with a call to relitigate 2020? Just some old guy puttering around in his luxurious nursing home surrounded by his souvenirs… and he won’t even have them anymore either.

Then what happens when Russia loses in Ukraine. On Election Day, the Russians announced a major pullback. More to come. This smart savvy invasion of no cost is leading to the defeat of Russia. What are the implications of an Ukrainian victory? What are the ripple effects of a Putin defeat in Russia, in Iran, in China, in Syria, and elsewhere? What are the kudos that will be extended to the supposedly near-death Biden when it turns out Brandon prevailed over Putin?

TRUMPICAN AGENDA

Election Day 2022 burst the bubble of the 45 Loser. He reached the limits of power the day before the election. Even if Republicans take control of the House and Senate, they are well aware that the red wave did not materialize. They are well are of who should be held responsible – the same person who was responsible for January 6. Republicans in the House and Senate know that if they came out of box in 2023 with guns blazing to relitigate, investigate, and impeach the past, that the American voting public has no interest in it.

Americans looking at those gas prices aren’t interested in a retribution agenda. If the only goals of the Trumpican Party are to help rich people get richer and squeeze the benefits of the little people that they are not a winning formula.

In the meantime Donald Trump will be fuming constantly on Twitter or some other social media platform. Even Foxhub is ready to move on. As of right now he may the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination. By the time the actual campaign comes around he will just be an immature child with emotional maturity of a three-year old fighting to stay out prison. It will even be safe to be a real Republican then and he may be an afterthought will no role to play.

Give credit where credit is due. He completely disrupted the American political system and put democracy at risk. Now what is at risk is his own freedom. His November 15 announcement, if it happens, is likely to be pitiable compared to the escalator ride a mere seven years ago.

Putin’s Big Lie versus Trump’s Big Lie

October 7, 2022
by Peter Feinman

Is it time to hide under your school desks? (Georgetown University)

We stand at Armageddon: so said Teddy Roosevelt over a century ago. Today Armageddon is back in the news. It is explicitly in news due to the comments of the current President of the United States hearkening back to the Cuban Missile Crisis. But there is another Armageddon pending the return of “Orange Jesus” to the American presidency when heads are going to roll in fulfillment of the QAnon prophecy.

THE RUSSIAN HOWARD BAKER MOMENT

In Russia, Putin’s Big Lie is not faring too well. As noted in my previous blog, Russians Reject Putin’s Big Lie?, even with Russian Foxhub at his disposal, the dictator is less and less able to convince people of the validity of his Big Lie. This failure extends beyond the Russian people to the leaders of countries who are supposed to be his friends and allies.

The question to be raised is one Americans have heard before:

How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam? How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?

Russia is approaching this point. No one may say these precise words in a public setting even substituting “Ukraine” for “Vietnam,” but the sentiment is one more and more Russian people are expressing openly.

For now, there is still some semblance of order within the country. Despite all the Russians who have fled, there are still Russian males being rounded up to fight in the unsuccessful war in Ukraine. Possibly due to sheer numbers they may make a difference. Possibly also these poorly-trained, poorly-armed soldiers with low morale joining others in a similar situation will be more cannon fodder for the advancing Ukranians. Hard as it is to believe, it seems possible on any given day to wake up in the United States and learn that part of the Russian army has simply collapsed, surrendered, or retreated.

The moment of truth for Putin, Russia, and the world when Putin realizes his Hail Mary failed. At that point, will he go ballistic?

Here is when the Russian Howard Baker moment will occur. The Russians know that Putin’s Big Lie is exactly that – it is Putin’s Big Lie, not Russia’s Big Lie. To confront Putin’s Big Lie is to confront one individual. To challenge Putin at that moment when he may go ballistic is the act of a Russian patriot and not a Russian traitor. As the protests against the war mount in the weeks and months to come, the protests will be directed against one individual and not against Mother Russia.

The Russians who love their country will be able to join together if Putin is ready to go ballistic to salvage his Big Lie. So while it is true based on Putin’s rhetoric that we stand at Armageddon, it is to defend Putin’s Big Lie. The gamble is that if he decides to push the button, there will be mutiny in Kremlin and it will not happen. That does mean Russia will turn into a democracy, but it does mean less adversarial and cooler heads devoid of a Peter the Great complex will rise to fore. At that moment, it will be essential for the American President to extend the hand of friendship so the Russian collapse in Ukraine will be as peaceful as the collapse of the Iron Curtain was.

TRUMP’S BIG LIE

Trump’s Big Lie will prove more enduring than Putin’s Big Lie. Ironically, in a country with freedom of the press, Trump’s Big Lie wields more power with each passing day than Putin’s Big Lie does in Russia.

For 45, it has been déjà vu 2016 all over again. He endorsed a GOP candidate for governor, Geoff Diehl in Massachusetts, by telling a crowd that Diehl will “rule your state with an iron fist, and he’ll do what has to be done.” In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, he addressed a rally supposedly in support of Republican candidates in the state: Mehmet Oz for the Senate; the January 6 apologist Doug Mastriano for governor. This one was different: so extreme, so strident, and so ugly—and so obviously provoked by an earlier Biden’s speech on fascists that this was what led local news coverage: “Donald Trump Blasts Philadelphia, President Biden During Rally for Doug Mastriano, Dr. Oz in Wilkes-Barre.”

These venues are his preferred ones, the professional political wrestling arenas. There he can unleash his barely contained inner id to the thunderous applause of his followers. In this venue, he can give full cry to what social media limits him to – plus he is better at speaking than writing.

At this point, he is operating in two arenas, one legal and one political. In the legal arenas (plural), things are not going so well. He may well be the first person in American jurisprudence to be involved with four courts on three levels plus a Special Master in a single case. His lawyers are in chaos. Some of them know they will be indicted. He has now thrown a Hail Mary to Supreme Court Justice Thomas just after praising his wife for her loyalism in her testimony to the House Select Committee. What are the odds that Thomas will recuse himself?

In the political arena, all these legal maneuverings all irrelevant when it comes to denting the loyalty by Trumpicans. They are not following the intricacies of Mar-a-Lagogate. They are standing by their man nationally just as they are in the state of Georgia.

As the crowds in his political arena become uglier and meaner with their QAnon hatred, so will his rhetoric about civil war and the need to destroy the people who are destroying America. It will only get worse after the 2022 elections a scant month away. As Steve Bannon might say, “Strap in and buckle up.” The civil war has already started and there is no turning back.

We’re not Russia. In Russia, the Big Lie is due to Putin alone. By contrast, in the United States, Trump’s Big Lie will survive him. We can see how many candidates in 2022 embrace Trump’s Big Lie. We can see how hard Trumpicans are working at the state and federal level to ensure that never again will Satan’s minions, i.e., Democrats, be allowed to take power in the United States.

Consider the agenda of the House of Representatives if the Trumpicans take control:

Impeach Joe Biden
Relitigate the 2020 Presidential election
Investigate the House Select Committee
Investigate the FBI for its Nazi-Gestapo actions just as Putin did with his invasion of Ukraine
Investigate Hunter Biden (unless the DOJ already has indicted him)
Impeach Joe Biden again.

These agenda items are from a people at war. There has been a lot of talk about whether or not there will be another civil war. There has been a scrutiny of search engines and websites for the language used. There is a failure to understand that we are in the midst of a civil war already, just not as violent yet as the ones in the American Revolution or the Civil War. This one is being fought locally. It is being fought in the school board elections. It is being fought in the superintendent hiring. It is being fought in the poll workers. It is being fought in various state elections to control the election infrastructure. It is being fought through the bused immigrants. The battleground states really are battle ground states for the control of the country.

Trump’s Big Lie has found a home. It is now part of the very fabric of tens of millions of people. They already were at war with the Politically-Corrected People (PCP). They are at war with the Woke. This is why the battles being fought in the legal arena ultimately are of no concern. Regardless of what happens to Trump the individual, the war will continue under the banner of Trump the symbol. The Russians can abandon Putin’s Big Lie but Trumpicans cannot abandon Trump’s Big Lie. They need it to be true.

Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden: The Heroes We Want vs the Leaders We Have

July 12, 2022
by Peter Feinman

We are a storytelling species who wants heroes (Wikipedia)

Tom Cruise and Kevin Costner are having a moment.

So are Donald Trump and Joe Biden, but in a different way.

The juxtaposition of these two pairs provides an opportunity to compare the people we admire as heroes with the actual leaders we have. The difference exposes the challenge to America today and in the next two elections this year and in 2024.

THE HEROES WE WANT

Tom Cruise has unexpectedly rocketed to a billion dollar gross in his new “Top Gun: Maverick” movie. Movies have suffered during Covid. Attendance plummeted. Movie studios wondered if people would return to the theaters, to the experience of seeing movies in-person with up to hundreds of other people. Maybe the next one would the blockbuster would be the one…. Maybe the one after that.

Then along comes the Tom Cruise move. BOFFO AT THE BOX OFFICE to use an old Hollywood term. Seemingly out of nowhere, this generation-later expansion of the original Top Gun movie startled everyone with its power. What gives?

One major difference is that the movie is a Tom Cruise movie. It is not a Roman numeral movie. It is not the latest incarnation of a super-duper movie reflecting Hollywood’s unending ability to crank out ever more new costumed beings. There are no dinosaurs in the movies or aliens of any kind. The story is not set in some mythical world in the past, present, or future. It isn’t even a special effects movie as many of the scenes that ordinarily would be special effects instead were real people learning how to fly.

In this regard, Tom Cruise represents a form of nostalgia to the good old days. You go to see (or not see) a Tom Cruise movie because it is a Tom Cruise movie. Do you really know the names of the characters he has played in his movies? Do you really know the name of the characters John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, or Gary Cooper played? No! You saw the movie because it starred John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, or Gary Stewart.

Similarly Tom Cruise is larger than his movies. In almost every movie he plays himself or at least what we imagine him to be like off screen. We didn’t care what Spencer Tracy or Jimmy Cagney was really like. Even in one of the great Star Trek episodes where Kirk travels to the 1930s past, Joan Collins says her man (Kirk) is taking her to a Clark Gable movie. The title is irrelevant.

As a country we like the Maverick character of Pete Mitchell and flock to the multiplex to see it.

Kevin Costner also is having a moment. It is on the small screen and has been building for years. He has had an iconic career in movies starring in classics in American mythology. Perhaps it is coincidence but Durham began its most recent growth spurt with the movie “Bull Durham.” Who would have thought that an actual corn field in Iowa split among two owners would become a tourist site where fathers could have catch with their sons.

Costner like Cruise performs in human roles. Generally, he lives in the present or the real world. In that sense he is always Kevin Costner. The Lakota Nation adopted Costner as an honorary member. As a result of his performance with Whitney Houston in “The Body Guard,” he was one of eight speakers at her funeral giving by all accounts a very moving eulogy. Name another actor with that kind of intimate cross-cultural acceptance. Name a politician.

But the real impetus for his success today is an outgrowth from a different movie, “Dances with Wolves.” As with the TV series “Yellowstone,” Costner is the driving force behind both productions. In the movie he is John Dunbar; in the TV show John Dutton. In the movie, he encounters a wolf; in the TV series, his son has a vision quest with a wolf.

“Yellowstone” has snuck up on people. It is not one of those edgier shows that draws the attention of media critics. It is not gritty. It is not urban. It isn’t even about twisted tortured souls although that might not be true in all cases. It is not exactly the Ponderosa either. Times have changed. The fictional Broken Rock Indian Reservation and people are an integral part of the continuing story line.

So here we have two athletic male heroes with charm, good looks, and ease of appearance. And then there is the real world.

THE LEADERS WE HAVE

Only one week ago on July 5, I wrote SCOTUS and Hutchinson: The Howard Baker Moment Has Arrived. I claimed that it was all downhill for Trump from that point forward and that was exactly right.

Not only did a minion witness tamper with Hutchinson, but it seems that Trump himself tampered with a witness not yet revealed. Indictments forthcoming.

Foxhub has bad-mouthed some of the Trumpican candidates as unworthy of being elected. It remembers the debacle of the 2010 Senate races when Republicans lost sure-fire pickups by nominating nut cases. It does not want to see that happen again even if they are loyal to Trump.

Polls suggest Republicans are increasingly tired of Trump-shenanigans and it is only going to get worse. They are ready to move on if he will let them. Relitigating 2020 may be Trump’s only priority but it is not that of Republicans.

Polls show that even against the near-dead Biden with horrendous approval ratings, the Loser would lose again.

At some point soon, even closet Republicans in the Congress may be ready to stand up and be counted.

Of course, Joe Biden is having a rough spell himself. His is visibly aging and tiring in a way that cannot be hidden from the voters … even the ones who support him.

There is no end in sight for gas prices or Ukraine.

He was not a bold leader even in his prime and now he is past his prime.

According to a focus group reported on in The New York Times full-page in the Sunday Review on July 10 print, people are hungry for leadership. They want leaders who are willing to tell hard truths, go against the grain, and stand up for something unpopular. These were qualities found in leaders in the past like Churchill, suffragists, and Moses. But they also had a good explanation for why we do not have such leaders – if politicians today are not brave and courageous, it might be because We the People are not brave and courageous either.

As one CNN title put it:

Americans may get the one presidential race the country doesn’t want in 2024

In 2016, Democrats nominated the one candidate Trump could beat.
In 2020, Democrats nominated the one candidate who could beat Trump.
In 2022 Democrats need Trump to suck the oxygen out of the campaign with his revenge campaign, indictments, and 2020 fixation.
In 2024 Democrats need Republicans to nominate Trump again and may even secretly fund that effort.

When the movie “January 6” is cast there will be no roles for Tom Cruise or Kevin Costner. On the other hand, woman will clamor for the opportunity to play Liz Cheney.

Cranes for Ukraine: Build It Back Better

March 28, 2022
by Peter Feinman

There is no light at the end of the tunnel yet. But there is a growing sense that there may be an end to the tunnel.

Russia is not going to conquer the entire country of Ukraine.

Russia is not going to occupy the entire country of Ukraine.

Russian soldiers are not even going to have been present throughout the entire country of Ukraine.

Russia is not willing to settle for half of half a loaf.

The time then is now for the United States to take the initiative.

In my last post (Putin Isn’t the Only Loser: Trump and the Woke Are Too), I mentioned Herbert Hoover and the Marshall Plan as two examples of the United States helping to build Europe back better. Now it is time to start planning to do the same in Ukraine.

We know the areas which have been devastated by Russian artillery. We know that there are mountains of rubble that need to be disposed of in some way. We know that there are buildings still partially standing in a dilapidated state that will have to be demolished adding to the rubble.

We have the expertise to conduct a giant 9/11 removal project. Now instead of it being two buildings, it will be cities as it was in Europe after World War II.

President Joe Biden should immediately call for the creation of a team of nations and construction companies to begin the planning for the removal of the Russian rubble. The planning for this international effort should begin now and it should be public. Certainly China should be expected to participate given its support for Russia in creating this rubble in the first place.

President Joe Biden should then call for the creation of a team of nations, city planners, and construction companies to begin the planning for the rebuilding of the cities destroyed by Russian artillery. Working with the Ukrainians who lived in and governed these cities, city planners, architects, and engineers should begin planning for the new cities to be built once the Russian rubble is removed.

What infrastructure will the rebuilt cities need?

What buildings can be rebuilt?

What new buildings are needed?

The time to start planning for the cleaning up of the Ukrainian cities and their rebuilding is now. We should not wait until the last minute. We should not wait until Putin allows us to do so. We should show the world now that we are planning now for the future of the country. We should show the refugees that they will have a country to which to return. We should show Russia that the Ukraine will not be destroyed.

There are physical dimensions to this process. To remove the Russian rubble will require construction equipment. It will take time to begin to identify the equipment required. Where is it now? How will it get to the Ukraine? Where will it be placed in the Ukraine?

The planning for the assembling of the “Cranes for Ukraine” convoys should start now. We saw how long it took for Putin to assemble his equipment for destruction. It will take time to assemble the equipment for construction.

Start now.

We should publicly announce that we are going to secure the areas where there are no Russian soldiers. NATO is not obligated to defend the Ukraine from aggression. But it is capable of accepting an invitation to put boots on the ground there. We should secure the areas of the Ukraine where the cranes for Ukraine convoys will be going.

Finally, we should announce to the Russian people that we have no intention of cancelling Russia. The country has three paths from which to choose.

1. The Putin “Peter the Great” go-it-alone divine mission approach
2. Increasingly subordinated to and dominated by China approach
3. Partnering with Europe and the United States approach.

What do I mean for Russia to partner with the West? What does it mean politically? What does in mean culturally? What does it mean economically? What does it mean in space, at the poles, in the oceans? We need to communicate with the Russian people by every means possible that there is a life to look forward in partnership with the West. Ultimately the Russian people are going to hear from their own sons, brothers, husbands, and fathers what they were doing in the Ukraine. They are going to learn how many have not returned. They will see how many of those who return will need lifelong care and treatment. These people are not our enemy. We need to start reaching out to them now.

Build back better does not only apply to the United States. It applies to the Ukraine and to a post-Putin Russia, too.

Joe Biden