Tilting at windmills

The chatter on the left keeps increasing.  Cornel West has been the most vocal as of late as he is upset Bernie isn't endorsing his independent presidential bid after he supported Bernie's Democratic bid last election cycle.  He also thinks AOC is just "window dressing."  I suppose if you have spent your whole life speaking out against the social inequality in the country it is pretty tough to accept compromise, which is what Bernie and AOC are doing.  That unfortunately is the nature of politics.

Although I'm not sure where all this disenchantment comes from.  Biden has actively involved the progressive wing of the party in his administrative decisions.  Biden even charged Bernie with drawing up a spending bill in 2022 only to be met with resistance from Manchin so that that two were forced to reconcile their differences.  Biden has also used his executive authority to provide student debt relief and other progressive measures that were non-starters in Congress.   In addition, he appointed numerous persons of color as federal judges around the country and was successfully able to get Ketanji Brown Jackson affirmed as the first black woman Supreme Court justice.  Those are palpable accomplishments, but apparently not enough for Cornel, who like many liberals thought the end of Trump would usher in a new era of social reform on par with JFK's New Frontier.  

So now we see Cornel trying to rile up the progressive base of the Democratic party, hoping they will cleave off and support his Green Party bid.  So far, West hasn't generated much enthusiasm, but there is worry he and the No Labels group could play spoilers in key states like Jill Stein and Gary Johnson did in 2016.  This from a man who supported the Biden/Harris ticket in 2020, albeit begrudgingly.  

West seems to forget that it was LBJ who did all the heavy lifting when it came to civil right legislation in the 60s.  He did so through negotiations, compromises and arm-twisting to get around the recalictrant Dixiecrats in his party, much like Biden has to walk a fine line between moderate and liberal Democrats today.

Instead, West plays to the disgruntled margins, like Trump and RFK Jr.  His candidacy rests on finding just enough discontent on the fringe so that he can stir a revolt come next November.  It doesn't matter that inflation is back under control, unemployment remains low or that Biden has negotiated with pharmaceutical companies to bring down the cost of key drugs, which was part of the Inflation Drug Act that he and Bernie were finally able to push through Congress.  Unfortunately, many Americans are still stuck in the pandemic era, refusing to believe things are actually improving for them.

You also get those who believe things were better under Trump.  Joe Rogan conveniently forgets what transpired in 2020.  Actually, the economy had started to decline even before the pandemic hit.  Trump's indecision throughout the pandemic just made things worse.  But, revisionist history seems to be the thing now.

This chatter wouldn't really matter if it wasn't for the mainstream media amplifying it in their broadcasting.  Here was Jake Tapper pressing Karine Jean-Pierre on Biden's age in his segment on CNN.  This is a favorite theme in social media.  The complaints are mostly directed at Biden, who turned 80 this year, despite growing concern over Mitch McConnell's frozen moments, Diane Feinstein having gone AWOL due to health reasons and a variety of other geriatric concerns.  As Nikki Haley quipped, the Senate has become "the most privileged nursing home in the country."  Yet, Biden certainly looks more fit than the guy vying for a return to office, who is just three years younger.  Tapper wouldn't let it go, leaving Karine visibly exasperated.

Yes, it would be nice to have a younger president, but for Republicans the biggest fear is that it might be Kamala Harris.  Sununu made no bones about it recently when he said that a vote for Trump is "effectively handing" the White House to Harris, as Chris doesn't seem to believe Biden will live through a second term.  He said this to Jen Psaki of all people, who had been Biden's press secretary the first half of his term.  Jen just shook her head.

All this discontent would be unnerving if it wasn't so far out of the election cycle.  It is like one of those tropical storms forming in the Atlantic.  You don't know yet whether it will gather energy and become a hurricane or simply blow itself out over some island in the Caribbean.  We hardly hear at all from Kennedy after his preposterous theory that COVID-19 was designed to target Blacks and Hispanics, sparing Chinese and Jews.  He's been trying to backtrack this horrible statement ever since.  Maybe West will find a way to stick his foot in his mouth too? 

Unfortunately, there will be some other populist candidate to fill his shoes.  There seems no end to this bitter animosity.   I suppose it is partly due to all the pent-up angst being released after the pandemic.  People act like COVID was some plot to impose an autocratic government and take away their first amendment rights.  I suppose in worse hands than Biden, it very well could have been.  The irony is that the Republicans missed their golden opportunity if only Trump hadn't been such a damned fool.  

I just hate seeing all this bitterness on the Left when we need to unite against far greater concerns than Biden's age or his (in)ability to deliver progressive legislation.  West should be focusing on promoting more progressive leadership at the state level, where it is needed most.  Look at Florida, in which the governor and state legislature are blocking African-American AP studies in high schools.  Eighteen states have now passed so-called anti-CRT laws.  They do so regardless of who is POTUS because most of education is administered at the state level.  This is where social inequality stems from.  But, no, Cornel lashes out at Bernie and AOC for being "window dressing."