You Should Be Furious Right Now
I am angry that I live in a country that has produced this nightmare.
I’m struggling to come up with the right words to encapsulate the magnitude of the trainwreck we all witnessed in the first—and, god willing, last—2024 presidential debate on Thursday night.
The best I can do is this: that was one of the worst things I have ever seen in my life. It was worse than anyone’s worst possible scenario. It was worse than anything Joe Biden’s worst enemy could have concocted. It was terrible from the minute it began until the minute it ended. I will have Biden’s vacant, open-mouthed, thousand-yard stare into the void seared in my memory forever.
It was difficult to pin down my thoughts about the debate last night. It felt like we had all been repeatedly bashed in the head for 90 minutes. We needed time to recover.
I have a much clearer picture this morning. I know what I’m feeling above all: anger, about so many things. Here are some of them.
I am angry—really, really, really angry—at all of the politicians and pundits who have demanded that people stop pointing out that Joe Biden is supporting genocide in Gaza, because uh oh Donald Trump. Imagine if they had used even a modicum of that energy to try and make Biden change his policy, rather than insisting that we weren’t allowed to be outraged about it. Well, I am still outraged, and I am particularly outraged at being told to excuse genocide on behalf of someone who can barely string a sentence together at the most consequential possible moment.
Oh, and while we’re at it, I’m angry that Trump used “Palestinian” as a racist insult against Biden, and Biden had nothing to say about it. I’m not surprised, since Biden cares just as little for Palestinian lives as Trump, but I’m still angry. And for that matter, as reader L. rightfully reminded me, why the hell did nobody have anything to say when Trump started spouting racist nonsense about “Black jobs”? The amount of vile crap that just flew on by in this debate was unreal.
I’m angry that Biden made the decision to run for reelection when it has been obvious for years that he is in physical and mental decline. He keeps telling the rest of us that Trump is an existential threat to every person, place, and thing on the planet. Running for a second term even when it is clear that you are not up to the challenge of an election campaign is not how you behave if you think you’re up against that kind of danger. It is how you behave when you allow your arrogance and pride to override your common sense.
Being old doesn’t automatically mean that you’re incapable of doing some of the things that younger people do. But sometimes, that is exactly what it means. It’s not a sin to get old, but it is a sin to refuse to call it quits when you should. Biden loves to play up his supposed sense of public service as a contrast to Trump’s venal narcissism. But what could be more narcissistic than what Biden is doing right now? What could be more selfish than holding the rest of us hostage to your ego in this way? He used to call himself a “bridge” to the next generation of Democrats. The only bridge anyone would compare him to now is the one that collapsed in Baltimore.
This is where I have to caveat: it’s still June. This could turn out to be a blip. Trump could still lose. We don’t know that Biden tanked his chances last night.
But…come on now. Nobody watching the debate could say that this is the best Democrats could do.
I’m angry at a Democratic Party that has moved heaven and earth to shut down any discussion about Biden’s suitability as a candidate. A large majority of Democratic voters have been saying for years that they wanted someone else to run. His polling has been terrible, again, for years. In February, 86 percent of voters told ABC they think Biden is too old for a second term. 86 percent! But Democrats and the White House told everyone that they just had to deal—that this was the only choice available. They told the country that Biden’s dire polls were fake news. They backed him all the way.
Well, look where we are now. The same political class that has been covering for Biden for years turned on him about five minutes into the debate. This is from Politico (emphasis mine):
One major Democratic donor and Biden supporter said it was time for the president to end his campaign. This person described Biden’s night as “the worst performance in history” and said Biden was so “bad that no one will pay attention to Trump’s lies.”
Here’s the New York Times (emphasis mine):
“Biden is about to face a crescendo of calls to step aside,” said a veteran Democratic strategist who has staunchly backed Mr. Biden publicly. “Joe had a deep well of affection among Democrats. It has run dry.”
And NBC News (emphasis mine):
It's “time to talk about an open convention and a new Democratic nominee,” said a second Democratic lawmaker who has been a solid Biden supporter.
This is not how you react when you’ve had a sudden horrifying realization. It’s how you react when the jig is up—when you calculate that the guy you’ve cynically hitched your wagon to is of no use to you anymore.
These donors and “strategists” and campaign staffers and aides and assorted hangers-on clearly—clearly!—knew that there was a decent chance that Biden could stumble this horrifically. They have a level of access and inside information that the rest of us can’t even conceive of. They knew this stuff, just like Dianne Feinstein’s people knew. They knew, and they let him carry on regardless. I mean, look at this.
And now, this late in the game, they flip on him. No hell is too hot.
I am angry at a campaign that is so insular, arrogant, and incompetent that it proactively engineered this catastrophe. This whole thing—from the date to the venue to the outlet to the rules—was the Biden team’s idea. Everyone was rightfully fuming that CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash (which, by the way, thanks, CNN, for rewarding her disgraceful racist anti-Palestinian propaganda with this plum gig) asked terrible questions and didn’t do anything to rein in Trump’s endless string of lies. Well:
Great job team. Hope the salary’s worth it.
Above all, I am angry that I live in a country that has produced this mess. This is what the self-styled greatest democracy in the world has to choose from. If you looked up “empire in terminal decline” you would see this video.
Two old rich creeps babbling about their golf game. A fascist and a genocidaire. A flailing gerontocracy holding the rest of us hostage in its bony grip. A country that is circling the drain and taking the world down with it. A rotten, vicious, loathsome political system. A nadir in every sense.
I am angry about all of that. I’m furious. I hope you are too.
Your arguments are very nicely said. All the things you've said paint a very clear picture of what is important to you. Sometimes what you omit from a piece like this is telling too.
Trump makes a comment about "Black jobs" and "the Blacks", neither Biden nor CNN pushed back. Jack didn't seem to think that instance of racism was noteworthy enough for this piece.
I've been a subscriber to this blog since the beginning. I may not read everything but I want to support journalism. Not everything that comes out has to be about my interests. However, in a piece this long, that references Trump's racism and Biden's lack of pushback, it's notable that only one instance of racism made this piece. The lack of pushback from the author with respect to the anti-Black racism is as noteworthy as Biden's lack of pushback last night. Black people notice. We definitely notice.
I did laugh when Trump didn’t automatically say he’d refuse to recognize any Palestinian state and instead reflexively went to his old “we’ll have to see” chestnut. Those goons at AIPAC must’ve been seething about that which, good, die angry.
Anyways, that was like watching elder abuse. I tapped out about sixty minutes in because Jfc was that a grim spectacle. Joe looked and sounded like the literal embodiment of death. I fucking hate this country.