A response to Joe Biden's speech on 1 September, 2022
First, saying "Let's go Brandon" is fucking childish, but then, I probably hate Joe Biden more than his fellow conservatives in the other party do, so I guess that's to be expected. I never liked his dog whistle bullshit long before Obama named him as a running mate, and I especially never liked his corporatist bullshit, which he's been immersed in for his whole career.
Let's be clear: voting for Democrats will not save democracy.
Anyone who says voting for Democrats will save democracy is either out to deceive you, or is deceived themselves. Voting for Democrats cannot save the thing America already gave up, and Democrats will fight with incredibly ferocity if anyone threatens to restore democracy.
America Traded Democracy For Oligarchy Long Ago
The closest America ever came to defeating the oligarchy was in the presidencies of the two Roosevelts (ironic given that they were members of the oligarchy). It is the job of Democrats and Republicans to maintain the illusion of democracy while serving the needs of the oligarchs. They will serve the needs and desires of voters only if doing so does not interfere with anything the oligarchs want.
Right now, liberals on social media are sharing memes with the message that we have to vote for Democrats if we want to save democracy. The talking heads on the Conservative News Network and MSNBdemocraticCommittee are breathlessly telling their audience that they have to vote for Democrats if they want to save democracy.
Biden's speech was full of patriotic appeals to the founding of this country. He used the word "freedom" a lot. As I've said before, you should instantly become suspicious anytime you hear a salesperson talk about trust, an intellectual use the phrase a priori, or a politician use the word freedom. A salesman using the word "trust" isn't automatically trying to rip you off, but it does mean that it is time to pay more attention. A politician using the term "freedom" isn't automatically trying to take yours away, but it is time to pay more attention. (As for the comment about intellectuals, if something really is self-evident, then there's no need to say so, is there?) The moment Biden started invoking freedom in tonight's speech, everyone should have started paying more attention, and I don't think enough people did.
Democrats cannot save what was already given up.
Democrats and Republicans are the ones who sold us out to the oligarchs in exchange for campaign donations, and they are the ones who would fight us if we tried to bring democracy to America. They are the ones who make certain that the government serves the donors instead of the voters. And since they are in charge of maintaining the illusion of democracy, you need to become extra suspicious any time any of them talk about saving democracy. Those statements are disingenuous and just meant to manipulate you.
Yes, I'm Voting for the Assholes Anyway
The choice is not between democracy and not-democracy as Biden implied in his speech. The choice is between preserving the existing oligarchy, or fascism.
I won't lie. There's part of me that hopes the fascists take over. Fascist regimes don't generally last very long, and I have high hopes that the regime that replaces the fascist regime that replaces are would be more responsive to the wants and needs of the people, or at least would do so for a few decades.
The problem with this accelerationist fantasy is that America would become the first nuclear-armed fascist regime. Worse, we have the largest and most capable nuclear arsenal on the planet. While fascist regimes don't generally last very long, we must do everything possible to prevent a fascist regime from gaining control of this or any nuclear arsenal. The potential consequences are too horrible to contemplate. Imagine what Hitler might have done if he had the power to reduce the world to rubble as Germany collapsed all around him as the Allies moved inexorably towards Berlin. He wanted all of Germany destroyed for "failing" him. He certainly would have annihilated civilization globally if he could.
History will never forgive us if we fail to prevent a fascist takeover of America, and I fear that establishment Democrats like Biden are too afraid of hurting Republican feelings to properly oppose them (case in point: calling them "semi-fascists" instead of dropping the "semi" prefix entirely), and the mainstream media will keep playing the "but both sides" song until a fascist regime is firmly in power. We cannot rely on Democrats nor the mainstream media in this. Whenever fascism rises in a country, it is always centrist liberals like them who grease the wheels with appeasement.
Biden's Talk About Political Violence Was Disingenuous
I'll be honest. I don't remember the specific phrases he used when he talked about "political violence" coming from Republicans. Oh, don't get me wrong, Republicans very much are engaging in political violence. As I mentioned before, Republicans are 609 times more violent than Black Lives Matter protesters, at least as measured in police injuries per protest.
What makes it disingenuous is that I blame Democrats and law enforcement for the current extremism of Republicans, including their use of political violence.
Time and time again, Republican presidents broke the law, and Democrats and law enforcement wrung their hands and complained that applying the rule of law to Republican presidents would be "too disruptive." Each time they did, Republicans figured out that they could be even more criminal, more corrupt, and expect to get away with it without consequences.
But the really big deal was the coup on January 6.
It's been a year and eight months, and the coup leaders have yet to be convicted for leading a coup against America. Democrats and law enforcement have all but announced to Republican leaders that mass political violence is now an acceptable part of political discourse in America.
It's not Republicans' fault that Trump, Graham and others are calling for political violence if Trump is convicted of the crimes he is so obviously guilty of. It's the fault of Merrick Garland, the rest of the sloppy DOJ, and every Democrat who publicly wrung their hands about the rule of law being "too disruptive." All those comments all but announced to Republican leaders that they could openly call for more political violence and Democrats would back down.
You can hardly blame Republicans for being Republicans, but I very much blame Democrats and law enforcement for being more concerned with protecting Republican feelings than they were with defending the rule of law. Every time a Democrat complains about political violence from Republicans, the immediate next question should be "Isn't political violence a normal part of political discourse in America given that zero coup leaders have been convicted?"
The American government assassinated Fred Hampton while he was still in the very early planning stages of a coup/insurgency. Republicans planned their coup in public, carried it out, went home, and only some of the low-ranking coup participants have been convicted thus far, and most of them have received only a slap on the wrist. Heck, the pipeline protesters were treated far more harshly than the coup participants. They had limbs blown off and are being charged as terrorists. The United States government has literally announced that staging a violent coup is a lesser offense than using your First Amendment right to redress the government, and now the very people responsible for sending that message to the world want to complain about Republicans using political violence to get what they want?
If Democrats really had a problem with Republicans using violence to get what they want politically, then Trump would already be in prison for leading a coup. If Democrats and law enforcement aren't willing to fight with everything they have to prevent future political violence, then how much enthusiasm do they expect from the public on the topic of preventing political violence?
I'm supposed to get out there and stir people up to vote against political violence when the government won't even take the basic step of preventing future political violence by convicting the coup leaders?
Right now, it looks like Trump will be convicted for stealing classified documents, but I see no indication that he is going to be charged much less convicted for leading a coup against the United States of America. Failing to punish that will have terrible consequences for the future of the republic, and even if they convict him next year, they still have sent a terrible message by taking so long to do it. No matter how things turn out from here, we are going to see more mass violence from Republicans, and both Democrats and the Department of Justice are to blame for this.
But I don't blame Republicans. You might as well get mad at the Sun for rising in the East.