Trump’s supporters will be disappointed at the future in stall for them. President Obama left us a healthy economy, but Trump dismantled it by imposing inflationary tariffs, mishandling the pandemic, and unraveling the progress Obama had made in the Middle East. Biden spent four years undoing the damage Trump did, getting inflation back under control, undoing the supply chain crisis, trying to deal with the much too cocky Netanyahu that Trump left believing he could have whatever he wanted regardless of what it did to American interests or policies.
Trump’s current proposals will recreate the damage he did in his previous time in office. His proposals for tariffs and deporting large numbers of immigrants, who came here thinking this is the world’s best place to be, will cripple the economy, and reinstall the inflation that people complained about. And his unlimited support for Israel will not protect America or settle the Middle East down. This is an unfurling tragedy.
Trump’s opponents of course are worried about the destruction of our system of government, the very fundamentals on which America is built. Put it another way, once he fouls everything up again will we be able to vote him and his people back OUT of office?
Harris, meanwhile, joins the honor role of true statemen (never mind the outdated but so-far unreplaced term) who have been rejected by the American people.
Hubert Humphrey became nationally famous for his support of a civil right plank in the 1948 Democratic platform, co-authored the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and worked to establish the Peace Corps – just the tip of his accomplishments, but in 1968 he was defeated by Nixon who would have to resign in scandal.
Jimmy Carter, a nuclear engineer, became the first president to recognize the danger of global warming and symbolically installed solar panels on the White House. He spent the rest of his life as a former president working to improve the lives of the people, among other things building Habitat For Humanity housing with his own labor.
Walter Mondale, among the many things he will be fondly remembered for, was the first presidential nominee to select a woman, Geraldine Ferraro, as his 1984 running mate. He was crushed by Reagan.
Al Gore, made the fight against global warming his life’s work after the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to let Florida recount the votes, the usual method for resolving disputed elections, lest it embarrass George W. Bush.
Hillary Clinton devoted her life to understanding the actual impact of political decisions, believing that you can’t cure a problem you don’t see. But the people refused to see the problems she was trying to deal with. So she lost – a testament to the foolishness of thinking you can tell the truth and get away with it.
The people were unable to appreciate Joe Biden’s four years undoing the damage Trump did. But Biden got the pandemic and inflation largely under control, undid the supply chain crisis, and provided jobs through infrastructure and other improvements. Nevertheless, the people forced the Democratic Party to remove Joe Biden as its candidate for President and install Kamala Harris as a substitute when it was already late in the campaign season. The people didn’t appreciate her either.
So she joins the honor roll of people who tried to make this a better country for all Americans. Thank you Kamala for the effort.
Steve Gottlieb’s latest book is Unfit for Democracy: The Roberts Court and The Breakdown of American Politics. He is the Jay and Ruth Caplan Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Albany Law School, served on the New York Civil Liberties Union board, on the New York Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, and as a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Iran.
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