CURTAIN CALL: BIDEN AND THE NEOCONS DECIDE TO ATTACK RUSSIA

I noticed a strange dynamic after the recent presidential election. Not only were the Democrats soundly defeated, they bled mightily from their traditional constituencies. Their arguments of moral superiority and economic success not only fell on deaf ears, but seemed to infuriate an increasingly impoverished population. When the dust cleared, overwhelming numbers of voters of various races, ethnicities, and genders (which may have shrunken back to the traditional number of two as various members of Congress raced to remove pronouns from their X profiles) either voted for alternative candidates or simply voted by omission. They stayed home and raked leaves on November 5th. The argument that the neoliberal warmongers were the standard bearers of democracy and morality was steamrolled by a war weary electorate who could no longer afford the basic necessities of life. “No more money for foreign wars” screamed the voters, who seemed to be articulating the Trumpian cry to put America first. I argue that Donald Trump did not create the MAGA movement, he simply gave a name to the pain and desperation resulting from 50 years of neoliberal deterioration. It was a rebranding of Barack Obama’s hope and change crusade with a little more meat on its bones. In particular, the “America First” slogan was particularly attractive in relation to the $180 billion dollars that had been laundered in the Ukraine proxy war against Russia. The electorate gathered around the radio to listen to that old American radio station, WIIFM, “What’s in it for me.” I do not honestly believe that most of the non GOP Trump voters actually expect his administration to crack the neoliberal economic nut and rebirth the industrial economy of the 1960’s, but, as in Malcolm X’s famous myth about the suffering of the field slave, anyplace is better than here! The Democrat’s vast array of claims about the moral shortcomings of Mr. Trump slammed head first into the price of groceries and exploding animosity over the bottomless money pit of never ending wars. Additionally, it would be irresponsible of me to leave out the fury throughout the Democrat’s base over the slaughter in Gaza and Lebanon.

Shocked by the failure of the masses to do as they were instructed, the Democrats’ leadership and media mouthpieces struck out in contemptuous rage. No self reflection would be in order for the party that just had been thoroughly rejected by the electorate. Instead, the wealthy prognosticators of neoliberal imperialism reminded their loyal followers of the righteousness of their cause and proceeded to attack the ungrateful masses of whom they had suffered the effrontery to exist for far too long. What had once been a political party had devolved into a brainwashed cult. The smaller and more politically isolated the group became, the more convinced they were of their moral superiority. One thing became abundantly clear, this new version of the Democrats despised the voters with the flame of a thousand suns. Their passionate loathing of all things that could be interpreted as “Trumpian” was immediately extended from the voters who had voted for the president elect, to those who had voted third party, and even those who had refused to vote for any candidate. Their assessment was complete and the results were horrifying. This lonely island of virtue and morality (The Democrats) was trapped in a nation of Putin loving sexists, racists, and transphobes. If you are rich, it’s time to leave, if not, then simply avoiding your evil former friends and family members who had failed to demonstrate their morality on election day would be a good start. The party of all things moral was effectively retreating from society to curl up in the fetal position and hide under the covers. Be gone you Trumpian, Putin enabling, White supremacists… may you die with festering boils!.. Did I mention that we hate you?

But what could have caused so many former and current Democrats to cross into the dark realm of Trumpism? In their moral paradigm, Donald Trump is clearly the most pure expression of evil that this universe has ever wrought? In the context of this discussion, the voters in the 2024 election were faced with a stark contrast between the two parties regarding the continuance of the Ukraine conflict. The Democrats framed the discussion in the paradigm of good versus evil while the Republicans made a more transactional argument about the conflict. The Democrats argued that economic strife is a modest price to pay for upholding such nondescript virtues as democracy and the opposition to autocracy around the world. Besides, the economy is doing great and if you would simply ignore your empty bank account and maxed out credit cards and look a little closer at these graphs and pie charts on our website you would understand that you’re actually far wealthier than you could ever imagine. While the GOP argument was somewhat murky, it seemed to posit that the Ukraine venture was bleeding money and lives while bearing no outcome of value to US interests. This argument aligned perfectly with, and was enhanced by, their acknowledgement of the dire economic situation for America’s vast population of working poor. Notwithstanding the complex historical context of the conflict, large swaths of voters saw this as an opportunity to lower the likelihood of an extinction level nuclear confrontation between super powers. Many non conservative voters climbed on board the Trump train out of economic desperation and, dare I say, a basic human instinct for survival. Donald Trump’s staunch opposition to the Ukraine proxy war and the subsequent counter by the Democrats to paint him as a Putin loving fascist set the table for a clear decision by the voters. In the end, the voters made a choice. Above all other issues, it is clear that the electorate clearly articulated their preference for a prompt negotiated settlement to the Eastern European crisis.

Enter one Joseph Robinette Biden, a man who seems to hold great resentment towards his own party for forcing him out of the presidential race and has legitimate concerns about the likelihood of a vindictive Trump Administration launching investigations into the world wide influence peddling operation of the Biden family. Also, numerous members of his inner circle, in particular Jake Sullivan and Antony Blinken, could face the reopening of previous inquiries into past behavior. Individually, these issues undoubtedly create significant fear inside the Biden sphere of political activity, but in the aggregate, the outcome of a sprawling series of investigations into all things Biden could be catastrophic for Joe and everyone who is dear to him.

The outcome of the election, the neocon fury at the defiant voters, and the potential for a calamitous fall from grace after Trump takes office creates a direct path to a Sunday article in the New York Times. Despite repeated warnings from Moscow, the usual “unnamed US officials” have leaked that,” “President Biden has authorized the first use of U.S.-supplied long-range missiles by Ukraine for strikes inside Russia.” The unnamed officials “admit they do not expect the shift to fundamentally alter the course of the war” and that it could “prompt President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to retaliate with force against the United States and its coalition partners.” However, they justify the decision because it will “send a message to the North Koreans” and “Ukraine will be able to reach certain high-value targets that it would not otherwise be able to.” In their final argument, “they said Mr. Biden determined that the potential benefits,” “outweighed the escalation risks.” As any reasonable person could deduce, the escalation risks involve a nuclear exchange and the extinction of all life on earth. Let’s just say that personally, as I contemplate my own version of this cost/benefit analysis equation, I find the weight of the “human extinction” side of the analysis considerably more compelling than the “send a message to the North Koreans” side. However, if you are so furious at an insubordinate electorate that you welcome their collective doom, going out in a blaze of glory may be a welcome alternative to living in a world where the epitome of all evil, Donald Trump, takes office on January 20th of 2025.

This exercise in thought leaves us with three critical observations.

1. The neoliberal hostility towards the electorate is irrational and overpowering.

2. Joe Biden is an angry spiteful man who faces a potential landslide of criminal liabilities

3. The Biden team’s irrational racial hatred towards all things Russian is focused on both Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin and no amount of reason or logic can be injected into their suicidal Moby Dick-esque drive to destroy the great white Russian whale.

Therefore, we can only deduce that the cost/benefit analysis proposed by the “unnamed US officials” quoted by the New York Times is quite far from reality. In truth, everyone involved understands that Joe Biden has, by choice and with full knowledge of all potential outcomes, set the world on a course that could manifest an easily avoidable extinction level nuclear event.

Paradoxically, the true hope for humanity lies in the hands of the very people that the Biden team has labeled as pure unadulterated evil. We can only hope that President Putin and the Russian leadership is wise and analytical enough to see this move as the proverbial “cheese in the mouse trap” that is set to both slam shut the window of opportunity for Donald Trump to get a conflict ending deal and provoke a violent Russian reaction that will drag the world into its final conflict. I suspect that, as long as the Russians are able to blunt any missile attacks and avoid catastrophic damage such as a missile strike on a nuclear power plant, they will choose alternate responses to these long range attacks including, but not limited to, providing Yemen and other US adversaries with powerful anti-ship and air defense capabilities and cutting off critical supplies that they currently sell to NATO countries. Even then, the odds of Donald Trump getting a deal to end a war that Russia has already won is slim, but at least we will be alive to evaluate the outcome. Let’s cross our fingers and prepare for a bumpy ride from here to January 20th, and probably long after.

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