I don’t like Joe Biden

Nash — I’m a left-wing liberal and he’s a conservative. He’s a weak candidate and Trump may beat him.

“Establishment Democrats” are not really Democrats at all but are what used to be called “moderate Republicans.” They are liberal on social issues but conservative on economic issues. Biden is one of them, with a long record of supporting the interests of big business over the interests of workers.

His son’s activities in the Ukraine are a case study in corruption benefiting a family member of a powerful politician. Sometimes Biden rambles incoherently and appears to be unable to speak in complete sentences. This intermittent behavior may be a sign of the early stages of age-related dementia, and I am not the first one to take note of it. Joe also has a creepy sexual problem: he can’t stop putting his hands all over women in public events, as evidenced by many photos, videos, and published comments by women who have been made uncomfortable by his behavior. He has been doing this for decades. He has been told repeatedly that women don’t like it, but he will not, or cannot stop.

I believe that Tara Reade’s charges of sexual assault against Biden have enough credibility to warrant an independent investigation and I am disgusted by the way she has been treated by Democrats who claim to be feminists and supporters of the #Me Too movement. They refuse to apply the same standards to this case that they have applied to cases involving Trump and Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh.

Biden is not yet the nominee. There is still time for the party to choose someone else, so a discussion about Biden’s fitness as a candidate is legitimate. Biden’s supporters want everyone to ignore his flaws. They have very low expectations of what they want in a candidate.

These are my opinions, but I am not the only one who holds them. Many of us in the progressive wing of the Democratic party feel the same way.

If he wins, Biden is NOT going to do anything to reverse the income inequality that has reduced poor people in the USA to third world status. He is NOT going to do anything to stop climate change. All Biden wants to do is take us back to “the way things used to be.” He wants to return to the status quo, to the Establishment Democrats’ economic conservative agenda, just without Trump’s erratic neo-fascism.

But Biden might NOT win. Everyone thought that there was “no way” that Trump could beat Hillary.

I am an Irishman from Boston and politics is in my blood. The “shanty Irish” didn’t wrench control of the City of Boston from the old New England Yankees by choosing “safe” conservative nominees. Instead they chose the sort of people who would today be branded as “socialists.” These people and their descendants gave us “socialist” policies like labor unions, the minimum wage, unemployment compensation, and Social Security. They also believed that healthcare should not be a for-profit business, but should be equally available to all, and paid for by the government. That’s what Boston City hospital is, by the way. It’s a “radical socialist” institution that provides government funded medical care to the poor. You see, we don’t think that this is impossible as Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden all believe. All you have to do is tax the rich. It ain’t complicated.

My substantive criticism of Biden here at Trail Mix has been frequently met with scorn and derision. While I am willing to have a rational debate with anyone on the issues, I will not participate in a discussion that descends into personal attacks. I have always had a temper but these days, I keep it under control … most of the time. I have learned that, in some situations, the wisest course of action is just to walk away.

I’m sorry if this has been a long and difficult read for some of you. The Irish, and former college professors, do tend to be loquacious. The Irish call it “the gift of gab.” As my students used to say, “Please stop lecturing. Class ended five minutes ago.”

Author: Nash

Retired business professor. Native Bostonian, used to live in Maine, now living in Oregon. Keeping busy volunteering at two local environmental organizations. View all posts by Nash