Biden Passes The Fizzling Torch

Joe Biden addressed the nation from the Oval Office Wednesday night to justify his withdrawal from the Presidential race. For those of you who missed it, let me summarize:

Lies, damn lies, gaslighting, same old progressive talking points, several mental gear-strips and “We have to destroy our democracy to save it.”

I’m not going to fact-check Joe’s speech. I’m sure there are dozens already doing that, teams of interns already pounding their keyboards to get it out for Thursday. Still, a few things leaped out at me (with extra comments in parentheses):

“I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. There is a time and place for long years of experience in public life. But there is also a time and place for new voices, fresh voices, and yes, younger voices. And that time and place is now.” (Because Nancy told me we could do this the hard way or the easy way…and the hard way was naked paddle boarding with Barack.)

‘The great thing about America is here, kings and dictators do not rule. The people do.” (And by “people,” I mean the donors and the party elites, not you little people. Come on, man!)

"I'm the first President in this century to report to the American people that the United States is not at war anywhere in the world." (The Ukrainian proxy war against Russia that may drag us into WWIII and funding the slaughter of women and kids in Gaza totally doesn’t count! Corn Pop was a bad dude!)

“Nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy.” (Including my winning all the Democratic primaries that were totally rigged in my favor.)

Brutal truth time: the whole reason Biden’s out is that the real powers of the Democratic Party—the donors and elites—realized there was no way he could win.

This is a Do-Over for the Dems, plain and simple. This tweet by @RobGreg1970 perfectly captures what the Dems are trying to pull:

“NEW RULE!!!

For all Super Bowls going forward, if one team is down and they feel they can’t win, they can have a different team come in and play the second half.”

The Democrats locked down their primary process to ensure Biden would be their nominee. Then, when his polling tanked after the June 27th debate, they staged a palace coup to oust him and anoint Kamala Harris in his place. One day after Joe dropped out on Sunday, Kamala issued a statement (Monday, 7/22) saying she’d “secured the broad support needed to become our party's nominee.“ Tuesday (7/23) Hakeem Jeffries and Chuckie Schumer held the most cringeworthy endorsement press conference in history to put their stamps of approval on Kamala.

The fizzling torch has been passed to the one politician in the country less popular than Joe Biden.

Not every Democrat is happy with this thoroughly undemocratic process, even though few dare speak out against their new DEI nominee directly. Megadonor John Morgan (the older gent from the Morgan & Morgan commercials), a self-identified Joe Biden Democrat, now considers himself an independent because “I have a problem with the process. I have a problem with a coronation, not a convention.” Even more shocking, a prominent Democrat-associated group had this to say on Tuesday:

“We do not live in a dictatorship. Delegates are not oligarchs. Any attempt to evade or override the will of voters in our primary system—no matter how historic the candidate—must be condemned. We demand an informal, virtual snap primary now that the incumbent president is no longer in the running.”

That group? Black Lives Matter.

While calling Harris’ nomination historic, the statement from Black Lives Matter continues, “This is not just about Biden or Harris; it is about demanding a political system that genuinely represents us and upholds democracy.

“Let us be clear: This is about the Democratic Party following a process that protects the legitimacy of any future Democratic president following this unprecedented moment. Installing Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee and an unknown vice president without any public voting process would make the modern Democratic Party a party of hypocrites. It would undermine their credibility on issues related to democracy…. If Kamala Harris is to be the nominee, it must be through a process that upholds democratic principles and public participation.”

BLM is absolutely correct. Props where props are due: I don’t agree with BLM on a lot of issues (I’m an “all lives matter” kind of guy, and find their hyper-focus on one particular race to be a bit, well, racist) but on this issue? They are 100% correct about this very non-democratic process making the Democrats a party of hypocrites.

Guess what? BLM’s demand? Ignored. Flash primaries? Not happening.

On Wednesday, just a few hours before Biden’s speech, the DNCC Rules Committee adopted new rules to establish a virtual nominating process for their convention. Candidates have from 7/25 through 7/27 to declare their intent to seek the nomination, then have until July 30 to meet the qualifications. The previously-elected delegates, now released from Joe Biden, will be allowed to begin voting for their choice on August 1 (maybe—if more than one candidate does the paperwork to qualify, the DNCC may postpone it a day or so). Voting will end no later than August 7 to allow the Democrats to formally name a presidential nominee in advance of Ohio’s filing deadline. This will also give the nominee the chance to select a Vice Presidential nominee before the “celebratory and ceremonial votes” at their convention in Chicago, August 19-22.

I have to wonder: if you get the 300 delegate signatures on your paperwork to run against Kamala, what are your chances of being alive on August 8th?

The DNCC had to be aware of BLM’s demand for flash primaries because it exploded across the internet on Tuesday. It also mirrors what many others inside the Democratic Party have been saying—that a series of flash primaries, not just voting by delegates, would at least give the appearance of a democratic process. The DNCC also has to be aware of people like John Morgan, who have the clout to make their unhappiness known.

Apparently, the DNCC doesn’t care. Or, they don’t care enough to let it interfere with their plans.

Just like the DNC didn’t care about silly little things like “votes” and “democracy” when they decided to replace 81 duly-elected Biden delegates in Alabama with a hand-picked slate of replacements. Alabama Democratic Chair Randy Kelly called this “racial shenanigans” back in June when it happened, but was that all that was going on? No one I’ve talked to outside of Alabama (and precious few inside the state) have heard about it. How many other states have had their own elected delegates replaced by DNC picks in the last month? And just how long has all this been in the works? The June 27th debate was unprecedented in how early it occurred. Is it going too far into tin-foil hat territory to wonder if the plan to dump old Joe might have been in the works for a while now?

And as for all you Democrats who voted for Joe Biden in your primaries? How’s it feel to know that you completely wasted your vote? Are you happy that your betters in the stratosphere of your party’s leadership are replacing your choice with one they like better? Are you content to see your party completely abandon all pretense of democracy?

If you’re a Democrat and you’re okay with being a mindless drone or a meaningless cog in the great plutocratic machine of your party, then you ought to be really happy with the events of the last few days. Ditching Biden and installing Harris might just get your party enough votes to make another election steal like 2020 plausible.

Make no mistake, that’s what’s going on here. It’s not about your ideas being better for the country (they demonstrably are NOT) or saving democracy or anything like that. It’s a last, desperate attempt by your party elites to cling to power by any means necessary. Period. Full stop.

14 million Democrats voted for Joe Biden in the primaries. Zero voted for Kamala Harris. If you’re not happy with having your vote ignored? If you still believe in democracy—in voting—in you and those like you having a say in who runs the country?

What are you going to do about it?

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Black Lives Matter Statement: https://blacklivesmatter.com/black-lives-matter-statement-on-kamala-harris-securing-enough-delegates-to-become-democratic-nominee/

DNCC Rules changes: https://democrats.org/news/dncc-rules-committee-passes-permanent-rules-for-2024-presidential-nomination/