• by George Simpson , Featured Contributor, October 29, 2020

If you have the patience to sit through a video of That Idiot in The White House’s (TIWH) stump speech and you choose to believe even some of it is true, then the world looks pretty great. In spite of an exploding number of coronavirus cases in this country, we have “rounded the corner,” and “COViD-19 is coming to an end.” You can’t find a scientist or MD anywhere in the world who agrees with that assessment, but TIWH’s base is drinking that Kool-Aid like it’s 98 degrees in the shade.

We also hear that the economy is roaring back. It isn’t. It is filling jobs, yes, but those are folks going back to work after being laid off earlier in the year.

As government aid runs out, there are still millions of Americans who cannot pay rent or keep food on the table. Even IRA values are starting to plunge, as the stock market deals with the prospect of the economy staying soft for a very long time. Trust me, you will be repaying that TIWH tax cut for years and years.

I am tempted to stop Black people on the street and ask them if they feel that TIWH has done more for them “than any President since Lincoln.” But it is never the right moment, since they're usually too busy reacting to the police killing another Black person, which happens about once a week. And just a reminder that TIWH has not yet spoken out in support of any of the shooting/choking victims -- just the guys with the tasers and guns.

The predominant reason I hear that people plan to vote again for TIWH is that “he gets things done!” Not really. He never drained the swamp. In fact, he turned it into a cesspool of underqualified, clueless cronies who have been spectacularly ineffective. The number of people who have simply walked away from administration jobs is stunning, many choosing to write books to try and warn the public that TIWH is a danger to this country. This has never happened before in history. 

The signature promise of his 2016 campaign -- a 2,000-mile wall on the border with Mexico -- resulted in just four miles built along stretches where no barrier stood before. Meanwhile, a nation built on immigration has essentially shut its doors -- especially to Latinos and Muslims -- and torn apart countless numbers of immigrant families.  

There is a weird machismo associated with supporting TIWH, as if voting for him was somehow a patriotic act (and a fat middle finger) to liberals, who apparently don’t care about working-class America.

How did his plan to bring coal and steel back to the U.S. work out for you? What about all those jobs that were supposed to come back from overseas? What are you going to do when he kills your health care?  It is in no way unpatriotic to vote for someone who will not lie to you 22,000 times and who really gives a shit about the environment. 

I am hoping for a landslide on Tuesday -- one big enough that all the congressmen and women realize that they no longer have to pretend to like TIWH, and return to acting in the interest of the country rather than out of fear of retaliation. 

This is your chance to make a difference. Please take the time to vote.