Why it is essential for Joe Biden to be elected
Despite my interest and extensive writings on politics, I make great pains to obscure my true political beliefs to all who know me well. I made the mistake in high school and college of believing my views fit in with the mainstream and learned the Texan politeness way of steering away from debates of politics views with those who you don’t trust. By the time I started my first job at Accenture and someone who had been with the company for a long time stood up in training and said “Most people here are Republicans,” I knew to keep politely silent.
I have worked on one political campaign (Bloomberg’s third term re-election) and in the British Parliament (randomly for the Welsh Nationalists), but otherwise felt best to keep my views to myself to all but the closest to me. This year is different however. This is a once in a generation election where the choice is so stark that in my opinion, being silent means being a supporter of a truly abhorrent and un-American administration.
There are three core reasons why I’ve come to this view, each of which in my view disqualifies President Trump to remain out of jail, much less remain as President of the United States:
This Administration’s woefully incompetent management of the COVID-19 pandemic — Often I view things through the lens of “impact vs. replacement.” Essentially what would have happened if anyone else had been President? I find it inconceivable to think anyone else in the position would have made decisions in which fewer people would have died. Just about any other administration would have sounded the alarm sooner, embraced lockdowns & masks and done more to manage the response. Perhaps the awful death toll experienced in the northeast in the spring wasn’t avoidable, but it’s hard to excuse the subsequent spread to the Sunbelt and Upper Midwest. I think it’s pretty easy to hang at least 100,000 needless deaths on the Trump administration. Not only have tens of thousands likely died unnecessarily, if we were to get the virus down to lower levels, our economy would be doing much better at this point
The separation of families at the Southern Border - This article led me to consider renouncing my citizenship. I’m not sure what law was broken but as a father, intentionally and punitively separating any young children from their parents, unless they themselves are in danger is unconscionable to me and I can’t begin to think of the trauma this led to for so many thousands. It is an executable human rights violation and on one hand, I wish it was talked about less, but will be a stain on American history forever. I think Trump & Sessions’ punitive actions in the name of deterrence were worse than the Japanese internment camps.
His treasonous collusion with Russia - Though, there doesn’t need to be a smoking gun or obvious connection, the optics have always been bad. Whether it was immediately celebrating with the Russian Ambassador in the Oval Office after Comey was fired or publicly asking Russia to hack the DNC, Trump has acted as guilty as possible. It’s not clear if Trump is a Russian agent or actively worked with them to win the 2016 election, but the mere fact that he broke with historical precedent to even welcome the assistance of a foreign adversary and then reward them for it is nothing short of treason in my book.
This is not to say that I agree with Biden on everything. To be fair, his campaign has played it safe and somewhat reminds me of the prosecution in the OJ Simpson trial — blessed with a mountain of evidence to support their case, they’ve thrown it all at the American people instead of using a simple, watertight argument that in my view should focus solely upon the bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I’d also like to note that I don’t disagree with everything the President has done. He should get some credit for:
Finally taking a tough stand on China - Trump is right that China has been a freeloader on international institutions for years and shouldn’t get a free pass any longer. Their role in covering up the COVID-19 outbreak still doesn’t get enough attention
Over-investing in a vaccine for COVID-19 - Sure, their motives have not been pure, but the government has done the right thing by intentionally investing in multiple vaccine candidates and pre-purchasing supplies in massive quantities, even if Phase III trials fail. It will be necessary to have adequate supply at scale ready once a vaccine is declared safe & effective and the Trump administration has done the right thing by ensuring the funding is there to ensure that happens
Talking to North Korea - I have a major problem with Trump saluting the North Korean generals, his coziness with dictators and selling out his allies in the process, but it’s always bothered me that we won’t even entertain the idea of talking to some of our adversaries. It’s good he walked away from a bad deal but it helps to be open to the conversation with anyone
Getting a peace deal done in the Middle East - Trump’s “free pass” policy for Israel has set the US back decades a neutral arbiter in the Arab World but brokering a peace deal between Israel & UAE and implicitly Saudi Arabia was a very good thing for a region that hasn’t seen much good news in quite a long time
Cracking down on the abuses of H1-B visas - For years, tech outsourcing companies have displaced Americans for good paying jobs with armies of underpaid immigrants and it’s good to see that it’s being fixed
But these are just about the only positive things I can say about the last four years and I can’t wait for us as a country to turn the page. We have to vote and vote resoundingly to move on. Furthermore, we need to have a truth & reconciliation commission to expose all of the terrible things this administration has done. And lastly, we must ban all political appointees of the Trump administration from public office in the future for their willful and shameful active support for this morally bankrupt regime.