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My Struggle to Select a Nominee

Sanders, Biden, Bloomberg, Buttigieg, Warren, Klobuchar, Steyer, and, yes, still Gabbard.  This has been a bewildering and stressful nomination process to this point, and I have struggled to decide who to pick for the nomination.  It goes without saying that each candidate, even the one whose experience is limited to governing a small city, will be a massive improvement over the current POTUS cancer we are suffering.  I would never have imagined this to be so hard, but here we are, seven or so candidates and not a single one making the case that they are the one.  So, here is how I have come to my conclusion.

Join the cool kids…

Somehow, a septuagenarian has wooed the youth vote.  Bernie gave one of the most qualified candidates a run for her money, so what is not to love?  
Maybe his obnoxious debate style? His tedious assertion that compromise is evil? His inability to simply state that Castro and other communist dictators suck and no value they may have added to their countries is worth praising?  Seriously, someone needs to sit this guy down an explain to him that political polish isn’t a sin.
Girl power…
I was all in with Hillary.  She had everything you could hope for in a candidate.  Every log of excrement she has expelled has more character than the asshole she lost the electoral vote to.  Amy and Elizabeth are also very capable candidates.  Amy apparently is a bit of a pain to her employees and occasionally eats salad with her comb and Elizabeth has decided to take down every corporate structure and billionaire in the name of the people, but they have their merits.  Amy is a Senator from a battleground state with a strong senate record.  Elizabeth combines a similarly strong record with an affable, nerdy quality.  Each one has every reason to believe they could be successful as the first female president of the United States.  The downside? Well, Amy hardly a household name.  She usually seems slightly overwhelmed during debates, and she is just not “grabby” enough as a politician to enthuse voters.  Warren is loud.  Not by Bernie standards, but she is very dogmatic when it comes to financial institutions and big corporations.  She is almost always right, but so was Gore, and look where that got him.

Billions and billion$…

If the general election could be won by the richest candidates, the democrats would finally be able to come to the table with some formidable candidates.  Bloomberg blows them all away with his wealth.  I am actually surprised I have not received a stipend yet to vote for him in the primary.  The dude could buy and sell trump and Steyer a several times over and still purchase a small nation.  The dude is oozing wealth.  He was also a relatively successful mayor of NYC, as long as you do not consider things like racist police procedures and sexual harassment in your calculations.  Steyer did something at some point to get his $1.6 billion, and he did something political, but in reality he is just a moderate, boring, rich white guy.  These guys should have just backed someone instead of taking their milquetoast bullshit on the road for all to see.

Mayor Pete…

Let’s face it, South Bend sucks.  Home of nauseating Notre Dame, its only redeeming quality is that it has one of the best Asian restaurants I have ever visited, though I cannot recall which one it was.  As mayor of a small city, what could he really have faced that would have prepared him to run the most powerful nation in history?  The short answer is nothing.  The longer answer is still the same.  His time in the military helps a tiny bit, but his greatest strength is that he is the type of guy you want to be president.  Intelligent, compassionate, and calming, he screams “safe” as a choice.  The current president had far less experience and no apparent intelligence, so Pete would still be a significant boost in executive credibility.

Tulsi 

I mean, you can’t be serious…

Good ole Uncle Joe

In his fourth attempt to lead the country, Joe was instantly the frontrunner for the nomination, much to the chagrin of Sanders supporters.  He weathered a few hits early on in his campaign, but, as is classic Biden, his greatest foil was himself.  Simply put, he talks too long about stuff he doesn’t know as well as he wants to know.  He frequently debates like it is his first time.  He is definitely they guy you want to have a beer with, and he is probably the nicest candidate running.  Though some have tried to smear him as creepy, most who are not ardent supporters seem to circle around the age issue, or some affect related to that.  Of course, Bernie had a heart attack this year and Elizabeth Warren will be the oldest democratic nominee in history should she win, but for some reason Biden is catching flack for his age.

I have gone over it again and again.  I was playing scenarios where a candidate dropped and joined another who could go on to become the dream team.  I considered throwing my support to the candidate who might finally drag progressives to the polls in such stunning numbers that trump would be thoroughly defeated and destroyed.  I have considered scenarios where I could comfortably vote for any of the candidates (except for Tulsi…fuck Tulsi).  After I had thoroughly confessed myself about it, I finally came around to a single, clear question I needed to answer.  Which candidate will show up in the White House on day one and will immediately make me feel good about things again?  Not which candidate would turn the planet on its ear or would solve every single problem we have faced in the pat 50 years on the first day.  Who is most likely to hit up the leaders of other nations and reassure them that things are now, finally, going to be OK again.  Who will just be the president, boring and capable but also willing to roll back the disastrous decisions that trump as made during his reign.

The only answer that keeps coming to mind is Biden.  He is the guy who should be president now.  He is the one ready to move us back to where we were going.  He can build the coalition necessary to move us in the right direction on healthcare, the environment, and other crucial areas.  He will not implement free education and will not give us a $15 federal minimum wage, but none of the candidates will do that.  He is going to till the earth that trump has salted and restore the fertile ground that has led to so many amazing inventions and historic changes our nation brought to the world. He can make us proud again.  

He is not The Answer.  We do not have that yet.  Maybe Michelle will have a token senate run and will be The Answer.  Joe Kennedy.  Stacy Abrams.  Kamala Harris.  There are a number of people out there who could take the reigns as the next big option, and I look forward to that time. What Biden gives us is credibility, unity, and a do over.  

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Response Series – The Miseducation of the American Boy – Atlantic Article – My Thoughts

This article is fantastic. The depth that the author goes to engage the subjects interviewed is a stellar example of journalism.


I think much of the problem with masculinity comes from the fact that it is considered preferable over femininity.  Invariably, when describing someone who is masculine, domineering words such has strong, brave, courageous, tough, bold, aggressive, commanding are used.  When people describe femininity, it is usually in submissive terms like soft, kind, considerate, beautiful.  We are conditioned to fill roles from a young age, by seeing those roles played out by our elders and through media.  Even today, the Rock can make two action flicks a year without anyone batting an eye, but when Brie Larson dons a superhero suit and becomes one of the most powerful heroes in cinema history, there are very mixed reactions to this. So, the foundation is laid from an early age…females exist to support males and countering that instinctive code is controversial.


Now, start to extend that foundation to puberty.  Boys are getting more sexually aggressive, and they don’t even understand it, because talking about sex is still so taboo.  They get erections all the time and this feeling of pent up energy that is at once embarrassing and also promoted and congratulated.  Guys are lauded for their sexual prowess and conquests, honored for all the boning, pounding, laying pipe they do while girls are condemned for crossing that virgin line as sluts, whores, dirty.  This starts to open a whole world of problems.  Guys are competing in athletic events where they are pushed to toughen up and be a man.  Girls are encouraged to explore more cerebral efforts.  When they explore their athletic side, invariably they are forced into one of two categories…hot objects of physical perfection, or butch lesbians, as if they are impinging on the male dominated space.  


We hear the stories of the drunk girl who passes out at a party and boys take advantage of that situation. It is a traumatic breech of trust, but the boys who do this are just fulfilling the objective they have been driven to accept their entire lives, that the conquest of women is a desirable goal.


Knowing that this is all wrong and should change, what can be done about it?  For the foreseeable future, we will face families who are stuck in the 1950’s raising boys to be awful men.  They will always look for opportunities to complete their fantasies at the expense of their victims.  This is why feminists who argue that women should not be told to use caution under certain circumstances are so infuriating.  Absolutely the ideal situation is for a woman to feel completely comfortable to drink to excess, collapse on a bed for a few hours, and never expect to be violated.  The problem is that we do not enjoy that ideal experience.  I would much rather empower my daughter to be prepared for what exists than to act in a manner inconsistent with reality.


The other opportunity we have is to encourage others to engage when something is wrong.  I would expect that every single rapist, sexual predator, or other person willing to violate or attack others based on their unbridled masculinity has demonstrated improper behavior in front of an audience.  Let’s start raising our kids to be people who will not tolerate that.  Make the world inhospitable to this behaviors.  When you see someone catcalling women, don’t wait for her to act, gather a few people and call them out.  Be willing to stand up to this nonsense as part of a team.  Remain vigilant.  

This can all be fixed, but, as with so many other issues, society has to change. Our awareness of our instincts must be heightened rather than condemned, so we can appropriately manage natural urges. We have to encourage other traits in our children, ones that develop respect for others. We have work to do, and have to be willing to do it.