One month into an election year and, strangely, things look good. At least to me. And not just in the USA. Democracy is in action everywhere. So, I’m going to take a moment (or maybe several) to put science aside and focus on current politics. I hope you don’t mind.
After all, this is the first year in history in which more than half the world’s population (4.2 billion of us) will live in countries holding elections. Taiwan got off to a quick start, ringing out the old and ringing in the new in the first week. In the USA, things are getting heated up, as well, with Democrats uniting behind an increasingly popular incumbent and Republicans uniting behind a malignant narcissist facing 91 felony counts. This should be fun.
But, not all elections will be free and fair. Russia and Belorussia will lead the way in opposition suppression, with Indonesia and Bangladesh not far behind. In other elections, such as India and much of Africa, incumbents will probably have a steep advantage. But, there is some exciting news from Mexico, where the two top opposing parties will be putting forward women candidates. I hope, one day, we’ll all follow that lead.
In the meantime, though, let’s talk about Joe Biden. In my lifetime, I have never seen a president achieve as much as Joe did in his first two years:
Passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan to distribute vaccines and jump-start the economy;
Re-united hundreds of terrified migrant children with their families;
Passed a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill;
Passed a bipartisan gun safety bill, the most significant in 30 years;
Bailed U.S. armed forces out of Afghanistan, following Trump’s disastrous negotiations with the Taliban;
Passed the CHIPS and Science Act to decrease dependence on China;
Defended and increased the availability of the Affordable Care Act;
Passed a Veteran’s Health Bill, despite initial opposition by Republicans;
Passed the Inflation Reduction Act, including a $369 billion climate initiative, $300 billion of which comes from corporate taxes;
Provided over $100 billion in support to defend democracy in Ukraine, while extracting even larger contributions from Europe.
Most importantly, President Biden re-established the U.S. as a leader on the world stage, re-joining the WHO and UN Human Rights Council, and engaging with democratically elected leaders around the world. That’s a vast improvement from his dictator-loving predecessor.
Following midterms, during which the House became raving gaggle of clowns, Joe’s work continued. As the economy heated up following the pandemic, he worked to free up supply lines and to negotiate reductions in prices. He bypassed the Supreme Court to get debt relief for students and provided support to unions negotiating wage and benefit increases.
As a result of this work:
U.S. unemployment has been at a 50-year low around 3% for 2 years;
Inflation has been tamed back down to 3% and dropping;
Wages have increased at a faster pace than inflation;
Stocks and other financial indices are at an all-time high;
U.S. GDP is growing faster than most major economies around the world;
8 million more Americans are covered with health insurance;
Violent crime is at a 50-year low;
Swifties all over America are registering to vote.
O.K., fine, Taylor Swift had a hand in that last point. But, seriously, while economists were hoping for a “soft landing,” Joe was applying the throttle. Admittedly, the story is not rosy for everyone. The wage gap that’s been growing for decades is only slowly shrinking, minimum wage is outrageously low in many states, and 25 million still do not have health coverage. But this has been a great start.
But what about illegal immigration?! Aren’t there swarms of evil terrorists illegally crossing into our country to wreak havoc and destroy the economy by stealing our jobs? Well, no. Immigration has been on an upswing since the 1970s, but it is still lower than in most developed countries and is nothing we can’t absorb, given sufficient resources for processing stations and immigration judges.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll get those resources until after the elections. Donald has instructed the House clowns to ignore the bipartisan legislation drafted by their own colleagues in the Senate. He wants immigration as a campaign issue, even though he has already proven his own ineptitude on the border. How sad to have refugees’ lives depend on the whims of a lunatic, but thus goes the Republican Party. Politics above governing, always.
On Joe’s side, he has already passed more legislation on immigration than his predecessor. New border processes have been put in place to discourage illegal arrivals, humanitarian protections have been extended to migrants escaping political, economic and religious persecution, and enforcement now focuses on a more narrow category of criminals, rather than punishing the vulnerable. In short, humanity, intelligence and empathy are back.
Anyway, immigration has never been a burden to the American economy. Quite the contrary. Much of our economy depends on migrant workers. It has been that way for a long time. Concerning criminals crossing our borders, Americans born in the USA are twice as likely to commit violent crime than migrants, and most illegal drugs are brought across the border by U.S. citizens at legal entry points. Did I mention that violent crime in the U.S. continues to decrease under the Biden administration?
So, what’s with the bad polling? Is the Orange Moron really going to beat Joe in November?
No chance. First of all, the polls: Parties, like the GOP, that rely entirely on strongman leaders, like Donald, tend to fall in line quickly. Dissenters are ridiculed and removed. That, coupled with a continuous propaganda bombardment from Fox News and Newsmax, means that nobody from that party will admit (or even know about) Biden’s accomplishments. Many are firmly in the Cult of Trump, while others support that cult, in order to hold on to power and/or wealth. Fortunately, they are a shrinking minority.
On the other side are the Democrats, a vastly heterogenous group of individuals who are typically up to date and concerned about policy. They are never happy. We aren’t solving climate change fast enough, our schools are not good enough, children are being shot, there is racial injustice in our legal system, women’s rights are being stripped, our voting system is antiquated and does not reflect the majority, our Supreme Court is corrupt, etc. This group will be critical of any and all candidates. But, when push comes to shove, they will all vote for Joe. They have seen what the other side offers.
And, I haven’t even mentioned the crimes. Donald Trump is facing trials on 91 felony counts, all of which are backed by years of accumulated evidence. The prosecutors would not have gone this far without strong cases. The moron will be spending a lot of time in court this year and media will have no choice but to cover the facts being presented. The Big Lie of a stolen election will be shot down time and again, many times by Republicans who served under Trump. It will be hard to ignore that.
Then there’s Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution:
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Even the current Supreme Court will find it hard to override such a clear paragraph. Although I wouldn’t put it past them. Still, Donald has already been shown by a non-partisan Congressional committee not only to have taken part in an insurrection against the government, but to have instigated it. And that will be made clear, once more, on our screens this summer. Case closed.
So, let’s enjoy the coming year’s democratic events, especially the spectacle in the U.S. As a scientist, I have seen time and again the power of evidence. Truth always wins out, no matter how delusional we might get. Dinosaurs did not board the Ark, Jews do not have space lasers, Donald Trump did not get elected in 2020, and he is going to lose in a landslide in 2024. And that is good news for democracy. Now, when will we advance like Mexico to put a woman in office? The majority of us wanted that in 2016 and it turns out we were right.