"Sir, please step aside"
Handicapping the handicapped Democrats
Editor’s Note: Have a question about whether Jen and Ben are still together? Don’t ask Matt, ask People magazine. Matt can’t keep all Ben’s Jens straight. There’s Ben Affleck’s current wife, Jennifer Lopez, and his ex-wife Jennifer Garner. If Matt were Ben, Matt would think hard about adding Jennifer Beals to the Jens lineup, who is not a lesbian, even if she played one on The L-Word. But then, she’s already married. Which makes Matt wonder what former tennis player Jennifer Capriati is up to these days? Anyway, send less Jen-centric questions to Ask Matt® at askmattlabash@gmail.com
Matt,
I'm yet another anti-Trump voter for whom last night was the tipping point. (Ed. Note: this question was received right after Biden’s Disaster Debate.) I am sure that Trump will beat Biden (for infinitely wrong reasons that don't matter), so there's nothing to lose by saying so out loud. A heroic close second is useless and the best that will happen. We must go ALL OUT to get Joe to step aside, nothing else, no "maybe he'll squeak through" (no chance, none). Having nothing to lose creates new courage and decisive action.
So, Mr. Pundit, tell me:
1) What can I do, and what will you do, to get Joe (and Kamala) to step aside?
2) Who should we get behind? I don't know, tell me, I'm seeking specific guidance. I care about only one thing: Best chance to beat Trump.
Best regards,
Steve B.
First off, I will do what I always do: pray for divine intervention and/or watch the passing carnival go by while throwing rotten produce at it. It’s all I can do. I’m not an activist, I’m a journalist. (Or whatever you call what it is we do here.) My job isn’t to cure the world’s ills. But to arrange words on a virtual page that (hopefully) educate, amuse, or inspire.
Whether we’re headed for a checked-out, senior-center presidency or soft totalitarianism — the current choice, by my lights — is above my pay grade. Much as I’d like them to carry out my will, I don’t control our political parties. I can barely control myself, as my wife will attest. All I can do is tell the truth as I see it, which was good enough for Orwell, who said: “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” Except, in keeping with the truth-telling, Orwell never actually said that. Quote Investigator says it was first misattributed to Orwell in a 1982 book titled Partners in Ecocide: Australia’s Complicity in the Uranium Cartel. Which sounds like a real page-turner. (More truth: I’d rather just reread Animal Farm.)
As for your question about Biden/Kamala, or as a not-at-all senile Biden calls her, “Vice President Trump,” it’s been a tough two weeks since his Titanic debate, the one in which he hit an iceberg, after which his ship still hasn’t been righted. It’s probably been tough for Donald Trump, too, since he gets antsy when the media goes longer than five minutes without talking about him.