Out with the Old, In with the Old

The common expression every New Year is “Out with the old, in with the new.”

Whatever one’s politics may be, the New Year promises to be a repeat of past times, at least nationally. The two leading candidates for president are former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden, oldies but, their parties assure us, goodies.

The dish on Biden is that he is well past his prime. His enemies are saying the man is a doddering old fool, while his friends have been slightly more charitable. He’s just old, and perhaps doddering, but certainly no fool. Even so, Democrat luminary David Axelrod, former Democrat President Barack Obama’s Wizard of Oz, has said the old guy should bow out, in favor of someone else whose poll numbers are… ahem… more encouraging.

Axelrod recently has given aid and comfort to the enemy by insisting that booting Trump off the ballot in numerous states would be a disaster worse than… well, the erasure of our southern border.

Said Axelrod, “I have very, very strong reservations about all of this. I do think it would rip the country apart if he [Trump] were actually prevented from running because tens of millions of people want to vote for him.”

Indeed, Americans can be ornery when they are told by anti-democrats in black robes that they may not vote for a former president who likely will be a party’s prime choice for president. This attempt to sink a rival before he can be sunk in an honest election appears to be, on the face of it, anti-democratic.

The dish on Trump is that he is a menace to the Republic, an out-of-the-closet fascist, an enemy of the democracy presently bound and gagged by Biden-friendly prosecutors.

In the postmodern era, important decision-making agencies, including the presidency, are held by A but run by B. ?Biden’s frailties, under such circumstance, may not be determinative. The U.S. political Land of Oz is a bewitching fa?ade but, so long as a relatively competent wizard is pulling the right strings behind the curtain, appearances will continue to be charmingly deceiving. “Who is the Wizard Running the Democrat Party?” was a much played board game in the old year. Some said the Clintons, Bill and Hillary, were running the political shop. Others said no, it was the Obamas.

Still others said President Biden was at the helm blunderingly guiding the ship of state onto one shoal after another. He touched Afghanistan, and it turned to ashes. He touched the southern border and it collapsed. Few noticed the border had disappeared so long as illegal aliens pouring across – more than ten million souls since Biden laid his hands on a bible and vowed, “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States"—were problems only for certain border states. But then border states full to the brim with illegals began exporting unwanted migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, New York City and other welcoming sanctuary states, producing pandemonium and ethical revaluations.

“More than 10 million people have been reported illegally entering the United States since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021,” the Washington Examiner reported last October, “the greatest number in history and of any administration. They total more than the individual populations of 41 states.”

Passionate political advocates – those leaning conservative or neo-progressive – seem to be immovable. What used to be called “the vital center” of American politics is fast disappearing. In 2020, Biden ran for office as a typical John F. Kennedy liberal Democrat. Having achieved office, following a kerfuffle at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Biden tailored his past policies to new neo-progressive demands made by the left wing of his party. Most people from both political camps – free-marketer Republicans and proto-socialist Democrats – might, given truth serum, agree that Biden’s first term in office was the most radical we have seen in living memory.

It has not taken long for politically observant Americans to catch on to the shift in the political template. And polls suggest they do not like an overbearing central government bent on making intrusive decisions better made by states and municipalities – not to mention most women in the United States who are happy with their non-electric stoves.

According to a reliable Gallup poll, “President Joe Biden’s job approval rating is 39%, marking a slight improvement from the 37% low point in October and November but the fifth time his rating is below 40% in 2023.”

Biden’s most recent approval ratings are fathoms below water even though, despite dire warnings from Environment Czars John Kerry, Al Gore and Greta Thunberg, the world’s polar ice caps have not yet fully melted.