Against my better judgement, I watched the Presidential Debate on Tuesday, September 10th between President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. It was less depressing than the last debate. It reminded me of what politics was like before 2016.
Say what you will about George W. Bush, but he’s a smart guy. He went to Yale and Harvard, flew jets in the Texas National Guard, and owned the Texas Rangers before becoming President.2
Barack Obama was a community organizer in Chicago and the first Black President of the Harvard Law Review. He litigated Voting Rights cases after graduating. 4
Even more impressive, he isn’t a nepo baby.
It’s hard to believe, but Joe Biden was once the youngest American Senator6.
Although he’s brought a sense of normalcy back into American life and been largely effective as a President, he is an embarrassing Head of State. 8
It’s been a long time since America had a sharp President.
Before President Biden, we had a reality TV star, real estate developer, con artist, and leader of a personality cult. According to Mike H. on Quora, one of Donald Trump’s former professors at the University of Pennsylvania said Trump was one of the “god-damned dumbest” students he ever had. 10
Watching the previous debate between President Biden and President Trump made me sad to be an American. President Trump repeated the same four talking points gesticulating with his tiny hands, while President Biden stared into space and struggled to string sentences together.
Our country deserves better.
I’m talking a lot about Republicans and Democrats. I want to put some skin in the game and tell you about my perspective on American politics.
I’m considering voting for Jill Stein. I think her socialist/pacifist platform would transform America in a positive way.13
Unfortunately, we live in a two-party state with sophisticated political machines that make it nearly impossible for a third party to win a national election. So, we must choose between candidates that advocate for slightly different versions of the same things: capitalism, military might, and rule by the elite.
Despite this somewhat pessimistic outlook, I still think that the election matters and one candidate is better than the other. Vice President Kamala Harris is the obvious choice for President.
She delivered an excellent debate performance on September 9th, 2024–speaking to the American people like she was speaking to a Jury. It was refreshing to watch a potential President speak with precision. It’s been awhile since we’ve had someone like that representing our country. Although I will likely vote for Jill Stein,15 I think VP Harris will be an excellent Head of State and represent the United States of America with dignity.
It’d be nice to have a smart President again.
P.S.
VP Harris has a place in Brentwood–I ran into her motorcade once on a bike ride down from Kenter. Her husband gets his haircut at the same place I do in the Brentwood Country Market.
- https://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/collection/artwork/campesino-rotas-tus-cadenas-no-consientas-opriman-otros-tiranos-peasant-farmer ↩︎
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Bush ↩︎
- https://www.whitehousehistory.org/photos/george-w-bush ↩︎
- https://www.obamalibrary.gov/obamas/president-barack-obama ↩︎
- https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-appearances/the-shifting-perspective-in-kehinde-wileys-portrait-of-barack-obama ↩︎
- From the great state of Delaware, where every Corporation is domeciled and subject to general jurisdiction. ↩︎
- https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/06/joe-biden-1972-race-senate.html ↩︎
- https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/09/3-lessons-from-the-first-history-of-bidens-presidency.html ↩︎
- https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4076137-bidens-age-is-stumbling-block-to-reelection/ ↩︎
- It took me several rounds of revision before I noticed I spelled “dumbest”, “dummest”. Maybe I’m the dumm one? ↩︎
- https://www.axios.com/2024/09/08/trump-2024-election-prison ↩︎
- https://variety.com/2024/politics/columns/first-presidental-debate-trump-biden-takeaways-1236055824/ ↩︎
- https://www.jillstein2024.com/platform ↩︎
- https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/us/politics/jill-stein-presidential-bid.html ↩︎
- I am a California resident. I would vote for Kamala Harris in a battleground state. ↩︎
- https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2501n5rvvno ↩︎
Back in Malibu 
Leave a comment