Crossroads

With the Turkish invasion of Syria, Donald Trump, by withdrawing U.S. Special Forces protecting and working with Kurds, out of the region, has created a foreign-policy disaster even as his impeachable abuse of power and obstruction of justice are causing the constitutional equivalent of peritonitis.  But hey,. the stock market rebounded yesterday on good news about improved prospects for U.S.-China trade talks   through they prospects are never more than just that - and, as it stands now, Trump, with a good economy, could be facing as the Democratic presidential nominee in November 2020 Elizabeth Warren, who's blessed with an avauntular demeanor but is cursed with policy positions that make her unelectable.  (As I noted here before, she wants to get rid of private medical insurance and probably make us eat muesli - German for "leaves and twigs" - for breakfast.)

But Joe Biden - whom I still haven't evaluated completely on this blog, believe it or else - can't be counted out.

Recent polls show that, despite Warren's revived campaign and her threat to Biden's poll numbers, Biden's own support has not eroded.  His numbers are still the same.  And, having taken a berating over his son's dubious business dealings as a board member of a Ukrainian gas company and his own efforts to get a Ukrainian prosecutor fired for being corrupt - even though there's no evidence that the  Bidens did anything wrong - he's fighting back.  He's going after the New York Times - the New York Times! - for publishing an op-ed piece attacking the Bidens from a Breitbart-affiliated conservative columnist.  He's also protested Facebook's decision - still in force - to run a misleading anti-Biden commercials from the Trump campaign.  He's beginning to do everything that Democrats have wanted him to do since Trump has gotten him mixed up in the Ukraine scandal.  And - this is crucial - he's come out in favor of impeachment and accused Trump of violating the Constitution, and he's vowed to fight back and fight back hard henceforth.

Trump, of course, tried the stick the knife in Biden's hide even deeper, tweeting, "So pathetic to see Sleepy Joe Biden, who with his son, Hunter, and to the detriment of the American [t]axpayer, has ripped off at least two countries for millions of dollars, calling for my impeachment - and I did nothing wrong, and that the struggles of Biden's campaign "gave him no other choice!"

Biden's response?  "Thanks for watching. Stop stonewalling the Congress. Honor your oath. Respect the Constitution. And speaking of taxpayers, I’ve released 21 years of my tax returns. You?"

Ha ha, good one!

Biden is at a crossroads now.  He's still a strong candidate because he's showing signs of a fighting spirit - the sort of fighting spirit you always see anyone at the nadir of a struggle.  Warren may be surging too early, and many Democrats fear that it may not be the right time for her liberal agenda, as many Americans would rather not try any new bold experiments just now.  Also, the new war in Syria reminds people of Biden's national-security expertise; given the ridicule Hillary Clinton's opponents for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination (one of whom was Bernie Sanders - more of whom in a moment) got for having insufficient or non-existent foreign-policy credentials, Biden can use his as a strength - not just against Trump but against Warren.

The state of the Democratic presidential nomination process is still unclear, though.  Bernie Sanders just had a heart attack, and though he's vowed to continue his campaign, he may not be able to do so much longer.  His presence in the campaign keeps Biden and Warren evenly divided in the polls; if Sanders drops out, most of his supporters will undoubtedly go to Warren, possibly giving her the nomination and giving Trump the opponent he wants, though a third of Democratic primary voters are behind any one of the other sixteen presidential candidates, all of them pretty much also-rans - who knows where they'll eventually go if and when their candidates drop out? . But Biden's climb back up appears to have already begun.  I still have no idea who will win the nomination, but it's likely going to be either Uncle Joe or Aunt Liz.

I still miss Cousin Martin, though.