About bloody time

I know, I know. There’s protocol. There’s etiquette. Former US Presidents are supposed to exit the stage and shut up. They are not supposed to pop up criticising their successor. Historically. Normally. But there is nothing normal about the current occupant of the White House. And these certainly aren’t normal times. It’s long past bloody time for Barack Obama to put in an appearance.

Yes, okay, I also know he was supposed to keep his mouth shut until his party chose their next candidate. Maybe that’s how Biden convinced Sanders to drop out. Maybe he promised to take a long hard look at free tuition in state colleges and universities. Maybe he assured Sanders that he would find a way to ensure every US citizen had health care. But perhaps the kicker was when he said, “Bernie, Barack can’t put in an appearance until there’s a nominee.” Which was true. So, thanks, Bernie, for getting out of the way. I’m sure Obama will have nice things to say about you.

Oh, my god. That compassion, that thoughtfulness. Those complete sentences. That reminder that the US President wasn’t always a bat shit crazy orangutan ruling with “corruption, carelessness, self-interest, disinformation, ignorance and just plain meanness”. (No, Obama didn’t apply those words directly to the Wankmaggot, but we all knew who he meant.)

God, it was good to see him.

Biden may be a far from inspiring candidate, but, as Obama said, you know he would actually surround himself with “experts, scientists, military officials who actually know how to run the government and care about doing a good job”. Imagine that. It’s growing increasingly difficult, isn’t it?

The Republicans do indeed have “a massive war chest and a propaganda network with little regard for the truth”, so it’s not going to be as easy to get the Wankmaggot (and Mitch McConnell) out of office as it should be – especially when the 35% of US voters who still support the tangerine one are clearly insane.

How to inspire people to get out to vote (assuming the Republicans allow them to do so)?

A hint last night on Rachel Maddow’s show. I tuned in just in time to see Elizabeth Warren calmly and rationally explaining how the pandemic should be tackled by the federal government. Oddly enough none of the steps she detailed are being implemented – nor did she suggest blaming and defunding the World Health Organisation was any part of the solution.

Then Maddow asked her if she would run with Biden if asked. Without hesitation and quite simply Warren answered, “Yes”. My head shot up. Maddow’s head shot up. Would Warren have answered so if she hadn’t already been asked? Oh, my.

A very attractive proposition. Although, as a friend of a friend commented on Facebook, the Democrats winning back the White House is meaningless if they don’t also win a majority in the Senate. If Warren were elected as Vice-President, the Republican governor of Massachusetts would surely pick a replacement from his own party, which could be a very bad thing. Personally I’d like to see Biden appoint Warren as Secretary of the Treasury so I could have the pleasure of watching all the bankers and brokers shit themselves, but then I’m sure she could come up with a lot of things as Veep that would cause them to evacuate.

There is a long way to go and there are a lot of obstacles to overcome (not least the apparent desire of the Republicans to bankrupt the US Postal Service just when it’s become obvious that the only sane and safe way to run the 2020 election is by postal ballot), but it’s a tantalising prospect, isn’t it?