US President Joe Biden has announced that he won’t seek re-election. He revealed his decision to quit the race in an open letter posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, promising to deliver a special address on the matter later this week.

In the letter, Biden has rejected any prospects of stepping down from his post early, stating he will remain in the office until the end of his term. 

“It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term,” Biden wrote.

Biden also praised his Vice President Kamala Harris, who has been long-rumored to become the Democratic candidate should he step down, describing her as “an extraordinary partner in all this work.”

Shortly after announcing his withdrawal, Biden endorsed Harris as the Democratic Party nominee for the upcoming elections.

https://www.rt.com/news/601423-biden-drops-reelection-bid/

With the news of Biden backing Harris to replace him on the 2024 presidential ticket, here is a memorable speech delivered at Edmund Pettus Bridge by the Vice President at Selma, Alabama back in March for the Bloody Sunday anniversary. She precedes her remarks about the Selma march with comments about the tragedy of Gaza.

https://scheerpost.com/2024/07/21/kamala-harris-in-one-of-her-better-moments/

MEANWHILE:

By Caitlin Johnstone
CaitlinJohnstone.com.au

President Joe Biden has caved to mounting pressure to drop out of the presidential race due to widespread concerns about his obvious neurological decline, bowing out and endorsing his exact ideological clone Kamala Harris. Apparently the consensus is that he’s too demented to run for president, but is not too demented to actually be president for the next six months.

This means nothing and changes nothing, other than perhaps arguably somewhat diminishing the likelihood of a Republican empire manager being sworn into the White House in January. Harris differs from Biden only in voice and appearance, and has been an enthusiastic supporter of Biden’s genocidal atrocities in Gaza over the last nine and a half months.

Harris, assuming she wins the nomination, will campaign on the promise of continuing Biden’s incineration of Gaza, continuing Biden’s “ironclad” support for Israel, continuing Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine, continuing Biden’s escalations against Russia and China, continuing Biden’s expansion of the US war machine, continuing Biden’s facilitation of ecocidal capitalism, and continuing Biden’s dehumanizing policies of worldwide exploitation and imperialist extraction. If she gets into the White House the face of the operation will change, but the operation itself will not. 

And the same will be true if Trump gets in. Every few years the US empire has this weird little festival where it pretends the government is changing hands and will now begin operating in a way that is meaningfully different from the way it was operating before. But then exploitation continues, the injustice continues, the ecocide continues, the wars continue, the militarism continues, the imperialism continues, the propaganda indoctrination continues, the authoritarianism and oppression continues.

The behavior of the empire is no more changed by getting a new president than a corporation is changed by getting a new secretary at the front desk of its main office.

Much will be made of Kamala Harris’ race and gender. Much will be made of the fact that she is not Donald Trump. Much emotion will surround her campaign. And then, whether she wins or loses, nothing much will change. You won’t be able to tell by looking at the machinery of the empire who took office in January. Its behavior will remain the same.

Nothing real is happening on the level of electoral politics in America. The protests are real. The activism is real. The efforts to fight the imperial propaganda machine and wake people up from their indoctrination are real. The efforts to give rise to a real revolutionary zeitgeist are real. But the elections themselves are a performative ritual put on to help people feel good about themselves, like a religious sacrament performed by a priest.

A genocide monster has bowed out and endorsed another genocide monster. That’s the whole entire story here. That’s all the commentary and attention this new development deserves.

Caitlin Johnstone’s work is entirely reader-supported, so if you enjoyed this piece please consider sharing it around, following her on Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, YouTube, or throwing some money into her tip jar on Ko-fi, Patreon or Paypal. If you want to read more you can buy her books. The best way to make sure you see the stuff she publishes is to subscribe to the mailing list at her website or on Substack, which will get you an email notification for everything she publishes.  For more info on who she is, where she stands and what she’s trying to do with her platform, click here. All works are co-authored with her American husband Tim Foley.

This article is from CaitlinJohnstone.com.au 

https://consortiumnews.com/2024/07/21/harris-would-continue-genocide-in-gaza/

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The Biden Administration Says Its Trade Policy Puts People Over Corporations. Documents on Baby Formula Show Otherwise.
U.S. officials have challenged baby formula regulations in more than half a dozen countries, sometimes after manufacturers complained. Critics say the efforts are undermining public health.

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they’re published.

The Biden administration has quietly pushed more than a half-dozen countries to weaken, delay or rethink baby formula regulations aimed at protecting the public’s health — sometimes after manufacturers complained, a ProPublica investigation has found.

In the European Union, the U.S. opposed an effort to reduce lead levels in baby formula. In Taiwan, it sought to alter labeling that highlighted the health benefits of breastfeeding. And in Colombia, it questioned an attempt to limit microbiological contaminants — the very problem that shut down a manufacturing plant in Michigan in 2022, leading to a widespread formula shortage.

“Infant formula companies want to sell more infant formula,” said Marion Nestle, professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. “The idea that governments are aiding and abetting them in their commercial enterprise over the public health interest is really shocking to me.”

The interference, documented in trade letters sent during President Joe Biden’s first two years, represents the latest chapter in the federal government’s long-running support for the multibillion-dollar formula industry, even as the Biden administration has publicly promised a different approach.

As ProPublica reported earlier this year, the U.S. has long used its diplomatic and political muscle to advance the interests of companies like Abbott, which makes Similac, and Mead Johnson, maker of Enfamil, while thwarting the efforts of developing countries to safeguard the health of their youngest children.

Through public records, academic research and other sources, ProPublica found evidence of such meddling in 21 countries, plus Hong Kong, Taiwan and the European Union, over decades. In multiple instances, countries either tabled or changed proposed formula regulations after the U.S. lodged objections.

The stakes for global health are high. Experts say industry advertising — the target of many foreign regulations — often misleads parents about the benefits of formula products and that promotions such as free samples, discounts and giveaways can result in mothers abandoning breastfeeding too soon. Studies show that can lead to more life-threatening infections for babies and a higher risk for long-term conditions like diabetes and obesity.

In January, the Biden administration told ProPublica that it overhauled how the U.S. approaches trade, respecting foreign governments’ efforts to pass regulations rather than immediately deeming such rules trade barriers. The Office of the United States Trade Representative, which advises the president on trade, said that it’s committed “to making sure our trade policy works for people — not blindly advancing the will of corporations.”

But the documents, obtained from the agency’s own files through a records request, suggest those corporations still have outsized clout when it comes to baby formula regulation.

In early 2021, for example, formula company representatives set up a conference call with USTR staff to oppose legislation in Kenya, which was seeking to restrict formula advertising. Industry consultants shared a 10-page position paper from a trade group criticizing the Kenyan measure.

U.S. officials then raised similar issues in their correspondence with Kenyan officials. “Can Kenya explain the need for this provision?” they asked about one advertising-related measure, according to agency records. The U.S. asked whether Kenyan officials had sought input from stakeholders like food makers and retailers. Officials also suggested a host of changes to the proposed law, including recommending that Kenya replace a warning about potential contamination during the manufacturing process with a warning that focused only on “the health hazards of inappropriate preparation, storage and use.”

Kenyan officials pushed back, dismissing that suggestion and several others. Kenya needed to pass regulation, they said, because the formula industry “was not voluntarily adhering” to international guidance. Less than half of Africa’s infants under 6 months old were exclusively breastfed, Kenyan officials wrote, and the country was seeking to raise its rate to 75%.

The USTR’s office declined ProPublica’s request for an interview about that letter and eight others sent under Biden. A spokesperson also declined to answer written questions. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.

The pro-industry letters are the result of a policymaking process in which manufacturers are encouraged to weigh in. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture runs a tracking system that “notifies industry and other users when potentially adverse foreign regulations” come up at the World Trade Organization, an international forum for settling trade disputes. Companies can then “provide input into official U.S. government comments.”

Multiple agencies, including the USTR, consider that feedback as they hammer out the official U.S. position, which experts say carries weight because of the country’s economic and diplomatic power. Federal officials then transmit comments — often accompanied by questions — in a letter to the foreign country proposing the regulation. (The USDA did not respond to questions about the process or the Biden-era formula letters.)

Historically, the U.S. often lodged objections to new formula rules in public at the WTO. Research shows that before 2020, the U.S. questioned proposed formula regulations in WTO forums more than 30 times — far more often than any other country, even those where foreign formula makers are based.

The Biden administration, however, has relied almost entirely on the trade letters, keeping its critiques of formula regulation largely out of public view, according to ProPublica’s analysis of WTO meeting minutes and other documents. In fact, the nine missives were so under the radar that they surprised even public health experts who follow such developments.

“Oh my goodness,” said Jennifer Pomeranz, a New York University professor and expert in public health law and food policy. “I did not know it was this extensive.”

The letters carry an implicit threat, often asking for the scientific rationale behind countries’ proposals. If the U.S. feels a nation’s regulations are not justified, it can initiate a legal fight over trade agreements.

In one letter from May 2021, the U.S. pushed back against the European Union’s efforts to reduce the amount of lead — a neurotoxin dangerous to children — in formula. The change was based on a risk assessment by a European food safety agency, European officials said, adding, “This measure is considered necessary to ensure a high level of human health protection.”

The U.S. wasn’t convinced. “We suggest the EU wait,” U.S. officials said. They cited the ongoing efforts of an international food standards body, which was considering lead limits for a range of foods. (The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which has no lead limits for formula, told ProPublica it “has been evaluating to what extent if any, infant formula contributes to dietary lead exposure among the very young.”)

The U.S. also questioned the science behind proposed limits on cadmium, a probable carcinogen, in formula. The U.S. has no such limits.

The EU passed both measures anyway.

Other recipients, however, have acceded to the U.S.’ requests.

Taiwan, for example, changed a proposed formula labeling law after the U.S. objected to language that said, “Breastfed babies are the healthiest babies.” Taiwanese officials switched to wording the U.S. suggested in a 2022 letter: “Breast milk is the best food for your baby.”

The change, while subtle, makes a difference, said Nestle, who is not related to the formula company of the same name. “These statements may seem identical, but the formula industry wants formula to be viewed as equivalent to or better than breastfeeding,” she said. “‘Healthiest’ can seem stronger, and that’s all it takes for formula companies to fight it.”

The Infant Nutrition Council of America, an industry trade group, said its members support breastfeeding but “believe that parents should have access to accurate, balanced information on all appropriate infant feeding options.” Formula makers also meet regulatory and “nutritional science” requirements in countries where they sell products, the group’s statement said.

Abbott and Mead Johnson did not respond to requests for comment.

To be sure, formula remains crucial when babies do not have access to breast milk. But the World Health Organization has long promoted breastfeeding because of its well-documented benefits for babies’ health and cognitive growth. Multiple studies have found fewer infant deaths among breastfed children. Breastfeeding mothers lower their own risk of certain cancers, too.

David Clark, former legal specialist with UNICEF and an international public health law consultant, said interventions like those of the U.S. can have a “chilling effect” on countries’ efforts to regulate formula marketing and protect breastfeeding. “It’s like the bully in the playground,” he said. “The U.S. is a big, powerful country.”

In 2021, the U.S. sent Colombia questions as it was considering a limit on microbiological contaminants. The country has yet to adopt the measure, said Rubén Ernesto Orjuela Agudelo, an infant nutrition expert at the National University of Colombia. He said such a provision is needed.

In 2023, the U.S. sent a letter to Mozambique, challenging a proposal that sought to limit the information formula makers can provide to “higher level healthcare professionals” — a key target of industry lobbying. Trade officials took issue with the country’s description of formulas as “ultra-processed products with high sodium content” that contribute to long-term health problems.

The status of the measure is unclear. The country’s embassy did not answer questions from ProPublica.

Lori Wallach, director of the Rethink Trade program from the the American Economic Liberties Project, said that Biden’s trade representative, Katherine Tai, has made a significant effort to reduce corporate influence at USTR. But Wallach said it’s possible some career trade officials are still “marching along to the corporate drums that have been setting their path for the last decades.”

July 22, 2024: This story originally misstated the name of the international organization that has long promoted breastfeeding. It is the World Health Organization, not the World Trade Organization, or WTO.

https://www.propublica.org/article/baby-formula-regulation-biden-administration-europe-taiwan

-----------------------

By Patrick Lawrence
Special to Consortium News

“BIDEN DROPS OUT OF 2024 RACE” was the banner headline across The New York Times’s digital front page Sunday. How could I not think back to Aug. 9, 1974, when theTimes fronted its editions with “NIXON RESIGNS” — same font, same type size, all caps?

Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency in disgrace. Everyone knew this, even Nixon, and there was no pretending otherwise. Nixon seemed to try his best under the circumstances: “HE URGES A TIME OF ‘HEALING,’” was the subhead on the Times’ news report. 

Maybe Joe Biden did his best, too, by the time he announced Sunday morning he would not run for reelection this November. But best or otherwise, Biden made the absolute worst of his circumstances. 

He could have stepped aside weeks ago, even months, with grace and some semblance of dignity. Instead, he insisted he “wasn’t going anywhere,” sheltering in a state of full denial until he was forced from office looking like a foolish old man who simply gets in the way of things.

“America has never been better positioned to lead the world,” Biden wrote in the letter to “My Fellow Americans” he published on social media Sunday. If I were Ronald Reagan I would shake my head derisively and say, “There he goes again.”  

Biden will end his days assuming, as he does here, that he can utter the most preposterous bunkum, contradictory to perfectly visible realities, and it will be accepted as true because he has said it. The Man from Scranton, authenticity beyond his reach and ordinary honesty foreign to his repertoire, got away with this chicanery for decades while he served in the Senate. 

But the White House has simply defeated him. A lightweight when it came time to prove himself as a statesman and a leader, he never should have walked its halls as anything other than a visitor.  

Of the many large truths worth noting about the Biden presidency, the most important in my judgment is that he has turned, error upon error, misjudgment upon misjudgment, stupidity upon stupidity, a gradual but long-evident erosion in American power, prestige and reputation into a precipitous collapse. There are a few things to say about this straightaway.  

Crumbling Imperium 

One, the decline over which Biden has presided was inevitable. Biden accelerated the deterioration of America’s power and standing — “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to fuck things up,” as Barack Obama once said of him — but he is not altogether to be blamed. 

The American imperium, a century and a quarter, or eight decades old, depending on how one dates its emergence, was from the first destined to crumble, and it is the lot of those living to witness this fate as it unfolds. This is the reality of our time. No one who achieves the White House will ever repudiate the empire, and no one serving as president can salvage it, either.  

Two, America will never climb out of the depths to which Biden has led America. The great varieties of damage he has done are irreversible. This is as true at home as it is on the foreign side. There is no building back better, just as there is no making America great again. Let us not waste our time with this kind of thinking. Let us leave all that to the nostalgists. There is only building anew. 

Finally, and related to the above point, it is important to view the imperium’s collapse positively. Failure — many failures — will be necessary before it becomes possible to begin realizing a post-imperial, post-exceptionalist America dedicated, at last, to the human cause. 

It will not be easy to live through the interim to come — Biden and the incompetent people running his regime have made it hard enough living through 2024. But amid the ruins a certain opportunity falls to those Americans who refuse the prevailing nihilism in favor of the immanence of a future that departs from the past and the eternal present in which the imperium confines us. 

The wreckage Biden leaves behind as he does us the favor of getting out of our sight is very formidable. I do not mean to suggest otherwise.

Liberal Authoritarianism

Biden took office four Januarys ago — remember the inauguration, with that dreadful poet and Garth Brooks bursting out of his jeans? — droning on and on about his dedication to national unity. Forget it. That was one of his more outsized Bidenisms. Joe Biden has put this nation so at odds with itself that he and his flaks have resorted to blaming it on the Russians, the Chinese and lately even the Iranians. 

It is on you, Joe, with your failure to address even a single civil, sympathetic word to those who do not accept — this another of your legacies — the consolidation of a liberal authoritarianism that (I predicted this years ago) will be harder to dislodge than anything Donald Trump ever puts in place. 

Does Biden think all his talk of “domestic extremism” was just easy propaganda? In every mention of it — and in all the regearing of federal institutions to suppress it — this regime dismissed a proportion of Americans the size of which we will see when the ballots are counted Nov. 5. 

Thank you for the polarization, Mr. President. It will take a philosopher-king to repair it, and America does not produce these anymore, if ever it did. 

Biden’s evident determination to destroy what may have remained of a coherent national polity extended quickly after he took office to corrupting the judiciary in the service of the liberal authoritarian cause. I count this among his regime’s gravest transgressions. 

The Trump trials have proven farcical abuses of special prosecutors and the courts, it should now be obvious. But let us not miss the extent of the damage done. Trump will come and Trump will go. How, and by whom, can the judicial system be restored to independence and Lady Justice to her blindness?

There is the presidency itself. The overpromoted Biden leaves it discredited in two ways. One, he has imported his grubby, infra-dig corruption into the White House. While various House committees have gathered enough hard evidence of this to warrant an impeachment trial, the practiced small-time grifter will get away with it because the judiciary has in effect succeeded in letting the clock run out. 

Two, our well-bribed Zionist president has let the Israel lobby, notably but not only the American–Israel Public Affairs Committee, so far into the political process it is hard to tell where AIPAC’s influence ends and the legitimate deliberations of government begin — such as these deliberations may still proceed in the White House and on Capitol Hill. 

The parting shot in this line: Bibi Netanyahu, now subject to a requested arrest warrant at the International Criminal Court, will address a joint session of Congress Wednesday.  

Further in behalf of terrorist Israel, Biden has purposefully instigated a climate of delusional anti–Semitism that resembles nothing so much as the Red-under-every-bed paranoia of the 1950s. Monomanias of this kind have consumed America periodically since the Salem witch trials, and the syndrome proves as destructive now as it has on all previous occasions. 

Yes, Mr. President, America has never looked better as the leader of the world. 

Cold War II

Biden’s record on the foreign side speaks for itself. He leaves the U.S. stuck in a proxy war with Russia from which there is by design no exit, even as Ukraine is condemned to self-destruction and its people to a criminal, Nazi–infested dictatorship in Kiev. Cold War II now lies before us, by the look of it stretching out for decades. 

Across the other ocean there is the new Cold War’s second front. Relations with China lie in ruins, having been run into the ground by patently incompetent amateurs whose sole qualification for office is their yes-man loyalty to a leader even stupider than they are.  

Worst of all, of course, is the spectacle of America’s direct participation, well beyond mere support, in the final stage of a terrorist state’s genocide of the Palestinian people. This will leave a scar on the United States of America that no future leader will ever be able to erase. 

When Rachel Maddow, with this record fully in view, hails Biden as “a master of foreign policy and has been for decades” — this after his post–NATO press conference two weeks ago — it is time to get sober. Biden’s original sin on the foreign side is that he has brought no imagination to the White House when imagination was vital to the moment. I grow sick of those who insist on pretending otherwise. 

If there is room for amusement as Joe Biden wanders in a daze off the stage, I found some in the boastful passages of his letter declaring he will not run again. He lowered drug costs for the elderly, he passed a gun law, health care for veterans will now cover exposure to toxic substances: All worthy, all of it. But isn’t there a question of magnitude here? 

Put Biden’s list of accomplishments against his true legacy, and it reads like an upside-down confessional: Well, I have made a mess of America and the world, just as Barack Obama warned I would, but I have some incremental odds and ends over here to brag of. 

And now Biden and the Democrats, having rendered the party disgracefully undemocratic, will force the nomination of Kamala Harris as his successor. We will have to see what comes of this, but there are only two outcomes now in prospect. Given either Donald Trump or Harris will serve as America’s next president, it seems to me those who vote are left to choose between two disasters. Maybe it was fated to come to this.  

I have compared Biden’s exit with Nixon’s, not Lyndon Johnson’s. The latter, who announced 56 years ago he would not seek re-election, had it disastrously wrong in escalating America’s aggression in Southeast Asia. He knew this, he knew he had divided the country, and so stepped aside just short of disgracing himself and his office. Biden already has, as Nixon did.

Patrick Lawrence, a correspondent abroad for many years, chiefly for The International Herald Tribune, is a columnist, essayist, lecturer and author, most recently of Journalists and Their Shadows, available from Clarity Press or via Amazon.  Other books include Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century. His Twitter account, @thefloutist, has been permanently censored. 

TO MY READERS. Independent publications and those who write for them reach a moment that is difficult and full of promise all at once. On one hand, we assume ever greater responsibilities in the face of mainstream media’s mounting derelictions. On the other, we have found no sustaining revenue model and so must turn directly to our readers for support. I am committed to independent journalism for the duration: I see no other future for American media. But the path grows steeper, and as it does I need your help. This grows urgent now. In  recognition of the commitment to independent journalism, please subscribe to The Floutist, or via my Patreon account.

https://consortiumnews.com/2024/07/24/patrick-lawrence-the-wreckage-biden-leaves/

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BY Henry Kamens

There are just too many unanswered questions: just pretend I am a naive student in an American High School, taking a course in American government, and I would have the audacity to ask: “How is it that President Biden is not fit to run for president, but he is fit to be president? Is that not a conundrum?”  Under such circumstances, how will the replacement be picked; I also think the Democratic Party is not fit to be a party!! 

Something tells me, I would be in trouble just for asking!

Even searching for the answer is rather perplexing, as you get the usual political rhetoric, as Trump says, “Biden Was ‘Not Fit to Run’ For President,” and if true, then logic would have it that he is also not fit to be president. The ongoing public and media debate about President Biden’s age and mental acuity to date is a convenient distraction, as many would question whether or not he is REALLY running the show, and this goes beyond his performance in debates and interviews.

We should question why Joe Biden has no intention of resigning, thereby letting the VP take over, and why is he “looking forward to finishing his term and delivering more historic results for the American people.”  However, it is more revealing as to why he would insist on holding on until the last, considering he has already endorsed VP Kamala Harris for the presidential race, upon withdrawing, of course, “for the sake of protecting democracy”.

Democracy does not Count 4-MUCH

Thus, Joe Biden and his minions should feel safe and secure in knowing that Kamala will pick up where he left off, or does he know something that we are not privy to?  We are taught that change comes from the ballot box, at least in theory, according to Freedom House, i.e., a key element of democracy is the peaceful transfer of power that comes via elections.  What they focus on most is what is the most insidious thing within the election system–they need not go far to look for what they claim

But as we have seen with elections in France and the UK, elections are not what they used to be. They are rigged before voters even have the opportunity to cast their votes. The whole system is rigged from the get-go, and most people are clueless and wait for the election result with bated breath, it is as if one party prevailing over another is going to make one iota of difference in their lives.

“They” have it all covered

What’s in it for him to remain the figurehead anyway? What perks is he getting? They will switch out Harris at the last minute, perhaps during the Democratic National Convention? I ask as I don’t think she can stand a Chinaman’s chance in hell against Trump, and that they will bring in a ringer at the last moment.

Fitness to Run vs. Fitness to Serve

If someone is deemed unfit to run for president, it logically follows for most people that they would also be unfit to serve as president. This is the core of the conundrum as highlighted thus far, albeit, this is just the begging of such a discussion. I have my suspicions that it is only to avoid the position that, if she did win (and I can only see that happening through vote rigging) then they wish to avoid a situation where she has already served one term, as even 100 days would count against the 2 term limit.

As someone told me just the other day, the answer is: He is fit to run for president but won’t be fit enough at the end of the next term. And this isn’t about his fitness so much as do we think he can beat Trump. Fitness doesn’t really matter because he only signs bills and does press conferences. I’m quite sure an administration could function without the president. So he quit because he can’t beat Trump, not because he doesn’t think he could hold office. And the timing right after Trump’s VP pick and Republican National Convention shows Biden still has a little cleverness left.

Who is Kamala Harris, her chances, and in fact, would Kamala rule America, or Biden, OR?

Basically, she is a laughing fool selected for being a person of mixed race, and a woman. I understand that if Kamala Harris’s poll numbers are not good enough by the time of the Democratic Convention, the powers that be, [they] have already decided to substitute her with Mark Kelly, a Senator from Arizona. I really don’t know much about him, other than what is being published in the MSM. Only that he was an astronaut, he is married to a journalist who got shot somehow and severely wounded but did not die.

It is interesting that the Democratic Party claims Trump will destroy democracy, but Biden’s party have fought tooth and claw to keep Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from running legitimately, thereby interrupting the democratic process. The democrats kept Biden in office long after he should have been forced to step down, and now they’re going to let unelected appointed delegates (electors) determine who our next presidential nominee will be for the Democratic Party.

There is a broader concern about election integrity, with allegations that elections in general are rigged, which undermines public trust in the democratic process. This adds another layer of skepticism about the motivations and actions of political leaders and parties.

There is more than a perceived disconnect between Biden’s fitness to run for office and his ability to serve as president. This reflects broader concerns about political strategy, election integrity, and the functioning of democracy. It raises questions about the motivations and actions of political parties and leaders, and the extent to which they are transparent and accountable to the public.

America: Flagship of Democracy

The United States proclaims itself to be the Flagship of Democracy, rule of law and all things good. It is the Neocon ideology which has infected many, if not all, major western political parties to one extent or another via think tanks, NGOs, and lobbying (corruption) from the military industrial complex that dominates the west in general, and (the US in particular). The movement is responsible for the destruction of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and its adherents are well known for both their visceral hatred of Russia, and extreme blind love for Zionist Israel.

Both main parties are suffering from the same sickness, and it may be terminal. As is only too obvious now, the party has been manipulating circumstances to maintain power, and fool the voters, with the eventual plan of replacing VP Kamala Harris with another candidate before or during the Democratic National Convention, if her poll numbers and electability does not make the mark—and even if she was elected, early into her term.

America: Flagship of Democracy or Rusty Hull? 

Who cares about what worries most Americans amongst the major candidates, regarding scary stuff, I’ll tell you what scary stuff is:

-Open borders, no nation is secured with open borders.

-Endless wars. No good can come to a country that continually fuels endless wars.

-Endless inflation, no country can secure its place in the future when it is economically   doomed to failure.

-Taxing the poor and retirees with endless inflation.

-Diverting the attention of the public over the device of issues keeps us from focusing on the big picture.

-Road blocking good democracy. Blocking legitimate candidates from running to protect the status quo of a two-party system.

He was not declared unfit to run for President, but he was already the oldest one ever elected, and election strategy for the winning of the Presidency likely had a very large part in his decision to drop out of the race, but not resigns.

There is more than a perceived disconnect between Biden’s fitness to run for office and his ability to serve as president. Sometimes a burden, or illness, a restrictive element, is necessary to restrain a man from doing the wrong thing, but then the obstruction clears, and the right path has been chosen as a result.

The answer is: He is fit to run for president but won’t be fit enough at the end of next term. And this isn’t about his fitness so much as do we think he can beat Trump. Fitness doesn’t really matter because he signs bills and does press conferences. I’m quite sure an administration could function without the president. So, he quit because he can’t beat Trump, not because he doesn’t think he could hold office.

And timing right after Trump VP pick and the Republican National Convention shows Biden has a little cleverness left.

However, a little bit, but not enough because Harris is in charge of the US-Mexican border. Immigrants are the bad guys du jour this year. The Democrats walked right into that particular baseball bat.

Besides, it makes little difference, as we have seen the real president of the USA address a joint session of congress to rapturous applause and standing ovations…

Henry Kamens, columnist, expert on Central Asia and Caucasus, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”

https://journal-neo.su/2024/08/12/joe-biden-not-fit-2-run-for-president-but-fit-to-be-president/

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.