Our Last Big Trip. Episode Three: Paris

Andrew drove us back to Rennes where we turned in the rental car and hopped on the train to Paris, a high-speed, comfortable ride of about two hours. Oh, have I mentioned that the newer, high speed trains in France put our feeble Amtrak trains to shame? But my intent is not to downgrade the U.S. I would not want to live anywhere else. I will not argue against the claim that despite our many flaws and challenges, the U.S. is the best our small and fragile planet has to offer as we tiptoe through the 21^st Century. But still. One of the main takeaways from all our traveling over the years is that there is much to praise, celebrate and, yes, to envy in comparing our country to other countries. And Paris perhaps stands alone as Exhibit A as the most intriguing and beautiful world capital in the world.

In carefully planning out the entire trip, Embry had reserved an Airbnb in a neighborhood near the Bastille Memorial and the Bastille Metro stop. A few days earlier she had been contacted by the owner informing her that since major construction was underway in their apartment building, the apartment was dark, gloomy, and during the day  subject to the sounds of a jackhammer. He gave us the option to cancel, but at the time we felt it was too late to make a change. We told him we would take our chances. While the owner’s warning was accurate, the apartment was plenty large and was located on the ground level, which made all the difference from what could have been a heavy lift dragging luggage up to a fifth or sixth-story apartment.  It worked out fine.

 Paris is always busy and charming, but the 2024 Paris Olympics transformed the bustling city into a Paris-on-steroids. Andrew said he read somewhere that most Parisians who could get out of town got out and had rented their homes to visitors like us and that the city now was a mix of sports enthusiasts from all over the world. Athletic events are being held not only all over the city but all over the country and beyond. Sailboat racing is happening on the Mediterranean and surfing competition is in Tahiti! But most events are happening in the city concentrated around the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysée, and in several large sports stadiums.

We spent one full week in Paris. This included for all six of us two official Olympic events—table tennis and beach volleyball–and two additional events for Andrew’s family, water polo and track and field. Everyone besides me also took a day trip to Versailles. We ate most breakfasts at the Airbnb and had two or three dinners with the whole family there as well, eating out for most lunches in bustling sidewalk cafes and brasseries. We all ate dinner out together at three restaurants—two French and one Japanese. All were fabulous and compared to U.S. prices were reasonable, with tipping strictly optional. The first afternoon Embry and I took a boat ride on the Siene, spent another afternoon visiting a terrific new museum on medieval art (“The Cluny”), and all six of us spent a lot of time strolling along the busy sidewalks, enjoying a coffee and a croissant at a café, and people watching. In other words, doing the Paris thing. And the entire time except for the deluge during the opening ceremony the weather was near perfect—sunny skies and low humidity with highs in the mid 80s. The Airbnb apartment where we stayed with our teenage grandson, Parker, was also in a fabulous neighborhood with all sorts of stores and restaurants, convenient to the Metro and only a 20-minute walk to the Ile de la Cite where the rest of Andrew’s family was staying. Other words, lucky choice.

The only downside was the handicapped-hostile Metro system with almost no elevators or escalators. And due to street closures to permit Olympic street events like cycling and road racing, the Metro was the only way to get around to Olympic events. Twice we admitted defeat and tried a taxi, but both times after roadblocks and vain searches for alternative routes, the driver gave up and directed us back to the nearest Metro station. I did not count the steps in every Metro station we entered but counted enough to conclude that the number per station averaged about 50 steps on two and sometimes three levels, and that is only for one way. Who goes down these treacherous steps has to go up again to exit.  For a hiking stick addict like me with a bad left knee and balance issues this presented a bit of a challenge. But it also provided a window into the soul of Parisians (and visitors to the games), who it turns out are kind people. Several people asked me if I needed help as I inched up or down the steep steps desperately clinging onto a handrail, slowing down foot traffic behind me. Without exception, someone—often several people—immediately would pop up out of their seats when I boarded a crowded train car. It reminded me of our experience in China train stations when young men grabbed our suitcases and charged up the steep stairs where we would find our bags waiting for us. I compare this with our DC Metro experience where often a surely teenager is sprawled out in a seat reserved for seniors and handicapped people, and the only way to get him to move is to threaten to strike him with a hiking stick.

And what about the 2024 Paris Olympics? If you watched the Paris Olympics on TV, you know how the games turned out and what these extraordinarily successful games were like. The United States exceeded most expectations, tying with China with 40 gold medals and first overall in total medals. And many of the games, like the basketball game were epic. Of course, watching French television (and later aboard a river boat), German television, the only games we saw the U.S. teams on television were when we played France or Germany or were playing for a medal.

The two events we attended in person were in jampacked stadiums with people from all over the world waving national flags and screaming and hollering even though most of us did not have a dog in the fight. Both events featured two contests, one for a men’s team and the other for a women’s team. The table tennis took place in a massive, indoor stadium and  featured two extraordinary players, a Chinese player ranked number one in the world versus a 17-year old French prodigy, who was the darling of spectators, who were mostly French. It turned out to be a close, three game match with the Chinese barely beating the French player. Later both players went on to win medals, a gold for China and a bronze for France. China also won the second table tennis match and went on to win gold for the women. Beach volleyball was held in a medium-sized outdoor stadium holding several thousand raucous fans and featuring China versus Switzerland for women and Germany versus Brazil for men. Both matches were close, with China and Germany winning. Even though most people were from other countries, everyone seemed to be caught up in the action, cheering wildly. We cheered for the French table tennis player and the German men, but I suppose like most of the people there, who won was less important than a good match. Few I guess were disappointed. We certainly weren’t. What also stood out about these games and the ones we watched on television was that after each match everyone shook hands and many often embraced their opponents. What is important for most athletes is participating. You are on the world stage and your goal is to do your best. If your team wins that is great, but since over 200 countries are participating, only a small percentage of athletes will win their events and an even smaller number will win medals. But for most athletes—and I suppose for most spectators– that is ok. Being there as part of this world event is what is important. The experience is magical and will last a lifetime. I know that it will for me.

I am checking this one off my bucket list. The Paris 2024 Olympics far exceeded my expectations.

Next installment: the riverboat cruise on the Soane and Rhone rivers.

 

 

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We were among the first to deplane in Paris a little after seven in the morning (about one in the morning EDT. Good luck on avoiding jet lag!) As we approached the entrance to the terminal, I saw a guy standing in the jetway behind a wheelchair and holding up a sign with my name on it. With delight I hopped in the chair, and he rushed me along with Embry scurrying to keep up. We whizzed past a long line of several hundred groggy passengers waiting to get through passport control and paused at the security station at the end where there was no line and the wheelchair escort handed our passports to the official, who stamped them and in we went to the baggage claim area. I looked at my watch. Less than ten minutes since we deplaned! Hey, I concluded, we have stumbled upon the Holy Grail of air travel. The only apparent qualification required is disability. Yet I do not believe we even had to show doctor’s orders. I could not help wondering how long it would take for perfectly able people to figure this out.

The wheelchair escort patiently waited with us for our bags to arrive, pulled them off the belt, and then rushed me and the bags to the taxi area with Embry in pursuit. I wasn’t even aware we were going to take a taxi to Orly where we would meet Andrew’s flight since we had plenty of time to take a bus; but before we had a chance to discuss it, our bags were in the trunk of the taxi, and I was sitting on the backseat with Embry. Off we went. The charge for the hour-long ride was something like 40 Euros. Well worth it.

We had four hours to kill before Andrew’s plane landed, which we spent mainly in an Orly airport café, sipping coffee, munching on croissants and people watching, which from prior experience I understood to be the number one recreational activity in France. Now I should point out that France is hardly a mystery to us. Embry lived in a Paris suburb for four months with a French family when she was twelve and attended French grammar school and another three months with the same family over the summer when she was sixteen. In the mid 1980s she also spent six weeks in Paris doing research for her PhD on the French health care system. Over the years she has remained especially close to her older “French sister,” Marielle, now in her late 80s, who lives in an apartment near Notre Dame, which is where Andrew, Karen and our granddaughter, Sadie, will be staying. Andrew also spent most of a summer with the same family when he was a teenager as did our daughter, Jessica. Marielle’s son spent one summer with us. Andrew studied in Paris for his junior year abroad. Everyone in the Howell family except me is fluent in French and we are all Francophiles.  So you might say we have a French connection. Part of the motivation behind Our Last Big Trip is nostalgia. Sadly, this will likely be the last time we visit France.

The takeaway for me waiting for Andrew’s plane to land was how diverse the people were in the airport. While this could be due in part to the Olympics, certainly France is now far more diverse than it was a dozen years ago. There were many people of color coming and going and lots of women wearing Muslim headscarves.

While the main purpose of the trip, of course, is to see some of the Paris 2024 Olympics, the plan was to come a few days early allowing us to visit Martine, who was the first wife of Embry’s older brother, Mike, (artist and poet who died last December at age 88). We are very close to her children, our niece and nephew, and still consider Martine part of our extended family. Martine is French; and while spending most of her teaching career in the United States, she retired to France about twenty years ago and now lives with her partner, Bernard, in Britany, the northwest part of France close to the British Chanel. Andrew had volunteered to be our driver and tour guide for the first four days, allowing us to reunite with our dear friend. At our advanced ages, it would have been a heavy lift to pull this off by ourselves. He rented a car at the airport and then drove us first to the famous tourist destination, Mt. Saint Michel, then to Rennes, a charming town of around 250,000 and about half way to Quimper where Martine lives.

The magical island of Mt. Saint Michel did not disappoint though it was quite crowded.( I intend to post some photos.) Neither did Rennes, a beautiful city with a medieval core where we spent two nights and one full day touring the old part of the town. The small, “garden hotel” (25 rooms max) where we stayed was quaint and well located but with no frills. The elevator could barely accommodate  three people, and the units were barely large enough to accommodate a double bed—but no complaints from us. We strolled along the cobblestone streets and ancient sidewalks, enjoyed what Andrew  described as likely to turn out to be the best meal of the trip—a six course, delicious extravaganza with paired wines, extraordinary service, and hardly any ambient noise—and stumbled upon a fabulous light show celebrating the Paris Olympics on our way back to the hotel.

What stands out most to me about the drive to Britany were the beauty of the countryside, the lack of any billboards or advertising on any of the major highways or back roads, and the two ancient villages we visited along the way. The first was completely by chance. We were curious as to what the villages were like that we had been seeing from a distance along the toll road to Britany, took an arbitrary exit and within a few minutes were sipping wine and having a delicious lunch in a café on a small, cobblestoned courtyard facing a church that looked to us like a relic from the Middle Ages. The second excursion Andrew had chosen from his research because it included a restored castle and elegant gardens. We were one of only a handful of visitors roaming through the ground level rooms and corridors of the giant Gothic structure with portraits of former owners, armor, and medieval furniture and situated along a winding, small river. Then off again to Quimper with a brief stop along the way for lunch at a beachfront café facing the Atlantic Ocean. We reunited with Martine and Bernard around dinner time and fully enjoyed our time with them, although way too short with only two nights and a full day.

So what is it about France that makes it such a magical and alluring country, which the Howell family  has returned to again and again over the years? The country is far from perfect and has had its ups and downs—the excesses of the Catholic Church and the aristocracy beginning in the Middle Ages, the bloody French Revolution, Napolean, the class (and racial) divisions that persist, and the sellout to the Nazis in World War II. The country has had its share of cultural snobs. Graffiti persists here as it does in the U.S. and so many countries. Yet it is hard not to make comparisons with French sensibilities and our way of life in the U.S.  Start with the French countryside. Drop dead gorgeous.  All of it. No billboards or advertising along the major toll roads or the winding country roads, no signs of abject, rural poverty which are prevalent in so many other countries and in locations in the U.S. Where are the mobile homes and the shacks in disrepair? Where are the abandoned junk cars, the fast food joints, and big box stores sucking the life out of the village centers? (McDonalds, Burger King and Starbucks are now in France  but not so much in the villages.) Where are the sprawling subdivisions, the regional malls, the vast parking lots and the giant warehouses? As one with a master’s degree in urban planning, I can’t help mourning what I would call lost opportunities in the U.S. In a word, France puts us to shame.

Now,  to the Paris and the 2024 Olympics….

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The next several blog posts will be about our three-week adventure in Europe, what I am calling our “last big trip.” Well, you can’t blame me for putting my foot down. If you have been following the blog, you know that the last several experiences in getting to our destination have been stressful. In 2021 following Christmas our flight to the BVIs for the “Last Hurrah” bareboat charter with our children and grandchildren was cancelled forcing us to fly on a tiny plane carrying only four other passengers to land on the island of Virgin Gorda, not on Tortola where the main airport is.   In a blinding rainstorm, we finally made a bumpy landing on a dirt road masquerading as a runway–the last try before the pilot had to return to San Juan. The rest of the family made it to Tortola, got checked out for the charter, and sailed the boat in rough seas to Virgin Gorda where they picked us up for a fabulous Christmas week cruise. The last three trips have also been stressful. I have failed to make it through security without extreme difficulty on each one—to Costa Rica (passport was due to expire), Puerto Rica (eye identification failure), and Charlotte, NC, (gun shown on security cameras to be hidden in groin area). Each time it was touch and go if we would get to the gate before the doors closed, but we made it by a hair. That is why I announced a few months ago to Embry that I was finished. Done. Flying days over. Too old to go through these unpleasantries again.

“You can’t quit now,” she replied. “Remember that in late July we are going to the Olympics in Paris with Andrew’s family….”

 I begrudgingly conceded.

Now it is not like we have never traveled and are not used to stress. It is part of the experience. Embry reminded me that between us we have visited or lived in (for short periods) over 50 different countries, including many in Africa and Asia. While we both love to travel, I give Embry full credit for organizing our trips.  Mostly we have avoided group tours. The highlight some readers may recall was our 2015 four-month journey around the world without flying. But we are older now.  I am now almost halfway through my 83^rd year.  Embry is four years younger. All good things eventually come to an end.

And on this trip we would mostly be on our own again. The plan was to fly business class to Paris where we would meet our son, Andrew, who had volunteered to be our tour guide and driver for the first leg and was flying from Newark.  We would  rent a car at the airport and drive about 100 miles to Rennes for two nights and then another 100 miles to Quimper in Brittany where we would spend two nights with our dear friend and (former) sister-in-law, Martine, and her partner,Bernard, and then drive back to Rennes, leave our car and take the train back to Paris where Embry had  reserved an Air B&B near the Bastille in Paris where we would meet up with the rest of Andrew’s family. We would join them for several of the Paris 2014 Olympic events and then after ten days in Paris take the train to Lyon where  Embry had booked a river cruise down the Soane, part of a German speaking group tour. Since neither of us speaks German, it sounded to me a bit odd, but I have learned not to second guess Embry. I am sure it will be fine since I have never met a German who did not speak at least some English. But still. Many moving parts and opportunities for mishaps.

And for us the first leg of our journeys recently have been the most challenging. So off we headed for Dulles to catch a United Flight to Paris on Sunday, July 28. I was bracing for the worst. The amount of time it usually takes to get from the ticket and bag check area to our departure gate at Dulles is no less than 45 minutes and involves a walk of over a mile. At times it has taken hours. That is why for this trip we arrived with over two hours to spare. This would be our first major hurdle. I could not help wondering what would go wrong this time.

When we got out of our Uber car and entered  into the United Airlines section, it was the usual chaos with long lines everywhere, troubled parents with screaming children, confused passengers with flights cancelled, people desperately charging toward the mile-long security lines. I noted that we still had plenty of time to make it to the gate but there was the lingering fear of what offense they were going to charge me with this time.

Surprise Number One. The total time required to get from the United international desk and baggage check to the gate was under twenty minutes!

How did we do it? Exhausted from our last three airport episodes,  Embry surprised me this time  by reserving a wheelchair for me. It was not like she was cheating. Due to my balance issues and nagging pain in my left knee, I now get by with the help of a hiking/walking stick, but I inch along. So a wheelchair made sense, and technically speaking I am handicapped.  But the main reason was that a friend told Embry that nowadays the only way to navigate through security and boarding without extreme hardship is to reserve a wheelchair. A wheelchair escort cheerfully welcomed us, checked me in with no hassle, and with Embry following us rushed us past the long security line to a special line for wheelchairs where no one was waiting and clearing security was no problem, and then off to the races toward the gate. Since we were early, he pushed me along to the United Club waiting area, patted me on the back and then cheerfully departed with the wheelchair—along with my carryon bag, which he had placed below the seat. Realizing what had happened, Embry charged off and caught up with him just before he entered the United transit bus gate back to the main terminal. Disaster averted. Close call number one.

At the gate an attendant pushed my wheelchair to the front of the line where we were the first to board. While far from perfect, business class is surely easier than coach, and the flight to Paris was without incident.

But what wil happen next? The first leg of this adventure in my thinking could be the most challenging. We had to get ourselves from Charles de Gaul Airport to Orly where we would meet Andrew’s flight several hours later, then rent a car and drive to Rennes, several hours away. Lots of opportunities for incidents….

Stay tuned.

 

 

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In her blog post on July 23, 2024, Heather Cox Richardson reported on the comments of an Ohio state senator following the stump speech by J.D. Vance after the Republican convention:

Media outlets gave more attention to the Ohio state senator who preceded Vance, George Lang, who began a chant of “fight, fight, fight” and told the audience: “I believe wholeheartedly Donald Trump and Butler County’s JD Vance are the last chance to save our country politically. I’m afraid if we lose this one, it’s going to take a civil war to save the country, and it will be saved.” 

While the senator apologized later for the civil war threat, does anyone think that Trump and his MAGA followers will quietly accept the results of the 2024 presidential election if Trump loses? Trump has already stated that he will accept the results only if he agrees with the outcome. Vance is echoing Trump’s remarks that the last election was stolen by the Democrats and that this will never be allowed to happen again. Even today after all the lawsuits regarding the 2020 election have failed to prove that the 2020 election was fraudulent, the percentage of Republicans who answer polls that it was stolen remains over 60 percent.

Good heavens! A strong majority of Republicans still believe this lie? How can this be? What are they smoking?

And civil war? Really? And a state senator said this?

We can’t let the threats from Trump discourage us. For the first time in at least a year, I am starting to feel better about the prospects of beating Donald Trump. With Kamala heading up the ticket, I believe we will win. Trump is now showing as many signs of aging and incoherency as Biden. Vance is not going to help with the undecided, the women voters, and the independents, who will ultimately determine who wins. 

But make no mistake: It is going to be brutal. Trump and Vance will pull every nasty trick out of their bag that they can including dog whistling aimed to put doubts that any woman of color is fit to run for the highest office. The attacks will be painful, personal, and unrelenting.

I also believe that they will try to play the dirty tricks that they have falsely been accusing the Democrats of and have probably already begun planning how to challenge the results if Trump loses. Consider this a Custer’s-Last-Stand moment for Trump and his MAGA fanatics.

Senator Lang’s threats are especially troubling. What happens if he is right? What happens if the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers try again but with a stronger force than in 2021? And this time, the insurrectionists have had more time to plan and organize. This is certainly an early warning signal that the election of 2024 may not be over when the vote counting concludes.  

So put on your combat armor and prepare for a brutal fight. But do not despair. Our country will come through this anticipated dark night of the soul and be stronger for it–and with hopes for a gentler, kinder, fairer, and more inclusive nation.   

 

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Before you pop the champagne, keep in mind that the presidential election is still likely to be a cliffhanger. But still, we can now breathe a little easier. At least now we have a fighting chance.

First a word about Biden. He is getting much deserved praise from all corners of the Democratic Party. He has been one of the most effective American presidents in terms of legislation and perhaps the most effective one-term president ever.  He deserves the praise. His legacy is intact, and historians will be kind. He should have announced his decision to pass the torch about 18 months ago (as he said he would do when running in 2020 and as I had advised him to do), allowing a contested primary to happen showcasing the stars of the next generation, but better late then never. And it turns out that having the announcement follow the Republican convention was great timing. It has thrown the Republican Party into turmoil.

So, what’s next? I have been glued to the news channels starting around three on Sunday and most of Monday. (Ok, I fess up, mainly MSNBC). The consensus is that Kamala Harris will be the official Democratic presidential candidate. I am fine with that. She will destroy Trump if there is a debate. I believe she will be a strong candidate, will win, and be a good president. But that does not mean that she will have an easy time or that there will not be more surprises or nail biting moments. There is disagreement as I write this post as to whether an abbreviated, contested mini primary followed by an open convention would help or hurt. Some argue that it would toughen her up, hone her skills for communicating, and help her reach out to undecided voters. Others say that with the endorsements she already has—now including a strong one from Nancy Pelosi– and no one (now) willing to challenge her, she will win anyway, so why open up the possibility of a messy conflict within the Democratic Party? What we Democrats desperately need is unity.

And whom might she choose for a vice presidential candidate? Many are suggesting a tough white guy from a battleground state—like Senator Mark Kelly from Arizona or Governor Roy Cooper from North Carolina–or maybe Governor Andy Beshear from Kentucky, who has been able to triumph in a solid red state. All three look good to me, but there are many more strong possibilities—men and women– waiting in the wings.  Pennsylvania Governor, Josh Shapiro’s name seems to be coming up a lot. 

So buckle up. Here we go again. I do not need to remind anyone how high the stakes are or what would happen if Trump and Vance were to get elected. God help us.

Speaking of God, Trump asserts that it was God Almighty who directed him to turn away at the split microsecond that the bullet would have pierced his scull. Many of his hard core MAGA followers believe the same thing, some even believing that Trump is divine. Biden on the other hand stated publicly that only if God Almighty directed him to bow out would he withdraw from the race. Since Biden withdrew, presumably God weighed in.

Hmmm.

 

 

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We find ourselves at a moment that will be in the history books for years to come. At his Pennsylvania rally on Sunday, Trump miraculously turned to the right as a sniper bullet whizzed past only nicking his ear. Many in his evangelical base swear this was an act of God and proof that God has chosen Trump to carry out God’s mission presumably “to make America great again.” Some followers go even farther proclaiming that this miraculous event shows that Trump is God’s special prophet, maybe like the Old Testament prophets or even Jesus. Meanwhile he has chosen JD Vance, a MAGA hardliner and a 2020 election denier, as his Vice President presumably to seal the deal with Trump’s white working class base. We don’t know yet whether Trump’s near death experience will nudge Trump more  toward the middle, soften his rough edges, or accelerate his fascist tendencies. But what we do know is the Republican Party is now unified as the Party of Trump and any similarities with the past GOP are left smoldering in the ashes.

What is in some ways just as frightening is what is happening to the Democrats. All the polls show now that Trump is ahead in the battleground states. For Biden to win he needs every Democratic vote he can get and every independent vote. He must carry most of the battleground states and hold the “Blue Wall.” Yet the party is now split about Biden’s candidacy. Unless the Democrats can come together around a unity candidate, the chances of beating Trump are at best slim and probably nil. The issue, of course, is whether Biden, who will turn 82 before the year is out, has the energy and acumen to carry the torch. Even as more elected officials and Democrat leaders are now urging Biden to pass the torch to a candidate who is younger and has more charisma, Biden is hunkering down, vowing he will never step down. He believes that he is the comeback kid who has proved in the past that he can win against all odds and will win again even if all the indicators now show otherwise. And he does not appear to understand the stakes.  He answered one of the questions by ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in his prime time television interview that he will have no reservations or misgivings even if he loses to Trump if he can honestly say that he gave the campaign his best shot. No, Joe, wrong answer.

Biden is putting his ego and desire to stay in power above what is best for the nation. This is selfish and frankly unforgivable.

As matters now stand, it is hard to see how this movie is going to have a happy ending.

The main problem that I and many others have with Biden—who without doubt has been a good first term president—is that too often his communication skills have deteriorated to the point of not making sense. He slurs his words, speaks with hesitation, loses track of his thoughts and is painful to watch. While this was most pronounced during the disastrous debate, it now happens a lot of the time. I watched most of the NBC Lester Holt interview and snippets from the NAACP speech. The speech challenges and gaffs continue, maybe are even getting worse. This should disqualify anyone running for President of the United States. Nothing is more important than being able to communicate to the American people and to the world. Communication skills are critical in a leader. Sadly, Joe Biden has lost those skills. That is not necessarily his fault but rather one of aging’s cruel surprises. Now close to 75 percent of Democrats believe Biden is too old to run. People understand this. He is too old. More and more people are concluding that the emperor has no clothes (or in this case. no voice).

In a previous post, I suggested a come-to-Jesus meeting with the brain trust of the party. Yes, making a switch now is messy and not without risk but it is the only way that we stand a chance of beating Trump. It must happen and must happen very soon. There is no other viable option.

 

 

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Well, there is nothing like an assassination or an attempted one that will get the attention of the American public. The question is what’s next. While there are many scenarios, let’s look at two which could be said to represent each end of a continuum— hope and despair.

Hope

After an exhaustive investigation, it turns out that the assassin had no obvious political motivation, was in fact a loyal Republican, and acted for personal reasons, mostly mysterious but probably related to mental illness and wanting attention. The attention of the nation turns more to gun control, addressing depression and mental illness, and keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous or disturbed people. Trump has his own come-to-Jesus moment, moderates his position on controversial issues, rejects the 2025 Heritage Foundation playbook, and moves more to the center. This could spell bad news for Democrats; but in moving more to the center, Trump loses a portion of his MAGA base, who now feel abandoned and deceived, and the election prospects remain in a virtual tie.  The Democrats come together and stick with Biden, who becomes the easiest choice given the divisions in the Democratic Party and the uncertainty of how to beat Trump-the-Martyr.

Biden reaches out to Trump, and the two for the first time are on speaking terms. Having Biden on the ticket, of course, is not such good news from my perspective for all the reasons in my last post, but that a new civility is happening is a good thing. For the first time the public has some breathing room as Trump says he is backing away from most of the 2025 radical initiatives. There is one more debate, which turns out to be more civil, focusing on policy issues. Biden does a much better job, and the two shake hands and two months later go into election night, hoping for a victory but realizing that should the voters choose the opponent, the country is not headed toward an existential crisis. Both candidates agree to accept the results. Moderation prevails as the two candidates morph into center left and center right candidates, remain on speaking terms. and advocate for what each considers best policies for the country. MAGAs sit on the sidelines and pout. Biden wins by a small margin. Think Obama versus McCain in 2008 or Obama versus Romney in 2012. Happy ending. The country breathes a long sigh of relief.

I know that some will argue that anyone who holds such a Pollyannish view should see a mental health professional immediately.

Despair

Trump, now Trump-the-Martyr, initially backs off from some of  the most extreme 2025 playbook initiatives but realizes he risks losing his MAGA base and finds moderation temperamentally impossible. He turns up the heat, accusing Biden of personally directing the attempted assassination. The internet is jammed with posts from supporters who claim to have definitive proof that Biden was behind the assassination attempt. The only reason that they do not demand that Biden step aside immediately is that they believe Biden will be the easiest to defeat. In order not to offend battleground state voters, Democrats pull the negative, most damning ads against Trump and are not able to come up with a replacement candidate for Biden that the various camps can agree on. The second debate is more one sided than the first. Yet by this time it is too late for the Democrats to make a change. Trump warns that he will never accept election results unless he wins. MAGAs go crazy and become even more openly hostile to Democrats, whom they refer to as “Commie Thugs.” Trump vigilante militias form to stand by along with the Proud Boys and Oath keepers in case the results are close, which they are not. Trump wins by a landslide ushering in an era of mass deportations, vigilante justice, the victory of Russia over Ukraine, and the breakup of NATO and the world order. Democracy dies in the United States. Far left groups start to form to fight the Trump regime, and the country finds itself on the verge of full scale civil war.

These two scenarios represent the extremes. We will likely end up with something in between but what? These are the times we find ourselves in on July 16, 2024. Buckle your seatbelts. It looks like it is going to be a rough ride.

What do you think? What should we Dems do about the Biden replacement question? How can we  defeat Trump?

 

 

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The dilemma facing the Democrats is what to do next. With a candidate who is popular with  voters, we would have a good chance of beating Trump, who if he is reelected has promised to turn our fragile democracy upside down, taking the world order with it. The stakes have never been higher. Most people I know acknowledge this. Yet Joe Biden is not that candidate. He is unpopular, not because he has been a terrible president or hasn’t accomplished significant victories for the American people, but because of his age and perceived frailty. I get that. I am eight months older than Biden. I do not know anyone who is in their early 80s  or close to it, who thinks that octogenarians have any business in taking on what is one of the most demanding jobs in the world, if not the most demanding. For a while it looked like Biden might get a pass, and then came the devastating debate followed by the much anticipated press conference, which though not catastrophic did little to boost Biden’s image or confidence that he is playing with a full deck.

What are the Democrats to do?

It is time for the smoke-filled room.

Now I know few smoke nowadays and there is no such thing as a smoke-filled room like there used to be when party bosses would assemble from all over the country prior to their party’s convention. Smoking cigars and sipping Jack Daniels whisky, these men—yes, they were all men– were the party’s movers and shakers who would slug it out behind closed doors prior to the convention and narrow the list of contenders to a few who presumably could win in a general election. This was before the reforms of the late 60s, which ushered in a competitive primary system, which mostly has worked—until now. Biden won the primaries essentially unopposed. But this was before the debate, which unveiled one of the administration’s best kept secrets that Biden is aging quickly and no longer sharp. He slurs his words, gets confused, and is unsteady on his feet. Hey, I understand that. I have some of the same challenges. This is just the way it works on the Planet Earth with us Homo sapiens as we age. If Biden is struggling now, what will he be like in two or three years?

What is most distressing is that Biden refuses to listen or see the writing on the wall. He has said many times that he will never withdraw his name to allow for an open convention. He blames the party’s elite who he believes are giving him a hard time for no reason, the skeptical press, and the big doners, and believes that all the polls are wrong. When knocked down Biden says he gets back up and fights harder and wins. This is his life story. His family is urging him to fight on despite the odds. So are his closest advisors. But they all have skin in the game and will lose their jobs if he pulls out.

Shame on them!

So my message to the President is this: Sorry, Joe, even though your opponent is just as confused and even more incoherent than you are—and almost as old– all the polls show he is ahead in key battleground states and that your age is a huge stumbling block. Plus, the whole world was watching the debate.  We all witnessed your demise with our own eyes. You had your chance to turn the tide and you failed.  Game over.

So back to the smoke-filled room. What needs to happen is for the brain trust of the Democratic Party and the Democrat fat cats to break out the whisky, light the cigars and sit you down behind the wood shed for a come-to-Jesus moment. This should include Obama, Pelosi, Schumer, Jeffries, a trusted pollster, one of the fat cats, and maybe one of your trusted media friends like Joe Scarborough. This needs to happen now, like early in the next week at the latest. The longer it takes, the more difficult it will be to figure out an orderly process which allows the stars in the next generation their opportunity to compete for the most demanding and important job on the world stage. If you do this, you will secure your legacy as one of the best, single term presidents in our history and be loved and admired for putting away your pride and ambition for what is best for your party and your country. If you don’t pull out, however, your legacy will be facilitating a takeover by a wannabe fascist dictator.

 

 

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Note to Reader: For those who are not familiar with “Faux News: All the Fake News That Is Fit To Print,” this news source was very active in my blog postings during the Trump presidency. Due to the high stakes of the upcoming election, I have returned to it out of desperation.

What distinguishes Faux News (properly pronounced “Fox News”)  from other reliable sources of news coverage like PBS, CNN, The Washington Post and The New York Times, is that at Faux News we have informants disguised as messengers, janitors, stenographers, and technicians who work in the White House and can eavesdrop on top level, highly confidential conversations in the Oval Office. This is the latest post from one of the fictitious White House informants, a janitor, who overheard and secretly recorded this conversation verbatim following the ABC interview. Enjoy.

 

A group of high level Biden advisors are gathered in the Oval Office with Biden to discuss campaign strategy moving forward, following the ABC interview.

Advisor 1: Mister President. Bad news to report. Your approval among likely voters remains very low; and if the election were held today, it is likely that you would lose to the fascist Trump by a landslide. While we think you did a good job on the ABC News interview last night, you may not have convinced very many people that you are actually much younger than you look, that you are vigorous, intellectually sharp, and are at  the top of your game.

Biden: But I have been a great president. All the Democrats say that. Why are they turning against me? I am not all that old. I am as sharp as ever.

Advisor 2: Well, you come across as being too old and it appears nothing will change people’s minds at this point.

Biden: Well, I am not stepping down and never will. Jill supports me on this. So does my family.

Advisor 1: Great news, Mister President. You don’t have to. We have a solution.

Biden: Really? I am all ears. 

Advisor 1. You pull out your revolver, shoot Trump at close range, and kill him during the second debate. It would be spectacular! It would make headlines all over the world, and there is not a damn thing anyone can do about it if it is an official act. The Supreme Court now grants total immunity to the President of the United States for all official acts while in office.

Biden: But I am not all that good with a gun. My hands shake, my vision is not the best, and I might miss him and hit one of the commentators. Plus, it is against my religion. The Bible says “Thou shalt not kill.”

Advisor 2. We understand that you might have some reservations, Mister President, and have a suggestion which we believe may be more to your liking. If you do not feel up to the task, we recommend that you order the military to do it. There are many options like the Navy Seals or the Army Green Berets or one of our military spies.  However, to get the most publicity and coverage, we recommend that the action happen in the middle of the next debate. Just think how dramatic this will be. It will be the talk of the town. And don’t worry. We are convinced that the Seals or whomever you choose can get the job done.

Biden: Interesting idea. Who came up with it?

Advisor 1: I did. Our intelligence agents spying on the Trump campaign report that if Trump wins, he will imprison you and probably have your cabinet, Lynn Chaney and all those involved in the House impeachment hearings arrested and executed. Pelosi and Schumer too. It is either you or Trump. He is bragging that if reelected he can do this or anything he pleases because once he is reelected, he will have lifetime immunity for anything he does that is an official act, thanks to the Supreme Court. But he forgot one thing. He has not been reelected yet. You are the sitting president, not him! So you beat Trump to the punch. The Bible I think also says something like “do unto others as they do unto you.” This should not go against your religion. So, Mister President, order the Seals to neutralize the bastard before he neutralizes you. You are the only one now with total lifetime immunity. If you don’t do this now, you will be a cooked goose once Trump gets into office. He will probably order your demise on Day One, maybe even announce this during his inauguration speech.

Biden: Geeze. Never thought about this.

Advisor 2: Mister President, you really don’t have a choice. You would be saving our country from a fascist dictator, who will take our country and our world down the tubes. This would be a heroic act. Besides making the evening news, it might even end up in the history books.

Biden:  Are you sure this would be an official act?

Advisor 1: We have researched this with the greatest legal minds and constitutional scholars in the country, who all agree that if done properly, it will be an official act. Remember that you have taken an oath to protect the Constitution. If Trump wins, he will trash the Constitution, and democracy in the U.S. will cease to exist. So, what you need to do is to tell the American people after Trump’s body is dragged off the stage not to worry. You ordered this as an official act and give them your reasons for doing this. If you would prefer that the neutralization not happen during the debate, the neutralization could happen before or after (though if Trump was neutralized before the debate, obviously there would not be a debate.). If you do not choose to wipe out the Orange Fascist during the debate, your address to the nation should occur at the exact time that your order is being carried out. Just think of the drama! You will get lots of television coverage and social media postings. Remember–you are doing this to protect the Constitution and to assure that democracy will be saved. This is an official act! Be sure you mention that in your address—that you have ordered the military to neutralize Donald J Trump because of his existential threat to our country, the Constitution, and the world.

(long pause)

Biden: Will a teleprompter be available?

 

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