Democrats: more Batman, less Bruce Wayne

There are two things that Democrats keep doing lately which are not helpful to President Joe Biden or the Democratic Party’s chances in the 2024 elections. Both of them have to do with conceding too much to Republicans. First, we see a lot of variations of “Biden is old, but Trump is ______” (crazy, a Nazi, a felon, etc.) from Democrats. While the descriptions of Trump are true, the part that often gets left out is that Donald Trump is also old. He’s nearly the same age as Biden. Moreover, Trump has displayed more signs of physical and cognitive impairment than Biden, from struggling with ramps and water bottles, to forgetting family members’ and opponents’ names, and others. Therefore, the “Biden is old but Trump …” statements are too weak.

Second, we see Democrats repeating mainstream “news” media memes that, we should all know by now, skew Republican. An example of this has occurred this week. The stock markets are hitting new records, in large part because inflation has been tamed on President Biden’s watch, and the business and banking communities are expecting the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates sooner than later as a result. However, a number of financial news articles, such as this one from Reuters on Tuesday have added a third reason:

increasing expectations of a second Trump presidency in the wake of a failed assassination attempt raised hopes of a looser regulatory environment.

That is a crazy premise for a news report. While plenty of folks across the political spectrum wish Trump a speedy recovery, why would a failed assassination attempt “increas[e] expectations of a second Trump presidency”? On the contrary, according to Newsweek, “Donald Trump Does Not Get Post-Shooting Poll Boost.” Indeed, after a two-week media frenzy, President Biden is going into November’s election in an even stronger position, weathering the storm against him and now more likely to win than Trump, according to fivethirtyeight.com. Biden, not Trump, is therefore the Comeback Kid at the moment, and Democrats should never concede that Trump has a better chance to win, especially for the sole reason of being shot at.

Howard Stern, woke this week

Usually, blunt and crude radio personalities like Howard Stern are not great Democratic role models. That’s because they will often make “edgy” remarks about women, minorities or cultural issues to get a laugh, a reaction and/or higher ratings. This week, however, Stern made comments — not once, but twice — that would cause a Democrat to blush with pride.

First, on his SiriusXM satellite radio show this past Monday, Stern went off on Republicans’ pathological use of the term “woke” as a criticism of Democratic values.:

I kind of take that as a compliment, that I’m ‘woke.’ … To me, the opposite of ‘woke’ is being asleep…. And if ‘woke’ means I can’t get behind [Donald Trump], which is what I think it means, or that I support people who want to be transgender, or I’m for the vaccine — dude, call me ‘woke’ as you f‑‑‑ing want.

As to the Trump supporters who most often use the “woke” term against Democrats, Stern said:

I want to read legitimate news sources. Here’s how ‘woke’ I am: I believe the election was not rigged.

Continuing on the subject of the latest updated COVID vaccine (which many Republicans criticize as “woke,”), Stern added that he recently received it:

I’m not for stupidity…. F‑‑‑in’ science. This f‑‑‑ing country is so great…. I am ‘woke,’ motherf‑‑‑er. And I love it.

As if this weren’t enough to endear Stern to Democrats and rational Independents, on Monday he also attacked MAGA Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert for her recent tawdry behavior, which included vaping, groping with her date, taking selfies, etc. in a crowded Denver theater, all of which got the pair kicked out. Responding to a caller who brought up the topic, Stern said:

Lauren Boebert is a disgrace to this country! Forget the politics. She’s in a ti–y dress. She’s with some dude. Looks like she’s obviously vaping, but also looks like she might be grabbing his p—s during ‘Beetlejuice.’

Stern also reportedly “ripped [Boebert] for being a liar after she initially denied that she vaped during the musical.” According to Stern:

I don’t know what’s going on in Colorado. What are they — just got dumb people in Colorado. How do you elect someone like her? …. I mean, how did she win an election? How does a woman like that win an election? You know, there’s certain standards. Once you get caught lying like that, goodbye!

While we would likely choose different language, on this occasion at least, Howard Stern demonstrated to Democrats how to go on offense against the Republicans. For this, he deserves our applause and our attention.

Photo by Bill Norton, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/sRfPnu