Tim Barto: Times are interesting, and getting interestinger by the day

By TIM BARTO

The 2024 presidential election was already interesting but, let’s face it, it is now the most interesting of our lifetimes.

The incumbent, a mind-wandering geriatric who is arguably the worst president in American history –- scratch that; it’s not even arguable –- vs. a bombastic and twice-impeached former president who is arguably the most hated chief executive in history – scratch that, too; there is no president who has ever received the hate that Donald Trump has received.

We the public have witnessed the ravaging progression of dementia upon Joe Biden. Those of us who have endured the pain of watching our loved ones stumble down that path of confusion and deterioration have also cringed through three and a half years of seeing it happen to the most visible government official in the world; the suffering exacerbated by the hair-pulling frustration that comes with watching the Democrat party ignore, or more often blatantly lie with committee-researched-and-approved phrases about the president being “focused and on point.”  

The public has also seen a legal assault on the former president, Donald Trump, by the incumbent and his political cronies, the likes of which are usually reserved for dictators wearing stern gazes or gawdy uniforms full of meaningless medals.

The use of political power to bring 88 felony charges against a political opponent because he is feared even more than he is hated, is an embarrassment for our legal system and a much bigger threat to democracy than the allegations that Trump himself is a threat to democracy. Again, the frustration factor in watching this happen is elevated by the complicity of the Democrat party and (just as with the dementia issue) a complicit mainstream media. 

A stumbling, bumbling Biden performance in the June debate was painful to watch, even for those of us rooting heartily against him, and it became too much for even the most ardent Biden (or more precisely, anti-Trump) sycophants to bear. A few brave Democrats, fearing a November election loss more than the damage a non-present commander-in-chief could do to our country, began declaring publicly that the emperor wears no clothes . . . an equally unpleasant and not unlikely scenario if not for Dr. Jill hovering over her husband like a mother watching her three-year-old child. 

Palace intrigue indeed. 

On July 13, a would-be-assassin took a shot at the president’s opponent and came within an inch of being a full-fledged-assassin, taking place two days before the challenger’s party convention. It was enough to bring over the Trump-hesitant Republicans, including former Trump primary opponent Nikki Haley.

Trump takes a bullet then stands up defiantly.

Biden takes almost as long ascending an airplane stairwell as some Secret Service agents take to holster their weapons.

One can expect energy and enthusiasm to emanate from a party convention –- at least when John McCain or Mitt Romney aren’t the banner carriers –- but when Gold Star Family members take the stage to shout the names and tell the stories of their loved ones who died in military operations and, in doing so, expose front and center Biden’s lie about being the only president to not have any troops die under his command, the president and media could no longer ignore the drumbeat.

The increasing tempo became a deafening roar when Rep. Nancy Pelosi, (no clear-minded spring chicken herself) let her private conversation with the president leak to the press. 

And now it looks like Kamala Harris, the most incoherent person to ever hold the office of vice president, is the Dems’ frontrunner despite approval ratings even lower than those of her boss. While Joe Biden mumbled his words due to dementia, Vice President Harris jumbles her words due to gross incompetence. If the Peter Principle needs a poster child, it needs look no further than the grand philosopher and her favorite, albeit meaningless, word salad, “What can be, unburdened by what has been.”

Nevertheless, a woman (despite being a word that’s difficult to define), and a woman “of color” to boot, is exactly the type of policy imperative the Left is seeking. Competence and coherence have no place when intersectionality reigns supreme. Donations that were withheld from Biden by millionaire Marxists will now flow into the collectivist coffers. 

Meanwhile, Trump’s running mate is a man who has pulled himself up out of poverty by the bootstraps (a concept the Left abhors) and served in the United States Marine Corps. No president or vice president has ever held the title of U.S. Marine, and it’s about time to change that.

Will the Dems stick by Harris? If so, who will be her running mate? If not, who will be on the ticket? Will their Chicago convention be a repeat of the chaos of 1968? Will non-partisans and moderates support either ticket? Is RFK Jr. now more of a viable choice for voters?

Lots of questions and only four months to go, folks. It’s getting interestinger and interestinger by the day.

Tim Barto is a regular contributor to Must Read Alaska, and is Vice President at Alaska Family Council.  During the Reagan Administration, he wore the uniform of a United States Marine.