We welcome back Norman Solomon to KBOO and Wednesday Talk Radio, to talk about two crucial topics: first, whether or not Joe Biden should run again for President, or, as Solomon suggests, "step aside" in favor of a younger, more progressive candidate; and second, the subject of his book published last year, War Made Visible: How America Hides the Human Toll of its Military Machine.
Norman Solomon is the executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, and a cofounder of RootsAction.org.
From the website, Step Aside, Joe:
In 2024 our nation faces the dual imperatives of preventing a Republican takeover of the White House and advancing a truly progressive agenda. The stakes could not be higher. The threat of a neofascist GOP has become all too obvious. Bold and inspiring presidential leadership is essential to countering that threat.
Unfortunately, President Biden has been neither bold nor inspiring — including his abject failure to call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, while continuing to push for additional military weaponry to Israel. His decisions to promote LNG exports and oil drilling in the Arctic and in the Gulf of Mexico break 2020 campaign pledges. These moves and others have insulted and/or dampened enthusiasm of key Democratic Party constituencies, including young voters, racial justice advocates and climate activists.
Biden’s policies have failed to seriously address health care, corporate price-gouging, voting rights, skyrocketing college tuition, and bloated military spending that diverts funds away from pressing human and environmental needs.
The president’s prospects for winning re-election appear to be bleak, even in the face of GOP extremism. With so much at stake, anointing him as the Democratic Party’s 2024 standard-bearer would be a tragic mistake.
Biden triumphed over Donald Trump in 2020 with vital help from extraordinary grassroots efforts in swing states by progressive organizations (including RootsAction). But in 2024, Biden would be the candidate representing the status quo – not Trump – as polls show record-breaking majorities of voters believing our country is on “the wrong track.”
We call on President Biden to step aside. We want an open primary process in order to defeat the GOP, the top priority of those who care about democracy in our country.
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https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/07/biden-2024-reelection-age/674634/
https://truthout.org/articles/new-book-exposes-the-horror-of-the-uss-endless-invisible-wars/
https://progressive.org/latest/war-made-invisible-kelly-20230614/
- KBOO