By Feroze Mithiborwala
The reality is that the Obama-Biden regime started more wars that even Bush Jr. Obama initiated wars in Libya, Syria & Yemen & carried on with the Occupation of Iraq & Afghanistan. Obama has dropped more bombs & undertaken more drone attacks than Bush Jr.
He also targeted both Venezuela & Bolivia with sanctions & carried on with the Corporate stranglehold over Haiti.
Obama though broke new ground on both Cuba & Iran, both of which Trump reversed. Here we could witness Biden going back to the Obama era, as will he on both healthcare & climate change.
On Palestine, Trump has created a disaster by recognising & gifting (which is not his to gift) Jerusalem to Netanyahu, which was again followed by gifting all of the West Bank, as well as the Syrian Golan Heights. The fact is that as always, the Judeo-Zionist lobby fund both the sides and here Sheldon Adelson emerged as his largest funder. That along with the Jared Kushner-Netanyahu-Salman triad, have created an alliance of the Judeo-Christian-Islamic extreme rightwing, supposedly termed as the Abrahaham accord. A travesty of justice, of every moral value!
Do note that Joe Biden himself is a self-declared and an avowed Christian Zionist & a proud one at that. Kamala Harris too is beholden to the Zionist lobby, so no leeway there either.
Here as is well known, both the Democratic & the Republican establishment are aligned to the US Deep State in their foreign interventionist policies. This was in fact challenged by Trump, who was openly attacking his own FBI, CIA to the Pentagon.
It was Pompeo, the US Sec. of State, who represented the War lobby, the US Deep State man in the Trump junta.
Trump really did improve the US economy and bring back manufacturing & jobs. If not for Covid19, Trump was a sure winner in 2020.
Trump miserably fell short on the Racial question and the fact that he never categorically condemned White Supremacism led to his downfall. Trump was highly insensitive during the entire Black Lives Matter movement and that was the time for a President to reach out and heal, but he decided to play the tough-guy-law-&-order-card, instead of addressing the systemic violence & discrimination that African Americans have to face on a daily basis.
Though do note that it was the Latino vote that led to his victory in Florida (Cuban & Venezuelan immigrants), whilst the same Latino vote led to his defeat in Arizona (Mexican, Central & South American).
The African American vote share actually grew for Trump, as the Democrats are known to have paid lip service to the African American community, taking their vote for granted.
Undoubtedly Trumpism strengthened the White Christian majoritarian tendencies & polarised US society vertically.
The real backbone of the extraordinary hardwork done by grassroot Democratic activists came from African-American women & young activists who went door to door to ensure the high voting percentages.
The Kamala Harris factor, her African-Indian heritage also helped to enthuse & mobilise the black & brown voters.
Biden also managed to break into the white working class vote this time, especially in the states of Michigan, Wisconsin & Pennsylvania, all of which flipped Blue this time around.
Most remarkably, unlike Modi, for the last 4 years, the overwhelming sections of the US media carried on with their anti-Trump reportage and they were relentless. Trump addresses press conferences, deals with difficult questions, gets insulted as well – unlike Modi. Can’t imagine this in the India of our times.
This was essentially a Referendum on Trumpism & he lost, but yet with record voting figures, both for Trump and the anti-Trump vote.
Feroze Mithiborwala is a social activist
