Presidential Kabuki Debates
Don and Joe Audition for the Lead Role in America's Democracy Movie
They called that a debate?
The classic American "political debate" was the series of seven joint appearances in 1858 between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. Lincoln and Douglas were contesting the position of U.S. Senator from Illinois. The format was simple: Candidate A talked for one hour, followed by a 90 minute reply by Candidate B. Candidate A then concluded with a half hour rebuttal.
There were no commercials. Both speakers were articulate. Lincoln and Douglas disagreed without loss of decorum, without argumentum ad hominem, and without vituperation.
Lincoln and Douglas alternated who spoke first. They crisscrossed the state of Illinois and delivered their speeches in public before thousands of attentive voters, spectators and the press.
Lincoln and Douglas debated the past and the future of the United States - it's core ideological, moral and economic raison d'être. At issue was whether the nation would be free or slave, whether small stake holders or wealthy plantation owners would predominate, and whether oligarchy would overwhelm democracy.
It was a serious, existential discussion of the sort we, too, should have.
The incumbent, Stephen Douglas, ultimately won that senatorial election. But the intelligence of Lincoln's words and the thoughtfulness of his arguments propelled him to win the fractured four-way presidential election of 1860... by a mere 39.8% plurality vote (no slaves, women or First Americans participating, of course). Lincoln's election, in turn, propelled the U.S. into the Civil War.
You can read the actual speeches of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates here.
The first 2024 CNN live-cast of Joe Biden and Donald Trump was not in the same league as the Lincoln-Douglas Debates. The CNN broadcast looked and sounded more like TV wrestling in suits. It was, essentially, a private affair choreographed by the two major political parties with no third party candidates (like Robert F. Kennedy) permitted in the door. Contrasted with the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, the Biden-Trump "debate" had no live audience and no applause (or booing or hissing!).
Significantly, there also was no laugh track as there should have been.
Compared to something as momentous as the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, the Don and Joe show was Kabuki theater. It consisted mainly of finger-pointing, mugging and exaggerated posturing for the camera.
These two guys spent the better part of their "debate" time glowering, sneering and lambasting each other. Joe Biden came across as a mean and senile old codger, because, honestly speaking, he is a mean and senile old codger. Donald Trump came across as a mean and narcissistic old codger because, honestly speaking, he is a mean and narcissistic old codger. It could have been funny... except that it wasn't.
The League of Women Voters, founded in 1920, was the preeminent host of political debate in America. Even unto the age of television, the League of Women Voters organized the presidential candidate forums. The League kept them adult and meaningful.
In 1987, however, the Democratic and Republican Parties had had enough of mature and meaningful discussion. They were into marketing their candidates. The two parties created the Commission on Presidential Debates. With a highfalutin name like that, you know that this small group had mischief on its mind.
Indeed, the following year, 1988, the two dominant parties, through the instrument of their "bi-partisan" commission, presented the League of Women Voters with a fait accompli, the parties' "agreement" regarding the future conduct of presidential candidate debates:
Republicans and Democrats would pack the forum with their own supporters. The press would be relegated to the back of the room;
The two parties would determine who asked candidates questions (and, obviously, what they would ask);
The two parties would determine the debate format; and
The two parties could restrict what the cameras could show during the debate.
Of course, this sounds very much like the most recent 'debate' hosted by CNN.
To its credit, the League of Women Voters refused to sponsor such a charade and, since 1988, the presidential candidate debates have been the exclusive playground of the Democratic and Republican Parties operated by their respective candidates' campaigns under the auspices of the "bipartisan" Commission on Presidential Debates.
Objectively, what we saw on CNN this year was not a 'debate'.
At its conclusion, the spinmeisters and pundits rated the candidates' "performance" and their "preparation" and how "presidential" they appeared.
Nobody talked about the substance of what they had said. Frankly speaking, there was no substance to what they had said because "performance" and "appearance" were all that mattered, not content.
The Don and Joe show was a casting call for the lead role in the ongoing movie production called "American Democracy."
The first question is: for whom were these two "gentlemen" (ahem) auditioning?
The partial answer to this question is: not you and not me.
The 'gentlemen' were auditioning for those who fund their campaigns - the wealthy donor class who fund both parties and own almost everything. That explains why, immediately after the curtain fell, major news editorial boards called for Mr. Biden to stand down from the race and a chorus of (mostly unidentified) "major party donors" demanded that the Democratic Party replace its 'quarterback'.
The analogy to professional sports is appropriate. Nearly all American sports teams are owned by plutocrats. These folks are used to trading, firing and promoting players at any time, even in the middle of the season. So, too, do this country's owners trade, fire and promote political candidates. They are their candidates, after all, not yours or mine. They do with them as they like, as they would do with any employee who they can terminate at will. Who you and I want to elect is irrelevant. All that matters is how well the preselected candidates will perform on the political stage and how well they can rally the hoi polloi with patriotic bromides and flag-waving clichés.
But what about Democracy, you ask?
Now that's a funny question!
Democracy means rule by the demos, the people. Oligarchs fear and detest 'the people.' That is why, in the United States, 'democracy' is intentionally (and falsely) conflated with 'voting', just like 'freedom' is (falsely) equated with 'capitalism.' That is why the sillier aspects of 'wokeness' (whatever that is) is (falsely) conflated with 'Marxism' (as though 'cultural Marxism' is a real thing, which it is not).
One should be leery of anyone who loosely flings around cheap labels like "far right" or "far left" as though the speaker really knows what on earth he is talking about. Truth is irrelevant in the political-economic propaganda game of capturing the narrative.
Thus, we Americans have the choice of voting for whomever we like... so long as we get excited about and vote for a candidate from one of the two major parties. In my state, the State of Washington, due to the "top two" primary system, we often have 'contested' general elections between two candidates from the identical party. This may or may not be 'freedom of choice' (I think it isn't), but it certainly doesn't mean that we live in a 'democracy.'
This is show biz.
Why did this pre-nomination 'debate' even occur?
Although Joe Biden and Donald Trump might be the presumptive candidates of their respective parties, neither one, as of the time of the CNN show, had even been formally nominated. Whose idea was it to stage this Kabuki Theater at this time?
It is no secret that within the Republican Party there are many who loathe Mr. Trump. They will not endorse him, they will not fund him and they will try until the end to sabotage his nomination.
It is also no secret within the Democratic Party there are many who recognize the symptoms of Joe Biden's stumble-bum senility. Worse, he ‘hesitated’ when it came to supporting a certain Middle East country during its most recent war of aggression. Major donors might endorse him, they might fund him, but they, too, will try until the end to sabotage his nomination. It is ironic that Mr. Biden is now experiencing the same kind of organized pressure to oust him that Harvard University President Claudine Gay experienced when powerful donors to the Harvard endowment fund gave her the boot in early 2024.
Both contingents - the 'Never-Trumpers' in the Republican Party and the win-at-all-costs Democrats - stood to benefit, and to lose, if either man stumbled badly enough in the first televised 'debate'. As it was, Joe Biden "appeared" worse, thus he will get the first heave-ho from the Democrats. I expect, however, that Mr. Trump will also get the hook if, at any time between now and the first Tuesday in November, his inner Donald breaks loose and he makes a fool of himself.
Will it matter who wins the White House in November?
Yes and no. Donald Trump and Joe Biden do have different visions for America, albethey relatively myopic, narrow points of view. One, in his senile delusion, thinks it is still the year 1950 and the other, in his MAGA delusion, thinks 1950 is the future.
One, Mr. Biden, says that he wants to save the world from climate change and social inequity while waging war and promoting iniquity. The other, Mr. Trump, says that he wants to let the world's climate change and ignore social inequity while waging trade wars and promoting iniquity.
But other than the veneer of leadership, will either Joe Biden or Donald Trump actually be in control?
The metaphor of Kabuki Theater extends even to the Oval Office.
The President is a figurehead. The true role of the President is to enthuse the 'people'... with the causes that concern those who actually have power.
Real power lies with certain influential members of the cabinet, certain career officials outside the cabinet, the Praetorian Guard of the military/intelligence/security apparatuses, the banking and investment community, the oligarchs in and outside the state, the many think tanks and policy-making NGOs that parasitize Washington D.C., the party donors and the global owners. Real power includes those, as yet, unidentified guests of Jeffrey Epstein's elite kompromat operation and gentleman's 'sporting club'. Does real power lie also with the Greater Israel lobby which seems able to control both parties' fawning Middle East policy even to America's own detriment? Does real power lie with those who profit from war in Ukraine, from instigating conflict in China, and in continuing the colonial exploitation of Africa, South America and Asia? Do all of them control what the executive branch of government does and does not do?
Yes and no.
In light of this ambiguity, let us consider where and how Messrs. Trump and Biden differ and how they don't:
Both gentlemen want to be reelected president, Mr. Biden for the second time and Mr. Trump for the third. Mr. Biden's central campaign theme is that he is not Donald Trump. Once reelected, Mr. Biden would likely retire and pass the ball to Vice President Harris. Mr. Trump's central campaign theme is that he is not Joe Biden. Once reelected, Mr. Trump would likely play golf and pass the ball to the Deep State.
Mr. Biden has trouble stringing two sentences together and would be wiser to keep his mouth shut. Mr. Trump has no trouble stringing multiple sentences together and would be wiser to keep his mouth shut.
One of the candidates, Mr. Trump, is a convicted felon. The other candidate, Mr. Biden, ought to be a convicted felon.
Mr. Biden's administration has been populated with the mendacious, the mediocre and the bizarre, such as Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine. Based on the history of Mr. Trump's first looney-tunes cabinet, his advisors and administration will likely include the mendacious, the mediocre and the bizarre, such as the loutish Sen. Lindsey Graham, the war-mongering Nikki Haley and the charmless jailbirds Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro.
Mr. Biden has a dog that bites. Mr. Trump has no dog and he bites.
Mr. Trump, at the end of his 4th year in office, had the opportunity to pardon Julian Assange, and didn't. Mr. Biden, at the beginning of his 4 year term of office, had the opportunity to pardon Julian Assange, and didn't. Neither candidate will acknowledge that Mr. Assange was persecuted for more than a decade (with the complicity of the United Kingdom and Sweden) for having committed no offense other than honest journalism about America's war crimes against the Iraqi and Afghan people.
Mr. Biden is a Zionist who gives Israel free rein to massacre Palestinians as it seeks to seize more of their lands. Mr. Trump is a Zionist who will give Israel even freer rein to massacre Palestinians as it seeks to seize more of their lands.
Both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump take credit for defending all of us from the Covid19 pandemic without either of them explaining what it really was, when it really started, and whether more folks were hurt than helped from the mRNA vaccines that they both promoted.
Mr. Biden supports open national borders by which millions of Central and South Americans have been imported into the United States in order to take the menial, low-paying jobs currently held by Black and Hispanic Americans. Mr. Trump opposes open national borders such that Black and Hispanic Americans will continue to work menial and low-paying jobs.
Mr. Biden thinks that inflation doesn't exist and that it's just your imagination that the cost of living has risen as your quality of life has declined. The cure for your delusion, Mr. Biden contends, is that you must simply believe in the clothing that the Emperor doesn't have. Mr. Trump, in contrast, thinks that everything bad in your life happened because HE wasn't President. He argues that no matter how bad things may have gotten, everything will be cured if you cut taxes for the rich and invest in the clothing that the Emperor doesn't have.
If Mr. Biden fails in his nomination bid, there are many younger, charismatic Democratic candidates who could step up, who could generate excitement and who, undoubtedly, would govern as miserably as Joe, or worse. If Mr. Trump fails in his nomination bid, there are many younger, charismatic Republican candidates who could step up, who could generate excitement and who, undoubtedly, would govern as miserably as Donald, or worse.
This is truly a staged theater production full of extreme gestures, wild poses and exaggerated grunts and screams.
It's a made for TV democracy movie. The critics say that it's the envy of the world, a big budget block-buster and an Academy Award winning production.
I say it's an expensive grade B horror movie rated five rotten tomatoes. The original was bad enough. The acting was poor and the script was worse. The sequels should never have been released.
As Shakespeare's Macbeth might have said in Kabuki style:
Today's Politician is but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.
