President Joe Biden’s approval rating has dipped below 40 percent, according to the polling site 538, and that is provoking discussion among Democrats about whether he should run for re-election in 2024.
Biden will turn 80 this November and if re-elected would reach the age of 86 by the end of his second term in the Presidency. His age alone is an issue, regardless of his low approval rating. Should a person that old hold such an important, stressful office?
There are plenty of danger signs besides his age that getting re-elected would be a challenge for Biden. Inflation is reaching levels not seen for decades and shows few signs of slowing. The Fed will begin raising key interest rates, which may dampen the price increases somewhat, but also could help tip the economy into a recession.
Most economists seem to agree that the deteriorating economic situation is a result of the combination of the pandemic and the Ukraine War. The large relief payouts and other expenditures by the federal government to ease the effects of the pandemic, plus global supply issues arising from the war are having serious impacts on a global economy that is also being affected by climate change.
Meanwhile, the domestic political situation remains fraught with danger. Extremist elements that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6th remain a threat, especially because the majority of Republican Party officials seem unwilling to repudiate the Big Lie that motivates them.
Trump himself remains active in the background, spreading lies and hate and raising the specter of another run in 2024.
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to see that the fragile victory of democracy over autocracy in 2020 could be reversed in 2024. It feels somehow surreal and alarmist to be writing these words, but I fear they are true.
I don’t know whether a decision to indict Trump for his role in inciting the Jan. 6th riot would make the overall situation better or worse — or whether that is even a question that will be considered by the Justice Department, given the national security implications.
But apparently, the tension over that possibility is now in danger of fracturing the bipartisan consensus that has to date held on the Congressional committee investigating that riot.
America stands at a crossroads. More than ever before we need voices of reason to emerge in leadership. If nothing else, that is what Joe Biden represents. But is he the last of his kind?
TODAY’s LINKS: (6/15/22 — 39 stories from 23 sources)
Jan. 6 committee abruptly postpones Wednesday hearing (NBC)
Suddenly the January 6 committee looks divided (CNN)
Jan. 6 Panel Tracks How Trump Created and Spread Election Lies (NYT)
New details emerge of Oval Office confrontation three days before Jan. 6 (WP)
How Trump Could End Up in Prison (New Yorker)
South Carolina congressman who voted for impeachment will fall to Trump-backed challenger, while another incumbent who defied Trump will survive primary. (CNN)
The War in Ukraine Has Exposed a Critical American Vulnerability — Shoring up the nation’s supply chain is the single greatest challenge to the national defense. (Atlantic)
VIDEO: Trump Campaign Used Election Lies to Raise Funds, Panel Finds (Reuters)
Russians control 80% of contested city in eastern Ukraine (AP)
The 19th-Century Technology Driving Russia’s Latest Gains in Ukraine: Railroads (WSJ)
Russia destroys every bridge leading to Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk (BBC)
Ukraine said its forces were still holding out inside Sievierodonetsk and trying to evacuate civilians, after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the devastated eastern city in a potential turning point in one of the war's bloodiest battles. (Reuters)
‘We exist but it is not a life’: Afghan women face bleak prospects under Taliban (Guardian)
Departures from Afghanistan resume, but pace is worrisome for allies and Afghans (Washington Examiner)
She was one year away from going to college. Then the Taliban banned her from school. (BuzzFeed)
Taiwan: Are the US and China heading to war over the island? (BBC)
Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation that protects patients getting abortions and medical professionals in New York from legal retaliation by other states that restrict the procedure. Here's how U.S. states are taking sides on abortion. (Reuters)
The Lessons Liberal Prosecutors Are Drawing From San Francisco’s Backlash (NYT)
Proud Boys disrupt drag-queen reading event, prompting hate-crime probe (WP)
An Idaho police station is receiving death threats after 31 members of Patriot Front were arrested after attempting to start a riot at a Pride event supporting the LGBTQIA community in the city of Coeur d’Alene. [HuffPost]
Experts: Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric could galvanize extremists (AP)
More than 100 GOP primary winners back Trump’s false fraud claims (WP)
No bodies found in hunt for journalist and expert, Brazil police say (Reuters)
Coinbase is laying off 1,100 employees as Bitcoin prices continue to fall (The Verge)
What’s the catalyst behind the crypto crash? (TechCrunch)
Crypto industry fears regulatory backlash over lending crisis (Politico)
Wall Street wobbles a day after tumbling into bear market (AP)
Why some of the country's top CEOs fear a recession is coming (NPR)
Wall Street braced for sharp Fed rate rise to fight soaring inflation (Financial Times)
Allergies in overdrive as extreme weather drives higher pollen count (Guardian)
‘Space bubbles’ between Earth, sun possibly could reverse destructive climate change, MIT researchers say (Oregonian)
The Western U.S. marked another day of hot, dry and windy weather as crews from California to New Mexico battled wildfires that had forced hundreds of people to leave their homes. Several hundred homes on the outskirts of Flagstaff, Arizona, were evacuated. [AP]
A sighting reveals extinction and climate change in a single image (NPR)
As California increasingly slips into extreme drought and calls intensify to reduce water use, the state’s water savings in 2022 remain bleak. (Cal Today)
The world’s largest trees are struggling to survive climate change (WP)
Smart robot helps with congestion at Narita Airport (NHK)
Happy the elephant isn’t a person, top New York court rules (AP)
Bored Defense Department Bombing Empty Cans Off Fence Out Back Behind Pentagon (The Onion)
TODAY’s LYRICS
“Twelve Thirty”
by John Phillips
I used to live in New York City
Everything there was dark and dirty
Outside my window was a steeple
With a clock that always said 12:30
Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin'
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can't keep myself from talkin'
At first so strange to feel so friendly
To say "Good morning" and really mean it
To feel these changes happenin' in me
But not to notice 'til I feel it
Young girls are coming to the canyon
And in the mornings I can see them walkin'
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn
And I can't keep myself from talkin'
Cloudy waters cast no reflection
Images of beauty lie there stagnant
Vibrations bounce in no direction
But lie there shattered into fragments
Young girls are coming to the canyon (Young girls are coming in the canyon)
And in the mornings I can see them walkin' (In the mornings I can see them walkin')
I can no longer keep my blinds drawn (Can no longer keep my blinds drawn)
And I can't keep myself from talkin'
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