February 22, 2022—Afghanistan. The Ukraine. An economy that threatens to burn itself out with record high inflation. Democrats divided in Congress, unable to pass anything, despite holding the majority in both houses. A drubbing for the Democratic Party, nationally, in last year’s, off-year, 2021 elections. The precedent of history that shows that the party of the president usually loses seats in Congress in the first mid-term. And worst of all, a record low approval rating for President Joe Biden that rivals only that of former President Donald Trump, at this point in both men’s terms.

I think it is fair to say that at this point in his presidency, President Biden and the Democrats face significant headwinds going into this year’s mid-term elections. The control of both houses of Congress hangs in the balance in this year’s mid-term, national elections. The fact is that the election later this year will serve as a bellwether for two years of Democratic Party rule in Washington, as a referendum on Biden’s presidency, so far. The results will either surprise pollsters and political science prognosticators, and affirm President Biden’s rule, or they will serve as a death knell for continued Democratic rule in Washington, at least in Congress, at this time. The simple fact is that the oncoming mid-terms are approaching American politics like a semi-truck fresh off a Canadian protest against liberal pandemic policies, back on the highway, and roaring ahead at 75 mph in a free-market, laissez-faire, 70 mph speed limit zone. In this metaphor, the trucker is not going to receive a ticket for speeding down the road, nor for protesting liberal policies on the pandemic in Canada and America; instead, in this scenario, this protesting trucker, roaring ahead in his semi-, this trucker owns the road.

The Republican Party is on the march. Watch any episode of the 6 o’clock news on Fox News on cable TV, and you can see lots and lots of hungry Republicans, foaming at the mouth, anticipating their next big meal, in which they devour fresh red meat and re-take control of Congress later this year in the mid-terms. In this political context, at this time, whatever is a Democrat to do?

As a registered Democrat and a proud, public, democratic socialist myself, I respectfully disagree. I think that despite the headwinds, President Biden is doing basically a good job. The challenge for the Democratic Party and Democratic Party leadership, to me, is putting out the right message, the right spin, and showing how President Biden is doing a good job at this time, and why the Democratic Party deserves, currently, another two years in control of Congress. The time now is not to show what they would do, but what they have done, so far, in the past two years. The time now is to show how President Joe Biden has been doing a good job as our US president, and how President Biden and the Democrats still represent the best interests of working Americans and—dare I say it—the middle class. I think if the Democrats can put out this message, and be convincing about it, then they still have a chance in hell of holding on to the reins of power in Congress. True to the principles of our democracy in America, the voters will have the final say, come this November in our national election.

The question for me, on this blog, is why? Why do I think that President Joe Biden is doing a good job, and why do I think he still represents the interests of the working and middle class in America? I am concerned, also, with the interests of the working class, internationally, but as we are discussing specifically the American president, I will limit my focus to the American working and “middle class.” Furthermore, I will remain interested only in the top-of-the-news items, and not give too much credit to President Biden for changing the rules for organizing labor unions, which he has done, in favor of labor unions. President Biden deserves credit for this change, in federal regulations, but I will not delve into that here. I will remain on the top-of-the-news issues, and I will respond to the issues we see in the mainstream daily newspapers and on the broadcast and cable television news. Even with these limits, I think President Biden is doing a good job. That is the job of the Democratic Party to do, to win this mid-term election. They must tout the success of this Administration, or they will be lost. I think there is substance there to say that, on this basis, we can judge that President Biden is doing a good job, and his Party, the Democrats, do still deserve to remain in control in Congress, and thus in Washington, in general.

What do I base this pro-Democrat, pro-Biden viewpoint on? First of all, let us examine foreign policy. I will studiously, consciously ignore the current hot topic, the Ukraine, for reasons I shall state below. Suffice it to say that I believe in diplomacy only for the US in the Ukraine, and I agree with President Biden’s closing statement, in his speech today to the nation, that there is still a chance for diplomacy. I am against any war between the United States and Russia over the Ukraine. I do consider the situation in the Ukraine to be regrettable, however, since I do support, in principle, the self-determination of peoples. This support I give applies to the people of Russia, it should be stated, and for the people of the Ukraine.

Let us examine President Biden’s record on foreign policy more closely. Afghanistan comes to mind, namely, President Biden’s withdrawal of US forces from that country last summer. In this case, the right-wing of this country currently controls this narrative. Although Americans had lost all appetite for yet another endless, 25-year war, dragging on, interminably, seemingly forever, with no end in sight, Americans had even less patience, it turns out, for a messy withdrawal. President Biden did the best withdrawal humanly possible, pulling out tens-of-thousands of aggrieved, at-risk Afghans, but, rather predictably, once American troops were gone, the so-called enemy, the Taliban, quickly re-took the government. The war lasted, not quite 25 years, but around 20. What did America gain after 20 years of war in Afghanistan? Not much, as it turned out. As I just said, the Taliban quickly re-took power. These are the same people who had been in charge in 2001, when Al-Qaeda perpetrated 9-11 on our country, the United States, largely from Afghanistan. How can that possibly be seen as a foreign policy victory for President Biden and the United States?

Let me remind you, I am a democratic socialist. In all of this talk of Vladimir Putin’s supposed aggression in the Ukraine, what is totally lost, and totally absent, from all of this discussion is even the mention of that old, socialist concept of American aggression. We used to call it American imperialism. If it has not already been done, let me hereby name the US war in Afghanistan, after 20-some-odd years, with no end in sight, not unlike Vietnam, which did in fact last 25 years, let me name that ongoing war in Afghanistan as one that evolved into one of American imperialism. Simply put, after 20-some-odd years, the Americans really had no right to meddle in someone else’s country, halfway around the world, in this case, Afghanistan. Even if you believe that it started out with a noble cause for the United States, after 9-11, after all, still, after 20 years, I think it was high time for the US to get out. To withdraw. We no longer had any business there. They heard us, already. Let them practice their own self-determination of peoples, and if they choose the Taliban, then let them have it. If we get attacked again, and they do understand this, by now, then we can go back in, if and only if we actually need to. Otherwise, it had already become long overdue that the US get out. Let them have their own country again, already. I have stated this once, already, however. It is my opinion, however. The United States desperately and sorely needed to end that war, and to end our involvement and control over their country, Afghanistan, and that is exactly what we did. That is exactly what President Biden accomplished with our withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Far from the criticism President Biden still receives from the hawks and much of the mainstream media on Afghanistan, I think he did the right thing. Whatever your opinion of the beginning of the war and the underlying reasons the US had for originally going in to Afghanistan, it was long time for the US to exit their country, and to relinquish control back to their military, and/or militaries, and ultimately, back to the Afghan people. Now, the US is free of another 25-year, endless war, not unlike Vietnam, in which American lives and the American treasury and, worst-of-all, American blood is wasted on an ignoble effort to control the destiny of a different people half-way across the world. Thank God it is finally over. President Biden did us all a great favor by freeing us of this endless war, this endless morass. Any hint of American imperialism taking over in their country was crushed by our American withdrawal.

President Biden does not deserve blame for our American withdrawal from Afghanistan. Rather, despite the Taliban retaking their government, President Biden deserves credit for extricating America, and for preventing the lives of ever-more young, American men, American soldiers in our military, from being sacrificed on the altar of remote control, from Washington, DC, over the destiny of the country in the mountains of Afghanistan. Kudos to Joe Biden. He has saved countless American lives already from war in that country, since our withdrawal, and our country cannot be accused now of pursuing classical American imperialism in their country. There is no more claim of “big stick diplomacy” from the US in Afghanistan—we are out-of-there. Finally. If anyone in the US wanted to be heard in Afghanistan after 9-11, trust me, they heard us. Now, they can have their country back, again.

For the record, however, let it be known that I opposed the war in Afghanistan from the start. I thought we should be talking, not bombing and invading. I was a part of the peace movement here in America, at the time. I protested the war in Iraq on February 15, 2003, the day of global protest against the war in Iraq, and I opposed, also, the war in Afghanistan. Suffice it to say, 20 years later, I still opposed the war in Afghanistan. I feel, as I stated above, that 20-years-on, there was even more reason to oppose the war in Afghanistan than when we first went in.

I applaud President Biden for our withdrawal in Afghanistan. I consider it a foreign policy victory for the United States, even if not a military one in the country of Afghanistan. I think that distinction is a very important one, too. We should not allow the right-wing of this country, America, to control our perspective on this, and our mainstream narrative about it. We should be touting the end of the war in Afghanistan as a victory for the US, not an ignoble defeat. We have no business determining their government for them. They heard us already. Move on. Once again, kudos to President Biden for this.

On to the next foreign policy hot topic: the Ukraine. Here, I support President Biden’s approach so far, also. I am studiously, consciously ignoring this issue. President Biden is moving US troops around in Eastern Europe, but he has not given up on diplomacy, believe it or not, in the face of potential Russian aggression in the Ukraine. Here, President Vladimir Putin of Russia is the imperialist, not the United States. In any case, I agree with diplomacy only in the Ukraine for the US. This country really is on the doorstep, in the “backyard,” so to speak, of Russia. The United States really has no business at war in this country against Russia. In terms of the Cold War, it would have been unthinkable. It would be akin to the Soviet Union placing nuclear missiles in Cuba, in the United States’ “backyard.” I am thankful that the Soviets withdrew their nuclear weapons from approaching Cuba in the Cuban missile crisis during the Cold War last century, thus avoiding nuclear Armageddon and the destruction of the entire planet, within minutes of the ship approaching the island of Cuba. Similarly, the US really has no right to fight a war in the Ukraine at all, which is, after all, itself a former Soviet republic. That said, I do support the right of self-determination for the Ukrainian people, and I condemn any Russian imperialist aggression in that country.

That said, not unlike former President Donald Trump, I feel no ill will toward Russia, itself, nor toward their President, Vladimir Putin. I noted that Putin named Vladimir Lenin and Stalin as heroes of his, as a Russian leader, not as a Communist. I should note that, as a socialist, myself, for all of his faults, and there are many, Stalin is credited by some as being critical in ending World War II and defeating Hitler. I know that is a terrible sentence. I do feel awkward about crediting Stalin with anything, but I acknowledge the critical role he played in defeating fascism in Europe and the world during World War II, in particular. Remember, it was not until after World War II ended, with a mutual, shared victory for the United States and the Soviet Union, who fought on the same side, against Hitler and the fascists; it was not until after the end of World War II that the Cold War began. Before the beginning of the Cold War, there was the united front, globally, against fascism and the Nazis. We were on the same side, then. And in the Soviet Union, may I remind you, that meant Stalin. Later, he became the evil villain incarnate to the Western world. First, it must be remembered, he was an Eastern hero, fighting against Hitler. To be honest and accurate, however, I must acknowledge that Hitler betrayed Stalin, and early on in the War, they were not enemies, unlike the United States. The Soviets and Germany fought one hell of war in World War II in the Russian winter in Russia, however, we cannot forget. Remember, also, the US and the Soviet Union won that war, together. Germany had too many fronts, all-at-once, and Germany lost the War on all fronts, and in Germany, itself.

Then, there is Vladimir Lenin, of namesake, Vladimir Putin. President Putin named Lenin as a hero of his, also, specifically. As a democratic socialist, myself, I claim Lenin to be a hero of mine, also, albeit for different reasons. May I remind President Putin, respectfully, that Lenin’s slogan about imperial Russian wars to the West, namely World War I, was, and I quote, “Peace, land, bread.” That is the slogan that Vladimir Lenin led the Russian army back from the front with Germany in World War I, and he single-handedly, with the Russian army, took out the Russian czar, who at the time was really into waging a Russian war of aggression to the West of Russia. Lenin has been criticized, in fact, for giving away so much land to the Germans, in World War I. The fact that Germany then lost World War I, and the Russian imperialist aggressor, namely, the czar, also lost, should not be forgotten. Who won? Why, Lenin did. Vladimir Lenin came out on top of that one, we should note. President Putin does not need a lecture from me on Russian history and the legacy of Vladimir Lenin, but let me just say, President Putin is not currently pursuing “Peace, Land, Bread” at this time in the Ukraine. Hopefully, the US will heed that call, at least for the “Peace” part of Lenin’s message. Perhaps, President Putin will change his mind and follow Lenin’s lead on that score, also, and not the example of Russian imperialism, in which tradition President Putin seemed to place Lenin.

Likeminded scholars may agree to disagree about the legacy and rightful place in history of Vladimir Lenin. The simple fact is, however, that while I am against Russian aggression in the Ukraine, I feel no ill will toward President Vladimir Putin, who does at least cite Vladimir Lenin as one of his heroes, as well. Putin said this in his address to the Russian people and the world on Monday, February 21. Both President Putin and I cite Vladimir Lenin as one of our heroes, albeit for different reasons. It should come as no surprise, then, that I harbor no ill will toward the Russian president, nor against the Russian people. Also, I should note, unlike President Putin, I harbor no ill will against the Ukrainian people, nor the Ukrainian leadership in the Ukrainian government, either.

I am against any US involvement in a war against Russia in the Ukraine, I should repeat. I hold this position for the reasons stated above. That said, I think President Biden is doing a good job of trying to support the Ukrainian people, short of US military involvement in the country, and also, for not giving up on diplomacy, ultimately, even at this late date in the unfolding events there.

Having said all of this, let me now studiously avoid the topic of the Ukraine. I will now commence to ignore the issue, as I said I would, earlier in this article.

Now, to domestic policy. For the United States, for President Biden, domestically, for the Democrats in this year’s mid-terms, specifically, how is President Biden doing, domestically speaking, here, at home, in the United States?

Again, the question for me, as it should be for the Democratic Party leadership, at this time, is not, what can we do, but rather, what have we done? The answer is not the greatest, but it is good, if you ask me.

Inflation, you say, as do the expert witnesses on Fox News on cable television. Inflation is at record-high levels. How can anyone say that is a success? Inflation is not a success, but the economic recovery from the recession in the United States during the pandemic is a victory. The creation of jobs and very low unemployment is an economic victory. What can I say? Address the inflation bug, and keep the economy humming, as it is now. Keep the jobs available in the current economy. Our problem in America now is that so many people have a little more money, what with last year’s stimulus and with jobs now available again, our problem is that so many people have a little more money on hand, that now prices for goods that people are buying again are going up. Surprise surprise. Address inflation, and keep the economic recovery going. I fail to see a giant policy failure here. Instead, I see success breeding the problems of success.

Again, I do not think President Biden deserves blame. I think he deserves credit, for restarting our economy. The big down-side risk, however, is that the economy is unpredictable. Just as soon as people can be working again, and spending money to buy stuff, just as quickly the economy can go South (no offense intended), and people can be out-of-work, once again. Also, inflation really is a problem; there is no mistaking that, not even from me, here. President Biden’s challenge is to manage the economy, address inflation, and not ruin the so-far short-lived economic recovery. The challenge for Democratic leadership, by the way, is to change the narrative on this. Once again, our right-wing, voiced on Fox News, but not exclusively on Fox News, seems to be controlling the narrative. Democrats have to give credit where credit is due, while still acknowledging the pitfalls of inflation. Instead of blaming President Biden for our economy, currently, we should praise him. We should address, however, the result of success, which is the problem of inflation, along with the achievement of job creation.

Next, domestically speaking, is legislation. How has President Biden done on his legislative agenda? Again, we hear he has been blocked. I would argue, no, far from the truth. If the economy is humming again, I would argue, then the desired result of the stimulus plan of early 2021, and the passage and enactment of the Infrastructure Bill later in that same year, then the desired result of both of these legislative initiatives has been realized. The economy is humming again, no? There are jobs again, no? That spells economic recovery, not recession. Perhaps, we do not need another stimulus, which the moderate Democrats blocked in the Democratic Congress. So President Biden and the Democratic leadership did not get all that they had hoped for out of the Democratic Congress. So what? They achieved their larger goal of stimulating the economy and getting money moving again among now working Americans and the middle class, once again. Perhaps, the Democrats achieved their goals without a few more trillion dollars of federal spending. Perhaps, the Democratic moderates can unite with progressives and the President in claiming victory, once again, not defeat. It is, after all, still about the economy, stupid, as former President Bill Clinton said, back in the 1990s. Not much has changed. I would argue, in fact, that if the US were not shedding jobs like nobody’s business in 2020, then President Donald Trump would have been re-elected. The pandemic and the recession therein handed President Biden the office, and the victory in the election. Now, the economy is doing great again. Great! Let the Democrats cash in, politically, so to speak, and not fall to a conservative narrative that says the Democrats are all a bunch of squabbling failures, led by the biggest failure-in-chief, President Joe Biden. That is not true. The Democrats have restarted the economy. Let the Democrats now deal with the fallout of renewed growth, inflation, and not worry about failing to spend multiple trillions of dollars of additional federal spending and stimulation, trillions of dollars that the moderate wing felt was unnecessary to spend, and to go deeper into debt to do so.

I would have supported the Social Spending Bill. I did take a position last December, on this blog, supporting it. The moderates within the Democratic Party blocked it. So what? It is still about the economy, stupid, and Democrats would do well to remember that. Particularly, Democrats would do well to remember that message. Simply manage inflation, and you’ve got economic success. Claim the victory; do not admit defeat.

Again, the risk here is that the economy will falter. It is unpredictable, after all, and not within government control. This is capitalism, may I remind you, not socialism. Inflation can be managed. A suddenly disastrous economy, however, would definitely cost the Democrats the Congress. The Democrats should tout their success with bringing the economy out of the recent recession, but they should be wary that the economy can betray them by the mid-term election this November. In any case, the Democrats need to re-take control of the narrative on this issue, once again. At this time, this issue should be seen as a victory, not a defeat, for President Biden. Just do not rest all of your laurels on this one, as it can easily reverse itself.

That is all I have to say in this blog post. I think President Biden is doing a good job, both on foreign policy, and domestically, at this time. We do not need a US war in the Ukraine, but President Biden already understands this. President Putin should heed the lesson in history of Vladimir Lenin, but I trust President Putin knows this already. President Putin gave the lecture on international television about his Russian hero, Vladimir Lenin, after all. He does not need me to tell him. All I can say, however, on this score, is “Peace, Land, Bread.”

And re-elect Democrats in this year’s mid-term election here in America. We can build toward a socialist future, but we must do so by achieving international peace, not war.

Here is a slogan I will close with from the American socialist and communist traditions: “Socialism, in our lifetimes.” It did not happen in the 20^th century in America, but perhaps, with peace, internationally, it can still be found in our near future. Democracy, after all, still lives, here in America. We shall see what the results will be this November, and before then, we shall see what campaigns, and what messaging, both major parties in America put out there. The voters will decide.

On to the mid-terms for the Democrats and progressives in America! And, as ever, and always, viva la France! Viva!

—Nicholas Patti

Raleigh, NC

USA

photo credits:

Putin and Trump:

Kiev, Ukraine: