You Can’t Escape It: The US Election Will Not Really Lead to Change
Published in Ma’ariv
(Israel) on 5 November 2020
by Shlomo Shamir (link to original)
(Israel) on 5 November 2020
by Shlomo Shamir (link to original)
Translated from
by Rebecca K. Koenigsberg .
Edited by Gillian Palmer.
While Trump is busy with contempt for the consensus and with lowering COVID-19 to the bottom of his priorities, Biden is a normal leader. He is one who will at least take the problems of his citizens seriously.
Calm down.
Neither a significant revolution nor an essential change is expected in the United States, not in domestic affairs and definitely not on the foreign affairs front. It doesn’t matter who, at the end of the day — sorry, at the end of the count — will be president of the United States; there will be no big change there.
Donald Trump has been so present for the past four years, so noticeable, so heard and echoed in the daily life of the American people, that his supporters and those who voted for him fear that four years without him will bring something terrible, and will lay some awful reality on the United States and its citizens. Those who are biting their nails, hoping that Joe Biden will be the next president, are sure that Biden will bring quick salvation to the societal ills of America.
Nonsense.
Trump is Trump, always was and always will be. He has no intention of changing his behavior, his scorn for consensus, the ridicule that he demonstrates toward experts, his burning belief that he is the center of the world, he and no one else. Trump remaining president would find an America that he created, that he nurtured and strengthened with pride and obvious enjoyment, an America that is divided, factious, torn, flowing with sectarian hate and inter-class hostility.
Biden is not Winston Churchill — far from it. He is normal. He is not in love with himself. He knows his own strengths and is aware of his weaknesses. Biden will not bring quick solutions for the problems and struggles that are distressing the United States. But he will deal with the problems, see an approach to the troubles, take on the day-to-day struggles of Americans in a logical, thoughtful, stable way. Biden will also listen to advisers, obey experts, change his mind when they tell him he is wrong and, most importantly, take their advice.
To do all this, you don’t have to be a supreme being or a perfect leader. You just have to be normal, normative. This is Biden. You don’t have to take great pains and spout dogma. For Biden, COVID-19 is a catastrophe, a national tragedy, because it kills people. All the networks of commentators in the U.S. media agree that for Biden as president, the first thing to focus on is to try to put the brakes on the spread of the virus.
According to recent reports in the United States, what Trump plans to do if he stays in the White House is to fire Anthony Fauci, the No. 1 expert on dealing with viruses in the United States — the person who will not let Trump forget or ignore the presence of COVID-19. Trump’s supporters, who voted for him, loved and still like his defiant, insulting behavior toward any consensus and in the political realm. They voted for him because they want and long for a continuation of this behavior. It soothes their souls; kind of the way soccer fans feel after their team has won another game.
Biden’s supporters wish for normalcy, for the good old days, for a president who does not think only of himself, who will understand their problems, who speaks to them like a man speaks to his friend and to his wife. Neither Trump nor Biden will bring about dramatic change. The difference between them is that with Trump, it could never happen. He doesn’t think that there is any need for change. With Biden, there’s a chance — not immediately, but it’s definitely possible.
Calm down.
Neither a significant revolution nor an essential change is expected in the United States, not in domestic affairs and definitely not on the foreign affairs front. It doesn’t matter who, at the end of the day — sorry, at the end of the count — will be president of the United States; there will be no big change there.
Donald Trump has been so present for the past four years, so noticeable, so heard and echoed in the daily life of the American people, that his supporters and those who voted for him fear that four years without him will bring something terrible, and will lay some awful reality on the United States and its citizens. Those who are biting their nails, hoping that Joe Biden will be the next president, are sure that Biden will bring quick salvation to the societal ills of America.
Nonsense.
Trump is Trump, always was and always will be. He has no intention of changing his behavior, his scorn for consensus, the ridicule that he demonstrates toward experts, his burning belief that he is the center of the world, he and no one else. Trump remaining president would find an America that he created, that he nurtured and strengthened with pride and obvious enjoyment, an America that is divided, factious, torn, flowing with sectarian hate and inter-class hostility.
Biden is not Winston Churchill — far from it. He is normal. He is not in love with himself. He knows his own strengths and is aware of his weaknesses. Biden will not bring quick solutions for the problems and struggles that are distressing the United States. But he will deal with the problems, see an approach to the troubles, take on the day-to-day struggles of Americans in a logical, thoughtful, stable way. Biden will also listen to advisers, obey experts, change his mind when they tell him he is wrong and, most importantly, take their advice.
To do all this, you don’t have to be a supreme being or a perfect leader. You just have to be normal, normative. This is Biden. You don’t have to take great pains and spout dogma. For Biden, COVID-19 is a catastrophe, a national tragedy, because it kills people. All the networks of commentators in the U.S. media agree that for Biden as president, the first thing to focus on is to try to put the brakes on the spread of the virus.
According to recent reports in the United States, what Trump plans to do if he stays in the White House is to fire Anthony Fauci, the No. 1 expert on dealing with viruses in the United States — the person who will not let Trump forget or ignore the presence of COVID-19. Trump’s supporters, who voted for him, loved and still like his defiant, insulting behavior toward any consensus and in the political realm. They voted for him because they want and long for a continuation of this behavior. It soothes their souls; kind of the way soccer fans feel after their team has won another game.
Biden’s supporters wish for normalcy, for the good old days, for a president who does not think only of himself, who will understand their problems, who speaks to them like a man speaks to his friend and to his wife. Neither Trump nor Biden will bring about dramatic change. The difference between them is that with Trump, it could never happen. He doesn’t think that there is any need for change. With Biden, there’s a chance — not immediately, but it’s definitely possible.
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