23 Days that Shook the World
Starting on Thursday, June 27 2024 and continuing through July 21st of this year, we have been witness to some of those moments in history that will be defining moments. They are events that shook the world.
They began with the June 27th debate that eventually toppled the Presidency of Joe Biden. And it ended on July 21st with Biden’s announcement of stepping down from seeking a second term as President of the United States. The United States Presidency is the most powerful office in the world, still, and Biden has been one of the most effective and productive Presidents in modern history.
However, those events were not the only ones that occurred during this time frame. A day after the debate, Friday, June 28th, the Supreme Court also, after 40 years of precedent, decided to overturn the Chevron Doctrine. This allows only courts to decide on cases allowing for standing to reach the level of the Supreme Court. In essence, the idea that the judicial system is the final arbiter for all cases involving environmental issues and scientific and medical questions is one that has created a paradigm shift that may last for years. And government agencies with experts in fields involving clean air and water are pushed to the side in favor of many courts with far-right judges appointed by Trump.
On June 30th, 2024, a young black entertainer named Taraji P Henson made history by asking people to “Look Up’ Project 2025! The Project 2025 Document had just recently been brought under scrutiny. The plans involve the machinations of the Heritage Foundation and Puppet Masters such as Leonard Leo. They have worked for decades to basically undo the foundations that were the structural underpinnings of FDR’s New Deal and LBJ’s Great Society. Those programs provided the social safety net many have relied on in this country and were often derided as “socialism’ by wealthy groups who have longed for the holy grail of lower taxes or simply abolishing any taxes. That would effectively relieve them of any social responsibility of helping others in society at all. So much for “trickle down’ economics!
Perhaps one of the biggest events that went under-reported was the Supreme Court Decision on Monday, July 1st, that gave absolute Immunity to Donald Trump for any and all crimes committed and deemed to be “Official Acts’ judged solely by the standards of the Supreme Court. Trump’s lucky streak continued with another ruling that followed. Justice Clarence Thomas gave sanction to the idea of throwing out the Classified Documents Case against Trump in Florida on the grounds that the Special Prosecutor wasn’t even valid. Shortly after, the Trump-appointed judge in Florida did just that. She threw out a case against Trump that had been slated to go to trial and which many legal experts deemed to be ‘open & shut’ against the former President.
One of the questions asked by vice-president Kamala Harris & others is this: What type of country do we want to live in? Trumpism advocates for a society that is set up for a wealthy ruling class of Corporate overlords such as Elon Musk, Leonard Leo, Peter Thiel and others who don’t care at all for a level playing field And in terms of providing living wages or a social safety net where everyone pays their fair share, the wealthiest people have created the sort of class warfare where we have almost set up a type of underclass that existed only in dystopian science-fiction movies like “Metropolis.” The Oligarchs would rule with the notion of income inequality being declared a ‘myth’ by those who would like to become the ruling class.
Bidenomics basically meant everyone should pay their fair share. All boats rise and the economy does well for all, including the very wealthy! Everyone works for a fair wage, and we are all in this together. Inclusiveness would include clean air and water for all; and also an economy that is competitive on a global scale with other leading world economies.
Instead of which, we have been discussing old age and sharks and unfortunately, gun control after Trump was shot at by an unbalanced young man at a rally on Saturday, July 13th. That brought up another earth-shattering event that could have changed things completely. Had Trump been seriously wounded or killed, the events of this past month would have taken another unexpected twist. Instead, it gave him added ‘street cred’ with his base of fanatically loyal followers and fueled the push to take Joe Biden off the ticket.
The next significant event occurred less than 48 hours after Trump had been shot at his rally. The following week in July, the Republican National Convention gathered in Milwaukee to coronate their idol, a convicted felon who has been indicted for inciting an insurrection on the Capitol on January 6th. Trump was coronated by his party and they felt confident enough to put Senator JD Vance on his ticket. Vance, the chosen nominee of the billionaire class, has little real experience, and came from the venture capital world where South African billionaires had reportedly pushed for Vance’s place on the ticket. Thus the world of dark money and oligarchs from South Africa converged as they effectively contrived to buy a spot on the Republican ticket. These rich and powerful oligarchs were seeking to gain even greater power and even more influence! And after a long, rambling and historically awful acceptance speech on Thursday, July 18th, Donald Trump took his place in history as the oldest nominee of the Republican Party.
And finally, one of the last straws in the events that shook the world was the image of a very weak and struggling Joe Biden who had been diagnosed with COVID on Thursday, July 18th. The image of President Biden struggling up the stairs of Air Force One was a poignant but accurate reminder of his struggles to push the rock uphill as he faced growing headwinds that were telling him he wouldn’t survive this race. The contrast with Trump’s triumphant acceptance on that same day was stark and harsh and truly not fair. But the path seemed inevitable and finally, on Sunday, July 21st, President Biden announced he would stand down from his election bid and support his vice-president to continue the fight into the Fall Campaign.
Joe Biden did the right thing. I believe he acknowledged that hard truth the other day to his active and busy campaign team at their headquarters. But the paradigm shift will be felt for years after seeing this short 23-day time span that has shaken the world. We have been told in the past that when events unfold, they sometimes happen so quickly that our heads are spinning and we are left to ask, “What just happened!?” With the events of the past 23 days in the United States, we can acknowledge the truth that it doesn’t even take one full month to change the course of history. And just like that…everything changes!
