Holding on till January 20, 2025

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Great surprise was expressed around the globe when former President Donald Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt during his political rally. Many cynics like me were surprised that so many were expressing surprise.

After all, it happened in a country with so many crazy people, so many crazy gun laws, so much crazy rhetoric from politicians and press pundits, and so many more crazy social media commentators and influencers. It’s worth mentioning that according to some records, there are about 500 million guns registered in America, whose population is about 335 million; no doubt, there are many more unregistered weapons.

Then Donald Trump attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukeewith his wounded ear in a sling; he was treated like a conquering hero by conventioneers, and his Republican Party seemed totally united behind him. Television viewers were treated to all the febrile over-the-top Americana razzmatazz, spiel and shtick that is part of these glorious political extravaganzas.

Then on July 21 Biden announced he was quitting his re-election campaign, and endorsing his vice-president to carry the Democratic Party torch in the November 5 presidential election. Pundits were out in force from both ends of the political spectrum, with even more febrile spiel and shtick about how and why this momentous decision was made.

Again, cynics like me are all too aware that political campaigns are totally dependent on money; even more in America, where in 2020 presidential and congressional candidates spent well over US$14 billion, twice as much as in 2016.

With Biden’s declining mental health issues becoming more obvious by the day, several big party donors were refusing to open their vaults, so his quitting the race was really inevitable. It will be a very interesting Democratic National Convention in Chicago from August 19 to 22, to see who the delegates choose to go to battle with Donald Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance. Meanwhile, America’s friends and foes from all over the world will certainly be wondering if Joe Biden is even capable of holding down his Oval Office job until January 20, 2025.

BERNIE SMITH

Parksville, BC

Canada