Beltway Insider: Biden/Trump Debate, Issues, SCOTUS Decisions, Apple Suppliers, Uvalde, Guns

Details: Category: Haute This Issue; Published on Sunday, 30 June 2024 11:30; Written by Janet Walker

President Biden's lackluster debate performance has left many political pundits wondering if he has reached an end point in his honorable public service career and should pass the torch to the next generation of democratic leaders.

The President's job approval rating, according to the website fivethirtyeight.com for the period ending June 30, 2024, decreased by 1.7% to 37.8% of those polled who approve of his effectiveness as President and those who disapprove of his effectiveness increased by 1.2% to 56.3% of those polled who disapprove of his effectiveness. A slight 3% of the population polled have no opinion. Ratings are calculated weekly.

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Biden Trump Debate

President Biden's lackluster and uninspiring debate performance against convicted felon and former President Donald J. Trump has left many political pundits, donors, and media leaders, wondering if he has reached the end point in his honorable public service career and should pass the torch to the next generation of democratic leaders.

As The New York Times and The Atlanta-Journal Constitution editorial boards are calling for the elder Biden to bow out of the race, in favor of the younger generation of democratic leaders, Biden has remained resolute in his decision to remain on the 2024 democratic ticket.

Of course, seeing beyond the immediate and considering the long-term should clarify, for deep pocketed democratic donors, political pundits, and media heavyweights, the move to remain on the ticket is paving the way for a younger generation of leaders.

Should Biden, 81, not live out the term, Vice President Kamala Harris assumes the role as Commander in Chief. His legacy will be more than a lifetime of service, it will be the leader that finally helped break the glass ceiling, enabling women to reach the highest public office and, consequently, catch up to our global allies, who on more than one occasion, were served by female leadership.

Passing the torch is a sentiment that has reverberated throughout Washington on both sides of the aisle. In recent years, as Republican leaders, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), have both opted for retirement. Even younger men, former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) recently retired from the House.

Apathy and American Politics

Contrary to the remarks by the former president during the debate that the day the troops returned home from Afghanistan "was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country's life." January 6, 2021, was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country's modern life.

January 6, 2021, the day the disgruntled extremists, loyal to the former president were unable to accept the election results, decided as they interrupted "their" leader telling them with these words "We fight like hell. And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore," he said," NPR.org reported, to storm the Capitol building and "fight like hell" in an effort to stop the confirmation vote.

Trump has a narcissistic view of himself, vain, egotistical, one who believes he is without fault and is the only "politician" that can effectively govern the United States. Making America Great Again, are words to appeal to the boomer generation, the world's greatest generation, the World War II veterans and the post war baby boom population.

He uses words effectively to persuade voters of his supremacy, one who claims to be a "Christian" to secure the evangelical vote and appeal to that swath of middle America, and yet in recent months the facts, which have been proven, are that he lives the antithesis of a life without any Christian values. If it is name only Christianity, then say it. There are plenty of those around, leaders of churches who have the morals of an "alley cat" and preach on Sunday.

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Issues at Stake

The issues at stake in this election are far greater than debate performance. Under the conservative leaning Supreme Court Justices, three of which were appointed during the previous Trump administration, have damaged the freedoms of the common man, in favor of elitist rule and a conversative platform.

Abortion and Women's Rights

Roe v. Wade, which had been the "law of the land" since the 1973 landmarked decision which generally provided a Constitution freedom for women to have an abortion, giving women the autonomy over their physical person to chose the medical practices and procedures they, individually believe are best for them.

This law was overturned in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022), in which the court held that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion. Basing the ruling on "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," words written by one of America's founding father Thomas Jefferson and are enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, which is a political doctrine, and does not have any legal guiding authority, as the Supreme Court can only use the Constitution and prior decisions, legal precedence, when rendering decision.

Women and Autonomy in Medical Care

Women have long been considered second class citizens, unable to attend to their own needs, unable to make up their minds, unable to lead without allowing "emotion" to interfere with the decision making process. The rights of women to control pregnancy and take responsibility for reproductive choices has always been based on male opinion. In the United States, it wasn't until 1972 and the Supreme Court decision in Eisenstadt v. Baird gave single women the legal right to obtain and use birth control.

As the current members of the Supreme Court have waded deeply into the water of reproductive care the issue of male choice to procreate can't be too far off in the distance. What is good for the goose is good for the gander, is a popular saying in many cultures, and the meaning applies here. Men must be enjoined from engaging in vasectomies that will stop the action of procreation, as it removes the necessary ingredient in fertilization, in creating life, stopping life. The extension of viability begins with the man, as neither, naturally, can create life without the other.

Supreme Court Decisions

The Supreme Court released decisions this week on the cases heard across this term. Many of the decisions are returning greater power to the State's to render decisions, as the constituents see fit, which essentially translates to states having the autonomy to govern themselves, and the trickle down, cities, towns, townships, within those states can pass ordinances that govern the city, town, or township, and even further, individuals rights, autonomy of person, must be granted full freedom, within the boundaries of the law and Constitution, and permitted to govern themselves, as they see fit.

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Homeless Ban Upheld

The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision, failed to set precedent on protecting homeless, many who are vulnerable, rejecting the argument that enacting laws that punish homeless people for sleeping in public places does not violate "cruel and unusual punishment" protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution's eighth amendment.

This decision continues a trend of the current court to impose an elitist view as they work to enact their conservative agenda, which translates to a ignoring wide swaths of peoples, and returning many powers to the states to deal with their own issues.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, whose state have one of the largest unhoused populations in the United States, "welcomed the decision, saying it provides "definitive authority to implement and enforce policies to clear unsafe encampments from our streets," reported The Washington Post.

Purdue Pharma

The Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, blocked the bankruptcy plan, that would have shield the Purdue family, from any liability in future lawsuits over their role in the Opioid crisis, in a decision that gutted family members of surviving victims from receiving a promised settlement, after it was found that the Purdue Family used intensive marketing efforts to target certain members of the population, to drive profits of the highly addictive pain medicine OxyContin, of which they said was mildly addictive.

"Some people who lost family members to opioids expressed shock and sadness, but also a resolve to keep fighting, after the Supreme Court on Thursday torpedoed a massive settlement for victims of the drug crisis," NBCnews.com reported.

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Apple Supplier Bans Married Women from Work

"A Reuters investigation has found that Foxconn has systematically excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone assembly plant, on the grounds they have more family responsibilities than their unmarried counterparts. S. Paul, a former human-resources executive at Foxconn India, said the company's executives verbally convey the recruitment rules to its Indian hiring agencies, which Foxconn tasks with scouting for candidates, bringing them in for interviews and employing them," Reuters.com reported.

The article continues by adding women have babies which bring more responsibility. Until the women become pregnant, which is not always possible or assured, they are still unable to secure employment. Discrimination against married women by Apple's suppliers in other countries is also prevalent as the human resources executives explained it is a general rule in Taiwan also, that married women should not be hired.

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Coronavirus Totals

According to the World Health Organization the death toll from Covid-19 has dramatically decreased, as has transmission of the virus. Even as confirmed new cases continue each week, fewer are dying from the newer variants. The CDC has recommended every person from age six months, including senior citizens, should receive at least one shot of an updated covid vaccine.

For the 7-day period ending June 30, 2024, the total of confirmed coronavirus cases reported by The World Health Organization increased to 775,615,736 confirmed cases, adding 30,146 confirmed cases. The total worldwide death toll increased by 553 to 7,051,876 deaths. The United States has stopped providing Covid data to the World Health Organization. (Data updated June 16, 2024, from The World Health Organization).

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Former Uvalde Police Chief Indicted

Former Uvalde Police Chief Pete Arredondo has been indicted on 10 felony counts for endangering the lives of the surviving children at Robb Elementary School, that survived the May 22, 2022, massacre that left 19 students and two teachers dead.

"Prosecutors allege Pedro "Pete" Arredondo failed to identify the attack as an active shooter incident, even after hearing gunshots and being informed that a teacher had been shot and there were children still inside. The indictment also asserts that Arredondo was the incident commander, something he has disputed," reported The Washington Post.

The inability of Arredondo to act, or pass the incident commander responsibilities to any of the many other high ranking law enforcement officers who arrived on the scene, has been the subject of intense public scrutiny and demands for action from the parents of the students murdered.

His inability to act, which could be the result of the psychological phenomena called reactive or attentive immobility, essentially frozen in fear, resulted in a failure in his leadership. This led to his inaccurate assessments of a hostage situation, which called for a different protocol and provide additional time. Unfortunately, mass shootings are more than commonplace in America, and two weeks before Uvalde, a Buffalo Supermarket shooter murdered ten patrons.

A second officer, Adrian Gonzalez, was also indicated. Prosecutors made their decision on the volume of available documentation, school cameras, surviving students, 9/11 calls, all which fail to provide evidentiary support to his assertation.

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Surgeon General Declares Guns Public Health Crisis

The U.S. Surgeon General has declared firearms a public health crisis. Much like previous declarations including smoking, vehicles crashes, and more recently social media, and now Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, has declared the physical and psychological effect of gun violence on victims, survivors, and communities.

"Gun violence deaths are a uniquely American phenomenon — and an issue that medical groups and public health advocates have sought to address, often with limited success. In 2015, data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization showed that the United States had a firearm-related death rate 11.4 times higher than 28 other high-income nations," reported The Washington Post.

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For more information on President Joe Biden the Biden-Harris Administration.

Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category. Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays, "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, Online Writer's Association, and International Federation of Journalists.