Commentary
I just listened to three days of the Democratic National Convention on Fox News. At least I think I did, because some Democrat friends posted on Facebook that Fox News wasn’t covering it. But as I point out later, Democrats seem to be living in a parallel universe where, I guess, Fox News didn’t actually cover it.
I was struck by how downbeat and accusatory it was. Some left-wing pundits praised it. Some progressive acquaintances called it refreshing. Maybe I was listening to some deep fake videos, because I found it just the opposite. Do progressives and conservatives live in parallel universes like those in the “Mirror, Mirror” episode of the original “Star Trek” series? These universes are populated by the same people in the same situations but in one universe those people are good, and in the other they are not. And they have goatees.
Let’s examine the DNC speeches.
John Kerry
First was John Kerry, former Secretary of State under Barack Obama and failed presidential candidate. In criticizing President Donald Trump’s foreign policy, Kerry actually said that Obama “eliminated the threat of an Iran with a nuclear weapon.” In the alternate universe, maybe, but in my universe, Obama gave Iran over $150 billion. Germany had already shown in 2016 that Iran was cheating on the deal. By 2017, Iran was refusing U.N. inspectors, and Israel confirmed Iran’s cheating in 2018.In this alternate universe, President Trump inherited “a more peaceful world” and “bankrupted it” according to Kerry. In this alternate universe, Kerry and the Obama administration “built a 68-nation coalition to destroy ISIS.” In my universe they also built that coalition but never destroyed ISIS. In my universe, Obama’s proclaimed “JV team” was growing its worldwide califate by the time Obama left office. Obama started excusing his incompetence by claiming that he always said that eliminating ISIS “will not be quick.” In just over a year after taking office in my universe, President Trump virtually eliminated ISIS.
In my universe, one day before Kerry called Trump’s foreign policy a “blooper reel,” President Trump had concluded negotiating an historic peace treaty between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. And three days after Kerry’s speech, the United States demanded the restoration of all U.N. sanctions on Iran. When President Trump sets a red line, you’d better not cross it. At least in my universe, not in the Democrats’ universe.
Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama, the woman who famously announced that she was never proud of her country until her husband was doing well in the Democratic presidential primary, started with “There’s a lot of beauty in that story [of America]. There’s a lot of pain in it, too. A lot of struggle and injustice and work left to do.”She continued by saying, “Four years ago, too many people chose to believe that their votes didn’t matter. Maybe they were fed up. Maybe they thought the outcome wouldn’t be close. Maybe the barriers felt too steep.” Obviously after four years, she still doesn’t understand why many in America had felt left out during her husband’s administration.
She goes on to explain that “a never-ending list of innocent people of color continue to be murdered; stating the simple fact that a black life matters is still met with derision from the nation’s highest office.” She then gives a long list of the evils and injustices in modern America, especially those being perpetrated against minorities by police and American institutions. Somehow Joe Biden can do what her own husband, she admits, failed to do. This, again, is the alternate universe. My universe saw minority unemployment fall under President Trump to the lowest levels in history.
Michelle Obama envisions a world where people are no longer put in jail for “minding their own business just because of the color of their skin.” Where they will no longer “watch in horror as children are torn from their families and thrown into cages.” Because in her universe, that started with President Trump, but in my universe, that practice was started by her own husband. She longs for a day when “pepper spray and rubber bullets are [not] used on peaceful protesters for a photo op.” In my universe, people who burn down churches are not considered peaceful protesters.
Bernie Sanders
According to Bernie Sanders, we are living in terrible times. I might agree, but he’s not concerned about the rioting in major cities across the United States. According to Sanders, the crises are systemic racism, climate change, greed, oligarchy, and bigotry. He also mentions the health crisis, which he’s been discussing since his last presidential run and, in fact, for his entire time in Congress. He also discusses the “economic collapse.” But in my universe, our robust economy is holding up against the worst pandemic in over 100 years.In his universe, President Trump is “a threat to our democracy.” He claims that “under this administration, authoritarianism has taken root.” In my universe it was the Obama administration that used the IRS to obstruct conservative groups, scapegoated innocent people for their own failures in foreign affairs that resulted in the loss of American lives, supported foreign dictators against the interests and lives of their own people, released Islamic terrorists in exchange for American deserters, and wiretapped political opponents. In my universe, the Democratic Party manipulated the electoral process to deny Sanders the nomination four years ago.
Sanders then gives a list of socialist policies that Joe Biden will implement to “move us forward.” Do we believe that Biden is a moderate as his handlers and public relations people assure us? Or do we believe that Biden will implement these socialist policies that Sanders is promising his followers? Or perhaps in parallel universes, both can be true.
Hillary Clinton
Hillary Clinton begins by saying, “After the last election, I said, ‘We owe Donald Trump an open mind and the chance to lead.’” I don’t remember her saying that. I remember her saying that the election was stolen. I remember her saying that she actually won. I remember her saying that just a few days ago. But maybe in that alternate universe, Hillary Clinton took her defeat with dignity.She adds later in her speech that for the past four years, people have told her, “I didn’t realize how dangerous he was,” and “I wish I could go back and do it over,” and “I should have voted.” And then later again, she adds that we need to ensure that “Trump can’t [again] sneak or steal his way to victory.” See, even in her universe, she believes that she was the true winner of the last election.
She ends, like the other Democrats, on a downbeat note: “There’s a lot of heartbreak in America right now—and the truth is, many things were broken before the pandemic.” They want to make sure we know just how bad things are, and they weren’t ever good, it seems.
Barack Obama
Barack Obama begins by referencing the Constitution, a document that he skirted so many times during his own presidency, at least in my universe. Barack Obama claims that President Trump has “shown no interest in putting in the work.” While you may disagree with President Trump, he’s obviously putting in the work.In this alternate universe, Barack Obama was rooting for President Trump and supporting him from Day One, contrary to what happened in my universe. Obama did say uniting words immediately after Trump’s election in 2016, but after that, he rarely held back from repeatedly criticizing his predecessor and his successor. His criticism of George W. Bush began at his inauguration and continued throughout his presidency as an excuse for foreign wars he could not end, foreign relations that deteriorated on his watch, and an economy that he just couldn’t get off the ground.
In the 2016 race, Obama declared Trump “unfit for the presidency.” After Trump’s election, Obama broke with precedent and criticized President Trump numerous times. At least in my universe.
Kamala Harris
Kamala Harris, in her speech, made it clear that electing her and Joe Biden will be the first step toward American racial justice and equality by having a black, Asian woman married to a Jewish man in or near the Oval Office. In her universe, no person of color has ever been elected to high office in this country. In my universe, that already happened, and the racial divide got worse, not better.Harris informed us that the CCP virus is racist. In her universe, the disease is brought about by “injustice in reproductive and maternal healthcare” and in “the excessive use of force by police.” And that’s why President Trump doesn’t care about it. That’s why he wants people to go back to work. Because he’s a racist.
Joe Biden
Joe Biden gave a passing speech, which garnered him praise from all parts of the media (though it went unreported that he did actually screw up and say, “This is the United States of America and there has never been anything we’ve been able to accomplish when we’ve done it together.”).That’s because everyone knows that Joe Biden lives in his own private universe—one where he actually has the ability to lead the greatest nation in the history of the world. But that’s definitely not my universe.
Bob Zeidman has a Bachelor of Art and a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University. He is an inventor and the founder of successful high-tech Silicon Valley firms including Zeidman Consulting and Software Analysis and Forensic Engineering. He also writes novels; his latest is the political satire “Good Intentions.”
The views expressed herein are solely those of the author. As a nonpartisan public charity, The Epoch Times does not endorse these statements and takes no position on political candidates.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
