The ‘decency’ card and other reality checks with Joe Biden

Meet You in the Middle

One thought has recycled for months now. Often, after a night’s slumber I awake to awareness that an enormous cloud is continuing to grow over the election. Are entities tampering with the election, if so, then exactly how are they interfering? Also, if nefarious forces are fiddling with our election, who are the forces at work to destroy our democratic republic and can the election be an honest one? This conversation, along with the following two subjects — Covid-19 and law and order — have become the most debated issues in the country from the everyday Joe and Sally to the endless chatter of pundits.

Well, I have the answer. The sad truth is that the election is being “tampered” with — by us. We are buying in to the turmoil and confusion being delivered by our media, our political parties and foreign advisories in an endless information drop that happened every nano second. This information drops thunder into our homes, cars and across our media devices like a virus of its own. Our foreign adversaries are exerting influence and, if possible, direct influence as often as possible as they have done so for decades and decades. Today those plays, on their parts, are easier because of the new fertile ground for influence and meddling that the Internet provides.

Our adversaries have always known that destabilization of our institutions will lead to the demise of our leading position in the world community. They have stated as much if we would only listen attentively. But this simple concept needs our complicity. Mistrust in our foundational processes is the fastest way to destroy the United States. Are they succeeding? Ask yourself. We have processes, lawful processes to deal with an injustice and the resulting frustration of fatigue with our foundational design. Taking the law into your own hands, destroying property and intimidating and frightening citizens is not part of the rule of law.

Those are unlawful activities and there must be equal protection under the law in all applications of the law not just the ones that are cherry-picked. How are we doing on this? Ask yourself. Recall what some clever pundits have recently reminded us: Martin Luther King, Jr. never marched at night. Moreover, there appears to be little patience with lawful peaceful processes that have been a bedrock of our country. It is too slow and antiquated is the hue and cry by some organized entities that seek to tear down and rebuild the country. Rebuild to what design? Become a God-less nation with, for example, nuclear families a thing of the past and on and on. How are we doing? Ask yourself.

This coming election, we must not —must not — embrace the herd mentality and cast a vote based on sound bites that are designed to permeate your consciousness, creating a feeling of comfort that you are doing “the right thing.” Please, I implore you to do your homework before casting your vote in this election that is being billed as the only time we have ever had a leader who is “unfit” or a leader who possesses “decency” and on and on it goes. This is really about inclusion of all and decisions about the future of our country that will require a strong determined leader — whomever receives our mandate.

Here is an example of the outright manipulation to which we are being subjected without any nuance and how it can be utilized by our foreign adversaries. Let us look at the decency word used by the Lincoln Project to gaslight Republican voters who are uncomfortable with President Trump’s behavior. Who are the founders? They are mostly past political election consultants and operatives who were scooted aside with Trump’s outsider win. They want to defeat the man who impacted their livelihoods and with whom they differ by referring to Senator Joe Biden’s “decency” as their unique selling proposition to persuade you to vote for Biden. That is the juxtaposition against “Lying Trump.” People lie but are some worse than others? Their message is Trump lies and Joe is decent Let’s look.

Dr. Jill Biden, according to her ex-husband, Bill Stevenson, met Joe Biden when he and his ex-wife worked on Biden’s first campaign for the U.S. Senate in Delaware in 1972. He says they “sat in Biden’s kitchen” working on the campaign. Jill Biden married this ex-football player, now millionaire businessman, at the age of 18. He says he became convinced of the affair when Joe Biden had a small fender-bender while driving Stevenson’s wife’s (Jill) Corvette. At the time of their divorce, they owned a bar and music venue in downtown Wilmington. Jill sued him for one half the value of the bar, Stone Balloon, but the judge in the case denied her petition.

Biden said during the nationally televised DNC convention he was introduced to Jill via a blind date in 1975 by his brother. Do your homework. If the ex-husband (named one of the most successful businessman in Delaware) is telling the truth (he says he has no ill will but “facts are facts”), then the would-be president lied to the nation on national television about fundamental facts of his life and that is not the only time. He also told a shabby lie about his first wife and daughter’s death in December 1972. When giving speeches he said that they were killed by a man (Mr. Dunn) “who drank his lunch.” Yet, it appears that the late Mrs. Biden was unfortunately at fault. There was no evidence of alcohol on either driver. Dunn’s daughter had to write a cease and desist demand that Biden halt defaming her father. It stopped. Final note: To date, the official highway patrol record of the accident cannot be located.

More decency. China, according to U.S. intelligence reports, appears to be urging the U.S. voters to favor Senator Biden. Biden’s record on China is interesting. His son, Hunter, made a deal with financial institutions that are not independent entities but entities of the Communist Party and he received remuneration for doing so. Senator Biden’s brothers and sister are implicated in receiving financial benefit here in the U.S. from consulting, in-house advertising, and real estate deals where Biden showed favor by even meeting potential investors along the way.

More decency. Where are the movements that led the cancel culture activities against so many men when “Uncle Joe Biden” has had charges launched against him that were never rigorously investigated? Do your homework.

Now, President Trump and his decency. His niece portrayed him as a horribly flawed individual and his sister said that he could not be trusted. His last remaining brother, who died recently, appears to not have shared these feelings. His daughter received trademarks from China. His children and his staff were working on real estate deals in Russia and elsewhere when he was running for president. Russia is said to favor him.

His widely known unseemly exploits with women did not (at least to our knowledge to date) occur while in office. His pejorative characterization of women and what he could do to them have been repeatedly sounded and investigated more than most.

His relationship with Russia, at least to date, has not revealed any money taken from Russian oligarchs during his time in office and the investigations to date do not have concrete evidence that he or his family were financially rewarded during his run for the presidency or while in office.

These few facts might inspire you to move yourself out of the column of an uninformed or misinformed voter counted on by so many who need you to remain in that column. In closing, do not take my word for anything you read. Do your homework and arrive at your own conclusion before voting, if “decency” is your test. How are we doing with our choices to lead our nation? Maybe one day we will be able to meet in the middle once again.

Shay McNeal is assistant publisher and editor at large of the Charleston Mercury; she divides her time between Northern Virginia and Charleston and may be reached at shaymcneal@gmail.com.