Following the largest voter turnout in US history and what might more properly be called an “election fortnight,” after the time it took to call a winner officially, Joe Biden was declared the 46th President of the United States. That level of engagement was undoubtedly fueled more so by distaste for Trump than enthusiasm for Biden, but that hasn’t stopped the incumbent and other Republicans from falsely citing voter fraud and attempting various means to overturn the result, with a rumor of at least 140 expected to challenge the Electoral College’s certification of Biden’s victory on January 6. Still, their strategy’s unlikely to pay off, and Biden’s inauguration will take place on January 20, granting voters the not-so-lesser evil they gave the mandate to rule.
I say not-so-lesser, because – from most angles – Biden’s presidency won’t be much of an improvement if it’s an improvement at all. We can reasonably assume that without any reference to Biden himself. All we have to do is look at some of his cabinet nominations so far.
Lloyd Austin, a board member of Raytheon and team member of a private equity fund that invests in defense contractors, has been chosen for Secretary of Defense. For Secretary of State, Biden chose Antony Blinken, who served as Deputy Secretary of State under Obama. Although Biden campaigned on ending US support for the war in Yemen, Blinken increased weapons shipments to Saudi Arabia, which is directly involved in the conflict. Tom Vilsack, a known ally of Monsanto, bagged Secretary of Agriculture. Neera Tanden, who’s gone on record in support of ending Social Security, was tapped for Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
Assuming the Senate confirms all of Biden’s picks, this spells more empty platitudes, warmongering, and austerity until at least 2024. By then, one can only hope that more of the same old neoliberal policies will push enough people to hop off this seesaw and either vote for a genuine socialist if given the opportunity or order an absentee ballot to spoil it by writing across the word ‘SOCIALISM.
Originally published at https://wspus.org/2021/01/second-issue-of-world-socialist/.