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# One Year Later, Are We Better Off With Our New Washington Leadership?
November 18 2021
Written by Ken Alpern.
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THE DOCTOR IS IN - I am quite aware that many of you reading this are entirely unable to impartially weigh one side or another with respect to pros and cons of any given leadership in Washington or at home.
Arguably, the only ones capable of confronting the current status of our city, state, and nation are those who identify themselves as politically independent.
Politics and leadership and voting should not be handled as if this or that party was your favorite baseball, soccer, or basketball team...it should all be addressed with respect to who can handle our current problems at any given time.
Many portrayed former President Donald Trump as a lying, gaslighting, irresponsible crook who blew the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, and whose domestic and foreign policy were wholly divisive to the nation...to say nothing of his communication style.
One year later, can we not say the exact same things about our current President Joe Biden?
With the slapping down of Pennsylvania blue-collar workers when he shut down the Keystone Pipeline, only to enable and encourage a Russian-built pipeline to Europe, then beg OPEC nations to produce more oil, and now lease out more offshore [oil drilling sites](https://www.aol.com/news/lawsuit-argues-biden-administration-could-224436289.html), are we better off with respect to our energy policy after so recently achieved energy independence under the Obama and Trump Administrations?
Does President Biden even have a coherent policy with respect to energy and environment to "unify and unite" the nation...as former President Obama once at least TRIED to do?
And is Main Street America grinning and winning with the cost of the food, transportation, and other vital needs skyrocketing with the[ price of gasoline](https://www.foxla.com/news/california-gas-prices-record-high) being what it is (particularly in California, where stepping on the necks of the middle class is now taken for granted)?
Is the southern border, once controlled under the former Trump Administration and now with an explosive and chaotic scenario under the Biden Administration, any better with citizens from all over the world pouring in with ICE agents and border states unable to figure out how to proceed?
Are we happier? Is blue-collar America happier?
As support for [Black Lives Matter](https://www.aol.com/news/support-black-lives-matter-movement-183139960.html) (BLM) goes down, and as [support from all Americans](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/biden-s-job-rating-sinks-42-percent-nbc-news-poll-n1282781) (regardless of ethnicity) plummeting, and in particular among [Latinos and Independents](https://www.latinorebels.com/2021/10/22/pollbidenindependentslatinos/)...
...the question of whether or not Joe Biden's promise to unite the country is a fair one. The adults in the room have already done this, but the partisan children need to grow up, stop talking about the tweeting President no longer in office, and start talking about the remote/absent President now in office.
No reasonable person wants the level of identity politics we have now (racist in its own right), racial identity politics rammed down students' throats (also racist), and pandering to black, Latino, and other ethnic minorities (REALLY racist). But we've got in with hyper-energetic levels on steroids that is anything BUT uniting our states and peoples.
Virginia happened for a reason or ten. New Jersey came inches within a new GOP governor. In a hypothetical match, Iowan voters would favor Trump over Biden in a 2024 [rematch](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/11/13/iowa-poll-trump-leads-biden-possible-2024-matchup/8609852002/) by 11 percentage points.
And if Biden chooses not to run again in 2024, either because of age or personal desire for any reason, would Vice-President Kamala Harris do any better against Donald Trump or any other GOP candidate?
Because Vice President Harris's poll numbers have plummeted even lower than that of [President Joe Biden](https://www.latimes.com/projects/kamala-harris-approval-rating-polls-vs-biden-other-vps/).
So shall we keep blaming the past Administration for the current Administration's problems and woes, which have exploded in so little time and with record speed?
Shall we keep blaming racist Americans, when growing numbers of Black, Latino, and Asian Americans are increasingly finding fault with Washington?
Or do we demand scrutiny of our current President as much as we did his predecessor?
Are we better off than we were a year ago, or shall be defensive-at-all-costs to our current leadership as if the current political party in power is our favorite sports team.
Are Americans flooding blue states, or are they flooding red states, as they move to greener pastures? Who shall we cite as the leadership and/or related causes of this phenomenon?
Donald Trump is out of power. Joe Biden is now in power.
Is our new leadership any better than we had 1-2 years ago?
*(Kenneth S. Alpern, M.D, is a dermatologist who has served in clinics in Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside Counties, and is a proud husband and father to two cherished children and a wonderful wife. He was termed out of the Mar Vista Community Council (MVCC) twice after two stints as a Board member for 9, years and is also a Board member of the Westside Village Homeowners Association. He previously co-chaired the MVCC Outreach, Planning, and Transportation/Infrastructure Committees for 10 years. He was previously co-chair of the CD11 Transportation Advisory Committee, the grassroots Friends of the Green Line (which focused on a Green Line/LAX connection), and the nonprofit Transit Coalition His latest project is his fictional online book entitled* **The Unforgotten Tales of Middle-Earth** *and can be reached at* [*Ken.Alpern@MarVista.org*](mailto:Ken.Alpern@MarVista.org)*. The views expressed in this article are solely those of Dr. Alpern.)*
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