Less than five months before the November mid-term elections are set to take place, which will shape a new political balance in Congress and determine the second half of Biden's presidential term, the climate in the US is now becoming increasingly toxic and polarised.
After the latest shocking decisions by the conservative majority of the Supreme Court - striking down the half-century-old constitutional protection of women's right to abortion on the one hand, upholding the right of Americans to walk around armed outside their homes on the other - the country seems to have split in two.
The ultra-conservative part of it is celebrating a return to the days of the... Wild West, now hoping for total domination. Not only in the November elections, but also in the 2024 presidential elections.
The progressive part is rallying against the suppression of individual rights and the imposition of medieval obscurantism in a country that presents itself as a "beacon of democracy".
On American soil, meanwhile, in its "temple" on Capitol Hill, the House of Representatives committee continues hearings investigating the violent uprising and invasion of January 6, 2021, bringing to light shocking evidence of one of the "darkest chapters" in America's modern political history.
New blow to democracy
The political "footprint" of the former US president was evident in the latest Supreme Court decisions.
In his one term in the White House, Donald Trump was able to select three lifetime members of the current composition of the nine-member court.
He thus tipped the scales clearly in favor of conservatives over progressives, 6 to 3, dramatically changing the ideological balance.
Now, this conservative super-majority has made two decisions that radically and irrevocably reshape the "map" of civil rights in the US.
In the absence of a federal law that would protect the fundamental right to abortion (a tragic consequence of the political divide in Congress), Friday's decision to repeal the 1973 "Roe v. Wade" law essentially gives the floor to the legality or otherwise of abortion in the American states.
Already more than half of them have imposed or are promoting severe restrictions or even outright abolition.
At the same time, it seems to be opening up the Asclepius of hell for the circumvention of other rights. Already in the rationale of the ruling, contraception, same-sex marriage or even the non-criminalisation of same-sex sexual relations are targeted...
Many open "wounds"
This is essentially an extension of the agenda of the religious right and ultra-conservatives in the US.
To their great satisfaction - as well as that of the gun lobby - the Supreme Court had just 24 hours earlier struck down as unconstitutional a New York State law, in force since 1913, that imposed strict restrictions on carrying a concealed weapon in public.
The ruling is seen as a blow to advocates of establishing a stricter legal framework for gun ownership.
And it was seen as a... warning shot to the bill that was finally passed Friday night by Congress to curb gun violence.
Its main points include the removal of guns from people deemed dangerous to themselves or society.
Its main points call for the removal of guns from people deemed dangerous to themselves or society. Stricter criminal record and psychological background checks for gun buyers aged 18-21. Stricter crackdown on illegal gun sales.
The bill was passed against the backdrop of a new wave of deadly mass shootings in the U.S.
It is the most significant in nearly 30 years in terms of tightening gun control and gun ownership.
And it passed the Senate with Republican support. Not coincidentally, however, those who voted for it will not be running in the midterm elections...
In the "trenches" of the inquiry
The next showdown between the two rival camps is already underway in the House Select Committee on the "Black Day" of January 6.
The Democrats' quest is to clear the way for the prosecution of Donald Trump for conspiracy to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.
The final decision rests with the Attorney General. But as many argue, the case may never reach a criminal court.
Undeterred, moreover, Trump is reportedly eager to announce a new White House bid in the 2024 election.
The intra-party elections among Republicans in states to nominate party candidates in the November midterm elections (involving the election of a new House and the renewal of a third of the Senate) are already acting as a barometer.
The signals for the Trump camp are mixed. However, several of the candidates backed by the former president have already received the party nomination.
A significant part of the Republican electoral base continues to believe in the dangerous narrative of "electoral fraud" in 2020.
A large part of the party remains under the control of the former and would-be next president.
The big stakes at the ballot box
On the flip side, Joe Biden's approval rating has dropped to 36% and has been steadily declining (below 50% for almost a year), in diametrical contrast to inflation, which is at a 40-year high.
Just 18% of respondents in the latest Ipsos survey said they believe the country is headed in the right direction.
"Voters need to make their voices heard. This fall they should elect more senators and representatives who will codify a woman's right to choose," the U.S. president said in the immediate aftermath of the Supreme Court's invalid abortion ruling.
In short, the next big battle will be in the states. Not just for congressional seats, but for the very direction of the country.
Several predict a rallying of the Democratic electoral base. But the same is happening with fanaticism in the opposing camp...
The coming months are considered crucial and are predicted to be dangerously polarized. Political tension will be at its peak. To what point will likely depend on whether or not Trump runs again. In many ways.
He has left an indelible mark on American society as an open wound, as the latest developments show. Inevitably, the question that plagues many again is whether the showdown will be limited to ballots and ballot boxes...
Source: in.gr
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