Presidential Debate Aftermath: 'The Only Winners Were the Donors, the Military Industrial Complex'

US President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump made a rare, joint appearance on Wednesday to mark the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 attacks during which nearly 3,000 people were killed, the Wall Street Journal reported. The ceremony, located in Manhattan, came the day after Harris and Trump faced off in a presidential debate in Philadelphia. According to the report, Trump interacted very little with Biden and Harris and was separated from the two by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

US Republicans voiced frustration that the former president failed to challenge Harris’ political record, and instead allowed his own controversies to take hold in the debate as Harris successfully got under his skin. Meanwhile, Harris doubled down on one of her most unfavorable policies, US defense spending for Israel, and maintained the Biden administration’s status quo to “always give Israel the ability to defend itself”.

Craig 'Pasta' Jardula, a political analyst, joined The Final Countdown on Wednesday to discuss the debate in a wider context as it relates to foreign policy.

“You know, the only winners last night were the donors, the military industrial complex, the bankers, big pharma, and, of course, the Zionists. The losers last night, unfortunately, were the American people,” Jardula explained. “... in 2016 [US voters] looked at [Trump] because he was at least saying, ‘we're going to get rid of NATO. We're going to go after the donors.’ He separated himself from all the Republicans out there, but now... It's real sad.”

“We had thought there was a chance that this guy would disband and get rid of NATO. None of that's there anymore. Now, everything seems to be blamed on the immigrants... And this kind of mentality when you can sit out there and try to act as if all immigrants are going to eat cats and dogs,” he added. “...that's where his campaign is right now. I mean, it's just everything is blamed on the immigrant. [...] It's just ridiculous.”

“...[meanwhile] Kamala Harris repeated every single stupid trope out there you can repeat. She praised warmongers like John McCain and Dick Cheney and Republican, hardcore Republicans, and talked about how she had 200 of them endorsing her candidacy. She also pushed back against Trump, some of his best decisions that he made, some of his best policies when he tried to make peace with North Korea,” Jardula explained.

The US Department of Defense (DOD) has $2.10 trillion in budgetary resources which makes up 14.4% of the Fiscal Year 2024’s US federal budget, according to USAspending.gov. Sputnik’s Ted Rall notes that the US defense budget is a “lot of wasted money” and that were it to be redistributed, basic needs could be cared for in the US including college expenses as well as physical and mental care.

“She's a warmonger to the nines. There's no sign of ending the war in the Ukraine. She's all for it. And she's still using that same tagline again. If we don't stop Putin now, he's going to go into Poland. People don't believe that. They're tired of this. They're done with this,” he added. “The American people, they're the ones who lost.”

“But even Harris’ plans, this opportunity economy she talks about, and then talks about a tax credit. Well, hey, a tax credit is all fine and dandy, but it's a short term solution. We have no industry in the US. We don't make anything anymore,” the analyst said. “We don't fix anything. NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] has shipped our jobs offers for quite some time. Donald Trump really doesn’t have an economic plan. His economic plan is to drill baby drill and drive your energy costs down as much as possible. I mean, so what's that going to do?”

However, $3.07 trillion in budgetary resources is available to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which makes up 21% of the US federal budget for Fiscal Year 2024. But even with trillions of dollars in resources, Americans’ health pales in comparison when compared to “almost all of the peer countries,” a study published in the National Library of Medicine, revealed.

Americans have shorter life spans than almost all of their peer countries, and that difference in life expectancy has been growing, the study revealed. The US also experiences the highest infant mortality rate of high-income countries and ranks poorly on other birth outcomes including low birth weight. The US also ranks poorly - when compared to other countries - regarding other health concerns that include: injuries and homicides, adolescent pregnancy and STIs, HIV and AIDS, drug-related mortality, obesity and diabetes, heart disease, chronic lung disease, and disabilities like arthritis.

“...I don't want to lead into conspiracy theories, but there's a lot of people who feel that, you know, 9/11 was an inside job because it allowed us to open up the door and go into the Middle East and set it on fire. And, at the end of the day, it did do that,” Jardula said. “I mean, you were mentioning all those countries like, oh, Afghanistan. I think a lot of people bought it because they thought that's where Osama bin Laden was hiding out. But Iraq? The nation of Iraq? Millions dead or displaced. I mean, it's just crazy.”

Liberals have seemingly done a 180 spin in their view of former Vice President Dick Cheney after the Republican threw his support behind Harris. Talk show host Piers Morgan told Fox & Friends that liberals have gone to “completely preposterous” lengths in their opposition of Trump. The Brit questioned why Harris is opening her arms to the conservative politician who served under former President George W. Bush, and said it was “hypocritical”.

Cheney has been ridiculed by Americans, particularly Liberals and Democrats, for his involvement in the Iraq War. The former VP reportedly “contributed to the early dysfunction on the ground” at the start of the US invasion. In a 2007 article, a US journalist revealed that Cheney undercut the CIA by instructing subordinates in that agency to “stovepipe raw intelligence directly to his office”. And that he also made an effort to establish an alternative intelligence agency within the Pentagon. The former VP has also been criticized for his advocacy and use of torture, as well as illegally spying on and monitoring innocent Americans.

“There are people who have lost loved ones in the towers that never ever got compensated. I mean, I'm sure there was some compensation for a lot of other families, but it's just the same old, same old when it comes to our country.”

“At the end of the day, the empire is the root of all problems. Whatever we do abroad overseas, we’ll bring back home and do at home. And, you know, the reason why we have so many people who hate us is because we occupy their territory. We have bases all over the place. And that was cut out of the conversations last night. In fact, it was encouraged to be more of a neocon, especially if you're looking at Kamala Harris,” he added.