In the year 2024 there is a surprising contrast, one that we've been through in the 1st century A.D, which is the rise of the Empire replacing the Republic. As you might recall from your Roman history, that involved not only Julius Caesar and his death and the battle between Octavian (the inheritor of Caesar's mantle, an adopted son) and Mark Anthony (Caesar's lieutenant general for his campaigns), but also the significant presence of a very powerful woman—Cleopatra.
Cleopatra's presence in both the drama with Caesar and the drama with Mark Antony has reverberated through the first century A.D., and a number of women in the Julio-Claudian family have been successful at wielding power.
However, now the American empire must confront this same contrast. It's not only two parties facing each other, it's a man and a woman facing each other. And Harris last week faced the cameras as the Cleopatra of the 21st century, and did very well in my measure. She made no major mistakes. She made no stumbles about her policy. She repeated the campaign speech she's been giving, which is very successful, especially in the seven swing states.
Once upon a time, when she was a California senator, California attorney general, D.A. of San Francisco, and then a senator from California, she was for converting the automobile and trucking fleet to all batteries all the time. In other words, electric vehicles. She also supported converting the electricity grid to renewables—solar and wind, perhaps nuclear.
However, now on the campaign trail, she's erased the sharp distinctions that existed before. For example, she says she's no longer for a ban on fracking in Pennsylvania and other states. No ban leaves a lot of room to be redefined according to the costs that would involve continuing fracking in Pennsylvania.
But all of this is acceptable to the Democratic Party. So I turn to Germanicus and say that Cleopatra in the 21st century is doing very well. But perhaps he does not agree…
LINKS:
CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor on YouTube
The John Batchelor Show on Apple Podcasts:
The Legitimacy of Cleopatra