Hey I been watching the Olympics, so I am used to tears, mostly those of joy! But the boxers? The FEMALE boxers? And now swimmers??!? MALE !?! What the hell is wrong with that Caeleb guy? If ya can’t take a punch or a loss ya need to quit the Olympics and go into conservative politics
To the usual suspects who I assume are bitching because we as usual had to give some truly evil people, including a murderer, back to Russia to get these prisoners/hostages:
1. Fuck off.
2. That is the inherent advantage that ruthless dictatorships have in dealing with democracies that practice the rule of law.
I agree. To achieve so much with no help from the House and the thinnest Senate majority you can get, is impressive enough. But to do it at 80+ years, during a global pandemic and with the entire GOP apparatus out to destroy your family is astounding. Images like these, where Biden’s unmatched empathy is on full display, will endure. I still can barely watch the video of Joe hugging Parkland victim, Chris Hixon’s son, Corey, and kissing his head and telling him he will be ok in 2018. Joe is a good man.
I am compelled to point out that the reason Whelan is an ex marine is he was dishonorably discharged for theft. The hagiography has even reached the pages of this hallowed space.
Whelan sounds like a ne'er do well, but there seems to be genuine affection towards him by Biden and Harris. I have trouble seeing them as bad judges of character. I lean to the conspiracy theory that he is an actual spy and his confusing background is cover up stuff.
I don’t know the details of the theft, but people are often complicated and seldom entirely bad or entirely good. He was still a tragic and empathetic figure in Russia’s blatantly cruel campaign to snatch innocent people and incarcerate them as political pawns and capital. We need to bring Marc Fogel home too, and any others wasting away in that cruel, lonely place. Just the thought of a few nights held captive in a hostile nation and away from my family is too horrifying to imagine. And the stakes and obstacles between you and freedom are SO intimidating. Putin’s Russia is terrifying.
Someone will get the story on him now that he’s this famous. There will be deep stories or a book. You can’t be the recipient of the enormous magnitude of time and resources expended on his behalf to bring him home and not expect your story to be told.
"The three Americans were among 16 people — both western hostages and several Russians opposition figures held in Russia — who were freed by Russia in exchange for eight Russian spies and operatives held in several western countries."
Let's unpack this:
* Sixteen for eight (even though one Russian opposition leader, Ilya Yashin, said he didn't want to be part of the swap);
* This is the largest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War;
* Pres Biden kept control of five other countries which were involved in the exchange, besides the US and Russia;
* He was able to keep the trade a secret until it was done -- a near-impossibility in DC where everyone leaks everything if it is to their benefit;
* He finalized and carried out this mission while sick.
-----
"I suppose I just broke the same law by calling it a war and not a “special military operation,”"
It's ok Dok, you're safe even if you had a desire to visit Russia. In late March Russia started to refer to its unprovoked attack on a neighboring sovereign nation as "war:"
"On 22 March, the Kremlin officially declared, two years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, that Russia is in a state of war. “Yes, it started as a special military operation,” said Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with a pro-Kremlin newspaper, Argumenty i Fakty. “But as soon as this gang developed and the collective West started participating in the conflict on the side of Ukraine, for us it became a war[.]”" https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/why-russia-has-only-now-declared-war-ukraine
On top of that, Putin already referred to his unjustifiable assault as a war in Dec 2022:
"However, Russian President Vladimir Putin already used the term “war” on 22 December 2022 to refer to the fighting in Ukraine. On that occasion, Putin’s remark was likely a slip of the tongue." ibid
So grateful they are home safe. And yes, what an accomplishment for Biden, while sick with Covid and dealing with withdrawing from the race. And keeping it quiet until the deal was final and everyone was on their way home. Focusing on the hostages and the cooperation with our allies that brought them home, rather than bragging about what HE did. This is what happens when the adults aka Dems are in charge.
I look at this, and feel like...even more angry that Joe Biden was treated this way. Easily a top 10 President, getting all the greatness in 4 years, and he had to hang it up early because of media-fed bullshit. Because again President Klan Robe does NOTHING but gibber, he doesn't remember what his own fucking second daughter looks like, and he thinks Hannibal Lecter is a real person.
And I am belaboring it, but I hate the message of how Biden was treated, it really means that no matter what you do, no matter what you achieve, if you "look" infirm or are disabled you are no longer effective to be President. We should all think about that in our lives, even as some use the excellent coalescing of Dems around Kamala Harris as an ex post facto justification for them treating Joe Biden so horribly. And the horrible thing was basically seeding this shit in the media, helping amplify rightwing smears of Joe Biden. No matter how effective it may have been tactically (for now, as Team Fash pivots to doing blood quantum on Kamala Harris) it still hurts. And then to find out that even as he was being shoved on the ice floe, dealing with COVID, this guy along with Harris were still busting their asses to bring the hostages home.
THIS is the motherfucking thanks you get.
Democrats could've been boosting this and fighting back against the smears but nope they wanted to help them along because being OLD BALLS is the worst sin imaginable. Because "image." That's what the credulous "independent" voters and those who are all of a sudden engaged because Kamala Harris is elevated to the top of the ticket. But I question the values of these voters. The same goddamn policies are on the ballot. Every danger we face is the SAME that we faced before Joe Biden was shoved on the ice floe.
The administration was STILL the most successful before Biden was shoved on the ice floe. I just want to make sure these assholes don't then knife Kamala Harris because I damn sure a number of them will try to push Harris over a glass cliff. I am heartened that a bunch of them have come in to support her. But how many are looking to knife her at the first sign of trouble.
Which reminds me, where the fuck is George Clooney? He was all over the TV knifing Biden on behalf of donors. Has he said anything since? Since he seems to be quiet as a church mouse.
Amen! 🙌 I’m still pretty angry on Biden’s behalf too. History will treat him well, he saved the country from multiple disasters: COVID, PAB, Jan 6, and gets no credit for it because he’s a workhorse not a show pony. The administration is what counts and even if Biden gave a poor debate showing he was still the same guy, with the same good people around him and a second Biden administration would have been just as strong and effective as the first one. Optics are bullshit.
I am hopeful about Harris because I think it will be just as good as a second Biden term and, because people are shallow and easily swayed, her youthful energy seems to have uplifted the party and may be bringing in new voters. Which is all to the good, however would these same people have just sit back and let Trump win because Biden, old. I mean, really? WTF? Are they really that dim? The stakes are exactly the same!
And yeah her youthful energy will definitely energize them, until they get led by the nose again by rightwing media human centipede offal laundered into the MSM. And then what, will they push her off a glass cliff? That's really what gives me pause about this.
But I want us to all get out the vote and we'll see what happens, I want us to punish the Republicans up and down the ballot.
She's not beholdened to party leadership because they deigned to back her. She was on the phone with state party leaders before most of the DC honchos were back from brunch. She had the delegates sewn up in 48 hours.
She's not beholdened to big donors -- she had $100M within 24 hours, most of that from small donors.
Don't get me wrong -- Joe and Kamala worked as a team to pull this off. She has been working her tail off.
But Kamala Harris is walking into the DNC with all the marbles instead of what the backstabbers plotted. And a lot of that is Joe Biden's work.
He also let the GOP blow their wad at their weeklong Nazi rally posing as a convention, expending all their energy and attacks on him. Then pulls this masterstroke 3 days later. That’s grade A politicking right there. They lost valuable real estate wasting time on him. He helped her, and the party (hence the country) with his timing. All while recovering from COVID, dealing with a sense of betrayal AND negotiating a multi country hostage swap. Not exactly what one would expect from a doddering old man. 🤔
I like that too and also I really am glad to see how he has supported her through the whole thing. He never second-guessed her and he was always full-throated in his support for her. That means a lot. And I also love that he has consistently been boosting her. That is a thing about Joe Biden too. He is a team player as is Kamala. And definitely great things are ahead.
I'm just a little salty about the disrespect is all.
Oh I was so livid when I first heard the news, I was googling if I could switch registration to independent.
And Adam Schiff and George Clooney could be lying in the street and I would drive by.
But Joe is old, he's not incompetent and he flipped the narrative.
And the greatest proof that they were wrong is none of them wanted Kamala. None of them expected to have to deal with Kamala after the first ballot. They got rid of Joe and it was going to be a knock down drag out fight at the convention.
They were smoking their own stuff.
Joe and Kamala left them in the dust. And he's still got five months to get stuff done.
What kills me about all these 'Hollywood types' (George Clooney, looking at you) is that the Presidency is not a part you can recast if the first guy you signed isn't working out. You can't just decide that the first guy you hired to be Prez needs to be replaced because the camera doesn't love him or he's clashing with the director, so it's time to call Casting and ask for someone else.
That's not how it works in the real world, Boo. And this is the real world, not the set of a movie you're producing.
Liked, because I'm in complete agreement with you about what a great President Biden has been and how poorly he's been treated by an ungrateful nation (and media). I personally don't think Biden was "shoved on the ice floe." He's said he expected to be a "transitional" President for a term, and while some Democrats were absolutely knives out, I think Biden was working in close tandem with a lot of the better ones to figure out what would be best for the country.
That is something a self-obsessed toddler ike Donald Trump would NEVER do with members of HIS Party. As soon as one of them shows the slightest hesitation to lick his boots, he throws them to the wolves - or to the lynch mob.
Anyway, I sincerely respect your anger. For myself, I've decided not to spend anymore energy on the knives out people, because we have work ahead of us to stop fascism - and that's the direction in which I now want to turn my indignation.
That is fair. I do think "transitional" president meant something else, as someone deliberately running for a single term would be an instant lame duck, but I guess a lot of people kinda just assumed anyway (especially since Biden said every time he was asked he was running for reelection). But it is what it is and one should always be careful about what they campaign on. Only Democrats are required to hold to their promises, following Murc's Law.
The reason why I say Biden was shoved on the ice floe is people really made a big show of his age, and his supposed allies just didn't keep pushing the magnificent things he did leading this nation, because it would undercut their message that "hey he's old and old = unfit." And this isn't the first time. I've heard this about Sonia Sotomayor. Because really if you have health issues, in the new kind of mercenary way, you are expendable. Democrats need Johnny Unbeatable for their races, and the Democrats must also nominate Tammy Invulnerable for the Supreme Court.
And honestly it was a LOT of ableism that was thrown on Joe Biden. And President Klan Robe benefited greatly for that.
Nevertheless I think your assessment is fair. I do need to get over it. And you are also right about President Klan Robe's enforcement. Biden is super impressive for that for putting country first. I just hope the balance of the people that bayed for his head will give him his flowers now while he can still smell them.
I appreciate your statements a lot, and I’ve also appreciated your unflagging commitment to GOTV efforts, despite your anger. Thanks for taking the time to say all these things. I also have been holding on to my anger at how the end of Pres. Biden’s campaign came about, and it’s made me struggle to sing along with the happyhappyjoyjoy song of Kamala’s campaign, because it feels a little bit … ephemeral or something. I fret that that the weirdly instant groundswell of support she’s engendered can evaporate just as quickly, like the fleeting fancy of flimsy fandom or fads. (I apologize for the alliteration, that wasn’t my goal.) But yeah, it’s like, the issues, the platform, the stakes, are exactly the same as they were with Biden, so how come we’re suddenly ablaze with passion? It feels untrustworthy, and is glossing over a really ugly and unjust end for Biden. I’m not in a personality cult, so I’m happy to vote for whichever Dem is on the ticket, because it’s the issues and the platform, not the person who has my endorsement. But I can feel sad for how the supposed good guys treated a good man.
It disturbs me because I could see them doing this same thing to Kamala Harris. And I feel very protective of Kamala Harris in a sense, because I am tired of Black women getting pushed over the cliff. I am watching right now who comes to Kamala Harris' aid as the Republicans have switched, to a person, to their all-out racist blood quantum campaign, complete with calipers. I want to see who decides to memory-hole the record.
Because here's another thing: Biden went big and bold. Knifing him has completely disincentivised any Democratic leader from doing big bold progressive things. What incentive would Durbin and Schumer have to acquiesce to activist demands to remove Senate institutions when they both can see they could just as easily be next on the ice floe?
There is a very big problem too because of the way people think youth is everything. And they forget about the importance of institutional knowledge. Joe Biden is apparently an encyclopedia of institutional knowledge and that's how you're able to shepherd great legislation through a shit congress, and lead important international efforts like this hostage repatriation.
Just absolutely bonkers how political science works sometimes.
I was watching a commentator somewhere else (forgive my inability to remember who said it) that said there’s a very real risk of Kamala encountering the Glass Cliff too. My inner cynic is afraid that we’re doing that thing, where TPTB put a woman in a position of power knowing that there are insurmountable obstacles ahead, or that the ground has been salted badly enough that no amount of good stewardship can make it productive again. Or, maybe good things are possible in that situation, but the woman won’t receive the same support, resources, or benefit of the doubt her male predecessors enjoyed, and when things go badly (even normal and expected challenges and missteps), the woman receives more blame and harsh judgement than a man would in the same situation. The Glass Cliff is an effect that serves to strengthen gender bias and ultimately entrench discriminatory practices, basically rigging the game to make it seem like women aren’t as capable as men in positions of power. It should go without saying that women of color experience the Glass Cliff more severely than white women do. (I’ll put a link below to an excellent explainer for those interested.)
Kamala, if she prevails, is going to have probably the worst time imaginable as a president. Even if she succeeds, it’s going to come at a cost. We HAVE to make an explicit effort, and commit to supporting her doing good work, and fighting back against the unfair racist, sexist, and all other forms of prejudice attacks she’s going to encounter. We are responsible for fighting to break the Glass Cliff just like it’s up to us to break the Glass Ceiling by voting her in. If we know what’s possibly coming, we can fight it more effectively.
Well put and thank you. And you also remind me of how Ruth Bader Ginsburg was treated by members of her own party both for her age and her health issues.
Yeah, Joe got a raw deal. I'm still angry at those who piled on
He did insure they couldn't force Kamala out.
History will always remember the man who put country first when it was needed. Rightly or wrongly the vast majority of people perceived him as unable to serve another term. He made sure to pass the torch to someone capable of stuffing right up PABs ass.
In a way, I think stepping down cemented his legacy. I've seen my father, from age 82 to nearly 85 decline SIGNIFICANTLY in the last year or so. It happens.
It's almost better to go out on a high note, in a way, as opposed to fading slowly. Biden will be remembered as the man who cut this deal while the knives were out AND he had covid. He'll be remembered as the guy who got infrastructure done, and reassembled our allies. He'll be remembered as a proud man who really wanted to STAY in the race, but instead, gave it up to a new generation in service to his country.
I agree that I did NOT like the way he was treated. These concerns and misgivings should have been behind closed doors. But, I also agree with what you said about Kamala; Biden trusts her to continue this work, he trusts that she'll do right by his legacy and that she holds his values, and he guaranteed that the disaffected Dems would line up behind her.
I do too if only Democrats actually circled the wagons and didn't leave him twisting in the wind. They should've been doing what a number of them are doing now, hammering President Klan Robe on his liefest during the debate. But no, they smelled blood in the water. Biden himself understood the assignment as he post-turtled Lester Holt in a later interview.
I like to think Joe Biden even outmaneuvered them; I am confident they wanted to run some milquetoast to "reassure" squishy "independent" voters and basically sacrifice the progressive agenda to massage big donors. But again Biden is working behind the scenes and whipping support. The man is a goddamn legend and he deserved to at least get reelected. I believe in Kamala Harris continuing those advances and forging even newer ones but I worry about who is looking to push her over a glass cliff.
Dude is a real one, and I tell you what, he was sure a fixer-upper of a politician. I remember the days when he was Senator from MBNA. The guy is truly a badass and I hope things get named after him.
Go to Slovenia, Old Handsome! As a tourist, so that you can relax and enjoy it. My favorite little Europe microcosm (and my ancestral homeland on the paternal side, since no one is allowed to have more than one ethnicity, I guess?) and a beautiful respite from all this jazz.
Hey I been watching the Olympics, so I am used to tears, mostly those of joy! But the boxers? The FEMALE boxers? And now swimmers??!? MALE !?! What the hell is wrong with that Caeleb guy? If ya can’t take a punch or a loss ya need to quit the Olympics and go into conservative politics
Shame they didn’t send Mr Plank back - he would have been in the spotlight .
To the usual suspects who I assume are bitching because we as usual had to give some truly evil people, including a murderer, back to Russia to get these prisoners/hostages:
1. Fuck off.
2. That is the inherent advantage that ruthless dictatorships have in dealing with democracies that practice the rule of law.
3. Did I say to fuck off?
Ta, Dok. I'm moved. To tears.
The other side of the prisoner swap: kids had no idea Mom and Dad were Russian spies (from CNN)
https://substack.com/@mrmild/note/c-64206086?r=2knm5p&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Can you fucking beat that? "Surprise, kids! You're Russian!" That is some serious nightmare shit.
Huh
i would hope so
Biden is going to go down as one of the best Presidents ever. History is going to be very, deservedly kind to him.
I agree. To achieve so much with no help from the House and the thinnest Senate majority you can get, is impressive enough. But to do it at 80+ years, during a global pandemic and with the entire GOP apparatus out to destroy your family is astounding. Images like these, where Biden’s unmatched empathy is on full display, will endure. I still can barely watch the video of Joe hugging Parkland victim, Chris Hixon’s son, Corey, and kissing his head and telling him he will be ok in 2018. Joe is a good man.
NYT:
Biden’s reckless pressure on Russia to free hostages may cloud US-Russia relations during Trump’s upcoming second term.
Wish I could have been in your brain when that title popped up and the dopamine hit
I am compelled to point out that the reason Whelan is an ex marine is he was dishonorably discharged for theft. The hagiography has even reached the pages of this hallowed space.
Whelan sounds like a ne'er do well, but there seems to be genuine affection towards him by Biden and Harris. I have trouble seeing them as bad judges of character. I lean to the conspiracy theory that he is an actual spy and his confusing background is cover up stuff.
I like that idea!
I don’t know the details of the theft, but people are often complicated and seldom entirely bad or entirely good. He was still a tragic and empathetic figure in Russia’s blatantly cruel campaign to snatch innocent people and incarcerate them as political pawns and capital. We need to bring Marc Fogel home too, and any others wasting away in that cruel, lonely place. Just the thought of a few nights held captive in a hostile nation and away from my family is too horrifying to imagine. And the stakes and obstacles between you and freedom are SO intimidating. Putin’s Russia is terrifying.
Agreed, nevertheless, he is a shady character, and we don't know what he was up to in Russia.
Someone will get the story on him now that he’s this famous. There will be deep stories or a book. You can’t be the recipient of the enormous magnitude of time and resources expended on his behalf to bring him home and not expect your story to be told.
"The three Americans were among 16 people — both western hostages and several Russians opposition figures held in Russia — who were freed by Russia in exchange for eight Russian spies and operatives held in several western countries."
Let's unpack this:
* Sixteen for eight (even though one Russian opposition leader, Ilya Yashin, said he didn't want to be part of the swap);
* This is the largest prisoner swap since the end of the Cold War;
* Pres Biden kept control of five other countries which were involved in the exchange, besides the US and Russia;
* He was able to keep the trade a secret until it was done -- a near-impossibility in DC where everyone leaks everything if it is to their benefit;
* He finalized and carried out this mission while sick.
-----
"I suppose I just broke the same law by calling it a war and not a “special military operation,”"
It's ok Dok, you're safe even if you had a desire to visit Russia. In late March Russia started to refer to its unprovoked attack on a neighboring sovereign nation as "war:"
"On 22 March, the Kremlin officially declared, two years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, that Russia is in a state of war. “Yes, it started as a special military operation,” said Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, in an interview with a pro-Kremlin newspaper, Argumenty i Fakty. “But as soon as this gang developed and the collective West started participating in the conflict on the side of Ukraine, for us it became a war[.]”" https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/why-russia-has-only-now-declared-war-ukraine
On top of that, Putin already referred to his unjustifiable assault as a war in Dec 2022:
"However, Russian President Vladimir Putin already used the term “war” on 22 December 2022 to refer to the fighting in Ukraine. On that occasion, Putin’s remark was likely a slip of the tongue." ibid
fnord
I believe Turkey was also instrumental in brokering the hostage swap.
So much onion chopping, dammit!
So grateful they are home safe. And yes, what an accomplishment for Biden, while sick with Covid and dealing with withdrawing from the race. And keeping it quiet until the deal was final and everyone was on their way home. Focusing on the hostages and the cooperation with our allies that brought them home, rather than bragging about what HE did. This is what happens when the adults aka Dems are in charge.
It's weird. It's almost like if you have a thoughtful, intelligent leader, you can take care of things and work with other countries.
Thank goodness the proven rapist, fraud and convicted felon Trump has stepped in to remind us about what this is really all about: Trump.
I look at this, and feel like...even more angry that Joe Biden was treated this way. Easily a top 10 President, getting all the greatness in 4 years, and he had to hang it up early because of media-fed bullshit. Because again President Klan Robe does NOTHING but gibber, he doesn't remember what his own fucking second daughter looks like, and he thinks Hannibal Lecter is a real person.
And I am belaboring it, but I hate the message of how Biden was treated, it really means that no matter what you do, no matter what you achieve, if you "look" infirm or are disabled you are no longer effective to be President. We should all think about that in our lives, even as some use the excellent coalescing of Dems around Kamala Harris as an ex post facto justification for them treating Joe Biden so horribly. And the horrible thing was basically seeding this shit in the media, helping amplify rightwing smears of Joe Biden. No matter how effective it may have been tactically (for now, as Team Fash pivots to doing blood quantum on Kamala Harris) it still hurts. And then to find out that even as he was being shoved on the ice floe, dealing with COVID, this guy along with Harris were still busting their asses to bring the hostages home.
THIS is the motherfucking thanks you get.
Democrats could've been boosting this and fighting back against the smears but nope they wanted to help them along because being OLD BALLS is the worst sin imaginable. Because "image." That's what the credulous "independent" voters and those who are all of a sudden engaged because Kamala Harris is elevated to the top of the ticket. But I question the values of these voters. The same goddamn policies are on the ballot. Every danger we face is the SAME that we faced before Joe Biden was shoved on the ice floe.
The administration was STILL the most successful before Biden was shoved on the ice floe. I just want to make sure these assholes don't then knife Kamala Harris because I damn sure a number of them will try to push Harris over a glass cliff. I am heartened that a bunch of them have come in to support her. But how many are looking to knife her at the first sign of trouble.
Which reminds me, where the fuck is George Clooney? He was all over the TV knifing Biden on behalf of donors. Has he said anything since? Since he seems to be quiet as a church mouse.
Amen! 🙌 I’m still pretty angry on Biden’s behalf too. History will treat him well, he saved the country from multiple disasters: COVID, PAB, Jan 6, and gets no credit for it because he’s a workhorse not a show pony. The administration is what counts and even if Biden gave a poor debate showing he was still the same guy, with the same good people around him and a second Biden administration would have been just as strong and effective as the first one. Optics are bullshit.
I am hopeful about Harris because I think it will be just as good as a second Biden term and, because people are shallow and easily swayed, her youthful energy seems to have uplifted the party and may be bringing in new voters. Which is all to the good, however would these same people have just sit back and let Trump win because Biden, old. I mean, really? WTF? Are they really that dim? The stakes are exactly the same!
And yeah her youthful energy will definitely energize them, until they get led by the nose again by rightwing media human centipede offal laundered into the MSM. And then what, will they push her off a glass cliff? That's really what gives me pause about this.
But I want us to all get out the vote and we'll see what happens, I want us to punish the Republicans up and down the ballot.
And where the fuck is George Clooney anyway?
Anywhere but in place to cause more chaos is fine with me.
Look what Joe did for Kamala.
She's not beholdened to party leadership because they deigned to back her. She was on the phone with state party leaders before most of the DC honchos were back from brunch. She had the delegates sewn up in 48 hours.
She's not beholdened to big donors -- she had $100M within 24 hours, most of that from small donors.
Don't get me wrong -- Joe and Kamala worked as a team to pull this off. She has been working her tail off.
But Kamala Harris is walking into the DNC with all the marbles instead of what the backstabbers plotted. And a lot of that is Joe Biden's work.
He also let the GOP blow their wad at their weeklong Nazi rally posing as a convention, expending all their energy and attacks on him. Then pulls this masterstroke 3 days later. That’s grade A politicking right there. They lost valuable real estate wasting time on him. He helped her, and the party (hence the country) with his timing. All while recovering from COVID, dealing with a sense of betrayal AND negotiating a multi country hostage swap. Not exactly what one would expect from a doddering old man. 🤔
I like that too and also I really am glad to see how he has supported her through the whole thing. He never second-guessed her and he was always full-throated in his support for her. That means a lot. And I also love that he has consistently been boosting her. That is a thing about Joe Biden too. He is a team player as is Kamala. And definitely great things are ahead.
I'm just a little salty about the disrespect is all.
Oh I was so livid when I first heard the news, I was googling if I could switch registration to independent.
And Adam Schiff and George Clooney could be lying in the street and I would drive by.
But Joe is old, he's not incompetent and he flipped the narrative.
And the greatest proof that they were wrong is none of them wanted Kamala. None of them expected to have to deal with Kamala after the first ballot. They got rid of Joe and it was going to be a knock down drag out fight at the convention.
They were smoking their own stuff.
Joe and Kamala left them in the dust. And he's still got five months to get stuff done.
What kills me about all these 'Hollywood types' (George Clooney, looking at you) is that the Presidency is not a part you can recast if the first guy you signed isn't working out. You can't just decide that the first guy you hired to be Prez needs to be replaced because the camera doesn't love him or he's clashing with the director, so it's time to call Casting and ask for someone else.
That's not how it works in the real world, Boo. And this is the real world, not the set of a movie you're producing.
OHJB still has 12% of his term left to serve. I imagine he still has some tricks up his sleeve. This ain’t his first rodeo.
You have said everything I’ve been thinking, but more eloquently!
Liked, because I'm in complete agreement with you about what a great President Biden has been and how poorly he's been treated by an ungrateful nation (and media). I personally don't think Biden was "shoved on the ice floe." He's said he expected to be a "transitional" President for a term, and while some Democrats were absolutely knives out, I think Biden was working in close tandem with a lot of the better ones to figure out what would be best for the country.
That is something a self-obsessed toddler ike Donald Trump would NEVER do with members of HIS Party. As soon as one of them shows the slightest hesitation to lick his boots, he throws them to the wolves - or to the lynch mob.
Anyway, I sincerely respect your anger. For myself, I've decided not to spend anymore energy on the knives out people, because we have work ahead of us to stop fascism - and that's the direction in which I now want to turn my indignation.
That is fair. I do think "transitional" president meant something else, as someone deliberately running for a single term would be an instant lame duck, but I guess a lot of people kinda just assumed anyway (especially since Biden said every time he was asked he was running for reelection). But it is what it is and one should always be careful about what they campaign on. Only Democrats are required to hold to their promises, following Murc's Law.
The reason why I say Biden was shoved on the ice floe is people really made a big show of his age, and his supposed allies just didn't keep pushing the magnificent things he did leading this nation, because it would undercut their message that "hey he's old and old = unfit." And this isn't the first time. I've heard this about Sonia Sotomayor. Because really if you have health issues, in the new kind of mercenary way, you are expendable. Democrats need Johnny Unbeatable for their races, and the Democrats must also nominate Tammy Invulnerable for the Supreme Court.
And honestly it was a LOT of ableism that was thrown on Joe Biden. And President Klan Robe benefited greatly for that.
Nevertheless I think your assessment is fair. I do need to get over it. And you are also right about President Klan Robe's enforcement. Biden is super impressive for that for putting country first. I just hope the balance of the people that bayed for his head will give him his flowers now while he can still smell them.
I appreciate your statements a lot, and I’ve also appreciated your unflagging commitment to GOTV efforts, despite your anger. Thanks for taking the time to say all these things. I also have been holding on to my anger at how the end of Pres. Biden’s campaign came about, and it’s made me struggle to sing along with the happyhappyjoyjoy song of Kamala’s campaign, because it feels a little bit … ephemeral or something. I fret that that the weirdly instant groundswell of support she’s engendered can evaporate just as quickly, like the fleeting fancy of flimsy fandom or fads. (I apologize for the alliteration, that wasn’t my goal.) But yeah, it’s like, the issues, the platform, the stakes, are exactly the same as they were with Biden, so how come we’re suddenly ablaze with passion? It feels untrustworthy, and is glossing over a really ugly and unjust end for Biden. I’m not in a personality cult, so I’m happy to vote for whichever Dem is on the ticket, because it’s the issues and the platform, not the person who has my endorsement. But I can feel sad for how the supposed good guys treated a good man.
It disturbs me because I could see them doing this same thing to Kamala Harris. And I feel very protective of Kamala Harris in a sense, because I am tired of Black women getting pushed over the cliff. I am watching right now who comes to Kamala Harris' aid as the Republicans have switched, to a person, to their all-out racist blood quantum campaign, complete with calipers. I want to see who decides to memory-hole the record.
Because here's another thing: Biden went big and bold. Knifing him has completely disincentivised any Democratic leader from doing big bold progressive things. What incentive would Durbin and Schumer have to acquiesce to activist demands to remove Senate institutions when they both can see they could just as easily be next on the ice floe?
There is a very big problem too because of the way people think youth is everything. And they forget about the importance of institutional knowledge. Joe Biden is apparently an encyclopedia of institutional knowledge and that's how you're able to shepherd great legislation through a shit congress, and lead important international efforts like this hostage repatriation.
Just absolutely bonkers how political science works sometimes.
Yes! All that. All. Of. That.
I was watching a commentator somewhere else (forgive my inability to remember who said it) that said there’s a very real risk of Kamala encountering the Glass Cliff too. My inner cynic is afraid that we’re doing that thing, where TPTB put a woman in a position of power knowing that there are insurmountable obstacles ahead, or that the ground has been salted badly enough that no amount of good stewardship can make it productive again. Or, maybe good things are possible in that situation, but the woman won’t receive the same support, resources, or benefit of the doubt her male predecessors enjoyed, and when things go badly (even normal and expected challenges and missteps), the woman receives more blame and harsh judgement than a man would in the same situation. The Glass Cliff is an effect that serves to strengthen gender bias and ultimately entrench discriminatory practices, basically rigging the game to make it seem like women aren’t as capable as men in positions of power. It should go without saying that women of color experience the Glass Cliff more severely than white women do. (I’ll put a link below to an excellent explainer for those interested.)
Kamala, if she prevails, is going to have probably the worst time imaginable as a president. Even if she succeeds, it’s going to come at a cost. We HAVE to make an explicit effort, and commit to supporting her doing good work, and fighting back against the unfair racist, sexist, and all other forms of prejudice attacks she’s going to encounter. We are responsible for fighting to break the Glass Cliff just like it’s up to us to break the Glass Ceiling by voting her in. If we know what’s possibly coming, we can fight it more effectively.
https://www.catalyst.org/2024/01/31/glass-cliff-women-of-color/
Well put and thank you. And you also remind me of how Ruth Bader Ginsburg was treated by members of her own party both for her age and her health issues.
100% agree
Yeah, Joe got a raw deal. I'm still angry at those who piled on
He did insure they couldn't force Kamala out.
History will always remember the man who put country first when it was needed. Rightly or wrongly the vast majority of people perceived him as unable to serve another term. He made sure to pass the torch to someone capable of stuffing right up PABs ass.
In a way, I think stepping down cemented his legacy. I've seen my father, from age 82 to nearly 85 decline SIGNIFICANTLY in the last year or so. It happens.
It's almost better to go out on a high note, in a way, as opposed to fading slowly. Biden will be remembered as the man who cut this deal while the knives were out AND he had covid. He'll be remembered as the guy who got infrastructure done, and reassembled our allies. He'll be remembered as a proud man who really wanted to STAY in the race, but instead, gave it up to a new generation in service to his country.
I agree that I did NOT like the way he was treated. These concerns and misgivings should have been behind closed doors. But, I also agree with what you said about Kamala; Biden trusts her to continue this work, he trusts that she'll do right by his legacy and that she holds his values, and he guaranteed that the disaffected Dems would line up behind her.
Not bad for an old guy. Brilliant, in fact.
I still think he would've won going away.
I do too if only Democrats actually circled the wagons and didn't leave him twisting in the wind. They should've been doing what a number of them are doing now, hammering President Klan Robe on his liefest during the debate. But no, they smelled blood in the water. Biden himself understood the assignment as he post-turtled Lester Holt in a later interview.
I like to think Joe Biden even outmaneuvered them; I am confident they wanted to run some milquetoast to "reassure" squishy "independent" voters and basically sacrifice the progressive agenda to massage big donors. But again Biden is working behind the scenes and whipping support. The man is a goddamn legend and he deserved to at least get reelected. I believe in Kamala Harris continuing those advances and forging even newer ones but I worry about who is looking to push her over a glass cliff.
Dude is a real one, and I tell you what, he was sure a fixer-upper of a politician. I remember the days when he was Senator from MBNA. The guy is truly a badass and I hope things get named after him.
I was appalled when Obama picked him for veep. Never been happier to be proven wrong.
100%
❤️🏆💪🏽
Go to Slovenia, Old Handsome! As a tourist, so that you can relax and enjoy it. My favorite little Europe microcosm (and my ancestral homeland on the paternal side, since no one is allowed to have more than one ethnicity, I guess?) and a beautiful respite from all this jazz.
Harris could name him as Ambassador to Slovenia for a year and let him visit in style.
Can you imagine PAB being able to just greet them with a quiet word and a warm embrace?
Oh, god no. I can't imagine him doing anything even remotely human, or humane.
No, no I cannot
If PAB ever embraced me I’d check afterwards for my wallet.