Maybe I'm just an oversized dino-downer, but the Occam-elements of our situation in the USA seem stark: 1) a sociopathic fascist-in-all-but-name candidate who's desperate to stay out of prison and who has already tried to stay in office by violent insurrection and vote-manufacturing subterfuge. 2) An ominous, irrational, millions-strong cult devoted to said candidate. 3) A battered republic whose current president is trying valiantly to preserve democratic norms but is not getting much love for it. 4) Stupid, insensate ageism in comparing two candidates who are nearly the same age. Still, we have one thing going for us: a very strong majority of the American people DO believe democracy is best. The main questions are, will they back that up by voting? And if they do, will their votes decide the matter, given the rot that has already set into the electoral process?
I just finished watching the entire speech, and at several points my eyes welled up. I don't know what more this man can do to focus our attention on the existential peril this country faces. It was a damn fine speech, historic even. Encourage everyone you know to watch the entire speech. I'm with Joe.
Just like this isn't your grandpa's GOP, the right is coming to understand that Dems in 2024 are prepared to take off the gloves in a way they haven't seen since maybe ever. Sign me up.
I know the speech was scripted but the writer clearly actually spoke to our Joe before writing it.
For those who have not seen this, this was his closing argument ad in 2019. It is a reminder of where he stands on what we should be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkCvwvcT1zE
It’s astounding that they can accuse Joe of senility and still worship a guy that’s convinced windmills cause cancer and the Frederick Douglass is still alive.
His left pinky when he’s fast asleep has more cognitive power, intellectual rigor, comprehension and self awareness than PAB after his first Ritalin bump.
The choice is so black and white it can't get any clearer. Anyone who votes R is a racist, narcissistic, fascist, fucking moron who hates democracy. Project 2025 lays it out in razor sharp terms in what the entire GQP is going to do with rwnj billionaires funding them.
Rachel Maddow and Michael Steele finally solidified for me why so many people have jumped on this MAGA train, people I know and love, and who I think should know better. These people are sick of politics, they're sick of politicians, and they basically want a guy who thinks like them to tell everyone what to do.
I wish I could get those people to LISTEN to these words. They're better than what they've chosen.
Fuck Michael Steele with the most diseased cock anyone can find. And shame on MSNBC for trying to poach MAGAts from Faux the way they're doing it (yes, that includes the Kristol acolytes from the Lincoln Project).
I think it’s more basic than that. They see Trump as a vessel they can pour all of their grievances into. It why so many think he’s a champion of the working class even though his policies were virulently anti-labor. Others think he’s a “godly” man even though the only thing he’s ever worshiped is himself.
They want someone who will give voice to their grievances and then give them permission to be assholes.
I ask for your patience. I am in the faculty meeting. As long as my hands are on the keyboard I am not taking off my classes to face palm.
See me not face palm.
Watch me not face palm.
OMFG white men who have discovered the concept of collaborative evaluations offering to meet with each of us and train us on how not to be as stupid as he was last week. Thank you for your patience. I can pretend to take notes without screaming or banging my face on the keyboard.
Thank you! We are now doing an evaluation of a white guy. It is an easy yes. We did an evaluation of a brown guy who was by every measure *better* three years ago and it was widely agreed to be a difficult case. Not standing up and yelling at them for being RACIST FUCKERS is a good and important thing.
I am asking the questions that were asked about that guy if I can get the seething rage under control. So I can just ask for informational questions without any spit.
They put that previous candidate thru such hell he left within months of the promotion and raise.
"Republicans desperately want vindication. For all of it. For the Russia investigation. For the impeachments. For the indictments. For the 2020 election. For Jan. 6. For Biden’s presidency. They want one big apocalyptic contest that they think will deliver what they want to hear: Trump. Was. Right.
. . .
The Republican Party, remade by Trump, has long wanted this showdown. True, voters were momentarily worried after the Jan. 6 riot that Trump was damaged goods, but they quickly set that view aside as Trump spun a narrative that it really wasn’t all that bad.
But for the Republican Party now, no one can deliver the vindication that Trump can, should he defeat Biden in 2024. For Trump to win a national election after everything that has happened would be, for the voters who have stuck with him since 2016, sweet revenge on the legacy media, on Democrats and on those who sit atop the institutions they have come to at best distrust and at worst despise."
The Republican Party, remade by Trump is still suffering the unbearable indignation of a Blah guy being elected the world's most powerful leader. That is it, full stop.
And all of their rhetoric about Biden being old is actually a subtle dog whistle warning each other that if Biden dies, we’ll have a black woman president.
And that freaks them out even more than a black man.
It’s pretty much a given there are several ways Republicans could outright steal the 2024 election, that they are plotting to do just that, and that Biden probably is being given briefings on it weekly.
This is a pretty alarming read:
“ All that would be required, from a technical, legal standpoint, is for enough electoral college votes to be uncounted or uncertified for the contingent election to take place, virtually guaranteeing a Republican victory and hence a Trump presidency. It would be entirely legal and constitutional. It just wouldn’t be recognizably democratic to anyone. Remember that autocracies have elections. It doesn’t matter who votes. It matters who counts.”
I was totally reading that article and with it, until he said this: "A contingent election would be, in effect, the last election, which is the title of the new book I co-wrote with Andrew Yang about exactly that possibility. The rot is advancing faster than anybody could have imagined. Figments from history are now hints to the future."
you wrote a book with I gIvE U thOsANd dOLlaRs!!!! Andrew Yang?
THANK YOU I NEEDED THAT!
Maybe I'm just an oversized dino-downer, but the Occam-elements of our situation in the USA seem stark: 1) a sociopathic fascist-in-all-but-name candidate who's desperate to stay out of prison and who has already tried to stay in office by violent insurrection and vote-manufacturing subterfuge. 2) An ominous, irrational, millions-strong cult devoted to said candidate. 3) A battered republic whose current president is trying valiantly to preserve democratic norms but is not getting much love for it. 4) Stupid, insensate ageism in comparing two candidates who are nearly the same age. Still, we have one thing going for us: a very strong majority of the American people DO believe democracy is best. The main questions are, will they back that up by voting? And if they do, will their votes decide the matter, given the rot that has already set into the electoral process?
I just finished watching the entire speech, and at several points my eyes welled up. I don't know what more this man can do to focus our attention on the existential peril this country faces. It was a damn fine speech, historic even. Encourage everyone you know to watch the entire speech. I'm with Joe.
Biden is at his most lucid when he's pissed off. I like the direction the Democratic rhetoric is going.
Just like this isn't your grandpa's GOP, the right is coming to understand that Dems in 2024 are prepared to take off the gloves in a way they haven't seen since maybe ever. Sign me up.
I know the speech was scripted but the writer clearly actually spoke to our Joe before writing it.
For those who have not seen this, this was his closing argument ad in 2019. It is a reminder of where he stands on what we should be: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkCvwvcT1zE
Remind me again why the wingnuts on the right claim that Biden has dementia - his words were clear, concise, and rang full of truth.
It’s astounding that they can accuse Joe of senility and still worship a guy that’s convinced windmills cause cancer and the Frederick Douglass is still alive.
I believe the term you're looking for is "gaslighting".
His left pinky when he’s fast asleep has more cognitive power, intellectual rigor, comprehension and self awareness than PAB after his first Ritalin bump.
Because they'll tell any lie to gain more power.
“It’s not one person,” Biden noted. “It’s the controlling element of the House Republican Party.”
Ya burnt, Quevin.
Not convinced he is the "controlling element". He may have the gavel but he fully surrendered to the loud and loathsome in the House.
He’s speaker in name only. The controlling element is the Howler Monkey Caucus pulling his strings.
What a swell guy that old handsome Joe Biden is!
The choice is so black and white it can't get any clearer. Anyone who votes R is a racist, narcissistic, fascist, fucking moron who hates democracy. Project 2025 lays it out in razor sharp terms in what the entire GQP is going to do with rwnj billionaires funding them.
All this McCain hero worship makes me wanna puke. He's as responsible as anyone for building the MAGA party. Not to mention he inflicted Palin on us.
"I'm going to skip right past the point of the article and pick a fight over an incidental fact, tra la!"
Rachel Maddow and Michael Steele finally solidified for me why so many people have jumped on this MAGA train, people I know and love, and who I think should know better. These people are sick of politics, they're sick of politicians, and they basically want a guy who thinks like them to tell everyone what to do.
I wish I could get those people to LISTEN to these words. They're better than what they've chosen.
Fuck Michael Steele with the most diseased cock anyone can find. And shame on MSNBC for trying to poach MAGAts from Faux the way they're doing it (yes, that includes the Kristol acolytes from the Lincoln Project).
I think it’s more basic than that. They see Trump as a vessel they can pour all of their grievances into. It why so many think he’s a champion of the working class even though his policies were virulently anti-labor. Others think he’s a “godly” man even though the only thing he’s ever worshiped is himself.
They want someone who will give voice to their grievances and then give them permission to be assholes.
Protest is good, but it is most practical not to interrupt somebody when they are saying the right thing.
On the other hand, I'd love to meet Joe Biden. Would this work for me?
TIC (Tongue In Cheek)
("Keep calm and resist" and "Keep calm and vote Democratic" images here)
https://imgflip.com/gif/1w5566
He was very calm.
Actually, I think a modicum of righteous anger is called for.
I have plenty to spare if anyone needs some.
I ask for your patience. I am in the faculty meeting. As long as my hands are on the keyboard I am not taking off my classes to face palm.
See me not face palm.
Watch me not face palm.
OMFG white men who have discovered the concept of collaborative evaluations offering to meet with each of us and train us on how not to be as stupid as he was last week. Thank you for your patience. I can pretend to take notes without screaming or banging my face on the keyboard.
Stay strong my sister at war. This sounds like my job and I know this pain well. They can't take our Friday!!
Thank you! We are now doing an evaluation of a white guy. It is an easy yes. We did an evaluation of a brown guy who was by every measure *better* three years ago and it was widely agreed to be a difficult case. Not standing up and yelling at them for being RACIST FUCKERS is a good and important thing.
I am asking the questions that were asked about that guy if I can get the seething rage under control. So I can just ask for informational questions without any spit.
They put that previous candidate thru such hell he left within months of the promotion and raise.
I am not going to slap anyone, not one single person.
Is putting your foot up an ass also not advisable?
Incredibly tempted BUT DID NOT DO!!!!
Scott Jennings (Special Asst. to George W./CNN commentator) in the LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-09-28/republican-debate-fox-ronald-reagan-library-donald-trump-election-2024
"Republicans desperately want vindication. For all of it. For the Russia investigation. For the impeachments. For the indictments. For the 2020 election. For Jan. 6. For Biden’s presidency. They want one big apocalyptic contest that they think will deliver what they want to hear: Trump. Was. Right.
. . .
The Republican Party, remade by Trump, has long wanted this showdown. True, voters were momentarily worried after the Jan. 6 riot that Trump was damaged goods, but they quickly set that view aside as Trump spun a narrative that it really wasn’t all that bad.
But for the Republican Party now, no one can deliver the vindication that Trump can, should he defeat Biden in 2024. For Trump to win a national election after everything that has happened would be, for the voters who have stuck with him since 2016, sweet revenge on the legacy media, on Democrats and on those who sit atop the institutions they have come to at best distrust and at worst despise."
The Republican Party, remade by Trump is still suffering the unbearable indignation of a Blah guy being elected the world's most powerful leader. That is it, full stop.
And all of their rhetoric about Biden being old is actually a subtle dog whistle warning each other that if Biden dies, we’ll have a black woman president.
And that freaks them out even more than a black man.
They have "come to at best distrust and at worst despise."?
Like those fascists were not hateful until Trump? They really loved women, civil liberties, and civil rights until we were mean to Trump.
Ugh. I know we should read that shit to be informed but it truly illustrates the acceptance and denial of hate.
FFS.
Reagan set them on the path of distrusting and despising institutions 40 years ago.
It’s pretty much a given there are several ways Republicans could outright steal the 2024 election, that they are plotting to do just that, and that Biden probably is being given briefings on it weekly.
This is a pretty alarming read:
“ All that would be required, from a technical, legal standpoint, is for enough electoral college votes to be uncounted or uncertified for the contingent election to take place, virtually guaranteeing a Republican victory and hence a Trump presidency. It would be entirely legal and constitutional. It just wouldn’t be recognizably democratic to anyone. Remember that autocracies have elections. It doesn’t matter who votes. It matters who counts.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/18/donald-trump-could-win-contingent-election
I was totally reading that article and with it, until he said this: "A contingent election would be, in effect, the last election, which is the title of the new book I co-wrote with Andrew Yang about exactly that possibility. The rot is advancing faster than anybody could have imagined. Figments from history are now hints to the future."
you wrote a book with I gIvE U thOsANd dOLlaRs!!!! Andrew Yang?