Biden delivers

[_canpakes]

Now that two days has passed since Biden made his comment, a random article has noted the following tweets from Trump all within the mere 48 hours since:

* Retweeted a post calling 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton a "skank."

* Retweeted a post suggesting -- contrary to science -- that hydroxychloroquine is an effective treatment for coronavirus, adding these words: "Many physicians agree with you. Also, some very good studies!"

* Retweeted a photo of former 2018 Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacy Abrams that included these words: "She fought a tough race, kissed a lot of babies and visited every buffet restaurant in the State."

* Retweeted two doctored photos of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- one with a Trump 2020 face mask on and one with duct tape over her mouth. The tweet said: "To protect PolyGrip during this pandemic, we have developed 2 options. With the DJT option, she will be able to tongue and adjust her dentures more easily. With duct tape, she won't be able to drink booze on the job as much."

* Tweeted, with no evidence or proof, that mail-in ballots will produce "the greatest Rigged Election in history."

* Retweeted an article about the death of an intern in then-Florida Rep. Joe Scarborough's office, adding: "So a young marathon runner just happened to faint in his office, hit her head on his desk, & die? I would think there is a lot more to this story than that?"

* Tweeted this unfounded speculation about the 1990s death of the intern in Scarborough's office: "A blow to her head? Body found under his desk? Left Congress suddenly? Big topic of discussion in Florida...and, he's a Nut Job (with bad ratings). Keep digging, use forensic geniuses!"

* Tweeted that former Attorney General Jeff Sessions should drop out of the Alabama Senate race -- accusing him of having "no courage, & ruined many lives."

That's all in the last 48 hours.

If you want to act like Biden's "you ain't black" remark is the worst thing you've ever heard while simply ignoring the President of the United States suggesting a) a former Congressman -- and now cable TV host -- committed a murder (with zero evidence) b) the former Secretary of State is a "skank" c) a former gubernatorial nominee is overweight and d) the Speaker of the House has a drinking problem, it's going to be very hard for me to consider your upset as genuine.

subs has never been known for integrity, consistency or morals so he’ll just shield his eyes from this and will instead move on to posting a dishonest meme next. ; )

[_honorentheos]

Overall, I agree. Biden isn't comparable to Trump. But I do think the issue isn't binary. It's legitimate to ask what the system is doing for oneself if one looks at the two choices and expect results beyond just not being Trump.

I honestly hope it has some effect on the Biden campaign. I hope they step back and ask why it happened, why it got the reaction it did...and do something more than just apologize for it.

But yeah, the perpetually burning Trump oil tanker fire benefits from being so persistent and egregious it become background one ignores all to often. In a way, it would be good for the Democrats to recognize this and pivot off by acknowledging just because Trump is so bad it shouldn't mean they aren't on the hook for working even harder for Americans because if they don't, who is?

[_Some Schmo]

Overall, I agree. Biden isn't comparable to Trump. But I do think the issue isn't binary. It's legitimate to ask what the system is doing for oneself if one looks at the two choices and expect results beyond just not being Trump.

Normally I'd agree with this, but this isn't normal.

It's like if I were going camping, I'd want to make sure I have all the proper supplies to do it just right. Of course, if the house were burning down and I was forced outside, I'd be camping with just what I felt were the essentials, because it's an emergency.

[_grindael]

Trump tells people to drink bleach, and Biden makes a joke that falls flat. Yeah, complain all you want, Trump is finished.

[_Jersey Girl]

Trump tells people to drink bleach, and Biden makes a joke that falls flat. Yeah, complain all you want, Trump is finished.

We live in hope, grin! We live in hope...

[_honorentheos]

Overall, I agree. Biden isn't comparable to Trump. But I do think the issue isn't binary. It's legitimate to ask what the system is doing for oneself if one looks at the two choices and expect results beyond just not being Trump.

Normally I'd agree with this, but this isn't normal.

It's like if I were going camping, I'd want to make sure I have all the proper supplies to do it just right. Of course, if the house were burning down and I was forced outside, I'd be camping with just what I felt were the essentials, because it's an emergency.

If this is purely reactionary to Trump, it leaves two very real issues in our future:

1) Political memory being what it is, as soon as Trump is out of office a replacement President Biden will lose the glow of not being the other guy and by the next election voters will react to him...possibly by voting in a worse version of Trump. Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for not being George W. Bush. But Republican disillusionment with W evaporated within months ("Miss me yet?"), the 2010 midterm referendum against Obama was devastating in both losing the House as well as the effects on gerrymandering that came with it being a census year. By 2012 Obama was having to reframe his first term to win back Hispanic voters and more liberal Democrats who were realizing Hope wasn't a campaign promises one keeps because it's a vague idea everyone fills in with wildly different details once you get past not being the other guy. No one is able to keep that kind of secret promise to everyone. And voters don't think about it that way in four years. In fact we are having this discussion because of a similar fault in voters logic and short term memory.

Obama was a reaction to Bush less than he was a vote for the Democratic party. Trump represents a counter reaction to Obama. So Biden becomes a counter to the counter...that's a machine vibrating itself apart. And I think the odds are the reaction to Biden is worse than Trump if it is purely a reaction against his presidency. To avoid it requires building support that genuinely sees the results of the Biden presidency as positive...enough to counter the inevitable number of people who will see it mirrored as their version of the house being on fire. Which brings up point 2.

2) The fundamental concern expressed during and after the podcast was the abandonment of black minority voters by both parties, and the lack of authentic representation in government that effects real change. Biden has issues that include a chunk of the 1990s where he was part of the Democratic compromise on crime that resulted in a lot of young black men and other minorities being systemically incarcerated to make middle America feel safe. Once Trump is out of office and Biden is in, he's going to be at the top of the very same system needing to govern an ungovernable coalition of rural white working class voters, older black voters, both of whom as essentially his base, with a progressive liberal, younger, urban, racially and economically pluralistic voting block that is only growing larger and more important. He's going to need to satisfy affluent lower-upper class suburbanites, college kids whose hopes of entering the job market are looking bleak, lower income workers who are either at increased risknof unemployment or, tragically, too essential to be able to avoid life threatening illness yet commanding sub-living wages. He will be doing this at a time when it's still likely we will be facing double digits unemployment. The world as we knew is gone, where certain kinda of jobs don't come back the same as they were while the divide between lower and upper class America will be seen more starkly than ever before.

Fast forward four years. You don't like Trump and rightly view his presidency as a threat of unparalleled proportions? Then you'd better expect big things of Biden and the choices they make today. You'd probably do well to get much more active yourself.

The real danger here isn't just that the house is on fire. It's that just running from it leaves the entire neighborhood to burn, gaslines to explode, and a really truly terrible arsonist to take over in the future. Camping is fine as camping. It sucks when it is really a euphemism for homelessness. We should probably try to save the house and the neighborhood at the same time.

[_honorentheos]

I should add, all of that leads me to view Warren as the best long term choice as VP precisely because she attacks issues with research and plans, has a vision for a more progressive America that tackles income inequality that underlies so many other forms of inequality in the US, and is probably able to keep the uneasy coalition together. She'd still be a great VP pick. I am not sure Harris or Abrams would rise above the political, though that's not based on knowledge of how they'd actually be able to perform. It's from not having good reasons to make a judgement there based on what's known.

But I think Biden would do well to not try and move past this too fast. It would say something if he went back on the show and came to listen, to offer sincere attempts to understand what was going on there, and not offer empty promises and claims he's better than the other guy. It would take guts and involves real risk, but one of Biden's genuine strengths as a politician is his ability to empathize. He's best when he listens rather than talks. Like most of us, really.

[_Some Schmo]

I agree that it would be ideal to get someone who stands well on his/her own two feet and is qualified for the job. I kind of think it goes without saying.

But of course, every election is a reaction to the last guy. That's pretty much what politics is. The question really is whether the reaction is appropriate for the current situation. Should we re-elect so and so? Should we damned run?

It's my opinion that a sick goat would do a better job of President than the current one. It's an appropriate reaction to the current situation to say, You really couldn't do any worse than Trump. Prop someone up, and let's do this.

Biden is a few steps up from a sick goat. If Biden is elected, it will be time to then hold him accountable for the job he does.

[_grindael]

It's not hope, it's reality. I am watching the Buffoon in Chief butcher another speech, in his creepy monotone, stumbling over the words, every breath with it's little disgusting slurping sound... It's just torture to watch it and so, I've turned it off. I will have to think about and mourn the loss of my ancestors and relatives without a President who never understood what it was, and is to serve or to hold sacred the ideals and institutions of this great country. I hope I live to see the day when he can't hide behind that office and they can finally put him where he belongs, in jail with the other creeps and con men. I wanted him to serve out his term, he can't then pardon himself. They'll be no escape for him after January 20, 2021.

[_grindael]

Thanks for the interesting thoughts, Honor. It is my humble opinion that Biden will only serve one term. That is what I believe knowing him as I do. I don't think he ever intended on running in the first place. Not really. He will then pick an African American woman to be his VP and she will go on to become the first woman president. That's how I see it. That's the set up.

And by the way, my wife is black and had no problem with the joke, thought the whole exchange was amusing. As a white guy living around blacks full time now for 25 years, I would keep such jokes private - that is what we do. Believe me, it goes both ways - in private. Also, this idea that it is too sacred to understand a joke for what it is without reading all kinds of stupid crap into it, is ridiculous. But in politics common sense should tell you that the knives are always out. Don't do it. And my wife, God bless her, was all for Bernie. Go figure.