Biden / Harris Focused Discussion

[Jastall]

Consider the source. And the "source" they're citing. Seems perfectly on brand for them.

- - - Updated - - -



"Has fiction taught us nothing?!" is a take I 100% expect from their kind.

Next they'll be saying The Purge needs to happen because obviously if you get rid of undesirables, society improves as a result.

[Endus]

Has Hunger Games taught us nothing? You always need a political face to excite people to get them to fight for you… while the real nerds do all the paperwork in the back to make sure that shit does get done.

If you're getting your grasp of political structure and function from a silly YA post-apocalyptic novel, man does that ever explain a lot of your worst takes.

Like this one.

That’s how politics have gone on for centuries. Democrats want to change that now to look more sophisticated. When in reality, they look weak and docile; people who will not fight for The People.

No, for centuries, your leaders were the latest blood scion of the handful of ruling houses that mattered, in most of the world. If you didn't think they were "strong" enough, they were happy to have you stuck on a pike as an example to others.

Democracy has largely not been about this, in any respect whatsoever. Outside of a handful of examples (Teddy Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln off the top of my head), American Presidents have not been measured by how "strong" they come off. They've been measured by the outcomes of their policies.

A Face of the Resistance has happened throughout our history — we have it many forms of entertainment now which is why I referenced Hunger Games. Even us, as private citizens, when we want change, we rile others up. We create theater to get get the movement going, even if it fails.

Most popular uprisings never had a "face". They had individuals who took that role, out of necessity, but the movement and fervor were there before they were. You can't tell me who the face of the French Resistance was. And if you're citing literal fiction, adventure stories with simple protagonist/antagonists structures as your counterpoint, you've literally abandoned reality for a delusional fantasy.

Why do it? Because it bonds you together against a common enemy — I fight for you, you fight for me, we fight TOGETHER.

This is a statement that speaks against any central figure's prominence. And somehow, you can't grasp that.

To dismiss that, is ignorance. Truly. We see it every time elections happen with the Republicans… and it fucking works cause look at their turnouts.

Can't be that a lot of people actually support their style of brutal white supremacism. A political framework that's been central to the USA since its literal founding.

The “We’re better than that” attitude that Dems keep pushing off, excites crowds behind keyboards.

Sure has in most recent elections.

And I wonder which side/camp will Independent voters go to in the middle of the night??? The camp with the roaring fire or the one with the glowing embers?

Typically, to Democrats. Unless they're the "independents" who vote 100% Republican but want to lie about their political affiliation for whatever reason.

- - - Updated - - -

The "weak and docile" bit got me thinking about 'ol Speaker Greene asking Twitter WHO DO YOU WANT DEFENDING THIS NATION with a picture of her at night holding a gun with weirdly shooped eyes and then a picture of AOC taking a selfie before yoga and I'm wondering who the fuck thinks members of Congress are on the front lines of a hot war or who would want them there?

Also, can I just say that I think AOC would absolutely fucking annihilate Greene if Greene ever dared take an actual swing at her?

[Edge-]

This could have been put in place 6 months ago, as soon as this went to court. Rather than allowing borrowers to fret, they could have just said "It doesn't matter which way they rule, we've got you." Rather than popping this out after a ridiculously drawn out ruling which was clearly waiting on Republican efforts to shut the whole thing down.

See, the Republicans were trying, the Democrats on the other hand tried one thing and then said "oh, I guess we can't do anything else now."

One could argue if they'd done that the response would have been, "THEY'RE GIVING UP BEFORE THEY'VE EVEN LOST!" etc. because honestly some of the critiques have been silly. Plenty of 100% fair critiques, but some have been like, "JUST IGNORE THE SCOTUS!" levels of bad.

The Republicans weren't "trying" any harder or less than the Democrats. They brought the legal challenge and their lawyers argued their case, the Biden administration defended the move. Want some reasons why this strategy was likely determined and this was announced after the ruling?

1. It took time for them to prepare this plan and ensure that it was likely to stand up to possible legal challenge.
2. Don't tip your hand to Republicans to they can prepare to pre-emptively challenge it and take it to court immediately
3. Not confuse people with multiple messages, the message was that they were pushing for broader student loan forgiveness and were in court fighting for it and that was clear. Once they lost, that instantly pivoted to the, "We have a backup plan and here it is." which is like, exactly what you'd want.

Flawless, perfect plan? Nope. But sensible and effective.

No, they didn't know that. They, and many others (and I mean legal scholars not you and I) thought Biden was perfectly within his authority.

There were arguments that he had the authority, and some pretty compelling ones. But the reality is that it was always going to be challenged to this SCOTUS, and we all know where this SCOTUS is on the ideological spectrum. We've seen multiple rulings that have left many legal scholars and historians puzzled, so expecting this SCOTUS to act logically and in accordance with the laws as written without projecting their fairly far-right biases onto it, IMO, is foolish.

So the administration pursued a path they hoped was more likely to stand up in court vs. the blanket forgiveness many were pushing for (which I agree with btw, I'm happy to pay taxes to pay off bullshit student loans). That didn't work, unfortunatley.

As I always tell people: Democrats don't need Republicans, they've got other Democrats. They're always their own worst enemy.

I don't disagree, the Democratic party is far more ideologically diverse and while they're largely still pretty unified, they often get in their own way with things and it sucks. Democrats biggest enemy is always themselves. But that doesn't change the fact that from November 9 onward all over the internet, especially here, there were people trying to set expectations for what "Democratic control of government" could accomplish given that they had a narrow but strong margin in the House and that they had zero margin in the Senate and would be dealing with Manchin. We didn't know Sinema would be as much of a shit as she turned out to be, but we all knew Manchin would hold up a lot of progressive legislation. Which is why most of us significantly checked our hopes and expectations.

Because from my perspective, and the perspective of a lot of people who voted for Biden, we did so because he made explicit promises that this was something he would handle. And from our perspective, he did one thing and then went "oh, sorry folks." Which isn't good enough.

He announced plans and proposals, I don't recall specific promises to this effect and even if he did like...the SCOTUS ruled and he can't ignore the SCOTUS. It's not a satisfying answer and is a bit of pedantry, but the administration has tried where they can and has made some headway. Increasing the cap on what is considered "discretionary" income, lowering the amount of discretionary income they'd need to pay as a minimum, etc. Not super satisfying, now what folks wanted, not the big things he proposed, but again, we're dealing with reality now.

Politics is performance. If they can't dance and also write bills, they're not doing half their job. One of the big reasons Republicans regularly win is their messaging.

Yes, but this has some big qualifiers: They have the largest new network in the nation in their pocket, essentially. There is literally zero Democratic analog to this short of Republicans complaining about "mainstream media are all democrats" which is objectively and hilariously false. Plus, as we've seen, the Republican electorate is much more into being fed information and demagoguery than Democratic voters.

You're 100% right, but there's a bit missing piece of context in why Republicans are more successful in this. Democrats also suck at it, but even if they didn't they'd be at a disadvantage.

To reiterate: Democrats have always, and still do suck at messaging.

Meanwhile their opponents are out there shouting, ringing bells, lighting fires, generally making noise and at the same time passing bills to oppress LGBT, overturing decades of precedent with the courts, stripping workers rights.

I'll note on a state level, yes, but so are many state-level Democrats getting a lot of shit done in their states including codifying rights for marginalized communities or bodily autonomy or expanding worker protections. Republicans are louder about it, but Democrats are still getting shit done.

A specific example? Texas and Florida are completely out of control. The Federal Government needs to slap those dipshits down and remind them that they don't run the country. That the shit they're doing is illegal. And it absolutely WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

Ok but...how? What laws? There are already extensive challenges that are overturning laws but...what else do they have they authority to do, or can they do here? States retain considerable power and autonomy in this country and there are limitations on federal authorities over them. I'm as pissed as what's going on in those states too (surely you've seen my like, dozen threads about FL Republicans hating the Constitution and regularly passing legislation that violates it and is overturned?), but outside of some vague DO SOMETHING I haven't seen anyone discuss what they theoretically could do and under what authorities. I sure as fuck don't know either so I'm not claiming they "can't", just that I don't know of any mechanisms nor have I seen anyone much talking about it.

At this point, I don't fucking care if they black bag Abbot and DeSantis to do it. Lives are on the line and the Democrats do nothing.

Hey, I'm with you. But states gonna state, and this is what tyranny of the majority can look like. Democracy, despite being the year of our lord 2023 with the fuckin internet in our pockets, will always be this fuckin messy and unsavory and that's kinda a core risk/feature of it.

[Benggaul]

Also, can I just say that I think AOC would absolutely fucking annihilate Greene if Greene ever dared take an actual swing at her?

"That's why us patriots, like Greene, have to carry our guns everywhere to fight against violent leftists like AOC!" -- Too many dumbfuck American voters.

[Edge-]

https://newrepublic.com/post/174166/...-added-july-23

If you'll notice, Republicans haven't been hammering Biden on the economy too much outside of inflation concerns and all. That's because Bidenomics is working and the US added 209,000 new jobs in June.

Now we all know that the POTUS has very limited direct impact on the economy and all. Also because economists are facing unprecedented conditions and aren't exactly sure why the US economy is behaving this way. There are a lot of ideas but nobody quite seems sure.

[Edge-]

This current economy is kinda bewildering. The Fed is doing everything possible in their power to slow it down and can't.

Yeah. Basically no models exist where economists thought that corporations would just be super ultra mega greedy and drive up inflation by increasing prices because they want more money and think the economy can handle it. Or something.

The Fed is outgunned here, because there are legislative/policy issues at play here that aren't being addressed and need to be IMO.

[Edge-]

Japan has a new program for tourists where you can rent clothing for your stay in Japan. Bit niche targeting folks looking to not bring their own clothing on a vacation and all but hey, it's not a bad idea for a pilot program.

Predictably Fox News is finding ways that this is actually a problem, and one caused by Pete Buttigieg.

Granted this is, again, a Japanese program with which our Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has zero involvement and all since he's not a member of the Japanese government or any Japanese tourism-focused groups.

“I mean, I love the idea,” she said, “but, it’s like, we’re missing the point which is that… Thanks, Pete Buttigieg! For messing everything up so that… You know what I mean? Why don’t you just not lose the luggage! How ’bout that!”

Republicans have never seen a non-problem that they weren't excited to declare a problem and then blame on that one gay guy in the Biden administration. It really does seem like any time anything happens they're always complaining about how it's Secretary Buttigieg's fault. He really does live rent free in most of their heads.

Remember, when all else fails #BlamePete

- - - Updated - - -

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/10/polit...m-hunter-biden

US Attorney David Weiss, who is overseeing the Hunter Biden criminal probe, says in a letter obtained by CNN that he did not ask to be named as a special counsel and was never refused authority to bring charges anywhere in the country, refuting two key allegations from IRS whistleblowers.

Weiss’ comments, in a letter sent Monday to GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, go against claims from IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley and one of his deputies, who said they witnessed political interference in investigation of President Joe Biden’s son.

They testified to Congress that during an October 2022 meeting, Weiss said he had requested to be named as a special counsel but was denied by Justice Department leadership. But Weiss said in the new letter that he never requested special counsel status, but rather explored becoming a “special attorney” under a different statute.

Well damn, nobody could have predicted that another crop of Republican "whistleblowers" would apparently be making all kinds of shit up.

Anyways, here we have it in writing, from the horse's mouth (not literally, it's from US Attorney David Weiss) that he never asked to be named as a special counsel and consequently was not denied that request, nor was he ever refused authority to bring charges anywhere in the country that he felt were fitting.

“I have not requested Special Counsel designation,” Weiss wrote to Graham on Monday. “Rather, I had discussions with Departmental officials regarding potential appointment under 28 U.S.C. § 515, which would have allowed me to file charges in a district outside my own without the partnership of the local U.S. Attorney.”

Weiss said he got these assurances “months before the October 7, 2022, meeting referenced throughout the whistleblowers’ allegations.”

The prosecutor also wrote that he has “never been denied the authority to bring charges in any jurisdiction.” Shapley claimed that Weiss said in that same October 2022 meeting he wasn’t the deciding person on whether to indict Hunter Biden, because political appointees had blocked him from bringing charges in Los Angeles and Washington, DC.

At least Republicans haven't lost these whistleblowers so maybe they can interview them again to see if they're sticking by their story?

Lawyers for Shapley told CNN on Monday that the letter shows that “Weiss’ story continues to change.”

“As a practical matter, it makes no difference whether Weiss requested special counsel or special attorney authority. Under no circumstances should ‘the process’ have included the political appointees of the subject’s father, because Congress and the public had been assured it would not – but it did,” they said.

But the lawyers for at least one of the "whistleblowers" seems really adamant that despite the Attorney in question saying everything was above board and there was no pressure, that there is still a totally real and serious problem.

Every scandal that Republicans find turns out to be a nothingberder, just a few stale pieces of bread with nothing between them.

[Ivanstone]

Democracy has largely not been about this, in any respect whatsoever. Outside of a handful of examples (Teddy Roosevelt and Abe Lincoln off the top of my head), American Presidents have not been measured by how "strong" they come off. They've been measured by the outcomes of their policies.

Walking the walk is one thing but sometimes it’s helpful to be able to talk the talk is helpful at getting in started in the first place.

Obama, Clinton and JFK were reasonably good at talking. LBJ probably couldn’t have gotten to the White House on his own.

Best example is FDR. He really should’ve never left his wheel chair but he learned to walk with his leg braces because he wanted to project strength.

[DarkTZeratul]

Best example is FDR. He really should’ve never left his wheel chair but he learned to walk with his leg braces because he wanted to project strength.

Technically, he wasn't trying to project strength, he was trying to avoid projecting weakness. It's a subtle difference, but an important one, I think.

[Breccia]

Ah...life.

Think tank leader who claims to have given FBI info on Hunter Biden charged by Justice Department

"Oh my God! Biden had someone arrested for investigating his son?"

No. The DoJ had someone arrested for being an unregistered Chinese agent. By now, we're all familiar with how unregistered foreign agents work, you point to a Trump supporter and say "there's one".

Gal Luft, co-director of the Maryland-based Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, is accused of recruiting and paying an unnamed former high-ranking U.S. government official on behalf of principals based in China in 2016, without registering as a foreign agent, which is legally required.

The former high-ranking official was an advisor to Trump and was allegedly paid to publicly support certain policies pertaining to China, according to the 58-page, eight-count indictment unsealed Monday.

"Okay, it's another Manafort. Fine. Still, the optics are bad. You don't just arrest someone who's investigating your son."

No, you arrest someone for being a Libyan fucking arms dealer.

Manhattan prosecutors also allege Luft attempted to broker illicit arms deals to sell weapons to countries including Libya, the United Arab Emirates and Kenya without having a license to do so, as is legally required in the U.S.

"Um...Libya's not exactly the worst anymore. Could be worse. Could be Iran."

*ahem*

"No."

And Luft is accused of violating Iran sanctions by setting up meetings between Iranian officials and a Chinese energy company to discuss oil deals. When interviewed by U.S. law enforcement, Luft allegedly made false statements regarding his role brokering those deals.

And as a reminder, this guy said that he knew all the Biden dirty secrets, told Trump's FBI, and Trump's FBI did nothing.

Comer, once again forced to admit that they don't have any significant evidence beyond a few reports whose authenticity has not been verified.

Comer backed this guy.

Gal Luft, a very credible witness on Biden family corruption, provided incriminating evidence to six officials from the FBI and the DOJ in a meeting in Brussels in March 2019.

We have no reason to believe the FBI & DOJ acted on this info.

-- this official tweet from Comer's official account, July 7th

"I mean...just because he's a Chinese spy, Libyan arms dealer and Iranian nuclear...holy shit this guy's evil. It's a good thing Comer didn't know he was evil."

He should have. Luft was arrested in February in Cyprus, famed home of "people trying to evade extradition". He got bail and jumped. Then made the video, which Comer refers to, and in that same video said he was arrested by crime lord Biden to hush him up. He might have left out the whole "Libyan arms dealer" thing, but Comer's a US Rep, he could have found that with one phone call.

The charges carry potential prison time of 100 years.

"...is it possible that this criminal really does know Hunter Biden is a criminal too? I mean, just because he's worked with every evil country on the planet doesn't mean he's untrustworthy."

Interesting question. Let's look at the options. Someone did a century of prison time's worth of evil shit. The popo catch up with him and, as he's fleeing, he yells over his shoulder "The President of the United States is a crime lord!"

Do you:
A) Handwave his statement as the desperate ravings of a fleeing and panicking criminal, or
B) Trust this man to the point of multiple statements on Capitol Hill?

Bear in mind, before you answer...or even after, fuck it...we have not seen any such proof. Greene didn't find it. Comer doesn't have it.

"You can't be saying it's impossible."

I am not. I am saying, it is so ridiculously unlikely, that I'm handwaving it until something other than "man facing 100 years of jail time spouts unproven nonsense" is the headline. There is no reason to take Luft at his Iranian-Chinese sanction-beating, Libyan arms dealing, bail-jumping, Kenyan...um....coffee-drinking word.

[Breccia]

B. It hurts the right people. /amIdoingItRight?

Possibly...but I think in this case, it was more like desperation than calculated intent. Biden's doing a pretty good job overall and the laptop went nowhere. Republicans are desperate to show the world that Democrats are just as corrupt and evil as they are themselves, and are grasping at straws to do it. Like, say, backing a pedophile just because he happens to say nice things about you while running for Alabama sheriff.

Comer had reason to believe Luft was a horrible person, and if he wasn't sure, he could have found out within hours. Minutes, maybe. "That guy says he was arrested, I should probably find out why before I back him unquestionably in public. He sold arms where? Oh, shit, I'm out." Nope. He went the willful ignorance route. He chose not to find out, and took the most exaggerated form of Some Guy On Twitter ("Some Libyan arms dealer on Twitter") and ran with his unverified rantings, rather than what any sane person would say, "well I'll wait until I've seen the evidence before making my decision".

You know those old movies/TV shows where the bad guy runs out of bullets and throws the empty gun? Unless you're John Wick, or maybe Captain America, it does nothing. It's not a sniper level of accuracy or effectiveness, it's a comically stupid act of desperation by someone out of bullets.

Off topic, but if you don't mind, what area of study do you teach? If it doesn't involve literature/English your talents are seriously wasted.

I teach mathematics, but I've been a storyteller in some form or other for decades. One of my favorite lectures in class is the Battle of New Orleans, which yes, we cover in math class. Interestingly enough, the Templars are the day before.

[Edge-]

Ah...life.

Think tank leader who claims to have given FBI info on Hunter Biden charged by Justice Department

Man, we know exactly how this is going to be spun but god fucking damnit why do the Republicans happen to so consistently pick the worst fucking people.

Like, this can't be coincidental at this point. There has to be some kind of greater power at play.

[Combatbutler]

Like, this can't be coincidental at this point. There has to be some kind of greater power at play.

It is called money, it seems they chase it wherever it comes from. Practically the equivalent of selling your own mother for a quick buck.

[Sunseeker]

Man, we know exactly how this is going to be spun but god fucking damnit why do the Republicans happen to so consistently pick the worst fucking people.

Like, this can't be coincidental at this point. There has to be some kind of greater power at play.

Desperation makes people stupid. And there is no way in which Republicans current tactics cannot be described as desperate.

[postman1782]

Whoever deleted their account, deleted 14 pages of replies, wonder who that was.

[Breccia]

I'll post these while they're around.

Biden's blockbuster week

President Biden has notched major victories this week — both at home and abroad — that could shape his legacy and re-election hopes far beyond the partisan squabbles consuming Washington on a daily basis.

While his potential Republican rivals duke it out in Iowa — including Trump going to war with the state's popular GOP governor — Biden is harnessing the power of incumbency.

June's Consumer Price Index shows inflation has dramatically plunged from its peak, suggesting the end of a crisis that dragged down Biden's approval rating and gave Republicans political ammunition for nearly two years.

Biden demonstrating the ability to lift two glasses of water.

The report also showed wage growth was outpacing inflation for the first time since March 2021, meaning Americans may actually start to notice rising purchasing power.

That kind of shift in perception could do wonders for Biden's political fortunes, given the persistent disconnect between experts' views on the economy and negative sentiment expressed by voters.

"Good jobs and lower costs: That’s Bidenomics in action," Biden said in a statement today, taking a victory lap two weeks after the administration launched its newly branded economic pitch.

Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, said in a speech in New York today that the U.S. has the both lowest inflation rate and the strongest pandemic recovery among all G7 nations.

"The economy is defying predictions that inflation would not fall absent significant job destruction," Brainard declared.

As always, Biden doesn't get all the credit. But it is good news for him. If Republicans try to blame him for poor economy and/or try to give Trump credit when it was...well, okay, he never got that GDP growth or job growth he said he would...then they'll have a hard time attacking Biden on the Republican Party's most valuable asset: the economy.

Hope he can keep the good news coming. 2024 is a ways off, and Trump isn't in jail yet.

- - - Updated - - -

IRS Hunter Biden whistleblowers to publicly testify.

"Why publicly?"

Because they have no evidence, only things that sound bad. McCarthy is trying desperately to save face. A lot of the investigation was done under Trump and they still got a couple of misdemeanors only. Trump is going to multiple felony trials while the economy is skyrocketing. McCarthy needs something he can claim is a win.

[Belize]

Man, we know exactly how this is going to be spun but god fucking damnit why do the Republicans happen to so consistently pick the worst fucking people.

Like, this can't be coincidental at this point. There has to be some kind of greater power at play.

You have to be an immoral crook to be a republican, it's literally a requirement.

[Canpinter]

You have to be an immoral crook to be a republican, it's literally a requirement.

This is closed minded and wrong....you can be an immoral bigot or even just stupid.

[Edge-]

IRS Hunter Biden whistleblowers to publicly testify.

"Why publicly?"

Because they have no evidence, only things that sound bad. McCarthy is trying desperately to save face. A lot of the investigation was done under Trump and they still got a couple of misdemeanors only. Trump is going to multiple felony trials while the economy is skyrocketing. McCarthy needs something he can claim is a win.

Didn't we already hear a few of them? Or were those just the ex-FBI agents that refused to do their job, got fired, and consequently claimed their firing was proof of the weaponization of government against people who refuse to do the jobs they're supposed to do?

[Breccia]

Didn't we already hear a few of them?

We haven't heard from Whistleblower X.