Monday, April 29, 2019

Don't panic, Democrats: Joe Biden is here to save us, maybe




     As the 2020 presidential election looms into view, like an iceberg on the horizon, some liberals are muttering that if Trump wins again, freedom will crumble and democracy collapse. Which is both an exaggeration and defeatist, twin sins Dems suffer from enough without advertising them, apparently as an attempt to spur ourselves to confront a task that should require no exaggeration to take seriously.
     Is not the prospect of four more years of Donald Trump motivation enough? Do we really need to toss in the death of the Republic to keep focused?
     Besides, the essential truth — and this can't be said enough — is Trump is a symptom, not a cause. The United States reached a certain level of dysfunction and then conjured him up. First the rock split, then the demon emerged from the sulfurous crack.
     Maybe we must experience the presidency of Ted Cruz to understand that.
     Ample evidence can be found in George Packer's 2013 book, "The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America," where a cast of fellow citizens illustrates our national shattering. Some are ordinary — Dean Price, son of a tobacco farmer, chases the will-o-the-wisp of biofuels. Tammy Thomas, navigates her Rust Belt ruins. Some are famous — Newt Gingrich, whose Dems-are-traitors worldview did so much to poison American political discourse.
     And some straddle the two worlds. Jeff Connaughton is a University of Alabama business student when he is first wowed by a young senator named Joseph Biden.
     Readers of "The Unwinding" grow disillusioned with Biden along with Connaughton, who works for him. And that is before Biden plagiarizes a speech by a British politician. Connaughton's moment of grim realization comes when, after his years of loyal service, Biden won't place a phone call to help him.


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12 comments:

  1. I'm totally baffled as to all the tsouris over Biden plagiarizing a speech by Britain's Neil Kinnock. It was a good speech he took as his own! The general public doesn't give a shit over who writes a speech or if someone else said it first, only that it's well written & well spoken! Remember, that the speech that Melania gave that Michelle Obama gave first, that blew over in two days.
    Once again the Democrats are eating their own in a genuinely insane drive of eliminating the good in a futile drive for perfection!

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    1. I forgot to add, that this is Inside the Beltway crap.
      There is something seriously wrong with news reporting in the last 25 years, especially when it comes to presidential politics. To the reporters, it's a horse race & all they care about are polls & who's in first.
      What's needed is just to tell us where they stand on issues & what their plans are for the future.
      I think Biden laid it out well in his video announcement, that the future of our republic is at stake..
      As for the Anita Hill comments,it appears that no kind of apology to her, whether in person or the phone, will ever be good enough for her. I can understand that she has huge anger on how she was treated, but she fails to understand that Trump & his insane followers are the problem, not Biden! Either she's working for one of his opponents or even worse, Trump!

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    2. "It was a good speech he took as his own."

      Really Clark St.? I had thought better of you.

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    3. Garry Wills had a good take on the plagiarism from Kinnock. He noted that Kinnock, a Welshman, was talking about mining coal, playing football (soccer) and singing in choirs--the very stuff of a Welshman's life. For Biden to appropriate that, Wills wrote, was as ridiculous as if Biden had put on blackface and talked about growing up in the ghetto.

      Maybe that by itself wouldn't disqualify him. But when you add the non-apology to Anita Hill and the creepy behavior toward women in general (hugging and smelling the hair of someone you just met? Really?), it puts him at the bottom of the list.

      Understand, I'll still vote for him if he wins the nomination, because I would vote for a sentient compost heap over Trump, but that's the only time I'd vote for him. Sorry, Clark St., but "I'm against Trump" does not put a person beyond all criticism.

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    4. Since when has anyone thought better of me?

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  3. An arguement Ive had with my Bernie following aquaintances since 2016. Now, instead of denying their silent complicity in getting Trump elected, they are threatening the same tactics. They are claiming now they will refuse to for vote for any Democrate primary winner who is not Bernie. They will "show us" what happens when we dont vote for Bernie and it will be our fault when Trump is re elected. They are now the Smurfy version of Trump supporters.

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  4. I've been Biden my time and "ridin' with Biden" for almost five years now. I was very disappointed when he bowed out of the race in 2015, and grudgingly supported Hillary, because I did not think Bernie could win. My wife and I went to work for the Hillary campaign as canvass captains (sending out the door-knockers) after the GOP circus in Cleveland.

    I really have to wonder how much some of these "outraged" women are being paid to besmirch the name of a good man and a strong candidate who could beat Dolt 45...and if they're secretly working for Bernie.

    If my guy gets knocked out of the race by this smear campaign, or by baggage from 1991, carried by a woman of color who will not be satisfied no matter what Handsome Joe says or does, I will be very, very pissed off. Of course I will vote for the eventual Democratic nominee...I'd vote for a Muppet if he ran against Agrent Orange...but I will not lift a finger to help them win. No phones, no door knocks, NOTHING.

    And what do I think of those (multiple expletives deleted) Millennial Bernie Bros? They gave us Trump...that's what I think of them! And now they want to give us Trump again in 2020? Damn betcha they do! They love Bernie THAT much, even though this 78-year-old Brooklyn Jewish Socialist wouldn't have a prayer of winning all the marbles. If he somehow becomes the Democratic nominee, Trump will clean his clock. Face it, kids: Most of America just won't vote for an aging pinko for POTUS, even given the awful alternative.

    The Bernie Bros also relish the idea of their self-perceived role as fearless rebels and heroic fighters and patriotic members of the Resistance...something like the French Underground in WWII. By handing the election to Trump, either through sabotage or non-participation,they are more akin to those traitors who collaborated with the Nazis.

    Apparently, they will do anything for their lost cause...including stabbing Biden in the back, the same way they knifed Hillary, and they'll hand the election to the GOP by sabotaging any viable Democratic candidate, either through lack of support or by staying home on Election Day. They may even vote for Trump again, out of spite, if Bernie does not win the nomination. Which he probably won't. And if he does get it, he will lose in November.

    And people still wonder why left-of-center, pinko, progressive Boomers...like me...despise these short-sighted and foolish young asshats? REALLY? It's like the bikers say: If you have to ask, you'll never understand.

    Joe Biden is palatable to the American electorate, and he is electable, and that is what matters most right now. Most of America desires "normalcy" in the Oval Office...and Biden will awaken us from our long national nightmare. And if he says "No second term...I will step aside in 2024 so that a younger female of color can succeed me."--his chances would improve substantially.

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  5. Biden is far from “perfect”, but what candidate IS — name one. The way I see it, I have two choices: agonize over every minute piece of gossip, slander and hand-wringing aimed at the targeted candidate-of-the-day, or calmly let events unfold as they will. The debates will leave a few standing, and whoever wins the primary gets my vote.
    (I can’t waste my energy worrying about Sanders and his cult of believers. If they repeat what they did last election — stay home pouting — there’s nothing I can do about it.)

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  6. Don't really believe him guilty of "creepy behavior toward women." But his role in the Anita Hill hearings will continue to be problematic. He would be greatly helped if the Obamas, particularly Michelle, came out for him.

    Tom

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  7. Men are pigs. Biden, Clinton, Franken, all imperfect swine. Even the Bible god created the pigs for Adam before he got around to Eve. And the biggest pig of all is......? If the best candidate for women this time is a man, hold your nose rather than excising it as you enter the voting booth. If you have a strong suspicion that Kamala Harris would be an excellent president you need a stronger feeling that she can be elected. Doubts about a female president indicate a national weakness, but allowing another Trump term would show a serious, possibly fatal flaw. Stop sweating the small stuff and keep your eyes on the prize. If the choice is between Trump and a sentient compost heap, how do you tell the difference if you've lopped oy your schnazz?

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