Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

White supremacy is terrorism.

No Justins, No Peace

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Bark louder, little dog.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

An unpunished coup is a training exercise.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

You know it’s bad when the Project 2025 people have to create training videos on “How To Be Normal”.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

In after Baud. Damn.

It’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Motown is Joe-Town!

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Joe Biden Holiday Remarks

Reader Interactions

92Comments

  3. 3.

    Jay C

    I saw most of Biden’s  presser: the positive part was that it was good to see something approaching a REAL “President” talking – but if he truly thinks that Congressional Republicans are (even absent the Orange Anus in the WH) going to be anything but reflexively obstructionist over everything any anything his Administration proposes, he’s going to be in for a rude awakening/major disappointment. And sorry, Joe, but “constituent pressure” is meaningless for today’s GOPers.

  6. 6.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jay C: I tell myself he knows this but is catering to voter and media sentiment on the “bipartisan” issue and will play the hardest of hard ball behind the scenes, despite the rhetoric. It may even be true! :)

  10. 10.

    Elizabelle

    @Betty Cracker:   That’s what I think too.  I get the impression Joe has no illusions.

    He was also very upfront about not knowing what he is going to find when he takes office.  But that he is already talking with world leaders.

    WRT a Q about immigration issues:  he was upfront that he would move swiftly but that means a 6-month timeline.  That he is already talking with Mexico’s president Lopez Obrador and already working on the issues.  That he does not want to announce an immediate change of policy and end up with migrants lined up along the border.  It was a very straightforward answer.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    @Jay C:

    My New Year’s Resolution is to stop worrying about that.  It’s an easy one because I haven’t been worrying about that.

  13. 13.

    pamelabrown53

    @Jay C:

    When obliquely addressing congressional republican obstructionism in his press conference, he limited his remarks and appeals to republican constituents who are also, losing loved ones, jobs and businesses. Very astute. I frikkin’ loved his press conference. I also loved the prepared remarks on the cyber-security breaches. He was masterful; I felt uplifted, hopeful.

    He’s doing his damnest to talk to all Americans to emphasize where we not only share citizenship but responsibility to hold our reps. accountable.

    P.S. Maybe he can be a leader who can ameliorate republican disdain for their voters. Let’s continue organizing for 2022!

  15. 15.

    BruceFromOhio

    So very happy I got my favorite gift for Solstice, a Biden-Harris administration. Can’t wait to let it loose on 1/20.

    Going dark for the rest of the week, you kids be good.

  17. 17.

    SiubhanDuinne

    I’m not hard of hearing myself, and don’t know ASL, but I really appreciate the fact that POTUS-E Biden so often uses a sign interpreter when he gives formal speeches, and I hope he’ll continue that practice once he’s in the White House. It’s another way of emphasising inclusivity and mainstreaming a range of conditions.

  20. 20.

    japa21

    @pamelabrown53: He is also doing a great job of letting people know who will be to blame if things don’t happen.  Basically saying he is willing to work with the GOP if they will work with him. If things don’t get done, it will be on them.

  21. 21.

    Elizabelle

    @pamelabrown53:   Yes.  That came through loud and clear.

    He was talking over the GOP politicians’ heads straight to their constituents.  Who have to pay mortgages, and may lose or have lost loved ones.

    I was thinking that I hope more wingnuts see extended clips of this press conference.  It refutes the “old and senile” lie they’ve been fed, and Biden speaks so plainly that he may reach some of them.

    Maybe Fox will run with “heh heh, he said one horse pony, not one-trick pony — senile, senile” — but the description was aimed at their reporter.  Who is the spawn of one of their Fox and Friends sofa liars.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Baud:

    “A one-horse pony?” Oh, Joe. It’s a one-trick pony, and a one-horse open sleigh. I love Joe when he ever so gently does something weird to the language.

    ETA: To be clear, there was no mistaking his meaning, and the above is in no way a criticism. I thought it was endearing.

  28. 28.

    Yutsano

    @Jay C: Earmarks. The very first thing Nancy could do is to bring back earmarks. Then if you want that sweet sweet defence contractor lucre well you’re gonna have to give a yes on a certain bill. It would be the single greatest strength move Pelosi could do especially with such a narrow majority.

  30. 30.

    CaseyL

    @Elizabelle: Yes, I too thought Biden was remarkably straightforward in his answers.  Enjoyed seeing him push back on questions that assume he has more information than he does, or assumes he’s willing to speculate in advance of the facts.

    I am amazed at his, what’s the word: his even keeledness. He knows, and says he knows, there will be unimaginable horrors waiting for him when he takes office.  He can’t do much about it now, but he’s moving a lot of people into place to get a running start on the 20th.

  33. 33.

    Elizabelle

    @CaseyL:   We seem to be Biden fans here.

    This is going to be the longest month, in a dreadfully long year.

    From a Facebook meme:

    Happy Solstice.  The shortest day in the longest fucking year of our lives.

  36. 36.

    WaterGirl

    This looks like it could be fun: (email from Stacey Abrams)

    We are excited to invite you to a virtual fundraiser, Celebrity Autobiography, the show where celebrities read hilarious passages from other celebrity memoirs. This Sunday, December 27 at 8:00pm ET, join the creators of the hit Broadway show and an amazing lineup of stars as they raise money for Fair Fight ahead of the runoff elections in Georgia.

    There will be an incredible line-up of performers, including Matthew Broderick, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Andrea Martin, Mandy Patinkin, Rosie Perez, Rob Reiner, Martin Short, Cecily Strong, Tony Hale, John Leguizamo, and some more surprise guests. Tickets start at $10 and your support will help us make sure that Georgians vote on January 5 and elect Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

    RSVP

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    @Elizabelle:

    From a Facebook meme:

    Happy Solstice.  The shortest day in the longest fucking year of our lives.

     

    A comedian that I like on youtube did a video entitled:

     

    ‘ What happened to New Year’s Resolutions?’

     

    Are you scared?

    You even scared to hope?

    I know that it seems like the year that won’t end.

    Then she said..

    We had

    1. January
    2. February
    3. COVIDARY

    That’s the year…I LOL cause it was the truth.

  41. 41.

    Calouste

    @SiubhanDuinne: Having a sign language interpreter for major government speeches and announcements is standard practice in civilized countries. And I believe even the UK does it.

  42. 42.

    trollhattan

    Cripes, the county COVID stats continue to singe the eyeballs with each new day. Sure hope folks do a better job staying home for Christmas than they did on Thanksgiving. OTOH we still have ICU capacity, putting us ahead of swaths of the state.

  44. 44.

    JPL

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: There was a lot of crossover vote in North Fulton, especially Alpharetta, Milton and Johns Creek.   I wish Ossoff and Warnock would spend more time, trying to convince those that voted for Biden to vote for them.     Both Perdue and Loeffler used their positions to make money.   You would think that would turn off college educated.

    I’m concerned.   If they continue pushing early voting and absentee voting, and if it snows on election day, Ossoff and Warnock will win.   I can’t a state runoff that the democrats won.

  49. 49.

    Matt McIrvin

    @rikyrah:

    Then she said..

    We had

    1. January
    2. February
    3. COVIDARY

    That’s the year…I LOL cause it was the truth.

    And its entry in the “thirty days hath September” rhyme has to be the cruelest one ever.

  50. 50.

    trollhattan

    Can we start a pool on date-time of the first time our new senator from California calls:

    McConnell
    Rand Paul
    Ted Cruz
    Inhofe
    “Pendejo”?

  53. 53.

    debbie

    @japa21:

    Seconded. I especially liked when Joe said out loud and in public that the hack happened on Donald Trump’s watch. I believe he said the same about the pandemic. I trust he will do this as often as necessary.

  54. 54.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @trollhattan:

    Haven’t you ever seen a tiny horse riding a pony? Adorable!

    Nope! Just the tiny adorable squirrel riding a pony — “Onward, Buttercup! There’s fuckery afoot!”

    (Adam occasionally posts this image.)

  55. 55.

    Elizabelle

    @Yutsano:   Beginning of that NY Times story.  Reading the rest now.

    President Trump’s longtime banker at Deutsche Bank, who arranged for the German lender to make hundreds of millions of dollars of loans to his company, is stepping down from the bank.

    Rosemary Vrablic, a managing director and senior banker in Deutsche Bank’s wealth management division, recently handed in her resignation, which the bank accepted, according to a bank spokesman, Daniel Hunter.

    “I’ve chosen to resign my position with the bank effective Dec. 31 and am looking forward to my retirement,” Ms. Vrablic, 60, said in a statement on Tuesday.
    The reasons for Ms. Vrablic’s abrupt resignation were not clear.

  57. 57.

    TS (the original)

    @pamelabrown53:

    Loved the end when he was asked about Hunter. (via transcript on c-span)

    “God love you man, you are a one horse pony

    Edit: (as Baud said – way back above)

  59. 59.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Calouste:

    Fun maybe-fact (I read this years ago and have no idea whether it’s true):

    Unlike the American and British versions of English, which vary in accent, vocabulary, and a few idioms but are (mostly!) mutually understandable, British Sign Language and American Sign Language are entirely different. Two people signing in ASL and BSL would be incomprehensible to each other.

    Again, I don’t know whether this is true, was once true but has changed over the years, or was never true. Anyone here have expertise in this domain?

  61. 61.

    opiejeanne

    @BruceFromOhio: Yes! Getting the Biden Harris win was a wonderful gift. We also got the Solstice “Star”, and thanks to all the shared photos of the event.

    And last night we got some pretty snow, completely unpredicted by every weather service.

  62. 62.

    Elizabelle

    More of the NY Times story.  Ms. Vrablic will have more time to spend with her family the grand jury.

    Trump’s Longtime Banker at Deutsche Bank Resigns

    Rosemary Vrablic, who oversaw hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to President Trump’s company, will leave the bank next week.

    Deutsche Bank in August opened an internal review into a 2013 real estate transaction between Ms. Vrablic and a company owned in part by Jared Kushner … Dominic Scalzi, a longtime colleague of Ms. Vrablic’s who played a role in that transaction, will also leave the bank.

    Ms. Vrablic and Mr. Scalzi joined Deutsche Bank in 2006 from Bank of America. Ms. Vrablic quickly made a name for herself as one of her division’s leading rainmakers. In 2011, she landed a prominent new client: Mr. Trump, who for decades had been mostly off limits to the mainstream banking world because of his tendency to default on loans. With her bosses’ approval, Ms. Vrablic agreed to a series of loans, totaling well over $300 million, for his newly acquired Doral golf resort in Florida, for his troubled Chicago skyscraper and for the transformation of the Old Post Office building in Washington into a luxury hotel.
    …  Mr. Trump’s key contacts at his biggest financial backer are leaving at a perilous time for the departing president. He owes Deutsche Bank about $330 million, and the loans come due in 2023 and 2024. Mr. Trump provided a personal guarantee to get the loans, meaning that if he fails to pay them back, the bank can pursue his personal assets.

    Deutsche Bank’s internal review has focused, at least in part, on a Park Avenue apartment that Ms. Vrablic, Mr. Scalzi and another Deutsche Bank colleague purchased for about $1.5 million from a company called Bergel 715 Associates in June 2013. Mr. Kushner held an ownership stake in that company at the time.
    ….  At the time of the real estate transaction, Ms. Vrablic was rapidly expanding Deutsche Bank’s relationship with the Trumps and the Kushners. It was Mr. Kushner who, in 2011, invited Ms. Vrablic to Trump Tower in Manhattan to meet his father-in-law, who was radioactive to most large banks.

    Ms. Vrablic and her boss championed the Trump relationship. But it was polarizing inside the bank. Some senior executives argued it was too risky to lend to Mr. Trump, given his history of not repaying loans, including in 2008 when he defaulted on a large loan from Deutsche Bank on his Chicago skyscraper. Those concerns, however, were overruled, [by whom???] and the relationship with Mr. Trump progressed.
    As they sought more loans, Mr. Trump and his representatives provided Deutsche Bank with financial statements that appeared to substantially overstate the value of some of his company’s real estate and other assets, according to current and former bank executives, as well as congressional testimony last year from Mr. Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen.

    That is one focus of the criminal investigation by Mr. Vance, the Manhattan district attorney. Since the November election, his prosecutors have interviewed Deutsche Bank officials about the bank’s lending policies and procedures, and bank executives expect that prosecutors will summon employees to testify before a grand jury.

  66. 66.

    rikyrah

    @JPL:

    Considering that this is a runoff like no other.

    The intensity has not wained.

    People are interested.

    They know about the race.

    Not saying that we will win, but it’s better than other runoffs

  69. 69.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    “A one-horse pony?” Oh, Joe. It’s a one-trick pony, and a one-horse open sleigh.”

    Whatever phrase one chooses, the bottom line is that Peter Doocy is a flaming douchebag who should be arrested for impersonating a journalist

    Come to think of it, about 95% of on air staff employed by Fox News should be arrested for impersonating journalists.

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    @rikyrah:

    To your point.

    More than 1.6 million ballots have already been cast in Georgia’s crucial US Senate runoffs with two weeks to go until Election Day — most of them at early in-person voting locations rather than by mail.

    The wave of early voting in the Georgia runoff mirrors high turnout ahead of the general election in November. About 1.9 million Georgians had cast ballots at this point in early voting for the presidential election, according to state election officials.
    –CNN

    Impressive!

  77. 77.

    Keith P.

    Scoop: Donald Trump informed Sidney Powell on Monday that he does not intend to appoint her “special counsel” to investigate “election fraud”

    Monkey’s Paw Take: Trump intends to fire Pat Cippolini and appoint her as new White House Counsel.

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    @Elizabelle:

    For starters, hard for me to believe German law is sanguine about Deutsche Bank antics on Trump’s behalf. (Not that I know the first thing about it.)

  82. 82.

    Wyatt Salamanca

    I look forward to Jan 20th when Joe Biden can finally be referred to as President and the Trumpenstein monster along with all of his thugs such as Rudy Ghouliani will be swept into the trash receptacle of history.

  83. 83.

    CaseyL

    @WaterGirl: I got a ticket! – at least, I *think* I did.  Paid on the ActBlue site, but when I clicked the button to go to the show site, there wasn’t any indication that the site knew I had bought a ticket already.

    Well.  Hopefully I’ll get a link to the show via email, from ActBlue.

  84. 84.

    WaterGirl

    @CaseyL: That sounds kind of familiar, like maybe that happened for another one of their events.  I’m about to sign up, and I’m confident that we will get the link when they think the time is right.  :-

    edit: I just signed up.  I think we’re good.

  85. 85.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    “I think we owe Bernie Sanders and his Republican colleagues thanks for getting not all of the stimulus — $1,200 — but getting $600 done. I think you’re seeing that there is a clear understanding that these issues go beyond any ideology.”

    HA!

  88. 88.

    Tony Jay

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Just asked my BSL and Makaton using partner and she confirms they’re pretty different.

    Okay  first off she said that they’re about as different as American and British versions of English, but in her defence when we visited the US no one could understand a word she said. Damn, my lady can hold a grudge.

  89. 89.

    CaseyL

    @opiejeanne: It was lovely while it lasted.

    I’d taken my two kitties to the vet for their annual checkups and was sitting in my car in the parking lot talking to the vet about the examination results.  In the middle of discussing whether to get x-rays of Jeannie’s chest (she’s had a couple serious coughing fits) I looked around and blurted out “On my god, it’s snowing!!”

  91. 91.

    AnotherBruce

    @opiejeanne: We did get a pretty snow, but it was preceded by an epic rain. There were geysers in the drains and rivers on the streets.

    Hell is was fun. I love strong weather. Just so it’s not too strong.

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