Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

We will not go back.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

American history and black history cannot be separated.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

Our messy unity will be our strength.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

If you voted for Trump, you don’t get to speak about ethics, morals, or rule of law.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

If a good thing happens for a bad reason, it’s still a good thing.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

You are here: Home / Politics / Biden Administration in Action / Open Thread: President Biden & President Macron of France at 11:45 1:15 pm (LIVE)

Open Thread: President Biden & President Macron of France at 11:45 1:15 pm (LIVE)

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President Biden Hosts a Joint Press Conference with President Emmanuel Macron of France.

I am trying to refrain from making a snippy remark about two male world leaders meeting, but mostly because I can’t come up with anything clever.  I’m still feeling a bit cranky this morning about the foolish reporter who wanted to know if the “girl” leaders were going to get their purses and go to the bathroom together, or perhaps have his fantasy pillow fight.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

95Comments

  1. 1.

    Betsy

    Yeah.  Golly, that question was awful — right down to the “and stuff” phraseology he used repeatedly.  What an illiterate.

  2. 2.

    Chris

    “America’s oldest ally.”

    It’s funny.  I vote in both places, but something I realized when looking at the French elections this year is that in the fifteen-odd years I’ve been voting, I’ve never had a French President that I really hated the way I did Dubya or Trump, nor one that I really liked the way I did Obama and Biden.  They’re all just kind of… there.  I didn’t expect (or get) great things from any of them, but I didn’t get horror shows on the scale of what America’s made me used to either.  There’s something to be said for that.

    (Of the four presidents I’ve lived under since I turned 18, Sarkozy’s probably the one I’d be most prone to revisit and think “yeah, this guy was more of a turd than I appreciated at the time.”)

  5. 5.

    piratedan

    perhaps we can see Son of Doocy offer up, “whatever will you talk about since your ages are so far apart……”

  7. 7.

    Mike in NC

    Did the Fat Orange Clown even have a formal State Dinner for anybody? Certainly his taste in everything was abysmal, so Big Macs would be on the menu.

    He would have hosted Putin or some other dictator if he could, but it seemed he was allergic to doing most of the things any sane, normal president would do. All he cared about was golf and calling in to the sychophants at ‘Fox and Friends’.

  9. 9.

    Lapassionara

    @fancycwabs: LOL. Last time I visited France, the famous French railway workers were on an extended strike. Some of the museums closed too, in solidarity. People seemed to manage, but we did a lot of walking.

  10. 10.

    Dagaetch

    “Mr. President, will you boys be cracking a beer and watching the World Cup while wearing sweats? And a follow-up, will your side bets include military assets?”

  11. 11.

    scav

    @Betsy: pish.  Being illiterate might describe the upper limits of his attainable intellectual capacity.  Furthermore, I seriously doubt being able to struggle through Goodnight Moon is going to fix what’s lacking in that bemicrophoned biped.

  12. 12.

    Barbara

    @Mike in NC: Yes, he did.  I remember one for France, because Melania was so obviously charmed by Macron.  Apparently, there was also one for Australia, which I don’t remember at all.

  13. 13.

    brendancalling

    O/T, but Aline Kominsky-Crumb has passed away.

    If you were a fan, as I am, this one hurts.

  17. 17.

    Bevstersf

    The only way Ardern’s press conference could have been better is if at the end one of them had said, “And then we’re gonna talk about boys.”

  18. 18.

    Ken

    OK, hear me out. What if, when two nations have a dispute, rather than having their leaders fight it out with swords in an arena, they had a fantasy pillow fight?  We could settle all of our problems with much less violence.

    (Posted in loving tribute to everyone who’s ever have the idea of “just have the leaders fight” and thought it was brilliant, original, and world-changing.)

  20. 20.

    Ken

    @Bevstersf: The only way Ardern’s press conference could have been better is if at the end one of them had said, “And then we’re gonna talk about boys.”

    “Because the Bechdel test is a lie. Women always talk about men. We just don’t want you men to know, because of the things we say about you.”

  22. 22.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ken: “We just don’t want you men to know, because of the things we say about you and the size of your… hands.”

  27. 27.

    JoyceH

    The Biden administration’s first State Dinner. Out of curiosity, I googled and found a list of White House State Dinners, and man, there used to be a lot of them! Trump had…. two. Granted, that last year was a pandemic, but JFK had something like fifteen and for his last year, he was, y’know, dead. Poppy Bush, last one-termer, had something like 25.

    We need more state dinners, if you ask me.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_dinners_in_the_United_States

  29. 29.

    Brachiator

    @JoyceH:

    The Biden administration’s first State Dinner. Out of curiosity, I googled and found a list of White House State Dinners, and man, there used to be a lot of them! Trump had…. two. Granted, that last year was a pandemic, but JFK had something like fifteen and for his last year, he was, y’know, dead. Poppy Bush, last one-termer, had something like 25.

    Yep. State dinners increased big time from John Kennedy through the Bush 41 administration and then declined from Clinton through today. This CNN article has a nice graphic detailing the number of dinners.

  30. 30.

    Roger Moore

    @fancycwabs:

    Maybe Macron can teach Biden about the advantages of nationalized railways and mandatory sick leave.

    I’m pretty sure Joe “Amtrak” Biden understands the benefits of nationalized railways.  The problem, as with all this stuff, is that it isn’t within his power to nationalize the railroads or institute mandatory sick leave.  We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship, and achieving those things would require cooperation from Congress.  By all means, lobby for the things you support, but don’t whine because the President doesn’t just snap his fingers and give you everything you want.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    One speaks in coherent sentences…the other does not.

     

    Eva McKend (@evamckend) tweeted at 8:50 PM on Wed, Nov 30, 2022:
    Georgia’s Republican candidate for the United States Senate has not taken a question from the general press in more than a month. It’s a stark contrast to the incumbent Democrat that holds media availabilities nearly every day on the campaign trail. #gapol #gasen https://t.co/qbSxLdEQNA
    (https://twitter.com/evamckend/status/1598147384051060736?t=Etnylb043eLdMmjbmDEMAA&s=03)

  40. 40.

    Brachiator

    Macron state dinner menu…

    … the party will dine on butter-poached Maine lobster, American Osetra caviar and beef with shallot marmalade among other dishes in the elaborate meal.

    Oregon’s Rogue River Blue cheese, which won the World Cheese Awards gold medal, heads off the three-cheese course, along with a goat cheese from California and a cheddar from Wisconsin.

    For dessert, the international group will indulge in orange chiffon cake, roasted pears and creme fraiche ice cream. Three California wines — a chardonnay, a cabernet sauvignon and a sparkling brut rose — round out the drink list.

  41. 41.

    WaterGirl

    @rikyrah:

    I’m not surprised because you knew it wasn’t going to be a white guy, I think we all knew that.

    Because it’s just not possible, apparently, that the best person for the job is black.  Fuck those guys.

  42. 42.

    Josie

    @rikyrah: ​
     “A very extreme choice.” Hmm, sounds to me like he is making them nervous. He has already made it clear he will not put up with their bullshit. I guess in their minds that is extreme.

  43. 43.

    cain

    @MattF: Things sure has changed from my day – back then we had programs that would turn text into cockney or some other thing – this is an all new level.

    But it gets worse:

    https://www.jasper.ai/

    This will write your blog for you.

    There are others that can write a bunch of stuff based on a few lines from twitter.

    https://www.aiva.ai/

    This will automatically create soundtrack for you. No need to pay for a copyright – it’s all AI generated.

    https://hotpot.ai/art-generator

    This will create art by just giving a description.

    ETA: At github, you can generate code for you there is even an AI assistant that you can send your code to ask them what’s wrong with it!

  44. 44.

    JoyceH

    @Brachiator: Om nom nom! Remind myself that lobster is a zero point food, though the butter poaching might be problematic. And can I brag? Yesterday I did a ribeye in the air fryer, and it was perfect!

  45. 45.

    Gravenstone

    @WaterGirl: Well, they’re starting out as chapped that it’s been some damned woman up until now. So of course they’re going to let the butthurt out.

  46. 46.

    Anyway

    @Amir Khalid:

    The beer would have to be alcohol-free for the famously teetotal Biden.

    Huh. I did not know this about POTUS. Aware of his fondness for ice cream but didn’t realize he was a teetotaler – knew that about TFG and Dubya.

  47. 47.

    scav

    Yea! Joel Greenberg gets 11 years.  Good to keep the ominous legal drumbeat going and circling, circling, circling, ever closer circling, . . . .

  48. 48.

    Geoduck

    @Anyway: Yeah, Biden’s family has a bad history with alcoholism, so he went on the wagon.

    And since it’s sort of related to the discussion at hand, it’s good to hear that one of CNN’s most white and inadequate commentators, Chris Cillizza, has gotten the axe.

  51. 51.

    rikyrah

    He is very much on point about this.

     

    Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) tweeted at 5:02 PM on Wed, Nov 30, 2022:
    I’m heading to the Senate floor to continue unmasking the Scheme to capture and control our Supreme Court — or as I call it, “The Court That Dark Money Built.”

    Tonight’s focus: the dire need for a binding code of conduct for SCOTUS justices and way more disclosure at the Court.
    (https://twitter.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1598090077741420549?t=N4FGhwqCOGSSitivlU5b3g&s=03)

  52. 52.

    rikyrah

    Because, of course…

     

    Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@QasimRashid) tweeted at 6:37 PM on Wed, Nov 30, 2022:
    If you’re one of the tens of millions of hardworking people wondering why your $10K or $20K student loan forgiveness is on hold, it’s b/c a GOP plaintiff who had $48K in PPP loans forgiven is suing b/c he’s only got only $10K—not $20K—in student loan forgiveness.
    (https://twitter.com/QasimRashid/status/1598113958954958850?t=E_t50v2dEw_6bgIU8jSliw&s=03)

  53. 53.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @cain:

    I have been following this trend.  The problem is, they don’t work, and there is no sign they’ll ever work.  The results they give are breathtaking at first glance.  Then you try to actually get what you specifically want, and maybe it will give it to you, or more likely with a lot of fiddling it will give you something that is… off.  A little.  Like the beautifully rendered leopard painting has three eyes.  Or you need it standing up, and you cannot get it standing up, no matter what you try.  And wow, what an amazing leopard painting, but you need it to be standing up and not have three eyes, so its amazingness is useless to you!  This kind of problem is built into machine learning (we have no actual AI) neural net systems.

    It’s a lot like Tesla’s self-driving cars, except actually less reliable because at least 99% of driving is a rules-based system.

  54. 54.

    brendancalling

    @Geoduck: I heard from a friend that Chris Duhlizza got sacked, and I swear I have a grin on my face from ear to ear.

    That man is about as sharp as a bowling ball. If Duhlizza said up, you knew the truth was down. If Duhlizza said something was good, you knew it was bad. The man should have been sacked a long time ago—and to be honest probably should have been buried alive under a pile of heavy boulders.

  55. 55.

    geg6

    @Anyway:

    Biden has talked about alcoholism in his family, including his dad, so he has said he never wanted to even try it because he was afraid he’d be addicted.  Seeing as how Hunter has had such addiction issues, I think he was prudent.

  58. 58.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Geoduck:

     it’s good to hear that one of CNN’s most white and inadequate commentators, Chris Cillizza, has gotten the axe.

    And there was much rejoicing.

  62. 62.

    MattF

    @brendancalling: For a while, I kept a ‘Cillizza’ folder with his greatest hits— but he’s been sinking for some time now. I expect he’ll pop up somewhere. Cillizza and Dana Milbank were partners in some ugly WaPo ‘analysis’, but Milbank has lately seen the light.

  63. 63.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Josie:

    “A very extreme choice.” Hmm, sounds to me like he is making them nervous. He has already made it clear he will not put up with their bullshit. I guess in their minds that is extreme.

    Nah, it’s because he’s Black and not a Republican.  Any Black who isn’t one of them is, in their minds, automatically more radical and extreme than Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and Elridge Cleaver put together

    ETA: Yes, I know I’m telling you how old I am without saying how old I am. :-)

  66. 66.

    Amir Khalid

    @Anyway:

    Don’t you remember the famous “beer summit” hosted by Obama? Obama, Biden, Prof. Henry Louis Gates of Harvard, and the white cop who arrested Prof. Gates for breaking into his own house. Biden was the only one who had alcohol-free beer.

  67. 67.

    kalakal

    @rikyrah:

    Newsmax host on Hakeem Jeffries’ election as Democratic leader: “I’m not surprised because you knew it wasn’t going to be a white guy

    That’s disgusting. And so pathetic & whiny. A group of the most privileged people who’ve ever existed and they have chosen to spend their lives spreading hate and whinging that life isn’t fair to them

  68. 68.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Amir Khalid:

    Don’t you remember the famous “beer summit” hosted by Obama? Obama, Biden, Prof. Henry Louis Gates of Harvard, and the white cop who arrested Prof. Gates for breaking into his own house. Biden was the only one who had alcohol-free beer.

    I knew that they had the summit, but didn’t follow it at that level of detail. I’m another who learned from this thread that Biden doesn’t drink alcohol.

  71. 71.

    Betsy

    @rikyrah: WHAT did I say yesterday

     

    @Geoduck: That is wonderful.  Now I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop: what sordid outlet will hire him to fail upward, like ya do

    (where “ya” is white incompetent guys)

  73. 73.

    raven

    WASHINGTON — Acting rapidly to avert a potential national rail strike, the Senate on Thursday moved toward passing legislation to impose a labor agreement between rail companies and their workers, as the threat of a holiday season disruption that would jeopardize shipping across the country loomed.

  74. 74.

    Eolirin

    @Frankensteinbeck: I don’t think there’s any reason to believe those issues are fundamental constraints of neural network based systems, rather than constraints of current approaches/models.

    In fact it’s rather difficult to see how they could be given that our brains encode and process information in similar ways, just using different structures and arrangements.

    The big breakthroughs we’ve been seeing over the last decade have been occurring from different approaches being discovered, and by massively more compute power being available. The issues will get solved, and it won’t be using current techniques, at least not by themselves, so the limitations of the current techniques, and even hardware, won’t tell you much about what comes next.

  76. 76.

    Anyway

    @Amir Khalid:

    Don’t you remember the famous “beer summit” hosted by Obama? Obama, Biden, Prof. Henry Louis Gates of Harvard, and the white cop who arrested Prof. Gates for breaking into his own house. Biden was the only one who had alcohol-free beer.

    I remember the beer summit but not that detail about Biden.

  78. 78.

    gene108

    @rikyrah:

    Brain implants aren’t new. One of my cousin’s kids was doing his master’s in engineering. He worked for a professor, who was refining implants for people with epilepsy.

    Researchers have been working on similar devices to the one Musk is trying to market for over 20 years. Per the article, Neuralink might’ve engineered a less cumbersome device than what currently exists, but with no real gains in functionality.

  79. 79.

    Ruckus

    @Mike in NC:

    Has SFB ever done anything remotely normal human?

    Because I’d say nope, not once, not ever. He is a barely walking guide to shitty behavior, not even a good example of how bad one can be if they start out shit, get worse as they age, till they are like the exact opposite of aged fine wine – he’s half a bottle of $1/qt white that’s been left out in a cow pasture for a month, had the cows decorate it liberally, and some drunk wino who couldn’t even afford the $1 for a “fresh” bottle refuse to drink it because when he screwed off the cap, it smelled worse than the outside of the bottle.

  82. 82.

    Geminid

    @gene108: Brain implants are also used to suppress the tremors from Parkinson’s disease. One of my customers has Parkinson’s and it’s starting to get bad. He told me that he is considering going the implant route, but there is now a similar treatment that uses ultrasound and he is considering this method as well.

    I’m hoping someone comes up with a cannabinoid that helps with Parkinson’s. A different neurological disorder, a severe form of childhood epilepsy, has been treated with some success with a paticular strain of cannabis named “Charlotte’s Web.” Maybe someone can derive a Parkinson’s treatment from another strain. I sure hope so; that’s a scary disease.

  84. 84.

    Ruckus

    @Josie:

    If he won’t put up with bullshit, they really, really do not have anything else. And they know it. It’s the reason he’s horrible for/to them, all they have is bullshit.

  89. 89.

    Ruckus

    @Geminid:

    Parkinson’s is rather scary. As of this moment there is nothing reasonable to do to contain it. There are treatments that can make living with it better. A few docs have thought that I have Parkinson’s because it is a rather difficult disease to actually establish someone has until well into progression. Also a lot of docs do not do the test well at all. I went through about 4-5 yrs of different docs saying I do or I don’t have it, until a 4th yr medical school student did the entire movement exam and did it properly. I had a tremor, which is the basis of a Parkinson’s diagnosis. But it’s a particular type of tremor, and the test has to be administered properly. She was the first person to do it correctly. Which of course is how I found out that I don’t have Parkinson’s. Good times. And now my tremor is controlled by reducing the medication that was causing it to it’s minimum dosage, because any higher amount gives me a tremor. Just know in the doctor/patient/medication world, I’m an outlier, an oddball, I react weirdly or badly to a lot of meds, even meds that a huge number of people take with no issues. I have other stories. Growing old is fun!

  91. 91.

    A Man for All Seaonings (formerly Geeno)

    @rikyrah: Who didn’t know Jeffries was next in line? He’s checked all the leadership path boxes in his time in Congress; he’s senior in that slot, and Pelosi’s been grooming him for the position for the last few years.

    But it’s because he’s black!? WTF?

  92. 92.

    sab

    I don’t know why, but I really enjoyed watching two world leaders, sympathetic to each other’s concerns, totally mangle each other’s language.

    The only people in the world worse at foreign languages than Americans are the French.

  95. 95.

    Geminid

    @sab: Intelligence, aptitude, and work ethic too.

    Jeffries had been in Congress only 6 years when he was elected Caucus Chairman. His peers and leadership must have seen a lot they liked.

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