"Republicans Held an Impeachment Hearing and It Turned Into a Clown Show"https://t.co/ac5y3NfHsV
— Congressional Integrity Project (@usintegrityorg) September 28, 2023
The impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden was already a disappointment before it started on Thursday. In prepared testimony, two of the three witnesses called by Republicans explicitly said there was not enough evidence to warrant removing President Joe Biden from office. This included Jonathan Turley, the law professor and Fox News contributor, who said, “I do not believe that the evidence currently meets the standard of a high crime and misdemeanor needed for an article of impeachment.”…
Republican Lauren Boebert asked Turley, “Where does selling access to an executive office fall in terms of what justifies an impeachment inquiry and what is deemed an impeachable offense?” and got an extended legal discussion, which included multiple references to the U.S. code. “I shouldn’t have asked Turley a question,” she told a staffer, disappointed, as she got up to leave the hearing room. “He was a crappy witness.”…
The hearing began in chaos when the top Democrat on the committee, Jamie Raskin, almost immediately made a motion that the committee subpoena Rudy Giuliani and Lev Parnas, the former New York mayor’s associate in the 2019 effort to gather dirt on Biden in Ukraine. While almost all the committee’s Democratic members were present, most of the Republicans were not. This meant that the vote dragged on and on as Republicans scrambled to get everyone to show up to vote it down. In order to eat up time during the wait, members who had already voted kept on asking if they were recorded as voting in order to avoid the awkward silence as things dragged on.
Few Republicans were in the hearing room for the duration. Instead, they wandered in and out, bringing coffee and energy drinks to stay alert as the hours ticked by. The Democratic seats were mostly occupied for the first half of the proceedings, and Raskin appeared to grin throughout. In contrast, Comer sat mostly grim-faced and spent time peering at his iPhone when not expressing exasperation at Democrat Dan Goldman for repeatedly asking for unanimous consent for the same deposition from one of Hunter Biden’s business partners to be introduced into evidence again and again. By the end of the hearing, in a near empty room, a visibly peeved Comer was agreeing to this yet again, “for the seventh time without objection,” as Goldman continued to use the deposition to play defense for Biden…
All throughout the hearing, the specter of a likely government shutdown loomed over the proceedings. As they spoke in turn, every Democrat sat next to an iPad, propped up for the television audience, on which the seconds ticked down toward a shutdown. Repeatedly, Democrats raised this pending shutdown to argue that Republicans were simply using the hearing as a distraction from Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s repeated struggles to manage his deeply divided caucus. But based on the emptiness of the room and the banality of the hearing, it just wasn’t much of a distraction.
Other GOPbots besides the egregious Boebert are unhappy — there wasn’t enough clowning for some:
And GOP lawmaker also expressed some disappointment with their performance thus far, telling @AnnieGrayerCNN: “I wish we had more outbursts.”
— Melanie Zanona (@MZanona) September 28, 2023
As we saw in yesterday’s sham "impeachment" inquiry, the House GOP isn’t interested in the facts since they undermine their baseless conclusions.
Impeachment is a solemn, serious process, and the GOP circus is anything but.
It’s time to end the charade and do the people’s work. pic.twitter.com/4oYA6JAghG
— Rep. Dan Goldman (@RepDanGoldman) September 29, 2023
Dan Goldman went after Trump but says there’s no comparison to the ‘bald-faced lies’ against Biden. https://t.co/N1IVBf3j3I
— Intelligencer (@intelligencer) September 28, 2023
How bad is it going for James Comer in today's hearing? Democrats are now mockingly noting that his "guy" Steve Bannon is mad that the GOP called Jonathan Turely as a witness because Turley said there's no impeachable evidence yet. pic.twitter.com/77o4nEOMSt
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 28, 2023
Just caught up with Rep. Garcia who told me there was palpable surprise from GOP members in the room when Turley said this. They’re in a bit of “freak out” mode now, he said, because Turley was supposed to be one of their “star witnesses.” https://t.co/rKvFq668Rq
— Ali Vitali (@alivitali) September 28, 2023
But maybe there’s a pony buried at the bottom of this huge pile of…
“It is theater.” Fox News guests admit the Biden impeachment inquiry is simply designed to distract from Trump’s upcoming trials. (Video: Fox News) pic.twitter.com/wDuKij5vtE
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 29, 2023
Breaking: Watch Republican witnesses admit this impeachment trial is a sham. pic.twitter.com/oOAPR44CYX
— Biden’s Wins (@BidensWins) September 28, 2023
Let me get this straight
First, the GOP’s Biden whistleblower Gal Luft was indicted as a paid foreign agent
Then their star witness Devon Archer said Biden didn’t commit crimes
Now their impeachment witnesses are saying Biden shouldn’t be impeached
Do I have this right?! 🤣
— Lindy Li (@lindyli) September 29, 2023
Mousebumples
Happy Saturday!
Reminder that we have a postcard & music thread tonight at 8pm blog time. Hope to see you there!
Chief Oshkosh
So why wasn’t the GOP lawmaker NAMED? Juliet Foxtrot Charlie, why is anyone treating these fuckups with kid gloves anymore?
OzarkHillbilly
What did they expect after they put him under oath? The same lies and idiocy he peddles on FOX?
Ken
That Clay Bennett comic reminds me of this. (Warning: Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.)
Baud
The lack of evidence proves how far up the chain the cover up goes!
Scout211
Posted on the HouseWays and Means Committee official government site, a very different hearing than actually occurred. I tried to read the whole thing and watch the cherry-picked videos posted there but I just could not. If you have a strong stomach, be my guest.
Here is the intro paragraph:
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone😊😊😊
Baud
@Scout211:
“This was the largest audience to ever witness an impeachment hearing— period — both in person and around the globe.”
Ken
@Baud: “It would have been even larger if the Republican committee members could have been bothered to attend.”
MomSense
They are running the Benghazi playbook again. This whole thing is designed to damage Biden before the election and to try and neutralize legitimate concerns about Trump’s criminality.
The media seemed determined to play this as if it’s legitimate and by doing so are distorting the truth AGAIN.
This is why they keep harping on Biden’s age. They have no real scandals or criticism of the administration’s competence but they think they have to be critical to maintain balance so it’s stupid story after story about age.
I also think the media want Trump back as president because he was very good for their click$, $ub$cription$, and rating$.
Baud
@MomSense:
I haven’t been watching much media, but the things I’ve seen haven’t made the GOP look good.
I agree that a lot of what we’re seeing this year is reminiscent of 2016. There hoping that’ll work again because they have nothing else.
Suzanne
@Baud: Competence is boring and doesn’t drive clicks. They have to create dramatics.
lowtechcyclist
@Baud:
Brings back memories of when our inspectors didn’t turn up any evidence of Saddam’s alleged WMDs, and that just showed how well Saddam had hidden them.
MomSense
@Baud:
For discerning people who pay attention they definitely see that the Republicans are out of control. I’m worried though about the people who aren’t really paying attention but are hearing this in the background. It can reinforce their apathy and sort of pox on both their house’s government is never there for me crowd. We know from that former GOP staffer who wrote about the strategy of congressional Republicans obstructing government so that people would blame government as a whole and disengage from voting.
We all need to reach out to the normies and non political people in our circles to find out how they are interpreting these events.
OzarkHillbilly
@lowtechcyclist: Saddam hid them so well, even his army couldn’t find them.
Baud
@MomSense:
No argument. I’m just not sure the background information this time isn’t worse for the GOP than it was in 2016. But my bubble is small.
MomSense
@Baud:
For discerning people who pay attention they definitely see that the Republicans are out of control. I’m worried though about the people who aren’t really paying attention but are hearing this in the background. It can reinforce their apathy and sort of pox on both their houses, government is never there for me crowd. We know from that former GOP staffer who wrote about the strategy of congressional Republicans obstructing government so that people would blame government as a whole and disengage from voting.
We all need to reach out to the normies and non political people in our circles to find out how they are interpreting these events.
ETA so focused on changing autocorrect Mormons back to normies I missed the autocorrect apostrophe
Baud
@MomSense:
I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one living in autocorrect hell.
lowtechcyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
Nor has anyone else, and they’ve had 20 years to look!
MomSense
@MomSense:
Weird and instead of letting me correct it double posted? FYWP and I need more coffee.
And need to add nym and email too.
Scout211
I only read the news stories posted on the internet but I am seeing a difference in the reporting this time, too. The media focus this time has been more on the incompetence of the committee and the lack of evidence (and the false witnesses). Even the soundbites posted from the hearings highlight the Democrats on the committee making the Republicans look like the clowns that there are. It’s a subtle difference, but a difference that is frustrating the crazy caucus, Comer in particular
This difference may be because this particular set of Republican clowns are so over-the-top clowns this time that there is no subtlety to their fake accusations and made up “scandal.” Or maybe it’s because the “evidence” for Hillary’s Benghazi was easier to conceal and manipulate into a “scandal.” Or maybe the media is just getting tired of being played and then accused of journalistic malpractice.
Or maybe they all just hated Hillary. Ding, ding, ding!
Dorothy A. Winsor
We had dinner last night with a couple who usually vote D. I was dismayed to hear them talk about how much Biden has deteriorated mentally and how he can’t even deliver a prepared speech without stumbling. The message has wormed its way even into these folks who would never vote for Trump
ETA: The wife said Biden just sounds old while Trump sounds so much more lively. Now she’s bi-polar and not always reliable, but cripes.
Baud
@Suzanne:
It’s why I have rejected competence in my own life.
PsiFighter37
It is abjectly clear that the House GOP is just full of clowns at this point. I do wonder how Paul Ryan and Orange Julius would have handled having a 4-seat majority, though…my guess is, not very much better. Nancy Pelosi got a ridiculous amount accomplished next to Kevin McCarthy with the same majority, and the ‘Squad’ never did anything to nuke legislation except score an own goal on themselves by voting against the infrastructure bill…and not changing the outcome.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
How did you respond?
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Baud: I said I thought Biden was competent and had done a good job. I said his history as a stutterer has always affected his delivery of speeches. Then I repeated some of the nuttier things Trump has said lately: He beat Obama, Biden will start WWII, etc.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
👍
It’s good to be a witness.
OzarkHillbilly
@lowtechcyclist: Bush couldn’t find them at the WH Correspondents gala either, and he looked everywhere, even under the tables.
narya
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Maybe try reminding her that some of his speech patterns are a result of managing a life-long stutter? Good luck . . .
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
There are too many liberals who think they’re politically astute because they read the New York Times and absorb its talking points.
Frankensteinbeck
@OzarkHillbilly:
My current theory is that a lot of the House Republicans and the ones running the show expected easily uncovered evidence that Biden was taking bribes. They are in a constant echo chamber that there must be fire in all this smoke, and they’ve swallowed that lie even though there isn’t any smoke.
And I mean, that’s not a hard delusion to sell. Think about it from their end. They know Biden is evil. He’s a Democrat president and he does all this evil stuff like appoint colored people to positions of power. They know everybody takes bribes. They and all their friends do. They’ve heard a few gotchas that they want to believe, like the ‘big guy’ email. Surely all they have to do is ask the questions, because they know what the answers must be.
It’s the same with how they got pantsed like this investigating the DOJ. They know that white conservatives are the actual oppressed people, and they know that everybody abuses their power to target their enemies. Whether someone is actually guilty only matters for how easy it is to go after them, not whether you do it. So of course if they ask anyone Republican leaning in the DOJ it will all come out that Garland is unfairly targeting conservatives and the Trump prosecutions are politically motivated.
The answers they’ll get are so obvious they never check ahead of time. Then the real world punches them in the face. Again.
@MomSense:
They’re trying, but I don’t think it’s going anything like it did last time.
Geminid
Gal Luft, Comey’s missing witness, is said to be on the run but wherever he is, Luft is Tweeting up a storm: more alleged “evidence” of “Biden corruption” and a lot of whining about his “political persecution.” His Twitter heading shows a picture of a chained Samson straining against two pillars.
On July 11, Talking Points Memo published a good article about Mr. Luft. The Justice Department had just revealed an 8-count indictment of Luft for activities iincluding sales of strike drones to Kenya, rockets to Libya, trading in sanctioned Iranian oil and lying to federal investigators.
I think the indictment dated from November, 2022 but had been kept secret. Cyprus authorities arrested Luft in Cyprus last March on an Interpol warrant. Luft told reporters he he had been framed, jumped bail 11 days later, and has kept out of sight since.
After his arrest, Luft also claimed he had been en route to Turkiye to oversee delivery of 100 tons of earthquake relief supplies. Speculation is that is that he snuck out of Cyprus by way of the “Republic of Northern Cyprus” that is sponsored by Turkiye, so Luft might have gotten his chance to visit Turkiye after all.
Tourism is perhaps Turkiye’s biggest industry. And they like to say, “What happens in Turkiye stays in Turkiye.”
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
“Biden sounds old and stumbles occasionally with his stutter when speaking in public, and isn’t trying to destroy lives. Trump sounds so lively in his stupidity and drive for white nationalist Christofascist authoritarianism with him at the head and his family to succeed him. Whosoever shall I vote for?”
Thats a helluva take.
Suzanne
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I think that’s a good tactic, turn it back to TFG.
I do think age is affecting how Biden speaks. There are times I watch him and I will admit that I cringe. I don’t think he’s making bad decisions, and he has a good team of people around him. I also recognize that my choice is binary: Old Guy or Evil Fascist Old Guy. That’s it.
Would I prefer, in another timeline, to vote for someone like Kamala Harris or Gretchen Whitmer or Raphael Warnock for President in 2024? Yeah, I probably would. But those aren’t my choices. I would also prefer to be a millionaire, and have a hot pool boy.
Suzanne
@Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:
LMAO, he sounds like my mom did when coming out of anesthesia.
UncleEbeneezer
I love the way Goldman speaks. He doesn’t pull any punches but he’s also very precise with his words. And when interviewers (or fellow Reps) try to change the subject or bait him into some bullshit he’s very good at swerving and resisting the bait. Notice how the interviewer tried to bait him into some kind of “But shouldn’t we still have concerns about Biden?” bullshit:
But Goldman smartly redirects:
You can tell he is a former Federal Prosecutor.
Mousebumples
Agreed. Even if Trump isn’t the nominee for some unexpected reason (strokes out, loses support, whatever), it’s still Old Guy Who Supports Democracy vs Person Who Supports A Racist Theocracy* (*or whatever term you want to use).
I’m voting for the Dem nominee 100 out of 100 times. And that’s Joe Biden.
p.a.
@Frankensteinbeck: Yes, this. Fux “News” etc did their job too well. As many have pointed out, they created these numbnuts for their votes, but then the numbnuts took over the organizations and got elected. Now the Big Money Boyz old line cons are trying to re-saddle the raptors they engineered.
I don’t know if the BMB’s want the economy tanked via shutdown to whack the creeping success of the middle class under Joe/Dems despite what it will do to their own portfolios, or if they’d prefer a low/no damage solution and attack Joe’s successes by other means. It’s out of their hands.
Baud
@Suzanne:
Biden has always been occasionally cringey when he speaks. I remember the memes in 2020.
I actually have noticed fewer gaffes. It’s what he used to be known for.
MomSense
@UncleEbeneezer:
Thank dog he’s a good guy because he’s wicked smart and effective.
OzarkHillbilly
@Frankensteinbeck: I know, it was a rhetorical question. They’ve been smoking their own supply for decades.
eversor
On the MSM.
Years ago, before he became a crank, Taibbi commented on why journalists like GOP politics. Was about the Bush V Kerry election.
The Bush team was having fun. They were evil, but they were having fun with it. They were remarkably open about what they were doing and each day had some fun crazy. Plus they had great food and drinks. In comparison the Kerry campaign was boring, bland, didn’t create headlines, and had crappy food and drinks. This dynamic infected the coverage of the campaigns.
Boba Costa made a similar comment a bit back as well that he covers the GOP because conservative politics is just more fun. McCain was who he was in part for throwing cookouts, taking people gambling, wining and dining, and constantly in trouble.
It’s stupid and it’s silly but it’s what we as a nation are. People want the circus and the party that’s fun. Even if it’s full of assholes. People don’t want the highschool debate club that’s no fun. Talking about issues gets you nowhere. It’s all culture war and the candidates.
jonas
That’s *exactly* what they’re counting on — TVs in car dealerships and barbershops and military bases across the country tuned to Fox with the sound off, but with the scrolling chyron reading “Republicans investigate Biden bribery allegations”. They completely don’t give a shit about what any of the witnesses actually say, whether there’s any, you know, “evidence” of any kind, etc.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Baud:
I only want to be worked on by doctors under disciplinary sanction for substance abuse and malpractice bordering on incompetence. Plus, infection control by insisting on masks and gloves is woke communism.
mrmoshpotato
Your entire party is an unmitigated disaster, Asshat!
lowtechcyclist
@PsiFighter37:
IOW, the ‘Squad’ never did anything to nuke legislation, full stop.
UncleEbeneezer
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Unless you have drunken/drank(?) the Right Wing Kool Aid, nothing Trump says ever makes sense. He’s completely incoherent. How the F have your D-voting friends not noticed this? Biden’s mental faculties are clearly, exponentially sharper than Trump’s. Period.
Did your friends enjoy the Trump years? Do they want more of that? Do they know that every President has this person known as a Vice President, who is ready to step in at a moment’s notice and that VP Harris is incredibly smart and qualified?
Sorry, not mad at you…the level of stupid of what your friends said just really sets me off. It’s such a sad reminder of how freaking cluelessness of so many Americans. We all have to deal with them. My late FIL (who was also Bi-Polar) totally would have said this stuff too, if he were around. In fact, I’m pretty sure we had this same conversation with him a few months ago.
mrmoshpotato
OzarkHillbilly
I hear Giancarlo Granda is available now. ;-)
UncleEbeneezer
@MomSense: I would hate to be a criminal defendant with him prosecuting me, for sure.
Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg
@Suzanne:
I suspect that at some point, Jerry Falwell Jr will become available again and your wish could become true in theory, but on the bad side, you’d have to live with Jerry….
mrmoshpotato
@Mousebumples: Can I put in an early request for Funkytown? 😁
Geminid
@Baud: I thought Biden was somewhat tentative when he started his Presidential campaign, but grew more confident when he won his first primary, in South Carolina.
I think that confidence still manifests today in Biden’s speeches and remarks. I saw one commentator rank Biden’s recent Tucson speech very highly among modern presidential speeches, and that did not surprise me at all.
lowtechcyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
That still pisses me off after all these years. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died as a result of our invasion, and millions fled to other countries, which helped destabilize the region. And then when it turned out his casus belli for invading was nonexistent, he makes a fucking joke out of it.
And to add insult to injury, our courtier media thought it was a hoot. Way to speak truth to power, guys. Villago delenda est, indeed.
Yarrow
@eversor: This may have been true in the past but it’s hard to imagine the TFG team doing anything to make it fun to cover him. He’s not organized enough to have people taking reporters gambling or drinking, plus he’s too cheap to spend money on them. Publicly he puts reporters in pens and tells people to attack them. In 2016 there was a circus and novelty aspect. That’s no longer the case.
Biden may not be quite as fun as the R examples you gave but he’s an experienced pol. He knows he needs to keep the press happy. It wouldn’t surprise me if it’s more fun to cover him than TFG.
mrmoshpotato
@Suzanne:
Would he be a hot tub boy then?
M31
and the GOP witnesses who refuted everything are actually the good witnesses
the mid-level witnesses are piles of dog poo with tiny MAGA flags stuck in them
the bad witnesses, don’t ask
Suzanne
@Baud: He sounds older to me than he used to. His voice used to be …. sharper? Older people often get a mushy, soft quality to their speech. Look, Biden has been in the public eye for a long time. We’ve seen him age, and it’s not really reasonable to blow it off by saying that he’s always sounded like this. He hasn’t. He sounded different back in his VP days. He sounded different four years ago.
Again, though…. the choice is binary. None of this is to say that we shouldn’t vote for the guy, given the situation in which we find ourselves.
mrmoshpotato
@OzarkHillbilly:
They’re smoking their own farts? I have so many questions!
Scout211
O/T: The USPS has informed me that my COVID tests will arrive on Monday.
Geminid
@mrmoshpotato: I think you might be particularly interested in one of the Democratic candidates who will be featured tonight. That would be Russet Perry, candidate for the Virginia 31st Senate District seat.
mrmoshpotato
@Geminid: Well played. Well. Played.
eversor
@mrmoshpotato:
You can light farts on fire, and you could possibly use that to light a cig. So in theory possible?
Yarrow
Re media coverage:
Chief Oshkosh
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m hearing this more and more from reliable D voters in my circle. Someone has figured out how to market these ideas to them. These people are politically aware, much more so than what I’d call “normies,” but bin into the category of NYT/Atlantic/WaPo readers who think that Brooks may be making a good point every once in a while.
Years ago I was proud of myself when I got them to see the bullshit of The Mustache of Understanding, but I guess one must be constantly vigilante against backsliding!
lowtechcyclist
@OzarkHillbilly:
At least as far as the Rethugs in Congress go, I’d say it just dates back to the 2010 midterms. Especially given that both 2006 and 2008 were big Democratic years, Fox News hadn’t been around long enough to have people elected to Congress who’d grown up politically while absorbing their bullshit. But by 2010 a generation of Fox News watchers were running for Congress, and they got swept into Congress in that year’s Tea Party wave.
And the inmates have been running the GOP asylum ever since.
Chief Oshkosh
@Frankensteinbeck:
Well, the real world needs to put more snap into its uppercuts and jabs. Maybe even throw a roundhouse or a haymaker every once in a while..
But you make excellent points. They’re lazy and the believe their own bullshit. And they’re just not that bright.
Edmund dantes
@eversor: literally McCain had a tire swing that the reported loved. That’s where that saying came from about McCain.
they openly admitted that they loved going on his tire swing at the ranch or vacation home while they weee embedded with McCain on the campaign.
Yarrow
@Chief Oshkosh:
Maybe you meant this or maybe it’s a typo but either way I love it.
SFAW
@Baud:
I thought it was only pants (i.e., that you rejected).
SteveinPHX
I had lunch with a couple friends yesterday & we all agreed that Biden may stumble and/or stutter some, but the part of his brain that does critical thinking and absorbs information from his team still works just great AND he makes good decisions!
SFAW
@Chief Oshkosh:
I realize it does not speak well of me as an alleged “person,” but frankly, I’d rather see the real world knee them in the cojones and then kick them in the head.
Repeatedly.
Chief Oshkosh
@Yarrow: Nah, I’m not that good. Autocorrected to that, and part of my mucous-filled forehead said “Huh. I guess that’s right…”
Our household if full of coughing, snorting, sneezing, wheezing this morning. A far cry from “Laughing, joking, drinking, smoking…”
Geminid
@mrmoshpotato: Russet Perry is running to represent a suburban/exurban district in the Northern Virginia Piedmont.
I hear Perry named her son Kennebec. He likes to be called “Ken,” though.
Yarrow
@Chief Oshkosh: That sounds miserable. I hope you feel better soon.
Chief Oshkosh
@Yarrow: Thanks. Always have so far! ;)
Jeffro
Briefly going a little OT to pat myself on the back and award myself an Armchair Pundit Bronze Medal here…check this out:
On Thursday, in response to Betty’s asking how to get 5-6 of the “Seven Mehs” off the stage so that 1 could take on trump directly, I noted:
(And then we saw Bob Costa’s reporting on GOP donors’ panicking and possibly ‘drafting’ Smiling Glenn Youngkin into the race. Which is interesting, but was not going to work for a multitude of reasons.)
Well guess what? GOP Megadonors Have Summoned Will Hear “Pitches” from DeSantis and Haley Camps (link is gifted)
So there you go, folks. The way to beat trump is to get DeSantis and Haley on the same team (probably as a D/H ticket?) and then *buy everyone else off as follows:
Anyway, the blessed GOP mega donors have about a month to sort it all out and get going, otherwise, it’ll be way too late.
(And they’re still fucked anyway: trump is not just going to go quietly. But it’ll be fun to watch!)
MagdaInBlack
@Suzanne: I see what you’re seeing. And like you and SteveinPHX at #71, I think his critical thinking and his decision making skills are fine. Plus there are the fantastic people he surrounds himself with. Also like you, it wont change my vote, but I do see it.
Frankensteinbeck
@Jeffro:
I’m afraid that the GOP mega donors are arrogant self-absorbed assholes who will be completely on board with this plan as long as all the other GOP mega donors agree to do it their way. Exactly. In ever detail.
OzarkHillbilly
@lowtechcyclist: I’d say it goes back to Reagan and “trickle down”.
Ken
@Frankensteinbeck: “Afraid?” I would see that as the ideal situation.
Another Scott
Turley is a GQP hack. He said that he thought the House passed the threshold for having an impeachment inquiry (starting around 1:22), while also saying he didn’t see any evidence to support an impeachment yet. Because they are just starting the inquiry, you see.
It’s oh so serious, and the House is being oh so serious about this serious thing, and Turley is serious when he’s talking about how serious it is.
(groucho-roll-eyes.gif)
Grr…,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: done!
No One You Know
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Fear and fury are great energizers. Competence and experience are usually low key. Leaders don’t panic their supporters.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: The hot tub action starts after dark.
WaterGirl
@Geminid:
Featured where?
edit: I did enjoy the potato joke. But featured, where?
zhena gogolia
@Suzanne: I don’t care what the fuck his voice sounds like. He isn’t a fascist dictator. And I’m not going to put anything negative about him into my mind or into my mouth until we’re safely on the other side of this election.
Adolf Hitler had a very strong voice. So what.
No One You Know
@Baud: x2!
Juju
@Baud: I live in autocomplete hell myself.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: I think Russet Perry is one of the Democrats who’ve been featured in the Virginia campaign threads. But maybe I’m getting them mixed up with one of the Garden Threads.
Ken
@Geminid: “Russet Perry” might also be in a dog thread. Presumably there is a Russet Perrydoodle, because people are hybridizing poodles with everything.
No One You Know
@Yarrow: Especially because he’s got a fine sense of the absurd and a genial good humor in public. I’ve enjoyed the flashes of temper as well. He’s relatable because he’s so human. And, oh God, the things he’s suffered.
Geminid
@Ken: Now I’m really confused.
Suzanne
@MagdaInBlack: Mr. Suzanne is a speech-language pathologist, and he says that older people often develop a “sibilant S” and some other sounds change, as gums recede a bit with aging and there can be other changes in the mouth. He says Biden has a bit of that stuff going on, but that it’s obviously not a sign of mental decline.
He is super-observant of sounds and can be very precise in identifying what’s wrong and using technical terms, whereas I hear it and just say, “I don’t know how to describe it, it just sounds like someone is talking with mashed potatoes in their mouth”.
Mike in NC
Redneck idiot James Comer could be a poster boy for the fascist Confederate Party.
MagdaInBlack
@Suzanne: The only reason I care, if care is the right word, is because it is this superficial stuff that the “he’s to old” brigade grab on to. Same with the Fetterman detractors. Superficial bs.
And please thank Mr Suzanne for his explanation.
Another Scott
Wikipedia tells me that Biden Sr lived to be 86+, his mother lived to be 92+. His 3 siblings are still alive.
Biden’s speech in Arizona (starting around 5:00) was fine.
Biden has seasonal allergies which mess up his voice at times (5 page .pdf)
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jackie
@Scout211:
Mine, too😊
WaterGirl
@Geminid: I didn’t think we had featured him, so I was confused.
Eyeroller
@zhena gogolia: I don’t have any personal experience here, but it wouldn’t surprise me if compensating for a stutter gets harder as one ages.
Baud
@Suzanne:
I’m not saying he doesn’t sound older. I’m saying I haven’t noticed a drop off in the content or delivery, other than sounding older. But I don’t watch every speech.
Another Scott
@WaterGirl: She. ;-)
https://russetperry.com/meet-russet
She seems to have run a very good campaign.
Cheers,
Scott.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: Not everyone agrees, I’m sure.
But what you described is how I feel about it, too. It doesn’t seem helpful to make any statements that even mildly agree, or appear to agree, that age is an issue. So I am definitely not gonna be one of the people who helps contribute to any doubts or concerns.
WaterGirl
@Another Scott: I guess all those years of Mr. Potato Head indoctrination have gotten to me!
Ohio Mom
@Frankensteinbeck: I certainly follow your imagined line of thinking, Republicans think everyone is as crooked as they are, so sure, Biden must be a crook.
I look at Biden and see someone who always wanted to be president and even if he was tempted (hard for me to imagine) knew that shenanigans would screw up his long range goal.
If anything, I remain amazed that he succceeding walking a line between supporting Hunter in a fatherly way and keeping out of it all. Now that is political skill.
Kathleen
@Baud: Or listen to NPR
suzanne
@WaterGirl: Yeah, I disagree. I think it’s important to acknowledge that what people are seeing isn’t a figment.
Brit in Chicago
@Suzanne: “Would I prefer, in another timeline, to vote for someone like Kamala Harris or Gretchen Whitmer or Raphael Warnock for President in 2024? Yeah, I probably would.”
But do you think that any of the people you name would be more likely to win than Uncle Joe? On grounds of policy I’d be ok with any of them (and they all seem competent, though none have anything like Joe’s relevant experience), but winning comes first in my book. A loss which made TFIG (or RdiS) President would be a disaster.
S Cerevisiae
@Geminid: Kennebec? Seriously?
that’s the name of a county in Minnesota which is taken from a mispronounced Ojibwe word (ken-ā-bec = snake)
I wonder if he knows that?
Brit in Chicago
@lowtechcyclist: Agreed. Trump is the worst person to have been President (let’s say in the last 100 years—my knowledge is a bit shaky going further back) but in terms of damage done Bush Jr. is worse, and so is the sainted Ronnie. But a second Trump term could outdo them all.
wjca
That may be why they are highlighting the ineptness of Comer and his committee farce. It’s readymade drama. Complete with visible screwups in picking witnesses, great wailing by (mostly anonymous) staffers, and obvious an “Republicans in disarray!” narrative — which provides novelty.
JeanneT
@Eyeroller: Even considering the stutter challenge for Biden, it’s not a surprise that a person who has spent a long life in politics would develop damaged vocal cords: so much talking and speechifying! I have been wondering if Biden works with a vocal coach. For some people, guided vocal exercises can really help make the voice clearer and more resonant.
Bill Arnold
@Baud:
Autocorrect is a choice.
Bill Arnold
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I listened to Biden’s recent UN address and the delivery was fine. The emotional flow and rhythms aligned with the actual content, unlike Trump-rambles, where the rhythms and emotional flow are everything, and the “content” is just time filler.
Long speeches are hard to do perfectly. Anyone who thinks otherwise is clueless. Even with considerable practice, nearly all humans will stumble occasionally. It is rare to see/hear anything over a paragraph or two delivered) perfectly, with precision emotional flow, by any amateur. (Respect for those who do audio books well, good storytellers, and the like.)
BellaPea
I would really, really love to see someone punch Comer in his big stupid fat mouth. And I am not a fan of violence. I think I read somewhere that he was credibly accused of sexual assault…???
Bill Arnold
@Frankensteinbeck:
Where there’s smoke, there’s mirrors. (New Yorker cartoon, Victoria Roberts, February 9, 1998)
In this case, the smoke is from the GOP smoke machine.
Geminid
@WaterGirl: Russet Perry is a she. Ms. Perry was born in Texas, and her parents probably gave her a name that’s been in family for generations. Maybe a Russet Perry fought alongside Sam Houston at the Battle of San Jacinto.
Texans are known to do stuff like that. But I still like to think Perry was named after a potato.
Bill Arnold
@Frankensteinbeck:
This correct, IMO.
Geminid
@S Cerevisiae: Young Kennebec might not know this. They say there is some dark family history behind the name, but that Great-grandfather “Dutch” Perry* took it with him to his grave.
* The elder Perry’s given name was German Butterball, but that’s quite a mouthful so people naturally called him “Dutch.”
suzanne
@Brit in Chicago:
I genuinely don’t know the answer to this question, because it’s so far away from the current reality. My point is that I really only have two choices, so my vibes of preferring someone younger are not worth leaning into.
Ksmiami
@Chief Oshkosh: I’m rooting for Covid to take out the proudly unvaxxed.
Ksmiami
@Brit in Chicago: a second Trump term would be the dissolution of the USA with Blue states rebelling and forming alliances with Canada and Mexico
Eyeroller
@JeanneT: Also one’s voice naturally changes with aging, due to the same overall sagginess we acquire in other tissues affecting the vocal cords and other muscles, and it does not at all necessarily indicate any health concerns.
WaterGirl
@suzanne: What some people are seeing. I’m certainly not seeing what you described.