Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

The jury literally has a bell they can ring to force Trump to show up on command. Greatest thing ever!

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

Bad people in a position to do bad things will do bad things because they are bad people. End of story.

I really should read my own blog.

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

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

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

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

Elections aren’t won by handwringing, cowering, and/or bashing your own candidates.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Chutkan laughs. Lauro sits back down.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

“Why isn’t this Snickers bar only a nickel?”

We still have time to mess this up!

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Open Thread: Biden Speech in Charleston, SC

Reader Interactions

72Comments

  2. 2.

    Old School

    Biden: “Let me be clear for those who don’t seem to know: Slavery was the cause of the Civil War. There’s no negotiation about that. Now we’re living in an era of a second Lost Cause.”

  3. 3.

    cmorenc

    CNN’s current lead is “South Carolins will reveal just how much of a hole Biden is in” – WTF?  There is no contested D primary in SC, and it is definitely not a swing state nor one Ds are likely to come within high single digits of winning at best, which the article admits , but rather the article focused on claims Biden is out of sorts with the SC black community.

  4. 4.

    Old School

    CNN Interview with Missouri AG:

    BORIS SANCHEZ: What would be your justification for removing Joe Biden from the ballot in Missouri?

    JAY ASHCROFT: There have been allegations that he’s engaged in insurrection

    SANCHEZ: How so?

    ASHCROFT: Um, I’ve seen allegations from the lieutenant governor of Texas

    pic.twitter.com/687uqKyCUw— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 8, 2024

  5. 5.

    moonbat

    I think it would be a good antidote (or fuel for the fire!) to frequent discussions about “Dem messaging” on here if we actually heard/saw what the messages being sent out really are. Yes, more please.

  8. 8.

    Bokonon

    This is the way to do it.

    Keep making the same points again and again and again … and bust through the media’s filters and framing (as well as the right-wing media’s blackout).  Take the case directly to the American people.  Look forceful and deliberate while you are doing it.

  9. 9.

    Lapassionara

    @Old School: What a travesty. Every person who interviews Jay Ashcroft from now on needs to keep following up on this. There should be another question then another question, then a question like, “what is the factual basis for that allegation.” This was a front page headline in the St Louis paper yesterday. It is utter nonsense, and just illustrates how both sides are NOT REMOTELY the same.

  10. 10.

    AM in NC

    As much as we can do to get Biden’s speech snippets on social media everywhere, the better.  My two college-age sons were both talking the other night about how Biden is doddering because of all the crap they’re seeing on social media.  When I said, “but did you see his speech on Jan 5th, showing he’s not senile”, they said, “yeah, we’ve seen snippets and that was good”, but the sheer bulk of “OLD BIDEN” memes is overwhelming their good sense.

    Don’t get me wrong, they’re voting for Biden 100%, but even knowing the stuttering problem and that it’s a bunch of propaganda, they have been influenced by this crap. Repetition works. Propaganda works. And they need to be seeing as many clips of Biden being forceful and clear as they do of him stumbling over a word or pausing in his speech.

  11. 11.

    Captain C

    @Baud:

    November 6, 2024 FTFNYT headline:

    “Biden Wins, But Loses Ground, With Only 80 Million Votes This Time Around”

    Subtitle:  “Trump Claims Fraud, Huge Win.  Some Disagree”

    In Paragraph 37:  “Biden’s margin of popular vote victory, 80 million to 60 million, was one of the largest ever, as was his nearly 15% percentage margin.  Likewise, his 321 Electoral Votes were 15 more than last time around.”

    In Paragraph 41:  “The claims of Trump, currently in prison for decades after dozens of Federal and State felony convictions, are considered nonsense by experts and all of his previous claims of election fraud have been declared bunk, even frivilous[sic], by courts, including many presided over by Trump-appointed judges.”

  12. 12.

    lowtechcyclist

    CNN Interview with Missouri AG:

    I’d be going: “what, you’re the attorney general of Missouri, one of the fifty states of this great country, and you’re making an allegation like that without knowing a damn thing about it, not having a lick of substantiation that you’ve seen and vetted yourself? Sir, if you had any decency, you’d resign and hand over your job to someone who had some sort of actual standards. The people of Missouri should be appalled that they have someone like you as their state government’s chief lawyer.”

  14. 14.

    Ramalama

    So many great moments here. Including this:

    In their world these Americans including you don’t count
    But that’s not the real world, that’s not democracy, that’s not America
    In America we all count
    In America we witness and serve all those in fact participate
    And losers are taught to concede when they lose when they lose
    and he’s a loser

  15. 15.

    MazeDancer

    Two beauties in a row for Mr.Biden.

    He is so fired up and ready to go. If he keeps this up, by the convention, he should have the entire arena on its feet screaming like he’s Taylor Swift.

  16. 16.

    Lyrebird

    @AM in NC: Yes, help!  None of my kids are old enough to vote yet, but in my not so great judgement I did let the older set watch some comedy videos where actors pretend to be Obama, the orange menace, and Biden playing online games like Doors.

    The videos are kinda funny, I don’t demand my kids have the same humor as me, I do remember I liked tasteless crap at their age… but oy!

    I feel like I have to create an online video series about disinformation, I don’t have time.

  17. 17.

    smith

    It was 100% predictable that Red States would start trying to disqualify Biden for bogus reasons. This is why I’m not enthused about the argument that the 14th Amendment disqualification clause is self-effectuating, no extra process required. We need a clear, unambiguous understanding of who decides and what the criteria are before it’s used to remove someone from the ballot. I will be satisfied if the Supreme Court provides that, even if the process they settle on leaves TFG on the ballot.

    It might even be better in the long run if he stays on and loses convincingly than if he’s prevented from running. The worst of the cultists won’t accept any result that keeps him out of power, but many less committed voters would probably be more prepared to accept a result that they see as the outcome of a fair fight rather than a preemption.

  18. 18.

    Frankensteinbeck

    Sorry for going wildly off topic, but my friend Sena Bryer just announced she’s the voice actress for Wuk Lamat, the major female Hrothgar storyline character in the new Final Fantasy XIV expansion.  I have known Sena since voice acting was her impossible dream, I got to watch up close as she entered the field, she is a huge fan of FF14 herself, and now I am ugly crying.

    I know there are FF14 players here.  For anyone who understands what a big deal this is and has Bluesky, you can congratulate her at her announcement there.

    EDIT – And here she is in the trailer, the lion lady.  That voice is my friend Sena.  I am crying so hard.

  19. 19.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Old School:

    Boy howdy, Jay Ashcroft is one whiny little beeyotch, isn’t he? Have never been a John Ashcroft* fan by any stretch, but his namesake son is a whole nother animal.

    *John Ashcroft is still alive. I had no idea.

  21. 21.

    TaMara

    So what I hear you saying is, “TaMara, if you are just sitting around at your desk during tax time, take a break, find some Joe Biden stuff and share”

    As I’m able to, I will. It’s actually a little easier when I’m desk-bound, like I am during tax time, then other times when I’m busy in other areas.

  22. 22.

    TBone

    @smith: yes it was predictable.  That doesn’t diminish the quality of the argument nor the fact that the Constitution itself is what disqualifies dotard.  It does not disqualify Old Handsome Joe.  I don’t give a flying fuck what the cultists will accept.  As Luttig pointed out, it’s not a suicide pact.

  23. 23.

    Lapassionara

    @Lapassionara: I just saw the clip of the interview, and the CNN guy was very persistent and Ashcroft looked like a dimwit. The only criticism I have of the CNN guy is that he evidently  not know that the Colorado Court held a factual hearing (before a judge) on the insurrection issue, so Trump was not excluded from the ballot on mere “allegations,” as Ashcroft contended.

  24. 24.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @TaMara:

    This is twice I’ve seen a friend hit a life dream jackpot, the other being when Dana Simpson won the Comic Strip Superstar contest and got the contract that is now the internationally syndicated Phoebe And Her Unicorn.  Wuk Lamat is going to be all over the internet, I guarantee you.  This is such a big deal and I’m so happy for her.  How else can you respond to such a good thing happening to someone you care about?

  27. 27.

    Josie

    @Lapassionara: ​
     Until I saw an interview with Colorado’s attorney general, I did not realize there had been a 5 day trial, which Trump declined to take part in. That needs to be spread far and wide. There was actually due process before the judge made his/her? decision.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    @Josie: Yes, there was absolutely due process, with a 5-day presentation of evidence, but it wasn’t in “court” and it wasn’t a “trial”.

    Apparently her process was quite methodical and has received compliments from the usual legal eagles.

  30. 30.

    zhena gogolia

    Keep the speeches coming!

    OT, I just learned that Northern Exposure is available on Prime!

  31. 31.

    Miss Bianca

    @zhena gogolia: I just finished watching that whole series. On DVD, from the library. :)

    (Seems to me I must be one of the only folx here that doesn’t stream anything – except for YouTube – and still relies on DVDs and CDs for media consumption.)

  33. 33.

    Lapassionara

    @WaterGirl: I think the Colorado judges who dissented were complaining that the process used was not to the standards used for criminal defendants. But it did not need to be to a criminal standard because Trump’s liberty was not being threatened. The remedy, being disqualified from future office, is a non-criminal remedy. But my understanding is that the fact finding was pretty thorough. Trump’s lawyers were there, but not Trump himself.

  34. 34.

    Jeffro

    @SiubhanDuinne:Boy howdy, Jay Ashcroft is one whiny little beeyotch, isn’t he? Have never been a John Ashcroft* fan by any stretch, but his namesake son is a whole nother animal.

    It makes sense, in a way.  The late Gen X and early Millennial kids of Boomer wingnuts have been marinating in Fox News (and using Gingrichian – if that’s even a word – language) for three decades now, ever since they were kids.  They’re our own home-grown North Koreans at this point: no idea of anything outside the propaganda bubble.

  36. 36.

    Mallard Filmore

    I just listened to the speech and there were two heresies.

    1) Trump is a LOSER.  (I love that one)

    2) he wants to ban assault weapons.  (how can MAGAland exercise their God given right to kill refugees/browns/gays/trans/lefties without assault rifles?)

  37. 37.

    TBone

    It’s not a question of remedy.  Qualification as determined by the Constitution is not a penalty.

  38. 38.

    Mallard Filmore

    @lowtechcyclist:
     
    I like how you started out …

    I’d be going: “what, you’re the attorney general of Missouri, one of the fifty states of this great country, and you’re making an allegation like that without knowing a damn thing about it, not having a lick of substantiation that you’ve seen and vetted yourself? Sir, [did you scam your way into this position?]

  39. 39.

    Miss Bianca

    @zhena gogolia: I did! I had caught a couple episodes here and there back in the day when it was still on the air, but had never seen the whole series. Holds up surprisingly well, imho, for a show that’s 30 years old.

    And positively prescient, as far as some social trends go.

  41. 41.

    geg6

    @Miss Bianca:

    Loved, loved, loved that show during its original run.  I wonder if I’d feel the same all these years later?  Things don’t always hold up well.  However, John Corbett will never not be hot.

  42. 42.

    eversor

    @TBone:

    It’s anti Christian.  If Christians do not get patriarchy, hierarchy, two gender roles that are iron clad, they cannot practice their religion and their religious freedom is denied.  Since we are keeping Christianity the only thing we can do is give them all these things, and then thank them when we are loaded into trains.

    Hence I’m voting for the person who will give them this, and convincing people who won’t vote for it not to vote!

  46. 46.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Mallard Filmore:

    Trump is a LOSER.

    I can’t think of any message more effective at depressing Republican turnout.  For all they scream and rage, exactly because they scream and rage, Republican voters want a winner.  They want a champion to fight for them.  Beating Trump with the long, long list of his losses, losses that are going to keep getting worse as court battles play out throughout the year, will shave off points Trump can’t afford to lose.

  48. 48.

    cain

    @Captain C:

    This is where the Biden adminstration, congressional democrats – point fingers and speak loudly that the votes was 80 million dollar and keep repeatedly mention it in every interview they are involved in – as someone upthread said “repetition works” – keep hammering it home. Americans need a constant barrage to get through the mud – and repeat it in spanish as well.

    If you gonna fight both the media and the GOP – you’re going to have to bring it exhaustively. If any of us get on the media, repeat the same thing. (not that they interview dems, they only interview disgruntled liberals/leftists)

  51. 51.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @AM in NC: I mean, if the inability to speak coherently is a deal-breaker than Trump is the candidate whose mental faculties they should be questioning.  Like have they ever heard Trump get through a single sentence coherently?

  52. 52.

    artem1s

    I like seeing these campaign stops because you get to see the local leaders who introduce the candidate. The rest of the country gets to learn a little more about who they are and hear them speak. I’m pretty sure this was how I first was exposed to giants like Lewis and Cummings. It’s important for us to see other’s enthusiasm. I was annoyed at the protestors interrupting Biden but it was wonderful to hear the crowd spontaneously and enthusiastically take up the ‘four more years’ chant. Those folks know what the event is about and what’s at stake. Moar plz!

  53. 53.

    artem1s

    I like seeing these campaign stops because you get to see the local leaders who introduce the candidate. The rest of the country gets to learn a little more about who they are and hear them speak. I’m pretty sure this was how I first was exposed to giants like Lewis and Cummings. It’s important for us to see other’s enthusiasm. I was annoyed at the protestors interrupting Biden but it was wonderful to hear the crowd spontaneously and enthusiastically take up the ‘four more years’ chant. Those folks know what the event is about and what’s at stake. Moar plz!

  54. 54.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @AM in NC:

    My two college-age sons were both talking the other night about how Biden is doddering because of all the crap they’re seeing on social media.

    I was with my 30 something niece and nephew this Xmas and I got Biden is old, was in the pocket of banks, whatabout Anita Hill and Kamala was a cop.

    Also, from the niece, whose grandfather’s trust paid for her undergraduate education, a whine about how her graduate school loans haven’t yet been forgiven. And how at the ripe old age of 31, she is darned tired of voting and not getting a pony.

    I didn’t get upset, I simply stated that people and their positions change, that Biden was the best president for labor in my lifetime and that if Biden were to lose this election, my dear niece and my dear nephew’s partner should kiss women’s health care bye-bye (it’s already precarious for my niece who lives in Nashville).

    Auntie will need to do more nudges.

  59. 59.

    Baud

    Biden is old.

    The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden will release a final rule as soon as this week that will make it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors rather than employees that typically cost a company more, an administration official said.

  60. 60.

    Alison Rose

    @catclub: It’s nothing to withhold a vote over now, but Biden presided over the hearings and let’s just say didn’t exactly treat Hill kindly or help things go smoothly for her. It’s not wrong to say he was wrong in his behavior back then, but it doesn’t mean someone should refuse to vote for him now

    ETA this piece (warning: Politico) gets at some of the issue.

  61. 61.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud: ​
     

    Biden’s Department of Labor, and the NLRB, are doing all sorts of good stuff to improve the position of workers. Just one more reason to keep Biden in the White House this November.

  63. 63.

    JML

    @Sure Lurkalot: If I hear any more “Kamala was/is a cop” garbage from lefties I’m gonna start some $h!t. especially white privileged lefties who have no idea what’s been like for women, especially black women running for office in this country.

  67. 67.

    Citizen Alan

    @JML: What really kills me about “Kamala is a cop” is that it’s an implicit statement that only conservatives should play any role in law enforcement. We need more Democrat cops!

  68. 68.

    Miss Bianca

    @geg6: Some parts of it had definitely aged badly/creepily, I thought, but a lot of was startlingly forward-thinking, too.

  70. 70.

    wjca

    @Citizen Alan: What really kills me about “Kamala is a cop” is that it’s an implicit statement that only conservatives should play any role in law enforcement. We need more Democrat cops!

    It would be a disqualifier only for those who really believe in “defund the police.”  Or in the minds of those who mistakenly think all Democrats believe it.

  71. 71.

    Yutsano

    @Frankensteinbeck: ​You have to feel for the poor lady. Odds are she’s known she’s had the gig for weeks but she can’t tell anyone until it’s officially released. I’m always happy when an actor or voice actor nails a gig. There are always so many nos they hear.

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