I’ve seen multiple requests to have this May 3 interview front-paged. Haven’t listened to it myself, yet, but over 1.3million people have. Now ‘we’ can argue in the light of full knowledge.
1,321,534 views May 3, 2024 #SternShow #HowardStern #Biden
Howard Stern talks to President Joe Biden in a live, exclusive interview on SiriusXM.0:00 – Howard Stern Welcomes President Biden
0:52 – New Rules for Airlines
6:43 – Growing Up, Law School, and Public Defense
16:53 – Meeting Neilia, Loss, and Family
27:58 – Overcoming Obstacles and Fistfights
33:55 – Religion, Grief, and Therapy
40:28 – Greatest Presidents and Becoming VP
45:06 – Lifeguarding and Meeting Jill
52:08 – Proposing and Political Disagreements
55:43 – Debating Trump, Free Press, and NATO
1:04:06 – Beau Biden and Importance of Family
1:10:25 – Thank You
(There’s also a ‘Show Transcript‘ button, for those of us with auditory processing issues.)
Nukular Biskits
Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Anne!
MagdaInBlack
As I recall, this was shortly after the nyt’s pitched their little fit over not getting an interview. When Biden turned up on Stern, I laughed and laughed at what a FU it was to the nyt.
Old Dan and Little Ann
I listened to this the day after and loved it. I don’t remember it mentioned anywhere in our failed media news experiment.
Elizabelle
Thank you, Anne Laurie. Excellent timing.
TBone
I can listen to this while making some easy French
moosemousse to celebrate with!https://www.wonkette.com/p/those-cakes-we-like-have-a-serious
CaseyL
One of our regular commenters mentioned that Biden had a cognitive test a few weeks (?) ago, and was fine. They also linked to it. Does anyone remember who it was, or which thread(s) it was in?
I want to use the link, if I may.
cain
@MagdaInBlack:
This is their revenge.
BellyCat
Been away from BJ most of today. I see that “wil” was temporarily banned. Mixed feelings on this. I only saw today’s posts by them and it’s not clear solely from these how they violated the commentariat policy. Maybe irritating and repetitive, but there’s some stiff competition for that award.
What was more apparent today, with little pushback and no moderator intervention, was mob-like behavior against someone with a differing opinion from prevailing thought.
This went beyond “don’t feed the troll”, if one felt a troll was involved (of which I’m personally not convinced), to “let’s insult the troll in every way possible.”
Stepping back, this is Salem Witch Hunt sort of behavior, folks. This kind of bloodlust is troubling. We can do better than vicious groupthink, right?
TBone
@CaseyL: I did and some others did as well. Be right back with it.
japa21
An interesting data point was mentioned in the prior thread which didn’t seem to garner much notice, though it deserves to. A CNN poll just came out that 91% of Dem voters are enthusiastic about Biden. 91%.
That’s probably higher than it was a month or 2 ago.
Even though it would cost the country plenty, if Biden is forced out a lot of those people would just stay home election day.
dc
@CaseyL: Maybe it was me, it’s his health summary from his exam in February: https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Health-Summary-2.28.pdf
In section 6, Parkinson’s is dealt with directly and discarded.
Starfish
@BellyCat: Some of the behavior towards wil was pretty bad. Has MomSense been around in the past few days? People were being rude to her for not being in lock step with the preferred Balloon Juice agenda
But this type of thing has happened over and over during election years, and mistermix was mocking the commenters for it by posting that Bernie Sanders quote. 😂
TBone
@CaseyL:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Health-Summary-2.28.pdf
Parfigliano
He could come out and do the alphabet backwards. Wouldnt matter. Media got their bone and they gonna chew.
Mousebumples
I pied WILlful early on, so I didn’t read comments or responses.
I agree it’s good to not be rude, though I know many of us have limited patience for that type of commenter.
I heartily endorse pie-ing people. You can still toggle, if you want to see a comment. And you can un-pie someone, too. It’s not permanent.
BellyCat
@Starfish: Not sure about MomSense. There is an increasingly disturbing groupthink vector developing of late here and it is NOT HEALTHY to vibrant discourse, which requires diverse opinions.
ETA: Don’t like a comment? Skip it. Don’t like a commenter? Pie them.
rikyrah
@japa21: Higher than last week. They were breathless to tell us that the President only had support of 66% of Democrats.
rikyrah
I was shocked to see how forceful Fetterman has been in support of the President, until I remembered that he was a target of the ableism BULLSHYT from the MSM following his health issues. Saw that ageist shyt against JoeyB and said PHUCK Outta Here😠😠
Dorothy A. Winsor
@CaseyL: I think this is what the commenter was referring to. It’s the results of Biden’s February physical.
Layer8Problem
@BellyCat: “Bloodlust?” “Vicious groupthink?” Most of us know the long-time commenters and I would think most lurkers who hang around here quietly under the radar know the room; I mean they read the blog, right? This place has never marched in lockstep and I’ve been surprised by the amount of snarling that takes place between regulars, and yet they come back and people make up and go on. If someone’s going to put up “many people are saying” arguments or “we’re all gonna die” arguments or “even the liberal New York Times says” arguments they better have receipts. Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence, and given the stakes people need to recognize that we need more than bad vibes and twenty minutes of debate to do something desperate.
VOR
I know nothing about ballot deadlines. But, do these people honestly think the Republicans are going to allow Dems to change nominees? They will have lawsuits filed ASAP in every state and seek to deny the new nominees on the ballots. MAGA will view this as retribution for the various states pondering throwing TFG off the ballot for insurrection.
BellyCat
@Starfish: The MomSense reaction went too far, as well. This behavior toward “a regular commenter” was even more disturbing in some ways than wil, who is (or claims to be) a long time lurker.
Starfish
@rikyrah: Oh! That makes sense.
The big concern that I had was the swing state Democrats distancing themselves from Biden and not attending fundraisers with him (because ultimately that may turn out badly for them.)
geg6
@rikyrah:
Both of my senators have been stalwarts. Fetterman, I think, for the very reason you mention. Or at least in large part.
Jay
@BellyCat:
Would i lie? has been flooding the zone for over two days now. When engaged on their “merits” they were not only nonresponsive to the counterpoints, but offensive in response.
Some commenters, once they pied the individual, discovered several comment threads were mostly pie.
They were off topic ,etc,…….. pure troll.
The past week and this weekend has seen a bunch of new Nyms pop up, and some old Nyms pop up and trolling. Some claim to be long time lurkers here, but can’t get the basic facts of several major events here over the years, to “prove” their bona fides, almost like they skimmed the content.
It appears to be an organized campaign to try to figure out which “narratives” about Biden/Harris will result in the most engagement when they flood the zone on social media.
Some commenter’s engaged, some pied, some just made fun of the trolls, and some did not respond to the troll, other than make fun of “you know who” with out linking their nym, and some of us just scrolled past the shitposting.
Every thread for days has had new trolls appear.
Rusty
Not only the Biden attacks, but now we are getting a concerted effort to polish Justice Amy Coney Barret and make her not so conservative and likeable by the press. WP, Axios and more. She is a reactionary who is anti-abortion, pro-gun (she loves those bump stocks), and anytime she has dissented from the other 5 reactionaries it has meant no difference. A few slightly less radical concurrences don’t matter, she is out to wreck the country like the rest of the majority. We really are living in hell.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@BellyCat:
Can we please drop the damned “groupthink” bullshit, please? There is no groupthink here, just people whining about others not agreeing with them. I have not gone after everyone who has expressed a different opinion from mine on Biden. I have gone after people who demand fucking ridiculous shit and whine about tone and being nice and…
Jackals do what jackals do and fuck this fucking label “groupthink”.
BellyCat
@Layer8Problem: Sure. But what evidence for banning wil exists?
I mean, eversor (whose many comments I enjoy, other than his anti-Xtian tirades) has been wildly bigoted about religion and was/is he banned?
(I admit to not following the wil drama from inception, but am fairly agog at the bullying which took place prior to their denouement.)
I’m not tone-policing (I could give a fuck about tone.) But civility? That should be our wheelhouse.
CaseyL
@TBone, @dc, @Dorothy A. Winsor<
Thanks, everyone! I thought the exam was more recent than that, but it does help!
Starfish
@BellyCat: I think eversor has been put into brief timeouts for his anti-Christian tirades.
Jay
@BellyCat:
There has been an increasingly disturbing “flooding of the zone” of BS narratives, did you know that President Joe Biden will be dead by the end of next week? “One Weird Trick” BS narratives, “remote diagnosis”, “majority of Dem Senators, Reps and Governors” want Biden gone, (6 Yellow dogs and backbenchers, 6 Never Weres and some “consultants” Biden/Harris never hired),
The BS has been flooding the zone, derailing conversations and discussions and trying to incite infighting.
scav
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Yup. & I can’t think how we’ve gotten this far without bringing up politics ain’t beanbag.
Starfish
@Odie Hugh Manatee: We regularly drive the Subaru into some farmer’s field and listen to Zappa. I am sorry if you have not been invited to the group think parties.
zhena gogolia
Now they have a new topic for sealioning.
Jay
@BellyCat:
Watergirl laid it all out and the Blog Father made the decision and the terms.
3 days for offence against the commenting conduct rules for the first serious offence, 10 days for the worst 2nd offence.
A one month ban if on their return they continue with their behaviour.
BellyCat
@Odie Hugh Manatee: If you don’t recognize the increased tendency toward groupthink here (especially wrt whether Biden should drop out or not to ensure a win) then you will be delighted that our opinions differ! :-)
Damien
Groupthink indicates that there’s anything to think about; unless someone comes out with an explanation of how replacing the candidate who won the primaries, has the warchest, and has the record that Biden has with someone untested and unnamed would be better than shutting the fuck up and rowing in the same direction then I’m not listening anymore.
Think whatever you want, but at this point it’s like trying to argue about whether the Flash could beat Superman: not only does it not matter, it isn’t a real question in the first damn place. Biden is our guy, and whatever you think about that, it isn’t changing: pick up a fucking oar.
Another Scott
@CaseyL: I think downstairs someone said “4 weeks” when they meant “4 months”.
It could have been yesterday and the press would still be harping on it.
Cheers,
Scott.
Starfish
@Jay: Neurologists, in general, are some of the smartest people that I know.
This whole incident is making me think of a time on some social media platform when a neurologist I know was deeply mad at a politician.
The neurologist I knew was furious with John McCain for not resigning immediately when he got his cancer diagnosis. He told me that most people with the diagnosis that McCain had die within two years.
I believe McCain died about 18 months after he made his diagnosis public, but he kept his seat and saved the ACA.
Should politicians hold onto their seats when they are handed diagnoses like that? Dianne Feinstein and others stayed in their seats longer than they really should have.
There are good arguments for Congress to put a maximum age on all the branches of the government.
Mousebumples
This.
Every path has risk. There’s no guaranteed win.
I don’t trust the shitty FTFNYT/etc., not to attack Harris or whomever. But the GOP guy is also OLD and incomprehensible plenty.
The devil you know, and all that.
Nose down, get to work, and I’m going to keep ridin’ with Biden.
BellyCat
@Jay: I saw Watergirl’s ban comment. Missing from this was any detail meriting the ban. My best guess is thread hijacking repeatedly. Would welcome reasons for banning in the future.
So as to not hijack this thread (and risk being banned! LOL), glad Joe’s cognitive tests have been good. Push that info to voters!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@dc: This is like Obama’s birth certificate. Yes, Biden had a doctor examine him, but it wasn’t the right kind of doctor, you know,a NYT certified reporter. And it wasn’t done today!
“These goal posts are built to move” The New York Times.
MagdaInBlack
@cain: Definitely.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@BellyCat: He was also on continuously posting for like 48 hours straight. The dude is nutters and the insane have nothing useful to add to the conversation.
Starfish
@BellyCat: I thought she was pretty clear about why.
moonbat
@japa21:
I saw it first time round, but I am happy that you reposted it. It is actually something we need to keep in mind going forward.
Despite the absolute deluge of negative press surrounding Biden, Democratic voters are still with him.
Stick that in your fantasy football/November ticket pipe and smoke it, FTFNYT.
Jay
@Starfish:
Remember when Hillary Clinton died of pneumonia?
Terry Schavo?
As others have pointed out, President Joe Biden had a comprehensive check up 4 months ago, the results are online.
He does not have Parkinsons, he has a couple of common, minor conditions related to age, none of which are cognitive related. One is a healing foot injury from a bike accident, the other is a common nerve numbness in one foot.
The zone is being flooded with BS, easily found facts be damned.
Pushing back against the flood of BS, is not “Group Think”, it’s common sense.
BellyCat
@Starfish: IIRC, those are the posted rules. Not a specific citation of which were violated. Not being pedantic, but citing which exactly were violated would be helpful to others who (like me) may not have witnessed all the exchanges.
BellyCat
You’re going to hurt Baud’s feelings!
Wapiti
Wise ass idea: maybe MVP Harris should be tapped in to go against Trump in the second debate, “so voters can see their options if Joe dies between now and election day: Convicted Felon Trump, or former DA Harris.” It would be ratings gold!
Starfish
@Jay: Some people are pushing back with information, but others are accusing people who disagree with them of being ChatGPT or Russian agents, and that seems pretty antagonistic for very little reason.
Another Scott
Meanwhile, WhiteHouse.gov:
He’s doing the work.
And a reminder…
Nitter.poast.org
Twitter.com
Eyes on the prizes.
Cheers,
Scott.
Jay
@Starfish:
when a new Nym, claiming to be a “Longtime Lurker, first time poster” opens their commenting history with a post of a load of BS that has been debunked here 1,000 times,
well, these are times that try men’s souls, ( and women’s, and binary, and asexual), so for some penis comment responses were appropriate.
The FTFNYT ran 192 “Biden is Old” articles in less that 2 weeks, all of which have been posted here by various Nym’s.
It’s like having Flat Earther’s flood the zone.
moonbat
@Another Scott: Not bad for a guy who’s about to drop dead, according to some on the interwebs.
Honestly, referencing that poll of 91% D support, I think people are pissed off at the MSM not giving our president credit for all that he does. This has been an actual grassroots push back. He has been so transformative that many people have felt the benefits of his policies.
I know some rightwing nutjob diabetics who have had to admit that lower insulin costs are going to make up for the price of eggs a few dozen times over.
Jackie
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
I never engaged with him; I came close when he said he worked from home, insinuating he wasn’t trapped in an 8 to 5 job as others here were. I wanted to ask him when did he work – as he was posting 24/7 here the last three days. I bit my tongue as I really don’t care about his work schedule, or even if he has a job or is retired or what.
His being grounded hasn’t much changed the current optics, IMO.
piratedan
in regards to the groupthink, something that’s been chatted right past a majority of the arguments…
Biden has stated that he’s staying in the race, period. End of fucking story.
Do you believe Joe Biden or do you honestly believe that the fucking press (that he loathes) and a few party squishes can move the man off that position?
I don’t, so for me, there’s no more fucking reason to talk about this.
Jackie
@Another Scott: I also caught that the planned conference meeting scheduled by Sen. Warner for tomorrow has been canceled. No explanation as of yet.
moonbat
@Jackie: Not so sure about that if all we’re doing is talking about him even though he is not here. He’s just hijacking threads by proxy.
For a blog that markets itself on being “a snarling mass of vitriolic jackals” there sure is a lot of tone policing going on.
Kim Walker
I’ve never even thought of pieing anyone, but that fellow was really awful and so I did. I’m glad he was banned and I also agree (as someone with a little experience in discourse analysis) that he was testing/probing as one of the Chris’ talked about. He made me think immediately of Cambridge Analytica and its parent company.
gwangung
@BellyCat: Perhaps you can take this up with Mr. Cole via email, as that seems to be a better venue and better target for that request.
Archon
Looks like Mark Warners coup attempt has failed.
Jay
@Jackie:
So far, apparently word of it “leaked” and people “noped out” because their names would be known.
Jay
@gwangung:
don’t forget, you get a better response from the Blogfather, if you question his judgement in ALL CAPS.
gwangung
@Jay: I was being mostly serious with that comment….(but of course, a little snark was mixed in….I’m a proud denizen of Balloon Juice). I just note that it takes some egregious behavior for John to step in, and if it’s non-egregious, he just tells us to stuff it.
Elizabelle
@Damien: Excellent comment.
Elizabelle
@Rusty: I have noticed the articles polishing up Amy Coney Barrett, too. No thank you.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@BellyCat:
As long as were clear on it, no problem. You go ahead and put people in a box that makes it easy to dismiss them and I’ll be a bit more nuanced than that. In the spirit of jackaldom I would like to say that you can take your “groupthink” label and shove it back from where you pulled it.
@Starfish: Damn, and I love me some Zappa. Explains the mindset though. I always miss out on the stuff that the cool groupthink kids are doing.
;)
Odie Hugh Manatee
@BellyCat: So you’re not only the Tone Police here but also the Ban Czar? Your concern about a troll is noted but I trust the people who run this place.
Not you.
Ruckus
@Jay:
I’m a very long time commenter and really while on occasion someone stomps on the edges of civility the last person put on vacation did nothing more. Either was really, really badly trolling or is on the verge of being a social psychopath. I’m not sure which side of the edge though.
As for memorizing a lot of major events on here, while my memory is still pretty damn good, going back most of my over 7 decades of a lot of my life, including BJ, there are some details missing. They just didn’t stick within the little, actual, brain matter available.
Mousebumples
I will take (partial) credit. I messaged Sen. Baldwin and asked her to reject his nonsense and support Biden/Harris. Had to give my name and address. Hopefully others did the same and got his scaredy cat self to back the fuck off.
Others receiving credit include those of you in Virginia who contacted his office, and others who reached out to your Dem electeds.
Mousebumples
@Elizabelle: if she wants to go resistance wine mom and join the other ladies against the fanatical five, I’ll welcome her to the team.
But I’d trust never Trumpers more. And I don’t trust them much either.
NobodySpecial
As a long time semi commenter around here who was accused more than once of being Corner Stone’s sockpuppet, I am very very glad I missed this particular bit of drama.
delphinium
@Mousebumples: Ha ha-was so angry that not only did I contact my own 2 senators, but also contacted his office to ask him to basically stop the nonsense and back Biden/Harris (although who knows if my email was read since not his constituent).
And just for good measure, contacted Hakeem Jeffries’ office too. Hopefully he can bang some heads together in the house.
Elizabelle
@Mousebumples: You are wise there.
Geminid
@Starfish: Some of the responses may were antagonistic, but that does not extenuate the banned commenter’s egregious, bad-faith behavior. I’m not a big fan of the banhamner, but this guy had it coming.
FDRLincoln
I haven’t commented on the Biden Is Old fracas to help my own mental health.
I’m voting for whoever the Dem is. My guess is that sticking with Joe is the right play. He’s been an excellent president. I love Harris too. I will gladly vote for her if she’s the nominee.
All that matters is defeating Trump and every bit of mental energy spent in doubt or fear just helps the fascists. I can’t control what Joe or the Dem leaders decide. But I do know that worrying about it only hurts my mental health and saps my energy and helps Trump.
Fuck that.
Elizabelle
@FDRLincoln: Wise.
FDRLincoln
If I had to bet money on which of the Sith Six gets less evil with time, it would be Barrett. But that’s like a 2% chance. Boof and Gorsuch have an issue here and there that they aren’t insane about but it isn’t much. Boof seems like a Roberts sidekick and with Roberts going hard-right these days, I don’t see much hope. Alito and Thomas are nothing but manifold wickedness.
LanceThruster
When you’ve lost Rob Reiner… Howard’s fluffing will do no good.
I think that what you all are not understanding is that all these voices need to be given permission first before they go public with this stuff. Scarborough was like a weather vane before going on an unexpected planned vacation without Mika. Clyburn was cleared to say he’d support Harris if that was decided, but had a Sunday appearance canceled. It’s the big donors who will ultimately determine Biden’s fate, and word on the street is that the campaign donation spigot has been turned off. And that some mega donors have stated that goes for the entire party until Biden steps down. Those in the closest local races have voiced their concerns how this is making their contests more difficult.
The longer the delay, the more it weakens Harris (if ultimately the replacement choice) appearing as a vote of no confidence. Why don’t you trust the wisdom of Biden’s VP selection? Joe’s the steady hand who knows what he’s doing after all. She’s always been a heartbeat away from the presidency.
Gretchen
@BellyCat: I pied wil and half of the comment thread was pied. He was taking over the threads saying the same things over and over and making them unreadable. There’s no discussion when one person hijacks it and attacks anyone who disagrees as unpure. I thank John for banning him.
Gretchen
@LanceThruster: The big donors want Biden out because their tax cuts expire in 2025. That’s what this is about Trump will reinstate them, Biden won’t. They’d love to have Harris in the top spot because she would attract all the racism Obama got and the misogyny for Clinton. There’s no way she would win and their tax cuts are safe. They’re already calling her the DEI VP. You think she’d be a landslide win? I hope Biden wins and steps down in a couple of years and she, who is very capable and ready but not appreciated, takes over. Maybe chooses Buttigieg as Vp.
Gretchen
@Damien: Great analogy. They’re arguing about Flash vs. Superman. We’re in the reality-based community where incumbency, great record, warchest, and hundreds of field offices already open around the country aren’t an advantage to be discarded for the unnamed Johnny Unbeatable.
Gretchen
@Jackie: Sen. Warner was laughed at by Biden, who said he tried to run in 2008 and backed out. Then it was published that he was on Obama’s short list for VP, and Axelrod wanted him, and Obama picked Biden. So they Warner and Axelrod are still the jilted lovers in the Obama/Biden story.
Gretchen
@Mousebumples: thank you for doing that. My Senators are both useless Republicans, so they’re probably rooting for injuries.
LanceThruster
@LanceThruster: – ask yourself (those remaining Team Biden come hell or high water) if Bernie had exhibited a fraction of these difficulties at any point in his back the back runs, would you have been just as accommodating? Right out of the starting gate he was too old. His heart episode was supposed to be the final nail in the coffin. I remember his difficulty in answering a question about some banking reform he had propsed as far as having worked out the nuts and bolts of it, and thought to myself that meant he was now toast. And then a day or two after read a piece explaining why Bernie’s answering as he did made sense. It went point by point the challenges faced in bringing about this reform (I forget which proposal exactly) and how Bernie’s answers weren’t so much as being stumped but that rather the starting points in achieving the desired outcome. Wasn’t quite the gotcha the opposition painted it as. Jerry Brown was Gov Moonbeam and Bernie has a bunch of derisive monikers (the bulk of them I learned here – he was even ‘he who shall not be named’ for a while).
And it did not come off as gaslighting like, “We’re around Joe all the time, and if you saw him behind closed doors like we do you’d see he was sharp as a tack and in charge directing eveverything.” To which Jon Stewart said in his most timid but persistent nebbish voice, “Maybe you should be wanting to film that part possibly?
Bernie could still handle stairs, kept a grueling schedule drawing large enthusiastic crowds, could be pretty fast on his feet tackling questions, and quite often actually won people over entering the Fox lion’s den for a townhall. Condemned vociferously for doing so, but forgotten when others expanded the reach of their messages in a similar manner. And though demonized as a spoiler selling woo-woo to damage their Golden Girl, or the arrogance in challenging Dark Brandon thinking he would be more electable or do a better job, he was routinely slagged in ways that made it a point to address nothing directly but with strawman characterizations meant to resonate with low information voters.
And despite the endless vitriol and spoiler label, he campaigned as earnestly for those ultimately gaining the nomination as he did for himself. More than *they* did for themselves even. Hillary wrote that it came too late and he didn’t do enough regardless. I read that Magic Grampa was set to stump for Biden in a state he beat Hillary in. I wonder if that is still on or if it’s in limbo till Biden’s status is known “for sure for sure.”
Now he’s still mocked, hated as being the guy who “let” his supporters reject VBNMW because, DNC shenanigans notwithstanding, Hillary was entitled to those votes, even if unwilling to offer anything more in return than what was already on the table. As she told Maddow at the townhall her primary victory was so decisive she didn’t need to do anything to win them over (in response to being asked what might she do to bring them on board).
I once read that Nader made the offer to Gore to suspend his campaign in return for a commitment to consider Nader’s recommendations for a couple of key cabinet positions but was turned downed. I remember just how disappointed I was in Gore’s selection of Droopy Dawg as VP but held my nose regardless in the voting booth. It certainly didn’t work out well distancing himself from Bill Clinton, who left office rather popular. Gore was going to show what a stabile marriage was like with that cringe lip lock he planted on Tipper at the convention.
In the years following, Lieberman went on the confirm what a piece of crap my gut reaction told me he was, and even gave a big FU the his own party primary when he lost, winning as an independent. Still took less crap than Bernie for it because AIPAC had no complaint with Droopy. All’s fair in love and the AIPAC money pipeline. They’ve taken out quite a few upstarts that dared to take them to task however mildly. They get a great ROI investment for lobby money in to the aid money out. As the joke goes, the reason why Israel isn’t the 51st state is because then they’d only control two Senators. Bernie took a remarkable amount of flak for the seemingly non-controversial statement of the need to treat Palestinians with dignity and respect and be an honest broker in trying to reach an acceptable peace agreement.
It reminded me of the backlash that Spielberg took, Spielberg of all people, for a scene in Munich that expressed even the slightest acknowledgement of a position from a Palestinians perspective. No one is spared when daring to venture outside of the official narrative.
What I’ve learned about the Democratic primary process in the last couple of decades is that the voters have as much say ultimately in the determination of the nominee as the faithful do in the selection of a new pope.
Trump got the nomination because the RNC does not have superdelegates. I was too young to have much understanding of what George McGovern was about, other than he had thrown his lot in with anti-war hippies and his VP had sought treatment for depression (shock therapy?). Ironically, a research study had determined not too long ago the effectiveness of a newer electronic “shock device” in treating depression and is used regularly with a great deal of success.
It was following Nixon’s landslide that the superdelegate system was initiated. A fail safe against too much populism. And I learned only as I got older what an absolute decent and competent man McGovern was. He was painted as a peacenik who didn’t sufficiently grok what was at stake in Indochina. This is a man who specifically chose not to make his WWII service as a B-24 pilot part of his campaign as something undignified. Compare that to Kerry reporting for duty, though also painted as insufficiently dedicated to the cause and mocked with band-aids for having been awarded the Purple Heart. Hillary was going to use dodging sniper fire to establish her combat bona fides on par with the men, though having the details become known then came off more like a case of an attempt at stolen valor.
No matter who ends up the nominee come November, I think it will finally be clear in this case that thinking that it will be Biden alone making the final determination for staying in or not will not be supported by the facts. It will be clear that mega donors are the power behind who will seek the throne. Twas ever thus.
And if the unplanned chaos and palace intrigue results in MAGAts regaining the throne, the tell-all books of the behind the scenes stuff will be off the hook. And the fallout for why they held back on that information will be just as valid as the dirt Bernword and/or Woodstein kept under wraps until it was time to be published in a their books.
“May you live in interesting times.” — ancient Chinese curse
Boy howdy, ain’t that the truth.
Damien
@LanceThruster:
Good Lord dude, verbosity does not equal convincingness.
To revisit my previous comment: Are you gonna pick up an oar and row this boat toward election success, or are you gonna bitch and moan about the rest of us not doing it right?
I’m handwriting 500 postcards and on a monthly donation; what are you doing?
TooManyJens
@LanceThruster:
If Bernie had been president for four years and had a record to run on and nobody could be sure whether turfing him off the ballot would even help? Yeah, I’d back him too. Obviously.
(Also, regarding your comment about being able to handle stairs, physical disability is not a disqualification for the presidency.)
Chris T.
@Damien:
I read that and was thinking “warch, warcher, warchest? Wha???”
Now if you’ll excluse me, I have some other prosts to warch….
Chris T.
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Yeah, we demand the Long Form Medical Report! Now fire up the tremendous battery on the electric goal-posts!