If any of these well-dressed drones were capable of shame, well…
Goal for a free press: "See things steady and see them whole."
WH Press corps at this moment: "Hold my beer." https://t.co/KmiyP0NDvz
— James Fallows (@JamesFallows) July 11, 2024
And some people wonder why President Biden is popular with non-white voters!
You don't understand, having crowds of angry white people yelling in our faces to quit is how some of us live our lives.
— Yurok Around The Clock (@HellcatBruce) July 10, 2024
Yeah, I’m tired of screaming into the void where the Major Media outlets supposedly have souls, or at least some vestigage of self-awareness. There are already not-major-media tidbits being reported about the RNC KlownKar Konvention — anybody wanna bet on how the various pending stories out of Milwaukee will compare to the laser focus on Biden’s reelection campaign?
This might be the biggest takeaway here.
They said Biden couldn’t do an unscripted press conference.
He did an hour — after spending all day in meetings.
And he did so with a mastery of the issues that his opponent has never, and will never, have. https://t.co/Rj5wRAOcuR
— Angry Staffer 🌻 (@Angry_Staffer) July 12, 2024
It's helpful and instructive when this is right out in the open. This isn't reporting or analysis. It's reporting the campaign trash talk like it's a face value factual narrative. See the final clause for instance. Imagine being a hype man for some rapper but not realizing it.… https://t.co/l6Yzmzb10S
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 12, 2024
It is time for the press to honestly report Biden is on top of things in a way Trump is not and will never be. “No matter what I did you wouldn’t be satisfied. “ He should do more of these
— Jen "I dissent " Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 12, 2024
Well they show themselves for what they are. No excuse to allow dumbness to conquer
— Jen "I dissent " Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) July 12, 2024
Seems like even if they were only doing it for appearances this would be obvious next move for “balanced” outlets. https://t.co/mb1DI5sjDW
— Henry Porter ???? (@HenryPorters) July 12, 2024
Per the CSPAN archive, the last time Donald Trump took questions from reporters in a press conference was on February 8th. National and campaign reporters made an issue of the lack of press conferences with Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden. To date, they have not done so with Trump.
— Aaron Fritschner (@Fritschner) July 12, 2024
The @nytimes is insufferable.
They now become the equivalent of triggered MAGA folks who made account private, lock and closed their comments on Twitter when confronted with facts. https://t.co/y43mqegxx8— KAMALA NATION (@KamalaNation) July 9, 2024
A lot of networks and podcasts are going out of business if Biden wins because he's a good person, a good president, and most of all, he's boring.
They couldn't find a single scandal for 3.5 years so theyve just invented one. https://t.co/MPBt2A0lyx
— I Smoked DJT The President Of Certified Pedophiles (@BlackKnight10k) July 10, 2024
?? and what’s worse is that we caught them this time, and they’re mad that we did, and did not fall for the narrative. Much like all the articles are for clicks and ratings, and from what I understand they’ve failed at that royally. It’s all down.
— Justin K. ???? (@jkranites) July 11, 2024
why use the tim robinson hot dog suit meme when you can just say oh fuck you
— not an art thief (@famousartthief.bsky.social) Jul 12, 2024 at 12:10 AM
We just watched President Biden nail that ‘much anticipated’ NATO press conference.
An hour, in full command of the issues.
So yeah, I care less about putting a microscope on the guy who keeps getting the big calls right, and more about beating Trump and all his foolishness! pic.twitter.com/Y46EWk1Zgy
— Isaiah Martin (@isaiahrmartin) July 12, 2024
![On The Road - lashonharangue - Along the Zambezi River [2 of 2] 8](https://balloon-juice.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/1-Copy-of-DSC049732-80x80.jpg)
On The Road – lashonharangue – Along the Zambezi River [2 of 2]
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone 😊 😊 😊
Scout211
Even CNN published an opinion piece this morning that dissed the media’s exclusive focus on Biden’s age. The economy should be breaking news at the top of the page but is further down on the front page and only published as an opinion piece.
You might have just missed Earth-shattering economic news
lowtechcyclist
The FTFNYT has closed down its comments, even to the paying customers, huh?
As Harry Truman said, “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.”
Time for the FTFNYT to close up shop.
NotMax
TCM alert. Documentary The Automat airs at 8:15 a.m. Eastern tome this Sunday. (If it’s jake with Mel Brooks it’s jake with me.)
Also too, FYI. It’s ba-a-ack. Sadly, for Europe only at present.
Loved my zippy V6 Mercury Capri back in the day (showroom price brand new $2700) so the nostalgia factor is strong in this one. Not, however, a fan of squircle steering wheels.
TBone
@NotMax: my grandmother used to take me to (white gloves & Mary Jane shoes) tea at Strawbridges for Xmas and then we’d do another day at Wanamaker’s light show and the Horn & Hardart automat. Thanks for the memories (have already seen the excellent documentary).
Soprano2
So I spent most of last night after I went to bed having an anxiety attack. This is the 3rd or 4th time it’s happened since the beginning of the year. I used yoga breathing to try to get my body to calm down, and it helped some, but every time I woke up it started again. I guess I may have to start using the pie filter here. I hate to do that because I definitely don’t want to be in an echo chamber, but this insanity is evidently affecting me IRL more than I thought. I also need to dial back my news exposure somewhat, so if I’m not around here much for the next few days that’s why. I think it’s a combination of the background anxiety about my husband, anxiety about my cat and anxiety about this political insanity as well as terror at the thought that TCFG could actually win the election. It seems so clear to me what Democratic pols should do that it’s stunning to me that they aren’t doing it. It crystallized for me when I heard John Dickerson on Colbert last night talking about how unified Republicans are behind TCFG in spite of all his many, many flaws. I couldn’t help but think “We have a candidate who is old but is a good man who has done great things for this country, yet some of the people in his own party are trying to tear him apart because of a poor performance in a debate”. When you say it like that it’s so nonsensical that I decided it cannot be about that debate performance alone, it’s got to be something that’s been roiling around for awhile but was concealed from us until the debate happened. It seems no one was prepared for the eventuality that Biden wouldn’t smoke TCFG in the debate, so when that happened they didn’t know what to do, so all this crap came roiling out.
Steeplejack
@rikyrah:
Good morning! 🙏
Dorothy A. Winsor
I thought Joe looked good yesterday, but I think he’s right and nothing he can do will make any difference to the press or the most fearful among us. I understand the fear. If you’re not afraid of Trump, you’re not paying attention. But I don’t think attacking our nominee helps
Wapiti
@Soprano2: Listen to your body/mind. Take pauses or use the pie filter or whatever else might help. With your husband’s and cat’s issues, you don’t need the stressors that the press or trolls will gladly dump on you.
Anne Laurie
@Soprano2: Taking a news break, even from this joint, sounds like a good idea right now. You’ve got enough on your plate without all this… MALARKEY!
Rest assured, we will still be here bitching & sniping when you’ve had a chance to catch your breath.
But in the meantime… have you talked to your own doctor(s) about the panic attacks? It’s something they should absolutely be aware of, because they may need to adjust whatever medications you’re taking, if nothing else.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Soprano2: You have to be under a ton of stress. Take care of yourself. We want the best for you.
PS. I had to pie a couple of people too. I usually just scroll on, but it was too much.
TheflipPsyd
Good morning, Just wanted to thank and recognize the person whose idea was to donate $81 to Biden (I know I saw a few posts of donations). What a great idea. I donated and plan on donating again after payday.
Geminid
@lowtechcyclist: Harry Truman said something else about the elite pundits of his time:
Are you ready for some flash floods? WTOP says eastern Maryland will be hit hard by Beryl’s remnants.
cmorenc
Folks: the media ain’t helping, but the fundamental problem is that they are reinforcing an unforgettable impression they saw with their own eyes at the debate. Biden did the damage himself, the media is piling onto that.
Biden is still immensely preferable to Trump. But right now we are losing that argument with enough of the public that even though most who were with him before are still strongly with him, we are facing a formidable task picking up the essential margin we need, and the gale-force headwind is what folks saw with their own eyes. What jedi trick can biden/us do to halt that dynamic? Whining about the media isn’t that magic trick.
Soprano2
QFT. That’s the thing, I don’t understand why all these Democrats are attacking him and demanding he drop out. They all have to know how bad that would be for all of us. I don’t like conspiracy theories, but in a thread last night someone said Robert Reich believes it’s the big donors putting pressure on the electeds to get Biden to drop out. Thing is, he believes they don’t like Harris either. One thing I’ve noticed is that most of the ones who have gone public also aren’t giving a full-throated endorsement of Harris assuming the top slot. It does make you wonder. Reich’s allegation is that they’re afraid Biden will die or become incapacitated in office and Harris will become president, and they don’t want that to happen, so they’re trying to kneecap both of them now.
WereBear
@NotMax: I adore that doc!
Sadly, came to town too late…
Soprano2
@Anne Laurie: I’ve got an appointment with my GP on August 1st, and I’m going to bring it up then. I’ve never had a problem like this before – it would happen maybe once a year max. The increasing frequency is troubling to me. I can actually feel the adrenaline pumping when it happens!
bbleh
@Soprano2: walk away. plenty of months ahead. FWIW, I was having a minor version of the same issue, so I walked away — no news no blogs no nothing for a couple of days, and it was PHYSICALLY relaxing. (Also btw gives you some insight into Normie life.)
See you in some days!
Josie
@Soprano2: I think this is exactly what is going on. I hope voters stay with Biden and refuse to let these fat cats make decisions for us. If they manage to take both Biden and Harris off of the ticket, it will be catastrophic.
ETA: Definitely use the pie filter liberally. I have lately, and it is so much better reading the blog comments without the negative vibes.
mali muso
@Soprano2:
Take care of yourself and certainly some breaks from all of this. Also, pie is delicious and can help. Holding you in the light.
WereBear
@Soprano2: I find L-theanine, a natural calming neurotransmitter, to be of great help in these trying times.
Anything that reduces our cortisol will help with anxiety. Because some anxiety is certainly normal!
zhena gogolia
That Yurok tweet is fantastic!
Another Scott
@Soprano2: The pie filter is great. Nobody has time to read everything, and reading things that do nothing – nothing – but cause anxiety is not a good use of what time we have.
(I didn’t see the piece,) But they aren’t.
Nikki was getting 15-20% of the vote even after she dropped out.
Almost none of TCFFG’s people who had confirmed positions in his administration are supporting him.
They have no ground game and the party is broke and in-fighting is rampant. Even the House Freedom Caucus is breaking up and backstabbing each other with charges of RINO and insufficient purity.
And on and on.
We’ve got a strong team, all the objective metrics are good, we’re not in a foreign war, there’s no unrest at home, long-standing problems are being addressed in thoughtful ways.
We have lots of reasons to be optimistic. But nothing is guaranteed. We have to do the work.
Eyes on the prizes.
Hang in there.
Cheers,
Scott.
guachi
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Biden isn’t the nominee. That’s the point of this exercise.
I don’t think Biden completely blowing a debate he asked for helps, either. I don’t think Biden supporters threatening retribution and death on those who think Biden should withdraw helps. I don’t think only 13% thinking Biden isn’t too old when Biden will only get older helps.
Kay
I can’t imagine who you would have to pie at this point. There’s like three comments a day that are anything other than rah rah Biden or identifying those enemies of the Democratic Party within the Democratic Party.
I’m not sure the lone remaining dissenters, guachi and cmorenc, are really a huge threat.
I am glad polls are right again though, now that they’re more positive.
fancycwabs
At this point it’s moving from “legitimate concerns about Biden’s ability to do the job of President, which he’s been doing remarkably well for the past four years” to just straight up ableism.
bbleh
@Dorothy A. Winsor: it’s like the Underwear Gnomes.
1. Get Rid Of Old Guy Candidate
2. ???
3. Victory !!
They have no plan; it’s just knee-jerk reaction.
I think Harris would (1) be fully qualified and (2) REALLY stir up the race, because I almost can’t conceive of a nominee more diametrically opposed to the Felon in every way. BUT she has her own vulnerabilities (see under Clinton, H., just for a start), so Biden stepping aside would be VERY risky. I think the people advocating he step aside are thinking at most of the first point and not at all of the second.
Whatever, I trust Biden and the people around him to make the best decision, and I’ll crawl over broken glass to support whomever the nominee is, period.
Jerry
Our pundit overlords and the Lawyers Guns Money blog (except for national treasure, Cheryl Rofer) have their narrative to tell and dammit, they’re going to tell it.
eclare
@Soprano2:
I also don’t like the pie filter, before yesterday one commenter was on it, but it has become too much with individuals deliberately trying to break our morale down. After yesterday, there are nine commenters on it, which makes reading threads much more pleasant, because you only see names you know.
But if you need a complete break for a while, take it. These are trying times for us all, and you have the incredible stressor of taking care of your husband. We’ll be here when you get back. At that point who knows how many pies will be cooling on my counter.
And as someone else said, see a dr if this keeps happening. Don’t let it get to the level of a full panic attack. Those are terrifying and can affect you for a long time, the fear of it happening again (don’t ask me how I know). Take care of yourself, I know, easier said than done.
NotMax
@TBone
Inside the Wanamaker organ..
cmorenc
The two people with the gravitas to either persuade Biden to drop out or effectively direct in-party critics to STFU are Pelosi and Obama. They need to speak up clearly ASAP, rather than being coyly diplomatic.
scribbler
@Soprano2: So sorry to hear about your anxiety attacks. You are under so much daily stress, of course you should step back and take what steps you can to protect your mental and physical health. Good advice too from D Winsor to check in with your doctor about this unfortunate development – maybe they can help you to lessen the effects or better yet, prevent attacks from happening. Take care!
ETA: I see you’re seeing your doctor – good for you!
Caveatimperator
@cmorenc:
Obama HAS spoken up.
M31
the tweets about media companies downsizing because they can’t find any scandals is insane, they mean “Democratic scandals” because if they spent 1% of the time they spend on breathless bloviation on BIDEN OLD OMG on scandals in the GOP they’d have thousands of stories.
Trump
Trump abortion/affair payoffs (not just Stormy)
Trump + Epstein
Trump kids
Trump staff
any number of GOP appointed judges
youth pastor rape and grooming
there’s plenty of scandals
just not the ‘right’ ones
Phylllis
@NotMax: The Automat is a terrific documentary, and that’s a sweet, zippy-looking sweet ride.
Soprano2
@WereBear: Thanks, I’ll check into that.
Scout211
@Soprano2: I very much understand. Take a break from the news, from the conflicts here, take care of yourself. Read a book, watch a movie. Soothe your soul in ways that help you feel calm and relaxed.
If you do hang out here, the pie filter is your friend. It doesn’t have to be permanent. You can un-pie down the road. But I do find that the pie filter right now does hide most of the contentious interactions that can trigger anxiety.
Living with a spouse with cognitive decline is very stressful, I know. I work every day to try to take life one day at a time and let go of thinking about what comes next. If I let myself think of the future, I get anxious and depressed. So I work on living in the moment and making every day the best that I can.
Take care of yourself, Soprano2. My thoughts are always with you in this journey we both are on with our spouses.
One day at a time.
O. Felix Culpa
@Soprano2:
As others have said, taking care of yourself is of first importance. Best not to add to anxiety unnecessarily. Getting meds checked is also a good idea.
For myself, I take internet and news breaks, and I’m making much more liberal use of pie than ever before. I wait a bit to see if a person is just honestly disagreeing with sound reasons for their position, or if they’re ceaselessly banging a one-note drum. If the latter, into the pie case they go. I’m starting to do the same for folks who claim victimhood and fling charges of hivemind because others don’t agree with them. Translated: they’re on the losing side of an argument and they don’t like it.
Caveatimperator
@Another Scott:
The money and organization advantage is huge for the Democrats.
Trump has a high floor but a low ceiling. He has a substantial base of outright cultists, but a really difficult time with independents. So do candidates like him.
Trump can only win if he somehow wins over those independents (unlikely with the organization problems his party has) or Democratic turnout absolutely craters.
And considering how much interest there has been in Project 2025, turnout will stay strong if we fight for it.
BlueDWarrior
@bbleh: It’s vibes. It’s almost all vibes. Now we can entirely grant the premise that Biden is in a trailing position by some amount in the aggregate, I do believe that. I do not believe that any other Democrat that would start today would also not be in a trailing position as of this very moment, with the exception of Barack and Michelle Obama.
So if we are going to carry through the thought of “We need to replace Joe Biden” you must replace something with something. And I will not come down from this particular point, if that something is not “Kamala Harris” then you should take your suggestion back and workshop it again, because that will all but guarantee Democratic losses across the board. We win by both temporarily converting swing voters and ensuring full fledged turnout among our base, and dropping both Biden and Harris for a, frankly, poorly argued reason is the best way I can think of to have Democrats of Color throw up their hands and go “Well clearly my views don’t fucking matter anymore so why do I even bother…”
la caterina
@Soprano2: The fear of having a panic attack is definitely a thing. For me, just knowing that I have a med on hand that will quickly reduce the panic is half the battle.
WereBear
@M31: That is the clearest “tell.” They would be pigs in mud if it was Democrats.
Soprano2
@Another Scott: It wasn’t a piece, he talked about it on Colbert’s show last night. You’re right, but they’re sure giving the appearance of being united behind TCFG by throwing out all the dissenters. What I’m afraid of is that people will see them as strong and united and see us as weak and fractured, and will vote for strong rather than weak. It’s crazy how these people are coming out against Biden.
New Deal democrat
A few thoughts:
1. Everybody likes an underdog, and I think the piling on of Biden for his missteps has gone well beyond the point where more people start rooting for him to win against this media crusade. And I think the several editorials in major media the past few days about how Trump is unfit for office are a direct result of this blowback.
2. Exactly as Dan Guild predicted several weeks ago, the polls have come right back to where they were before the debate.
3. Personally, on the downside, I suspect that if Biden does win, it is more likely than not that one way or another Kamala Harris is going to finish his term.
4. And on the real gut-punch downside, if Trump gets elected, the US will pretty much deserve what it has coming. But Ukraine most certainly will not, and my heart gets sick at the thought of Russia’s invasion succeeding as a result. About the only hope I see for them if Trump wins is if the EU grows a real spine and activates their “break glass in case of emergency” non-NATO defense pact, stationing European troops in western Ukraine.
eclare
@Soprano2:
I see a lot of truth in Reich’s allegation. And that’s why every single goddamn Democrat who comes out and says Biden should be replaced should be asked “with who?” Because they all poll about the same with TCFG. There is no person up by ten against him. I don’t understand it either, so Reich’s theory makes sense. Racism and misogyny explain a lot of things that on the surface make no sense.
schrodingers_cat
@Soprano2: Coloring and drawing (when I have more time) have done wonders for my wellness. I start and end the day with some art usually coloring. Does wonders to calm me.
Hope you feel better soon.
guachi
@Kay: A majority of Democrats want Biden to withdraw. One congresswoman said calls to her office were 30:1 for Biden to withdraw. If this blog has no dissenters left then is this blog really a blog that represents the Democratic party? Or is it just an echo chamber?
eclare
@Soprano2:
Good! That’s scary! You have more than enough to be scared with right now.
WereBear
But you know what? None of this is knocking Biden off his game…
The media are working frantically to prop up an idol with clay up to his NECK.
Lapassionara
@Geminid: Before the debate, someone mentioned that Biden was like Harry Truman, very competent but uncharismatic. Alas, the American public appears to prefer charisma to competency.
I made the mistake of looking at Twitter this am. Oy! I went to bed thinking Biden had a good press conference, but one or two verbal slips, and the focus is on the slips and not the substance. It is demoralizing.
What I don’t get is why there are calls for Biden to step down, but no ideas for what happens next? Every analysis I have seen is that MVP is the only credible alternative, for a host of reasons, but it appears that “the money guys” are not for her either.
Just wait until Trump has to give a speech at the RNC. It is likely to be unhinged, and the press’s reaction will be telling. Plus, who knows if Melania will even make an appearance?
O. Felix Culpa
@Soprano2:
It’s a scary feeling! Take good care of yourself. You are valued here, and I’m sure IRL too. :)
Soprano2
@Kay: Not regulars who have been here, but those who have recently appeared just to stir up shit. I have never denied what the polls are or that this is going to be a hard fight. Do you think it’s helpful for all of these elected Democrats to be coming out against their sitting president a month before our convention? Do you think that could be part of what’s moving the polls, rather that just being Biden’s performance in a debate? I think it makes Democrats look weak and feckless to the average “normie” voter, and that’s not helpful. People don’t want to vote for politicians who they think have their finger in the wind all the time and who are ready to panic at the first sign of difficulty.
Biden did that press conference last night and proved that he is not cognitively impaired, yet all the press paid attention to was that he said “Vice-President Trump”. Several years ago TCFG called Tim Cook Tim Apple, yet that wasn’t seen as any kind of sign that he had dementia! I think this is about more than one bad debate performance.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@cmorenc:
No they don’t and I doubt they will. Go away, Tonya. You suck.
schrodingers_cat
Was 1968 the last time Ds had a contested convention? Where can I find a good account of what happened then?
Odie Hugh Manatee
Quit making shit up.
O. Felix Culpa
@Another Scott:
Excellent points all. And there’s still no announcement of a running mate. Maybe folks are contemplating how they’re look with a noose as neckwear?
eclare
@BlueDWarrior:
Absofuckinglutely. No POC would ever trust Democrats again, with reason.
Scout211
LOL. There are two anonymous sources that said Melania is expected to make an appearance, but her role is uncertain. Link
That’s some high quality reporting. All the news is anonymous sources these days. So your point is valid. Who knows?
prostratedragon
@Soprano2:
Could be to the point:
WereBear
@schrodingers_cat: National Archive
1968, a year of turmoil and change
Bookwise, David Halberstam covered the decades around then very well.
Kay
@guachi:
If Obama or Pelosi came out they would just be placed in the “disloyal Democrats” category. Some of the more vehement Biden-stans were slyly hinting that Obama was part of the conspiracy, so he’s on thin ice.
I have whiplash on how Bernie and AOC are now the heroes of this blog, when since 2016 they have been the enemy.
I am glad Biden’s head to head polling is up though. I don’t know how you lean on it though if last week you were saying it was all somehow corrupted. He has to be up between 4 and 6 in the national polls to get the lift we need to carry the electoral college. I’ll keep watching.
I watched Biden’s press conference. I was pleased he’s switched from “not believing” polls to “it’s too early for accurate polls”. That’s at least reality-based.
Carry on and if you want to comment, do. Don’t let them get to you :)
Splitting Image
@schrodingers_cat:
At the Richard M. Nixon Presidential Library.
Lapassionara
@New Deal democrat: about this:
Another Scott
@schrodingers_cat: Wikipedia is always a good place to start.
1968 was a different world. Vietnam was huge. The political assassinations were huge. Young people and women were (in some ways) just starting to realize their political power. A very, very different time than now.
Biden and Trump are the candidates. (Almost) All the rest is commentary to drive clicks and traffic, clouds and shadows to drive conflict to help VVP, and a clear attempt to weaken a party that is demanding that the wealthy do more to support society.
Eyes on the prizes.
Cheers,
Scott.
EarthWindFire
@Scout211: As though CNN had absolutely nothing to do with what the dominant news stories are. Nope. Still can’t stand these people.
WereBear
How OLD were all these newspeople before some were forced off the air like Charlie Rose?
What are the media poobahs admitting to, here?
Geminid
@guachi: Can you name this Congresswoman who said calls to her office were 30:1 in favor of Biden stepping aside? That shouldn’t be hard.
O. Felix Culpa
@eclare:
Good point. Plus, even if Johnny/Jane Unbeatable were up 10 points in this hypothetical scenario (and I don’t believe anyone is), what happens when they become the real candidate? Pretty sure the media and RW attacks–but I repeat myself–begin and the polling advantage disappears in a poof.
eclare
@Lapassionara:
Melanie supposedly will make an appearance. Big question is how much she got in cash for it.
Eyeroller
@New Deal democrat: It seems that the less engaged have noticed that all they are seeing is multiple articles per day beating the same drum and they are wondering what the hell is going on. The Dem base is getting angry and starting to consolidate.
A picture has been emerging the last few days and it isn’t a pretty one. There was a chyron on a CNN screen grab referring to an article asserting that Obama and Pelosi were “huddling” to try to figure out how to force Biden out. Take that with a certain grain of salt. However, what seems clear is that on debate night, certain big donors, let’s call them the Gooneys, called up Pelosi, and if not Obama directly certainly some people like Axelrod, and blew up and issued threats. That would explain Pelosi’s ambiguous and “concerned” statement right after the debate.
It wasn’t about the polling. It was never about polling. It was about donors and lily-livered Members. I still doubt Obama was directly involved but it’s become quite clear that his “crew” orchestrated the whole thing, with an assist from the likes of Carville.
It’s also clear that the freakout did a lot more damage than the debate. That effect has now washed out of the polls. Biden is tied and is gaining in multiple polls now.
There’s a good chance Trump will get a convention bounce. This is normal and typical and I’m afraid it will cause another freakout.
eclare
@Splitting Image:
Hahaha…
Soprano2
@Kay: No, they’re referencing stories like this from CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/11/politics/obama-pelosi-biden-democrats-2024/index.html The headline is “Obama, Pelosi privately expressed concerns over Biden“
BlueDWarrior
@Eyeroller: I dunno with how insane this cycle has been, I can see Dotard launching into a 90 min diatribe about Hannibal Lector and only getting a 1 pt ‘courtesy’ bounce in the aggregate.
eclare
@O. Felix Culpa:
Yep.
Chris Johnson
@Soprano2: Understand that people… lie!
For anybody to say the Republican Party is united behind Trump is a lie. They’re at gunpoint: it’s different. It’s power struggles and bullying and while Republicans like authoritarianism, a bunch of them are legit way more right-wing than Trump and are afraid he is going to betray them… which he is!
To say that people trust media is also a lie. The right-wingers ended up not even trusting Fox… and as for us, well… I’m still amazed people even had NYT subscriptions to cancel. Butter emails wasn’t enough for you? How long has this taken, what’d it take for you to understand what these people are? And that’s who is trying to set narratives and insist they are inviolate. Doubling down on a bluff doesn’t always work.
Joe has to not die, and continue to be Joe Biden. Presuming he gets to continue to work, he does FREAKING GOOD WORK and I will not be ‘holding my nose’ in the least to vote for him: that’s a good man there. Also, if he dies because he’s old, hi President Harris! About time we did have a cop busting some heads. Hope she does.
Trump on the other hand has to lay low, be quiet, let the Kremlin bosses do allll the talking for him and not get any screen time because he fucks that up so bad. He has to get Project 2025 over the line even though he legit does not care about any of it that isn’t about him. But he has to disavow it because it’s super-toxic to moderates and will not go away, and then he has to not get literally killed by his own MAGAs who will not let him disavow it, who are looking for the chance to go full brownshirt in their Hoverrounds. He has to be good enough at politics to walk that line between appealing to moderates and promising he won’t attempt an insurrection THIS time, and appealing to his hard-right followers who want him going full Pinochet crossed with Stalin.
That’s what TRUMP has to do to win.
Console yourself that there are MAGAs also having panic attacks, but for much better reasons.
They suspect Trump is only out for himself and isn’t really on their side. Can you see why that might worry them right now?
Wapiti
@WereBear: This.
Biden’s an Irish Catholic, he was born to suffer. He’s got a moral center and knows his way forward. The naysayers were wrong about him in 2019/2020.
Kay
@Soprano2:
I don’t think there’s any point in re-litigating it. Biden’s polling was poor before the debate. He has been behind for months and months. He always had to catch up. That’s why Dems are riding it so hard. He can’t make any mistakes. He has to do like 4 live events a day in the last months of the campaign, with travel time (between states). It’s a brutal, punishing schedule. They’re worried he simply cannot do it, that the same lack of stamina that caused the debate debacle will inevitably happen again once he’s really in the thick of campaigning. These are genuine concerns. They’re not inventing them. By “they” I mean Democrats. You know my opinions on political media. They suck. But Democrats? They’re not sandbagging their own. That’s ridiculous.
WereBear
@BlueDWarrior: I think Hannibal Lector will get the Veep nod.
Soprano2
@Eyeroller: I’ve been wondering if it was Alexrod who was texting John King with his panic. That would fit, he didn’t want Biden to run for re-election from the beginning.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
Is that what’s hitting us? One of our trees fell across the road less than an hour ago. Workers from the town have already cut it apart and have loaded most of the pieces into a truck. My tax dollars at work!
The irony is, we’d had an adjacent tree trimmed a year or two ago so it wouldn’t fall across the road. We weren’t the least bit worried about the one that fell!
Another Scott
@Eyeroller: I wouldn’t be sure about a GQP bounce. I remember Uncle Pat’s speech at GHWB’s convention. Normies didn’t like that, at all.
The polls are close. The polls are often manipulated. It’s hard to know how meaningful they are. The MSM press driven by FTFNYT will try to drive the narrative…
GQPers in the House couldn’t even pass their own legislative branch appropriations bill yesterday. They are very often incompetent. There’s a decent chance that the Milwaukee convention will be a fiasco for them.
But it really doesn’t matter much come November.
Turnout will decide the election. I like our chances – Dobbs, Dobbs, Dobbs, Chevron, Chevron, Chevron, … – very much.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kay
@Soprano2:
And you absolutely should take care of yourself. I admire how clear eyed you are about your husband’s issues. It’s brave to look straight at it like you have done. I do a lot of work related to your situation at the law office – many people just cannot handle it and either deny or get really bitter. So do what you need to do. Fuck politics. Do something fun.
O. Felix Culpa
@Eyeroller:
Not picking on you, but the fact is, we’re all afraid of a second Felon term, and that’s what’s feeding the anxiety and backbiting. It’s a normal response to a real existential threat.
The question is, what do we do with our fear and anxiety? Do we let it escalate and take control of our executive function, i.e. “freakout,” or do we choose to do things that calm us down and help us analyze and manage the situation better?
A retired therapist whose nym I’ve forgotten posted an excellent comment on how to handle anxiety generated by the current political situation. Maybe someone better at searching BJ than me could find and repost it.
Eunicecycle
@Soprano2: I have started using the pie filter rather liberally and I do not peek at the pied comments, even from favorite commenters. It has helped my mental health immensely!
Soprano2
@Kay: IMHO then the time to have this discussion was a year ago, not a month before our convention. If they had these concerns about him, they should have voiced them last year when there was still a realistic amount of time to change course and not have it be damaging. I think the steady drip drip drip of House Democrats coming out against Biden staying on the ticket is damaging to him, which is of course the whole point of them doing it! It damages Biden and Democrats in the eyes of the voters.
Eyeroller
@Lapassionara: I have a program from the Social Security Administration called the Longevity Visualizer. It uses SS data. It is from 2015 so does not take Covid into account, and that has been a factor since 2020, but let’s go with what we have.
The expected age at death for a male aged 81 is 89. Again, that’s just a statistical expectation value, but why is everybody assuming Biden won’t make it 4 more years? He is not frail. He’s in good health for his age.
Eolirin
@Another Scott: 1968 involved the front runner candidate getting assassinated. That’s the only reason why things went the way they did.
Scout211
@Soprano2: Read that whole report and you will find that the whole thing is based on anonymous sources. Not one person would go on record. And the whole article reads like maybe they think this, maybe they think that, will they, won’t they. It’s all these anonymous sources reading the tea leaves. Don’t fall for it.
And jackals, can you please read the articles you are posting the headlines to?
slightly_peeved
@cmorenc:
Letting it dictate all coverage afterward is a choice they made.
They could easily choose otherwise, much as they did with George W. “I know how hard it is to put food on your family” Bush and Donald “I did not have sex with a porn star” Trump.
guachi
Do you think it’s helpful Biden bombed a debate he asked for and reinforced every negative people have about Biden? These calls for him to drop out didn’t come from nowhere.
The average normie voter thinks Biden is too old and shouldn’t be running. That was true before the debate and moreso after.
85% think Biden is too old. Those are the normies
They want politicians to listen to them when they say things like “you’re too old. Don’t run” and then leave messages with their Rep that are 30:1 you should drop out.
Eyeroller
@Soprano2: I’m 100% certain he was one of them.
Soprano2
@Kay: I can understand people being in denial, but that only works so long until something happens that absolutely smacks you between the eyes with “this is definitely not normal”. For me that incident was relatively early on, in December 2021. I think that’s one reason I can look at it that way, I’ve known for a long time that something was wrong that wasn’t about normal aging. You don’t walk home from the mall in December without calling your wife (it’s about 5 miles from there to our house!) unless you have something bad going on with your brain.
eclare
@Chris Johnson:
Great analysis. Pinochet crossed with Stalin, I am so stealing that.
Soprano2
@O. Felix Culpa: It was Scout211. I suggested that someone front page it, but that didn’t happen.
SiubhanDuinne
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Pretty much since the beginning of this week — maybe even back into last week — I’ve been pieing with abandon, relish, and glee. Some threads end up looking like the bakery section at Publix, but I simply don’t have the patience for Tonyas and Eeyores. Fuck ‘em.
The Thin Black Duke
What pisses me off are the loud scared stupid white people who don’t understand how offensive it is when they’re lecturing black people about racism. They’re stubbornly ignoring the Kamala-sized elephant in the room while spinning a political rom-com delusion about a painless transition. The attack ads write themselves. In this reality, color-blindness is a disastrous strategy.
Soprano2
@Scout211: I read part of it and saw that. I only posted it as an example of what other posters are talking about. It’s crazy how much credence reporters give all these anonymous sources. I bet none of the people saying “Biden’s old but he’s fine” are making into any of their stories.
M31
@Another Scott: ah yes, Uncle Pat’s speech, the one that at the time people said ‘sounded better in the original German’.
satby
Since I referenced Ruth Ben-Ghiat in the last thread, I wanted to share an extensive interview she did citing how the right wing authoritarians currently controlling countries (like Orban) got elected, and the way she feels our country is being acclimated to accept the same here
TBone
It’s the perfect time to relax and do things other than news and politics. Our Campus Theater (restored Art Deco beauty) is having their 59th Annual Bastille Day Bash (showing the film ‘Evil Does Not Exist’), we’re driving around to our local farms for direct from the fields local produce (beets! 😋 ‘maters!), going to the State Park lake at Poe Valley (has a clean, sand beach, spring fed so always refreshing), going to the swim club, library, etc. Summer staycation before the end of summer getaway!
UncleEbeneezer
@Soprano2:
I’ve been using the pie filter for years and let me assure you, it doesn’t mean you still don’t see/read plenty of differing views from your own or prevent you from evolving your own views. It just helps you avoid navigating a bunch of trash comments that will only fill you with more anxiety.
Trolls don’t care about your mental health. Making you anxious is what they want. To give them attention and try to manipulate your anxiety towards their goals. That’s what all of this has been about all along. They are trying to take advantage of the fact that we are all rightfully nervous and terrified by the prospect of Trump winning. They are here doing everything they can to make us MORE SCARED at a time when we most need to be steadfast. It’s really fucking deplorable what they are doing, when you think about it. Who does this? When my wife is borderline having a panic attack as we drive some high and twisty road in the mountains that triggers her fear of heights, what kind of husband would play into that and tell her all the ways we could suddenly crash if I let the wheel slip? Nobody needs that shit, wrt the election right now. And it sounds like the assholes and the fear and division are getting to you. The pie filter is a really helpful tool that makes it easier to hang out here without nearly so much bullshit. You can still be the free thinker you like to be and read/consider different views as much as you want. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy spaces with no (or at least, reduced) MAGA, Racism, Misogyny, Transphobia etc. We can’t magically make the world that way, but things like the pie-filter can give you a taste of just how ideal that world could be. And you can always toggle or turn it off.
Also, notice how often the people who use the “echo chamber” scare quote/insult, seem well-aware that they are engaging in shitty behavior and are using it as a justification for it. Trolls love to pull out the “echo chamber/silo” shield for their own selfish purposes. It’s a trap based on weaponizing your pride of being open-minded, used to try to keep you around be their own personal punching bag. Don’t fall for it.
Cheers-
Eyeroller
@Soprano2: Some Guy (a KHive member maybe?) posted something exactly that. He was interviewed, was supportive, but nobody supportive was quoted in the article that appeared.
Soprano2
@The Thin Black Duke: Well I think I’m pretty clear-eyed about it. Kamala would have to have 3-5% higher support than Biden in order to win. All you have to do is look at the 2022 election results from WI to see what happens – the white Democratic governor won, while the black Democratic senatorial candidate lost by 1%. It was the exact same electorate voting for these candidates, yet somehow we got that result. A white Democrat probably would have won that race, it’s just the truth. I get impatient with people who won’t acknowledge that racism and sexism would be a huge factor if Harris were at the top of the ticket. (I think lots of people would lie to pollsters about supporting Harris, that’s why I say she needs higher support in the polls.)
O. Felix Culpa
@Scout211:
Excellent request. As we’ve remarked in recent years, there’s often a huge disconnect between an inflammatory headline and what’s actually in the article. Further skepticism is also needed these days, since so many articles rely on “unnamed Democrats” and “highly placed sources,” and on outright manipulation of quotes.
We have to learn to be discerning consumers of reporting. I include myself in that, since I also have had blood pressure spikes reading breathless breaking news about supposed Dem defections, which turned out to be false.
tam1MI
I had my anxiety/panic attack right out in public and ended up lashing out and saying something I shouldn’t. So you are not alone on the anxiety attack front. And you are handling it much better.
The good thing that came out of it was the kindness with which I was treated by commenters here, which really helped the panic to subside. One of them persuaded me to utilize the pie filter, that has been a godsend.
Sending all the good vibes your way Soprano2.
Chief Oshkosh
@Caveatimperator:
And it’s telling that almost nobody knows this, and apparently many of the few who do know it are willing to acknowledge it (I’m referring to the media, not people here).
Chris Johnson
@BlueDWarrior: I think it is possible Trump will not address the convention.
That’s a wild guess, but that’s my guess. Right now it is SO important for Trump not to fuck up the hard work his Russian handlers are doing, not to muddy the issue as the narrative is held creakingly against the massive weight of obvious reality.
All voters MUST be made to be totally obsessed with second-long bloopers Biden has literally always made, but ignore hours of other obvious evidence of the guy talking sensibly about the work he and his team are doing. They have to be made to believe he is too feeble to move, when he bikes and shouts encouragement to us all at rallies.
That’s hard work and demands constant, undistracted gaslighting to even partly get away with it, and the best they’re doing is holding their own. They are just barely managing to make it seem like a tie. It’s really not a tie. Trump is shit. He lost even before people knew about Jan 6, Dobbs, Chevron, immunity. He lost as a sitting president before ANY of that, and has not covered himself in glory since then.
He basically has to be completely concealed while the Russians work, to have ANY HOPE of even maintaining a tie. If he addresses the RNC, what the hell does he even say? That will not enrage either independents, or the MAGAs? He’s already got the party betraying the evangelicals (to which I say GOOD, but there’s footage of them talking about how their abortion agenda is being utterly sidelined for political gain, and that’s true)
Jackie
@Soprano2:
We definitely understand! Use the pie filter, and take a break from the news AND BJ, as needed. You have way too much on your plate worrying about and dealing with your husband and kitty.
Maybe pop in occasionally to reassure us you’re doing ok. {hugs}
O. Felix Culpa
@Soprano2: Yes, thanks! I also think it is front page-worthy.
satby
I hate repeating myself, so I’ll link. The “debate performance” in the eyes of an expert.
Let’s not let more threads get derailed. No one is changing their minds.
Chris T.
@Eyeroller:
Exactly.
I will stick with my prediction of Trump keeling over in roughly 2 years at this point (some time in 2026, probably), and think Biden will make it to 92 or 93 (assuming no assassins shorten it).
Soprano2
@Chris Johnson: I think he can give one speech without being too crazy. Just you watch, sharks and Hannibal Lecter won’t make an appearance in his acceptance speech. Just like they didn’t make an appearance at the debate, either. He knows when to dial it back.
With that I’m out of here for awhile. Thanks everyone for the support. I think I’ll tune my car radio to music too, I’ve been trying to do that more.
TBone
@NotMax: ooh! Thank you! 💜
O. Felix Culpa
@The Thin Black Duke:
No lie told. Comfortable people playing fantasy candidate with other people’s lives at stake. Makes me stabby.
slightly_peeved
@The Thin Black Duke:
Agreed. The Republicans will make it painful any way they know how. If it happens, I bet it takes under a week from ‘Harris must take over for incompetent Biden’ to ‘Careerist Kamala kicks out sweet old man’
lowtechcyclist
@Lapassionara:
Yeah, I remember NPR, the morning after Trump’s acceptance speech in 2016. Their commentator talked about what a great job Manafort had been doing, and how impressive his kids were. (Aged well, huh?) No mention of “LOCK HER UP!!”, no mention of “I alone can fix it.”
I remember it well because I haven’t listened to NPR since. They’d been stinking up the joint throughout the 2016 primary season, and that was the last straw.
UncleEbeneezer
@Lapassionara: Biden has plenty of charisma. It’s one of the reasons he was so popular as a VP. Remember Uncle Joe, washing his Trans-Am, Malarky, the Obama/Biden crime-fighter novel memes etc.? All of that stuff was a result of Biden’s charisma. He may not be overflowing with it on first glance like Obama, but has a hell of a lot more charisma than most politicians.
E
@guachi: I heard it was 60:1. Aw heck, as long as evidence doesn’t matter, I heard it was 120:1.
satby
@Scout211: I told someone that last night. “Reports” with unattributed sources are not reliable. Hell, they’ve been truncating quotes from people speaking on camera in the headlines to feed the narrative, when the entire statement made by the person says the opposite.
geg6
@TBone:
I took a day off today because a friend of both me and my sister is in town from FL. And she brought her new rescue puppy (foster fail FTW!), which is exciting! We’re going to have a nice lunch and then lay around and in the pool at my sister’s all afternoon. I’m staying off BJ and all social media and it will be divine. And then I’ll head home and cook up something from the Hello Fresh box that was just delivered and see if my partner’s dementia was eased a bit today. He’ll be fine for several days and then revert back not remembering we moved over a month ago. I have decided I need a relatively non-stress day and, dammit, I’m doing it!
ETA: And the reason I’m not worrying about Biden’s mental state is that I am living with a person with dementia and that’s not what it looks like from here.
oldgold
The Dow Jones is hovering near 40,000. It has never closed above 40,000.
It is likely that today or in the next week the Dow Jones will close above 40,000. When it does, Biden needs to go to the NYSE and ring the bell!
Make the damn media cover the equivalent of breaking the 4 minute mile on his watch. Take credit. Celebrate!
EarthWindFire
@guachi: At this point, I have much more of a problem with the lack of a plan than anything. You want to replace Biden. Fine, then do it and get that new campaign going. I think it’s a dumb idea but it’s not like I’m voting Republican. But have someone and don’t pretend that whoever it is won’t get the same treatment from the pundits because of something. They will. We know this because Democrats running for president in other years have gotten this treatment. It’s the primary reason I’m sticking with Biden. This is a decades long dynamic between Democrats and pundits. It doesn’t change when we grant them their wish.
Suzanne
Jen Rubin has been the media person who, IMO, has been the most reasonable over the last two weeks. Acknowledged that Biden’s age and capacity appeared to be really concerning at the debate, and that they are reasonable concerns for voters to have. Said that the campaign against Trump needs a strong and capable candidate. Also acknowledged that Biden is demonstrating his capability and his strengths in appearances since the debate. I can’t believe that I will say, given her history, that I appreciate her sanity.
BlueDWarrior
@The Thin Black Duke: this has been a problem I’ve had with parts of the online left since the Bush II days. A lot of seemingly well meaning people have a myopia that ignores people of color-dominated spaces. And Al Sharpton was taking about it this morning. If the donor class shove both Biden and Harris to the curb for the mystery box, the party will self-immolate. All because (mostly) white Democrats got weak willed and panicky.
Belafon
@cmorenc: Luckily this is Juky and not October.
satby
@The Thin Black Duke: oh thank you. The hubris is fucking breathtaking to me, but probably just a day ending in y to you, rikyrah, and others.
TBone
@schrodingers_cat: I have the original Life Magazine 1968 Convention edition. Maybe it is online somewhere?
MagdaInBlack
@The Thin Black Duke: Since so much of the insanity has to do with backlash over a black man in the white house for 8 years, I really don’t see how they can think a black woman would be a shoe in.
O. Felix Culpa
@satby:
I missed that comment, and think it’s worthwhile repeating, so I’ll repost it for you. ;)
𝑴𝒊𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆@Endthemisery1 Jul 9
Comments below are satby’s in reference to the above tweet:
Phylllis
@Phylllis: And my ADHD repetitiveness strikes again.
khead
@guachi:
Shouldn’t you be at Dear Ol’ Mom’s bedside today? That’s where I’d be if Joe Biden did that to her. Maybe put a few stickers on her – JOE DID THAT!
Also, while it’s been fun watching Kevin Drum and the LGM folks (NOT Cheryl) fight over who gets to put on the Fonzie jacket/skis and who gets to drive the boat….
I really think JOE BIDEN KILLED MY MOM wins the week.
Eolirin
@BlueDWarrior: Why are we even assuming the donor class here are people who usually donate to Democrats? There’s no real reporting on what’s going on there.
Nothing stops Republican mega donors from spinning up a dark money SuperPAC and offering bribes to squishy Dems to turn on the president.
delphinium
I’d like all those asking Biden to step aside to pledge that they too will step down once they reach retirement age (currently 65-67, depending on birth year). If they are so worried about age/decline, they can put their money where their mouth is and exit before it becomes an issue.
Would also like our congress folks to actually have faith in our polices and in their voters. For those worried about polls, suggest getting out amongst your constituents more to promote all the great things this administration has done and put some focus on the actual harm another Trump administration will do. Seems more productive than the continued meeping to the press about Biden.
Edited
tobie
I really don’t place much stock in polls because they’ve been off by wide margins in recent years. I also don’t think that normies are paying attention to politics until the conventions. Finally I would expect general malaise at a time of inflation. People are living with sticker shock at the grocery store. That will change IMO when the alternative becomes clear. And it would change too if at this moment of existential crisis for the republic Dems would use their platform to tout what the admin has done and what’s on the agenda. (Biden’s aside about reducing rent hikes was news to me.) All that said, here’s the latest NPR/Marist poll results:
eclare
@geg6:
That sounds like a perfect day!
Chris
@Lapassionara:
Biden’s always had big Truman/LBJ energy. Somebody that a generation or two later, all the liberal politics wonks are going “wow, it’s incredible how much this guy accomplished! Why didn’t he get more credit for it at the time?” and then go right back to gossiping about how their current presidential candidate eats with his fork in the wrong hand, or has the wrong favorite Marvel character, or whatever the fuck they’ll be dreaming up as a scandal then.
Chris Johnson
@Soprano2: Dunno. Since an RNC speech isn’t a debate, there’s less in the way for if he wanted to just ramble over all the stuff he constantly talks about anyway. It would be on topic for that venue.
As a counterpoint, he’d either have to avoid Dobbs etc. or make some kind of statement. I could see heckling because there are strong opinions in there on how they should handle it: some of them will win at any cost, some are adamant that they have to march openly under the full evangelical holy war thing, and that’s a lot of tension.
Never mind the question of who’s his veep. The last one, they wanted to hang. He also has to worry about whether if he does get a Veep and wins, the guy will murder him and seize the power HE wanted to have. A very real concern with the creeps hanging around, especially now that he’s tried to kill the previous Veep who’s now against him on religious grounds, so he can’t pick another fundie, but he can’t pick a MAGA traitor for fear they will kill him.
I’m gonna further bet that the delay is because he is dead set that the veep should be one of his children, most likely Barron. Doesn’t matter if it’s insane to suggest. He wants to be king and have a dynasty, Barron is tall and hasn’t been ruined as badly as the other children yet, and it’s the perfect fuck-you to his other kids whom he seems to hate.
I would totally place a moderate bet at huge odds that he WILL in fact claim his son Barron is to be the Veep. Which would be suppressed immediately because there are rules saying this cannot be so. Trump wouldn’t care about those. Didn’t the Supreme Court say he was immune from all rules, after all?
Chief Oshkosh
@Geminid: Yeah, 30:1 sounds big. Who is this Congressperson, gauche? What is the composition of her district? Did she share her call logs?
I want to be clear that I completely believe the report of 30:1 because I just spoke with my Congressperson’s office and was told that their phones have been ringing off the hook (literally; they only have land lines) and that they can’t keep up with all the text messages. Calls and texts are running 100:1 for Biden to stay in the fight! Yippee! What a dopamine rush! BTW, my Congressperson is The Honorable I. M. Makinitup from the 180th district of Rhode Island. Here’s the link to the office’s statement: https://youtu.be/xm3YgoEiEDc?si=2lCz81EgarPqPGHJ
Hope that helps.
[To be clear, I don’t doubt that gauchi saw a report about 30:1; I doubt the source and whether there is important context being skipped.]
O. Felix Culpa
@Suzanne: I like Jen Rubin. She’s been solid for years now. Her awakening seems permanent.
Eyeroller
@tobie: Most of the time the third-party vote collapses when the real election comes around. Our job this year is to help make sure that happens as it usually does.
Lapassionara
@Another Scott: I thought about Pat Buchanan’s speech while trying to imagine the upcoming RNC. Molly Ivins (may she rest in peace) had the perfect response to it.
One aspect of Project 2025 that doesnt seem to be getting much air time, but which SHOULD get some air time, is the plan to dismantle Social Security and Medicare. This has been a Republican dream for ages. One idea that Trump’s HHS appointee floated in the early days of his administration was to remove the power to negotiate prices from Medicare. This would wreck the program and negatively affect almost every person on Medicare right now. Luckily, they didn’t take that step during the reign of error, but I am confident that they will want to do so if put in charge again.
The ads just write themselves.
prostratedragon
@schrodingers_cat:
Don’t really know of one canonical account (!), but the wikipedia article has a surprisingly good overview. It’s instructive to see the first several articles that are suggested with 1968 in the search box.
cintibud
OK, coming out of lurkdom before reading this entire thread. Just wanted to let people know that for the first time I contacted my congressman, Greg Landsman (1st district OH – Cincinnati) to express my displeasure at his comments which were just short of calling Biden to step down.
I called his DC office and the staffer there mentioned he really couldn’t discuss campaign stuff but he would let Mr Landsman know my opinion. He suggested contacting the campaign office. I thought that was kinda strange, but I sent an email to the campaign office as well.
Just wanted to let other people in the 1st district to contact him.
Jackie
Did anyone see Rev Sharpton this morning on MJ?
tobie
@Eyeroller: We have our work cut out for us. I’m phonebanking for PA Dems this weekend. I’m curious what I’ll hear. I expect fear and disappointment but also resolve. That fits the moment.
BlueDWarrior
@tobie: to reiterate my point above… it’s all vibes. The vibes feel rotten for any number of reasons, but when you make people make a choice, it still feels like a coin flip.
So all of this sturm und drang to me is surely over perception, and there is no definitive, conclusive way to answer that. We just have reach consensus and live it what happens.
Kay
@Soprano2:
That’s a great point. I was there – too late to pull out. It seems “fair” too – like, Dems should have to stick with the nominee under the rules. But at the same time I think it’s okay to veer from that norm because Dems have also been saying the United States literally ends if Trump wins so leaning on “well, you should have spoken up a year ago” seems besides the point.
I am amused at how The Squad and Bernie have been magically rehabilitated on this blog, though. For 8 years I was told Bernie Sanders was LITERALLY a Russian operative and now that they agree with him he’s Mr Democracy. I guess Putin released his vise-like grip on the Senator from Vermont :)
It’s always the Right leaning Dems who bolt. It’s literally WHY they are “centrists”. But do I believe centrist Elissa Schlotkin in MI when she says her campaign polling shows Biden down 5? Yes, I do. I’m to the Left of her ideologically but I don’t think she’s a liar. That’s nuts..
I hope we get to +4 – +6 in popular vote edge. That’s the minimum for the “blue wall states” (MI, WI, PA) You’d need 2020 numbers to get the southern/western swing states, so +8 or +10.
But yu take care of yourself. See ya later.
lowtechcyclist
@Kay:
I only started getting into comments in mid-2020; before that I just read the front-pagers. So I can only speak of attitudes here from then on. But the hostility towards Bernie from what many perceived as his withholding support from Hillary for far too long has been increasingly ameliorated by his steadfast support for Biden. And I think his being loud and proud for Biden right now has been a tipping point for some people here.
With respect to AOC, I’ve never perceived widespread hostility towards her here, it’s been mostly just a few commenters afaict. And just like with Bernie, it hasn’t hurt that she’s stood up to be counted right now when it really matters. And the fact is, she’s been solidly on Team D from the get-go.
Suzanne
@delphinium:
I know you’re snarking, but this is actually a problem in my industry. There is a generational dynamic at play of mostly older white guys who gave everything to their careers (wife did all the housework and child-rearing) and who don’t want to retire. Many of them are inadvertently causing all these succession problems and it’s resulting in lots of turnover, because the tier of people one click younger than them can’t advance in their careers.
One place I worked at had an age limit of 70 in the partnership agreement. There were two founding partners. One, when he reached 70, accepted it and transitioned into an emeritus role and started working part-time. The other, when he turned 70, thought the firm would make an exception for him and was so pissed when they didn’t that he opened a competing firm and copied the logo. Ended up poaching a bunch of the staff, too.
TBone
@geg6: I hope your time is filled with the splendor of simple pleasures! 💙
tobie
@BlueDWarrior: Agree.
Elizabelle
Our media are too much careerist pack animals, and unserious ones at that.
How nice of them to train us that we no longer need subscribe. Why pay for this false narrative stuff? We can read novels if we search out entertainment.
Kay
@Soprano2:
Oh, plenty of things “happen”. I wouldn’t have them in my office if nothing was happening. It’s just that they deny it’s happening, sometimes for years. I was able to persuade one person to get her mom to give up her driver’s license by telling her “I have known your mother for 25 years – your mother is a lovely person – if she plows into a 5 year old in the Chief parking lot she is never going to forgive herself. Don’t do that to her”. That worked. You did the right thing and handled the license almost immediately.
Fair Economist
@Soprano2: I have also had some anxiety spells about the political situation. I find it helps me to do something (donate or postcard), wait for some good news (like now) and *then* take a break.
It helps to remember there are a LOT of other people working for the good guys.
Suzanne
@Kay:
Bad faith is always assumed on the left and for the kids. I can completely appreciate disagreement with them, but the bad faith and strawmanning that happens is really gross. Like, “I guess they really didn’t care about Gaza after all, derp derp derp!”.
rikyrah
@Soprano2:
Take a break and take care of yourself. You are under a lot of stress on a daily basis.
frosty
@Soprano2: I feel ya. Of all the anxiety-producing things on your list, news is one you can do something about. Dial it back, we’ll still be here.
Oh, and use the pie filter. I pied two commenters who were stirring shit up and B-J got readable again. Still not an echo chamber, but it did cut the chaos.
My best to you.
rikyrah
@Soprano2:
they are wholly unserious backstabbing clowns
where is this mysterious candidate going to get the money to run?
the money raised so far is Biden /Harris money?
Where are they going to get the political infrastructure?
once again, set up by Biden/Harris.
For good or for ill, our election system is decentralized. You have to literally know the election laws of 50 states. What are the laws in those states?
What record is this fabulous candidate going to run on?
Certainly not the Biden/Harris accomplishments?
They are wholly unserious people.
And the MSM ain’t shyt, because what I just posted should be asked of all these backstabbers.
rikyrah
@Eyeroller:
And, wasn’t his mother almost knocking on 100’s door when she died?
He’s a White man who has had access to the best healthcare in this country since he was 30 years old. I like his odds.
Layer8Problem
@Chris Johnson: Perhaps he’ll go to what worked on The Apprentice; park a camera in front of him, talk him through some call and response for an hour minimum, edit it down to ten minutes of just him speaking with apparent coherency, and present it on an immense screen: “KEYNOTE: Our Leader Speaks!”
O. Felix Culpa
@rikyrah:
I like his odds too. And, he has an outstanding replacement in Kamala, should the worst happen in their second term. (Of course, that’s what’s driving this brouhaha to begin with.)
lowtechcyclist
@Another Scott:
Also, the political system was very different then. Only a handful of states had Presidential primaries in the 1960s. Delegates from other states were basically controlled by state party leaders, and the primaries were used by party leaders to take the measure of the strength of the candidates for the nomination. If RFK hadn’t been assassinated, he’d have probably been the Dem nominee in the wake of having won California. With him gone, the party leaders were able to choose Humphrey, despite his having won exactly zero primaries.
Geminid
@Chief Oshkosh: That 30:1 ratio prompted a recent memory. Last night I was checking out David Sir#@ta’s Twitter feed. He asserted that “the only logical conclusion is that those who run the Dem Party don’t care if Trump wins.” A “Bryan” chimed in:
I checked out “Bryan’s” account, and it did not take long to find he was a Jill Stein fan.
But he played the “Enemy Within” card as if he actually identified with the Party he’s trying to sandbag.
Kay
@Suzanne:
Or, “we’re not an echo chamber because we also ejected anyone who disagreed with us about the war crimes in Gaza from our lunch table in the cafeteria!”
Um, that’s evidence OF an echo chamber, not evidence against.
Clooney’s wife pointed out that Israel is committing war crimes in Gaza and the US is violating our own federal laws by supplying weapons to perpetrate those war crimes and the BJ hive mind decides THAT’S why Clooney bolted.
He sandbagged Joe Biden while….raising 30 million dollars for him?
delphinium
@Suzanne: I was only kind of snarking : ). Not saying they should stop working altogether unless they wanted to; and it would seem they certainly would have lots of connections to move into other careers. For example, given the limited # of senators we have, I’d like to see the senate more closely aligned with the younger demographics (like we have been seeing in the house).
And I totally agree about Jen Rubin-she has been absolutely fantastic!
KRK
@Chris Johnson:
It has given me some pleasure over the past few months to imagine that the VP choice is agonizing for DJT because he’s paranoid (with good reason) that any “strong” candidate he chooses will poison his ketchup and seize power for themself. Reap, sow, hah!
Geminid
@schrodingers_cat: Theodore White’s The Making of a President: 1968 gives a good account of the 1968 Chicago convention and its larger context. That is a very good book if you want to know more about American politics. I found it gripping history when I read it 50 years later, and I learned a lot I had not known.
Ed. For one thing, I had not realized how close that election was. Humprey was dead in the water after the convention; broke and with a divided party. He was closing in on Nixon by the end though, and White estimated that if Humprey’d had 3 more days he would have won.
Chris T.
@Suzanne:
Founding partner, makes the rules, doesn’t insert a rule that says “the rules don’t apply to me though”, and then gets all pissy when the rules apply to him? Uh, yeah, ooo-kay.
Chris
@Kay:
I’ve said in the past that I think a sizable chunk of this blog lost its fucking mind in the 2016 primary, even as someone who never considered voting Sanders, identified his flaws early, and watched him refuse to address them for way too long. I’ve also said that the extent to which “the left” gets blamed for this kind of thing is way overdone.
I still think dumping Biden is probably a bad call, and that the people calling for it, even if many are acting in good faith, are acting out of panic rather than logic. And as far as the public figures go, that airing this shit out in the front pages of the Washington Post are doing serious damage to the campaign regardless of who ends up on the ticket.
But as to your critique, I really don’t think it’s as mysterious or odd as you’re making it out. People dumped on Sanders and his brand of leftie because they didn’t trust them to be team players. When they do turn out to be, they’re complimented. Same applies to everybody currently dumping on Biden. It’s not actually the contradiction you’re making it out to be.
Kayla Rudbek
@guachi: provide names and evidence.
New Deal democrat
@Eyeroller:
I agree about longevity. It is considerably more likely than not – like a 70% chance – that Biden will be *alive* on January 20, 2029. Whether by that time he will be able, due either to physical or mental deterioration, to perform his duties is another, additional, issue.
For the record, I would vote for a wilting head of cabbage against Trump.
Chris T.
@New Deal democrat:
Oh, he’ll be healthy mentally when he keels over, which will be from overwork.
FastEdD
Testing, 1,2,3. Ucking microphone doesn’t work.
Mike E
@NotMax: an experience I’ll never forget as a Philadelphia area denizen, being in that space in Wanamaker’s…as an usher I stood above the NC Symphony in the upper box above the performance “vault” during their playing of Tchaikovsky’s 5th. Rock bands all dream of coming close to creating that sensation and not many fall short.
JMG
New Deal democrat
@Chris T.: I should clarify, a few years back I read that, before age 75, if you are healthy now, you are extremely likely to be healthy 6 months from now. But that after age 75, all bets are off.
If Biden gets re-elected, and at some point Harris has to take over, for any reason, I will be comfortable with her as a competent steward.
moonbat
@UncleEbeneezer: Excellent comment.
Soprano2
@Kay: It probably helped that I saw my mother and grandmother go through it with my grandfather. We were lucky he didn’t hurt or kill himself or someone else before we finally took the car away from him.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@TBone: Our two seconds of fame: Some years ago the Opera Company of Philadelphia organized a Hallelujah Chorus “flash mob” during a Christmas concert by the Wanamaker Organ. The organist played the opening chords of the Hallelujah Chorus and my wife and I and 500 other singers, stationed at every level around the big atrium, broke into song. In the video of the event, we’re on camera for about two seconds.
Here’s the video. Apparently it was 13 years ago. And the details say there were 650 singers.
Suzanne
@JMG: You make very good points.
The other point that I am trying to remember is that everyone is bringing to this discussion a lot of difficult feelings and personal experiences about aging. Either their own, or a family member’s. And that can be absolutely poking at very sore spots.
Mike E
@lowtechcyclist: I appreciate this comment and your avoidance of starting from an end position/hot take and reverse engineering a justification for what you believe (which I also believe, Bernie and AOC et al can be many different things simultaneously like actual persons and not fanfic characters).
ETA My comment above this one should read ” many fall short”, heh
Chris Johnson
@Geminid: Oh, absolutely.
That’s why I found LazerPig’s ‘How To Kill A God’ so enlightening. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBAnt_w8vvY
He would fit in around here very nicely, not that he posts here. But the main thing he seems to have worked out is that we’re all beset by conspiracy theory bullshit whether or not we like or believe it, because PUTIN is beset by conspiracy theory bullshit and can’t see the world in any other way. That’s how the Kremlin works. It’s the sea in which he swims. They’re all ‘color revolution theory’ believers, convinced it’s the super-weapon.
So when you see a ‘Bryan’, or the trolls around here, you probably see someone who is all conspiracy-brained because for years Putin tried to MAKE us all conspiracy-brained, and it worked on a bunch of people. He didn’t mind if they were MAGAs or rabid lefties as long as he could feed them conspiratorial made-up nonsense and set them against each other. Because everybody (read, not everybody) wants to believe there’s a Grand Plan and it’s all controlled somehow.
And it ain’t, it just ain’t. Otherwise the Brits would be ruled by Tories right now and France would be run by Le Pen. It’s not for lack of conspiring. It’s just that what Putin wants, sucks. Is so bad that people will go to war against it.
Your ‘Bryan’ may very well earnestly believe all the ‘They want’ conspiracies, because it’s less scary than a world in which everything is a lot more chaotic than that. To some, a world of conspiracy is comforting because at least someone’s in control and it’s all about making the right person the tyrant.
The rest of us like democracy and muddling through as best we can, despite all our obvious conflicts and differences :)
Suzanne
@Chris T.:
Yes, exactly. Changed his mind at some point, likely when actually confronting impending retirement, and threw a bit of a hissy fit. And I know of multiple other companies at which something similar has happened. There’s a whole cohort of professional firms dealing with this stuff.
Thats what I mean when I say that lots of us are bringing feelings and experience to this discussion. Seeing a swath of men who are having a hard time letting go colors my thinking a bit.
Mike E
Nominated.
piratedan
@guachi: name them
Juju.
@Soprano2: I’ve had panic attacks too in dealing with my mother. The first time it happened I thought I might be having a heart attack, but figured it wasn’t when it was just heart racing , ear ringing and shakiness. Lately I’ve been so stressed because it is so emotionally painful and draining to see one of the smartest people in your life forget where she lives and other important facts. When you add in what has been happening these past weeks, and the worry about my nieces and nephews, in which there is almost one of each in the LGBTQ lineup and I have other things going on which I don’t care to mention, but it makes my pulse rate go up and my ears ring more often. I had to pie some people as well. It helped , but I haven’t been reading stuff here as much. I do feel better after last night’s press conference. I just have to suck it up and get through this. Also, I did some math and discovered I have donated $81 to Biden, but it was all in smaller amounts. I don’t think the impact is quite the same. Don’t be surprised if you have some more panic attacks. Sometimes things pile on. I’m glad you have your coping methods. I wish you well during your break. When I come here I always look for you to see how you are doing. Keep doing whatever works for you.
Juju.
@Soprano2: I forgot to add, do you think all this hand wringing would be going on if Biden’s Vice President was someone like Tim Kaine? I seriously doubt it.
Suzanne
@lowtechcyclist: The problem that I have with some of the attitudes toward “the left” here is the constant conflation of a pretty small group of loudmouth “Berniebros” on Xhitter for the entire political left. And some racist or anti-Semitic goons? According to some people here, that trash represents everyone concerned about human rights in Gaza or police power abuses here at home.
The constant strawmanning and bad faith is obnoxious and absurdly anti-intellectual, but it is also incredibly unstrategic. That’s what gets me the most. If we ever want to win anything, we need a good chunk of the political left in the coalition! The majority of them will find a political home in the Democratic Party, if for no other reason than they certainly don’t fit in the GOP. Stop dividing the coalition! Fuck!
wjca
It’s the “expected age at death” when you have no other information about the individual’s genetics (how long his parents lived), his current health, the health care available to him, etc. On all of which counts, Biden is ahead of the curve.
zhena gogolia
@wjca: No one can predict the future. Did anyone think JFK wouldn’t make it four years?
UncleEbeneezer
If you are part of any community/movement that has a significant number of shitty members it’s on you to show you aren’t with those people through your actions. You have to be aware of the Anti-Semitism that is often underlying some of the popular slogans and framings and call them out. You have to make it clear by denouncing Hamas’ terrorism. You have to resist the urge to downplay the horrors of 10/7. If you do those things it will be very clear where you stand.
People like: Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, Ihab Hassan, Talia Ringer, Josh Marshall and others show us how it’s done. They support Palestinians, want a Cease-Fire, criticize Israel vigorously but always make it clear that they aren’t down with the toxic parts of the FreePalestine movement, any more than they are with the toxic parts of Zionism. But you have to be willing and strong enough to endure the attacks you will get from people in your movement for doing so. There’s no shortcuts and it isn’t easy. It won’t make you popular with many of the protestors.
Kathleen
@cintibud: Way late to this thread but I had the same response you did. I called the office and sent a message to his office but I will send message to campaign as well. I thought he was arrogant and dismissive with his remarks.
I was doing recurrent donation but I cancelled it and let him know in my message. I said would vote for him but would make no donations.
Suzanne
@UncleEbeneezer:
Sure. But here’s a couple of things to consider:
1) What defines a “significant” number vs. just a few cranks and assholes? Xhitter distorts this, IMO. My experiences in my actual grass-touching life often do not match what online spaces seem to present. Which leads me to think that there is a specific move to discredit at work and that dramatics are being created on purpose.
2) If this is true, then we need to demand this of every subgroup. And we currently do not.
3) The actions that us non-professional, non-operative, non-prominent people take are going to look completely different than those of media people or activists.
Kayla Rudbek
@rikyrah: a White man who doesn’t drink alcohol or smoke if I recall correctly, and still out bicycling as of six months ago, only off the bike due to injury…yeah, I like those odds too
Soprano2
@Ceci n est pas mon nym: How cool it would be to be involved in something like that. I wonder where you could go today to do something like that.
Soprano2
@Juju.: No, it would not.
Mousebumples
@Soprano2: take care of you. I vote to pie. And then toggle if you feel up to reading the comments, or skip if you’re needing a break. The comments are only hidden and not disappeared. You matter. ❤️
@O. Felix Culpa: thanks for sharing this!
Mousebumples
@Chief Oshkosh: thanks for calling your Rep and sharing that!
@Eyeroller: and to make sure the 3rd party curious vote for Biden!
@cintibud: thanks for calling your Rep!
@tobie: thanks for phone banking!
@Kathleen: thanks for calling your Rep!
Uncle Cosmo
@Geminid: Another excellent book on the 1968 campaign is the somewhat-obscure and hard-to-find An American Melodrama: The Presidential Campaign of 1968. The authors ( Lewis Chester, Godfrey Hodgson, Bruce Page) were three British journos over here to cover the election, who made wonderful use of the ability to observe at a cultural and emotional distance. I am a huuuuge fan of bargain books, but after checking this one out from a local library and reading it cover to cover I was more than happy to pay full cover price for a hardback to keep in a place of honor on my shelves.
Uncle Cosmo
@Soprano2: What’s that old saying?
:^D
chemiclord
@Soprano2: That’s exactly the problem. A bunch of white man-babies terrified that a black woman might become president.
If the VP was Generic White Male Dem from say… Colorado, there would be exactly zero panic right now.
frosty
@schrodingers_cat: Norman Mailer – Miami and the Siege of Chicago. He covered both conventions in a pre-Hunter Thompson way.