Franklin Delano Robinette Biden
— Peter Wolf (@peterawolf) October 6, 2022
Pretty clearly, President Biden has been able to do a lot of hard things *because* he served with President Obama — just as President Johnson achieved more good than anyone expected because he followed in President Kennedy’s wake. (And Obama didn’t even have to be assassinated, for a mercy; we just had to survive the Foreign Puppet Interregnum under TFG.)
My personal opinion — I’m open to argument — is that Barack Obama is smarter than almost all of us, and more ambitious than most of the people who are his intellectual equals. But I think he’s a natural introvert, someone who doesn’t really enjoy being around all but a very few chosen individuals. Knowing his own gifts and the condition of the world, he chose to become a politician, rising from community organizer to president, the way a dedicated anthropologist with histamine issues might chose to spend a working career dealing with ongoing asthma / hives / infection protocols. He never expected it to be easy, but he figured it was the best way for him to use his gifts in an area where they were desperately needed.
Joe Biden, on the other hand, is the inheritor of Justice Holmes’ judgement of Franklin Roosevelt: A second-class intellect. But a first-class temperament! Biden loves to be around people — he draws energy from the sort of flesh-pressing legislative logrolling that Obama seemed to disdain. He knows every Congressperson, and he gives the impression he actually likes most of them, which is either a gift from the political gods or a genius for acting…
this kind of thing is always hard for me to gauge, but it’s undeniable that biden has much better dems in both chambers to work with than obama did, which matters a lot https://t.co/FquZcQ7lzN
— GONELIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) October 6, 2022
On the other hand Republicans are even worse now and Biden has still somehow passed bipartisan legislation.
— Jeff Rickles (@richnsassy7) October 6, 2022
obama was, i think, a much more skilled communicator (and biden is no slouch here), but he wasn’t great at navigating congress, and he had a much lousier congress to navigate
— GONELIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachi) October 6, 2022
And because he's White.
— IndivisibleAlta (@IndivisibleAlta) October 6, 2022
Probably helps that Biden was in the room with Obama as he failed to work Congress, and Biden happens to be smart enough to learn from Obama's mistakes.
— Micah the Unhallowed (@MicahMTG) October 6, 2022
Obama struggled being an introvert and working a job that is essentially a Fishbowl existence that the world sees EVERYTHING you say or do.
— Collin Reid (@CREID2852) October 6, 2022
Lot of “Biden > Obama” takes floating around today, and I think that while you can make an argument for this, it undersells how monumental of an achievement the ACA was, how much legislation Dems passed in 2009/10, and how much more conservative the politics of the time were.
— Lakshya Jain (@lxeagle17) October 6, 2022
Biden’s great. Doesn’t need to be constantly compared to Obama to prove his impact.
— Lakshya Jain (@lxeagle17) October 6, 2022
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ll leave it to others to speculate how and why the national psychology of “spending” and “deficits” changed so dramatically from Obama’s first term to Biden’s. Part of is was the aftermath of the Bush era bailouts (that so many people, even now, even on the left, stubbornly attribute to Obama).
Two small anecdotes that demonstrate the difference between BHO’s political terrain on Capitol Hill: Judd Gregg, who was going to resign and become BHO’s Commerce Secretary, it was thought to be a sign of the new era. Then Mitch McConnell (and who knows which others, but I remember Barbara Bush stuck her gnarled paw into the matter) lobbied to Gregg to back out. The O’Bros say Lindsey Graham was all over the new era of bipartisanship for the first couple of months of ’09, till McConnell sold the caucus on the policy of total obstruction.
the other: Max Baucus, teh Dem committee chair with the most responsibility for health care reform, just last week endorsed insurrection-curious Chuck Grassley for re-election. No one in Iowa will give a fuck, but it tells you a lot about the disease known as Senate-Brain.
and a third comes to mind: Evan Bayh’s short-lived attempt during the ’08-09 transition to form an official Blue Dog caucus in the Senate.
TurnItOffAndOnAgain
Or, you know, like IndivisibleAlta said, Biden’s having an easier time in some ways because he’s white.
I’m not gonna piss on Joe. He was a great Vice President and he’s a damn good president so far, but this get’s unsaid in a lot of blog posts comparing Joe and Obama. The fact of the matter is that a lot of folks in the senate probably saw Obama as a young upstart who had the audacity to not only fail to serve his time , (as he ran for president before spending multiple decades in the senate, giving due regards to his fellow, elder, whiter senators) but to be a black young upstart on top of that. Biden, by contrast, is a white dude who’s been in the senate a long time and probably knows where a lot of the bodies are buried and which buttons to push.
Racism and our older whiter betters needing to have their ego’s fluffed before they would deign to open the gates of power to somebody who came from outside their club hampered Obama as much as anything else and it’s worth taking into account.
Baud
These comparisons are dumb. The political landscape has changed between 2008 and 2022.
ETA: Baud! > Obama+Biden.
Rand Careaga
Here’s what Charles Pierce wrote about Biden on the eve of the then-veep’s debate with Paul Ryan (“the zombie-eyed granny starver from the state of Wisconsin”) ten years ago:
geg6
Mr. Jain is absolutely correct. Both incredible, transformative, consequential presidents, each in their own way.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Yes. And I do not underestimate Biden’s intellect.
And I won’t say anything negative about Obama.
Martin
It was harder for Dems to be unified under Obama given that Republicans were vastly less deranged than they are now. How many Dem squishes have lined up now that their competition isn’t some Ben Sasse but rather a Josh Hawley.
eclare
@Rand Careaga: Very good description of Joe. I’ll add that I also think he likes dropping the occasional F-bomb. As I do.
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
He’s the first president since Reagan, and one of the very few recently, to not have an Ivy League education. All of his likely challengers in the GOP can’t say that.
But Dems are the elitists.
zhena gogolia
@Baud: The Ivy League has been eternally discredited by Hawley, Cruz, Kennedy (foghorn leghorn Kennedy), De Santis, & co.
MazeDancer
Was very happy when Mr. Biden came to Poughkeepsie, Pat Ryan and the District-Stealing Maloney wanted to be with him.
Dems love Joe Biden. Love him. Do not understand why every candidate doesn’t want to campaign with him everywhere. They can brag about all the amazing stuff Biden has achieved.
Van Buren
@Baud: I think the number of Dems who Have Had It Up To Here With Their Shit helps Joe a lot. Obama had allies who wanted to get along with the deplorables.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
as I recall, one of the reasons BHO picked Biden was on the theory that he could be an ambassador to the Senate, Rs and Ds. Biden finds Joe Manchin more cooperative than Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan (who I still kinda think might’ve been the same person with two hairpieces)
Geminid
@MazeDancer: Representantive Maloney ran in the district he lives in. He stole nothing.
Winston
The postman picked up my mail-in ballot on Thursday, so now I start getting robo calls saying be sure to vote and I laugh. All my primary ladies came through to run on the dem ticket (FL) and I’m thrilled to vote for them in the general. I remember having a table outside in front of my house on Halloween night 2008 passing out candy to the kids with a big Obama sign. The ruby red parents stood behind frowning, but the kids were overjoyed. Many are probably voting this year. Go Dems!
Scott
Maybe it is because I am currently reading David McCollough’s Truman that I think a better Biden comparison is to Truman. Truman was always underestimated; had to deal with leftists like Henry Wallace; Dixiecrats, etc. Was expected to be blown out by Republicans in 1948 but campaigned his butt off and won not only the Presidency but Congress as well. Truman was a clear speaker, not an elitist, and genuinely liked people. No analogies are perfect but one can be made here.
zhena gogolia
@Geminid: Thanks for trying!
lollipopguild
@Baud: Super Duper BAUD!
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
This overlooks the hostility Obama faced for being black. The most innocuous act would become his Tea Pot Dome (tan suit).
Biden gets to bath not only in white privilege, but in the persona of everyone’s favorite uncle.
Ohio Mom
@MazeDancer: Oh, I get why Tim Ryan, running for Senate in Ohio, isn’t seen with Biden. He’s going after the Republicans who were disgusted by January 6 and Roe’s overturning but who aren’t able to give Biden any credit.
It’s a tightrope for these voters, if they lose their footing, the cognitive dissonance will be overwhelming.
I’d like to think they are also repulsed by Vance but maybe I am projecting here.
Scout211
California ballots are being mailed out next week. I am in a fuddle about the propositions. I guess I have some research to do soon.
The dueling tv ads for 26 and 27 are over the top annoying, frustrating and confusing. These kind of sponsored* propositions are really obnoxious, highly manipulative and deceptive.
*26 and 27 sponsored by gambling interests.
Jeffro
truth!
He really does dig it. He read off the names of those “soshulist Republicans” a day or two ago like he was reading Emmy nominations. =)
WaterGirl
@Scout211: pacem appellant wrote up the information about the CA propositions in 2020, but maybe he will again! I just sent him an email to ask about it.
In 2020 a couple more people did write-ups for other states that had a lot of propositions.
There were some good discussions as I recall.
Scout211
@WaterGirl: That would be great. I hope that person will volunteer again. It was very helpful.
ETA: Link from 2020
ETA: oh, you found it, too. 😊
dmsilev
@Scout211: Mine came in the mail yesterday.
Planning on voting no for both of the gambling propositions.
WaterGirl
@WaterGirl: I just searched my email, found the conversation from 2020, sent him an email, and updated my comment. :-)
We’ll see what he says.
Bowtiejack
@zhena gogolia:
Don’t leave out Ivy Leaguer Stewart Rhodes, now on trial with his fellow Oath Keeper seditionists.
Another Scott
@Scout211: One of dsquareddigest (Dan Davies) ‘s one minute MBA rules is that “Good ideas do not need lots of lies told about them in order to gain public acceptance.” So that may tell you that you should vote NO on both.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Heidi Mom
I think that what distinguished Obama from his intellectual equals is not only his ambition but his incredible self-discipline. He didn’t waste an ounce of that brainpower.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
He beat a 20 year incumbent, while Nixon was winning the top of the ticket by 20.42% He got a ton of voters to split their tickets and bet on a 29 year old public defender.
Kent
My first career was in in the Federal government. I would suggest that legislation is not even the most important responsibility of the president. The vastly more important job is managing the executive branch.
In my judgement Biden is doing a measurably superior job than Obama in both his executive branch appointments and direction of the executive branch.
Person for person Biden’s appointments are MEASURABLY superior than Obama’s:
Treasury: Jack Lew vs Janet Yellen
Education: Arne Duncan vs Miguel Cardona
Interior: Sally Jewell vs Deb Halland
Defense: Ash Carter vs Lloyd Austin
etc.
And they are getting shit down at a much more urgent pace than Obama’s executive branch ever did.
HumboldtBlue
@Scout211:
My mail-in ballot arrived, now to study the booklet and vote. Family has been confused by 26 and 27 too.
Here is the LAO write-up on 26
Here is the LAO write-up on 27
Brachiator
@Martin:
What? Exactly the opposite. Obama tried to defer to Congress, but they waffled and were rebellious and acted like they were overly wary of Obama. The Republicans swifly adopted their total obstruction strategy. Hell, early on they declared their intention to make sure that Obama would be a one term president.
OzarkHillbilly
As Biden himself said, it was a “big fucking deal.”
WaterGirl
@Scout211: I just heard back from pacem appellant. He is tied up with some other things this year so he won’t be able to do it.
He said he’s going with his gut this year, unless someone else steps up and wants to write something up.
Wapiti
@Scout211: We have lots of propositions here in WA State. Too many are corporate initiatives, trying to get around the Dem legislature. I vote NO as a default.
pacem appellant
@Scout211 @dmsilev:: For personal reasons, I cannot make time for a front-page analysis this year. All I got is my gut, which is this:
Prove me wrong!
Edit: and @WaterGirl: beat me to it!
Anonymous At Work
@Wapiti: Tim Eyman still being the anti-government asshat up there?
Kent
@WaterGirl: 2-25 were probably initiatives that were filed with the state but didn’t get enough signatures to make it on the ballot. That would be my guess.
pacem appellant
@WaterGirl: That a good question! Gah. Now I want to know. It probably got approved during a different legislative session. Anyway, YES on 1. That’s a no-brainer.
Winston
There were 12 questions on the ballot about should we keep this judge so and so. I logged into the Dem HQ website in my county and their list was NO on all but one. They were also helpful on the ballot initiatives. So I went with them on all their recs.
Kent
He was convicted for fraud and campaign violations and banned from political activity and still owes massive fines.
Tony Jay
Speaking purely as a Lefty resident of WTF Island, I will go to my early grave stuffed to the gills with genuine astonishment that anyone can have a problem with what Biden has achieved, both as President and as Party leader.
Tons of good legislation, threaded through the eye of a 50/50 Senate needle, all of it leaning as hard as possible towards benefitting actual people rather than just the rancid crust congealed on top of society. Consistent good humour, righteous sarcasm aimed at the wankers on the Right.
Has he made a habit of shitting all over the Party’s Leftier elements in service of the trope that a ‘centre-right’ country must enjoy frequent hippy-punching. No, he has not. He’s done the opposite, embracing the real Left’s priorities and advancing them up the field consistently and smartly. Has he done some realpolitik shit that charges up the eye roll batteries? Sure. But here’s a clue – which achievements does he boast about? Which ones does he want his Democratic Party to be known for?
I would put a baseball bat through a wood chipper and wear the splintered remnants as a suppository for one year of Joe Biden running the Labour Party.
Seriously.
Mai Naem mobile
All these comments about Obama and Biden and everybody’s pretending to pull a John Roberts and ignore Obama’s melanin content because its post-2000 and race doesn’t matter. All that said, I did not see Biden’s presidency turning out like this. I really thought he was going to be a milquetoast squishy Democrat. Just an OT comment Max Baucus who led the Dems O-Care negotiations has just this week endorsed Chuck Grassley for the Senate. What an a-hole garbage person. Biden needs to go out of his way to fk whoever Baucus is lobbying for(pretty sure its a foreign country.)
Anonymous At Work
@Kent: So, if someone were to dump a small truck’s worth of manure on his lawn, light it on fire, and drive away, teh cops wouldn’t be obligated to investigate.
Asking for a few friends.
Anonymous At Work
@Winston: GREAT IDEA! I was going to spend time Googling the judges (I do tend towards ‘No’ for elected judges by default) but give us a link.
Any other states besides FL have a lot of down-ballot, “non-partisan-only-because-they-say-so” races that need help?
Another Scott
That’s why rules about media ownership were a good idea and why they should be revisited. (Yeah, it’s more complicated with the web, but local media over the airwaves is still very important.)
(via jonrog1)
Cheers,
Scott.
Kristine
My Illinois ballot arrived last week. It’s D’s down the line. Just dug into the judicial retentions–all I have to go on are the IL State Bar’s evaluations. Not sure what else there is for IANAL me to look at.
ian
@Tony Jay: Does one wear a suppository or does the suppository wear you?
Winston
@Tony Jay: The new vernacular is dank brandon for king.
UncleEbeneezer
@TurnItOffAndOnAgain: Wise words from IndivisibleAlta (joking, that’s actually me)
I think Biden is really smart in knowing the right people to listen to and how to get shit done. The latter is a benefit of all his years in the Senate.
Obama does strike me as an off-the-charts intelligent person (like Hillary). As others have noted it almost impossible to do any real accounting based just on their legislative successes because not only is there the racial difference, but also both Parties are much further to the Left/Right with the GOP being completely bat-shit in ways they weren’t even during Obama. I think both have exceptional political skills that just work in slightly different ways.
Mai Naem mobile
@zhena gogolia: you forgot Jared.
UncleEbeneezer
Good news: my wife just got to visit the retirement that we are moving my FIL into and it looks great and he’s excited! MIL might even be able to join him if she recovers enough to leave the hospital. It’s such a huge weight off my wife’s shoulders and a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel of this incredibly difficult scenario of managing her parents’ living situation.
Winston
@Anonymous At Work: Polk Dems.com (FL)is where I looked.
dmsilev
@pacem appellant: That’s pretty much what I’m thinking as well.
Baud
@Tony Jay:
We need to get you into some campaign ads.
moonbat
People conveniently forget how big an effort Obama had to make to NOT be seen as a bomb-throwing radical because of the color of his skin and how some Dems were not eager at all to be seen cooperating too enthusiastically with the nation’s first black president — forcing concessions and compromises from OUR side.Then of course he gets pranged from the left wing of the party for not making everything happen right now like the magical Negro he was supposed to be.
If Obama made any mistakes it was in thinking too highly of reasonableness of the American people in general and his own party in particular.
Biden has the benefit of being white, a Senate veteran, AND a natural glad-hander. Look at the commentators now trying and failing to paint him as a wild-eyed socialist. “Uncle Joe? No, way, he’s just a kindly old gent there to help working families.”
Then tell commentators wouldn’t have had an easy time of putting Obama in that light had he proposed the exact same legislation/program changes during his terms. Hell, just the ACA gave the white Christian nationalists enough ammunition to be the democracy destroying force we are desperately trying to beat back this November.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Kristine: You may not want to do this in a purely partisan way but I did. I browsed about the judges on line until I found a mention of the time they were first elected. That was a partisan ballot. So if the history says something like “defeated D Joe Schmo” then I knew that judge was an R. On my ballot, there were four such retention votes. The first three were all Rs. So I voted no. Only the last one was a D.
Tony Jay
@ian:
I gave diagrams, but mostly I just go with whatever emotion I’m feeling. Very ‘in the moment’.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
What Biden does when no one is watching:
UncleEbeneezer
@moonbat:
“If Obama made any mistakes it was in thinking too highly of reasonableness of the American people in general and his own party in particular.”
I don’t think that’s a mistake. That’s just who he is. And it’s part of what made him so inspirational and helped get him to such a level. I don’t think a Black politician would ever be able to have much success without almost-beaming optimism and hope. If a Black politician pouted and yelled like oh, say a certain Senator from VT with a cult-like following, they’d be toast.
WaterGirl
@moonbat: THANK YOU.
Ruckus
@zhena gogolia:
“The Ivy League has been eternally discredited by Hawley, Cruz, Kennedy (foghorn leghorn Kennedy), De Santis, & co.”
I think that comes from standing in front of a mirror a lot and developing the concept that money is the sole driver of everything in the world.
WaterGirl
@Kristine: I know, I hate that they pretend that the judicial races are non-partisan.
There is no non-partisan anymore.
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Good idea!
sab
@UncleEbeneezer: That is great news. I am so glad he is excited. You won’t believe how much more relieved you both will be when he moves in.
HinTN
@Scott: McCullough genuinely likes his subjects and it does in what he writes about them, even when addressing their failings. Truman opened my eyes to a president about whom I knew very little. Likewise, Grant.
Tony Jay
@Winston:
The very clear message were getting both from popular culture and real-life is that King’s are, by and large, unless pricks or beasts that need putting down.
Dank Brandon doesn’t need a crown to shine. He just needs a few more Senators and the House that Nancy built.
David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch
@Tony Jay:
I’d thought you’d be on top the world, today (photo)
Ruckus
@moonbat:
This. All of this.
Tony Jay
@Baud:
Give me 120 million dollars and a pre-signed pardon and I will either get you elected in a landslide or start WWIII by accident.
Life is risk, Mr President. Ball’s in your court.
Baud
@Tony Jay:
I like those odds!
moonbat
@UncleEbeneezer:
All I’m saying is that Obama called to the better angels of our nature and for the most part people didn’t answer. That’s on us, not him.
Winston
@Tony Jay: It’s a millennial thing. My Grand children. It’s their answer to Jesus Trump.
via Mideas Touch
Tony Jay
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
Love the Lionesses, but the Children of the Damned vibe they’re rocking is… has anyone looked into that?
I mean, how blonde is suspiciously blonde?
Kent
Not sure if Eyman still has a house. His wife divorced him and he was forced into bankruptcy to pay his fines.
Brachiator
@Scout211:
My sentiments so far.
Yes. Yes. Yes. No brainer. Reproductive rights must be protected.
No on both 26 and 27. I am not seeing a reason to expand betting. Also, allowing sports betting at racetracks is weird. Racetracks used to be big, but now are largely a relic of the past. What’s the point in trying to prop them up?
No. Plus I hate claims that money will be made available to help the homeless. Ballot propositions were supposed to be narrowly focused on a single issue. This reeks of bogus BS. And allowing gambling apps is just asking for trouble and more gambling addiction.
I am currently torn on this. Permanent allocations of money sounds good, but sometimes prevents state government from being able to deal with other pressing needs.
No. No. No. This keeps coming up; was on the ballot in 2018 and 2020. The state legislature needs to work this out. It is unclear as to what would be best for patients.
Governor Gavin Newsom opposes this one and is appearing in ads against it. I will trust him on this. This is designed to help companies like Lyft. The supposed assist for wildfire prevention is another attempt at misdirection.
I am voting NO on this one. It’s 2022. People know that smoking is bad. Smoking rates are low. Only 8.9 percent of adult Californians smoke cigarettes. I just don’t care if some want flavored cigarettes. I don’t think it is going to increase smoking overall.
J R in WV
Local TV, and national for that matter, has had a plan for coverage for decades now:
If it Bleeds It Leads!
I had hired a young Indian IT expert years ago, and in the hiring process we mentioned that crime here was low to minimal. Not long after he joined us from India, he asked me if crime here was so minimal, how was it that every night on the news there was murder and robbery?
I told him that the local TV stations cast a wide net to achieve the If it Bleeds it Leads function, showing crimes from all over WV, East KY and SE Ohio, as opposed to in Charleston WV, and asked him to take note of where these crimes happened.
A few days later he told me he thought i was right, most of the crimes were from miles and miles away from us. Nationally, of course, there’s always a serial killed or spree killer to lead the nightly news with, so they do just that.
Republicans love that philosophy!
Tony Jay
@Winston:
Then I’ll allow it.
All of the MAGAt Trump memes are just so ridiculous and circle-jerking I feel it would be a real disservice to history not to crush them flat with better product.
Anonymous At Work
@Kent: I’m weeping tears of joy uncontrollably. If it gets any better, I actually pass out from happiness.
WaterGirl
@Tony Jay:
I just wanted to see that again.
Scout211
@Brachiator: @pacem appellant: @HumboldtBlue: @Another Scott: @dmsilev:
Thank you, all. Very helpful!
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
“Republicans love that philosophy!”
Of course they do, they run on it, get elected and forget about it till the next election. If asked about it, they tried but dems kept shooting it down. It doesn’t matter that they lie about it or that the TV runs all of this kind of stuff so people will vote for the crime and punishment party.
eclare
@UncleEbeneezer: Great news! I know how hard that is, can’t imagine doing it long distance.
Winston
@Tony Jay: dank is really potent weed.
Suzanne
@UncleEbeneezer: That is great news! What a weight off your shoulders.
Tony Jay
@WaterGirl:
Imagine that, a party leader you can actually ‘like’ saying nice things about.
BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️
I’ve seen a century’s worth of hot takes on how much better Biden has been compared to Obama. I think that said takes are born of the lack of intellect and grasp of actual history usually exhibited by slightly below average amardillos.
PJ
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch: Biden is definitely not everyone’s favorite uncle. He was, and is, routinely characterized as being a senile, corrupt, gaffe-prone sexual harasser by both left and right. Even in these hallowed pages of Balloon Juice, there are many commenters who believe he is out of touch and too old for the job.
To be sure, those characterizations are easier to disprove, or shake off, or render irrelevant with actual results than the rank bigotry Obama faced. Obama was also constrained by not being able to address that bigotry directly, lest he appear the angry black man his opponents so desperately wanted to see so they could further demonize him.
While Biden’s whiteness is certainly an advantage in the USA, I think his results to date as President can be attributed to a number of factors, including: 1) having spent almost 50 years in the Senate and as Vice-President, and seeing what works and what doesn’t; 2) having an up-close seat at what Obama faced with regard to the recalcitrance and obstruction of congressional Republicans and executive branch players; 3) having the patience to work the players and the system; 4) knowing he is not the smartest guy in the room (which Obama probably usually was) and being willing to listen to those who know more than he does; 5) being old enough to not give a fuck what the media or twitter thinks; and 6) actually enjoying being a politician and meeting and working with tons of people all the time (which Obama always seemed a little uncomfortable at – gods know I would not be good at it.)
Tony Jay
@Winston:
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!
Gotcha.
Starfish
Biden has been successful because there has been much wider recognition and acceptance of Cleek’s law. We can’t take the Republicans’ concerns about the deficit seriously when President Trump gave huge tax cuts to businesses like that. When the Supreme Court looks like the land of lawlessness, pass every piece of “everybody gets a free pony” legislation you want.
The Republicans have not had a party platform in years. What are the positive policy ideas of the Republican Party right now? There are none, unless they want to send Tucker Carlson’s taint tanner to every house so that we can all feel manly.
Suzanne
@BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️: Agree.
In general, I find the entire concept of ranking things to be exceedingly juvenile and simplistic. The presidency is such that there’s many ways to do a “good job”.
BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️
@Suzanne: Correct on both counts.
Brachiator
@PJ:
I like Biden’s decisions as president. His cabinet and court appointments. His policy proposals. The way he dealt with Covid.
I don’t think that he is in any way out of touch. In a couple of places I think he has been bold, pushing things along instead of waiting for a consensus to develop.
I don’t know that any of the other presidential contenders could have done a better job, although I think that any of them would have risen to the occasion.
Martin
@Scout211: My rule of thumb: all initiatives are NO.
Exception 1: conflict of interest for the legislature – campaign finance, pay, term limits, etc.
Exception 2: things that have to be handled by ballot initiative – repeal previous props, etc.
Basically, never vote for something that the legislature can and should do themselves. Vote for things that the legislature can’t or shouldn’t do themselves.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
It’s also an extremely on-line discussion, which is also the world where people were confused when Biden was the just about the only 2020 primary candidate who talked about Barack Obama, and then won.
Brachiator
@Martin:
You would vote NO on Proposition 1? Why?
Sometimes, a Proposition is crafted so that a NO is realy a YES. Unfortunately, you cannot just automatically vote NO, even though, like you, I would sometimes love to do so?
RevRick
I’ll leave it to historians to evaluate the Obama and Biden Presidencies, but clearly the economy and the nation as a whole does better under Democratic administrations than Republican ones. For one thing, Democrats show the ability to learn from experience and to build on prior accomplishments. The debacle of the Clinton health insurance legislation led to the ACA, and no, that wasn’t the Republican idea! The less-than-adequate Obama stimulus led to the ARP.
Republicans, meanwhile, have a one-trick-pony solution of — cut taxes and cut spending — to everything. But that’s all part of their ideology, which is rooted in hierarchy and their peculiar notion of freedom. As a result, they’ve come to see every Democratic accomplishment as an existential threat, because it challenges their notion of how the world ought to be.
I am thrilled beyond measure at how much legislation President Biden has gotten enacted and how much he has been able to repair relationships with our allies. And I think his being grandpa Joe has allowed him to do things like pardoning federal marijuana offenses.
All in all, I say it’s cause to celebrate. Where the GOP is headed is scary, however.
Ruckus
@Scout211:
California ballots have already been mailed, or maybe mine is the only one mailed and arrived already.
BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Excellent point!!
lowtechcyclist
@Tony Jay:
A big YES! to all this. I’ve been waiting for the Democratic Party of 2022 ever since I started calling* myself one, roughly a quarter-century ago. Spent a lot of years being frustrated by my own party, but dayum, they’ve been doing it right this year. And with incredibly slender majorities in both houses of Congress, too. This is the most unified I’ve ever seen this party. Dems in array, yeah!
*I lived in Virginia then; no registration by party there.
J R in WV
@RevRick:
Yes, it is. Treason, now that there’s a real war maybe people reading too much into a couple of words in the constitutional definition of treason can settle down.
Fighting to overcome democracy is, in a democratic nation, treason, plain and simple.
Especially when that fight is really on behalf of an existential enemy of the nation, the Russian Federation as owned and operated by V. V. Putin. Who is currently attempting to crush a neighboring Democracy, which is apparently demonstrating the superiority of democracy over kleptocracy by beating Russia about the head and shoulders.
The Republicans are, many of them anyway, deep into the pockets of Russia, both philosophically and politically.
sab
@Martin: No on all propositions? 30 years ago when I lived in Michigan they had a weird vague proposition calling for integrity in government, and that lost too, in addition to all the other propositions on the ballot that year.
Anyway
@UncleEbeneezer:
So glad for you and your wife. Taking care of aging parents long-distance is a huge challenge. Hope the living situation works out for the in-laws.
BenCisco 🇺🇸🎖️🖥️♦️
@J R in WV:
I expect that this will need to be dragged out into the light and dealt with sooner rather than later.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Tommy Tuberville lets it all hang out. “They want reparation because they think that people who do the crime are owed that. Bullshit!“
middlelee
The California Democratic Party has released it’s recommendations for the propositions:
This is my first time attempting a link so I hope it works
I apologize if someone already posted. I’m a slow reader and didn’t want b posting at midnight Pacific Time.
Tony Jay
@lowtechcyclist:
And as soon as the Green Lantern of this sector dies bringing down The Citadel he’ll also have the cosmic powers necessary to achieve stuff outside of the Constitutional strictures actual Democrats, and democrats, currently abide by.
Until then, he’s doing very well indeed with what he has at hand.
Scout211
@Ruckus: The counties are supposed to mail their ballots out by October 10th. My county seems to wait until the last minute.
But it does sound like most of the counties sent theirs out this week and many jackals already have their ballots.
topclimber
@Tony Jay: Bruv, I mock you sometimes but your last (short) sentence is one that will stay with me, for better or worse. Likewise the sentiment.
Kristine
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Thanks–that’s another thing to try. I wish info on judges was easier to find.
middlelee
@David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch:
I’m not interested in comparing Obama and Biden politically or legislatively. I think they are both good men, decent men, loving men. Obama spent 8 years in the Whitehouse and did nothing, NOTHING scandalous, dishonest, dishonorable the entire time, unlike the man who followed him. I was never embarrassed by him regardless of his TAN SUIT DISASTER. I still can’t wrap my head around why anyone in their right mind gives a flying fuck about a tan suit.
I’m pretty sure Joe Biden will get through his time in the White House without a scandal, I’m okay with his occasional gaffes, and I love that he sometimes says fuck.
Mike i
@middlelee: Have you not read the Constitution? It specifies that POTUS can only wear a baggy navy blue suit with a white shirt and a red necktie reaching almost to his knees.
WaterGirl
@middlelee: Good job!
GibberJack
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Maxes Baucus has been a shitstain on the linen of America that will take years to launder out.
SeattleDem
@Kent: Also, the Eastern Washington RWNJ who bankrolled much of Eyman’s work died in a wrong-way-on-the-highway head-on collision days before said money-bags’ son was indicted for the largest case of fraud in state history. Son was sentenced last week.
GibberJack
@geg6: Totally agree.
It is amazing we as a nation are blessed with political talent like Obama and Biden.
And cursed with political talent the likes of Trump and the Bushes and Reagan.
Indeed. America. Home of the best, and home the worst.
GibberJack
@moonbat: One day Obama will be seen as the Sidney Poitier of Black presidents.
One day Obama will be seen as simply President, not as Black President.
KrackenJack
@middlelee:
I happen to agree with the default “No” on CA Propositions – it’s a lousy way to govern and the current qualification process is a cesspool for special interest flies. I disagree with the CA Democratic Party’s picks. They are very deferential to union-backed propositions.
1*: Prohibits the state from denying or interfering with an individual’s reproductive freedom. YES. This was passed by the legislature to enshrine these rights in the state constitution – which they can’t otherwise do. *It gets top billing as a referral that got of two-thirds of the vote in each legislative chamber during one legislative session.
26: Authorizes new types of gambling. NO. We have enough options to part fools from their money.
27: Allows online and mobile sports wagering. NO! What I said on 26 , plus this is a corporate giveaway.
28: Provides additional funding for arts and music education in public schools. NO. Budgeting by constitutional set-aside is stupid. Lobby like everyone else.
29: Requires on-site licensed medical professional at kidney dialysis clinics and establishes other state requirements. NO for the third time. The unions representing Da Vita workers can find another way to get their demands met. Lobby like everyone else.
30: Provides funding for programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing tax on personal income over $2 million. NO, Although I’m in favor of soaking the rich, let’s not do it with an eternal set aside.
31: [Don’t understand CA Dems summary sentence] Expands prohibition on the sale of flavored tobacco products to people under 21 by banning all sales of flavored tobacco. YES. I think this should be done by the legislature, so I’m inconsistent, and it should also include marijuana, but there you have it. Call it my public health exception.
GibberJack
@moonbat: I thought of the exact same passage. And the same for the response too.
It clinically depressed me. I had no idea so many would choose to be the worse angels of our nature. Not that I didn’t know some would or such demons existed. But that there were so so damn many of them, some even in my own family, dressed up perfectly in human skins.
In the words of Warren Zevon, it put me through some changes, sort of like a Waring blender.
Matt McIrvin
Just a few months ago, weren’t Democrats starting to buy into the “Biden is senile” crap and talking about how he should resign, or decline to run in ’24, or maybe even replace Kamala Harris and then quit?
This all just seems so reactive. The whole story isn’t written yet.
sab
@Matt McIrvin: I don’t think Democrats ever bought into Biden is senile, although the MSM flogged it relentlesly. They didn’t have much evidence. Biden fell off his bike? Who the phuck senile in his late seventies could even ride a bike.? Healthy old man has bike problem didn’t have the same impact.
ETA Youngsters might fall for this crap, but we who are old know that different people decline at different rates, and Biden’s “decline” is barely evident.
Internet bangs on Boomers, but Gen X has a hell of a lot to answer for.