A party that's won the popular vote once since 1988 is running a convicted felon for president? And it's the other guys who are in trouble?
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 30, 2024
Our Editorial Board, which operates independently from our newsroom, weighs in on the state of the 2024 election. https://t.co/OQ9LohEoxA
— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) June 29, 2024
This has been circulating all over social media, for good reason. I may have to buy a subscription to the Philadelphia Inquirer, if I can get the robot to take my money:
…[L]ost in the hand wringing was Donald Trump’s usual bombastic litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering. His performance demonstrated once again that he is a danger to democracy and unfit for office.
In fact, the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump.
Trump, 78, has been on the political stage for eight years marked by chaos, corruption, and incivility. Why go back to that?
To build himself up, Trump constantly tears the country down. There is no shining city on the hill. It’s just mourning in America…
After scheming to overturn the 2020 election, Trump refused to say if he would accept the results of the 2024 election. Unless, of course, he wins.
The debate served as a reminder of what another four years of Trump would look like. More lies, grievance, narcissism, and hate. Supporters say they like Trump because he says whatever he thinks. But he mainly spews raw sewage.
Trump attacks the military. He denigrates the Justice Department and judges. He belittles the FBI and the CIA. He picks fights with allies and cozies up to dictators…
Biden has surrounded himself with experienced people who take public service seriously. He has passed major bipartisan legislation despite a dysfunctional Republican House majority.
Biden believes in the best of America. He has rebuilt relationships with allies around the world and stood up to foes like Russia and China.
There was only one person at the debate who does not deserve to be running for president. The sooner Trump exits the stage, the better off the country will be.
You guys haven't noticed the pattern where Democratic candidates out-debate their opponents on facts and accomplishments, but then the next day the press has everyone talking about the way you feel about how the answer was delivered on television?
— Yurok Around The Clock (@HellcatBruce) June 28, 2024
This article and thread is a great reminder that red state Dems don't give a shit about playing politics like fantasy football. They put up with so much GOP governance bullshit and it's our duty to get them a Dem president so that at least one person has their back https://t.co/rJ6lucSEEo
— The okayest poster there is (@ok_post_guy) June 30, 2024
Saying "Biden had a really bad debate, but he's a great president and our strongest candidate" isn't gaslighting.
Saying "Trump appeared capable of doing the job of president" is gaslighting.
— Daily Trix (@DailyTrix) June 30, 2024
This is a very cynical way of looking at things, and I'm sorry I didn't think of it first. https://t.co/PJTMXB5sXc
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 29, 2024
And for those among us who prefer astringency, even approaching doomerism: Jill Lawrence, at the Bulwark — “Donald Trump Should Not Have Been on That Stage”:
DONALD TRUMP WON the first presidential debate the minute he walked onstage. His win was cemented a few minutes later, when the moderators addressed him as Mr. President. He had no business being there and his presence was stark evidence that our system is not only dysfunctional, it is impotent when we need it most.
The guardrails—the impeachment process, the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the courts—did not hold. They have proved to be a fairytale we spin to make ourselves feel better. They will remain just that: a fantasy destined to implode, over and over…
Trump’s appearance on the CNN debate stage was a jolting reminder of what this country has done to itself. For me it was a lightning strike of disbelief: Why was a twice-impeached, convicted felon allowed to participate? A former president who tried to overturn an election, hoarded national security secrets, and faces federal and state charges on both?…
PART OF THE PROBLEM HERE IS THAT, as David Frum notes, the format of presidential debates is ill suited to our moment. But the deeper problem is that Trump was not stopped before this. Republicans failed to convict and remove him in two Senate impeachment trials arising from egregious acts. The Justice Department did not act quickly enough to bring cases against Trump. The Supreme Court and U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon gave Trump far more deference than he is due, or than other defendants get. And Democrats failed in Biden’s first two years to do enough to Trump-proof democracy.
Back in 2018–19, while Trump was still in office, a Brennan Center for Justice task force led by former federal prosecutor Preet Bharara and former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman delved into what Congress should do to strengthen our constitutional system. The to-do list would keep lawmakers busy for years. In the first installment they suggest, among many other things, laws that require disclosure of tax returns and business records, written justifications for pardons of close associates, an enforcement scheme for the Emoluments Clause, and new power for agency inspectors general to investigate improper interference in law enforcement matters. They also call for Congress to pass a resolution “expressly and categorically condemning self-pardons.” One item in the equally comprehensive part two says Congress must pass laws to address the Trump administration’s “stunning disregard” for the White House security-clearance process that is “critical to protecting national security.”…
… It’s a disgrace that a democratic superpower would miss every single opportunity to keep a man like Trump off the debate stage, off the convention stage, and out of the White House. The Founders gave us the tools they thought we’d need to prevent this recurring nightmare. But every institution has let us down, from the GOP to (even and especially) the federal courts. If Congress doesn’t change our laws, and if Republicans keep equating patriotism with diehard or even lukewarm Trumpism, those institutions will continue to fail us and the prospect of another Trump will always loom on the horizon. If not closer.
Russell
Gritty don’t play!
Dangerman
Kinda what I was thinking in a way.
JAFD
Happy Canada Day ! to all of our friends in the True North, strong and free.
eclare
That Charles Pierce tweet seems spot-on. Thanks for the round up, Anne Laurie.
ghost cat
Charlie Pierce reminds us:
It is time for a reading from the Gospel According To TBogg (circa 2008)
“Every year in Happy Gumdrop Fairy-Tale Land all of the sprites and elves and woodland creatures gather together to pick the Rainbow Sunshine Queen. Everyone is there: the Lollipop Guild…
https://x.com/CharlesPPierce/status/1807543215815320019
Baud
Fair, but haven’t all but one of the anti Trump Republicans put Dems to shame when it comes to the reaction to the debate.
WereBear
The real core of this is the Confederacy. The cheat codes they embedded in the system. And we haven’t taken out.
Too busy boarding up the windows to come up with a Zombie vaccine.
WereBear
@Baud: But how can we trust them? Most of have declared, over and over, that they see Trump as their opponent now, but it’s not like they are pro-Democracy in the first place.
I still don’t praise their work because they are pissed at Trump for wrecking their gravy train. The enemy of our enemy is not our friend, either.
Shalimar
I do think Biden has the best chance to beat Trump. Harris will be the candidate if he steps aside and I think she will be a fine president, but I also think racism and especially misogyny are a factor with enough people that she could lose, which would be catastrophic. The ideal situation in my opinion would be Biden winning again and then having to step aside in a few years for health reasons. This would leave Harris running for re-election in 2028 with a proven track record and a chance to be in office until 2037
Edit: I think part of the freakout over Biden’s age among actual Democratic insiders is because they realize Kamala Harris could lock their preferred candidates out of the presidency for 12 years if they don’t do something now. If they kneecap Biden and he loses to Trump, Harris won’t be the candidate in 2028.
Baud
@WereBear:
I don’t trust them, except maybe Jen Rubin.
Doesn’t mean I trust Dems who are reacting worse than them.
eclare
@Baud:
Jen does seem to have had a genuine conversion.
satby
I didn’t have a NYT subscription to cancel, but I did subscribe to the Inquirer to thank them for their editorial. I canceled my paid Bulwark subscription a while ago when they started having way more of Always Wrong Kristol’s take on things, but after 3 hyperventilating headlines in a row cancelled my free newsletter too. I think they don’t want the convict to win, but the knee-jerk “Democrats are blowing it” is in their DNA.
And AL, I know you don’t get enough appreciation for slogging through and continuing to highlight the way the forces that shape what we see and hear as news in this country evolve, because the shapers are bad people (Musk, Sulzburger, NBC, NYT, et all) and many people complain they’re tired of seeing it. Keep doing it if your stomach and sanity can take it. You’ve always been the mainstay of the blog and I have only deep appreciation for the work you do. Edit: And the fact that you’ve never dwelled in the happy gumdrop fairy land TBogg described
Baud
@satby:
This is when I regret that the blog didn’t have a like button.
satby
@Baud: Thanks. I figure a lot of people have pied me by now, because I’ve shared how some of the truly stupid stuff has stretched my last nerve.
But I’m with you on how the people who would abandon the good (great, really) for the non-existent perfect will deserve what happens if they do enough damage.
Baud
Mika just came out for Biden to stay in. That should end the debate.
JWR
I had the TV on and forgot that NBC rebroadcasts Sunday morning’s MTP on Sunday afternoons. So there I was, watching Sen. Warnock trying his unsuccessful best to drag Kristen Welker off the “Ooo, Joe Biden’s gonna shoot himself!” ledge, she was just sooo hungry for some Biden campaign dirt, but he held his own.
Later, one of the panelists, maybe Chuck Todd, mentioned that James Carville suggested to Maureen Down, (wait, don’t laugh, lemme finish), that the Dem convention should feature an American Idol sort of reality show, with Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden as judges, and they could parade all the Dems who want the job to audition for the spot.
I’m serious! That was relayed as from an actual, “Democratic operative”! I just hope than when all is said and done that Biden is back in the WH and all these so-called pundits are lined up and… looking for another job.
ETA,, what @Baud: said! I know we don’t thank ALL the front-pagers often enough. Thank you!
Baud
@satby:
I’ve tried to avoid letting my emotions get the better of me. It helps that I’ll be away soon enough and can put this all behind me.
Baud
@JWR:
I would have supported a pardon for Assange and Snowden if they had revealed who the anonymous Democratic operatives who the media have on speed dial.
eclare
@JWR:
SMDH. American Idol type contest. Gawd.
WereBear
AL wades through the sewer of whatever Twitter is now. For US. I’m appreciative as well!
Baud
WereBear
I keep hearing that the polls do not reflect the already documented Roe-connected backlash.
That’s funny-odd, not funny-haha.
satby
@JWR: Chuck Todd, who famously stated during the struggle to pass the ACA legislation that it wasn’t his job to call out the lies the opposition was spreading, and not only kept his job as a journalist, but ended up anchoring Meet the Press.
That, right there, was a pivotal moment. We were appalled, as all consumers of news should have been, but we went after Todd to no effect at all. We should have made his employers suffer mightily for keeping him on, but we didn’t realize he was a test balloon. And here we are today.
WereBear
@eclare: Can’t tell Mr WereBear who was already tired of ‘his skeleton presence.”
Princess
@Baud: Yeah, I don’t trust them but I trust the ones who nominally claim to share our politics but suck on the test of the NYT and spout whatever they need to to keep their boss happy even less. At least the professional never-Trumpers are free agents.
satby
@Baud: Can I go too? I pwomise to keep quiet and stay out of the way. You won’t even know I’m there 😉
WereBear
@satby: I don’t watch any of them. A lot of us have cultivated new sources and their numbers are dropping.
Unfortunately, this makes them want to court MAGA, who will still glue themselves to an actual television…
linnen
People who are not Democrats are mentioned in the Jil Lawrence piece but …
… certainly is an exemplar of Murc’s Law.
It brings out the “Both-Sides” modern journalism aspects out.
Baud
@linnen:
That has a real “voters can’t be trusted” vibe that smacks of the Republican viewpoint about voters.
lowtechcyclist
@eclare:
I know, right? The mainstream pundits treat our democracy and our politics as if it was all just a TV show whose outcome didn’t affect anything meaningful.
How they manage to do that and bear being in the same room with themselves when the stakes of this election are as enormous as they are, I have no idea. But they disgust me.
Baud
@eclare:
Or The Apprentice.
satby
@WereBear: Twitter with a curated feed is fine. Often way better and much more uplifting than here. When I’m not slamming media people behaving badly I congratulate people on their years of sobriety, or being the first in their family to graduate college or earn an advanced degree, or offer condolences to people on their losses; all have in common they’re sharing their successes or losses with only a few people. And the fantastic animal rescue videos. I don’t just block bad stuff, I boost good stuff; and like it or not it’s still where the majority of news and newspeople are.
The evisceration of NBC and Bash and Tapper has been fantastic, for instance; and led by other media people like Pierce.
Baud
@satby:
I was tempted to join Twitter this week just to hang out with Black Twitter. Based on what rikyrah posts here, they know how to fight.
satby
@Baud: Do it! if you do follow me, MazeDancer, and rikyrah to see some good feeds to follow. And of course Anne Laurie, who has more. Black Twitter is excellent, resistance Twitter is too; and in between there’s some gems of random stuff. We need more resistance voices back.
Edit: just seeing all the people saying loudly and proudly they have Biden’s back is worth it.
Baud
@satby:
We’ll see when I get back.
trnc
If republicans can support a rapist/insurrectionist/convicted felon/chronic liar whose regular speeches include things like sharks vs electrocution, I can support my guy who had a pretty bad 15 minutes one night.
eclare
@satby:
Yeah, I don’t have problems with Twitter because I choose who I follow and usually don’t read the comments. I do not let the algorithm make suggestions to me.
Matt McIrvin
I actually hate the Bulwark’s attitude: yeah, it’s never-Trumper, but it’s never-Trumper as a rebuttal to democracy. These people’s position is that Trump is proof that the people are too stupid to given themselves and some Dick Cheney type like them should be holding the reins instead.
trnc
I heard about 5 minutes of a “Biden voters talk about Biden’s debate night” segment on NPR yesterday on my way home from grocery shopping and prepared for a hit piece. The first two callers were both solidly behind Biden and called the media overly dramatic, and the first caller was a young voter, so I was pleasantly surprised. Hopefully, that remained the gist, but who knows.
Soprano2
@JWR: Wow, that’s messed up. I am SO DISAPPOINTED in the pundits like Carville and the O Boys, who have worked on campaigns and should know better. I think a lot of it is a visceral fear reaction, but they should have planned for a not great performance by Biden and controlled themselves better. I think we all convinced ourselves he was going to pants TCFG, and when he didn’t some people panicked big time.
WereBear
@satby: I have locked up my account, but agree with your assessment. I am really pleased with Mastodon, which has become my favorite.
Baud
@trnc:
That’s heartening.
eclare
Mika made a very strong case for Joe Biden this morning. Full eighteen minute editorial, and she mentioned the Philadelphia Inquirer piece.
WereBear
It can all be solved by bringing back journalistic ethics. Seriously. Don’t let corporate jerks off the hook for outright and deliberate incompetence.
They always think they will be fine no matter what happens to the “little people.” But the last forty years shows what neglect will do to our institutions.
They are very foolish rich people.
Baud
@WereBear:
They don’t have any competition from the liberal side. They’re acting like monopolists act.
WereBear
@Baud: Yes! Because trustbusting has been beaten and neglected and malnourished.
Geminid
@satby: Ragnarok Lobster was my gateway into Black Twitter, also to other strong Democrats like Josecanyousee, Tom Watson, (((BuffaloMeg))), Michael Paulauski and Magdi Jacobs (aka Mangy Jay).
Mr. Lobster is a good aggregator, like Laura Rozen is for foreign news. Unlike Rozen, he not a journalist but a civil servant who works at a Chicago police station. I really like his earthy sense of humor.
Baud
@WereBear:
Not really trust busting though. We can’t make anyone create a media outlet that serves us.
JWR
@Baud:
I actually did join Twitter this week, by accident. No really, I was just poking around to see if there was any way to turn off the white text, black background ugliness w/out signing up, but I somehow clicked where I shouldn’t have, and there I was, a brand new user. (Ugh!) But I’ll look for any of you guys, as well as the other good people and groups mentioned, to follow.
linnen
@Matt McIrvin: It is all in the name. ‘Never Trump’ is against the loud Trump not against the quiet modern Republican. It is not like they have anything person against poor little “Project 2025” or anything like that.
Matt McIrvin
@linnen: It reminds me of something Richard Dawkins wrote during George W. Bush’s first term, too: he hated Bush but thought the whole phenomenon was proof that Americans couldn’t be trusted to elect a President– they were just dumb people–so instead our president ought to be chosen by some council of wise men like a board of directors choosing a CEO.
Note, this was during Bush’s first term, in which he was installed with a popular vote minority in a process halted by a Supreme Court decision, and he literally had been chosen as a CEO by a board of directors.
WereBear
@Matt McIrvin: In my experience, conservatives are the least likely people to be able to make up their own minds.
Deference to authority, over generations, especially shaped by region.
JWR
@Soprano2:
I listened to my regular show, Background Briefing with Ian Masters, and he’s usually a really decent guy, but his first two interviews were with Robert Kuttner, who has an article at The American Prospect titled Biden was so inept that the case for replacing him is now overwhelming, and an interview with Richard Parker titled The Impact of Biden’s Disastrous Debate on the Democratic Down-Ticket. I stayed away from those two, choosing instead the third interview with Allan Lichtman, who’s been all over social media screaming into the wind that no, Biden did NOT lose the election with one debate. ~sigh~ We do what we can do.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Baud:
Same here for the same satby comment.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Baud:
I think people have made the “Trust them like Stalin” comparison before. Appreciate their messaging, don’t give them a dime.
Per your second sentence, it’s telling when a lifetime GOP water carrier like Stuart Stevens does a better job of defending/promoting/whatever Biden post-debate than so many high-profile Dems much less some commenters here.
Princess
Too much meanness and in-group policing on Twitter for me, even on my side. Our side is perfect and anyone who dissents is evil. And that goes for anyone outside whatever tiny tent a commenter chooses to pitch. There are a couple people who bring that vibe back to BJ and I’ve been forced to pie them because it’s what I got off Twitter to avoid. It makes me weary. But that’s just me.
satby
@WereBear: I couldn’t stand Mastodon, too niche-y for me, and still not a default for the news orgs. But people who fit there like it a lot.*
I also couldn’t stand the mansplaining when guys would try to explain the tech to lil ol’ me. More than a decade in IT, no explanation needed even though I’m female, thanks. I notice as I wind my way through my 7th decade my tolerance for that is now zero, again after an adult lifetime in male dominated jobs.
WereBear
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: It is an indicator of which people are still stuck a few eras back. President Biden is being much more forward looking than they are.
I hope whoever pushed the overtraining and restrictions on the President loses status and isn’t listened to. It doesn’t surprise me that a man who can never be on time because he’s talking to people shares a capacity for loyalty… that might not be deserved.
But he’s a big boy President and he’s already gotten back on track. Now that is a real contrast to the blatant whining that infests the MAGAs now.
People are leaving the ship because they perceive it is sinking. Because what kept them there until now?
The best news is that the ones jumping ship aren’t rallying for some homegrown wingnut. They are actually claiming they are voting for Biden.
That’s leaving the cult the entire Republican political party has become. It’s splitting. Even if we carve off a third, some people will get a chance to see what we can do.
Convicted Felon did a lot for us. I highly recommend the Shrinking Trump psychiatrists, who have guests on to explain how dementia is showing up in Trump’s speech, gait, and thought processes.
Evil is destroying itself. The corporations who love Trump are striking him down, thanks to his life of ultraprocessed fast food.
That’s just the right kind of dramatic irony I like in my hyperbolic science fiction dystopias.
satby
@Geminid: yeah, he’s one of my favorites too. I follow about 300 people, and my obstreperous yap has netted me almost as many followers. It’s possible to curate a valuable feed.
Are you using the same nym there? I want to follow you.
WereBear
@satby: The niche-y part is part of its charm, since I find the decentralization moderates the resulting bunch of nerds, who tend to predominate.
But I have met the nicest people, faster and in more quantity, than Twitter, BlueSky, and there’s the faintest heartbeat on Threads. The rest of the time, the generalists and bigger names tend to suck up all the oxygen. Which is great for a seat with a big screen.
They all have their own personality. Instagram’s devotion to pretty pictures made them perfect for propaganda. Which of course never occurred to anyone! And created many scandals.
It’s good to have more than one neighborhood to call home, too.
WereBear
Also, each social media must fascinate us, or we won’t sink in the time. I’ve seen elaborate and well trafficed Pinterest boards, but it was all about the images. I couldn’t get a toehold there with cat advice :)
Soprano2
@Geminid: Mangy Jay is really giving them what for on Twitter. I like her a lot.
Matt McIrvin
@WereBear: I think it’s prudent to refer to domain experts on matters of fact–and the most trustworthy experts are the ones who will lay their uncertainty on the table.
The whole idea of representative democracy is that we have the opportunity to elect domain experts in governing. And it’s absolutely true that democracy is vulnerable to demagogues. Authoritarians can make their own consent.
But I have never seen the slightest evidence that any council of wise men is immune from the same pathologies of decision that affect the general public, when it comes to choosing leaders. In fact they can be worse, because of groupthink, deference to personal buddies and outright corruption.
I think it’s striking that if we just elected presidents by popular vote, neither Bush II nor Trump would have gotten in in the first place.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Baud:
Black Twitter is Teh Awesome.
Soprano2
@Matt McIrvin: That’s such a dumb argument, because the American people voted for the other guy – it was all the fuckery with the ballots in FL that gave us George W., not the American people’s vote. Every time the loser of the popular vote has won the EC, that person ends up not being that popular. His quarrel should be with the EC, not the American people.
Soprano2
@WereBear: Glad you mentioned it, I want to listen to what they think about the debate. It makes me feel it’s less likely TCFG has dementia, although we could have seen a phenomenon called “showboating” or “Hollywooding” where they can be really “on” for a few hours, so much so that those who aren’t around them that much doubt you when you tell them about their loved one’s behavior. It’s a problem for some who can’t get the family to understand what’s happening. One man in my FB group of spouses of those with dementia solved the problem by sending his wife on a weekend outing with her family without him. When they came back they told him “now we know what you’re talking about”, because they can’t keep it up for more than a few hours.
Matt McIrvin
@WereBear: Mastodon has a 1990s Usenet flavor to it, and I mean that in both a good and a bad way. It’s got a lot of fragile white male nerds who see themselves as the guardians of Reason, seemingly never heard anyone challenge their point of view before and take great offense when it happens.
The interesting thing to me is that so many people who fit that description aren’t the American libertarians I expected–in fact one of the biggest sources of conflict on Mastodon is European tech geeks encountering expats from Black Twitter for the first time.
Trivia Man
I had a new thought about tax returns. We need a constitutional amendment to change eligibility requirements, but not for document releases held by the government.
”Any candidate who appears on a ballot in any state for president and Vice President shall have their federal tax returns for the last 10 years made publicly available.”
Matt McIrvin
@Soprano2: Bush was reelected with a popular majority, and it’s entirely possible that Trump will be elected in November with a popular majority. There are no guarantees the public will be wise– that’s not what democracy gets you. But the one weakness of authoritarianism is that it eventually gets high on its own supply and gets attacked by reality. And democracy is actually good at giving the public a peaceful eject lever when their leaders are a blatantly obvious shitshow.
It does have to be OBVIOUS though. And the same leaders who make the worst shitshows have a tendency to sabotage democracy to hold onto power. I worry that we’re out of practice at restoring democracy when it fails. My mind tends to go straight to nightmares of violence but the response to Jim Crow is worth studying, also Watergate.
Trivia Man
@Baud: I saw gov More speak this week, up close and personal. Im a big fan.
laura
@Baud: I lurk on nitter. Ragnorak Lobster, Needle_of_Arya, Candidly Tiff, 2Rawtworeal, Myron J Clifton, Petty Lupone, Rodimus Prime and So Much More! Real American Fighting Dems- the view from over there is Zero pants on fire and 100% Let’s kick some serious trump ass AGAIN and start keeping receipts on supposed white allies. They will tell you that the future is not a white male midwestern savior, but a shared power that sure as shit is going to include people of color because minority majority is here. You should take a looksee.
Geminid
@satby: Nothing to follow. I don’t post, just reply to various accounts. That’s how I started out, and now I’m glad I kept it that way.
Ruckus
@lowtechcyclist:
They get paid to shovel their shit. They get paid well to shovel their shit.
And as long as that happens and their options are limited they will continue to shovel that shit.