They are selling this amazing country down the river. I think Congress and the Senate has to invoke the 25th amendment and get this senile man out of office now. Then Harris will take over. And she can run or all the delegates have to vote for another candidate and get him out that way. Drastic times call for drastic measures.
Where was all the consternation when it’s been obvious for years that the DNC ensures that only certain candidates can be considered? The degree to which individuals like Dean Phillips, No Labels, RFK Jr., Marianne Williamson and on and on have been systematically attacked for even trying to offer another alternative is everything you need to know about the “Democratic Party”. This is not new behaviour it’s just you’ve finally seen behind the curtain and it’s been laid bare how morally bankrupt this party is.
I am beyond furious! My husband has early stage memory issues. I saw the first signs 18 months ago, long before our friends or even his physician could see it. Joe Biden is so far down that road it is unimaginable that anyone would consider letting him stay in power. The people closest to him have to see it and they have been hiding him, lying to us and gaslighting us for months. They are worse than the trump team. Jill Biden's hubris and selfishness are appalling. She's willing to destroy the country and let her husband publicly humiliate himself so she can flit around on Air Force One and grace the cover of a fashion magazine.
"The notion that Biden can’t be replaced because doing so would mean a chaotic Democratic convention is not simply risible on its face; it reveals the moral vacuum at the heart of Biden’s inner circle." (And the Democrat Party.) Thanks for the post.
Maybe the best course would be for Biden to resign, make Kamala President and let her take on Trump. Biden could then release his delegates, who then would pick Harris hopefully avoiding a chaotic convention. This would also help in getting out the vote with both women and POC.
Good reading this just now, the morning of yet another birthday of our nation. Glad to know your position on this debacle agree with my own. Ours is supposed to be a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people..." isn't it?
What's become painfully obvious is that it's not for the people any longer, it's for the special interest groups, corporations, and behind-the-scenes back room 'influencers' who've corrupted the workings of government here in the USA for their own ends.
Ah come on Judaire, you have had a mentally compromised and visibly declining president in the Oval Office for the last four years, and when did you ever find that much "unthinkable"?
Did someonw or something just grant you.. permission?
I refreshed my email to see if this email was missing a section detailing Biden’s supposed mental decline. What I saw was an argument based solely on the Afghanistan withdrawal. That was a debacle but the terms of that withdrawal were set by the prior administration and while the president is responsible for his decisions, he did not personally collect and analyze the flawed intelligence that misunderstood the strength of the Taliban and how quickly it would overrun the country. I saw zero reference to any of Biden’s accomplishments including significant legislative wins like the IRA or the Ukraine aid packages. I saw no reference to specific moments where Biden seemed disoriented. The debate last week was terrible but you have no other incidents referenced here to support your assertion that Biden is suffering from mental decline. I don’t think you make your case
armed in advance - and posed in advance - with a very pointed multi-part question supplied to me by Claire B.
And was alarmed by what transpired on the call. The lot of us (the NBC reporter counted 40; I counted ~120+) were managed, first by Biden's Campaign Director, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who spewed forth meaningless statistics about an increase in donations and volunteers and no immediate slump in polling numbers. The more she went on, the angrier I grew. None of what she said had any meaning in relation to the issue of President Biden's health and well-being. My question (Claire's question) was glossed over with inanities. (Ask Claire to share her question; I will not post it on a public forum because I lack her permission.)
And then for the 2nd half of the call, Senator Chris Coons came on with a extemporaneous, well-spoken, and impassioned defense that amounted to "Keep the faith" and volunteer your time to the campaign as well as your dollars. Sigh.
I lack the gene that allows me to be gulled by this nonsense. But I did get the eerie impression I was caught up in a cult. The other call participants rebelled equally to Julie Chavez Rodriguez's nonsense patter but seemed mollified by Senator Coons's remarks. Not me; I am still up in arms, repeatedly asking for a dispositive answer to my (Claire's) question. President Biden pressing on with his previous routine does not offer that answer. and the changing defense - a cold, jet lag, etc - do not hold water. (If you had a cold why subject everyone in that room to your cold? Jet lag... 11 days after your last flight?!) Oh, btw, I also understand that President Biden's 'golden hour' is between 10am and 4pm; the staffer who agreed to a 90 minute debate that began at 9pm should be fired immediately.
I am not privy to President Biden's thoughts; I do know that the galvanic force behind his reelection effort is his wife, Jill, who put the kibosh on the whole "Transition President" notion. I also know that behind the scenes the argument bubbles to the surface, on full boil now, for President Biden to resign the Office this month, hand the keys to VP Kamala Harris so she has the opportunity for Americans to see her in the role of President, rather than allow the MAGA make-believe universe create and reify a story that is made from whole cloth. Acting as President for a few months prior to the election allows her to campaign as an equal to the convicted felon and former President Trump; each served as President, each campaigning to be President.
"The Democrats can hold a new round of primary debates, town halls, and public meetings from now until August 19, when the Democratic National Convention opens. Once a week, twice a week, three times a week—the television networks would compete to show them. Millions would watch. Politics would be interesting again. After a turbulent summer, whoever emerges victorious in a vote of delegates at the DNC can spend the autumn campaigning in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—and win the presidency. America and the democratic alliance would be saved.
"The Republican convention, due to take place in less than two weeks, would be ruined. Trump and other Republicans wouldn’t know the name of their opponent. Instead of spending four days attacking Biden, they would have to talk about their policies, many of which—think corporate subsidies, tax cuts for the rich, the further transformation of the Supreme Court—aren’t popular. Their candidate spouts gibberish. He is also old, nearly as old as Biden, and this is his third presidential campaign. Everyone would switch channels in order to watch the exciting Democratic primary debates instead.
"By contrast, the Democratic convention would be dramatic—very, very dramatic. Everyone would want to watch it, talk about it, be there on the ground. Tickets would be impossible to get; the national and international media would flock there in huge numbers. Yes, I know what happened in 1968, but that was more than half a century ago. History never repeats itself with precision. The world is a lot different now. There is more competition for attention. An open, exciting convention would command it.
"Whoever wins—Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Vice President Harris, or anyone else—would be more coherent and more persuasive than Trump. He or she would emerge from the convention with energy, attention, hope, and money. The American republic, and the democratic world, might survive. Isn’t that worth the gamble?"
Needless to say, I not only think it's worth the gamble, I think it's the only hope.
By contrast, with every day this goes on, Democrats are burning their credibility and losing every moral advantage they have over Trump. If people want a president who is manifestly unfit, a press secretary who lies to their faces, and party leaders who click their heels, fall in line, and repeat those lies on his behalf, they already have their man. Between two candidates who are obviously lying to them (and obviously nuts), people will either choose the Alpha or stay home.
If the premise of your campaign is "norms, normalcy, sanity, competence, and transparency," this couldn't be more devastating. They're not only torching the entire rationale for his presidency, but his *party's* ability to disambiguate itself from the GOP. There's a real chance they take the whole down ballot with them, handing the White House and *both* houses of Congress to lunatics--with a Supreme Court that's made it clear it will countenance even the most grotesque abuses of power.
Every day of this is doing more damage. Everyone in that party needs to start telling the truth, yesterday.
Also in agreement with one exception. Leave Evers name out of this. He does not hold a candle to Shapiro, Whitmer or Harris. You want weak? Thats Evers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy but it is impossible to accomplish anything in our state with the Republicans in charge of everything except the governorship.
I agree entirely with you and Anne Applebaum. I think we could infuse a lot of youthful energy into the campaign to preserve our democracy if Joe, as the wise elder, gracefully resigned and passed the baton to Kamala now. I don't see this as shameful or any kind of a loss. I see doing this as a caring, loving act of a man who sees the danger ahead especially for younger people and steps back to let them take over. We can celebrate him and his accomplishments of which Kamala is a part and at the convention we can have a big celebration, showing and telling of all these accomplishments and the promise of more to come.
There is so much inspiring energy in the progressive Dem's that you've mentioned. We need to awaken interest and enthusiasm in younger AND older Americans to be able to see the existential threat from supremacist thugs and to support the strong, confident, and assertive Democrats who are going to protect them from the Nazis of our era.
Joe does not inspire confidence; we need confidence that we are in competent, capable hands to give us the energy we need to pour our hearts into this upcoming election like we did for Obama. 😊🎉👍
Feel free to share the question: It wasn't a state secret. Basically, I want to know when the president last had a complete neurological workup, who conducted it, what tests were done, and what those tests indicated; I also want to know whether he's been scheduled to have another one, and if not, why not.
David, it would be wonderful if Biden would use his interview with Stephanopoulos tomorrow to tell the nation that he is withdrawing, but I'm afraid it's highly unlikely.
So, your source is Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal. No thanks. Pot calls kettle and all that. BTW, there's damning info in the Epstein files about Trump. Last week when the far right media interviewed him, one of the questions was whether he would close the Epstein files. He rocked back in his chair, took an audible gulp, searched for the answer "No" after a couple of seconds. There'a a copy of a court filing detailing a plaintiff's complaint that he raped her and another who was 12 at the time a couple of times, wouldn't wear a condom, slapped the girls when he upchucked his ick and when one girl asked what happens if they're pregnant, fished out some money and said, "Get a goddamn abortion." 1916 court filing. Have fun with that.
One other thing. At the debate, as in the 2016 debates with the other 15 GOP candidates, Trump rode that gish gallop with lies, name calling, speaking about his junk, smears, and promises he' would be unable to keep and every one of those 15 were cowed and brought to heel. Ever since then, much as they hate him, they are Trump's lapdogs, tongues hanging out to do whatever criminal or insane thing Trump wants them to do.
My statement of "enjoy" was an answer to the MAGAs and QAnons who have pleasured themselves with they crap about Hillary being a child molester and drinker of children's blood. Now that the shoe is actually on Trump's foot with the complaint from one of the 2 molested girls, my post was a sarcastic retort to the MAGAs and QAnons. I was molested at the age of 5, twice. It was not fun, it does not give me joy and if there is anything I hate in this world it is a rapist of children, women and men.
They are selling this amazing country down the river. I think Congress and the Senate has to invoke the 25th amendment and get this senile man out of office now. Then Harris will take over. And she can run or all the delegates have to vote for another candidate and get him out that way. Drastic times call for drastic measures.
Where was all the consternation when it’s been obvious for years that the DNC ensures that only certain candidates can be considered? The degree to which individuals like Dean Phillips, No Labels, RFK Jr., Marianne Williamson and on and on have been systematically attacked for even trying to offer another alternative is everything you need to know about the “Democratic Party”. This is not new behaviour it’s just you’ve finally seen behind the curtain and it’s been laid bare how morally bankrupt this party is.
Amen, Judith!
They will not allow me to post this on fb. Just sayin’.
Biden's decline hasn't been precipitous. Only the ability of his enablers to hide it has been precipitous.
I am beyond furious! My husband has early stage memory issues. I saw the first signs 18 months ago, long before our friends or even his physician could see it. Joe Biden is so far down that road it is unimaginable that anyone would consider letting him stay in power. The people closest to him have to see it and they have been hiding him, lying to us and gaslighting us for months. They are worse than the trump team. Jill Biden's hubris and selfishness are appalling. She's willing to destroy the country and let her husband publicly humiliate himself so she can flit around on Air Force One and grace the cover of a fashion magazine.
"The notion that Biden can’t be replaced because doing so would mean a chaotic Democratic convention is not simply risible on its face; it reveals the moral vacuum at the heart of Biden’s inner circle." (And the Democrat Party.) Thanks for the post.
Maybe the best course would be for Biden to resign, make Kamala President and let her take on Trump. Biden could then release his delegates, who then would pick Harris hopefully avoiding a chaotic convention. This would also help in getting out the vote with both women and POC.
Good reading this just now, the morning of yet another birthday of our nation. Glad to know your position on this debacle agree with my own. Ours is supposed to be a "government of the people, by the people, and for the people..." isn't it?
What's become painfully obvious is that it's not for the people any longer, it's for the special interest groups, corporations, and behind-the-scenes back room 'influencers' who've corrupted the workings of government here in the USA for their own ends.
What we are seeing is political malfeasance verging on treason.
The grandees of the Democratic Party gave Democrats no say in Biden's nomination.
Biden was presented as the 2024 Democratic nominee without Americans having a say.
And the media let the backroom anointing of a presidential candidate go unremarked.
Now, they are "shocked" by Biden's sudden decline.
And the focus continues to be: "How can we win in November?"
Guys, what about today, July, 2024.
We have a vegetable in charge of our nuclear arsenal.
Yes, Trump is an abomination, but even if he wins, he is not going to start until 2025.
We have a 25th Amendment issue today that is being ignored.
The cabinet, the MSM, the Party grandees, and Dr. Jill are all focused on personal advantage.
Do your duty today.
Well said. Maybe we should all start flying our US flags upside down, the naval distress symbol. Our captain is definitely not steering the ship. SOS!
Ah come on Judaire, you have had a mentally compromised and visibly declining president in the Oval Office for the last four years, and when did you ever find that much "unthinkable"?
Did someonw or something just grant you.. permission?
I refreshed my email to see if this email was missing a section detailing Biden’s supposed mental decline. What I saw was an argument based solely on the Afghanistan withdrawal. That was a debacle but the terms of that withdrawal were set by the prior administration and while the president is responsible for his decisions, he did not personally collect and analyze the flawed intelligence that misunderstood the strength of the Taliban and how quickly it would overrun the country. I saw zero reference to any of Biden’s accomplishments including significant legislative wins like the IRA or the Ukraine aid packages. I saw no reference to specific moments where Biden seemed disoriented. The debate last week was terrible but you have no other incidents referenced here to support your assertion that Biden is suffering from mental decline. I don’t think you make your case
I agree. I'm supporting Biden.
Spot on. Iran is sitting eating popcorn and watching the show, waiting for the right time to light our skies with their fireworks.
It is the Obama show and Biden is the puppet.
I participated in this call
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/bidens-family-keep-fighting-donors-alternatives-rcna159694
armed in advance - and posed in advance - with a very pointed multi-part question supplied to me by Claire B.
And was alarmed by what transpired on the call. The lot of us (the NBC reporter counted 40; I counted ~120+) were managed, first by Biden's Campaign Director, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who spewed forth meaningless statistics about an increase in donations and volunteers and no immediate slump in polling numbers. The more she went on, the angrier I grew. None of what she said had any meaning in relation to the issue of President Biden's health and well-being. My question (Claire's question) was glossed over with inanities. (Ask Claire to share her question; I will not post it on a public forum because I lack her permission.)
And then for the 2nd half of the call, Senator Chris Coons came on with a extemporaneous, well-spoken, and impassioned defense that amounted to "Keep the faith" and volunteer your time to the campaign as well as your dollars. Sigh.
I lack the gene that allows me to be gulled by this nonsense. But I did get the eerie impression I was caught up in a cult. The other call participants rebelled equally to Julie Chavez Rodriguez's nonsense patter but seemed mollified by Senator Coons's remarks. Not me; I am still up in arms, repeatedly asking for a dispositive answer to my (Claire's) question. President Biden pressing on with his previous routine does not offer that answer. and the changing defense - a cold, jet lag, etc - do not hold water. (If you had a cold why subject everyone in that room to your cold? Jet lag... 11 days after your last flight?!) Oh, btw, I also understand that President Biden's 'golden hour' is between 10am and 4pm; the staffer who agreed to a 90 minute debate that began at 9pm should be fired immediately.
I am not privy to President Biden's thoughts; I do know that the galvanic force behind his reelection effort is his wife, Jill, who put the kibosh on the whole "Transition President" notion. I also know that behind the scenes the argument bubbles to the surface, on full boil now, for President Biden to resign the Office this month, hand the keys to VP Kamala Harris so she has the opportunity for Americans to see her in the role of President, rather than allow the MAGA make-believe universe create and reify a story that is made from whole cloth. Acting as President for a few months prior to the election allows her to campaign as an equal to the convicted felon and former President Trump; each served as President, each campaigning to be President.
Anne Applebaum makes some very good points here: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/07/replace-biden-strategic-plan/678884/
"The Democrats can hold a new round of primary debates, town halls, and public meetings from now until August 19, when the Democratic National Convention opens. Once a week, twice a week, three times a week—the television networks would compete to show them. Millions would watch. Politics would be interesting again. After a turbulent summer, whoever emerges victorious in a vote of delegates at the DNC can spend the autumn campaigning in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—and win the presidency. America and the democratic alliance would be saved.
"The Republican convention, due to take place in less than two weeks, would be ruined. Trump and other Republicans wouldn’t know the name of their opponent. Instead of spending four days attacking Biden, they would have to talk about their policies, many of which—think corporate subsidies, tax cuts for the rich, the further transformation of the Supreme Court—aren’t popular. Their candidate spouts gibberish. He is also old, nearly as old as Biden, and this is his third presidential campaign. Everyone would switch channels in order to watch the exciting Democratic primary debates instead.
"By contrast, the Democratic convention would be dramatic—very, very dramatic. Everyone would want to watch it, talk about it, be there on the ground. Tickets would be impossible to get; the national and international media would flock there in huge numbers. Yes, I know what happened in 1968, but that was more than half a century ago. History never repeats itself with precision. The world is a lot different now. There is more competition for attention. An open, exciting convention would command it.
"Whoever wins—Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Vice President Harris, or anyone else—would be more coherent and more persuasive than Trump. He or she would emerge from the convention with energy, attention, hope, and money. The American republic, and the democratic world, might survive. Isn’t that worth the gamble?"
Needless to say, I not only think it's worth the gamble, I think it's the only hope.
By contrast, with every day this goes on, Democrats are burning their credibility and losing every moral advantage they have over Trump. If people want a president who is manifestly unfit, a press secretary who lies to their faces, and party leaders who click their heels, fall in line, and repeat those lies on his behalf, they already have their man. Between two candidates who are obviously lying to them (and obviously nuts), people will either choose the Alpha or stay home.
If the premise of your campaign is "norms, normalcy, sanity, competence, and transparency," this couldn't be more devastating. They're not only torching the entire rationale for his presidency, but his *party's* ability to disambiguate itself from the GOP. There's a real chance they take the whole down ballot with them, handing the White House and *both* houses of Congress to lunatics--with a Supreme Court that's made it clear it will countenance even the most grotesque abuses of power.
Every day of this is doing more damage. Everyone in that party needs to start telling the truth, yesterday.
Also in agreement with one exception. Leave Evers name out of this. He does not hold a candle to Shapiro, Whitmer or Harris. You want weak? Thats Evers. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy but it is impossible to accomplish anything in our state with the Republicans in charge of everything except the governorship.
I agree entirely with you and Anne Applebaum. I think we could infuse a lot of youthful energy into the campaign to preserve our democracy if Joe, as the wise elder, gracefully resigned and passed the baton to Kamala now. I don't see this as shameful or any kind of a loss. I see doing this as a caring, loving act of a man who sees the danger ahead especially for younger people and steps back to let them take over. We can celebrate him and his accomplishments of which Kamala is a part and at the convention we can have a big celebration, showing and telling of all these accomplishments and the promise of more to come.
There is so much inspiring energy in the progressive Dem's that you've mentioned. We need to awaken interest and enthusiasm in younger AND older Americans to be able to see the existential threat from supremacist thugs and to support the strong, confident, and assertive Democrats who are going to protect them from the Nazis of our era.
Joe does not inspire confidence; we need confidence that we are in competent, capable hands to give us the energy we need to pour our hearts into this upcoming election like we did for Obama. 😊🎉👍
Feel free to share the question: It wasn't a state secret. Basically, I want to know when the president last had a complete neurological workup, who conducted it, what tests were done, and what those tests indicated; I also want to know whether he's been scheduled to have another one, and if not, why not.
David, it would be wonderful if Biden would use his interview with Stephanopoulos tomorrow to tell the nation that he is withdrawing, but I'm afraid it's highly unlikely.
So, your source is Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal. No thanks. Pot calls kettle and all that. BTW, there's damning info in the Epstein files about Trump. Last week when the far right media interviewed him, one of the questions was whether he would close the Epstein files. He rocked back in his chair, took an audible gulp, searched for the answer "No" after a couple of seconds. There'a a copy of a court filing detailing a plaintiff's complaint that he raped her and another who was 12 at the time a couple of times, wouldn't wear a condom, slapped the girls when he upchucked his ick and when one girl asked what happens if they're pregnant, fished out some money and said, "Get a goddamn abortion." 1916 court filing. Have fun with that.
One other thing. At the debate, as in the 2016 debates with the other 15 GOP candidates, Trump rode that gish gallop with lies, name calling, speaking about his junk, smears, and promises he' would be unable to keep and every one of those 15 were cowed and brought to heel. Ever since then, much as they hate him, they are Trump's lapdogs, tongues hanging out to do whatever criminal or insane thing Trump wants them to do.
Look for those Epstein files.
Jesus Keerrist, what kind of "politics" reduces to this level of.prurient interest, barely more than a string of stumbling non-sequiturs?
My statement of "enjoy" was an answer to the MAGAs and QAnons who have pleasured themselves with they crap about Hillary being a child molester and drinker of children's blood. Now that the shoe is actually on Trump's foot with the complaint from one of the 2 molested girls, my post was a sarcastic retort to the MAGAs and QAnons. I was molested at the age of 5, twice. It was not fun, it does not give me joy and if there is anything I hate in this world it is a rapist of children, women and men.
The one and only story Murrrkins of any stripe have been able to tell or even wished to hear for how many decades now?