US Politics, July 2024 - "Will you just drop out, man?"

Sanders was also an Independent who caucused with the Democrats. Tend to doubt over the years he had done much work for the Democratic Party in fund raising etc, so why is it a surprise that the machine did not help him?

Sanders is now one of Biden's most ardent defenders. He was doing the rounds yesterday -- and I think it was scott who pointed out he sounded waaaaaay more vigorous than Biden.

does he support expanding the supreme court, now?

There was a line about the Supreme Court in the "fuck you, I'm not going anywhere" letter.

Re Sanders, I'll just say:

- he was not a Democrat but wanted to be the Democratic nominee for president; not the best look
- he is a bad politician with good ideas, and would have been a catastrophe as president, likely getting pummeled and steamrolled by Congress and accomplishing very little
- I cannot personally say the words "President Bernie Sanders" with a straight face

re: sanders talk, i'm legitimately sorry that i brought it up, just because i'm with alfred, i don't feel like trying to hash that out for the millionth time. my point in bringing 2020 primaries up was the demoralizing affect it has on young voters, many of whom were engaging with our wonderful political system for the first time.

*effect

it's a very, very bad time to have an unpersuasive president!

Yeah, which I think is a substantive reason for no-Joe beyond the pragmatic electoral concerns about winning the election. I think his lack of ability to be a strong advocate for himself and his administration has already hurt him and contributed to his unpopularity. There are a whole lot of issues where we really need someone to be out there fighting and making strong cases and he's already not able to do that during this campaign, and if he stays in and wins he will be progressively less able to do that as president. Which goes back to why you shouldn't run a weak candidate in the first place, because the best case scenario you get out of that is a weak president.

Sheryl Crow says leaving is weak. So Joe, would you be President enough to be my President?

that sounds perhaps more trolling than I intended. It might be persuasive to spin no-Joe as a path to a much better outcome rather than just preventing a terrible one, but it seems to land on the wrong target. I tend to think "Joe will lose" is more effective for the people who need convincing.

Seeing what happened in France, I wonder if the palpable and well-deserved panic will work to Biden's advantage, really energizing voters in a way that a cogent, vigorous Biden could never do.

In terms of governance, my impression is the "weak sleepy Joe" persona has been pretty key to Biden, or rather his team, getting a lot of good policy changes through under the radar while his middling retrograde stances on border control/labor/Bibi etc... take center stage, convincing right-leaning swingers even at full strength he's no threat to their way of life.

I don't really see too much written about Biden's staff -- are there a key set of behind-the-scenes heroes who we should know about (or is the whole point that we're not supposed to pay attention to the elves operating behind the animated corpse?)

In a weird way I'm looking forward to a Weekend at Bernie's Biden's 2024-2028 term

So...a prominent liberal blog began beating a very particular drum last week, suggesting that Biden might have Parkinson's (or "parkinsonism," a vaguer term). Their big piece of evidence, beyond "him talk slow, him walk slow," was that Dr. Kevin Cannard, an expert in Parkinson's, had been visiting the White House a whole lot the last few months.

On July 3, Biden signed the National Plan to End Parkinson's into law. It's the first-ever federal legislation aimed at eradicating the disease, and passed the Senate in May.

I expect to see nothing about this on that prominent liberal blog I mentioned.

Biden ran on criminalizing Black people in the 90’s, putting more restrictions for abortion in the 80’s, and coddling segregationists in the 70’s. He’s a relic of the past, and this reckless hubris of his is going to be the death knell of the Democratic Party when he gets annihilated come November. Fucking idiot

Dr. Kevin Cannard, an expert in Parkinson's

"Hello, I'm Dr. Michael Redd Herring. I'll be performing your fakeonoscopy."

Biden ran on criminalizing Black people in the 90’s, putting more restrictions for abortion in the 80’s, and coddling segregationists in the 70’s.

And since no one ever changes their views on anything, he implemented all these policies immediately upon taking office in 2021. I'm not sure Biden is the one with brain damage.

Personal attacks make you look pathetic. The man hadn’t changed. He surrounds himself with handlers who know how to read the room (and focus group data). Independents and apathetic voters are going to kill his ability to get reelected, and he’ll open the floodgates for fascism

"btw here's the Morning Joe appearance:"

He sounds pretty much cornered here.

dems are going to have to push him out, but i don’t think they have the stomach for it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

curmudgeon’s passing on of speculation about schumer’s calculation could apply to any national dem - if they push him and kamala loses they’ll be blamed. if he stays in and he loses, he’ll be blamed. the incentives run the wrong way

If only they had all thought longitudinally, say, 4 years ago

"On July 3, Biden signed the National Plan to End Parkinson's into law. It's the first-ever federal legislation aimed at eradicating the disease, and passed the Senate in May"

Looks like a crappy bill that I have a few questions about but its neither here nor there. Its about what tomorrow brings -- or more likely, not, if Biden himself is not around for.

lol

Oh, you think Biden is too old? Well then, how do you explain the fact that he still remembers an obscure grudge from a long time ago that no one else cares about?? https://t.co/8yk471sVAg

— Jesse Brenneman (@Jesse_Brenneman) July 8, 2024

Me, in high school English class: I’m really enjoying this Greek tragedy but don’t you think it’s kind of overwrought? An aging leader, refusing to give up power, steering his country into crisis, openly tempting the gods — pretty over the top

Me, reading the news: pic.twitter.com/dodec38mGC

— Robinson Meyer (@robinsonmeyer) July 8, 2024

Reminds me when Fernando Trueba won his Oscar in 1997. ”I would like to believe in God so that I could thank him, but I just believe in Billy Wilder. So thank you, Billy Wilder.”

The next day Billy Wilder picked up the phone. "It's God calling."

Belle Époque won an Oscar in 1994, not 1997

yeah, a typo

don't piss off God

If Joe were trying to win back Hunter's trust and affection while also competing to be arm wrestling champion? now that would be Over the Top.

Meet me halfway
across oblivion

Winner takes it all
Loser has to fall

"An A+ Democratic Senate source of mine reckons that, of the 51 Ds, no more than half a dozen believe he still has a plausible chance in November and want him to stay in the race. The ratio on the House side, as best as I can tell, is roughly the same" https://t.co/jEOxrI3I5T

— Nick Field (@nick_field90) July 8, 2024

time for the 25th

if they have to 25th amendment him I think they for sure lose in November

The president of the United States is playing a gnarly game of chicken with his own party—a game in which, as my old pal John Harris put it in Politico, his “best hope for survival is the timidity of his skeptics.”

ffs a buncha billionaires just do a GoFundMe, raise 500 million and build a replica of The White House and tell him the White House moved to a different address and then have Harris take over.

then if Trump wins, have him report there as well.

invoking the 25th would involve a HUGE mess compared to Biden facing Almighty God a solid wall of elected democrats telling him he's holding a losing hand and the country can't afford a Trump victory, resulting in him 'voluntarily' stepping out of the race, releasing his delegates, and endorsing Harris. one may reasonably hope that's the outcome. after that, start tackling the remaining mess of switching candidates in July

If someone invokes the 25th we may actually see an "official act" take place

_ does he support expanding the supreme court, now?_

There was a line about the Supreme Court in the "fuck you, I'm not going anywhere""

Biden is too cowardly to rock the boat. It’s the same empty, centrist bullshit that results in constant gridlock and American decline

I made the point earlier about all the fodder this is providing for future attack ads, but I think that needs to be kept in mind. The black screen, the black and white image of Biden at the debate, gape-mouthed, quote after quote after quote from Democrats, the New York Times, former officeholders, etc about why he should step aside. Even if they manage to outlive this story in its first run, the reruns will be brutal.

And the reason they aren't running those ads right now is I assume they don't want him to step aside. But boy will they ever once it's too late to do anything. Any political calculus that doesn't include that is not thinking realistically. It's why I think he's already walking dead, I just don't see how you go on with the campaign from here.

The lead story on CNN right now is the Parkinsons doctor, the failure to explain, and a shouting match with the press. This will be another reality of the next few months if Biden digs in.

another plausible GOP political attack ad idea: truthfully point out that most people in biden's own party aren't comfortable with him leading the country any longer and that many elected democrats have called for him to step down. you can't put those worms back in the can

Though apparently you can put the "Trump is like Hitler" worms back

I thought he might be able weather this, but I'm becoming increasingly isolated

So...a prominent liberal blog began beating a very particular drum last week, suggesting that Biden might have Parkinson's (or "parkinsonism," a vaguer term). Their big piece of evidence, beyond "him talk slow, him walk slow," was that Dr. Kevin Cannard, an expert in Parkinson's, had been visiting the White House a whole lot the last few months.

On July 3, Biden signed the National Plan to End Parkinson's into law. It's the first-ever federal legislation aimed at eradicating the disease, and passed the Senate in May.

I expect to see nothing about this on that prominent liberal blog I mentioned.

― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Monday, July 8, 2024 10:51 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

speaking as a physician, and having read a few columns by physician-pundits of varying degrees of repute, all I’ll say about this is that it’s not possible to make this diagnosis remotely, but it’s certainly a fair question to ask, on the narrow merits. but honestly I am not sure that it matters — whether he has parkinson disease related dementia, alzheimer dementia, or just age-related decline, none of these are acceptable traits in the person with the most important job in the world

xpost - He's not going to weather this, but the chickenshit Dems will wait too long to finally make a move.

and like i said before, the guy will be 86 when his second term would end. back in 2020 people were worried about him being 82 before this term ended. if the Dems don't force a move, that makes it look like he steps aside willingly after discussions with his family or something, then i think it's likely Trump would win. Harris would have a much, much better shot.

also, as someone who still harbors considerable bitterness about the 2020 primaries, but is heartened by the strange coalition that has nevertheless formed under our new dire circumstances, I just don’t think it’s useful to relitigate 2020 right now. the pundits who you’d expect to be making these points have been by and large, somewhat shockingly I think but correctly, behaving themselves. just not the time or place

I think Biden should step aside, but I appear to be much, much more cynical and doubtful about Harris' odds than most of you. I mean, she should be a better candidate, but remembering how much electing a black president broke the brains of 40% of this country, I just don't see us electing a woman of color at this particular juncture in American history.

hence why I posted Adam Johnson a couple days ago. The emergent coalitions in the last week has startled me!

xpost to k3vin

remembering how much electing a black president broke the brains of 40% of this country, I just don't see us electing a woman of color at this particular juncture in American history.

Believe me I understand, but I well remember a local pundit in November 2007 saying Obama had no chance because his name was BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA. If the circumstances are desperate, racists will look past their prejudices.

Again, I would absolutely love to be proven wrong. And maybe my cynical vibes are colored heavily by my two recent trips to very rural America, but I'm extremely skeptical about her chances right now.