Biden out

Joe Biden refusing the Democratic nomination for president today rather surprised me. Despite the rising crescendo of "pass the torch!" I figured Joe would stick it out, get re-elected, then (provided we have a Dem House and Senate) resign the presidency, elevating Kamala to president and then picking a VP. The GOP has gotten so anti-everything, they would probably block a VP pick if they kept control of the House, effectively putting their Speaker of the House as next in line to the presidency. Crazy system of government we have here, but it still seems better than the rest.

I was hoping that Joe might say something in his resignation speech that acknowledged his mental decline, if it's really true. A statement by Biden realizing that he is indeed having some trouble would help soothe some of the anger currently directed at the big donors, who have recently been withholding donations from Congress unless the members announce that they think that Biden should suspend his race. Big money corrupts everything. 

I read his statement, and he didn't mention his own mental decline, nor did he blame the media for his stepping down, nor donors for using their money to manipulate sitting members of Congress. Just, "I think it is in the best interests of my party and the country..."  to step down. Typical, classic statesman. 

We will be forever grateful for the decency of and the political career of Joe Biden, except for when he damn-near railroaded Clarence Thomas onto the Supreme Court back in 1991. I'm sure there are a few votes he took that weren't perfect, but that's ok. He rescued us from the growing stench of Donald Trump.

Joe has accomplished so much in the last 4 years, even with having only narrow majorities. He saw us through the pandemic with the GOP kicking and screaming like a spoiled child the whole time; the Chips Act; the Infrastructure bill; better healthcare for veterans. It's a long list I won't list here, but you can go here to see the most prominent achievements. 

So....

Despite these last-minute, unprecedented (there's that word again!) developments, I am sure that the Democrats can STILL beat Donald Trump.

No more focus on the old, white Democrat. Now we can focus on the old, white Republican and Project 2025. We need to tattoo Project 2025 onto Trump's ass, and he's trying to run away from it. 

In other words, this is no time to panic. It's time to get to work. So as soon as someone figures out what to do to "get to work," lemme know, eh?

Is this what you want, America?

the speech

Wow. Trump rambles on and on and on in his "acceptance speech" for the Republican nomination. Like a despot or dictator who loves to hear themselves talk, and expects everyone's adoration, he goes on and on. I didn't watch the whole speech. I didn't have to, because a lot of others volunteered for the dirty job and reported what the imbecile said.

They go on and on about how old Biden is and he can't finish a sentence, and he stumbles, and then you hear Donald Trump and realize the GOP is projecting once again.

Are the Democrats really afraid of THIS guy? 

Did you know that "illegals are killing hundreds of thousands of Americans each month"? Donny said so, so it must be true, right, "this is not a cult" Trumpers? And "illegals have taken 107% of our jobs! Think of it!" 

This guy could not be more toxic, and then you see those pathetic souls who chose to wear gauze pads over their right ear as a symbol of their subservience and fawning over the addled old rapist and felon. You "good christians" are bowing down to THIS man?

If you'd like some good laughs and a few WTF's, click here to read Jeff Tiedrich's latest column, "demented dipshit Donald Trump rambled his way through an insane speech."

After Trump's speech, more than ever, Joe Biden must stay in the race and clobber this slobbering con man. Don't lose faith, Democrats!

Lots of time for mischief, however, between now and the Democratic Convention in Chicago August 19-22.

the VP

Could Trump have picked a slimier candidate than J.D. Vance for his Vice-President? What a 180 from goody-goody Mike Pence. Oh, there were some really disgusting candidates for Trump's VP. Tim Scott of South Carolina and his nauseating public brown-nosing of Trump springs to mind, but apparently Vance was the choice of the (Nazi) Heritage Foundation, and Vance fits nicely in the Project 2025 future, once they get Trump out of the way.

 

Do not trust this man

Vance has a lot of baggage re women's rights. Jeff Tiedrich has a choice column on Vance that you can find here. A sample:

JD Vance is what would happen if a total lack of principles became a real boy.

Jay Dee didn’t invent the idea of saying anything in order to get ahead — but oh fucking lordy, did he ever perfect it.

back when JD was the darling of the literary set, he espoused some fairly liberal views — especially about Donny Convict. he once referred to him as “America’s Hitler.” he’s called Donny a “moral disaster” and “cultural heroin.” 

but that was then. now the political winds have shifted, and JD has made a complete turnaround — all of a sudden, Donny being America’s Hitler is a good thing.

was JD being disingenuous back then, and telling people what they wanted to hear, or is he lying now? who can tell? all we know is that the guy is as phony as Donny Convict’s tan.

and now, as Donny’s choice for veep, he could one day be a grazed ear away from the presidency.

there is one thing in this world that JD Vance seems totally sincere about: he fucking hates women.

Jeff Tiedrich: JD Vance is even worse than you imagined.

Somehow, it looks like Biden's run for president might be ending. It seems absurd to me, and it seems like an extremely risky thing to do at this late date. What? 110 days till the election? I'm still not sure that it is real, but it FEELS like it is happening. And I'd bet that the Democrats don't know what they fuck they are doing. 

Are things stressful enough for you lately? Overload? It's amazing how much it can help to disconnect from the internet for awhile and focus on something positive. 

I wonder sometimes: are things really weirder than ever, or could it just be me perceiving things differently as I get older? Somehow, I don't think it's just me.

Hang on to your sanity and ideals! It feels like the barometric pressure is dropping, even though there is no storm out there. At least no storm that I can see.

the shooting

And so the season of crazy has been cranked up a few notches with an apparent shooting at a Trump rally last weekend. As in war, the fog can take awhile to lift. Many opinions, conspiracy theories, people jumping to conclusions right and left, outright bullshit and disinformation can be aired, confusing the hell out of the citizenry. 

This even has some of the earmarks of being staged. I obviously cannot prove it, but the fact that the Secret Service, while they were trying to get Trump off the stage and to safety, allowed him to stand up (with blood on his face), shake his fist in defiance (of something) and mouth the words "Fight! Fight!"

Fight what exactly? People with guns who try to kill people? No, no doubt Trump meant the deep state, or the liberals, or Joe Biden, or pacifism. Who knows? One thing I am certain of is that Trump will blame Biden and the Democrats for the event. All this talk about Trump changing his speech at the GOP Convention which starts today (incredible timing!) and moving it towards "unity" is just so much bullshit. Trump is only interested in unifying against the Dems. He has lied about everything his entire life. He lies whenever he opens his mouth. He is going to lie about this, and reaching for unity is a transparent attempt to win over some independent voters.

I don't have any answers. I am skeptical of a lot of what I see. I was rather put off by the hour after hour after hour of TV coverage of this shooting. Cancelling regular programs to focus on it some more. And yeah, all the comments about why we don't devote as much time to classrooms full of massacred children. 

I do not see how this shooting is going to significantly change peoples opinion on who to vote for. We know Trump. We have seen him up close. We have seen the graft, the grift, we have heard the lies and hatred. Trump is not going to change his spots at this late stage. 

So beware, everyone, I can fee the crazy being cranked up to heights like you've never seen, to borrow an overused phrase from the Orange Plague.

Don't let the bastards get you down.

Jim Wright

Jim Wright is a guy who makes a lot of posts and sense on Facebook, and runs a blog called Stonekettle Station. Here is how he describes himself:

Jim Wright is a retired US military intelligence officer and freelance writer. He lived longer in Alaska than anywhere else and misses it terribly. He recently moved to the fetid Panhandle of Florida and lives now in an ancient Cold War bunker of a house surrounded by alligators and rednecks. He mostly writes about politics, but he's also a published writer of science fiction short stories. He is the mind behind Stonekettle Station. You can email him at jim@stonekettle.com. You can follow him on Twitter @stonekettle, or you can join the boisterous bunch he hosts on Facebook at Facebook/Stonekettle. Remember to bring brownies and mind the white cat, he bites. Hard!

...and here is his most-recent post on Facebook: 

If you're mad about what happened to a presidential candidate last night, you're going to be furious when I tell you about school children. Or Americans in a movie theater. Or a church. On the highway. At a picnic. At a concert. In a nightclub. In a post office. In a store. In the park. In their homes...

And frankly, I'm not interested in hearing about the "politization" of gun violence from self-serving hypocritical politicians who wear AR-15 pins on their lapels in the halls of Congress and who not only refuse to take action but maliciously block any attempt to do so by other, more sane leaders.

If you're mad about the politization of the violence that happened last night, maybe you need less violent politics and politicians willing to actually DO something about it.

Bernie Sanders

It's no wonder that Bernie Sanders has hitched his wagon to the Biden campaign. Joe Biden is the best candidate to advance Bernie's ideas. Here Bernie writes a pro-Biden essay in the New York Times.

Bernie Sanders: Joe Biden for President

By Bernie Sanders

Mr. Sanders is the senior senator from Vermont.

• July 13, 2024

• 
  

I will do all that I can to see that President Biden is re-elected. Why? Despite my disagreements with him on particular issues, he has been the most effective president in the modern history of our country and is the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump — a demagogue and pathological liar. It’s time to learn a lesson from the progressive and centrist forces in France who, despite profound political differences, came together this week to soundly defeat right-wing extremism.

I strongly disagree with Mr. Biden on the question of U.S. support for Israel’s horrific war against the Palestinian people. The United States should not provide Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing extremist government with another nickel as it continues to create one of the worst humanitarian disasters in modern history.

I strongly disagree with the president’s belief that the Affordable Care Act, as useful as it has been, will ever address America’s health care crisis. Our health care system is broken, dysfunctional and wildly expensive and needs to be replaced with a “Medicare for all” single-payer system. Health care is a human right.

And those are not my only disagreements with Mr. Biden.

But for over two weeks now, the corporate media has obsessively focused on the June presidential debate and the cognitive capabilities of a man who has, perhaps, the most difficult and stressful job in the world. The media has frantically searched for every living human being who no longer supports the president or any neurologist who wants to appear on TV. Unfortunately, too many Democrats have joined that circular firing squad.

Yes. I know: Mr. Biden is old, is prone to gaffes, walks stiffly and had a disastrous debate with Mr. Trump. But this I also know: A presidential election is not an entertainment contest. It does not begin or end with a 90-minute debate.

Enough! Mr. Biden may not be the ideal candidate, but he will be the candidate and should be the candidate. And with an effective campaign that speaks to the needs of working families, he will not only defeat Mr. Trump but beat him badly. It’s time for Democrats to stop the bickering and nit-picking.

I understand that some Democrats get nervous about having to explain the president’s gaffes and misspeaking names. But unlike the Republicans, they do not have to explain away a candidate who now has 34 felony convictions and faces charges that could lead to dozens of additional convictions, who has been hit with a $5 million judgment after he was found liable in a sexual abuse case, who has been involved in more than 4,000 lawsuits, who has repeatedly gone bankrupt and who has told thousands of documented lies and falsehoods.

Supporters of Mr. Biden can speak proudly about a good and decent Democratic president with a record of real accomplishment. The Biden administration, as a result of the American Rescue Plan, helped rebuild the economy during the pandemic far faster than economists thought possible. At a time when people were terrified about the future, the president and those of us who supported him in Congress put Americans back to work, provided cash benefits to desperate parents and protected small businesses, hospitals, schools and child care centers.

After decades of talk about our crumbling roads, bridges and water systems, we put more money into rebuilding America’s infrastructure than ever before — which is projected to create millions of well-paying jobs. And we did not stop there. We made the largest-ever investment in climate action to save the planet. We canceled student debt for nearly five million financially strapped Americans. We cut prices for insulin and asthma inhalers, capped out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs and got free vaccines to the American people. We battled to defend women’s rights in the face of moves by Trump-appointed jurists to roll back reproductive freedom and deny women the right to control their own bodies.

So, yes, Mr. Biden has a record to run on. A strong record. But he and his supporters should never suggest that what’s been accomplished is sufficient. To win the election, the president must do more than just defend his excellent record. He needs to propose and fight for a bold agenda that speaks to the needs of the vast majority of our people — the working families of this country, the people who have been left behind for far too long.

At a time when the billionaires have never had it so good and when the United States is experiencing virtually unprecedented income and wealth inequality, over 60 percent of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, real weekly wages for the average worker have not risen in over 50 years, 25 percent of seniors live each year on $15,000 or less, we have a higher rate of childhood poverty than almost any other major country, and housing is becoming more and more unaffordable — among other crises.

This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world. We can do better. We must do better. Joe Biden knows that. Donald Trump does not. Joe Biden wants to tax the rich so that we can fund the needs of working families, the elderly, the children, the sick and the poor. Donald Trump wants to cut taxes for the billionaire class. Joe Biden wants to expand Social Security benefits. Donald Trump and his friends want to weaken Social Security. Joe Biden wants to make it easier for workers to form unions and collectively bargain for better wages and benefits. Donald Trump wants to let multinational corporations get away with exploiting workers and ripping off consumers. Joe Biden respects democracy. Donald Trump attacks it.

This election offers a stark choice on issue after issue. If Mr. Biden and his supporters focus on these issues — and refuse to be divided and distracted — the president will rally working families to his side in the industrial Midwest swing states and elsewhere and win the November election. And let me say this as emphatically as I can: For the sake of our kids and future generations, he must win.

Original (Gifted)