Friday, August 30, 2019

Is Joe really electable?

catjoe

Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Cat Dancing Joe" went up about five or so hours ago.

Joe is a nightmare and doesn't need to be the nominee.

 I love this by Luke Savage and Nathan J. Robinson (CURRENT AFFAIRS):
The more we see of 2020 Biden, the less plausible that seems. In fact, it’s beginning to look like it would be a colossal struggle to push Joe over the finish line. Trump remains unpopular, but Biden looks like an incredibly risky gamble, a man who will find it impossible to stay on-message, who could flounder and forget his lines at critical moments, and who will be pushing an agenda very few Americans feel remotely enthusiastic about. Even Barack Obama seems to wish Biden wasn’t running! 
And if the case for Biden is thin and flawed, the case against him could fill volumes. Throughout his nearly five decades in American politics, the former senator from Delaware has been on the wrong side of issue after issue, often playing an active role in pushing the most unpopular and destructive policies ever concocted inside the Beltway. From his unreliable record on reproductive rights to his zealotry for militarism abroad and his championing of overtly racist mass incarceration and “tough-on-crime” policies, Biden has long embodied Washington’s bipartisan consensus at its absolute worst.
And even if he were, somehow, to defeat Trump, it remains to be explained why anyone would choose him when there are other candidates with better plans for addressing the serious crises urgently facing the country and the world. Does anyone have any confidence in Joe Biden to effectively tackle climate change? Can anyone, reading the soup of half-remembered healthcare talking points above, seriously believe he will push substantial improvements to the American medical system through the U.S. congress? Even if hatred for the current occupant of the White House manages to put Biden over the top, we are in for four years of fumbling inaction—followed, quite possibly, by a reactionary backlash superseding even the horrors of Trumpism. 
There is simply no good or compelling case for a Joe Biden candidacy, let alone a Joe Biden presidency. In every sense imaginable, both represent a terrifying and irresponsible gamble with the future.



Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Friday, August 30, 2019.  Joe Biden not only continues to stumble on the campaign trail, he also insists that he didn't say anything wrong.


Let's note the Republican Party before anything else.  Donald Trump is the sitting president.  He has declared his 2020 campaign.  Barring a major upset, he will be the GOP's presidential nominee.  Alyssa Milano's been giving attention and props to Joe Walsh.

Why?

Because she's a whore with no ethics.  There's no reason for Democrats to go easy on Joe Walsh.  We don't have time to review his history, we've done it before.  He's not anyone that anyone should support.  But Alyssa is uneducated and uninformed as usual.  It's really sad that having skipped real schooling as a child, she didn't try to pursue an education in college or even a community college.  She's always going to sound like an idiot.

And apparently others want to as well.

Ethics are things you believe and practice.  Situational ethics?  That's for the dishonest.

Joe Walsh planned to return to the radio in less than 30 days.

Huh?

He's declared he's running for president.  He can't host a radio program.  Al Franken left Air America Radio to run for the Senate.  Sinclair cancelled his radio show and they were correct to do so.  He can't run for public office and host a radio program.  That would be unfair to the other candidates, he'd have exposure they did not have access to.

After whining earlier this week to the media about Sinclair, Joe's now saying he won't bring his show back.  No, he won't.  Election laws will not allow him to do so while he is a candidate.

Alyssa's desire to elevate Joe goes to her stupidity and her inability to learn.

Donald Trump is in the White House because people just 'knew' so much better.  Meaning?  The Hillary Clinton campaign saw him as the easiest to beat.  They wanted him to be the GOP candidate and they worked with press allies to ensure that this happened.  In the end, Donald Trump won.

If Alyssa and others want to pimp Joe Walsh as the candidate for the GOP, they better be willing to handle any fall out.  Meaning if he wins the nomination, they better take ownership of what they did.  Joe Walsh is a known figure and he is not presidential.  Idiots like Alyssa aren't smart enough for checkers, let alone three dimensional chess.  They need to stop normalizing Joe Walsh.  If they continue to normalize him, they need to accept that the rest of us are going to see them as racists because that is what Joe Walsh is.

Moving over to Alyssa's BFF Joe Biden.

Joe continues to seek the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination.  Why?  What else is he going to do?  He has no life, clearly.  And his brother and his son both can't seem to make money without invoking Joe's name and promising that Joe will deliver.

He's delivering a lot of things these days, none of it admirable.

THE WASHINGTON POST's Matt Viser and Greg Jaffe reported yesterday on Joe's latest lie, a fanciful story that he tells publicly but that is not accurate: "The upshot: In the space of three minutes,  Biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch and the rank of the recipient wrong, as well as his own role in the ceremony."  Joe has a history of public lying (including that he was 'tricked' by Bully Boy Bush into supporting the Iraq War).  Is this just more lying or is he senile?  Jane C. Timm (NBC NEWS) notes:

"I don't understand what they're talking about, but the central point is it was absolutely accurate what I said," Biden said of the Post's report in an interview with the South Carolina newspaper Post & Courier.
"I was making the point how courageous these people are, how incredible they are, this generation of warriors, these fallen angels we’ve lost,” he later told the Post's Jonathan Capehart. "I don’t know what the problem is. What is it that I said wrong?"


He's hid behind his wife's skirt repeatedly this campaign, he's used his dead wife and dead daughter repeatedly and hid behind dead son Beau.  Now he's trying to hide behind the troops.

"I don't know what the problem is.  What is it that I said wrong?"

Everything was wrong: "The upshot: In the space of three minutes, Biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch and the rank of the recipient wrong, as well as his own role in the ceremony."

You don' tknow what the problem is?  You're either lying or you're senile.

Joe Biden Dismisses Report That He Told False War Story





He dismisses that?  It happened.  He's a crazy and delusional as his campaign.


"My word as a Biden": recounted a story from his vice presidency about an older Navy captain who begged Biden not to pin a Silver Star on him. The story, though touching and based loosely on a real event, never happened.
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Why does it matter?  Because he chose to tell the story and it's not accurate.  He told the story it's a lie and he told people, while telling this false story, that it was a true story and that they could trust him on that.

His exact words, while telling the false story, were: "This is the God's truth.  My word as a Biden."

It's news because his story is wrong.  Again.  It should also be news that he declared the story "the God's truth" on his "word as a Biden."

That's what you did wrong, Joe.


BRAIN NOT OKAY
3 replies23 likes


Replying to 
True, Joe Biden’s brain might be malfunctioning. But it could also be the case that Joe is making his war story up deliberately, since he has a history of making up self-aggrandizing stories like the fiction that he marched for civil rights. Either way, he’s an unfit candidate.
11:14 PM - 29 Aug 2019





In other bad news for Biden, Scott Detrow (NPR) reports:

Former Vice President Joe Biden plays up his Pennsylvania roots as much as anything and has heavily courted organized labor in his presidential campaign, but a key union in Biden's backyard is feeling neglected by the leading Democratic candidate.
At issue is a forum the AFL-CIO's Philadelphia branch is holding Sept. 17, which the union is branding as a "Workers' Presidential Summit." Seven candidates have agreed to attend so far, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, billionaire activist Tom Steyer and entrepreneur Andrew Yang. But Biden is not among them.

"He always calls himself a Pennsylvanian at heart. His headquarters are here in Philadelphia. But his folks haven't found the importance of coming together and talking to our workers. And so that's very disappointing," AFL-CIO Philadelphia Council President Pat Eiding told NPR. "There's got to be some respect for the working people, if they want their vote."


Joe sold the Iraq War and, no, he wasn't tricked into it.  The Iraq War continues.  Joel Gehrke (WASHINGTON EXAMINER) reports:

Washington gave Israel its blessing to strike Iranian-backed forces in Iraq a day after Pentagon leaders distanced themselves from the operations, emphasizing the United States is a “guest” in the country.
“It’s our position that if neighbors of Israel allow a malign third country that does not share a border with Israel to use their sovereign territory as holding ground for increasingly sophisticated dangerous weapons, the only purpose of which is to attack Israel, I think those governments, if they cannot curb or control those elements, are going to have to be prepared to be responsible for them,” a senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters Thursday. "So be it Lebanon, be it Syria, be it Iraq — I think that has to be our very clear message to those governments.”

That is the Trump administration’s most explicit signal of support for Israeli operations against Iranian-backed Shiite militias in Iraq and Hezbollah in Lebanon.


This is what many Iraqi officials have stated in the last days, that the US had to approve of Israel's strikes.  It's also what a number of Iraqis not in government believe.


“Death to America and Israel,” banner seen in the streets of Baghdad today.
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And we'll wind down with this humorous Tweet.

it's unfortunate Tulsi Gabbard won't make the next debate, more people need to hear the inspiring story of how she stopped being a fanatical homophobe when she went to Iraq and learned that gay soldiers can kill Muslims too
40 replies459 retweets2,784 likes



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Thursday, August 29, 2019

Barbara Boxer is so disappointing

How greedy is Barbara Boxer?  She's 78 years old.  She left the Senate a very rich woman.  And now she's whoring for big business to harm workers?

  1.  13 hours ago
    😂
    I somehow missed this: former Democratic Senator Barbara Boxer...got a job with Lyft, & is now writing op-eds opposing labor regulations in California that would extend employment rights to Lyft & Uber drivers
    Show this thread
    1 reply1 retweet
     
     
Replying to 
The "surprise" of Boxer's sucker punched neo-leftists at "discovering" her real profession, the oldest: as a servant for the masters of society or now a days pimping for the oligarchs.
10:49 AM - 29 Aug 2019
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She is just disgusting. 



  1.  Aug 26
    Having Barbara Boxer is your corner does not absolve you of your shitty labor practices. It does, however, say quite a bit about Barbara Boxer...
    1 reply5 retweets19 likes
     
     
    Show this thread


  1.  Aug 26
    No way to sugarcoat this. Hugely disappointing to see Barbara Boxer shilling for gig corporations. This op-ed just regurgitates the Uber/Lyft false talking points on . Extremely sad to see, but a stark reminder that the corporate tentacles have quite the reach
    Barbara Boxer, who's "been hired by Lyft to advise them on meeting the challenges of the gig economy," writes: "employee model will mean far fewer opportunities to drive. For many drivers, the lack of flexibility will put driving out of reach completely." …
    23 replies123 retweets389 likes
     
     


  1. ean far fewer opportunities to drive. For many drivers, the lack of flexibility will put driving out of reach completely."
    Recently Uber has used its app to tell drivers that "Recent changes to California law could threaten your access to flexible work with Uber," & ask them to sign a petition to get the state legislature "to modernize the…
    Show this thread
    22 replies21 retweets44 likes
     
     
  2.  Aug 28
    Too bad Trump's airline went bust. He could have forced leaders to fly to the Doral in his planes. As for the , it is not a good sign when you have to tweet that your hotel has no bedbugs.
    9 replies40 retweets175 likes
     
     
  3.  Aug 27
    . is 78 and her net worth is ~$3.2mn. Does she really need to do this?
    Barbara Boxer, who's "been hired by Lyft to advise them on meeting the challenges of the gig economy," writes: "employee model will mean far fewer opportunities to drive. For many drivers, the lack of flexibility will put driving out of reach completely." …
    6 replies10 retweets40 likes
     
     
  4.  12 hours ago
    Replying to 
    : How shameful.
    2 retweets14 likes
     
     


Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Thursday, August 29, 2019.  Another candidate drops out of the Democratic Party's race for the presidential nomination and ten others fail to meet the criteria for the debate in Houston.



In the US, the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues and does so with one less person.  Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has dropped out of the race.


  1.  14 hours ago
Today, I am ending my campaign for president. I am so proud of this team and all we've accomplished. But I think it’s important to know how you can best serve. To our supporters: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Now, let's go beat Donald Trump and win back the Senate.
/>


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One of the greatest problems with this campaign season has been sexism.  There's not a woman running for the nomination who hasn't been harmed by the institutionalized sexism of the press.  A brief moment of unity among the women existed for a photo shoot.  That moment ended when US House Rep Tulsi Gabbard decide to play attack dog on Senator Kamala Harris.  We'll get back to that in a moment but, as we said in real time, the 'sisterhood' didn't mean Tulsi couldn't act the way she did.

But in the brief moment of unity, it's a shame that the women couldn't come together to discuss the sexism that they all experienced.  For Tulsi, she was presented as a thing by much of the early press -- and the term "Barbie" was bandied about.  No male Iraq War veteran was treated as she was.  They were treated as experienced and wise (even Mayor Pete with his driving duties in Afghanistan), but she was denied the experience she had by the press for much of the race.  For Amy Klobuchar, the press tried to play 'is she a bitch?' over and over.  Now if Amy is rude to employees, that is a story and it's a story regardless of gender.  But there is no denying that the press was trying to craft a narrative around her that was not supported by the facts.

The ridiculous Joe Biden campaign, to explain this point, keeps pouting that the press reports all of Joe's gaffes.  That's because they keep happening.  They need to report on those the same way they needed to report on Amy's former employees complaining about her.  But they kept the Amy story alive even when it wasn't.  It was one group of employees and one news cycle at best but they continued to go there.  With Joe, he can't speak accurately and that's a daily issue so it will be in each news cycle.  They are not repeating the same incident from a month ago with nothing to add.  He's daily unaware of where he's speaking or unaware of what years he was Vice President or of this or that.  There's a difference between a narrative that Joe feeds daily and a narrative that the press imposes with nothing new to add.

Marianne Williamson?  She's a successful business woman.  Unlike the laughable H. Ross Perot, she didn't do that via the government.  Taxpayer money did not make her rich.  Her intelligence and her ability to market something people wanted made her rich.  She was not shown the respect that she deserved for her business skills.

Kamala Harris?  She could go back up in the polls but the press chose to play it as a cat fight in a way that they did not with any male against male moment in the debates.  Kamala was hit in the face with a two-by-four by Tulsi in the July debate and then forced to explain why Tulsi did that.  Kamala didn't help herself by falling into the trap the press set.  There was no answer she could give that would have satisfied them because what should have been a discussion of the issues was now the press gleefully braying 'cat fight!'

Elizabeth Warren?  Why wasn't she seen as electable from the start?  Only now will the press admit, begrudgingly, that she might be electable.  The electability argument around her was always gender-based and always sexist.

Kirsten.  Stereotypes hurt her most of all.  She was 'plucky' or some other term when the press was being kind -- as though she were the widow Sally Field trying to save the homestead for the kids.  The adjectives they repeatedly applied to her were belittling.

Sexism played a huge part in the campaign so far and it's a real shame that the women could be brought together for a photo shoot but not for a roundtable on the way their campaigns were being portrayed as a result of their gender.

Again, bad news needs to be reported.  Reporting that Amy has a group of former employees who do not like her is news and should be reported.  Reporting it is not sexism.  Making it a narrative with nothing else to add is feeding into gender stereotypes.

Joe Biden and Tulsi Gabbard have been the biggest whiners in the campaign.  Joe has a fit that all of his stupid remarks are reported on.  Tough.  They are news.  He is running for the presidency and if he can't get it together for campaign events it is news.  And it does raise the issue of whether or not he is fit to be president.  Those of us on the left, made much of Bully Boy Bush's stupidity when he ran and when he occupied the Oval Office.  Tulsi can't stop whining about Syria.

No one asked her to go.  She made the decision to go.  She was a member of the US Congress.  She courted press coverage of that visit.  Now that she runs for the presidency, she and some of her more ridiculous supporters want to whine every time the subject is raised.  As we've said here repeatedly, I have no problem with the trip.  I think it was a smart move.  When she's asked about it, she should be glad, it gives her a chance to explain it and to stress the need for diplomacy.  Instead, it's whine, whine, whine every time she's asked.  Some people need to grow up.

Speaking in terms of her campaign and her issues, Kirsten did a strong job and hopefully everyone can agree on that.  Or at least this community.  Outside the community there is a vicious hatred for Kirsten that goes to that fact that she stands up for women. That is threatening to some men and to some women.  She put women first even when the press ignored women.  In terms of that, she was a success, she made her campaign about what she believed in.

 21 hours ago
Actually I’d rather see . is a one trick pony.

Want to see Bernie at the next debate in Houston? Make a contribution of any amount and we’ll automatically enter you for a chance to win two tickets, flight and hotel on us!





John Stauber's an important voice and he's entitled to his opinion.  But there's opinion and there's reality.  He's taken to slamming Aaron Mate for Aaron's support of Bernie Sanders and that's fine, that's John's opinion.  But this "I'd rather see #Tulsi"?  That's nonsense.


She was in the July debate.  Her issue is supposed to be war.  She was on stage with Joe Biden and she gave generic responses that were weak.  After Joe basically lied yet again (about both Afghanistan and Iraq), Jake Tapper went back to Tulsi, who had already answered before Joe.  He gave her a chance to respond.  Joe is one of the War Hawks who sold the Iraq War, who voted for it, who kept it going, as vice president, he was part of the group who overthrew the votes of the Iraqi people in order to give thug Nouri al-Maliki a second term.  And Joe knew Nouri did not represent the people.  Joe had addressed that in an April 2008 Senate committee hearing he chaired.  He and then-Senator Russ Feingold were on the same page, we shouldn't be negotiating deals with the Iraqi 'government' because there was no government there -- not one that was represented the people of Iraq.  Nouri was prime minister at that time.  So in 2010, for Joe to be part of the effort to overturn the Iraqi people's vote to unseat Nouri is appalling.  Nouri's second term as prime minister gave rise to ISIS.  Barack Obama said that himself.  Sometimes carefully, sometimes not so.  That's why they forced Nouri to step down when he was insisting he would be prime minister for a third term.

I'm sorry Tulsi is too stupid or too lazy to learn the history.  I'm sorry she's too weak ass to confront Joe Biden.  I'm appalled that she spent the days after the debate minimizing what Joe had done and lying that he's apologized -- he never apologized.

But Tulsi is flat out useless in a debate.

She went after Kamala who was not the front runner.  That was her choice.  It doesn't make her a bad woman or even mean that she's not a feminist.  (I doubt Tulsi would claim to be a feminist, but she might.)  It does mean that while Kirsten repeatedly fought for the campaign beliefs she held, Tulsi elected to throw out her supposed anti-war beliefs so that she could attack Kamala.

That was strategically stupid.  Kamala was not the front runner.

It was strategically stupid because she really didn't know what she was doing and if you come to a debate with prepared talking points, maybe learn how to deliver them.  Sotto voice doesn't come off strong.

She was a disgrace in every way but most of all in betraying her supposed beliefs.  If she was against war, truly against war, she should have taken on Joe Biden.  She didn't.  She's a coward.

And she doesn't belong on the stage at the next debates.

In a moment of justice, she won't be on the stage.

Rachel Sandler (FORBES) reports:

 As it looks now, these are the candidates who qualify for the ABC News debate in Houston:

  • Former Vice President Joe Biden
  • Senator Bernie Sanders
  • Senator Elizabeth Warren
  • Senator Kamala Harris
  • South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg
  • Senator Cory Booker
  • Senator Amy Klobuchar
  • Entrepreneur Andrew Yang
  • Former HUD Secretary Julian Castro
  • Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke

Here are the candidates who won’t be in the debate: 


  • Author Marianne Williamson
  • Billionaire Tom Steyer
  • Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
  • Sen. Michael Bennett
  • Montana Governor Steve Bullock
  • Rep. John Delaney
  • Rep. Tim Ryan
  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
  • Former Rep. Joe Sestak
  • Miramar, Florida Mayor Wayne Messam


While some might read the room and take a hint, Sophie Cocke (HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN) notes, "Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard is forging ahead with her campaign for president despite missing the cut for the third Democratic primary debate."  HAWAII NEWS NOW quotes Tulsi stating, "I would have liked to have been on that stage, but that’s not everything and we’re gonna find ways to work around it and really focus on bringing our people-powered campaign directly to the people, connecting directly with voters and continuing to do exactly what we have been doing in building and growing the momentum on what we’re seeing in the interest and support for the kind of leadership that I seek to bring."

There is no interest in her campaign.  The press glommed on her after the July debate and she couldn't translate all that exposure into any real bump in the polls.  She remains incredibly unpopular.  Of the others who didn't qualify?  Bill de Blasio has been much more vocal on anti-war issues (including in the July debate).  Marianne is addressing issues that no one else is so she might want to stay for that reason as well.  Only Tulsi has no real issue and no real base and no where left to go.


  1.  14 hours ago
Time for Tulsi Gabbard, Marianne Williamson, and Tom Steyer to drop out of the race to be the Democratic presidential candidate just like Kirsten Gillibrand. None had the poll numbers despite raising enough...
1 retweet1 like





There is a push for Tulsi and others (including Marianne -- whom I know and love) to drop out if they are polling low.  And that should be the case if they're running to win.  If at this point, they're still at 1%, it's really unlikely that any more exposure is going to make a difference.  I don't believe Marianne is now running to win (this is my opinion, I have not spoken to her about this).  I do believe she is running to raise the issues she feels are important -- which do include the health of our democracy.  If a candidate, even the hideous John Delaney, is remaining in the race because they want to raise issues, that is their business.  But if someone's running to win and they're still at one percent, they should grasp that they do not have the support needed to continue their campaign.

And if, like Tulsi, they have betrayed what they supposedly stand for, they should certainly drop out.

Kai Kahele is challenging her in the primary.  Tulsi has ticked off her district.  I don't vote there but I do have a home there.  My policy is I don't endorse in any race I can't vote in.  But I will donate to races I can't vote in.  Neil Abercrombie has asked me to donate to Kai.  So far, I haven't.  But Tulsi should grasp that 2021 may end up as the year that she's not in the White House or in the Congress.  Dropping out of the race for the presidential nomination might allow her to focus on saving her House seat.  Kai is a worthy challenger.


  1.  22 hours ago
Tulsi Gabbard didn’t qualify for the next Dem debate. He campaign for Pres is all but over. Now, let’s replace her in Congress too. Support for her seat.
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 21 hours ago
May I suggest a donation as a way to celebrate?
4 replies83 retweets139 likes





  •  13 hours ago

    • "This is no time for apathy or complacency, the time is now for vigorous and positive action." 1/21/19 Join ! Chip in today to help continue to propel our grassroots campaign.
    1 reply25 retweets58 likes


     Aug 26
    These women are my life. Women fought 72 years before passage of the 19th Amendment in Aug 1920, which gave women like my mom, sisters, wife & three daughters the right to vote. I will continue to fight for equality in Washington because
    2 replies41 retweets126 likes


     Aug 25
    This is how beat a Pac 12 team last night


    1:37
    ‘BOWS BY A YARD 🌈
    1 reply4 retweets30 likes


     Aug 24
    Great day in Pahala with the at their annual pensioners gathering. As a proud union member of I stand in solidarity with the Hawaiian Mac Nut workers that have been working at HMNS without a contract for several months now.
    9 retweets40 likes





    Whether she chocked in the July debate or just had fake-assed her way previously, her campaign stands for nothing currently and that's no one's fault but her own.

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