Thoughts on the debate and the race going forward
Biden lied about cutting social security and the Iraq war and lots of other issues and the media didn't fact check him
[video:https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wSNV6CVhfb8&feature=emb_logo]
Here's a mashup of Joe Biden lying about Social Security tonight with his past statements. Share it far and wide.
Joe Biden is a liar. Pass it on. pic.twitter.com/vEBaHPlnZr
— maybe: ricci (@ricci_sergienko) March 16, 2020
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciXaP26TJBg&list=TLPQMTYwMzIwMjAzkEPOgMe...
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFf3HTo8Kzw]
We are warning you democrats. Don't do it.
[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGhCxQLd6nk]
Of course Krystal is getting slammed for saying this. The never Bernie's are saying that we have to vote for Joe because Trump is so bad. Ugh... Trump is doing many of the things that Joe and MyBoss during their time in the sandbox. And this time it is not lesser evil voting. It is just plain voting for Evil. However, has Trump done worse damage to us than Biden did over his 40 years in the senate? Has Trump made it so people can't discharge their debts? Student debt? Trump actually has rolled back some of the worst aspects of the Biden crime bill. But evil is evil and I will never for it in any form.
Umm...
.@CNN, I think this warrants a correction. pic.twitter.com/Shz0CZOJCp
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) March 16, 2020
The only hope on the horizon is if older people stay home because of fear of being exposed to the coronavirus.
I still think that the debate was filmed before it aired so that in case Joe went off into wherever it is he goes they could clean it up. Biden hasn't been able to be that together for many weeks. Anyone think I am nuts?
But if they did this then why wouldn't they do it with the debates between him and Trump? Hmm?
One person who will not give Biden a pass for his many lies is Trump. Just like he told Jeb Bush that his brother allowed the country to be attacked on 9/11 he will go after Biden for his Iraq war vote, his cuts on social security, his bankruptcy bill and post the videos that Krystal did and much more.
SO get ready for another 4 years of Trump. It is not going to matter if Joe picks Kamala. The never Biden folks are going to keep that promise.
Comments
There is a video on the Status Coup
YouTube channel, that shows how misinformation can lead low information voters to the wrong candidate decision.
Well done is better than well said-Ben Franklin
The MSM has already started smearing us
, it's going to get worse, and if you step back it looks like their real target is the true left itself.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democratic-strategist-what-bernie-sanders-n...
I'm hoping our best mouthpieces, like Caitlin, Jimmy Dore, Lee Camp, etc., come up with some good wake-up retorts to the nonsense.
Lurking in the wings is Hillary, like some terrifying bat hanging by her feet in a cavern below the DNC. A bat with theropod instincts. -- Fred Reed https://tinyurl.com/vgvuhcl
That amounts to an admission of blatant election rigging
which is exactly what many of us suspected/expected all along, and is precisely what is fueling the building outrage.
Don't TEASE the tiger, you stupid fools!
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
The tiger
Great analogy.
The thing is, Bernie didn't create that tiger; he just woke it up. And he does not control it.
The Dem establishment doesn't yet understand that fact. They seem to think we're still living back in the '70s and '80s, when they could intimidate and manipulate the left into shutting up and going along.
"Where else are they going to go?"
Hide and watch, Dem establishment. Dead party walking.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
Where are we going to go? Away.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Yup
People who have voted lesser evil for decades started waking up during the last election and now they are fully awake and aware of how of how both parties work in tandem and they have decided not to play the party game anymore. Democrats like to act like they tried to pass a great bill to help us out of this situation but the republicans just wouldn't let them. But people see that democrats could have held firm against the republicans and made them answer their constituents for why they failed to sign on. But what we see is that this bill was dawg poo and did nothing for most of us.
This was just a replay of a Washington generals vs the Harlem globetrotters. But the refs have called foul on both teams! We're the refs!
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
No fan of Joe Biden here ...
… but technically, he wasn't lying about "cutting Social Security, Medicare and Veterans' benefits" as Bernie suggested in the debate. The video clips cited show Biden talking about "freezing" those programs, i.e., leaving them at the same level as part of a "balanced budget" proposal.
Additionally, I'm afraid this coronavirus scare helps Biden's electability to the following extent:
If an unacceptable level of fatalities occur, Trump (the administration in power) gets blamed, helping the Democratic challenger. Also, if there's an economic downturn because of all the business closures, Trump (the administration in power) gets blamed, again helping the Democratic challenger.
In other words, the Coronavirus may do for the Dems what Russia-gate and Ukraine-gate couldn't -- knock Trump out of office and elect a Dem.
I can, however, think of one way this could possibly help Bernie. In the remaining primary states, some voters (of a more conservative nature) may elect to stay home because of concern about being in a public place and getting exposed to the virus. This group is likely to include older voters (known to prefer Biden) and voters whose commitment to the candidate is "soft" (certainly more true for Biden than Bernie). So, the polls forecasting Biden landslides in upcoming states may be off -- and I'd note the lack of MSM coverage of Bernie's trouncing Biden by 2-to-1 in the Northern Mariannas caucus - the only electoral contest over the weekend.
Having said all this, sorry for all you Bernie fans out there, much as I like the guy I can't see voting for any 70+ white guy when Tulsi is still on the ballot and still in race. I firmly believe she's the leader we need for this country, and I'd cite as just one example the fact that she was posting warnings about this Coronavirus about two weeks before any of the other candidates (including Trump) began giving it serious attention.
Nope he said cut them
Joe went on meet the press back when Tim did it and admitted that he wanted to cut it. But more importantly he wanted to gut Medicare. It's in the Ricci tweet if you can watch it.
Ryan Grim from the internet has an article on how many time Biden wanted to do that. And most recently was during Obama's tenure with the cat food commission. Social security has been on the chopping block during D admins since Clinton. He was ready to do it when the Monica scandal hit. Biden was involved with it then.
No need to apologize for voting for Tulsi or whomever else floats your boat. But the Bernie bro was not needed. It is an insult to woman who are not you know...'bros.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
Edited ...
… to change the word "Bros" to "fans." But, as you suggest, words matter, and I didn't hear Biden use the word "cut" in the Senate speech or in the Russert clip where he said SS and Medicare would be "on the table" in budget discussions. Sure, you can argue that "freeze" is a euphemism for the word "cut," but "cut" was the word used by Bernie the last night's debate when he called Biden a liar, a serious charge, and thus far, I haven't seen any uncontrovertable evidence that backs him up. (And yes, I've located Ryan Grim's Jan. 13 piece in the Intercept, I assume that's the one you're talking about, and Grim makes the argument that "freeze" is a euphemism for "cut" which is a more careful and, I believe, more accurate attack on Biden's record.)
So I don't get tar and feathered here, I certainly agree with the view that Biden has been inconsistent and frankly a very poor track record on major policy issues, particularly when he tries to paper over his vote on the Iraq War, and his support for things like the Crime Bill, the bankruptcy bill and those trade deals that send US jobs overseas.
Not so
Freezing wages and benefits = reduced income because the buying power of a $1 today is less than $1 tomorrow. (Except in a massive deflationary cycle, but that goes with a Great Depression.)
Joe's ignorance on that point is only exceeded by his "balanced budget" fetish. Joseph Stiglitz made this easily comprehensible in his book "The Roaring Nineties."
A "freeze" is a cut when inflation
is factored in. Calling it "not a cut" is eliding important context. It's the same trick, in fact, that Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives used to try when lauding RR's tax cuts. They used to point out how tax revenues doubled over the 80s, but conveniently left out inflation because it didn't fit the narrative. Aaccounting for inflation revealed that revenues decreased sharply after the cuts and then rose at about the same rate as prior to the cuts--it took a few years to just return to pre-cut revenues. The same principle applies here: every year a freeze is in effect under inflation is effectively a cut.
He also cheer led, along with Pelosi
The Simpson Bowles Cat food Commission that wanted to reduce SSI, Medicare, Medicaide because Obama saw social programs as the deficit driver.
Remember the Cat Food Commission n/t
The "Bernie bros" comment insults all the women behind Bernie
Good point ...
.. edited to change to "fans" instead. Keep in mind, I'm still a fan of Bernie's as well, but I do like to stick to facts. Technically, Biden never used the word "cut" in either of the two video clips. (The Tim Russert interview uses words like "it should be on the table" which, yes, could be code words for a "cut" but again, Biden didn't use that specific language). I agree that a freeze could be considered as a "cut" if the cost of everything else is going up, but keep in mind Bernie used the word "cut" in the debate so I think it's still an open question as to whether or not those clips support Bernie's argument.
Fans?
You mean like Kardashian fans or the weird phenomenon of Instagram stars and fans?
Puleeze -- Sanders' has supporters for his public policy positions which requires some minimum of thinking on the part of those supporters.
Is a freeze a cut ?
Apparently not as a matter of law. (fwiw)
The Arizona constitution says the benefits of state retirees may not be reduced. ("cut")
However those who retire with Arizona State Retirement System are not given automatic cost of living adjustments. The last COLA was awarded in 2003,iirc. (17 year "freeze") Furthermore people who entered employment after 2013 are not eligible for COLAs at all.
All public school teachers are in ASRS, which is largest system in AZ by far.
Other AZ state pension systems (for police and politicians) are more generous.
On the other hand . . .
the VT pension system for public employees and educators does have a COLA in statute. Those are the conditions I worked under. If my COLA is taken away my benefits are cut.
right
SS does have COLA provided
so Biden's proposed freeze would have been a reduction of benefits.
pity Sanders did not explain this clearly in debate.
" Joe, don't you understand the effect of inflation on people with fixed income?",etc.
Instead Biden got away with a "He said, she said " scene.
We really needed Gabbard on that stage.
I think she would have taken Biden down, but who knows.
Will she be allowed to speak at the convention?
Huge Tulsi fan here ...
… and that's the main reason I thumbed your post. However, had Tulsi been on the stage, I doubt that she would have attacked Biden and his record in the manner you suggest. First, recall when "the wicked witch of the West" Kamala Harris went after Biden in the first round of debates, she actually sent out a tweet in support of Biden. Second, I've heard that there was a personal relationship, particularly with one of Biden's sons, and recall, after one of the debates, she and Biden huddled for more than a two second handshake. Finally, and this is a bit more in the realm of speculation on my part, since Biden has committed to a female running mate, perhaps she holds out some hope that she's on his short list (even though the MSM refuses to include her, while mentioning lesser known Congresswomen like Val Demings from the House impeachment committee) and, frankly, I think she'd do a lot more to bring in the Bernie wing of the Dem Party than most if not all of the other suggested female candidates, but I'm not holding my breath. If somehow Biden wins, a lesser position like head of the VA is probably much more realistic.
I probably should have said
She was willing to let Biden off easy on Iraq vote in the past as you say - "He said he was wrong and apologized."
Don't know if that would have continued or if she would have given him a pass on other parts of his record this time.
Do hope she won't be bought off with promises of spot in Biden administration.
I have suffered enough disappointment with Bernie to last me a lifetime.
thx.
It would have been interesting
if bernie had challenged him on the lies. biden seems to lose his shit when challenged.
He didn't challenge on the majority of lies and confirmed to me he's just too nice to be president.
We needed a fighter not a party loyalist.
Trump will likely win regardless of the economy and virus. His followers will storm the voting booth while many dims say "fuck it" and stay home or vote green.
I don't vote blech no matter who.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
I suspect Biden was medicated
with Provigil, Methylphenidate and/or Adderall. My wife takes Provigil and Methylphenidate to help her concentrate due to the brain injury she suffered from her chemo. In the short term, 4-6 hours max, it can be very helpful to people suffering with cognitive issues. What I saw last night from Biden, though full of lies, was like my wife when she's medicated. Very hyper, more talkative, less confused. Joe looked very, very sped up. He even spoke much faster than I've seen him at other times. It looked nothing like what we've seen on his regular campaign stops.
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Interesting
Thanks for the facts, Steven.
Well wishes for you and your wife.
“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt
Thanks
She is traveling home from a trip to Colorado today with a stop at JFK in NYC, and I'm scared stiff she'll be exposed.
"You can't just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution."---Tyree Scott
Funny that, I saw him
as slowed down last night, in a good way for him. Not rushing his words. Probably a good thing for a guy who has supposedly overcome or squelched a lifelong stuttering problem.
I think most of us would recognize drugged. No. No slurring of words, no dragging out of simple words. He was slowed down but only wrt his usual motormouth pace.
He might have had a good night's sleep and was relaxed bc he had no earlier events, knows the material and was lightly prepped, and is sitting nice in the lead.
The drugs . . .
Steven D. mentioned do not have those effects. They improve mental performance. Many college students use them for exams.
Adderall!
So, another way that Biden is indistinguishable from Trump.
I just #DemExited
changed registration back to Green. I did my bit by voting for Bernie in the primary, and if he is on the ballot in November I'll vote for him then. Otherwise, I'm pretty much done with them.
"The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." -- Albert Bartlett
"A species that is hurtling toward extinction has no business promoting slow incremental change." -- Caitlin Johnstone
us, not me
If Bernie dropped dead tomorrow, what he was trying to do would still be alive, if we carried it on. If he sucks as a candidate, his ideas didn't.
And Bernie's message
has greatly helped revitalize what was a dormant, barely existing Left. I think in that sense he's won, although he likely won't get the two-fer.
Yikes:
Things they didn't talk about...
Massive election fraud and/or voter suppression.
The stock market crash.
Joe Biden's Burisma problem.
Joe Biden's Crime Bill.
Joe Biden's Drug Warrior history.
Things they barely talked about:
Barack Obama's shitty Presidency.
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
Deleted as the tweet was removed.
Very long and very well argued as usual from
Nathan J. Robinson: Democrats, You Really Do Not Want To Nominate Joe Biden
Yes, it's excellent.
I'm still not fully through it; it takes a long time for someone to delineate all the ways that Biden is a terrible politician (and person).