“It’s Never Been Darker” - interesting title looking back at this from Tues, 7/23/24. I guess there is something to the saying: “It’s always darkest before dawn.” Kind of reminds me of one having to hit bottom before a recovery and resurgence. It makes you stronger.
From another article, "But its mere existence underscores how desperate some Democrats are to change the trajectory of the presidential campaign." It is so sad that the panicky over reaction to the debate created this trajectory. True concern for the country at this juncture means standing behind the candidate because he has the best chance against Trump. If there are legitimate concerns, those bridges can be crossed IF we come to them. Now Biden's advantage may have been squandered and we may have to resort to the weaker Plan B.
This is Raskin gently telling Biden that irreparable damage may have already been done by the hysteria.
"The hard questions that have been raised about your mental and physical stamina . . . are not just medical and scientific questions now. They are also political questions because both political leaders and tens of millions of voting citizens have formed judgments based on the events of the last few weeks. The judgment you must make in turn, therefore, is not only a private medical judgment about how you feel but a public political one about how others feel because, in the end, the people will decide the fate of this election and of our democracy itself." https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24852462/read-raskins-letter-encouraging-biden-to-reconsider-reelection-campaign.pdf
Dan Angell's analogy is instructive. "This is like a hand of poker. Democrats are holding a 5-6-8-9 of spades. Biden is a 4 of spades, completing the flush. Kamala Harris would replace the 4 with a 7 of clubs. Lesser hand than a flush, but it's a straight, so there's still a chance of victory. Anyone else replaces the 4 with an ace, king or queen of diamonds. Looks great, but doesn't help at all in this situation and turns a winning hand into a mess. "
It's OK everyone. I just read Biden's horoscope for this weekend. He's gonna get out. He's gonna live up to JVL's sense of his deeper character. Nancy is gonna show him the 'writing on the wall' Here it is ....... SCORPIO Friday - Sunday July 19th ""You're in that uncomfortable space where as soon as one thing starts working out, something else goes wrong. Could this be the hands of fate trying to point you in a new direction? Are you trying to make an unsustainable situation sustainable? This weekend brings a chance to reassess a historic commitment. You made it because you didn't dare hope that anything better would come along. Now, to your surprise, you face an exciting opportunity. If you leave an old problem behind, you'll be able to take it"" ........ (cainer.com) Phew!
Politics is about rhetoric and persuasion. So is the prosecutor’s openin and closing statements. Unlike a court there are no evidentiary standards in politics. But the job of persuading is the same. Glad you’re with Biden-leave.
Since early in the 2015-16 campaign, I've wondered: "Why the heck do people not see what is so clearly wrong with him?" Many people who worked around him in the White House or in other situations have confirmed that he really is not a better person than his public image, but worse.
Other people might know it, but they believe that pretending otherwise serves their purposes.
How does one continue to have faith in the goodness of humanity when so many people admire and revere a truly bad man - or at least give cover to his sins?
That is the part that is truly incredible and frightening. How can one man hold such power over people that they ignore who he is, despite saying publicly he's not fit. Like Barr, and the others who in one breath tell us he is how bad he is, and on the other will vote for him. I believe that they're either in fear of their lives or they have been bought body and soul. Maybe he really is the antichrist given the hold he has on them.
Barr et al. say: "the Democrats' policies are so bad that I really have to vote for Trump." I think he actually believes it. He could have given a noncommittal answer if he was fearful.
Other people recognized that Trump's severe psychological pathology is more dangerous than "policies I disfavor" advanced by sane, normal people who believe in working within the rules of the system and who would never claim they would be "totally ineffective" if they weren't allowed to violate the law without penalty. It should be a matter of shame for every Republican that the leader of THEIR party made that demand. But no.
Michael Cohen said months before the 2020 election that Trump would not exit willingly if he lost the election. He was right. Sociopaths do not willingly let go of power once they've gotten it.
Bob Newhart, a soft-spoken Everyman who stammered his way to comedy stardom in the 1960s, has died at 94."
I saw him in a live show 10 years to a packed audience of 2,000. Just the man in a sweater, sitting on a stool. Fantastic. The obit in the NYT missed his role in one of my favorite TV shows, the Librarian movies and series."
I've been thinking about how Ailene Cannon perfectly exemplifies the cynicism and moral flexibility at the heart of Trumpism.
She has no doubt told herself that transparently elevating the will of Trump above the rule of law was not just a self-interested gambit - though it surely was that in part. She has the assurance of Clarence Thomas and all of MAGA-land that holding Trump to account for his willful defiance of the law (for purely selfish purposes on his part, with no discernible policy goal) cannot be allowed, because it interferes with what they tell themselves is a higher good than merely respecting the law.
The finest thinkers of MAGA-land were not bothered that Trump demanded "the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution" in order to reinstall him in power. They will claim that he was right because there was "massive fraud," but in reality it's because they, like him, view an electoral win for their opponents as fundamentally wrong.
Despite the fulminating against "alarmism" in anti-Trump rhetoric, the foundational case for Trump was that the nation was in such grave peril that it was necessary to empower someone indisposed to be restrained by rules.
Please call Schumer's office. Our only hope of keeping Trump from being re-elected is if Biden steps aside. Half a dozen other Democrats (Kamala and several Democratic governors) might win the presidency. Biden's odds of winning are approaching zero. Call Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office and ask him to press Biden to step aside. Phone: (202) 224-6542
I've also contacted my congress people and governor with the same message. Many Democrats, fearing Trump will win by a landslide, won't even bother to vote in November. Consider the downstream effect on Democratic candidates for the "lower" offices - congress, governor. It's impossible to overstate the risk.
I ask everyone here to join me and make these phone calls.
The only people who benefit if Biden is the Democratic nominee are Joe, Jill, and Trump.
I'm a life-long Democrat. This is an emergency. This isn't disrespecting Biden's decades of accomplishments. It's our last chance to save us from autocracy.
Former president Barack Obama has told allies that Joe Biden needs to “seriously consider” dropping out of the race, according to reports.
Mr Obama has been receiving calls from concerned Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and has shared his own views on the viability of Mr Biden’s candidacy.
According to multiple sources briefed on the matter, Mr Obama has only spoken with Mr Biden once since the debate but believes the president needs to assess his options. . . .
Mr Biden is becoming more “receptive” to the pleas for him to stand aside, according to The New York Times. . . .
I would LOVE to vote a Black woman into the presidency!! Sign me up!!!
But I also live among the Trumpers. A good number of them will sense the threat she poses to their king baby and will seek to neutralize it. I genuinely worry for her safety and that of her family, especially after the debacle we saw with the Secret Service over the weekend. I worried damn near every day of Obama's presidency for his life and the life of his family. I will never understand what it is to be black in America, and I will certainly never understand what it's like to be a successful black politician who makes it to the Oval Office. But I will work my ass off to get VP Harris in there. Just like I did for Obama.
I thought the Morning Shots’ authors would like to respond to Eliot Cohen’s piece in the Atlantic that Trump’s foreign policy really won’t be that different than Biden’s. Oh, really? A know-nothing, Putin fawning, isolationist narcissist will be a good American foreign policy leader? Cohen has deluded himself.
“It’s Never Been Darker” - interesting title looking back at this from Tues, 7/23/24. I guess there is something to the saying: “It’s always darkest before dawn.” Kind of reminds me of one having to hit bottom before a recovery and resurgence. It makes you stronger.
From another article, "But its mere existence underscores how desperate some Democrats are to change the trajectory of the presidential campaign." It is so sad that the panicky over reaction to the debate created this trajectory. True concern for the country at this juncture means standing behind the candidate because he has the best chance against Trump. If there are legitimate concerns, those bridges can be crossed IF we come to them. Now Biden's advantage may have been squandered and we may have to resort to the weaker Plan B.
This is Raskin gently telling Biden that irreparable damage may have already been done by the hysteria.
"The hard questions that have been raised about your mental and physical stamina . . . are not just medical and scientific questions now. They are also political questions because both political leaders and tens of millions of voting citizens have formed judgments based on the events of the last few weeks. The judgment you must make in turn, therefore, is not only a private medical judgment about how you feel but a public political one about how others feel because, in the end, the people will decide the fate of this election and of our democracy itself." https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24852462/read-raskins-letter-encouraging-biden-to-reconsider-reelection-campaign.pdf
Dan Angell's analogy is instructive. "This is like a hand of poker. Democrats are holding a 5-6-8-9 of spades. Biden is a 4 of spades, completing the flush. Kamala Harris would replace the 4 with a 7 of clubs. Lesser hand than a flush, but it's a straight, so there's still a chance of victory. Anyone else replaces the 4 with an ace, king or queen of diamonds. Looks great, but doesn't help at all in this situation and turns a winning hand into a mess. "
Oh, by the way, its already Friday over here (Sydney), so you guys have to wait a little longer.
It's OK everyone. I just read Biden's horoscope for this weekend. He's gonna get out. He's gonna live up to JVL's sense of his deeper character. Nancy is gonna show him the 'writing on the wall' Here it is ....... SCORPIO Friday - Sunday July 19th ""You're in that uncomfortable space where as soon as one thing starts working out, something else goes wrong. Could this be the hands of fate trying to point you in a new direction? Are you trying to make an unsustainable situation sustainable? This weekend brings a chance to reassess a historic commitment. You made it because you didn't dare hope that anything better would come along. Now, to your surprise, you face an exciting opportunity. If you leave an old problem behind, you'll be able to take it"" ........ (cainer.com) Phew!
Politics is about rhetoric and persuasion. So is the prosecutor’s openin and closing statements. Unlike a court there are no evidentiary standards in politics. But the job of persuading is the same. Glad you’re with Biden-leave.
Well said.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/18/2255320/-George-Conway-has-an-idea-and-does-a-video?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
Watch the video - terrifying. And this is the man people want as president? Any techies out there to hack the RNC video screens and show this?
Since early in the 2015-16 campaign, I've wondered: "Why the heck do people not see what is so clearly wrong with him?" Many people who worked around him in the White House or in other situations have confirmed that he really is not a better person than his public image, but worse.
Other people might know it, but they believe that pretending otherwise serves their purposes.
How does one continue to have faith in the goodness of humanity when so many people admire and revere a truly bad man - or at least give cover to his sins?
That is the part that is truly incredible and frightening. How can one man hold such power over people that they ignore who he is, despite saying publicly he's not fit. Like Barr, and the others who in one breath tell us he is how bad he is, and on the other will vote for him. I believe that they're either in fear of their lives or they have been bought body and soul. Maybe he really is the antichrist given the hold he has on them.
Barr et al. say: "the Democrats' policies are so bad that I really have to vote for Trump." I think he actually believes it. He could have given a noncommittal answer if he was fearful.
Other people recognized that Trump's severe psychological pathology is more dangerous than "policies I disfavor" advanced by sane, normal people who believe in working within the rules of the system and who would never claim they would be "totally ineffective" if they weren't allowed to violate the law without penalty. It should be a matter of shame for every Republican that the leader of THEIR party made that demand. But no.
Michael Cohen said months before the 2020 election that Trump would not exit willingly if he lost the election. He was right. Sociopaths do not willingly let go of power once they've gotten it.
Some nonpolitical news:
"NYT BREAKING NEWS
Bob Newhart, a soft-spoken Everyman who stammered his way to comedy stardom in the 1960s, has died at 94."
I saw him in a live show 10 years to a packed audience of 2,000. Just the man in a sweater, sitting on a stool. Fantastic. The obit in the NYT missed his role in one of my favorite TV shows, the Librarian movies and series."
Rest in Peace, Bob, and thank you.
My parents listened to one of his albums all the time.
A great and good man. RIP.
He was a giant. Celebrity deaths rarely phase me, but I'm already missing his genius.
Indeed. Such a lovely, utterly unique comedy genius. 🌹
I've been thinking about how Ailene Cannon perfectly exemplifies the cynicism and moral flexibility at the heart of Trumpism.
She has no doubt told herself that transparently elevating the will of Trump above the rule of law was not just a self-interested gambit - though it surely was that in part. She has the assurance of Clarence Thomas and all of MAGA-land that holding Trump to account for his willful defiance of the law (for purely selfish purposes on his part, with no discernible policy goal) cannot be allowed, because it interferes with what they tell themselves is a higher good than merely respecting the law.
The finest thinkers of MAGA-land were not bothered that Trump demanded "the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution" in order to reinstall him in power. They will claim that he was right because there was "massive fraud," but in reality it's because they, like him, view an electoral win for their opponents as fundamentally wrong.
Despite the fulminating against "alarmism" in anti-Trump rhetoric, the foundational case for Trump was that the nation was in such grave peril that it was necessary to empower someone indisposed to be restrained by rules.
Please call Schumer's office. Our only hope of keeping Trump from being re-elected is if Biden steps aside. Half a dozen other Democrats (Kamala and several Democratic governors) might win the presidency. Biden's odds of winning are approaching zero. Call Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's office and ask him to press Biden to step aside. Phone: (202) 224-6542
I've also contacted my congress people and governor with the same message. Many Democrats, fearing Trump will win by a landslide, won't even bother to vote in November. Consider the downstream effect on Democratic candidates for the "lower" offices - congress, governor. It's impossible to overstate the risk.
I ask everyone here to join me and make these phone calls.
The only people who benefit if Biden is the Democratic nominee are Joe, Jill, and Trump.
I'm a life-long Democrat. This is an emergency. This isn't disrespecting Biden's decades of accomplishments. It's our last chance to save us from autocracy.
Everyone with Democratic Rep. or Senator should write to them now. I did this morning.
Here is the latest from https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ QUOTE:
Former president Barack Obama has told allies that Joe Biden needs to “seriously consider” dropping out of the race, according to reports.
Mr Obama has been receiving calls from concerned Democrats, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and has shared his own views on the viability of Mr Biden’s candidacy.
According to multiple sources briefed on the matter, Mr Obama has only spoken with Mr Biden once since the debate but believes the president needs to assess his options. . . .
Mr Biden is becoming more “receptive” to the pleas for him to stand aside, according to The New York Times. . . .
If Biden's inner circle does not deliver him the bad news now, the voters surely will in November.
I would LOVE to vote a Black woman into the presidency!! Sign me up!!!
But I also live among the Trumpers. A good number of them will sense the threat she poses to their king baby and will seek to neutralize it. I genuinely worry for her safety and that of her family, especially after the debacle we saw with the Secret Service over the weekend. I worried damn near every day of Obama's presidency for his life and the life of his family. I will never understand what it is to be black in America, and I will certainly never understand what it's like to be a successful black politician who makes it to the Oval Office. But I will work my ass off to get VP Harris in there. Just like I did for Obama.
I thought the Morning Shots’ authors would like to respond to Eliot Cohen’s piece in the Atlantic that Trump’s foreign policy really won’t be that different than Biden’s. Oh, really? A know-nothing, Putin fawning, isolationist narcissist will be a good American foreign policy leader? Cohen has deluded himself.
And this gives the methodology of that 70% want Biden gone bit: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/17/2255111/-So-Two-Thirds-of-us-want-Biden-to-drop-out-Huh?pm_campaign=trending&pm_source=sidebar&pm_medium=web
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/7/18/2255246/-Dump-Biden-Are-We-Listening-to-the-Polls-Or-Aren-t-We-Cause-I-Got-News-for-You?pm_campaign=trending&pm_source=sidebar&pm_medium=web