I think Joe Biden has been a transformational president, turning the misguided Reaganesque ship of state around in a totally new direction. Thank you, Pres. Biden. I wish you well in your new role as elder statesman.
I agree with what you say. Because I felt the same way on all your points. I’m hoping with the energized base it will change. We will have to see. I think in September we will finally know if the pressure was on for Biden was worth it. You are right the more you prosecute the more support he gets. I’m thinking it’s different though. Prosecute in public sphere is different from legal sphere. We will just have to wait and hope for the best. If not we can say, JVL was wrong, 😂
In his long legislative career, Joe Biden was very knowledgeable regarding foreign affairs and served many years as chairman of that Senate committee. But for me, Biden was always the great compromiser. He was usually able to make a deal with the opposition, which is one of the pillars of our democracy. But as age took it's toll, President Biden made his greatest compromise by stepping aside for his vice president, Kamala Harris, who will defeat the delusion authoritarian, D.J. Trump. For that, among many other achievements, Joe Biden will go down in history as a great president of our country.
And don't forget that the Trump administration refused to lay the ground for a transition to a Biden presidency. They obstructed every process leaving our country in grave danger for some time. Credit to Biden and his extraordinary staff for hitting the ground running without missing a step.
I started volunteering for NJ Essex County's covid vaccine rollout on January 5th 2021. We had just 200 doses (for millions) and it took several weeks before the process was working smoothly. The county officials were great; it wasn't until Biden's team were in place that we got sufficient vaccine.
If Harris--or whoever--wins, then Biden's decision to step away is going to be seen as pretty great & noble . . . up there with ol' George W. (at least by staunch Democrats). However . . . if the Democrats lose in the fall, be prepared for recriminations & blame games the likes of which you've never seen and endless critical "what ifs." Joe will catch vicious heat in some corners for not stepping aside sooner. Even though he picked Harris in the first place as his VP, some will even try to claim that Biden the closet racist/sexist would have stepped down sooner if she was a white male. Yes, that's ol' Joe, the man who served *under* a black President.
Regardless of what happens, though, I think the average Democrat--not necessarily the talking heads or the political junkie-types--will still give Biden credit for stepping away. It's *HUGE* if you think about the outsized ego *ANY* person has to have to even think about running for President. That's not even a criticism. These are people with very little self doubt.
I'm thinking that because Pelosi stepped aside for Hakeem Jeffries, she carries some clout on the issue of making way for younger replacements that Joe had to respect.
It must be all the more difficult if his cognitive functions are just fine, but that his communication skills, finesse, and spontaneity have slowed with age. His stutter (which, before 2020, I never knew he had) has become more pronounced. And obviously he just looks frailer. If his is mind is still sharp--or even just 75% as sharp as it was in 2020--it must be pretty galling to have to step aside to help your party beat a man who is bat shit crazy . . . and an idiot.
I actually disagree with JVL's assessment of Biden. He could have prevented this situation if he had chosen a different VP candidate back in 2020 (he was 77 already), or if he had decided to decline to run for re-election in 2023. He could have stepped down then, allowing Harris the advantage of incumbency for the primaries. Furthermore, he could have refused the nomination 2 months ago. The situation now is the Democrats are likely headed for defeat in November. Maybe Kamala Harris will help in preventing further bleeding of D support in races for the House and the Senate, but her chances are no better than 20%.
Thank you JVL for your newsletter this morning. I didn’t agree with the Bulwark, or the news media. The pressure and the attacks. I felt you guys gave was unfair especially Mona. But, I forgive you. As y’all were right and I was blind by the gratitude and love I had for the president.
I realize now, after every said and done. The attacks and the pressure was immense for President Biden and I thought it wasn’t fair. But, I realize it was the best thing for the country. The excitement is amazing. How the Democratic Party came together and coalesced around VP Harris instead of chaos is amazing. Which the same thing happened at the Primaries in 2020 Immediately united with Biden.
Monday morning feels like a new day and I can breathe. Thank you JVL for this piece . I realize this comes from the heart. Perhaps writing it as an apology to us who really loved Biden. But also your gracious public thank you to our President, Joe Biden.
Thank you for writing this piece, @JVLast. President Biden is a flawed and decent man who loves his country and has drawn on his experience and skills to serve the American people to the best of his ability. I don't think anyone can do better than that, since even presidents are just humans like the rest of us..
The Ukrainian reporter Illia Ponomarenko posted something about Biden on X yesterday that sums up what I feel: "Only the ones who are able to cede power voluntarily truly deserve having it." Joe Biden passed that test for the good of the country. I'll always be grateful to him--and be proud to have voted for him and had him as my president.
They named kids with variations of "Javelin" in Ukraine (after the US-supplied anti-tank missile). I would not be surprised if there is an upsurge in "Josephs," too (or whatever the Ukrainian equivalent is.
Had Biden run in 2016, he would have won. And if Trump challenged him again in 2020, he likely still would have won again (even if this alternative history includes COVID--after all, if Biden was President during the pandemic, there would have been a single coherent message coming from DC . . . not a President urging people to drink bleach or whatever). That Biden didn't because of the loss of his son is understandable and part of his very real humanity. Still . . . Hillary got the nod from powers that be because it was "her turn," essentially. Fair or unfair, she's one of the most divisive & unpopular figures in public life--at least at the time. She has a devoted core of support in the Party, don't get me wrong. But she is not a natural at politics. Not at all.
Harris is far more personable and (obviously) is eminently more qualified than Donald Trump. However, she's not the best choice, just like Hillary was not in 2016.
If there is an unwritten rule that the Democratic nominee must be female, Whitmer is a much smarter pick. Except in the $$$ department as it was pointed out to me. Even without Biden's endorsement she would have been the best positioned to raise funds.
Hillary was a deeply flawed candidate with a ton of baggage weighing her down. Despite that, she came within a hair's breadth of winning. Harris has none of that. Whitmer has made it plain she's not interested this cycle. I'm not sure why you would assert that Harris isn't the best - or at least a very good - choice. Look at how she's sprung out of the gate inside of 48 hours. Over $100 mil raised from small, independent donors, she's lined almost all the delegates up behind her, certainly more than enough for her to be certified at the DNC, and the Republicans all have the knickers tied up in knots, with rampant public garment rending, such as Steve Miller ranting on the Ingraham Angle, or Vance venting his vile spleen on Ohio. That means they're scared. They expected an easy romp to the White House. Now the chances are they're gonna lose.
That Hillary was flawed w/ baggage is something I specifically wrote (thought maybe not in the above post). And yes--she won the popular vote and came, yes, with a hair's breadth of winning outright! Which proves, among other things, that Trump is really not as menacing a candidate as we often think. Before Biden dropped out, as I listed to Bulwark podcasts . . . man, it was depressing. They spoke as if Biden had been down 10 points nationally.
So, now, we're absolutely better off with Harris. We'd be better off w/ anyone. Actually, we'd be best off w/ the Biden of 2016 or 2020. His deterioration has been quite rapid.
Anyway, I specifically said Harris going to start off immediately w/a money advantage. Of course. She essentially has the power that any VP running to succeed POTUS has. Just 4 years early.
*However* polling data just simply showed in black & white numbers that other candidates were stronger. Now, that has to be caveated w/ the fact that while the "real" Harris is still somewhat murky, at least she's a household name (maybe barely, though). Whitmer, Shapiro, Moore--they're not.
In 1968 RFK was obviously a household name, but was Eugene McCarthy? He, too, challenged Hubert Humphrey for the nomination. This was a contest after LBJ dropped out of the race that spring.
RFK (Sr., not "Junior" for heaven's sakes) is lionized on the Left. But what did he do? He challenged the presumed nominee, the sitting VP. I fear today that the sitting VP is not going to be truly analyzed. And out of fear of offending those in the Party obsessed w/ identity politics. The day Biden dropped out, the always helpful Rev. Sharpton tweeted that it was "imperative" for black men to stand by her. I'm not a black male, but if I was I think I'd tell Sharpton to take a hike. If someone told me, for example, as a Jew that I *must* support candidate X because of his stance on Israel, I'd be equally offended.
Harris healthy, a household name, and will be swimming in campaign cash. Great. If she is the final nominee, I'll do everything I can in my power and on my limited schedule to help her win.
But there's absolutely nothing wrong--and certainly nothing "racist" or "sexist"--about challenging her. (Not at all saying that *you* suggested there was.) Humphrey--white dude--was challenged my two other white dudes.
There was a lot of talk about a speedy new primary, a convention contest, etc. And then--boom! The powers that be quickly changed their tune and began telling us Harris *must* be the candidate. Why? What 11th Commandment from Mt. Sinai says she "must" be the choice?
That's basically my only gripe/concern.
She'd be so better than Trump that there is no human way to measure it. However, any animal from the D.C. Zoo would also be a better President.
And yes, you're correct I'd say that Team Trump felt they had it made when it became clear Biden actually had become "Sleepy Joe." Harris is not the greatest communicator, but she knows how this thing called "reason" works, so if there is another debate, she should clean the floor with Trump.
I think it's fair to say that RFK would have walked away with it had he not been assassinated, and almost certainly would have beat Nixon, despite the Vietnam war. We'll never know, of course. But history could have been so much different. I truly despised Nixon, for many good reasons, not the least being that he was a head henchman for senator McCarthy's persecutions during his HUA crusade.
Nixon was truly embittered man with a very dark/mean streak. But . . . he was competent. Sometimes, his instincts were spot-on. At least on foreign policy. Because of his anti-communist bona fides, he truly was the only one, or maybe one of only a few, who could have gone to China as part of the overall "detente" policy.
Even if one does not see Nixon as a tragic figure, compared to Trump, man . . . they're almost night & day. Again, Nixon was competent. Nixon was intelligent. Nixon cared about our allies. Nixon would be a "moderate" Republican today. It's insane. In the late 60s, he was hardly the only "Law & Order" candidate, you know? But what do we have today? A convicted felon, 2x impeached, dumb-as-shit, bigoted, sex predator . . . who--oh, by the way--incited a riot that beat up cops and led to the death of one! Very "Law and Order!"
Don't get me wrong, I love alternative history, but its always impossible to "prove" anything. RFK vs Nixon? Wow. Nixon would be so emotionally invested in beating a Kennedy in his second go-around. How would Bobby have been on foreign policy? Could he have executed a more graceful exit from Vietnam? Would the Soviets & Chinese take him seriously? Could he have healed some wounds at home that, frankly, are still with us today? On the last point, I think it's possible. He, too, condemned rioting, lawlessness, etc. so perhaps he could have assuaged the fears of older, largely white Americans while also bringing the left-leaning youth & the civil rights community to the table.
Let's not forget that Nixon expanded the war by bombing Cambodia. I would hardly describe the exit from Vietnam as "graceful." It was anything but. We sponsored a refugee boat family in its wake. He did manage to begin relations with China, I'll give you that. And he also founded the EPA, something Republicans have been desperately trying to dismantle ever since. But I don't consider him a foreign policy maestro or anything even close.
Anyway, my friend, interesting exchange. I look forward to future engagement.
I take your point, but it is a stretch to compare defenseless women and children in Gaza to the Viet Cong. And let’s not forget that the MyLai massacre, an admitted US Military war crime, killed a fraction of the number killed by the Israeli’s and was by every measure considered an abhorrent event. And instead of condemning Netanyahu/Israel, the US has invited him to visit Washington this week. This is shameful.
I’d also note that Biden watched what has been transpiring in the West Bank and never said ‘boo’. He was, I’m surmising, raised on the same of diet of Israeli propaganda that was the educational curriculum of so many here in NA... “Palestine was empty”… “Jews were making the desert bloom” etc etc. The irony is that by pressuring Netanyahu / Israel to stop the genocide, he’d have been saving not just Palestinians but also Israel, which is now appropriately an international pariah.
Having disagreed, I’d like to now to fervently agree with you that a Harris win is critical for the US. A Trump victory will be the end of US democracy.
At Mother Jones or the Intercept or some place like that you can make your case for electing Donald Trump by means of convincing the Democratic Party to adopt Rashida Tlaib's vision as its north star on foreign policy.
And Jews literally did make the desert bloom. Like literally literally. Israel is much greener than British-run Palestine ever was. Israel is also a leader in sustainable agriculture, water treatment, and the like. You know, stuff the developing world might benefit from but may not if your likes are successful in bullying universities, governments, & NGOs to boycott Israel.
Biden will historically be rated as one of the most pro worker and pro democracy presidents. We all owe him a debt and we can begin to repay it by working as hard as possible to elect Harris and defeat Trump.
Biden was undoubtedly an effective President and the right man for his time. BUT, his failure to stop the Israeli genocide of Palestinians is inexcusable. I don’t believe there is any amount of ‘good’ that offsets the sin of facilitating a genocide. I’d add that I find it reprehensible that the US is hosting Netanyahu this week.
Yes but just as I can see the good that Lyndon Johnson did on civil rights and the great society even though he was responsible for untold killing in Viet Nam -- I can see the good Biden did in defeating Trump and getting the country through a pandemic even though Biden did not act morally in Gaza -- hopefully not running will free him to tell Netanyahu not one more weapon
You realize *Biden* didn't do anything in Gaza. He's not the head of state or government of Israel. They have this leader named Netanyahu . . .
Opposition in the US to Vietnam came from the fact that (wait for it) the US was at war in Vietnam. Our troops were there. Our citizens were being drafted.
After the Oct 7 massacre, the calculus changed in Israel. If the equivalent 48,000 Americans were murdered, it would change in the US, too. If Biden froze or cancelled every cent in military assistance and blocked the transfer of every weapon system to Israel, they still would have pursued the same course of action--at least for a good while.
I know, I know . . . 48,000 American or however many equivalent Europeans (or South Africans) is different . . . because Israelis are, well, Israelis. That's why we take Hamas
word over theirs, right? I mean, duh! Jews, err . . . Israelis are just a bunch of neanderthal thugs. If only they acted more like North Vietnam! That's a good example to follow, of course!
You’ve been Biden’s greatest supporter from early on (after Afghanistan). You were right all along. I so appreciate your identifying Biden’s specialness and putting it front and center. He deserved your praise.
Thank you for the gorgeous, beautiful TRUTH!
I think Joe Biden has been a transformational president, turning the misguided Reaganesque ship of state around in a totally new direction. Thank you, Pres. Biden. I wish you well in your new role as elder statesman.
Thank you. 💙
I agree with what you say. Because I felt the same way on all your points. I’m hoping with the energized base it will change. We will have to see. I think in September we will finally know if the pressure was on for Biden was worth it. You are right the more you prosecute the more support he gets. I’m thinking it’s different though. Prosecute in public sphere is different from legal sphere. We will just have to wait and hope for the best. If not we can say, JVL was wrong, 😂
In his long legislative career, Joe Biden was very knowledgeable regarding foreign affairs and served many years as chairman of that Senate committee. But for me, Biden was always the great compromiser. He was usually able to make a deal with the opposition, which is one of the pillars of our democracy. But as age took it's toll, President Biden made his greatest compromise by stepping aside for his vice president, Kamala Harris, who will defeat the delusion authoritarian, D.J. Trump. For that, among many other achievements, Joe Biden will go down in history as a great president of our country.
Amen!
And don't forget that the Trump administration refused to lay the ground for a transition to a Biden presidency. They obstructed every process leaving our country in grave danger for some time. Credit to Biden and his extraordinary staff for hitting the ground running without missing a step.
I started volunteering for NJ Essex County's covid vaccine rollout on January 5th 2021. We had just 200 doses (for millions) and it took several weeks before the process was working smoothly. The county officials were great; it wasn't until Biden's team were in place that we got sufficient vaccine.
If Harris--or whoever--wins, then Biden's decision to step away is going to be seen as pretty great & noble . . . up there with ol' George W. (at least by staunch Democrats). However . . . if the Democrats lose in the fall, be prepared for recriminations & blame games the likes of which you've never seen and endless critical "what ifs." Joe will catch vicious heat in some corners for not stepping aside sooner. Even though he picked Harris in the first place as his VP, some will even try to claim that Biden the closet racist/sexist would have stepped down sooner if she was a white male. Yes, that's ol' Joe, the man who served *under* a black President.
Regardless of what happens, though, I think the average Democrat--not necessarily the talking heads or the political junkie-types--will still give Biden credit for stepping away. It's *HUGE* if you think about the outsized ego *ANY* person has to have to even think about running for President. That's not even a criticism. These are people with very little self doubt.
I'm thinking that because Pelosi stepped aside for Hakeem Jeffries, she carries some clout on the issue of making way for younger replacements that Joe had to respect.
It must be all the more difficult if his cognitive functions are just fine, but that his communication skills, finesse, and spontaneity have slowed with age. His stutter (which, before 2020, I never knew he had) has become more pronounced. And obviously he just looks frailer. If his is mind is still sharp--or even just 75% as sharp as it was in 2020--it must be pretty galling to have to step aside to help your party beat a man who is bat shit crazy . . . and an idiot.
I actually disagree with JVL's assessment of Biden. He could have prevented this situation if he had chosen a different VP candidate back in 2020 (he was 77 already), or if he had decided to decline to run for re-election in 2023. He could have stepped down then, allowing Harris the advantage of incumbency for the primaries. Furthermore, he could have refused the nomination 2 months ago. The situation now is the Democrats are likely headed for defeat in November. Maybe Kamala Harris will help in preventing further bleeding of D support in races for the House and the Senate, but her chances are no better than 20%.
Thank you JVL for your newsletter this morning. I didn’t agree with the Bulwark, or the news media. The pressure and the attacks. I felt you guys gave was unfair especially Mona. But, I forgive you. As y’all were right and I was blind by the gratitude and love I had for the president.
I realize now, after every said and done. The attacks and the pressure was immense for President Biden and I thought it wasn’t fair. But, I realize it was the best thing for the country. The excitement is amazing. How the Democratic Party came together and coalesced around VP Harris instead of chaos is amazing. Which the same thing happened at the Primaries in 2020 Immediately united with Biden.
Monday morning feels like a new day and I can breathe. Thank you JVL for this piece . I realize this comes from the heart. Perhaps writing it as an apology to us who really loved Biden. But also your gracious public thank you to our President, Joe Biden.
Thank you for writing this piece, @JVLast. President Biden is a flawed and decent man who loves his country and has drawn on his experience and skills to serve the American people to the best of his ability. I don't think anyone can do better than that, since even presidents are just humans like the rest of us..
The Ukrainian reporter Illia Ponomarenko posted something about Biden on X yesterday that sums up what I feel: "Only the ones who are able to cede power voluntarily truly deserve having it." Joe Biden passed that test for the good of the country. I'll always be grateful to him--and be proud to have voted for him and had him as my president.
They named kids with variations of "Javelin" in Ukraine (after the US-supplied anti-tank missile). I would not be surprised if there is an upsurge in "Josephs," too (or whatever the Ukrainian equivalent is.
Had Biden run in 2016, he would have won. And if Trump challenged him again in 2020, he likely still would have won again (even if this alternative history includes COVID--after all, if Biden was President during the pandemic, there would have been a single coherent message coming from DC . . . not a President urging people to drink bleach or whatever). That Biden didn't because of the loss of his son is understandable and part of his very real humanity. Still . . . Hillary got the nod from powers that be because it was "her turn," essentially. Fair or unfair, she's one of the most divisive & unpopular figures in public life--at least at the time. She has a devoted core of support in the Party, don't get me wrong. But she is not a natural at politics. Not at all.
Harris is far more personable and (obviously) is eminently more qualified than Donald Trump. However, she's not the best choice, just like Hillary was not in 2016.
If there is an unwritten rule that the Democratic nominee must be female, Whitmer is a much smarter pick. Except in the $$$ department as it was pointed out to me. Even without Biden's endorsement she would have been the best positioned to raise funds.
Hillary was a deeply flawed candidate with a ton of baggage weighing her down. Despite that, she came within a hair's breadth of winning. Harris has none of that. Whitmer has made it plain she's not interested this cycle. I'm not sure why you would assert that Harris isn't the best - or at least a very good - choice. Look at how she's sprung out of the gate inside of 48 hours. Over $100 mil raised from small, independent donors, she's lined almost all the delegates up behind her, certainly more than enough for her to be certified at the DNC, and the Republicans all have the knickers tied up in knots, with rampant public garment rending, such as Steve Miller ranting on the Ingraham Angle, or Vance venting his vile spleen on Ohio. That means they're scared. They expected an easy romp to the White House. Now the chances are they're gonna lose.
That Hillary was flawed w/ baggage is something I specifically wrote (thought maybe not in the above post). And yes--she won the popular vote and came, yes, with a hair's breadth of winning outright! Which proves, among other things, that Trump is really not as menacing a candidate as we often think. Before Biden dropped out, as I listed to Bulwark podcasts . . . man, it was depressing. They spoke as if Biden had been down 10 points nationally.
So, now, we're absolutely better off with Harris. We'd be better off w/ anyone. Actually, we'd be best off w/ the Biden of 2016 or 2020. His deterioration has been quite rapid.
Anyway, I specifically said Harris going to start off immediately w/a money advantage. Of course. She essentially has the power that any VP running to succeed POTUS has. Just 4 years early.
*However* polling data just simply showed in black & white numbers that other candidates were stronger. Now, that has to be caveated w/ the fact that while the "real" Harris is still somewhat murky, at least she's a household name (maybe barely, though). Whitmer, Shapiro, Moore--they're not.
In 1968 RFK was obviously a household name, but was Eugene McCarthy? He, too, challenged Hubert Humphrey for the nomination. This was a contest after LBJ dropped out of the race that spring.
RFK (Sr., not "Junior" for heaven's sakes) is lionized on the Left. But what did he do? He challenged the presumed nominee, the sitting VP. I fear today that the sitting VP is not going to be truly analyzed. And out of fear of offending those in the Party obsessed w/ identity politics. The day Biden dropped out, the always helpful Rev. Sharpton tweeted that it was "imperative" for black men to stand by her. I'm not a black male, but if I was I think I'd tell Sharpton to take a hike. If someone told me, for example, as a Jew that I *must* support candidate X because of his stance on Israel, I'd be equally offended.
Harris healthy, a household name, and will be swimming in campaign cash. Great. If she is the final nominee, I'll do everything I can in my power and on my limited schedule to help her win.
But there's absolutely nothing wrong--and certainly nothing "racist" or "sexist"--about challenging her. (Not at all saying that *you* suggested there was.) Humphrey--white dude--was challenged my two other white dudes.
There was a lot of talk about a speedy new primary, a convention contest, etc. And then--boom! The powers that be quickly changed their tune and began telling us Harris *must* be the candidate. Why? What 11th Commandment from Mt. Sinai says she "must" be the choice?
That's basically my only gripe/concern.
She'd be so better than Trump that there is no human way to measure it. However, any animal from the D.C. Zoo would also be a better President.
And yes, you're correct I'd say that Team Trump felt they had it made when it became clear Biden actually had become "Sleepy Joe." Harris is not the greatest communicator, but she knows how this thing called "reason" works, so if there is another debate, she should clean the floor with Trump.
I think it's fair to say that RFK would have walked away with it had he not been assassinated, and almost certainly would have beat Nixon, despite the Vietnam war. We'll never know, of course. But history could have been so much different. I truly despised Nixon, for many good reasons, not the least being that he was a head henchman for senator McCarthy's persecutions during his HUA crusade.
Nixon was truly embittered man with a very dark/mean streak. But . . . he was competent. Sometimes, his instincts were spot-on. At least on foreign policy. Because of his anti-communist bona fides, he truly was the only one, or maybe one of only a few, who could have gone to China as part of the overall "detente" policy.
Even if one does not see Nixon as a tragic figure, compared to Trump, man . . . they're almost night & day. Again, Nixon was competent. Nixon was intelligent. Nixon cared about our allies. Nixon would be a "moderate" Republican today. It's insane. In the late 60s, he was hardly the only "Law & Order" candidate, you know? But what do we have today? A convicted felon, 2x impeached, dumb-as-shit, bigoted, sex predator . . . who--oh, by the way--incited a riot that beat up cops and led to the death of one! Very "Law and Order!"
Don't get me wrong, I love alternative history, but its always impossible to "prove" anything. RFK vs Nixon? Wow. Nixon would be so emotionally invested in beating a Kennedy in his second go-around. How would Bobby have been on foreign policy? Could he have executed a more graceful exit from Vietnam? Would the Soviets & Chinese take him seriously? Could he have healed some wounds at home that, frankly, are still with us today? On the last point, I think it's possible. He, too, condemned rioting, lawlessness, etc. so perhaps he could have assuaged the fears of older, largely white Americans while also bringing the left-leaning youth & the civil rights community to the table.
Sadly, we'll never know!
Let's not forget that Nixon expanded the war by bombing Cambodia. I would hardly describe the exit from Vietnam as "graceful." It was anything but. We sponsored a refugee boat family in its wake. He did manage to begin relations with China, I'll give you that. And he also founded the EPA, something Republicans have been desperately trying to dismantle ever since. But I don't consider him a foreign policy maestro or anything even close.
Anyway, my friend, interesting exchange. I look forward to future engagement.
We need to make sure we are worthy of his noble sacrifice. Let’s win this fucking thing.
I take your point, but it is a stretch to compare defenseless women and children in Gaza to the Viet Cong. And let’s not forget that the MyLai massacre, an admitted US Military war crime, killed a fraction of the number killed by the Israeli’s and was by every measure considered an abhorrent event. And instead of condemning Netanyahu/Israel, the US has invited him to visit Washington this week. This is shameful.
I’d also note that Biden watched what has been transpiring in the West Bank and never said ‘boo’. He was, I’m surmising, raised on the same of diet of Israeli propaganda that was the educational curriculum of so many here in NA... “Palestine was empty”… “Jews were making the desert bloom” etc etc. The irony is that by pressuring Netanyahu / Israel to stop the genocide, he’d have been saving not just Palestinians but also Israel, which is now appropriately an international pariah.
Having disagreed, I’d like to now to fervently agree with you that a Harris win is critical for the US. A Trump victory will be the end of US democracy.
Think you're on the wrong website, bro.
At Mother Jones or the Intercept or some place like that you can make your case for electing Donald Trump by means of convincing the Democratic Party to adopt Rashida Tlaib's vision as its north star on foreign policy.
And Jews literally did make the desert bloom. Like literally literally. Israel is much greener than British-run Palestine ever was. Israel is also a leader in sustainable agriculture, water treatment, and the like. You know, stuff the developing world might benefit from but may not if your likes are successful in bullying universities, governments, & NGOs to boycott Israel.
Biden will historically be rated as one of the most pro worker and pro democracy presidents. We all owe him a debt and we can begin to repay it by working as hard as possible to elect Harris and defeat Trump.
Biden was undoubtedly an effective President and the right man for his time. BUT, his failure to stop the Israeli genocide of Palestinians is inexcusable. I don’t believe there is any amount of ‘good’ that offsets the sin of facilitating a genocide. I’d add that I find it reprehensible that the US is hosting Netanyahu this week.
Yes but just as I can see the good that Lyndon Johnson did on civil rights and the great society even though he was responsible for untold killing in Viet Nam -- I can see the good Biden did in defeating Trump and getting the country through a pandemic even though Biden did not act morally in Gaza -- hopefully not running will free him to tell Netanyahu not one more weapon
You realize *Biden* didn't do anything in Gaza. He's not the head of state or government of Israel. They have this leader named Netanyahu . . .
Opposition in the US to Vietnam came from the fact that (wait for it) the US was at war in Vietnam. Our troops were there. Our citizens were being drafted.
After the Oct 7 massacre, the calculus changed in Israel. If the equivalent 48,000 Americans were murdered, it would change in the US, too. If Biden froze or cancelled every cent in military assistance and blocked the transfer of every weapon system to Israel, they still would have pursued the same course of action--at least for a good while.
I know, I know . . . 48,000 American or however many equivalent Europeans (or South Africans) is different . . . because Israelis are, well, Israelis. That's why we take Hamas
word over theirs, right? I mean, duh! Jews, err . . . Israelis are just a bunch of neanderthal thugs. If only they acted more like North Vietnam! That's a good example to follow, of course!
You and the considerably-to-the-Left-of-the -Bulwark-average New Republic agree! Not good. GREAT!
You’ve been Biden’s greatest supporter from early on (after Afghanistan). You were right all along. I so appreciate your identifying Biden’s specialness and putting it front and center. He deserved your praise.