While I appreciate Mona’s upbeat attitude toward Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities, it just seems appropriate to worry about his age. So, here’s a new strategy: Instead of trying to get Biden to stand down, let’s put some pressure on Kamala Harris to stand down. Biden could promise her anything she wants. Ambassador to wherever, Ambassador to the UN, Secretary of Something. She could decide she need to focus on some major project. Whatever it might take. Let’s get a VP that would ease worries about Biden’s age.
Wait what? Now the blame of Biden’s age is now thrust on Harris’ shoulders? Because she’s not white they/she will never get the votes of would be Trump supporters or “independents”? What are you really saying?
As others have said- polls are not reliable. Especially at this early point.
Biden-Harris BEAT TRUMP HANDILY in 2020 and actually pretty significantly in 2022 as there was no Red Wave. You think there is MORE support for the 4x indicted Trump than before? No way. No how.
The only way Trump - if he’s the R nominee * can beat a Biden-Harris ticket is if the Rs have successfully gerrymandered their way into it.
*just because T leads now does not in fact mean he wins the nomination. That’s why you play every game. Even the team with a winning record loses sometimes. The likelihood is not preordained.
I think it would be racist to assume (1) that there is only one black woman who can do the job, (2) that black women have to be sheltered from the rough-and-tumble of political life, or (3) that performative, symbolic obeisance to a single individual, expressed largely by villifying anyone who dares to challenge her, is a meaningful way to combat racism. The real work required to bring justice to this country is much harder than that.
And it is not a "game." It is the potential end of democracy and a functioning justice system.
Maybe Secretary of State. Like Hillary Clinton got when Biden got the VP.
I agree this would be a great solution. There have got to be alternative posts that wouldn't seem like a demotion and that would still leave Harris well positioned to aim for president someday if she wants that. VP is such a thankless job anyway.
Who knows? He started out on the far left, that’s all I’ll say. He moved to more reasonable but still left positions. Then he got into polling and became a mainstream Democrat. But it’s like his concentration on polling has warped his politics beyond all recognition.
For example, he knows how poorly “defund the police” polls. He says it was a great mistake in 2020 and I agree with him. But at then end of the day, policing issues are policy issues, brutality by the police is all too real, as we see again and again. “Support the police” may poll well, but what, if you win, are you going to DO about the police when things go bad? The reality of policing exists independently of whatever slogan you may adopt.
Or take race issues in general. It may not poll well in some sectors to say that racism exists. But you can’t make the problem go away without talking about it. Sure, elite white college students pointing fingers at white workers and shouting “Racist” is a stupid thing to do. But what is the right way to talk about race. Ruy has no answers.
Ok Amanda, let me be clear what I meant: since 2015, it’s been an endless parade of articles and thought pieces operating from the assumption that the opinions of people who hate Democrats/elites are entirely responsive to the messaging of everyone who is or can be considered a Democrat or elite. Somebody said “defund the police,” so that hangs around the Democrats’ necks forever despite the fact that party leadership denounced it and Biden *increased* police funding. I’m asking that we treat the white working class as if they have agency and not be held hostage to perceptions.
1) “Wolfe has been the subject of conspiracy theories and target for threats from election skeptics who falsely claim she was part of a plan to rig the 2020 vote in Wisconsin, and GOP leaders cited concerns from those skeptics in justifying Thursday’s 22-11 vote along party lines.” This is the same line of argumentation as those who say “there must have been something bad that happened during the election because so many people think so”. So the great mass of Trumplicants all express belief in some made-up story (because Trump tells them to) and then their overlords use that belief as justification for taking some (almost always undemocratic) action. It’s circular logic.
2) I live in Arizona and until recently I didn’t think any group of state legislators could be as stupid and dangerous as the ones we have. Now I see that Wisconsin is making a push for the top spot. But I still think Arizona is entitled to first place. The state recently held (yet another) formal hearing on the election in which one witness accused the sitting Speaker of the House of being in cahoots with Mexican drug cartels to swing the election. Top that Wisconsin if you can!
3) My reaction to the idea that the Wisconsin GOP might not be able to “resist the temptation” of impeaching Protasiewicz regardless of any potential blowback? Well, of course. Please allow me, for the umpteenth time, to point out that there is a group of people who exhibit such lack of self-control and will indulge their personal grievances regardless of any negative side effects. And they are called children.
4) When Trump says that “I am allowed to have those documents”, isn’t he kind of missing the point? He was served a legal subpoena to return the documents. That meant that he didn’t have the right to have them anymore. It didn’t matter whether they were classified or not (although the idea that he declassified them “with his mind” is beyond laughable).
I’m not sure that Rich Men North of Richmond is a song of the working class. There are plenty of people on welfare in white rural America and my guess is plenty are obese as he mocks in the song. We know that’s not who he is singing about. And if you’re busting your butt all day for no pay, you’re not paying much in taxes. As JVL pointed out, it’s a tiered tax system. In fact the high tax states like CT, NY, MA and other blue states pay more into the federal coffers than they get back. What states get more from the federal treasury in benefits like Anthony’s dreaded welfare? The poor red states. The song is mocked because it’s stupid. Not because Dems refuse to admit that there are people left behind and ignored in places like WV and AL.
The Ruy Teixera piece made me more angry than anything I’ve read in a long time. And evidently Charlie agrees with him or he wouldn’t have passed it on. (Thank you so very much.) We have to pretend to like music that we most definitely do not? Who’s cancelling whom here? I loathe country music. All country music—including the song Rich Men North of Richmond. The self-pity, the heartbreak. That ungodly twang. Nails on a chalkboard to my ears. And I apologize to no one because of it. I also hate hip hop and most rap, which I suppose makes me, what, a racist? Gimme a break. I also hate heavy metal. Most hard rock. Anything from the 50’s … Am I offending anyone yet? Deepest apologies.
Isn't a reason there have yet been no challengers to Biden is simply that this is premature? If the economy stays strong under his command, all Democrats benefit. Why start turbulence in the party when things are going well while the GOP is imploding? If Biden actually manifests health issues--and those are much more likely to be physical than mental--then is the time to contemplate throwing an alternate hat in the ring. A heart attack, a stroke--then the challenge can be framed as relieving Biden of the strains of duty, not challenging his capacity.
I'm less than 2 years younger than Biden. My mind is still going strong--way stronger than trump's, needless to say. But I can't ignore that at my age something physical--that heart attack, that stroke--might trip me up. I'll deal with that if it happens. And so should the Dems.
I don't take issue with Oliver Anthony's song because it comes from a working class perspective. I take issue with it because it is an overtly racist paean to perpetrators of extrajudicial justice in what he calls "small towns" but far too many Black Americans know as "sunset towns." Perhaps Ruy should look up that term...
You’re right. I have listened to it. Your message did not apply to me and I should not have opined. I am angry at Ruy Teixeira, and vented inappropriately. Apologies.
"Rich Men North of Richmond" was just a seriously mediocre song. The singer/songwriter seems to have a big heart, and his honesty/courage in not taking the instant ticket to stardom that was offerered to him, because it didn't square with his beliefs, speaks really well of him. I'm curious what he will grow into.
And the concerns he tried to voice in that song are real, and the people he tried to speak up for matter. We shouldn't forget that.
As for the WI GOP, I say bring it on. I am for them fully and totally destroying themselves. They have become fully detached from governing and legislating, and WI is worse off for it. They are for making most of the populace bear the burden of the wealthy and they have no ability to manage changes that are needed to meet the future that is quickly becoming today.
BIG thank you to Charlie for keeping the Ruy Teixeira excerpt short; I got past it without (a) throwing up in my mouth and (b) spiking my blood pressure.
I never listened to the song. Every few months there is a new conservative musician or movie that everyone says we must talk about, it's really important, and then it never comes up again. The last one I remember was some white rapper with tons of facial tattoos who was rapping above woke cancel culture. I safely ignored it and it never has come up again. I don't think this will be any different, maybe he will surprise me, hope he does
Ruy Teixeira is doing for the left what the Bulwark is doing for the right. I say more power to him. Everybody needs to be challenged.
Has he called for a third-party presidential challenge? If yes, please point to the article. If no, in what way do you believe he belongs with No Labels?
Because like No Labels he just uses a veneer of centrism to mask what really just boils down to hatred of the left. He wouldn't have chosen that song otherwise. I'm sure they hate the right too but they are all likely horseshoe theory types that think simply being in the middle is laudable without even examining what positions happen to be in the middle or what their impact will be. In that sense they are just like MAGA cultists who will place themselves anywhere on the spectrum outside forces say they should be (Trump in MAGA's case, triangulation in a horseshoe centrist's case).
Is it me, or isn't The Bulwark the "alternative media" that Oliver Anthony could easily identify with, but that Texeira dismissively and reflexively claims is nonexistent? Charlie Sykes aside, it's not like we're all a bunch of cheese eating francophiles here (j/k, Charlie). RT just sounds like more self-serving anti-anti-Drumpf sour milk.
While I appreciate Mona’s upbeat attitude toward Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities, it just seems appropriate to worry about his age. So, here’s a new strategy: Instead of trying to get Biden to stand down, let’s put some pressure on Kamala Harris to stand down. Biden could promise her anything she wants. Ambassador to wherever, Ambassador to the UN, Secretary of Something. She could decide she need to focus on some major project. Whatever it might take. Let’s get a VP that would ease worries about Biden’s age.
Wait what? Now the blame of Biden’s age is now thrust on Harris’ shoulders? Because she’s not white they/she will never get the votes of would be Trump supporters or “independents”? What are you really saying?
As others have said- polls are not reliable. Especially at this early point.
Biden-Harris BEAT TRUMP HANDILY in 2020 and actually pretty significantly in 2022 as there was no Red Wave. You think there is MORE support for the 4x indicted Trump than before? No way. No how.
The only way Trump - if he’s the R nominee * can beat a Biden-Harris ticket is if the Rs have successfully gerrymandered their way into it.
*just because T leads now does not in fact mean he wins the nomination. That’s why you play every game. Even the team with a winning record loses sometimes. The likelihood is not preordained.
But we normies have a lot of work to do.
I think it would be racist to assume (1) that there is only one black woman who can do the job, (2) that black women have to be sheltered from the rough-and-tumble of political life, or (3) that performative, symbolic obeisance to a single individual, expressed largely by villifying anyone who dares to challenge her, is a meaningful way to combat racism. The real work required to bring justice to this country is much harder than that.
And it is not a "game." It is the potential end of democracy and a functioning justice system.
Good points. It’s just that I could vote for a Romney-type R. I could never vote for T, but I’m not so very happy with the Ds.
Maybe Secretary of State. Like Hillary Clinton got when Biden got the VP.
I agree this would be a great solution. There have got to be alternative posts that wouldn't seem like a demotion and that would still leave Harris well positioned to aim for president someday if she wants that. VP is such a thankless job anyway.
Who knows? He started out on the far left, that’s all I’ll say. He moved to more reasonable but still left positions. Then he got into polling and became a mainstream Democrat. But it’s like his concentration on polling has warped his politics beyond all recognition.
For example, he knows how poorly “defund the police” polls. He says it was a great mistake in 2020 and I agree with him. But at then end of the day, policing issues are policy issues, brutality by the police is all too real, as we see again and again. “Support the police” may poll well, but what, if you win, are you going to DO about the police when things go bad? The reality of policing exists independently of whatever slogan you may adopt.
Or take race issues in general. It may not poll well in some sectors to say that racism exists. But you can’t make the problem go away without talking about it. Sure, elite white college students pointing fingers at white workers and shouting “Racist” is a stupid thing to do. But what is the right way to talk about race. Ruy has no answers.
Jesus Christ, another appeal to “understand why they hate you so much.” It’s exhausting.
You do realize that (1) they're not going away and (2) they are going to vote ... right?
Understanding how "they" think is the only way we don't get Trump again.
Sorry if you find it too much work, but it's work that's got to be done.
Ok Amanda, let me be clear what I meant: since 2015, it’s been an endless parade of articles and thought pieces operating from the assumption that the opinions of people who hate Democrats/elites are entirely responsive to the messaging of everyone who is or can be considered a Democrat or elite. Somebody said “defund the police,” so that hangs around the Democrats’ necks forever despite the fact that party leadership denounced it and Biden *increased* police funding. I’m asking that we treat the white working class as if they have agency and not be held hostage to perceptions.
A few comments…
1) “Wolfe has been the subject of conspiracy theories and target for threats from election skeptics who falsely claim she was part of a plan to rig the 2020 vote in Wisconsin, and GOP leaders cited concerns from those skeptics in justifying Thursday’s 22-11 vote along party lines.” This is the same line of argumentation as those who say “there must have been something bad that happened during the election because so many people think so”. So the great mass of Trumplicants all express belief in some made-up story (because Trump tells them to) and then their overlords use that belief as justification for taking some (almost always undemocratic) action. It’s circular logic.
2) I live in Arizona and until recently I didn’t think any group of state legislators could be as stupid and dangerous as the ones we have. Now I see that Wisconsin is making a push for the top spot. But I still think Arizona is entitled to first place. The state recently held (yet another) formal hearing on the election in which one witness accused the sitting Speaker of the House of being in cahoots with Mexican drug cartels to swing the election. Top that Wisconsin if you can!
3) My reaction to the idea that the Wisconsin GOP might not be able to “resist the temptation” of impeaching Protasiewicz regardless of any potential blowback? Well, of course. Please allow me, for the umpteenth time, to point out that there is a group of people who exhibit such lack of self-control and will indulge their personal grievances regardless of any negative side effects. And they are called children.
4) When Trump says that “I am allowed to have those documents”, isn’t he kind of missing the point? He was served a legal subpoena to return the documents. That meant that he didn’t have the right to have them anymore. It didn’t matter whether they were classified or not (although the idea that he declassified them “with his mind” is beyond laughable).
I’m not sure that Rich Men North of Richmond is a song of the working class. There are plenty of people on welfare in white rural America and my guess is plenty are obese as he mocks in the song. We know that’s not who he is singing about. And if you’re busting your butt all day for no pay, you’re not paying much in taxes. As JVL pointed out, it’s a tiered tax system. In fact the high tax states like CT, NY, MA and other blue states pay more into the federal coffers than they get back. What states get more from the federal treasury in benefits like Anthony’s dreaded welfare? The poor red states. The song is mocked because it’s stupid. Not because Dems refuse to admit that there are people left behind and ignored in places like WV and AL.
The Ruy Teixera piece made me more angry than anything I’ve read in a long time. And evidently Charlie agrees with him or he wouldn’t have passed it on. (Thank you so very much.) We have to pretend to like music that we most definitely do not? Who’s cancelling whom here? I loathe country music. All country music—including the song Rich Men North of Richmond. The self-pity, the heartbreak. That ungodly twang. Nails on a chalkboard to my ears. And I apologize to no one because of it. I also hate hip hop and most rap, which I suppose makes me, what, a racist? Gimme a break. I also hate heavy metal. Most hard rock. Anything from the 50’s … Am I offending anyone yet? Deepest apologies.
No biggie, everyone has musical preferences. Mostly we just let other people have their fun, though.
Now I suggest we all sing along with that great John Prine/Steve Goodman classic, "You never even called me by my name" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOAz9tMYs1Y)
(Or if you prefer listening to John Prine's talking intro first: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6ngTGKxOTg)
Isn't a reason there have yet been no challengers to Biden is simply that this is premature? If the economy stays strong under his command, all Democrats benefit. Why start turbulence in the party when things are going well while the GOP is imploding? If Biden actually manifests health issues--and those are much more likely to be physical than mental--then is the time to contemplate throwing an alternate hat in the ring. A heart attack, a stroke--then the challenge can be framed as relieving Biden of the strains of duty, not challenging his capacity.
I'm less than 2 years younger than Biden. My mind is still going strong--way stronger than trump's, needless to say. But I can't ignore that at my age something physical--that heart attack, that stroke--might trip me up. I'll deal with that if it happens. And so should the Dems.
Exactly. I'm so tired of the handwringing about Biden's age. We still need him, desperately.
RE: Texeira's Mis-Reading of Dems
I don't take issue with Oliver Anthony's song because it comes from a working class perspective. I take issue with it because it is an overtly racist paean to perpetrators of extrajudicial justice in what he calls "small towns" but far too many Black Americans know as "sunset towns." Perhaps Ruy should look up that term...
People how can you bash this song if you haven't even listened to it? It's five minutes out of your life.
"I hate it because the other side likes it" is how the other side acts; we're supposed to be better.
No. I hate it because I hate it.
Have you listened to it?
If yes, the comment was not directed at you.
If no, you can't know whether you hate it or not.
You’re right. I have listened to it. Your message did not apply to me and I should not have opined. I am angry at Ruy Teixeira, and vented inappropriately. Apologies.
"Rich Men North of Richmond" was just a seriously mediocre song. The singer/songwriter seems to have a big heart, and his honesty/courage in not taking the instant ticket to stardom that was offerered to him, because it didn't square with his beliefs, speaks really well of him. I'm curious what he will grow into.
And the concerns he tried to voice in that song are real, and the people he tried to speak up for matter. We shouldn't forget that.
As for the WI GOP, I say bring it on. I am for them fully and totally destroying themselves. They have become fully detached from governing and legislating, and WI is worse off for it. They are for making most of the populace bear the burden of the wealthy and they have no ability to manage changes that are needed to meet the future that is quickly becoming today.
BIG thank you to Charlie for keeping the Ruy Teixeira excerpt short; I got past it without (a) throwing up in my mouth and (b) spiking my blood pressure.
Who's to blame for Elon Musk? That's easy: Elon Musk. Explaining him is easy, too: He's both an asshole AND a success.
I never listened to the song. Every few months there is a new conservative musician or movie that everyone says we must talk about, it's really important, and then it never comes up again. The last one I remember was some white rapper with tons of facial tattoos who was rapping above woke cancel culture. I safely ignored it and it never has come up again. I don't think this will be any different, maybe he will surprise me, hope he does
Right there with you Forrest. In fact I stubbornly do NOT go search it up just because people (pundits) are talking about it.
Much Ado About Nothing.
Ruy Teixeira should join No Labels. He'd love it there.
Ruy Teixeira is doing for the left what the Bulwark is doing for the right. I say more power to him. Everybody needs to be challenged.
Has he called for a third-party presidential challenge? If yes, please point to the article. If no, in what way do you believe he belongs with No Labels?
Because like No Labels he just uses a veneer of centrism to mask what really just boils down to hatred of the left. He wouldn't have chosen that song otherwise. I'm sure they hate the right too but they are all likely horseshoe theory types that think simply being in the middle is laudable without even examining what positions happen to be in the middle or what their impact will be. In that sense they are just like MAGA cultists who will place themselves anywhere on the spectrum outside forces say they should be (Trump in MAGA's case, triangulation in a horseshoe centrist's case).
Is it me, or isn't The Bulwark the "alternative media" that Oliver Anthony could easily identify with, but that Texeira dismissively and reflexively claims is nonexistent? Charlie Sykes aside, it's not like we're all a bunch of cheese eating francophiles here (j/k, Charlie). RT just sounds like more self-serving anti-anti-Drumpf sour milk.