We are marking another Fourth of July in my country. We have been around as a free country for almost 250 years. We have seen wars, including a Civil War, a Great Depression, a Great Recession and countless upheavals. This year we are in the midst of an election for President unlike any other. Both candidates are older then we would like. But there the similarities end.
If you have read me at all you know that I am not a fan of Donald Trump. You know that I feel he is an existential threat to our democracy. You only have to listen to his vindictive, retaliatory comments to understand why. You only have to be aware of the Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity to understand why. That is why I will still vote for Joe Biden even after his poor debate performance. Joe Biden has a good team backing him. I have confidence that they can and would support our country to the best of their ability. Donald Trump’s followers only follow him. They have no concern for our country except in how they can use it to their advantage. If anything happened to Biden or Trump, depending on who is elected, the people who are part of their governing circle will be of great importance.
It seems like each generation has a challenge to meet that could greatly affect our country. This time it appears to be a challenge to our democracy. We have an obligation to those who have fought so bravely, who have dedicated their lives to our freedom, to uphold the democracy that we have been bequeathed. This presidential election is crucial to our future as a free nation. That I am even having to write that is shameful.
As we celebrate this July 4th, remember what our country was meant to stand for. Remember what we as Americans should stand for.
60 comments:
It would seem that the first rush to replace Joe Biden has failed. (I can name at least two 'mainstream media' sources that were leading the charge to force a change there. One of them, the New York Times, had already declined to endorse Biden for President; the other, CNN, seems merely to wanted a crisis to cover to run up viewership and clicks.)
And there are plenty of political players who were disappointed that they never had a realistic chance to challenge Biden for the nomination. They're not gonna get to rush him out either.
This does not mean that Biden's hold on the nomination is secure. The Democratic convention to confirm his nomination is scheduled for late August in Chicago. He has time to consider his options. But he's not going to get the bum's rush out the door in early July.
And we have a chance to look him over, unscripted (mostly) tomorrow night.
Here is a radio host's partial interview she had with Biden and her take on him and older adults.
As someone who has been around elderly parents and residents of assisted living or long term care facilities when visiting family there I tend to agree with her. We give up on the elderly too soon. My parents were in their 90's and while my father had dementia my mother was sharp up until the end. I don't know what kind of schedule Biden has been keeping with overseas trips and campaigning, but from what I heard it would exhaust me and I'm younger than him.
I think Biden's team should have made sure he was well rested and instead of worrying about policy issues, which I think he already knows, they should have went over how to call Trump out on his lies. Because Biden looked rather flabbergasted with some of the BS coming out of Trump's mouth.
Word is that in Russia mortgage interest rates are 22%, car interest rates are 32%, medical costs for the first 5 months have risen 11% and dental costs have risen 50% in the past year.
The effects of sanctions may be slow but can be effective.
"…Russia mortgage interest rates are 22%…etc."
S'pose that'll effect Putin's reëlection chances?
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I read that Biden's interview with Stephanopolous tonight is going to be live--I was expecting it to be pre-recorded. Live is a risk.
Well, here we are then.
Putin's decided to weigh in on American politics. In Trump's favor of course. Not related to Biden's recent flubbed debate performance. But in support of Trump's secret peace plan; don't know what it is, but Putin's generally in favor of it. Reuters
It would seem that Washington D.C. Democrats who have to run for reëlection this round are somewhat more eager for Biden to withdraw (and soon, very soon) than are Democrats who aren't running for reëlection this cycle.
They're afraid he'll prove a drag on their own reëlection prospects.
Live is a risk.
Well, here we are then.
Yes, here we are. I think his whole interview will be the cognitive test some people have asked for.
The media are jumping on even the mistakes that have been normal for Biden in the past. We will see.
I thought it rather interesting that Putin, in your article, did not seem to want to comment too much on the debate.
Meanwhile, Trump is out there running off his mouth. The idea of having to listen to him for the next 4 years is worse than any stumbles Biden has made.
Biden looked quite a bit better in his interview (turns out it was recorded this afternoon).
Yes. He looked like normal Biden. But the sharks are still circling.
When he spoke about what he has accomplished there was one thing he didn't mention. That was helping to get Mike Johnson to put Ukraine aide to a vote. That was recent.
It didn't change my mind. I will still vote for him.
The 'after' analysis by ABC's news team revealed that they'd shown the tape around Capitol Hill before it it aired and that several Democrats it was shown to were unmoved.
Well, it was only 20 minutes worth of conversation (and Stephanopolous was fairly persistent with the talk of Biden needing to step aside). Twenty minutes isn't gonna convince anybody; Biden's got work ahead of 'im here. But, it's a start maybe.
#NeverTrump.
Funny, I was never a Biden fan before. But now that I think he is getting railroaded I have grown fond of him.
#NeverTrump
I, on the other hand, have thought for years, decades even, that Biden was consistently under estimated as a politician because he is not particularly articulate, certainly not glib. To some extent I've long been a Biden 'fan', as you put it.
But, I have no sympathy to spare on him. I'm all in on beating Trump in November. I got no extra criteria beyond that.
Biden needs to convince his party, and then the American voters that he's a better choice than Trump. Tonight was no more than a first step along that road.
If he can't complete that path then he needs to get the Hell out of the way and let the Democrats pick another name in August.
"I got no extra criteria beyond that."
Well, maybe support for Ukraine. But beat Trump first, then worry 'bout support for Ukraine.
I understand your sentiments and those who worry about whether or not he can beat Trump.
But I also agree with Biden that we as a nation are at an inflection point. We must decide how we want to continue. Do we only pursue our own agendas or do we stand up and support our country.
That debate gives us a stark choice. A choice not on policy or even the competence of a candidate but on autocracy vs democracy.
What will the American people choose?
If we cannot see through Donald Trump's lies what are we?
Biden had been underestimated, you are right. Can he again pull a rabbit out of a hat?
#NeverTrump
"I understand your sentiments and etc.
"But I also agree with Biden that we as a nation are at an
inflection point.
I don't follow, or maybe you don't follow. I especially don't understand the "but" construction, suggesting we two opposing, mutually exclusive thoughts going on here.
Let's try this again.
"The morning news seems full of speculative headlines about
Biden dropping out….
"They need to start figuring otherwise, like how Biden's gonna
recover from his poor performance last night."
Lee C. @ Fri Jun 28, 07:33:00 am
Biden's already won the nomination. I still think he's got until sometime in August to right his boat here. The Democrats need to be figuring on how help with that, how to beat Trump, not how to beat Biden.
If he can't turn this back around by mid-August--then's gonna be the time to press him to withdraw his candidacy. But we got six weeks 'til then. Use 'em.
You once said that the Republicans needed to lose badly for them to start to reform a party that lost its way. Or that was the gist anyway.
If the American people choose Biden even if they are concerned over his cognitive ability it will be a big loss for Republicans who are the party of Trump.
That debate should have made it clear what Trump is, but so many people are focusing on Joe Biden's performance that they are missing the real point.
Autocracy vs democracy, it is our choice.
I agree with most of that. (I would add that losing to Kamala Harris as an emergency replacement would be almost as good as having him lose to Biden at this point.)
And have another thought to add.
It occurred to me that much of the rush to get Biden to withdraw his candidacy is the result of a whole bunch of eager would-be- presidents-in-waiting who want to get their own campaign operations started up. Biden's first term helped make him broadly 'acceptable' to the larger Democratic coalition. (If never much loved.) There were no realistic challengers for the nomination--Biden had the party behind him, including the fringes who were going along if they still weren't in love with him. Anybody who wanted to challenge Biden (and there were plenty of those) could easily see they had no realistic chance.
Now they have a chance, but they have no political operations ready to roll out. They've been caught flat footed, not ready to make a move. In such a case, the nomination will probably fall to Kamala Harris by default.
A lot of prospects want the opportunity to challenge Ms. Harris. They can't have Biden eating up their limited time while trying to resurrect his own candidacy. They need him out of the way now, so they have time to build a challenge to Kamala Harris as the heir.
Headline: "Trump Gets Bad News in Swing States Despite
Biden's Debate Performance"
Newsweek
It's from a Bloomberg poll that's hard to find this morning (hard to find not hiding behind a sign-in barrier anyway). Bloomberg usually does good polling. Of course, it's only one poll.
Nate Silver sold 538 to ABC News and went back to sports statistics (his first love). But 538 is still out there, now owned by ABC News.
Their average of polls has Biden ahead of Trump by over four points (48% to 44%); and this is after the debate. ABCNews/538
I read that chart wrong ↑↑. 538 has Biden leading 47% to 44% for Trump.
"It would seem that Washington D.C. Democrats who have to
run for reëlection this round are somewhat more eager for
Biden to withdraw…."
Lee C. @ Fri Jul 05, 08:52 am ↑↑
I noticed that the public calls to withdraw are still heavily concentrated among House Democrats. They're afraid Biden's gonna drag down their own turnout and maybe cost them their jobs (some in safe districts are hoping to chair committees). I understand them looking to their own political interests first. I don't necessarily approve.
Looking out for number one seems to be par for the course for some politicians.
I cannot say what others will think or do, but I am comfortable with my decision to vote for Biden, if he continues to run. I just know I cannot vote for Trump.
Btw, did you see that the far right party in France did not gain a majority? The New Popular Front and Macron's Party took the majority. I hope we can prove as resilient.
"Btw, did you see that the far right party in France did not gain
a majority?"
Saw that. And the two other main parties (centrist to liberal) allied up to make sure they didn't split the anti-fascist vote--pulling the lower polling candidate of the two in each district, to set up a one-on-one against the fascist candidates.
Talk was Macron had made a huge mistake calling for early elections, but turns out he's turned back the fascists with clear evidence the French voters ain't there yet (although, if Macron's gambit hadn't worked it could have ended up like 1930s Germany, where Hitler was offered the Chancellorship after his Nazi party got only 44% of the vote in 1933).
"I cannot say what others will think or do, but I am comfort-
able with my decision to vote for Biden, if he continues to
run."
I'll vote for Biden, or Kamala Harris, or Hillary Clinton, even Bernie Sanders--whomever they nominate. #NeverTrump. Right now I'm mostly interested having them nominate somebody who will beat Trump. (That would not be Bernie Sanders.)
If they're gonna go with Biden it would be better if they didn't beat 'im up first.
And if not Biden, then who? Nobody's been answering that question. That was my first question; still nobody wants to answer it. Can't beat somebody with nobody, so who's gonna beat Trump with only three months to campaign?
Correction: Hitler managed to finagle an appointment as Chancellor after the 1932 elections in which the Nazis received 33% of the vote.
He then called for new elections, and with the Nazi government putting the grip on the opposing parties (widespread official electoral violence, voter suppression, candidate suppression, vote fraud, and the Reichstag fire), they managed to hoist their vote percentage up to 44% of a much smaller voter turnout. That was the last time they ever allowed a popular vote.
The Russian air strike against Kyiv's children's hospital seems to be generating international outrage along the order of that generated by the Russian strike against the air raid shelter under the Mariupol Drama Theatre back in March of '22. It's even getting a U.N. Security Council meeting called for later today. Reuters
This guy is a former Nikki Haley supporter. He is now going to vote for President Biden because he is concerned about the survival of our democracy. I hope others share his views and do likewise. It really feels like what I imagine Germany was like in the 1930's.
I was expecting maybe as many as half of the persistent Nikki Hailey voters would vote for Biden in the general. But that was before Biden's disastrous performance in the first debate. Could be he approaches that number again by voting time, if he's able to project a better image for the remainder of the campaign.
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The New York Times has editorialized on the subject of Biden's continued candidacy. They urged congressional Democrats to arise, unite, and drive Biden from the nominating convention scheduled for late August. (At the very least they want them to hector Biden until he drops out of his own volition. They do not have a replacement in mind. But they refused to endorse his candidacy this year, and they now seem to figure their job is done once Biden's done.)
CNN is still promoting the 'dump Biden' elements in Congress, but generally with rather more limited enthusiasm as it becomes clear that they ain't gonna dump Biden. (Although CNN displays flashes of outright bitterness over their failure to foment a rebellion against Biden--example. Too bad they can't direct that kind of venom towards Trump.)
Politico is still following suit, but is even more rapidly fading away from cheerleading the 'dump Biden' movement.
Personally, I s'pect they'll get closer to ridding themselves of Biden if they quit hectoring him and let him look at his own polls and look to his own friends and resources. He might yet decide that he's not gonna win this time. Biden being Biden, he'll probably let someone else make the effort if he thinks he can't carry that load himself anymore.
(As the old sayin' goes: "He may be led, but he won't be driven.")
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First reviews indicate that Biden was on top of his game with the opening speech he delivered to the NATO conference now being held in D.C. (for three days--now two days left). He needs to stay 'on' for awhile here yet; 'til the Democratic convention in August at least.
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The Russians are building bomb shelters on the beaches of Crimea to accomodate the Russian (and Belarusian) tourists who still vacation there. Reuters Bomb shelters at the beach. I'm gonna havta think 'bout that one some more 'fore I understand it.
"It really feels like what I imagine Germany was like in the
1930's."
There are noticeable similarities. But Trump is no Hitler--Mussolini perhaps.
The Russians are building bomb shelters on the beaches of Crimea to accomodate the Russian (and Belarusian) tourists who still vacation there.
I remember the one incident where Ukraine fired missiles at a Russian military base close to a beach filled with tourists. The Russians shot down one or more of the missiles and some of the debris killed and injured some of the tourists.
Maybe that is Russia's solution.
I was expecting maybe as many as half of the persistent Nikki Hailey voters would vote for Biden in the general.
She was pretty adamantly anti-Trump when she was running. Now to assign her delegates to him would seem to me to be the ultimate betrayal. Because if that was why a person was supporting her, that shouldn't change just because she has said it should.
"Maybe that is Russia's solution."
That part I figured out. But, vacation somewhere else seems to me to be the logical solution. I'm having trouble figuring out how they missed something as simple as that and went for bunkers on the beach instead.
________________________________
"Now to assign her delegates to him would seem to me to be
the ultimate betrayal."
Haley's too young to retire and too old to change professions. So she's trying to maintain her own viability as a national Republican politician for the post-Trump era she hopes she'll live to see. She's gonna play nice, graceful in loss, all that stuff.
But, she didn't assign her delegates to Trump. She "released" them to vote for whomever (i.e. Trump) if they choose to do so. (I think her 97 pledged delegates cleared the threshold for her to be formally nominated at the convention, but since she's "released" those delegates they can skip the part where she gets her name formally placed in contention, and thus not highlight the fact that she's not even showing up for this show.)
________________________________
Looks like CNN has adjusted to their failure to prompt an 'inside job' Democratic Party rebellion against Biden's candidacy. (Politico.com is closely following suit.)
They've now gathered a second wind and launched their very own screaming headlines attack, playing up every donor and dogcatcher to question Biden's viability.
Meanwhile Biden's been busy doing his day job--he's tied up with the NATO meeting, so they get another day to run against him without expecting any significant push back from the Biden campaign.
Biden is holding a live press confidence.
Yeah, ain't on TV. I been looking for a web feed that's not buffering the Hell outta the appearance. Think I've finally found one.
He seems to be normal Biden, not the faded Biden from the debate stage.
Well, he made it to the end. Normal Biden, neither glib nor articulate. Don't think it's gonna slow down the Democrats running away from him. Him not pulling out will eventually shut them up--but gawd how long's that gonna take?
Yeah, that was my take on it. He was Joe Biden. Yes, he misspoke at times but his grasp on issues, especially foreign policy, was light years above Donald Trump. While he isn't as articulate as Obama, Obama wasn't able to get things done the way Biden has. So maybe being super articulate isn't always a key to being a successful president.
Biden passed the 'test' in his solo 'after-NATO' press conference.
So what's CNN got for a headline on https://www.cnn.com?
Headline: Obama, Pelosi privately expressed concerns over
(Yes, that what it says--they didn't complete the headline--as of 8:43 pm CDT)
Biden ain't the only one who's neither glib nor articulate tonight.
Nothing about the substance of the press conference, which didn't go as badly as they'd have wanted to serve their current agenda. So, they recycle an older story that mentions both Obama and Pelosi and ascribes fears of a Biden candidacy to them.
Biden's gonna have a hard time of it from here on out if CNN's got anything to say 'bout it.
I missed this yesterday.
"UNITED NATIONS, July 11 (Reuters) - The United Nations
General Assembly on Thursday demanded that Russia
'urgently withdraw its military and other unauthorized
personnel' from Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
and return it to the full control of Ukrainian authorities.
"The 193-member General Assembly adopted a resolution
with 99 votes in favor, nine against and 60 abstentions.
Won't happen, of course.
On thinking about Bidens's press conference I look at the wealth of knowledge that Biden and his team have and worry that that will all be thrown away.
He's old, yes, but far more knowledgeable than many others.
There's two different things being conflated there.
1. Can Biden do the job?
2. Can Biden win the election?
I'm confident Biden can do the job. For how long I don't know, four more years seems reasonably possible.
I'm less sanguine about Biden winning the election.
But the anti-Biden forces still haven't answered the question. "If not Biden then who"?
I think they'd get a lot further with Biden if the party were to rally 'round a popular replacement prospect. (Absent that he might want to get the nomination sewed up and then pull out, thereby bequeathing the top spot to Harris unchallenged. But, a lot of this noise is from people who want a chance to challenge Harris for the successor's position.)
News is out that consumer prices actually fell in June bringing the 'consumer price index' (CPI) below 3% for the first time since April of '21. Looks like the Fed has the inflationary spiral controlled at last. Maybe this'll take some of the steam out of the 'dump Biden' movement. (Along with the news that Biden's presidential polling against Trump has taken only a minor hit from his poor performance in the debate, and that slide seems to have fallen off as well.)
When I listened to some of the voters in Georgia who were asked whether Biden should drop out many said he should stay in and that they were still voting for him. When asked if they thought Kamala Harris should replace Biden on the top of the ticket a couple voters were opposed to that, saying Harris hadn't really brought anything while in office.
Yes, the real worry is whether or not Biden can beat Trump. I think you are right with regards to those calling for him to step down. They were worried about that before the debate because of the low polling numbers and this has just given them the opportunity to try to replace him.
What I would dearly love to see happen is for Biden to run and beat Trump. Because then you know that people are truly supporting our democracy even if they may be concerned for Biden's health. But this is risky. We have to trust the American people in sufficient numbers to do the right thing.
I am not concerned about Biden finishing out another 4 year term. I am more concerned about Trump never leaving after another 4 year term.
Biden's got an interview with Lester Holt of NBC News scheduled to take place Monday afternoon, to be aired at 8:30 pm (CDT) Monday evening.
Assuming he looks like normal Biden during that interview I expect the 'dump Biden' movement will fade out, slowly and bitterly, lot of ankle bitting in the process, but fade out nonetheless. Then it'll be Biden's call, with a full month to read the tea leaves and make the final call.
I hope he makes the right call.
And I hope the ankle biters keep their snarling down 'til he makes that final call.
"…they were still voting for him."
I've been getting the same vibe. Lotta Biden supporters are nervous about that debate performance, but they're still driven to Biden by the prospect of Trump. They'll take the risk with Biden rather than risk giving Trump a second chance to seize permanent power.
And ya can't beat somebody with nobody. So far the 'dump Biden' contingent has got nobody, and Biden is still somebody. So is Trump.
Biden's interview with Lester Holt seems to have been moved up to 8:00 pm (CDT) Monday night, to allow NBC to cover the opening of the Republican National convention.
Somehow I just don't think the Republican National Convention will hold my interest.
Biden came out swinging against Trump in Michigan tonight. Maybe he was speaking from a teleprompter but his delivery was certainly not sleepy.
Somehow I don't think I will be watching the Republican convention either. A Trump love fest would just make me nauseous.
"Maybe he was speaking from a teleprompter…"
Most of them speak from a teleprompter. Usually the media doesn't consider that worthy of notice. But Biden is 'old', so suddenly it's a big deal. And neither the Democratic governor nor either of the two Democratic senators showed up, not willing to be seen with Biden.
But, more than 23 million people tuned in for Biden's Thursday press conference. NYT Not quite the 51 million who watched the debate, but a quite sizable number of folks. And they saw vintage Biden (albeit a bit softer of voice), neither glib nor eloquent, and inclined to verbal glitches, but definitely on top of the issues.
And bottom line, I prefer Biden's ideas on the issues over Trump's.
Kind of weird, no one has mentioned the stock market. With all of this turmoil over the election the DOW just broke 40,000.
The market seems to be shrugging off all of the fireworks.
"The Republican Party and its conservative allies are engaged
in an unprecedented legal campaign targeting the American
voting system. Their wide-ranging and methodical effort is
laying the groundwork to contest an election that they argue,
falsely, is already being rigged against former President
Donald J. Trump.
"The campaign involves a powerful network of Republican
lawyers and activist groups, working loosely in concert with
the Republican National Committee. Many of the key players
were active in Mr. Trump’s attempt to overturn the results of
the 2020 election.
"But unlike the chaotic and improvised challenge four years
ago, the new drive includes a systematic search for any
vulnerability in the nation’s patchwork election system.
"Mr. Trump’s allies have followed a two-pronged approach:
restricting voting for partisan advantage ahead of Election Day
and short-circuiting the process of ratifying the winner
afterward, if Mr. Trump loses. The latter strategy involves an
ambitious — and legally dubious — attempt to reimagine
decades of settled law dictating how results are officially
certified in the weeks before the transfer of power.
"At the heart of the strategy is a drive to convince voters that
the election is about to be stolen, even without evidence.
Democrats use mail voting, drop boxes and voter registration
drives to swing elections, they have argued. And Mr. Trump’s
indictments and criminal conviction are a Biden adminis-
tration gambit to interfere with the election, they claim.
"'As things stand right now, there’s zero chance of a free and
fair election,' Mike Howell, a project director at the Heritage
Foundation, a conservative think tank, said at an event this
week. 'I’m formally accusing the Biden administration of
creating the conditions that most reasonable policymakers
and officials cannot in good conscience certify an election.'"
NewYorkTimes
Trump has been 'injured' while onstage at a rally in Pennsylvania. Looks like the top of his ear was bleeding.
The shooter and one bystander are dead. Two other bystanders are critically wounded.
Trump is fine except for his ear.
A 20 year old male, the prime demographic for gun violence.
He probably had some mental illness as well. While many people do not like or even hate Trump they would not resort to violence to remove him from the race.
The DaileyBeast reports that Thomas Matthew Crooks was, in high school, "relentlessly bullied", a loner who wore combat gear to class.
The rifle he used apparently belonged to his father (who was legal for long guns), and he had "explosives" including an assembled IED in his car and bomb making materials at home.
He's beginning to match the school shooter paradigm, more 'tortured teen' looking to suicide with a splash rather than a politically motivated assassin.
I did wonder if we weren't jumping to a wrong conclusion about his motive when I heard his age. He might not even have been specifically aiming for Trump. Shooting up a political rally would make one famous, and as you said, probably very dead. This may be more of a gun violence issue rather than a political one, even though we are all ratcheting up the heat this election.
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