DL Open Thread: Friday, Feb. 9, 2024
We’re BACK! Didja miss us? So many great conspiracy theories as to what happened:
Feckless Joe forgot to pay the service bill.
Jason inserted a poison pill into his Super Bowl prediction.
Tucker had Vladimir deep-six us.
Puck got Mossad to conduct cyber-warfare against us.
Bethany Hall-Long–never mind, she can’t afford to take action against us.
We want to hear your conspiracy theories. (Truth is, it was a WordPerfect glitch.)
Regardless, the Political Weekly will just have to wait until tomorrow. My time is limited today.
The Question Of The Day: Does anyone think that the nature of the presidential race didn’t change yesterday? Admit it, I think many of us have held our collective breath just hoping that Biden doesn’t sink into a puddle of befuddlement. Whether or not you think that the investigator was fair in his characterization of Biden’s mental state, it is now part of the equation. We’re probably looking at the mental confusion that beset Reagan (unless he was acting) at the end of his second term. Sure, Trump’s worse, and he’s a would-be dictator. But Trump’s declining mental state is now equaled by Biden’s declining mental state. Don’t forget that one of the reasons why no charges were recommended against Biden was that declining mental state. Meaning, if Biden is correct in insisting that he’s as sharp as ever, he should have been charged.
Biden said he was running b/c he was the only one who could beat Trump. That was bullshit from the start. We’re now looking at the possibility that, like Hillary, he’s the only one who could lose to Trump.
Sure, Trump’s gonna lose his appeal on presidential immunity while winning the ability to remain on the ballot. Maybe the press of his legal problems will enable Biden to win. I, for one, am not willing to bet on that, especially with the delaying tactics that have so far succeeded.
Both Biden and Trump are exceedingly-damaged goods. Biden should do the right thing and step aside. Sure it would be chaos for a couple of months. But I believe that the eventual nominee would be much better positioned than Biden to win in November.
Come to think of it–that should be more than enough fodder for the Open Thread.
What do you want to talk about?
Joe is absolutely right about preserving democracy and saving the soul of the nation. Problem is, whenever he talks about it now, he sounds like your grandfather and most people of voting age would prefer to have their father, not their grandfather, running the country. The express train of time has passed Joe by and it’s regrettable that he didn’t realize it before he bought his tickets last year.
Trump may be stupid, a fraudster, a sex abuser and a likely felon, but he sounds and acts like he’s still alive.
Problem is — besides having to convince Joe to step down, and do it fast, is that the Dems have no attack dogs on their bench ready to step in. They need someone who can hit hard and take a punch if they’re going to beat Trump. I understand all the hope that when voters close the curtrain they’ll choose democracy over dictatorship, but I’m no longer convinced that Joe can deliver that message effectively,
Biden got Comeyd, then made it worse with an unnecessary press conference, which will be replayed like the Dean Scream, regardless of what gibberish Trump is uttering.
Dems have plenty of attack dogs. What they don’t have is another likable person with years of legislative experience to handle a divided Congress.
And no, I don’t think Biden should step aside. The Repubs and the media will just find or manufacture another bone to chew on with the next candidate, who won’t have any of Biden’s advantages to fall back on.
Here’s the thing – democrats will not vote for Biden because of his declining mental state. Repubes will vote for Trump if he’s in a catatonic state drooling into a colostomy bag
Biden is toast. I would tap Andy Beshear, who actually checks a lot of the boxes for what we need right now. Gavin and Kamala are too manufactured and have way too much baggage; Beshear is an actual human being.
If Biden walks into an open manhole, it is Kamala. Get any other fanciful scenario out of your mind. She’ll probably run on “but Trump is worse” and we’ll get what we deserve.
There’s no violin section in the world big enough to play all y’all’s constant sad song. “Woe is we” is the fucking fullest song in the universe.
Dullest. Fucking autocorrect
It is hard to fight for Joe, or Team Dem, when they don’t seem willing to fight for themselves. I know young voters who are completely unmoved by Biden’s “but Trump is worse” campaign theme.
Yeah, and? Go ahead, fuck around and find out, kidz. You’ll live longer to regret it than I will.
Just to be clear, you are arguing that Biden is the only viable candidate who can beat trump, and anywho who speaks to the contrary is committing a thoughtcrime
To further clarify, all y’all are doing is airing your anxieties and, by so doing, spreading it to others. Why don’t you clarify for me how that benefits anyone but the anxiety-airer? I would argue that it’s detrimental to everyone else, and probably doesn’t even help the person doing the airing.
Joe Biden is running. There’s nothing you can do to change that. He might suffer some health crisis that could change that, but it’s nothing we or anyone else can control.
I can state that with almost absolute certainty. But what I find on most chat boards – not just this one, any liberal chat board – is lots of people telling me what’s going to happen, as if they know. They don’t. Nobody does. There are probabilities, but no certainties. We certainly can’t predict with any certainty what’s going to happen in elections nine months from now.
Predictions are really, really cheap. Because they’re worthless.
This line of thinking gave us the failed Hillary candidacy. So what if people are anxious? They’ll vote D anyway.
There is still time to pivot. Shutting down the conversation about candidate viability is a road to nowhere
It’s not a conversation. It’s a whinefest. There’s a difference.
Hillary gave us the failed Hillary candidacy, not any line of thinking by voters.
If I wanted to shut it down I’d just delete all these comments. It’s not about shutting it down. It’s about pointing out that you’re pissing up a rope.
I notice you have nothing to say about spreading your anxiety around. Why not? Don’t give a fuck?
Not in the least. I just don’t like “woe is we” whining. It doesn’t accomplish anything. But whine away. Maybe you’ll prove me wrong.
To be honest… the only Dem who can easily beat Trump and save the Dems today is… Barack Obama.