Joe Biden gave a wonderful speech last night. He was sharp, hopeful, eloquent, compassionate, determined, visionary.
If you missed it, watch it now. He was superb.
He laid out a vision of a renewed America, united to conquer the virus, rebuild our infrastructure, bring people together, and heal the deep wounds inflicted on us during the past four years.
After his speech, Republican consultant Rick Wilson—active in the Lincoln Project—said on Brian Williams’ MSNBC show that the choice in the election is stark. He said, “it’s a choice between a good man and a very bad man; between a decent man and an indecent man; between a moral man and a deeply immoral man.”
After listening to Biden lay out an inspiring call to rebuild and uplift our nation, I saw clips of Trump speaking spitefully in Scranton, Biden’s hometown. Trump was vicious, ridiculing Biden and accusing him of abandoning Scranton 70 years ago! Same old, same old: mean-spirited, nasty, divisive, sowing hatred and chaos. Again, he broke a norm of American politics in which each party goes silent while the other convenes. Not Trump. He was desperate to rain on Biden’s big night, but his me-me-me failed. It was Biden’s night.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post said that Biden spoke from a place unknown to Trump: the heart.
He wrote:
President Trump has tried every dirty trick in the book — and a few new ones — to cast doubts about the workings of Joe Biden’s brain. But Trump has been focusing on entirely the wrong organ. Biden’s appeal is from the heart.
The Democratic presidential nominee, in the most crucial speech of his long career in public service, had no problem clearing the low bar Trump had set. The evening began with a clip of Biden quoting Kierkegaard and ended with him quoting the Irish poet Seamus Heaney.
But the power of Biden’s acceptance speech — and the power of his candidacy — was in its basic, honest simplicity. The rhetoric wasn’t soaring. The delivery was workmanlike (he botched an Ella Baker quote in his opening line). But it was warm and decent, a soothing, fireside chat for this pandemic era, as we battle twin crises of disease and economic collapse we only see each other disembodied in boxes on a screen. Biden spoke not to his political base but to those who have lost loved ones to the virus.
“On this summer night,” Biden said, his voice growing rough, “let me take a moment to speak to those of you who have lost the most. I have some idea how it feels to lose someone you love. I know that deep black hole that opens in the middle of your chest, and you feel like you are being sucked into it. I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes. But I have learned two things. First, your loved one may have left this earth, but they will never leave your heart. . . . And second, I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is defined purpose. As God’s children, each of us has a purpose in our lives.”
Biden’s speech, and indeed the whole closing night of the Democratic convention, was the polar opposite of the Trump’s “American carnage” vision. Biden’s rejoinder: American compassion. American competence. American community.
Words kept recurring: Dignity. Normalcy. Decency. Integrity. Stability. Sanity. Family. Big-hearted. Justice. Respect. Faith. Hope. Love. There was little about policy from Biden, and certainly no laundry list of proposals and promises. There was no attempt to throw red meat to the political left. This was about healing and recovery.
No choice here: Biden must beat this hateful, ignorant, illiterate, vicious man.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I posted several comments on U-tube. I was told, “unplug this bot !!!”
I was astounded at the number of comments that put Biden down. To me it is unreal that someone like Trump can have admirers. I’ve read about them and know some of them and I still don’t understand.
I answered one person by writing, “Intelligence is obviously lacking in some people. Sorry about that. There is no fixing stupid.”
It isn’t nice to blatantly criticize. Michelle would say I’m going low. I’m just infuriated at all the horrible things Trump has done and continues to do every single day. As one of my friends would say, “What is wrong with people?”
LikeLike
Why is this such a hard concept to understand? Criticizing Biden does not mean one likes Trump. It seems like a blogful of teachers could understand basic logic.
We all want to get rid of Trump. But you’re not going to do it with someone who is pretty much like Trump – racist, sexist, demented, war-monger, corporatist. You’re not going to defeat Trump by returning to “normal” when normal means tens of millions of people unemployed and the Democrats have no plans for further stimulus payments/UBI. Normal means even more people uninsured and the Dems steadfastly refuse to consider Medicare for All and now they’ve even walked back the public option they mumbled about a time or two. Normal means we’re headed for an irreversible global climate catastrophe and the Dems’ plan, while perhaps better than Trump’s plan, is still way too little, way too late and far too supportive of the fossil fuel industry (they have already dropped the line in their platform about ending fossil fuel subsidies).
People are suffering, which is something you comfortable libs refuse to hear and understand because it would mean fundamental changes to your life (even though those changes would ultimately be beneficial to you as well). You prefer the candidate who said “nothing will fundamentally change”. Well, for millions of people, that’s not better than better than Trump – they feel like they’re doomed either way, so they may as well blow the system up, or else they just give up entirely on electoral politics since it’s been made very clear that their voice is not welcome.
Biden could easily sweep Trump simply by adopting Bernie’s platform, even just Medicare for All. But instead of giving even a millimeter, the Dems continuously dig their heels in, spit in the faces of the left and go after the neocon Republicans that lied us into Iraq and so many other unnecessary and horrific military engagements that have killed millions of people. The same Republicans that crashed the economy in 2008 and preached bailouts for banks and corporations and austerity for the rest of us. (Incidentally, Ted Kaufman, Biden’s top aide, has already made it clear that austerity will be the way of the Biden administration because the “pantry is empty”. It’s not so empty that we can’t afford trillions in bailouts to corporations, it’s just empty for the people who are getting up at 2:00 a.m. to wait in six-block long lines at the food pantry.)
I know this is very unpopular to say around here, but here’s my prediction: Trump is going to flank the Dems on the left by promising some kind of bogus and wholly inadequate healthcare and/or stimulus plan. But since it will be better than the nothing the Dems are offering, it will be popular. Trump’s supporters will show up in droves, the disaffected and disenfranchised will stay home, Biden’s unenthusiastic crowd of nose-holders will be inadequate, at least in the swing states, and we’ll be faced with four more years of Trump. But it’ll be okay, because you can always blame the Left even though we warned you. Or you can blame da Russkies.
On the chance that Biden wins, we’ll face four more years of gradually worsening austerity and suffering and in 2024, Tom Cotton will mop the floor with Kamala Harris and then we’ll really understand what fascism is all about.
Either way, I see no good options in November unless the Biden administration does somehow magically become this party of FDR that you delusionally insist that they are despite everything they are telling you.
I don’t say all this because I support Trump – I emphatically do not and everyone on this blog knows that no matter how much you may deny it. I say all this because the actions of the Democrats over the last 40 years and continuing through this election season are what has gotten us Trump and will do so again unless they change course immediately.
Finally, rather than argue with me, your efforts would be better spent phone banking for Biden because I won’t be back to read all your slurs calling me a Trump supporter simply because you can’t handle your own cognitive dissonance.
LikeLike
Before anyone wastes their time with this tripe, may I refer you a comment a certain Dienne made on October 30, 2016:
“The ‘But Trump’ excuse ends November 9. I’m looking forward to hearing the excuses from that point forward.” To which a certain Joe responded:
“What about the excuses if Trump actually wins?” To which a certain Diane Ravitch responded:
“If Trump wins, he will fill Scalia’s seat on the Court, and possibly Ginsburg’s and one other. We will have a far-right Court for a generation. Forget about legal abortion and gay rights [editorial note: we got a reprieve on the latter]. Forget about civil rights enforcement. Forget about regulating the environment. Trump has promised to unleash clean coal (?) and let industry frack wherever it wishes.”
On November 1, 2016, a certain Dienne wrote this (note the sureness of the prognostication) in response to another comment:
“MathVale, I’ve always had a lot of respect for you, but your equation of criticizing Hillary with supporting Trump is causing me to lose some of that respect. It’s just like GWB’s ‘You’re with us or you’re with the terrorists’ line. The fact is that Hillary is the likely next president of the United States. It’s insane to pretend that she is a liberal when she has a 20+ year record of supporting the same neoliberal policies as the rest of the so-called Democrats. We had a chance to pick a candidate who would have broken that mold, but it was not to be. We still had a chance to reject both the Republicans and the Democrats, but, again, that is not to be. We have been steadily pushed down the There Is No Alternative tunnel into picking between quite possibly the worst two candidates in the history of U.S. elections and any suggestion that there were or are alternatives has been met with derision, scorn and ‘so, what, you support Trump?’. Very disheartening.
“We can either face who and what Hillary is now or we can dance in Grant Park like we did eight years ago and then feign surprise when we get slapped in the face, again, for the next eight years. I was one of those dancing in Grant Park eight years ago who’s been rudely awakened since. I personally don’t plan to keep taking surprise hits to the face. As a recent president said, ‘fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.’”
On another post on November 1, 2016, a certain Dienne was on a roll:
“So now we have to be terrified if he wins and if he loses? It’s amazing how much power people are handing this man. It doesn’t even matter what happens on November 8 at this point. He’s already won.” The same post included this nugget:
“Can we at least put to bed the unsubstantiated rumors of Trump working with the Russkies?” and later: “Sigh. I see that evidence does nothing around here.”
On a post from November 8, 2016 about the left closing ranks to support Clinton, a certain Dienne wrote this in criticism of another commentator (the second paragraph is comedy gold, Jerry, gold!):
“Maybe that’s the case with Rudy, but I am most definitely not a Republican (exact opposite, actually) and I too am not holding my breath. If anything, the parts of the platform she’ll enact will come with a huge helping of corporate favoritism. For instance, I wouldn’t be surprised if she does get universal pre-k through, but it will just be Common Core Junior with mandatory testing, both academic and so-called “social emotional” (i.e., ‘grit’). Probably with a side of so-called ‘social impact bonds’.
“I’m already on record saying if I’m proven wrong I will publicly (and happily) eat a steaming plate of crow. Will you vow the same?”
And finally, on the post “The Morning After” on November 9, 2016, we got this gem from a certain Dienne:
“Oh please. Apparently you both forget that Bernie got a very good reception at Liberty University of all places. Bernie had a way of connecting with people because he listened to and understood their grievances and fears and responded to them in a way that didn’t resort to racism/sexism/xenophobia/etc. He had a way of bringing out people’s common humanity and they loved him for it.
“Trump ‘savaged’ Clinton by hoisting her on her own elitist petard. His whole message was ‘Clinton doesn’t care about you, I do’. Now, that’s certainly a dubious claim for him to make, but Hillary’s counter was basically, ‘I don’t care about you unless you’re affluent’ – otherwise you’re ‘deplorable’ (her own word, just a reminder). She walked right in to every trap he set. How’s that for her ‘competence’?”
To which a certain Diane Ravitch responded:
“Dienne, this is a great day for you and other Hillary haters. Let the rest of us feel sad a little longer before you start the hatred stuff up again.”
Note the rhetorical surety of the first and last comments of a certain Dienne and how they are not connected by any logical consistency whatsoever. And now Tom Cotton has already been inaugurated in Jan. 2025! Heavens to Murgatroyd!
LikeLike
Greg,
Thank you for this sad reminder that we’ve seen this script before. Trump is far worse than any of us imagined. The time for excusing his ignorance, racism, xenophobia, and viciousness is long past. Bernie did not become the nominee in 2016 or 2020 because another candidate got more votes. That’s the way a democratic system works. Now we have a president who refuses to say whether he will accept the results of the election if he loses. I truly don’t understand the mental processes of those who support him or think he is a better alternative than the Democratic alternative. Now Trump is making the audacious claim that if the Democrats win, there will be total anarchy. This grifter thinks he defends “the American Dream.” He is the American Nightmare.
LikeLike
GregB, thank you for reminding us of how dienne77 was posting the exact same thing in 2016, where she kept saying over and over again that HRC was as bad as Trump.
Now it is that Biden is as bad as Trump.
I believe it is the height of white privilege to believe there is no difference between Trump and Biden and that Trump isn’t particularly dangerous. It is certainly true that for white, privileged people who can afford private school, having another 4 years of Trump is not nearly as scary as if you are in one of the groups that Trump denigrates at every turn and refuses to help when they need it. So yes, one who lacks empathy and sees only what is good for them might decide that there is no difference between Biden and Trump.
But what dienne77 cannot accept is that Bernie Sanders failed to get the support of enough primary voters who wanted his policies more than what other candidates were offering to address health care or other issues.
Maybe dienne77 should have been phone banking for Bernie instead of spending her time posting on here defending Trump and repeating right wing talking points about how the Mueller Report totally exonerated Trump.
But I fail to see dienne77’s logic that the candidate who couldn’t win the democratic primary was a sure bet in the general election. I suppose that is because dienne77 expected voters who liked the policies of the other primary candidates more would recognize that Bernie’s policies, while not the same, were still very good.
In other words, dienne77 expects that Bernie would win because she expects that other Americans would care more about this country than they do about having a candidate prioritizing the issues that they prioritize in the exact same way, no exceptions.
It seems really hypocritical.
One needs empathy to actually treat ALL voters in the democratic party as if they matter. Trump has no empathy, and neither do any people who say the Mueller Report totally exonerated Trump.
LikeLike
YouTube is the absolute gutter when it comes to comments. You don’t want to hang around there.
LikeLike
Agree 100%, we should all support and vote for Biden/Harris, to do otherwise would be stupid. The Alex Jones candidate must be voted out of office and shown his walking papers, 4 more years of Trump would be hideous on steroids.
LikeLike
Trump’s behavior is, “unforgivable”
Even a compassionate man like Joe Biden has his limits.
This was good to hear.
LikeLike
Biden is the right man to help us move forward. Biden is a great conciliator, and he was known as much for this when he was in the Senate. I believe that that is one reason why Obama chose him as vice president. Biden is able to work with different kinds of people. He knows how to build consensus, not division. He has earned the respect from members of both sides of the aisle. In addition, I hope this election clears some of obstructionists out of the legislature so we as a nation can move forward so that Biden can implement some much needed positive change.
Biden appeared fit, competent and ready to serve. I hope he can keep it together in a debate with the orange menace. Biden stutters when flustered, but I hope he can overcome this tendency. How does anyone prepare for a debate with a lunatic?
In my largely conservative area I have seen a few Trump signs in front of homes, but not nearly as many as four years ago. I have also seen a few Biden signs as well. I hope there is less enthusiasm for hate and division. We need to work together to defeat Covid and heal as a nation. We need to return to civility and decency.
LikeLike
He was not my first or second choice–after that I had none–but I will vote for and support Joe Biden with as much passion as I can muster, I will promote his candidacy vigorously (I’ve already ordered my Biden/Harris face masks to wear whenever I leave the house), and I will defend his character and record whenever challenged. As for fewer Trump signs, I don’t see it as losing support, but another example of the Duke effect. They are too embarrassed to be vocal, but will vote for the Idiot. We’ve got to get out the vote. Volunteer to bring people to the polls, offer to help them fill out requests for absentee ballots and mail them early, volunteer to be poll workers and document everything you see, report and document any instances of voter intimidation you observe. Nothing, NOTHING, is more important to getting out the vote.
LikeLike
Biden was not my first choice either, but seeing how things have played out and with his superlative choice of running mate, I,too, will be totally supporting and voting for him in Nov (mail in ballot, dropped off, of course).
LikeLike
Biden was not my first choice either, but he is the only choice now.
LikeLike
In the homes with Trump signs, there are racial bigots, people who prosecutors could indict for crimes or, those with sociopathic tendencies.
LikeLike
Agreed
LikeLike
Trump’s supporters include the recently indicted Brian Kolfage, Andrew Badolato and Steve Bannon. Kolfage’s partner (John Hawkins) in fundraising for Kavanaugh promised
(on Fox) that the money would be given to the Catholic diocese of Washington D.C. following Kavanaugh’s decision that he couldn’t accept the money. Badolato is a graduate of Cardinal Mooney High.
LikeLike
More like the reality
https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/08/joe-biden-dnc-trump-election-democratic-convention?fbclid=IwAR0oKbkGX-bXGo4sRkHeITuCcr6N1V372LG7jttJmt6WktdQYs_3RyyEEWg
LikeLike
Sirota states in Jacobin that he knows he has to vote Democratic because Trumps’ fascism is the most clear and present danger.
LikeLike
Near the end of the article Sirota states: “That doesn’t mean I don’t know what to do when I get my ballot. I know I’ll have to deliver it to a drop box rather than by mail if I want to make sure it gets there on time. And I know to vote the Democratic ticket, because I live in a swing state, and I know that fascism’s bid for reelection must be defeated.” end quote
In other words, vote for Biden/Harris to defeat the Rush Limbaugh approved president.
From Cornel West: “We have to tell the truth about even those we vote for,” West added. “That’s why I don’t endorse them, I vote for them.”
LikeLike
Stuart, there will be time enough for squabbles at the family dinner table AFTER the home invaders are arrested and removed. Or, to use a different metaphor, we can worry about polishing the bright work AFTER we’ve repaired the hole in the hull. Or, to use another, we can worry about the skinned knee AFTER the coronary artery bypass. You get this, right?
LikeLike
I don’t think he does.
LikeLike
Bob,
I’m so glad you asked the question “You get this, right?”
I’m suspicious of all these posts linking to the same Sirota article, yet Sirota says it is so important to vote for Biden that he will go out of his way to do so.
If someone will not vote for Biden because Trump’s re-election does not really concern them, it takes a lot of chutzpah to post anything critical of Biden. Obviously they themselves have no empathy for the people suffering under Trump.
So what about it — is Stuart Crocker joining Cornell West, Bernie Sanders, and Sirota in voting for Biden?
You called his bluff. If Crocker doesn’t answer here, that speaks for itself.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you.
LikeLike
Of course I’ll vote for Joe but I’m not under any illusion that much will change to bring about economic justice under a Biden administration. He’s already told Wall Street it won’t.
LikeLike
Biden was almost my last choice among the Democratic primary contenders. I’ve long been a Bernie guy. But Bernie has managed to nudge the party in the right direction, and I remain hopeful. Some things I’m pretty sure Biden will deliver on–actually doing something about climate change, for example. Lord knows I hope we get a chance to see.
LikeLike
Stuart Crocker,
Thanks for replying.
You may be absolutely right that at worst, not “much will change to bring about economic justice under a Biden administration.”
If even “not much” changes, that would be a huge improvement in the right direction, that will allow us to move to a progressive future. “Not much” in the right direction is still vital, especially after 4 years in which a lot changed in the wrong direction.
And I believe Biden may surprise you. His background is similar to LBJ, a Senator who knows how to get policies passed. LBJ’s Great Society program was ambitious, too, and no one thought LBJ was particularly liberal at the time.
LikeLike
Diane I’m listening to DeJoy as we speak. It is SO OBVIOUS that all of his thinking is coming from a BUSINESS/profit-making model. That’s his only horizon. He seems to have NO IDEA about what public service is or means, or the difference between a business and public-service model . . . as founded in the U.S. Constitution for some very good reasons (Franklin is rolling over in his grave about now.)
And I sometimes wonder if some Congresspeople understand the difference. It’s like the business-model pod-brained people have taken over what WAS a Constitutional Democratic Government.
But Trump hit it out of the park last night; and whoever planned the convention in this completely-different time deserves a prize. CBK
LikeLike
Catherine
Will my comment this morning be taken out of moderation soon?
It’s beginning to feel discriminatory.
LikeLike
Economic departments have been churning out Friedman capitalists for forty years. They naively believe that the “invisible hand” of the magic market will show the way. Our nation has been subject to hyper capitalism for the past forty years, and the invisible hand has been squeezing life out of the middle class for the same amount of time. Not everything equates with shopping for pizza or buying a new car. We need to understand the inadequacies of markets in social services that promote well being, safety and education Public schools have been big losers in market based education. We have seen how rigged markets can decimate public schools.
Unlike Europe we have failed to regulate capitalism and protect our citizens from the voracious appetites of ever expanding markets. Capitalism may work for pizza and cars, but it fails to provide equitable education.
LikeLike
I should also add that we must fight to have an independent USPS that is a public service. Considering the number of sensitive documents that go through the USPS, we must not allow private companies to own this service. If privatization has taught us anything, it is that many companies lie, cheat and steal, and we cannot trust them with ballots, passports, immigration papers and property deeds.
LikeLike
Catherine:
“But Trump hit it out of the park last night…”
Didn’t you mean to say, “Biden hit it…” ?
(Probably too late for you to see this.)
LikeLike
I loved Joe Biden’s speech, too, Diane.
What a difference between him and that dumpster.
LikeLike
As someone who believes that the demonization of Putin and Russia is designed to further a new cold war, I was disappointed to hear Biden refer the Russian Bounty story and how we should “taken action”. I am deeply concerned that a Biden/Harris presidency will mean a bigger military budget and more intervention in the middle east and the world.
LikeLike
ArtsSmart,
In the most recent budget, the Trump Administration is requesting $20 billion MORE for military programs than for all the other federal programs combined. And the Trump Administration budget is CUTTING $6 billion cut from federal student loans, $8 billion cut from Medicaid and children’s health programs, and cutting $20 billion from welfare programs.
But that doesn’t bother ArtsSmart. Nor do the deaths of 170,000 Americans in just a few months, or the fact that Trump’s military budget includes a huge increase in developing a nuclear arsenal. Nukes don’t bother ArtsSmart because Trump wants them.
No, what bothers ArtsSmart is that Biden is talking tough to Putin about the bounties put out on American soldiers and about Putin’s interference in American (and other countries) elections.
ArtsSmart, it is clear you should definitely vote for Trump since you share the same values.
LikeLike
Yes, agree NYCpsp. In any case, Putin demonizes himself with his every action. Like changing the rules to become president for life, poisoning his opponents and gobbling up Ukrainian territory. Talk about a predatory authoritarian oligarch.
LikeLike
“Talk about a predatory authoritarian oligarch.”
Yes, it is very revealing that ArtsSmart is outraged that Biden doesn’t worship at the altar of a predatory authoritarian, like the Republicans in Congress.
LikeLike
Princeton’s Stephan F. Cohan is an expert on Russia and has written many in depth articles for the Nation explaining how the current state of affairs came to be and why the current POV of the western corporate media isn’t accurate. When the Obama administration intervened in Libya the country was completely destroyed. God knows how many innocent civilians have died because of US foreign policy. The military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned our country about wields tremendous power and I would like to have someone in the oval office who isn’t afraid to tell them “NO”. I don’t think Biden or Harris is the type to do that. That doesn’t mean that I don’t favor them over Trump, but still I am concerned that they will give a rubber stamp to all of the Pentagon’s wishes.
LikeLike
I have much greater confidence that a Biden team (of experts in these matters) will understand the Russia dynamic and threat (or lack thereof) and how to handle it, than any alternate team.
LikeLike
ArtsSmart,
Do you understand why Obama joining NATO to intervene in Libya left Libya “completely destroyed”?
Because Obama tried to do the OPPOSITE of what the US did in Iraq! Get out right away! Forget about that dirty word “nation building”, because “nation building” is a very bad thing. So America got out.
And now you are blaming Obama for the casualties that happened because the US got out immediately! Wasn’t that supposed to be the idea in Iraq – that you criticize Obama and blame him for not taking office and immediately pulling out troops?
Here is my question: If Obama had come to office and immediately pulled out all troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, would you celebrate Obama, or would you say that what Obama did was terrible and talk about all the innocent civilians who had died because Obama had pulled out all the troops and the two countries had descended into chaos?
Do those civilians you care about only count when the president takes whatever action you want, and are they of no concern if the president simply sits back and lets them be systematically exterminated because he decided that intervening was too much bother or that those people were going to die anyway, so why should the US stop it?
In hindsight, I have no idea what the solution is when there is no good solution that won’t result in innocent people dying. But let me go on record right now, without having any idea of the future:
If Donald Trump is re-elected and turns the US into what Iraq and Libya looked like before US intervened, and my family was in grave danger because Trump acted like Saddam Hussein and Muammar Qaddafi, I would WELCOME another country to please come in and intervene.
Even if I knew it might result in chaos, because even if the chances of success were not good, even a small chance of success would be begetter than watching this country destroyed because a Hussein or Qaddafi could grab power, exterminate all enemies, and continue to hold power indefinitely.
But I certainly respect your right to disagree.
LikeLike
^^Also, thank you, Lafayette and France, for “intervening” in America to help create the United States of America. One could argue that Lafayette only helped the US for his own reasons, and France had political reasons to “intervene”, but it is very possible that the British might have lasted longer if they knew that there was no possible way France or any other country would be helping George Washington.
And I absolutely recognize that many innocent people died during the War of Independence, just like many innocent people died during the Civil War. It was possible that the South would descend in chaos and many compromises were made post-Civil War by politicians that hurt a lot of people. But does that mean that it would be better if the Civil War or Revolutionary War never happened? And the answer depends on who are are, I guess.
LikeLike
Joe Biden could very well be the right person to become the next President of the United States. His choice for Vice-President is the right one. It is the right ticket.
But the questions that need be asked: Will the American people come together to support the new President and Vice-President? Will members of the House and Senate muster enough courage to rise above political partnership to help the new President return our government to a calm and productive one that best serves all peoples of this nation and provide the leadership much needed in the world today? Will the media, all media, tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Will we become “We The People” again? Will our Constitution return to being the foundation of our democracy? Only time will tell. How will the future judge the next four years. Judgement on the last four years will not be good.
LikeLike
McConnell and the GOP right wing thugs will sabotage and obstruct Biden/Harris (assuming that they win, please) from day one, as they did to Obama. The GOP is a radical right wing death cult, beyond hope.
LikeLike
Then it is time to change the status quo and vote out those radical Republicans. But we must also remember there are those Democrats in the House and Senate who are also radical and need to change their ways or be replaced.
Hope is why we will go to vote in November. We will vote and hope that we put into office those people who will think of this nation’s people first. Without out hope there is little or no reason to go to vote. Hard work, hope, and many prayers is what made the country great. We can do it again.
LikeLike
You ask all the pertinent questions. That’s why I don’t trust anyone who would vote for Biden and Republicans senators and members of Congress.
LikeLike
Joe Biden’s speech was clearly heartfelt. It was unequivocal. I now look forward to hearing The Current Occupant Of The White House’s speech next week, as it will be not heart felt, but gall bladder felt. And by the way, since no one wants to say aloud or write his name, Current Occupant is his official name for now. Soon, we will rename him The Aberration.
And now, I have to go off topic and mention a terrible development. Investment banker turned LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner is getting ready to try to reopen schools. $$$. The LA times reported this morning, “He envisioned something like drive-through testing, one line for families with symptoms, another for those without. A Microsoft app (emphasis mine) that is supposed to be integral to the effort is going through late-stage testing, he said.” No! No no no no no! I am not letting my employer force my safety and privacy to be placed in the hands of greedy overlord Bill Gates’ company, the same one that has given the world so many trash-worthy products and prevented competition from other, better companies. No! Not a Microsoft app. No way! Not on my phone. Not on my laptop. — Not on my watch.
LikeLike
A Microsoft app (emphasis mine) that is supposed to be integral to the effort is going through late-stage testing…”
Microsoft test their software (even minimally) before it’s released?
Ha ha ha .
That would be a first.
Gates is the king of “loose software on the public, collect the automated bug reports and do a patch of the week for ten years thereafter”..
LikeLike
He and his wife are both hackers, meaning they hack crap together and sell it to the public.
Purveyors of garbage.
LikeLike
Gates nearly destroyed the company as “chief software engineer”.
The only thing that saved it was his “retirement” to “philanthropy”, which saw him dump his garbage (Common Core) on schools.
LikeLike
I was hoping you’d catch my comment, Poet. I hope the powers that be in Los Angeles are catching this Microsoft fail too.
LikeLike
Drive-by Testing
“Drive-by testing”
What’s in store
Gates infesting
Bugs galore
LikeLike
COVID tracing needs to be done by professionals, not an app. The high stakes standardized testing Gates rammed into our schools before was bad enough. Value Added Method was ridiculous. With COVID testing and tracing he will hold our very lives in his dirty little hands. Everything he does fails. He never admits wrong. With Common Core, 3 + 5 = 12. With COVID Core, 3 + 5 = death. That’s Gates’ Devalued-life Added Method.
I write lightheartedly, but really I am scared.
LikeLike
Agreed. It was a good speech. Really, a great moment. Glad to be onboard with him.
LikeLike
Biden was my first choice. I think he was dismissed because of his age and his lack of “spiciness” (excitement). His resume, demeanor, steadiness and warmth is exactly what we need. He is going to put together a great team and move us forward. And I love the total ticket. Kamala is the perfect match, qualified – amazing resume and a little spice that will be fun to watch in the debates.
LikeLike
As am typing I have (had) the senate hearing about the Post Office in the background. Republicans on the committee are praising the post office Post Master General and saying it’s Democrats lying about the situation. The lying (and borderline brainwashing by some ‘news’ sources) is confusing for a lot of people. It makes it hard for people who are not paying close attention to connect the dots and understand the seedier things happening in our country.
LikeLike
Quartz reports that, the “We Build the Wall” organization (Steve Bannon’s arrest) had as a board member, Betsy DeVos’ brother, Erik Prince. The yacht that Bannon was arrested on reportedly belongs to a Chinese billionaire.
An announced speaker at the GOP convention- Covington Catholic student, Nathan Sandmann, known for being filmed in D.C. in a confrontation with a Native American.
LikeLike
As to the latter, nothing more inspiring than the aggrieved, privileged white man! They’ve been held down and abused far too long.
LikeLike
If Sandmann speaks, the DNC should run ads contrasting Sandmann with Brayden Harrington, the 13 year old boy who spoke so movingly about his stutter.
LikeLike
I like that!
LikeLike
I love to read JSTOR articles. This one was a fascinating commentary on the relationship between plagues and political unrest. I am not sure the information below will take you to it, or if I get it because I subscribe. The article discussed controversy over quarantine orders during the reign of Elizabeth I in England and the attitudes of people toward the orders. It compares the peasant revolts to the demonstrations that erupted over the George Floyd incident.
Perhaps Biden is the elder statesman who can persuade the distant right that the country needs to include others. When he is elected, it will be interesting to see how the people who vote for Trump accept him as a president. Trump has spent the last four years accusing his opponents of fomenting disunity. Will Biden/Harris do the trick? Stay tuned.
(https://daily.jstor.org/plague-and-protest-go-hand-in-hand/?utm_term=Read%20More&utm_campaign=jstordaily_08202020&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email)
LikeLike
This is one reason that Trump might win. Rush L is as rotten as Trump and makes millions off of his rhetoric of how great our lying, misogynistic, xenophobic, narcissistic, bigoted, racist, ignoramus is doing. He’s always GREAT.
………………………….
RushL : “I think it is imperative that we have somebody like Donald Trump, who is outside the establishment expert class, who has a history of solving problems, to actually lead the country through this,” Limbaugh said.
LikeLike
Honestly, if we didn’t have such a lazy media, whenever someone said this, they would be immediately asked to name some of those problems that Trumped “solved” in his long history of bankrupting companies?
LikeLike
I think Rush has his own show – or at least he used to. And people like him are masters at twisting facts and dirty debate.
LikeLike
History of “‘solving problems” ….. that’s rich.
LikeLike
“Ran 6 of his companies into the ground” – Bloomberg talking about Trump
LikeLike
“history of
solvingcreating problems”Fixed.
LikeLike
I agree with this assessment. He is a con man who cares nothing about anyone but himself. Everyday he does something to hurt or destroy. As he gets frustrated or worried, things will get more exaggerated. Many medical professionals have been warning us ever since he got elected.
…………………………………
Donald Trump’s desperation is pathological — and deeply dangerous for the nation
…Malignant narcissists develop a scorched-earth mentality when they are cornered or exposed or rebuffed. Trump will deliberately and purposefully try to hurt people and institutions if he goes down. He will strike out in narcissistic rage. He will not go down alone.
Upon losing the election, Trump will file motions and lawsuits in order to turn the election results upside down. He will not concede. He will not assist in the orderly transition of power to Joe Biden. He will not leave the Oval Office. He will scream from the mountaintops that he is the victim of a “rigged election.” And he will point fingers at his usual foils, including Barack Obama, the Democratic Party and virtually all non-white Americans.
Sadly, Trump is capable of inciting and promoting violence by his supporters. There could be riots in the streets. He will describe it as the “silent majority” rising up in his behalf. He will clamor for a new election. He will get a sadistic rush from witnessing the turmoil and chaos that he alone creates.
Trump’s desperate maneuvers reflect his severe and malignant psychopathology. He cares about no one but himself. Even then, he is so self-sabotaging and self-destructive that he seems to tarnish and destroy everyone and everything in his path, including himself….
https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/donald-trumps-desperation-is-pathological-and-deeply-dangerous-for-the-nation/#.X0BWG-R34Mw.gmail
LikeLike
I heard Trump say today that the only legitimate election is if he wins. If he loses, it’s “rigged,” fraudulent.
LikeLike
I reflexively laughed when I read this. It’s kind of funny ….. if it wasn’t so serious.
LikeLike
& didn’t it45 say that if it45 was impeached there would be a civil war?
LikeLike
I like the message of inclusion. The President has to be President of all Americans. Also though sometimes the US does not not live up to the highest ideals the US must always strive to live up to those high ideals which Biden will do and which is an approach antithetical to Trump’s way of governing.
LikeLike
I really appreciate your post and I support Joe Biden. How we would all be beyond overjoyed if it was RFK instead of just Joe but that is the reality of this moment in time. Even Joe Biden appreciates this fact. Joe can provide the correction we need right now, get us more on the right track. This is a process, a process that will go on long after we’re gone and even our grandchildren are gone.
LikeLike
And this IDIOT is someone people actually want to have as president of the U.S. Trump encourages hatred.
…………………………………….
Gretchen Whitmer accuses Donald Trump of inciting domestic terror
The Michigan governor who was the target of a foiled rightwing kidnapping plot said on Friday that Donald Trump’s rhetoric “incites more domestic terror”, after the president posted a series of aggressive tweets overnight that sought to shame the victim of the plot.
Thirteen men have been charged over a plan to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic governor of Michigan, whom Joe Biden considered naming as his running mate for the November election before picking Kamala Harris.
The men, some of whom were members of a rightwing, self-styled militia group, discussed blowing up a bridge and bundling Whitmer into a boat. Another plan involved killing Whitmer on her doorstep, according to the authorities.
The fallout from the thwarted kidnapping – which was set to take place before the 3 November election – has further pulled back the curtain on the ideological polarization in US society, and descended into a growing political row.
On Friday Biden accused Trump of “giving oxygen to the bigotry and hate we see on the march in our country”, as Trump attacked Whitmer hours after the plotters were named.
Trump, who has spent months criticizing Whitmer and other Democratic governors over measures to try to control the coronavirus pandemic as it surged across America, on Thursday said Whitmer had “done a terrible job” in Michigan, and complained that she was yet to thank him for the FBI stopping the plot.
Speaking on Friday morning, Whitmer said Trump was “creating a very dangerous situation”…
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/oct/09/gretchen-whitmer-accuses-donald-trump-of-inciting-domestic-terror
LikeLike
The U.S. hasn’t nuked any hurricanes yet. Trump is amazingly intelligent. /s [Unique] Here is one of his latest blasts that make no sense:
WaPo
While speaking with Hannity on Thursday night Trump said: “California is going to have to ration water. You want to know why? Because they send millions of gallons of water out to sea, out to the Pacific. Because they want to take care of certain little tiny fish that aren’t doing very well without water.”
Hannity didn’t ask what he was referring to.
LikeLike
Trump is totally unhinged. The steroids he is on are actually making him worse, if that can be imagined.
………………………………………
The strangest (and scariest) parts of Trump’s two-hour “virtual rally” interview with Rush Limbaugh
President Donald Trump conducted a two-hour phone interview with talk radio host and Trump-conferred Medal of Freedom recipient Rush Limbaugh. Promoted beforehand by Limbaugh as the “largest virtual rally in radio history” — and coming right after Trump publicly refused to hold next week’s presidential debate remotely, despite his recent COVID-19 diagnosis — the appearance instead became a lengthy conversation between the two men, attempting to cast the president as America’s great leader in these tumultuous times.
The interview began in a quite surreal fashion, with Limbaugh’s production team playing a recording of the country song “God Bless the U.S.A.,” so often performed at Republican rallies, followed by the canned sound of imaginary cheering crowds. And then Limbaugh greeted the president, asking his guest to envision the sight of a great campaign rally.
“I want you to imagine you have just landed in a gleaming, majestic Air Force One to the largest radio rally in history,” he said. “Instead of thousands cheering as you walk up to the stage, there are millions and millions of patriots out there right now anxiously awaiting to hear from you. No doubt, they are waving Trump flags, wearing their bright red MAGA hats proudly. This, sir, is a mega-MAGA rally and we are all thrilled to be with you today.”…
https://www.mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/strangest-and-scariest-parts-trumps-two-hour-virtual-rally-interview-rush-limbaugh
LikeLike
The wall will be done soon?
LikeLike
Yep, very soon.
Trump also touted his signature project of constructing a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, claiming it was “actually one of the biggest government projects ever. Anyway, so we’re building the wall, we’re up to 380 miles of wall.” He further added: “And nobody thought I was going to get it done. Now it’s almost completed. It will be completed toward the end of the year, very soon.”
LikeLike
Complete nonsensical insanity.
But many Republicans, who understand this is embarrassing nonsense, will vote for him because of the “policies” that they believe are better for America.
LikeLike