I watched Biden’s press conference and aside from one big gaffe—when he referred to “Vice President Trump” instead of Harris, in response to the very first question—I thought he did a great job of answering the questions. His command of foreign issues was masterful. He was well-informed, relaxed, and sharp.
He is old but so is Trump. I would love to see a press conference where Trump is asked questions about policy, as Biden was. I wonder if Trump would reveal his complete ignorance if asked to address policy problems in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.
Bombast is no substitute for experience and knowledge.
When Trump speaks to the press, he demeans them, intimidates them, and plays them like a fiddle.
Tonight’s informed responses by Biden persuaded me that he is strong, wise, confident, and devoted to making the U.S. a better place.
I have no idea whether he will stay or go, based on the relentless assault on him.
As long as he stays in, I’m with him.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Biden gave a Master Class on foreign policy tonight. Unlike Trump who has no class. i am with Joe!
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Nailed it. Master class v. no class.
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I just stole that for my FB status. Thanks, RR!!!
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I agree! Sadly however the American public probably 75% of them would be a nightmare for any conscientious teacher. Trump gets up there and makes them feel great, he “loves the poorly educated”. Making million feel better about themselves. If a moron who can not even read the script from the teleprompter (that he never even contributed to )and answers every question with self aggrandizement and attacks on the reporters who ask the questions. If that piece of turd can be president there is hope for the ignorant masses. Someone just like them made it.
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Amen. And he doesn’t plan to go anywhere, no matter whether folks believe he’d do the country a mitzvah if he did. So the challenge now is strategic. Democrats need an unprecedented focus on recruiting voters at the margins–undecideds; people who care about reproductive rights; progressives frustrated over student debt, Gaza, or climate policy; communities of color who continue to feel unheard. We can not let Biden/Harris lose Georgia by 11,000 votes, or PA, or MI, or WI, or MN. We need to get knocking on doors.
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Thank you, Team.
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Amen. We need to get knocking on doors, making phone calls, writing letters and postcards, and sending text messages. Zillions of opportunities. Please please everyone do something, anything.
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Me too.
Sent from my iPhone
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I agree totally.
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When I checked the news about the interview, some of the headlines and lead paragraphs ran with that one gaff. Since many readers will not read beyond the headline or first paragraph, that is all they will remember.
That is stacking the deck against Biden while never mentioning that Traitor Trump doesn’t answer most of the questions he’s asked at any time, instead replying mostly with his often repeated election lies.
Like he did during the first debate that wasn’t a debate.
Unbiased media sites would leave that one Biden gaffe until near the end and focus on his strong points in the beginning, the inverted paragraph style all ethical journalists are taught and are supposed to use.
And if the traitor is filmed talking longer than a few seconds, like his long rambling monologues during his hate rallies, he always goes all over the place that often doesn’t make any sense.
If Biden runs, I will vote for him. If Harris runs, I will vote for her. If AOC ran, she’s 34 so she can’t. I’d vote for her. Still, that isn’t saying much since I’d vote for a rock or an insect like a cockroach over Traitor Trump.
Any Democrat that runs against Trump has my vote.
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Josh Boak and Nicholas Riccardi of the Associated Press spent the first half of this article on two gaffes and the rest of it complaining he was resorting to stump speech and he whispered and cleared his throat. They even mentioned how he was untethered by the two minute debate restriction so he could go on and talk for several minutes as if to insinuate that he had some upper hand this time.
This reporting is beyond shameful. The AP really isn’t sending its best.
https://apnews.com/article/biden-news-conference-reelection-age-0d9f4936484ff71295e2b088e5c525dd?user_email=e05d50fde39eb03f83a122bafff8936ffe2b4f2a79f26dd3d93aa5e2a57c2506&utm_medium=Morning_Wire&utm_source=Sailthru_AP&utm_campaign=Morning%20Wire_12%20July_2024&utm_term=Morning%20Wire%20Subscribers
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The press will go for gotcha over substance every time.
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yup
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I wish I could be enthused about Biden but his verbal gaffes are unceasing. I couldn’t watch the whole press conference because I was fearful that he would make another cringeworthy faux pas. But the alternative to Biden is unacceptable, Trump shouldn’t even be running for the presidency, he’s a felon and a serial liar of epic proportions. Thus, I will vote for Biden even if they have to carry him into the White House on a stretcher.
Biden mistakenly introduced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin,” the leader of Russia, during a NATO event ahead of the press conference in which the U.S. and allies pledged long-term support for Ukraine against Russia. Biden quickly corrected himself.
The Democratic Party is in a state of utter chaos, confusion and disarray over this Biden hullabaloo. More and more Democrats are telling Biden to drop out and even long time supporters like George Clooney and Rob Reiner want Biden to quit the run for the presidency.
I hope Biden can improve his delivery and get rid of most of the gaffes, hesitations and missteps. I have no idea who would replace Biden if he does decide to drop out of the race because of all the Democrats who are knifing him in the back.
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The presser went beautifully. Biden was impressive. A statesman. I was so pleased to see this.
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Bob: Yes, classy stuff that. And in the end, “Listen to HIM.” CBK
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That was a beautiful moment, huh? THAT should be the lead in the stories written about this.
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You missed out. He was strong and focused.
I don’t understand why he is expected to be this fancy orator when he has a known speech disability. I have no personal experience with a stutter, but the amount of mental energy required to overcome one while speaking on highly complex issues also while trying not to give away strategic government plans must be incredible for anyone if any age.
Why is this not part of narrative?
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14 hours ago, the Lincoln Project did what the media isn’t doing.
In 1:24 minutes (a little longer than one minute), their Daddy video trashing Trump hits some of his worst gaffs that are much worse than any of Bidens.
(99) Daddy – YouTube
The Democratic Party has deeper pockets than the Lincoln Project and should pay for airtime all across the country so as many people as possible may see it.
Traitor Trump repeated the same lies over and over.
The Democrats must do the same thing but repeating the truth about Trump more than Trump lies.
This video is a perfect example how.
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I’d suggested on this blog that Biden ought to do a press conference and he did.
I thought he handled it reasonably well.( Why wasn’t he looking at the camera like that the night of the debate debacle? If only…..)
And, I’ll admit people on this site do have a point. It became clearly evident tonight. Biden’s least slip up is fodder for big headlines meanwhile Trump gets away with murder, time and time again.
Of course, perception is reality to so many people. Is the BIG damage already done?
Though, we could say that about everything that’s happened since #45 first announced his bizarre, destructive foray into politics and history, God help us all.
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I saw clips from Trump’s speech in Miami. He was unhinged, as usual. One rant was about Hannibal Lecter. Another was about the murderers, rapists and other criminals crossing the border, threatening all of our lives. And about rampant crime in DC and how he would take control of DC and turn it into a great city. Rants and ravings and boasts.
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The guy is a wack-job.
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“since #45 first announced his bizarre, destructive foray into politics and history, God help us all.”
So well said, John!
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Biden knocked it out of the park today. I kept comparing him, in my mind, to Trump in the same setting. The respectable, respectful statesman who cherishes our allies and preserving their freedom, as opposed to the orange ass, whom no one in Europe who respects freedom wants to see in the office again, whom they all FEAR because of the damage he would do. That should be enough to make the decision in November a no-brainer. Stand with Biden and our allies, or with the guy who is the embarrassing drunk uncle farting his way through the family picnic and accidentally knocking the 9-year-old off the diving board and into the concrete pool edge.
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Imagine Trump, in an open forum, taking unrehearsed questions ABOUT FOREIGN AFFAIRS, at length, from reporters. The guy is a total ignoramus. This would be something like a Monty Python skit co-written with Ionesco and Pinter.
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We NPCs (Non-Perfect Communicators) have to stick together in the face of all the PCs (Perfect Communicators) out there.
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HAAA!!!!
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The question at this point is not whether Trump or Biden should be president, but rather who’s the best candidate to beat Trump. Biden’s performance did not convince anyone not already supporting him that he’s the answer to that question.
He had three major gaffes (“President Putin”, “Vice President Trump” and “I rely on my Commander-in-Chief”). He flat out lied about not sending 2,000 lbs bombs to Israel. He said his numbers in Israel are better than here which, while one of the most coherent and honest things he said, kind of underlines one of the biggest problems with his candidacy. Otherwise, the conference was a lot of platitudes with Biden often losing his train of thought, trailing off and finishing dismissively with “anyway”. You can’t spend years making “covfefe” your entire personality and then pretend it doesn’t matter when the U.S. president is incoherent.
There’s an episode of M*A*S*H in which BJ bets Hawkeye that he can prank him. Hawkeye becomes so deliriously paranoid trying to prevent being pranked that that itself is the prank. That is exactly what’s happening with liberals terrified of a Trump presidency. You’ve become so short-sighted and reactive that you’re going to end up with a Trump presidency.
As I’ve said before, since I’m not a Democrat, I don’t have a stake in who the Democratic candidate is (although I too would rather not have a second Trump presidency), so continue to support Biden if you wish. But the writing is on the wall that he has little chance of winning at this point. If Biden remains the candidate and he loses, don’t say you weren’t warned and don’t try to make this about Russia or the left or whatever other boogeyman. If Biden does win in November, I’ll be the first to eat humble pie. But if he loses, accept your own responsibility and eat a slice yourself.
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Dienne, based on your record in the past two elections, you are consistent. You hated Hillary in 2016,hated Biden in 2020. Why don’t you fact check a Trump speech?
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Gosh, I wish I had said something like, “The question at this point is not whether Trump or Biden should be president, but rather who’s the best candidate to beat Trump.”
But like I did say, go ahead and keep supporting Biden. Just, when he loses in November, don’t blame Russia or the left or any other boogeyman. You’ve been warned.
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Dienne,
You don’t have a stellar track record. Remember when you insisted that Putin would not invade Ukraine?
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I love how you like to re-litigate the past on things I was wrong about, but ignore (or just deny) the many more things I’m right about. I have explained why I was wrong about Putin invading, but you won’t let me tell those kinds of truths anymore.
In any case, I also wish I’d have said something like, “If Biden does win in November, I’ll be the first to eat humble pie. But if he loses, accept your own responsibility and eat a slice yourself.”
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Dienne,
Why must you always be so nasty? I don’t recall you ever acknowledging you were wrong about predicting that Russia would NOT invade Ukraine, but I do remember many comments when you defended the invasion and said the Ukrainians were Nazis and Putin was justified in invading.
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I wasn’t nasty. In any case, I can explain again about how the extent of NATO troop build up and the extent of the devastation of the Kiev regime in Eastern Ukraine were hidden until after the invasion, so I didn’t realize how dire the situation had become at the time I said Putin wouldn’t invade, but those are the truths you don’t like discussed on your blog. I could provide (and have provided) you with sources proving that, but you never read any of them, so I won’t bother to dig out the articles again.
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Russian lies and propaganda. Certainly not a justification to kill thousands of Ukrainians and Russians.
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Everything you disagree with is Russian propaganda. I get it.
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No. Russian propaganda is Russian propaganda.
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Even if it’s confirmed by high level U.S. military, intelligence and government sources, which everything I claimed was?
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No. Russia’s invasion has been brutal and has targeted mostly civilian populations, schools, hospitals, basic infrastructure.
If Putin’s purpose was to stop NATO, it backfired. Sweden and Finland joined NATO. Apparently you know more than they do.
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Diane,
A few days ago, after a similar anti-Biden anti-Dem rant, I asked this person if there was any viable Democrat that she’d vote for if they replaced Biden at the top of the ticket.
Instead of replying with the name of a Dem she WOULD vote for to prevent Trump and the Republicans from taking over the White House, this person clarified her view:
“I don’t actually care whether Trump and the Republicans are prevented from having power”.
That comment shocked me. But I appreciated her honesty.
Today she sounds like a DeSantis supporter who “would rather not have a second Trump presidency” but would be okay with Trump having a second term.
It’s classic concern trolling. Blaming the Dems for not putting up a different candidate that she won’t vote for anyway because she doesn’t care whether Trump and the Republicans are prevented from having power, but she knows that WE care about that, so she’s trying to be “helpful”.
Diane warned this person in 2016 how damaging a first Trump term would be, and she dismissed those concerns. She didn’t care whether Trump was prevented from having power. Diane warned her in 2020 and again she told us she didn’t actually care whether Trump remained in office.
Trump incited an insurrection. He spurned the Constitution, and promises retribution to his enemies. It is 2024 and Trump is advocating an authoritarian future.
And this person is still saying she does not “actually care” if Trump and the Republicans have power.
It’s time to take her at her word. Trump being in office doesn’t bother her. She supposedly posted here to be helpful to US, because she knows WE are concerned about Trump being in office even if she herself does not share those concerns about Trump being in office. Are we supposed to be grateful for her “concern”?
Since she doesn’t plan to vote for ANY Democrat, period, her advice to us has all the credibility of advice from a Ron DeSantis supporter. They both have mild preferences for someone other than Trump,but they are fine if Trump wins.
But they have no one to blame but themselves. People that do care about preventing Trump from having power vote to prevent Trump from having power. They don’t blame others for their choice. They own it.
But Dems are never going to get the votes of DeSantis voters or folks like this who won’t vote for the Dems regardless because Trump being re-elected isn’t a big deal for them. Biden knew that in 2020.
Dems need to concentrate on getting out the vote of the people who do care about democracy. The people who are concerned about abortion rights, trans rights, public programs that help middle class Americans as well as those in poverty.
The people who weren’t much bothered by what the Republicans did from 2017-2020 and aren’t concerned at the thought of a second Trump presidency are not trustworthy purveyors of “helpful advice”.
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Some people similarly jump to the conclusion that I am an atheist because I do not worship the Christian tribal god. The world is big. Like, really, really big. And full of subtleties and a profusion of types. Or, as Hamlet put it, more things than are dreamt of in your philosophy. It’s a bad idea to assume that because a person doesn’t share your view, he or she must _____ [fill in the blank with a received characterization based on zero evidence].
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Thank you, Bob. I do appreciate that.
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So, I find it fascinating to be exposed to these views that are unusual and far from any that I hold. And fun to debate with those who hold them when they are extreme and dangerous.
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Percentage of U.S. voting populace made up of Communists not supporting Biden because they consider both the Repugnicans and the Dimocrats to be genocidal
I don’t know, maybe 0.00000145%
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Bob,
I did not assume. I ASKED.
The reply I got was:
“I don’t actually care whether Trump and the Republicans are prevented from having power”. Exact words.
Diane, this is another example of Bob writing an uncivil post in which he posts a lot of condescending nonsense and then accuses me of doing what he is doing. Why is this constantly allowed? This is the 2nd snarky one Bob posted since you asked us to stop it.
If Bob wants me to stop participating here and Diane agrees, I can leave. But I am starting to feel like there is a double standard. Is Bob haranguing this person who has responded in a nasty manner to Diane Ravitch? Or is he just haranguing me for some unknowable offense that he only sees when I commit it?
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Bob,
I responded to your first reply and after it posted I saw you had written 2 others. Perhaps I misread your tone. If you didn’t intend your reply to be insulting to me, then I apologize for misinterpreting it. I was wrong. And in fact, I would like to be wrong because I felt kind of sh**ty when I thought it was an insult.
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NYCPSP,
I did not see any comment by Bob saying he didn’t care whether Trump was re-elected. Bob passionately opposes Trump.
He wrote 1,000 comments saying so. He said this a few minutes ago:
“As a practical matter, if Biden chooses not to step down, we must support him AND HIS TEAM. As with Reagan, that team will carry out the spirit of the boss’s philosophy. Which means, in the case of Biden, support for an inclusive America and an America that serves the needs and desires of ordinary folk as opposed to fat cats.
Yes, we suffer from extreme ageism in this country. It’s sickening. We ought to respect the wisdom that comes with great experience, as the native Americans before us did, as people do in many cultures. A wise, decent, but failing Biden over the evil orange pustule on the body politic ANY DAY. His team will do a great job. He will give them direction, serve as their compass, and when the time comes, he will step down and let the brilliant and strong Kamala Harris take the reins, as she is fully capable of doing.”
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Side note: I think it’s good that commenters strive to be civil and not attack other commenters personally. We should stick to the merits. But it does seem that there’s an exception for attacks on Dienne, which kind of undermines the general rule.
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FLERP,
I want everyone who comments here to be civil. I have deleted many of Dienne’s comments because she personally attacked me.
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Yeah, I get that it goes both ways.
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Diane Ravitch,
Thanks very much for your reply. I thought it was worth clarifying what had happened, because I agree with you 100% that Bob is passionately opposed to Trump and cares very much about defeating Trump. That’s why I would never write that Bob doesn’t care whether Trump wins, and I didn’t do so here. I wrote a comment about dienne77 not caring whether Trump wins, and I wrote that because dienne77 said exactly that to me in a reply a couple days ago.
dienne77 wrote these exact words here on your blog: “I don’t actually care whether Trump and the Republicans are prevented from having power”.
When I wrote that comment about dienne77 not caring whether Trump was in power, it was 1:08pm and Bob had not made any comments at all in this thread (you can check the timing of our posts). If, at the time I posted, Bob had been part of this thread, I likely would not have even posted. I thought that was the agreement. That’s why it surprised me that Bob wasn’t holding to that agreement. It surprised me that right after I wrote in a comment that dienne77 had previously said she didn’t care whether Trump won the election, Bob would jump into the thread to condescendingly chide me about how it is wrong to “assume” things about other people.
dienne77 even thanked Bob after he chided and insulted me and came to her defense: “Thank you, Bob. I do appreciate that”, wrote dienne77 after Bob’s condescending reply to me.
The reason I appealed to you is because I was hoping you would ask Bob to stop writing insulting replies to me when I comment. Given that I quoted dienne77 directly when she wrote: “I don’t actually care whether Trump and the Republicans are prevented from having power”, it was odd that Bob suddenly jumped into a thread to chide me about “assuming”. Just like I found it odd that flerp! just chimed in out of the blue to defend dienne77 and imply you (and I) were treating her too harshly.
Diane, I respect that you always take time to consider the facts. And I think it’s clear that Bob and flerp! still have some weird compulsion to respond and criticize my posts even when I am making a comment that has nothing to do with them in a thread where they had not previously commented. I don’t expect special treatment. I just expect Bob and flerp! to treat me the way they treat other people instead of writing gratuitously insulting or snarky comments after my posts.
A good comparison is to look at the very first comment thread in your “Biden on Fire at Detroit Rally” post. You and dienne77 were having a very similar debate, and eventually two commenters wrote in to support you: “fjstats01cf252ba4” wrote “Genug! Turn the page” and rratto wrote a longer comment to dienne77 that ended “your post is pure nonsense.”
Bob did not jump into that thread and respond to rratto by condescendingly lecturing rratto about “assuming” (if Bob had disparaged rratto like Bob disparaged me, would dienne77 also have thanked Bob for that the way she thanked Bob when Bob disparaged me?)
flerp! did not chime in out of the blue to assert that people were not being civil to dienne77 in their replies.
Both rratto and fjstats01cf252ba4 were able to comment on that thread where you and dienne77 were debating, without flerp! or Bob jumping in out of the blue to critique the quality and appropriateness of fjstats01cf252ba4 and rratto’s comments. That thread was much shorter because no one tried to hijack it with a critique of rratto’s comment and how rratto “assumed” something, and no one tried to hijack it by making a short snarky remark deriding fjstats01cf252ba4’s post.
I would like to be treated with the same civility. I would like to be able to make a comment just like rratto and fjstats01cf252ba4 were able to make a comment in the Biden on Fire post without someone jumping in to deride them for commenting. That’s all.
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NYCPSP,
I try to treat everyone who comments with respect. We should all practice civility. I try to encourage civility by modeling it. I can’t speak for others who write in. I admit that Dienne gets under my skin. As others have pointed out, and as I do, she reserves her vitriol for Hillary, Biden, and Obama. I have yet to see a complaint about Trump. She also has expressed vitriolic comments about me personally. I delete them.
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Whenever I see nasty ad hominem comments in advance, I delete them.
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Thank you, Diane. Your comments always exemplify civility and I always appreciate it. You are definitely my model, not just for civility but for always supporting your opinions with strong evidence and rational argument. I don’t come close and lack your wisdom and patience, but I will keep trying to do better and I hope other people will, too. I really enjoy reading almost everyone’s comments, and I have a lot of respect and admiration for some folks here who clearly don’t like me very much, even when we disagree. I think your blog proves that civil conversation is possible between folks who disagree, and the incivility is the exception, not the rule.
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NYCPSP, everyone here is anonymous, even though a few post their names. No reason to “hate” someone just because you disagree. Whenever you intend to write, take a deep. Death. Don’t direct your comment to one person. Express your views.
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Diane,
I agree everyone should try to do that and I will too. I have no idea why two people here dislike me so much (I hope they don’t “hate” me!) and I hope they stop deriding me if they disagree with something I post, especially if I am posting it on a thread they aren’t participating in. I will try to ignore it if they continue to do so.
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I am quoting a random tweet I read from someone named Alex Cole which I thought had a lot of truth:
“Now you see why the media hates Biden, he’s old and boring and talks policy. They want to hear about Hannibal Lector eating people, cancer windmills, electric sharks and shit.”
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^^^oops, very sorry I meant to edit the tweet to change the profanity – apologies!
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We are all adults here.
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. . . . huh? What profanity? . . . CBK
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Here’s a real obscenity for you: Donald Trump
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A good old, extraordinarily useful Anglo-Saxon verb.
This has been your lesson in Anglo-Saxon grammar for 7/12/24. You’re welcome.
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Bob: I was kidding, but thank you anyway for the delightful tour de force. CBK
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Old English scitan, from Proto-Germanic *skit- (source also of North Frisian skitj, Dutch schijten, German scheissen), from PIE root *skei- “to cut, split.” The notion is of “separation” from the body (compare Latin excrementum, from excernere “to separate,” Old English scearn “dung, muck,” from scieran “to cut, shear;” see sharn). It is thus a cousin to science and conscience.
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Bob: Under usage: “This is where I keep all my sxxt,” speaking of my house. CBK
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It’s an essential term. But I have a suggestion for replacing it in commemoration of our previous president’s Anarchikakistocracy:
Trump: A Commemoration | Bob Shepherd | Praxis (wordpress.com)
as in “What a Trump-show that was!”
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Hilarious, that, NYC.
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Sharing this on my FB site, NYC
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To know him is to . . . well, check this out. Here are some examples of stuff people who used to work for Trump say about their former boss:
“Mr. Trump eats your soul in small bites.” –James Comey
“He will always put his own interest and gratifying his own ego ahead of everything else, including the country’s interest.” –Bill Barr
“Trump is unfit to be president. . . . Trump really cares only about retribution for himself, and it will consume much of a second term.” –John Bolton
“The president has very little understanding of what it means to be in the military, to fight ethically or to be governed by a uniform set of rules and practices.” –Richard Spencer
“President Trump and other officials have repeatedly compromised our principles in pursuit of partisan advantage and personal gain.” –H. R. McMaster
“Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people — does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us. We are witnessing the consequences of three years of this deliberate effort. We are witnessing the consequences of three years without mature leadership.” –James Mattis
“I have a lot of concerns about Donald Trump. I have said that he’s a threat to democracy.” –Mark Esper
“[Trump is] a moron.” –Rex Tillerson
There is a MUCH, MUCH longer list. These are what people who have seen him at work up close think of the Repugnicans’ Glorious Leader Who Shines More Orange Than Does the Sun.
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Not from someone who worked for him, but a worthy addendum:
“In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who is a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump.”
~~ Former Vice President Dick (Freaking) Cheney
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Bob and all here who are educators: In a democracy, one would be leaving one’s head in the sand if WE didn’t remember that Trump and Trumpism have power because they are embraced by so many in our culture who presumably had a basic K-12 education.
Further, there is both (a) a lack of basic political knowledge (not propaganda); but also, and as evidenced by GOP elected officials, SCOTUS, and the billionaire “class,” (b) gaping holes in their character and in their moral and even spiritual development.
On the assumption that the MAGA bunch would not like living in fascism and under the hateful and arrogant eye of people like Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon, any more than others would, one must ask, why don’t MAGA people know about the train coming at all of us (as will happen with the tearing down of the administrative state based on the Constitution), and why is it so easy for our Congresspeople and SCOTUS to abandon commonly held principles as well as their own oaths of office? CBK
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Very good questions, CBK!
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To Young People, Re: The Coming Election | Bob Shepherd | Bob Shepherd | Praxis (wordpress.com)
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My first meme!!! Such a proud pappa.
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What? No one saw this? Sad papa.
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I am not a Biden fan at all. . .
. . . but I thought he did a pretty decent job at the press conference. A lot better than I expected. The media is doing what it perceives to be its job. . . stirring up the shit pot creating controversy where it doesn’t exist. Talk about lemmings. . . the main stream press has gone completely off the cliff with their idiotic insistence in stirring said pot which they then insist is an exquisite bouillabaisse.I’ll vote my conscience and give that vote to the party and person who best exemplifies my concerns.
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Agreed. The coverage I’ve seen so far of the press conference has been ridiculous and shameful. These are not journalists. They are vultures.
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The media never tire of running stories about every misstatement by Biden. But the continual misstatement from Trump has become normalized. About this, NYC PSP is right. Let me you an example. Yesterday, cognitively challenged and profoundly ignorant Donald Trump called George Clooney a “fake movie actor.” Well, no, oh ye of little brain, he is a real actor.
Here’s a fake for you: someone who pretends to be a Christian because it serves him politically. Or someone who pretends to be a self-made man when he started with 600K from Daddy and then saved himself from complete bankruptcy and built back a fortune by laundering money for Russian mobsters. Know any examples of such people, Donnie?
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So, where is the deluge of stories saying that Donald Trump is so cognitively challenged that he can’t even understand that it makes ZERO sense to call an actual actor a fake actor.
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This is the phenomenon we’ve known since 2016 or earlier. When you lie and speak gibberish in such overwhelming volume, the thing normalizes itself. You can’t correct or address them all. You can just say “it’s all lies.” Say that 10,000 times and it’s normal.
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yup
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FLERP: Here’s what should be normalized: Biden gaffs. He’s been making them for decades. . . and probably a little more now that he’s getting older.
Biden is right, however: put them in the context of what he has accomplished and what he still wants to do, and it becomes, if not endearing, certainly acceptable. CBK
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Yup. Where are the 192 stories in The New New York Times about T***p’s praise of Hannibal Friggin’ Lecter?
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Didn’t see it but I’m very glad to hear he had a good night. Foreign policy is his wheelhouse.
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It’s worth watching.
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I hear journalists make gaffes like that all the time. I know Biden knows who the VP is. Not a big deal.
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I also thought Biden did a good job last night.
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Marist poll has Biden up 2 points on Trump lol
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Reagan was affected by Alzheimer’s for much of his second term. They still enacted much of his agenda, whether you liked it or not.
It’s not just one person that’s being voted for. It’s an entire administration and philosophy.
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Your one-sentence second paragraph says it all. Can’t be said too many times. I pray that the DNC gets the message before long.
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We are at the point when the media’s tail is wagging the dog. Folks we are in trouble.
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If the media were even handed and stopped piling on against Biden (will he step aside, a 4th Congressman told him to quit, Joe Q. Thinks he should quit, etc), it would be a fair fight.
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Diane! Thank you, thank you, thank you for a huge infusion enabling me to keep on keepin’ on. I’d be skeptical about almost any report in which the reporter validates her previously held beliefs. In this case, the specific evidence you provide, plus your unchallengeable perch as the #1 example among 330,000,000 or so Americans of someone who has (radically) changed her beliefs based on evidence, logic, facts, and reason, makes your decision to continue ridin’ with Biden as valid, sensible, and convincing as can be.
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I hear you. I’m just not sure the general public does. It’s amazing that we could elect a psychopath over a proven leader.
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When the NYT makes a mistake they correct it–even a few days later.
Example: Corrections July 9, 2024 (Tuesday)
An article on Sunday about Iran’s new president misidentified the university with which Nader Hashemi is affiliated. He is a professor at Georgetown University, not George Washington University.
When someone else goofs, it becomes quotable as in President Biden calling Trump his vice-president. (And that was a mistake made on his feet, not after the Times’ fact-finders presumably review written stories for accuracy.)
The NYT dwells on Biden’s mispeak. There is no corrections department to acknowledge the slip.
So, for the paper of record, please note: On July 11, President Bident inadvertenly misidentified Donald Trump as his Vice-President. He should have said Kamala Harris.
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Excellent point! I make verbal gaffes every day. I’ve figured it out. I’m thinking ahead, not focused on what I’m saying.
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Diane: That’s exactly what I do! I’m way ahead, in my head, of what I am actually trying to say at the time. I think that’s pretty common anyway. But when you do that when you’re older, you get dinged by the “old person” stereotype.
Also, decline can be real, of course; but slowing down need not be decline of functions–for me it has been just “smelling the flowers” instead of barging ahead in life. My body won’t let me play soccer anymore, but I walk twice every day and enjoy the hell out of it.
Also, there is the sheer volume of remembered experiences to work through before one says anything–so in today’s bumper-sticker conversations, it might not be a matter of decline, but of difficulty selecting, relating, and integrating a massive buildup and amount of what might be relevant to a specific discussion from an almost endless warehouse full of related experiences.
I call it wisdom getting in the way of willful ignorance. CBK
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ADDENDUM: Think of the context and amount of “sifting” and relating someone like Joe Biden has to do at an unprescribed press conference . . .with his decades of political experience to choose from . . all of that, also knowing everyone has a “gaff” microscope and some have a deep desire to play “gotcha.” CBK
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I was going to post a similar sentiment! Yes, the political reporters at the NYT make many mistakes, and I haven’t seen any of them admitting they have cognitive failings and need to step down and be replaced by someone who can do the job they are failing to do.
Here is another one from NYT’s “Corrections that appeared in print on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.”
“An article on Sunday about questions provided in advance to radio programs by President Biden’s team misstated a radio station on which “The Earl Ingram Show” is broadcast. It is syndicated on WAUK in Waukesha, Wis., and other networks, not the defunct Milwaukee station WMCS.”
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Et Tu, Cluné?
Surely there’s a George Clooney blooper reel out there somewhere …
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A pity that his Aunt Rosie is no longer around to whip some sense into him.
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LOL. Hilarious, Jon!
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I can’t bring myself to read much from the lamestream press these days. May I ask those of you with a stronger stomach lining and weaker spleen reflex a question? Thank you. My question: To what extent are the media distinguishing between slips of the tongue and meaningful misspeaking? Case in point: My wife is tied for the most brilliant teacher educator in the galaxy, more so in her late sixties than ever. She has just published a co-edited a volume on culturally relevant science education that’s going to be as influential as any publication on culturally relevant science education could possibly be. (I’m not optimistic.) My wife also misspeaks an average of, oh, around 50 times a day in my presence. Maybe more. She’s just not great remembering people’s names, place names, and assorted other details, and she sometimes speaks too quickly. So what? So what if she says Grace Kelly when she means Grace Slick? So what if she calls one of her two closest friends by the other closest friend’s name? So what if she gets mixed up about a time-zone change? So what if she’s cooking tagine and she calls it cholay? So what? So what if she says, “Vice President Trump”? Oh, wait, this last was recently uttered by another eminent public servant whose powers of reasoning and judgment are intact, whose factual knowledge is exceptionally extensive, who lives fully in the reality-based world of nonalternative facts, and who has an ethical compass pointing true north instead of directly into his diseased soul, as is the case with a former U.S. president whom we’re just not going to allow near the West Wing ever again. To sum up: So? What?
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Thank you! Your wife is lucky to have such an understanding husband. I have two grandson whose names begin with an A. I constantly use the wrong name.
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I wasn’t so understanding until Elaine was my wife for a long while. That’s how it works, I’ve learned.
Diane, please excuse me for possible impertinence, but I’m eager to ask you: In your opinion, how much of the inordinate media frenzy about the president’s misspeaking can be attributed to what might be termed systemic or unconscious ageism in American culture?
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It isn’t just misspeaking. Biden has always done that. Much more concerning is when he stops, trying to recall something he wants to say, thinks and thinks and thinks some more, stares into space, and then proceeds to forget what he was talking about and say something on a different topic, as though the first half of his utterance had been something other than what it was. I’ve often observed this in people with the beginnings of dementia, including in President Ronald Reagan. (When I was a teenager, my mother was a homecare nurse, and she insisted that I go to visit and spend time with her elderly and often lonely clients.) I told people at the time of Reagan’s second term, “This guy is suffering from dementia.” Many did not believe me. But we now know from memoirs by his senior people, as I have mentioned here several times, that Reagan was way out of it during his second term.
As a practical matter, if Biden chooses not to step down, we must support him AND HIS TEAM. As with Reagan, that team will carry out the spirit of the boss’s philosophy. Which means, in the case of Biden, support for an inclusive America and an America that serves the needs and desires of ordinary folk as opposed to fat cats.
Yes, we suffer from extreme ageism in this country. It’s sickening. We ought to respect the wisdom that comes with great experience, as the native Americans before us did, as people do in many cultures. A wise, decent, but failing Biden over the evil orange pustule on the body politic ANY DAY. His team will do a great job. He will give them direction, serve as their compass, and when the time comes, he will step down and let the brilliant and strong Kamala Harris take the reins, as she is fully capable of doing.
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Well said, Bob. When you vote for the name at the top, you are voting for a like-minded administration. With Biden, you get Cabinet heads working to fulfill their mission. With Trump, you get people trying to destroy their agency and advisors trying to turn America white and Christian. If Biden is elected, he has a great VP. Trump represents Project 2025, white Christian nationalism, and the interests of the 1%.
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Bill,
A few months ago, I posted this piece about Biden and ageism by Umair Haque:
https://search.app/AkG5wd472w733R6S9
An excerpt:
There’s a big difference between age and ageism, in this case.
America’s a brutal, indifferent society. And one of the ways in which it’s so is that it’s profoundly ageist. You don’t notice this, entirely, until you live elsewhere. And then suddenly you realize that in America, elderly people are effectively disappeared. You barely see them in everyday life, if at all, whereas in most of the rest of the world, from Asia to Europe, there they are, going about their business, because, after all, they exist too.
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On Aging: For me, and probably for many others (I’m 77 with white hair), I get treated well sometimes by younger people, but others, not so much. (And older men are still so awful about mansplaining, in my experience.)
The attitude of contempt or even impatient tolerance, however, is difficult for most to hide from us–and most of us who have past 70 have been around long enough to feel its vibes when they become almost palpably present. To confront it is a waste of time. And my guess is my silence in the face of it is also wrongly interpreted–it fits so well into the prevailing stereotype.
So, I have learned to love my solitude and quietude, and I try to stay out of situations where, from the get-go, I feel I do not belong (anymore). CBK
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Ageism is purest evil. A few years back, I wrote this about Diane Ravitch. As true today as it was then.
Our Boadicea, Our Jeanne d’Arc, Is a 79-year-old Grandmother, an Existence Proof of the Stupidity of Ageism | Bob Shepherd | Praxis (wordpress.com)
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Awww, Bob.
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Ten Reasons to Hire the “Old” Person | Bob Shepherd | Bob Shepherd | Praxis (wordpress.com)
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Years ago, I was at Burning Man, and on the first night, I was getting ready to hop onto my bike and explore the Playa and party a little. And that’s when, at a refreshment tent, I saw an elderly woman crying. I went over and asked her what was wrong and if I could help. She said, “These young people [Burning Man is overwhelmingly young people]. It’s like I’m invisible. It’s like I don’t exist.” Have you experienced this phenomenon? I have. It’s disgusting and horrifying and comes from our culture’s bizarre fetishism about youth. Where other cultures respect and admire their elderly and even build their living environments around them so that they can be close to them and cherish them, we lock them out of sight and mind. The Ageism particularly irked me in this setting, Burning Man, which is generally so open and friendly [The standard greeting on entering Burning Man is, “Welcome home”; it’s supposed to be a place of power where you leave the bs behind and share, a place full of loving, generous, progressive, creative spirits.] GRRRRRRR!!!!! So, I went over and spent a few delightful hours with this woman. There would be time to party later. I had stepped instead into a time to talk and heal and get the deep vibe on. That’s one of the things that life is about. Our basic ontological situation is that my mind is over here and yours is over there, and the best stuff happens when we bridge that gap–teaching, mentoring, conversation with friends, teamwork in sports and in business, making love, negotiation, and so on.
Which makes me think that a post-50 Burning Man-like festival would be a great idea. Like the regular Burning Man, but with people who know more and are old enough not to give a FF what people think.
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Thank you, Diane. I vaguely recall the Umair Haque post, and will read it carefully this afternoon.
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Me too. The guy knows his stuff.
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One more thing. Biden probably would have had that same gaffe 40 years ago. He has always been prone to gaffes. It has always been part of his “charm”.
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Yes, we watched the press conference, too. We agree with your assessment. Biden impressed me when he admitted that some of his proposals could have been more successful, especially the Palestinian aid in Gaza. Biden shows in his appearances that he is a working president, and he spends his days and nights working for the American people. The Democrats need to stop complaining and being crybabies and get with it. Support Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are doing ok in the polls…If the Democrats focus on Trump’s record, his corruption, his 34 felonies, the four indictments, the fact that he was found liable for rape and sexual assault, and liable for nearly $500 million for committing fraud against the people of New York—they’ll beat him. We can’t wait around.
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This is a sobering read. Gift link below.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/07/12/opinion/biden-trump-electoral-map-outlook.html?unlocked_article_code=1.6k0.7uiz.S4Qwilpk-pl6&smid=url-share
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