What seems pretty clear is that the Right doesn't have anything to say. They don't have any positions that are different and popular. They had the border, but Biden called their bluff and it's obvious the border is staying more open than it could be if Republicans would approve the bill they drafted. More judges, shorter windows for case reviews, the discussion of the ROI on spending $8k to cross for only 6 months... Biden is pushing to slow immigration. If it were October, wearing buttons that say "Biden Border Crisis" might work, but the ads and commentary for the next 8 months are going to favor Democrats. It's insane that Republicans let this get away from them.
Biden and the Dems should be putting this issue front and center to Americans EVERY DAY till the election. People want to see action, not the same old political BS. My suggestion is send out a formal invitation to Trump to come to the White House and negotiate a deal on the Border. Put up a daily countdown showing Joe alone in a conference room waiting for Donny to show (which he won't) and remind Americans who is all talk and no walk.
My son texted me to let me know that State of the Union will likely talk about some of the work that my boy has been doing with his healthcare policy analysis and recommendations for the government.
âI've contributed in some part to things under "Taking on Big Pharma to Deliver Lower Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors and Families"â
I hope he's doing something besides adding more complexity to an already ridiculously opaque system.
Mike Johnson is gonna be fired so fast for visibly, repeatedly, nodding in assent (it's clear - I watched it happen repeatedly, nonplussed) at many things that the President asserted. So different from the old stone-faced Republicans who would sit there daydreaming about which human right they'd try to remove next.
The folks who were disrespectful and shouted interruptions at him got smacked down rather well. Doesn't mesh with their doddering old man contention, so they better rethink that. He was loaded for bear - when extemporizing.
And Britt, like I said: the Republican rebuttal was taken straight from NextDoor, given by a high school junior fresh from "acting" class, complete with crocodile tears, a fake kitchen backdrop, repeated reminders that she's a mother, y'all, plenty of Southern grit when the script called for it, and heartbreaking "empathy" as she tells her tired old anecdotes.
I was thinking the same thing about Johnson and his nodding. Gaetz and MTG are going to need to do something about that, as leaders of the party.
I think Biden did well. A lot of credit goes to whoever prepped him. They got the energy and speed up. He was speaking so quickly, that he overran his applause, eliminating those painful SOTU stoppages when the party of the POTUS slowly stands and claps for 20 seconds. It made the whole thing more "watchable". Joe was never a great speaker, but that was arguably one of his better performances when he needed it.
What seems pretty clear is that the Right doesn't have anything to say. They don't have any positions that are different and popular. They had the border, but Biden called their bluff and it's obvious the border is staying more open than it could be if Republicans would approve the bill they drafted. More judges, shorter windows for case reviews, the discussion of the ROI on spending $8k to cross for only 6 months... Biden is pushing to slow immigration. If it were October, wearing buttons that say "Biden Border Crisis" might work, but the ads and commentary for the next 8 months are going to favor Democrats. It's insane that Republicans let this get away from them.
Allies, Ukraine, Israel... he laid out clear positions that are generally popular. He also made clear that democracy at home is at risk, and Jan 6 is going to be a constant topic all year.
I wish there was someone else... but there isn't likely to be. The polling leads for Trump (I believe) reflect primarily people who want to be heard, and those folks are overwhelmingly MAGA. In November, I just can't see Trump getting enough non-MAGA support to pull it off. But we're a long way from the finish line.
For all of the "old man" talk, it's pretty clear that Joe is an above-average politician. He knows when to say things, and how to work behind the scenes to position himself.
Good gosh. How is an unelected guy currently running for office "holding up arms supplies" ? That's magical thinking. Also the ramblings I see online of conspiracy theorists...
groan... that is just being willingly blind to what is happening in congress and Trump's influence. Russian advances over recent weeks can be directly ascribed to Trump's election campaign IMO. That is no great stretch of the imagination. Moreover, I know you know this too - because Twitter.
noted. Whether Trump is a Russian asset or not is moot. But siding with the guy holding up arms supplies in the vague "hope" he comes around instead of the guy who is demonstrably in favour of supporting Ukraine is taking a huge risk.
Good gosh. How is an unelected guy currently running for office "holding up arms supplies" ? That's magical thinking. Also the ramblings I see online of conspiracy theorists...
NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote:
I'm from NZ but live in Germany. We are preparing to have everything ready if we need to leave Europe at short notice. The risk is palpable.
You are right, Europe is ramping up arms production, it is true, but far too little and far too late. Definite shades of 1939.
I can understand the feeling. Pay more attention to the OSINT reporting on the conflict. Russia is pulling back into service tanks from WW2 ! They took delivery of weapons with a high defect rate from NK & Iran. Meanwhile, Ukraine innovates with the weaponry they're provided, surprising the USA and EU. Ukraine is successfully responding with innovation faster than Russia can adapt. The Ukrainian mil leaders are very effectively operating inside the Russian OODA loop. The only thing Russia has going for it is the meatwaves they throw at the Ukrainians. NATO is reinvigorated and finding new relevance now. Yet, if Russia ever arrived at the doorstep of a NATO country with its current capabilities after brutalizing Ukraine, it would be beaten and crushed flat in days, if not hours. Because if NATO failed to do that, then NATO immediately ceases to be relevant and/or exist.
Much is on the line. And we're here largely because 'weak men create hard times'.
I'm a Canadian. As much as I'd like, I don't get a vote in US elections. And I have a hunch that Trump will come around just enough, to help Ukraine. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe is ramping up its support in the face of a possibly unreliable USA.
A Russian asset? That's utter nonsense. That's the stuff of conspiracy theorists. And that's being polite.
And my preference would have been DeSantis, if I had any say.
Also: Not my circus. Not my monkeys.
noted. Whether Trump is a Russian asset or not is moot. But siding with the guy holding up arms supplies in the vague "hope" he comes around instead of the guy who is demonstrably in favour of supporting Ukraine is taking a huge risk.
I'm from NZ but live in Germany. We are preparing to have everything ready if we need to leave Europe at short notice. The risk is palpable.
You are right, Europe is ramping up arms production, it is true, but far too little and far too late. Definite shades of 1939.
I'm a Canadian. As much as I'd like, I don't get a vote in US elections. And I have a hunch that Trump will come around just enough, to help Ukraine. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe is ramping up its support in the face of a possibly unreliable USA.
A Russian asset? That's utter nonsense. That's the stuff of conspiracy theorists. And that's being polite.
And my preference would have been DeSantis, if I had any say.
Also: Not my circus. Not my monkeys.
"And I have a hunch that Trump will come around just enough, to help Ukraine. "
Beaker, for all your party affiliation, which I respect, you do know that voting for Trump means the death of Ukraine and war in Europe, right?
I'm a Canadian. As much as I'd like, I don't get a vote in US elections. And I have a hunch that Trump will come around just enough, to help Ukraine. Meanwhile, the rest of Europe is ramping up its support in the face of a possibly unreliable USA.
NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote:
Can't you find a better candidate than someone who is patently a Russian asset?
A Russian asset? That's utter nonsense. That's the stuff of conspiracy theorists. And that's being polite.
And my preference would have been DeSantis, if I had any say.
Yes. Deliberate invocation.
Should I have included a /sarc tag ?
Beaker, for all your party affiliation, which I respect, you do know that voting for Trump means the death of Ukraine and war in Europe, right? Can't you find a better candidate than someone who is patently a Russian asset?
My son texted me to let me know that State of the Union will likely talk about some of the work that my boy has been doing with his healthcare policy analysis and recommendations for the government.
âI've contributed in some part to things under "Taking on Big Pharma to Deliver Lower Prescription Drug Costs for Seniors and Families"â
Katie Britt's getting panned pretty heavily on Twitter. You said the was worse than Marco Rubio, Steeler. Someone else brought up Bobby Jindall. I didn't watch Britt when she aired but the clips on Twitter veer between cringey and LOL.
Gosh, Beaker, sorry you don't like Joe standing up to Putin. Maybe you prefer watching Trump blow Putin. As for the Dobbs decision, it's hard to understand how striking down Roe was upholding the Constitution after Roe stood for 50 years. But if you trust SC justices who openly lied about upholding Roe during their confirmation hearings and who are doing their level best to block Trump's trial for January 6, well that doesn't say much about you.
Katie Britt is telegenic but wow she laid on the batted-eye "empathy" with a trowel. Rachel Maddo noted that Britt was involved in the negotiations on the Senate's immigration bill but voted against it when Trump called for its rejection.
Mike Johnson looked so smail and sad behind Biden, like a naughty fourth grader sent to the principal's office again.
Mike Johnson is gonna be fired so fast for visibly, repeatedly, nodding in assent (it's clear - I watched it happen repeatedly, nonplussed) at many things that the President asserted. So different from the old stone-faced Republicans who would sit there daydreaming about which human right they'd try to remove next.
The folks who were disrespectful and shouted interruptions at him got smacked down rather well. Doesn't mesh with their doddering old man contention, so they better rethink that. He was loaded for bear - when extemporizing.
And Britt, like I said: the Republican rebuttal was taken straight from NextDoor, given by a high school junior fresh from "acting" class, complete with crocodile tears, a fake kitchen backdrop, repeated reminders that she's a mother, y'all, plenty of Southern grit when the script called for it, and heartbreaking "empathy" as she tells her tired old anecdotes.
It was so juvenile and simplistic that it takes the prize for "worst showing" from Little Marco.
And the Republican rebuttal was taken straight from NextDoor, given by a high school junior fresh from "acting" class, complete with crocodile tears, a fake kitchen backdrop, repeated reminders that she's a mother, y'all, and heartbreaking empathy.
Yes. Outstanding speech delivered with lots of fire and passion. So let's stop all the babbling about Joe losing it. Trump could never pull off anything similar. The contrast between the characters of the two men really stood out tonight.
Trumpers, btw, asked for more time to pay the $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll. Judge Kaplan denied that request. Apparently Trump is asking Elon Musk for financial help because he can't secure a bond to meet the payment to Carroll and the one to New York. What a billionaire.
Katie Britt is telegenic but wow she laid on the batted-eye "empathy" with a trowel. Rachel Maddo noted that Britt was involved in the negotiations on the Senate's immigration bill but voted against it when Trump called for its rejection.
Mike Johnson looked so smail and sad behind Biden, like a naughty fourth grader sent to the principal's office again.
Did Marjorie Taylor Greene get lost on her way to the State Fair? Will she make it in time to her late-night shift at Burger King?
