What were the Democrats thinking when they pushed Biden for president and Harris for vice-president?
Predators prey on the weak, and the US is now weak and clearly perceived as weak. It’s not just Biden or Harris themselves. They are merely the current manifestation of a long decline. We’ve reached a state in which people can rightly say we seem unserious, focusing instead on woke infighting and minutiae, and flagellating ourselves for ancient (and often distorted by a leftist looking-back) history.
Biden and Harris are, however, the current visible cannot-be-denied manifestation of that weakness for all the world to see. In vain do the left and their handmaiden the press attempt to spin this as competence and success. Everyone except those dedicated to the party can see it for what it is.
Here’s a summary of the situation:
“Every time he gets up and talks to the American people,” Jackson continued, “it’s not just the American people that are watching him speak. It’s the whole world, and that’s part of what the problem is here. He looks tired, he looks weak, he looks confused, he’s incoherent, and it sends a message of weakness all over the world, and they’re seizing…on that.”
Kamala Harris isn’t old enough to have creeping senility as an excuse, but she’s no better in terms of coherence or strength. In fact:
Kamala Harris is everything the left said Sarah Palin would be.
— Show Me The Data (@txsalth2o) March 10, 2022
Harris at least has the decency to be seem embarrassed and afraid – at any rate, that’s how I read her affect when I can bear to watch. Her problems are not the same as Biden’s, but they have the same effect, one that is obvious to the world.
But most the time I can’t bring myself to watch either of them, although I read what they say. It’s not just their policies and lies, which I detest. It’s that German word we discussed earlier, and for which I’m indebted to Gregory Harper. I feel it for them in spite of myself:
Fremdschamen. That’s the German word for feeling embarrassment for someone else.
So – to get around to the question in the title of this post – what were they thinking? I think the Democrats:
(1) Didn’t realize Biden and Harris would be this bad.
(2) Especially didn’t realize they would cause so many obvious disasters that couldn’t be hidden from the public nor could they be successfully spun in a way that blamed others (at least, most observers don’t seem to be buying their attempts to do so).
(3) They thought that if Biden got bad enough they would just replace him with Kamala Harris. But they didn’t bargain on how awful she would be or that she’d be awful in such an obvious way that the public would be so turned off by her so quickly. They should have known, based on observations of her performance in the primary season. But they were in denial.
(4) They were short-sighted and didn’t look past the short term but extremely vital goal for them of ousting Trump, and they had few alternatives.
Short version is that they ignored Obama’s advice by underestimating Joe’s ability to f*** things up.
Now, you might say that the destruction of the US’s place in the world was a feature for them, not a bug. Perhaps, but I doubt they wanted to do it so obviously and so dangerously that people would quickly become very very alarmed and perhaps even start looking on the Trump years as good ones in retrospect.
Yes, I know some of you feel the Democrats don’t care what the public thinks, because they’ve got election cheating all wrapped up. But even so, there’s probably a limit on how much it can overcome. If the anti-Democrat vote is overwhelmingly large, it may be hard for them to offset it.
4)
But I don’t think they are uniquely guilty of that. I think many/most vote for the candidate they deem most likely to win the general election. Republicans did the same I think with Romney, and probably McCain. Trump, was the real shocker.
Everyone except those dedicated to the party can see it for what it is.
One person who continues to pretend is Mona Charen. For 30-odd years this woman was a fixture among Washington Republicans. Stints in the PR apparat of the Reagan Administration, newspaper columnist, weak link on the staff of the Ethics and Public Policy Center (which cut her loose when her last contract expired). Her reaction to Trump and Biden gave us quite a mess of data we didn’t have before about who she really is.
Art Deco:
Yes, some erstwhile Republican pundits (and other Republicans) have revealed themselves to be elitists first and have now realigned themselves with the Democrats. And not just the Democrats, but the Deomcrats in an especially rotten hour.
Don’t forget the large number of Democrats who don’t see a problem. Not only don’t see a problem but see their team doing a great job and blame Republicans for anything that isn’t going well.
Mac:
Yes, those are the ones dedicated to the party.
The M.O. of the Democrats is the exploitation of a crisis, whether a real crisis or one wholly manufactured hardly mattering in the slightest. Now that the BLM/Blessed Martyr Floyd crisis and the Wuhan-virus crisis have been fully exploited (with the “Fedsurrection”/worst-attack-on-our-democracy–since-Pearl-Harbor-9/11 crisis possibly nearing the end of its utility, it is time for the crisis in Ukraine to be abused until our next (free and fair?) election. Many have argued that the goal of the Democrats is to extend a quagmire in Ukraine enabled by massive funding from us (more money in the latest “omnibus” for Ukraine’s border than for ours) in order to prolong Russia’s suffering (at the expense of the poor Ukrainian civilians) as a distraction from domestic disasters, the entrapment of the Republicans in war-mongering, and with the additional advantage of the perfect scapegoat for inflation, high oil prices, supply-chain issues, etc.
I go with 3 and 4. Which got us 5 – A Military Term comes to mind, but I won’t type it here, but it does start with Cluster.
I think many/most vote for the candidate they deem most likely to win the general election.
Disagree. Don’t think many people do that. During the period running from 1968 to 2012, the Republican selection process was bedeviled by a bloc that accounted (I believe) for about 1/3 of the primary electorate. They always had the same candidate: “the guy whose turn it is”. In 1968, they handed the nomination to their 1960 nominee; in 1976, to the (contested) incumbent; in 1980, to the place candidate from 1976; in 1988, to the place candidate from 1980 (and incumbent VP); in 1996, to the place candidate from 1988; in 2000, to the son of the former (Republican) president; in 2008, to the place candidate from 2000; in 2012, to the place candidate from 2008. The two place candidates who were rejected were Pat Buchanan from 1996 and Rick Santorum from 2012, as both men give evidence of believing in things strongly enough for that to withstand the information that a plurality of their voters believe something else; that’s ‘divisive’.
Yes, some erstwhile Republican pundits (and other Republicans) have revealed themselves to be elitists first and have now realigned themselves with the Democrats. And not just the Democrats, but the Deomcrats in an especially rotten hour.
I think Charen has revealed herself to be an elderly Jewish mother with, anomalously, the heart and soul of Margaret Wade from Dennis the Menace. She never practiced law (not sure she bothered to sit for the bar exam); she produced PR and opinion journalism for 30-odd years; AFAICT, the only commercial company who ever hired her was CNN. Her husband is a partner in a mid-law firm. For a’ that, and an Ivy League degree, she counts as fancy people. She’s not elite in any way.
“Yes, those are the ones dedicated to the party.”
I’m not quite sure of that. The D voters I know don’t seem “dedicated”. Their attitude seems more like, “Trump is gone, life in general is good, except for that damn Putin.” All the other problems, including inflation, are never mentioned. More like a blindness, than dedication.
physicsguy:
The ones I know – and I know plenty – are yellow dog Democrats who would never vote for anyone other than a Democrat.
Art Deco
Charen isn’t so very elderly; she’s 65.
I also don’t see the relevance of her Jewishness to your point.
In addition, her resume indicates to me that she is indeed one of the political pundit elitocracy. She is elite in the sense that the word is often used these days
They’re pretty much this guy, thank god I was thrown clear. Exact same mentality. The sad thing is I’ve read some of DocBastards more recent tweets, he’s now has the same attitude as the “thrown clear” guy.
Curious that the media is not mentioned here.
If anything can perfume a pig it’s non-stop propaganda (which is also busy 24/7 demonizing the opposition).
Would it be too much of a stretch to claim that the Democrats, knowing that the media would be riding shotgun for them ALL THE TIME, were confident that their lack of competence (or even policies of across-the-board destruction) wouldn’t matter AT ALL, at least not significantly.
Ah, but what happens when reality bites?
Well, then reality is denied, obfuscated, ignored, concealed, lied about—and if that can’t be done, then all the fault is pinned on the already heavily-demonized opposition.
Works like a charm…
Think of it as saturation bombing…and just another reason why the Democrats must ensure that education in this country is utterly degraded. (Though having said that, it is clear, if perhaps counter-intuitive, that the highly educated and intelligent sectors of society are equally, if not more—pace Orwell—susceptible to propaganda than the “Deplorables”….Of course, it certainly helps if they’re more than willing to believe all that “sophisticated” garbage.)
The metric used to chose Biden and Harris consisted of but two factors; electibility and susceptibility to being controlled.
1) if they had believed him minimally competent, they would not have kept Biden in the basement. Harris’s performance in the primaries demonstrated just how bad she would be.
2) perhaps their ideological blinders prevented them from appreciating the predictable consequences of their policies. Just as likely is that they simply don’t care and still don’t expect to truly be held accountable for their actions. They still expect Bidet’s veto pen to keep accountability at bay. That and a dependable supply of RINO votes.
3) yes, willful blindness. Never underestimate the ability of people to deceive themselves.
4) ousting Trump was an existential necessity. In a second term Trump might have actually made headway in cleaning out the swamp.
Does anyone here think it doubtful that the Democrat leadership does not want to destroy America? It’s not just that the Democrats may think that their electoral fraud will be sufficient to prevent disaster. More importantly, they’re somewhat hopeful that the majority of democrat voters will vote Democrat no matter what, thus staving off disaster.
But America’s most serious problem extends much deeper than a traitorous democrat party and a collaborative GOPe.
39% of Hispanics, 43% of whites and 62% of blacks would not fight to defend America from an invasion.
And the source of that lack of patriotic feelings is indicated by “Younger respondents were more likely to leave the country”
The Democratic primary voter did not the pick the ‘loathsome twosome’ that we currently have in charge. The 2020 election was rigged before Biden became the candidate. The primary was rigged. Remember how Joe keep saying, ‘Wait until South Carolina’. The leaders of the party wanted Joe and Kamala because they could be controlled. I agree leadership ‘ Didn’t realize Biden and Harris would be this bad’. And they are very bad.
This is interesting:
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/ballot-bombshells-20-episodes-exposing-fraud-illegalities-and
Now, you might say that the destruction of the US’s place in the world was a feature for them, not a bug. Perhaps, but I doubt they wanted to do it so obviously and so dangerously that people would quickly become very very alarmed and perhaps even start looking on the Trump years as good ones in retrospect.
–neo
Some things are not a bug IMO like the high price of fossil fuels. This has been a Democrat goal, even stated aloud occasionally, at least since the Obama years.
Others like, the disastrous Afghan bug-out, are so obviously incompetent and damaging to the Democrats’ political prospects in 2022 and 2024 that I can’t believe they were intentional.
I also don’t see the relevance of her Jewishness to your point.
That’s been part of her brand all these years.
In addition, her resume indicates to me that she is indeed one of the political pundit elitocracy.
During her time on Capital Gang. She’s been off the air since 1998. As we speak, she’s one of the shills employed at The Bulwark.
I no longer see Democrats as “The Opposition.” I now see them as “The Enemy.”
Mona Charen has long struck me as generally useless. However, she did come up with what I think is the best short label for the Islamic crimes of September 2001: “the savage enormity.”
I’ve quoted her numerous times on that.
(It drives me up the wall to see/hear those events described as a “tragedy.” Yes, they were tragic for the thousands of innocent victims and their relatives. But the events themselves were enormous crimes.)
Is this simply the Crisis described by Strauss and Howe in Fourth Turning? All the elements seem to be there. We may be on the cusp of the High. The Boomers are aging out in a way that will make them objects of ridicule, opening the door to dramatic change.
We see finally an acceptance among normal people that nuclear power is the answer, and that women should feel free to have children and actually stay home and enjoy the incredible experience of motherhood. This article is interesting https://americanmind.org/salvo/girlboss-interrupted/
Alex Kaschuta keeps on putting out stuff reinforcing her life as a Trad with her young son and husband. She just did one with Amanda Milius which she said can be found everywhere fine pods are cast. She is taking care of an under one year son, bashing the Woke, and obviously having a great time.
One of my forecasts made partly in jest might happen: GOP takes both houses with huge majorities, Biden dies or becomes completely incapacitated, Trump becomes Speaker, Harris is impeached, Trump returns with DeSantis as VP, and what future historians term the Trump Restoration, a return to Constitutional Government, takes place.
A crash program to build nuclear solves the energy problem, and a return of manufacturing to US factories restores middle class jobs. The ethanol mandate is repealed and millions of acres of cornfields are replanted as pasture, providing healthy grass fed beef to all and saving the aquifers.
As Judy Tenuta said so well: Hey, it can happen!
huxley (5:15 pm) said,
“Some things are not a bug IMO like the high price of fossil fuels. This has been a Democrat goal, even stated aloud occasionally, at least since the Obama years.”
I would add to that the invasion at our southern border. Many consider Harris to have failed in her assignment to fix our southern border problem; not so, as she has succeeded quite well in accomplishing the goal: to keep our southern border porous with spigot opened wide.
Unquestionably a feature [not a bug] — as far as the left is concerned.
We see finally an acceptance among normal people that nuclear power is the answer,
Nuclear power is the answer to a question I never asked.
Dick Illyes:
Because “Ok, Boomer?” How clever. Are all Boomers oxygen thieves in your Unicorn land? You may get older (and wiser?) some day.
What were the Democrats thinking when they pushed Biden for president and Harris for vice-president?
I’ll point out that the interaction between fundraisers, the media, and the voters threw up a collection of mediocrities in 2020 in the Democratic Party. They had experienced public executives and men who had made their mark in the business world. Their voters didn’t care. They threw up Biden, Red Bernie, Liawatha, Amy Klobberherworkers, and Fudgepacker Pete and his Resumé. Now look at their congressional leadership: Pelosi, Hoyer, Clyburn, Schumer, Durbin. In 2020, these five people were between the ages of 69 and 82. Two of them earned part of their income from law practice during the period running from 1966 to 1982. Otherwise, they’ve all been collecting salaries from the public treasury or from political NGO’s since age 25. (Clyburn’s the only one who ever held a regular civil service job, and that was > 50 years ago).
Barry Meislin:
The media IS mentioned in my post:
“the left and their handmaidens the press…”
Electability and capability meant nothing to a cabal that knew it would “win” the election and then run the country.
Art Deco:
I think it should be obvious that I’m talking about Charon’s entire lifetime career and in particular how SHE sees herself and with whom SHE identifies.
The Bulwark folks certainly have considered themselves elite whether you or I may agree.
Putting aside the public performances of Biden, we know nothing of his participation in this government, or his decision-making authority. Does no one think that there are powers behind the throne here, or that this was the arrangement agreed upon when he was put forward over Sanders? I am persuaded that the decisions being made in this Administration more or less represent the consensus of the powers-that-be in the Democratic Party, who so far are being extremely discreet about their participation. And I distinctly remember Old Joe saying he would resign if he thought (or was told) there was some kind of moral problem or something, he wasn’t quite sure what. They are doing what they wanted — they just didn’t realize how far gone this man is.
Biden is pretty much exactly what I thought he would be, if anything he is more lucid at this point than I thought. But I really didn’t expect Harris to be this much of a train wreck. Her performance in Poland was excruciating. I don’t know what is going on with her but she really seems to be incapable of answering the most basic policy questions if she hasn’t rehearsed the answer. People in the administration must realize that she is not helping, I don’t know why they keep sending her out there.
James S:
That’s a question that has been discussed on this blog many times, most recently here and in particular the comments to that post – for example, this comment of mine.
Dick Illyes,
Upon what basis do you imagine that a RINO Congress would support a return to constitutional governance? The great majority have neither the stomach for that fight or even any interest in it.
They’re all bun and no beef.
Runaway inflation is the democrat party’s concrete overboots.
Yesterday, premium gas in California was up to $7.95 a gallon.
Geoffrey you unsophisticated, uneducated fool, don’t you know inflation is good?!
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-30778491.amp
Says so right here. Experts Geoffrey, experts.
Ending America’s spot on the world stage is a feature, I often say Leftism is one stage thinking there is no planning what comes next. Like others think the Democrats Propaganda Ministry could cover their idiocy. Look at them now , everyone parroting its all Putin’s fault for gas prices and inflation and right on que.
huxley (5:15 pm) said,
“Some things are not a bug IMO like the high price of fossil fuels. This has been a Democrat goal, even stated aloud occasionally, at least since the Obama years.”
I would add to that the invasion at our southern border.
M J R:
Absolutely.
Dick Illyes,
I like the future that you describe. I grew up in Montana and the cattle were grass fed. The Midwest farmers had a variety of crops. People were a lot healthier not that long ago.
I used to think that there was a bound on the sort of lead that electoral cheating could overcome. 2020 opened my eyes.
Civilization needs guys like me to care whether it burns. And I used to care. All I wanted was a nice constitutional republic that broadly respected liberty. I can’t have that. So I won’t light the match, but I don’t really care any more if it burns.
Is this simply the Crisis described by Strauss and Howe in Fourth Turning? All the elements seem to be there. We may be on the cusp of the High. The Boomers are aging out in a way that will make them objects of ridicule, opening the door to dramatic change.
Dick Illyes:
As I recall “The Fourth Turning” the Boomers would become the Prophet Generation leading the Millennials, the Hero Generation, who would do the heavy lifting in the Crisis.
The timing of the Crisis was a bit vague — 2005-2026. The book came out in 1996. When the apocalyptic 9-11 happened, the book seemed prescient to that crisis.
However, while there was considerable dislocation, it never came to anything as clearcut as the Greatest Generation surging to victory under the FDR/Churchill generation.
Granted, Boomers have earned their disrepute. But I wouldn’t say Milennials have thus far demonstrated any bragging rights over them.
Squints:
I get it. The election of 2020 demonstrated just how utterly corrupt politics in the USA are. I would call the leadership ‘whores’, but then I am insulting people in the oldest profession in the world. They are greedy for power and money. They are old and desperate. It is really amazing the lack of wisdom that a group of people at the age of 80, are steering the country off the cliff.
The young people that protest in the street and want the country to burn and light the match, are so incompetent. Right now they have a lot of freedom to say what they want and do what they want. They think the Democrats are going to give them everything they think they want. If they get what they protest for, they will lose all their freedom of speech and their liberty.
The protests will stop in the same way they have in Canada and Russia. The difference will be, it will be the leftist protests that will be gone.
The loathsome twosome could not have been cheated into office without a heck of a lot of votes. That’s my question.
Just got an email from a retired teacher who blamed current inflation on the republicans and claimed they were “projecting their sins” onto Biden.
Most aficionados of The Fourth Turning date its beginning to the 2008 financial crisis.
Geoffrey
Another possibility is that there is a huge GOP landslide but Biden somehow totters through to the end of his term.
There won’t be an opportunity for the new Congress to launch their own programs, but they can question all spending and slash budgets.
They can Defund the Swamp.
The stories of waste, corruption, misconduct, etc. are out there waiting to be told endlessly. Even RINOs will find it is the easiest most productive conduct. They are really good at piling on.
Defund the Swamp. Pass it on.
Mike Plaiss,
Of course. They’ve assured us they have “top people” on it…Top People.
Squints,
If it’s going to burn down, the architects of that inferno have to be part of the funeral pyre. Those who would destroy liberty face the harshest of reprisals.
Richard Aubrey,
The willfully blind shall, one way or another… reap the ‘reward’ they’ve earned. Sheep who play with fire…
Get singed fleece? Wool is a good insulator. Mixed metaphor warning.
As I recall “The Fourth Turning” the Boomers would become the Prophet Generation leading the Millennials, the Hero Generation, who would do the heavy lifting in the Crisis.
The only heroes among the Millennials work in protective services. If they have ultimately to report to Democrats, they are misused.
Dick Illyes…”We see finally an acceptance among normal people that nuclear power is the answer” I do think there has been some degree of increasing nuclear acceptance, driven in part by the increasing chronological distance from the nuclear-apocalypse-fear of the Cold War. BUT, there are big differences between the sexes in nuclear-power acceptance; it’s going to be difficult to have a major nuclear power boom unless average women can somehow be persuaded to be more nuclear-accepting. Also, I fear that the events in Ukraine may trigger a revival in nuclear-power fears.
Apologies…
(I ran a search on “media”….)
“…I really didn’t expect Harris to be this much of a train wreck….”
But Willy Brown knew….
(And how, he knew….)
Too bad he wasn’t on the “hiring” committee…(not that it would have made a difference, mind you….)
Gerard vanderleun on March 12, 2022 at 5:40 pm said:
I no longer see Democrats as “The Opposition.” I now see them as “The Enemy.”
———
Red Ream, Blue Team. Historically, military war gaming colors. The battle lines have been drawn, the armies are positioned on the board. “We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Gas prices will stay high for a long long time. The Wall Street Journal had a piece last week that listed some of the moves Biden has made against US Oil, here is a non-paywall reprint https://www.nmoga.org/bidens_us_oil_embargo .
Biden has cut off credit to the oil industry in ways I had not noticed. Some snips:
independent producers are eager to take advantage of higher prices but can’t get loans. Many relied on private equity during the last shale boom, but now these firms are cutting them off.
$244 billion in U.S. liquefied natural gas projects are stalled because they “are struggling to find financiers
and this: It takes 140 days or so for the feds to approve a drilling permit versus two for the state of Texas. The Administration has halted onshore lease sales.
A large Texas driller was quoted last week that supply chain problems for essentials like pipe are becoming a major problem with no solution in sight.
Interior’s five-year leasing program for the Gulf of Mexico expires in June. Yet the Administration hasn’t promulgated a new plan. Nor did it appeal a liberal judge’s order in January revoking the November leases. But the Administration has appealed another judge’s order requiring that it hold lease sales.
More bad news is that every analyst I follow is now predicting a deep recession evident soon. Carter stagflation on steroids.
I don’t know what is going on with her but she really seems to be incapable of answering the most basic policy questions if she hasn’t rehearsed the answer.
The Peter Principle is what’s going on with her. She’s a prosecutor whose knowledge of and interest in any other segment of public policy approaches nil. It’s a reasonable inference that she’s reacted to her situation by being a royal bitc* to her staff. Note, her career in California politics has co-incided with the advanced decay of the California Republican Party. She needed patrons to navigate the fundraising network in the Democratic Party. You can see what happens when her patrons are not running the table.
Note the similarity to Nancy Pelosi, who has faced one competitive election in her career and knows nothing about anything but navigating the politics of the Democratic caucus in Congress.
Just got an email from a retired teacher who blamed current inflation on the republicans and claimed they were “projecting their sins” onto Biden.
How close a relative is this person?
How about Mayor Pete? The bicycle riding, parental leave taking, spouse of a gentlesomething born of the confluence of Mr. Rogers and Liberace.
This dumpster fire is all planned.
Malice aforethought. Malicious insanity, that should be—though, one more time, with SPIRIT: “For the good of the nation and the world”! (As per usual…)
Interesting that Hillary’s and Obama’s GREAT RESET(TM) with Russia has gradually evolved (if four years later than initially planned) into the GREAT RESET with America. No doubt that was always the point of the exercise…
And so, no surprises there: the goal is to destroy Capitalist Gehenna and replace it with—transform it into—AMSOC Nirvana.
The first dish on the project’s menu: an omelet made up of America’s vast middle class…in all its grand diversity…
(And so let ‘er rip: “Bring it on”—the omelet, that is…)
As for all those illegal immigrants who’ve been pouring (AKA invited) in, might it be that at some point this summer there’ll be an EO, complete with fanfare, self-congratulation (JUSTICE, FINALLY!!) and triumphalism (AMERICA FULFILLING HER MANDATE), granting all of them “the right” to vote. AKA “Project Secret Weapon”?…
(But is that even legal?)
((OTOH does legality even matter at this stage of the festivities?—since one may well wonder if “Biden” will be able to succeed in packing the Court before then…))
(Interesting times as “our” allies in Beijing might whisper….)
Oops, forgot the link:
“Biden’s border recipe: Let illegals flood the country and drastically reduce deportations”—
https://justthenews.com/government/security/bidens-border-recipe-let-illegals-flood-country-and-drastically-reduce
(No, not a surprise; but maybe some of the “faithful” will “wake up”…even though it’s far more likely that they’ll figure out a way—without trying too, too hard—to blame Trump….)
How ’bout Tony Blinken? This git-tar playin’ Hamptons dweller has taken ineffectuality to a high art.
And speaking of the Democratic Party’s campaign of Immaculate Deception:
“Dr. John Campbell Has Been Red-Pilled”—
https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/dr-john-campbell-has-been-red-pilled?r=4j0tb&s=r
H/T Blazingcatfur blog.
Key grafs:
‘…On March 9, 2022, Campbell published a video entitled “The Pfizer documents” where he goes through one of the released documents in detail: the ADVERSE EVENTS OF SPECIAL INTEREST (AESI) document (aka the “5.3.6 document”).
‘As of March 11, that video now has 1.4M views.
‘In the video, Campbell clearly shows that he is not happy with the lack of transparency. He is not happy with the safety signals disclosed in this document…. He concludes “This has just destroyed trust in authority” (watch @21:55)…
‘This means that, in the minds of the mainstream media, Dr. Campbell has transitioned from being a “respected health expert” to a “misinformation spreader” that should be ignored….’
(Note that this is not really Pfizer’s fault, not really…since these documents were NOT supposed to be exposed for 75 years… Nobody WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS
How ’bout Garland and Milley?
Sniffing out White Supremacy wherever it may lurk.
As long as we’re talking about it, FWIW, from most angles I’ve seen, he seems (to me, at least) to be the love child of Bette Midler and Alfred E. Neuman. FWIW.
– – – – – – – – – –
In other news…a repost (perhaps more suitable for the current thread):
The Biden-Harris complete, absolute and total disconnect should be astounding to those witnessing it. Nonetheless, for the True Believer, the popularity and “success” of these two exemplars is no doubt due to the duo’s—NOTRUMP—“charm” (“Biden”‘s impressive gravitas balanced with “Harris”‘s refreshing, giggly world-view)….
Anyway, compare and contrast:
“Biden claims ‘inflation is largely the fault of Putin,’ not Democratic spending”—
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-says-inflation-putin-fault-not-democratic-spending
“Biden is letting Putin run the Iran nuclear talks”—
https://nypost.com/2022/03/12/biden-is-letting-putin-run-the-iran-nuclear-talks/
“Kamala Harris says Dems’ [must] tell voters ‘they got what they ordered’ on Biden promises”—
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/kamala-harris-address-dnc-saturday-after-europe-trip
Uh-huh, sure…as the corrupt media spins ever more furiously:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3svW8PM_jc
Sung to the words:
“Got to say…it’s Trump’s FAULT…”
When talking about things like the Democrats wanting to destroy America’s place in the world or the Great Reset, there’s an important point to remember. The people pushing those things don’t believe there will be any practical changes to the world because of it.
They’re like atheists who think you can take out God and the stuff about sex but keep the rest of Judeo-Christian morality just fine. For example, we’re getting a glimpse of what the world would be like without U.S. hegemony. Doesn’t look to great does it, even for the elites? Or how do you maintain a mass consumer economy in a world where “nobody owns anything?” Or how many suburbs located dozens of miles from anything are sustainable with $8 a gallon gas or people being forced to buy EVs that cost 2 to 3 times the equivalent gas-powered vehicle?
Mike
Actually, I think the Globalists, of which the Democratic are an essential, fundamental part—after all, America is currently the BIGGEST IMPEDIMENT to the Globalists’ “more perfect FUTURE”—are thinking big.
REAL big.
The final goal is a massive reconfiguration of the Western world (IOW the World), with an all-powerful Leadership elite determining what is possible and what is not; what is thinkable and what is not; what is do-able and what is not…IOW LIMITING the Neo-Proletariat within a “guided” set of strictures, using sustenance, entertainment and the so-called “pursuit of happiness” as carrots and sticks to create their Brave New Dystopia…and ensure they can maintain control of it.
To achieve that, however, there first must be an INTERIM objective: general, across-the-board impoverishment, so that people will have to experience and have to “get used” to a new and terrible “LIBERATING” (pace Jen Psaki) reality of SCARCITY—having to live and survive on a whole lot less—following which the “authorities” governing this GREAT RESET will more easily be able to control the Neo-Proletariat, “allowing” them—upon “good behavior”—to “enjoy” incremental levels of increased “happiness…on condition of their “good behavior” and their compliant attitudes.
To this end a compliant social order must also be created.
Will it work? (Is it even an accurate forecast?)
Top-down, behavioral prescriptions and dictates may work in the short term; but (if they do) they also have a tendency of breaking down eventually.
The only question is the length of the “short term”.
Should have added that inn the “Interim” period (but also following), violence and chaos will be major strategies in the Globalists’ “toolbox” to more easily enable manipulation and control of the masses and to enforce adherence….
“What were the Democrats thinking”
There is a mistaken assumption here. Just because you’re evil it doesn’t mean you can’t be stupid.
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Art Deco:
Long time friend of the family. Very kind in her personal life.
My theory about Vice President Harris is that she is on drugs. She is also painfully stupid, but that doesn’t seem like quite enough to account for her behavior.
Came across Kitty Kelley’s profile of JoJo, “Death and the All-American Boy,” originally published in the Washingtonian in 1974. The reissued piece carries the subtitle, “Joe Biden was a lot more careful around the press after this 1974 profile.” Kelley, now 79, is a celebrity biographer generally regarded as a sensationalist gossip-monger, but perhaps that gave her some insights into Biden’s personality that more serious analysts missed. Sample: “In his office in the New Senate Office Building surrounded by more than 35 pictures of his late wife, Biden launched into a three-hour reminiscence. It wasn’t maudlin—he seemed to enjoy remembering aloud. He was the handsome football hero. She was the beautiful homecoming queen. Their marriage was perfect. Their children were beautiful. And they almost lived happily ever after. ‘Neilia was my very best friend, my greatest ally, my sensuous lover. The longer we lived together the more we enjoyed everything from sex to sports. Most guys don’t really know what I lost because they never knew what I had. Our marriage was sensational.'”
I do feel a certain degree of Fremdschämen for “Doctor” Jill, having to follow a paragon of wifely excellence like Neilia. The full article, including a photo of the senator that Kelley described as “handsome” in 1974, can be read here:
https://www.washingtonian.com/1974/06/01/joe-biden-kitty-kelley-1974-profile-death-and-the-all-american-boy/?src=longreads
Interesting….
But since “…Hunter is the smartest man I know…”, essentially meaningless.
(Not to mention, “If you don’t vote for me then you ain’t [….]”—and while we’re at it, why not replay those Joe Biden vs. Clarence Thomas tapes—that notorious sucker-punch attack on the Potomac—oh, but I keep forgetting that Clarence Thomas “ain’t [….]”…)
Anyway, the man’s a walking confabulator;
a certified fantasist;
his day-glow fuchsia prose an embarrassment…as he milks his tragedies for all they’re worth, the manipulative scoundrel.
Maybe we should give Tara Reade the last word….
Wait a sec, isn’t it now known that he was cheating on her with Jill at the time of her death? (I also read something that he met Jill because she’s was the ex-babysitter for his kids but have no idea if it’s true. Creepy as hell if it is.)
There was a conservative blogger in DC in the late 90s (yes, one of the very first bloggers) who pointed out that the new media’s unwillingness to vet Democrats meant that mediocre and unqualified politicians rose to levels of power that they would never have reached if the media had done its job. This ends up hurting the party because most of these incompetents come from states and districts that would elect other Democrats to replace them if their misdeeds and mistakes were exposed. Rarely would the exposure help the GOP.
The partisanship of the news media is exponentially worse now. And Democrat politicians are even more pathetic.
Just one more example of how the news media isn’t just ridiculously partisan and unfair. They are stupid. They don’t even know how to cheat for their side intelligently.
Democrats, ‘liberals’, ‘progressives’, etc….it is important to segment the opposition. Different people & different groups have differing motivations. Some may be persuadable to change their views/votes, some are beyond hope.
BigD:
I think, actually, the accusation was that Jill was cheating on her husband with Biden after Biden’s wife had died, not that Biden had been cheating on his own wife.
PA Cat:
I discussed that 1974 Biden interview in depth in this previous post.
Sarah Rolph:
I was just discussing that yesterday with someone. My theory is similar; that it’s drugs or drink. Harris has never impressed me, but she’s never been anything like as bad as this before. I think she knows she’s in way over her head and is frightened, and perhaps has turned to substances such as drink or drugs.
Neo ! What sort of drugs do you think Kamala might be on?
No harm in your speculating.
It’s not booze. Perhaps some excessive Xanax use?
If she’s not on something…, the ramifications are disturbing.
Laughing gas, quite obviously.
Ok a quick google says that accusation comes from Jill’s ex husband so while it could be true it’s very easy to believe he might just be a huge bit biased.
“Biden”: From the laughable to the pathetic…to the pornographic:
‘”Democracy Is At Stake” – Dems Urge Americans’ Shared “Sacrifice” Over Soaring Gas Prices’—
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/democracy-stake-dems-urge-americans-shared-sacrifice-over-soaring-gas-prices
So it’s “shared sacrifice” now, is it?…as the perversity dial edges ever closer to Red…
These putzes are getting creepier and creepier.
(What’ll it be next? Probably just the—classical—“Lie back and enjoy it” line; but before they can get away with that, they’ll have to go full Galt on seizing legally-owned firearms.)
Related:
“What it’s like inside Moscow amid Ukraine war: Reporter’s Notebook;
:”oscow journalist Kirill Martynov tells Fox News about the mood in Moscow as he sees it”—
https://www.foxnews.com/world/what-its-like-inside-moscow-reporters-notebook
he seemed to enjoy remembering aloud. He was the handsome football hero. She was the beautiful homecoming queen. Their marriage was perfect. Their children were beautiful. And they almost lived happily ever after. ‘Neilia was my very best friend, my greatest ally, my sensuous lover. The longer we lived together the more we enjoyed everything from sex to sports. Most guys don’t really know what I lost because they never knew what I had. Our marriage was sensational.’”
I can almost see my mother’s face and hear her voice had she been presented with this text. Starts out with a Tallulah pitch “Ye gods…”.
Never attribute to stupidity that which is adequately explained by malice.
Hanlon’s Straight Razor.
“Never attribute….”
In the spirit of which…here’s the low-down on the latest round of the “negotiations” to restore—i.e., WORSEN—Obama’s “Deal” with Iran…wherein the notoriously less-than-useless Wendy Sherman makes one of her trademark bizarro, cameo appearances replete with nonsensical assertions:
“Sen. Risch: Administration in ‘Alternative Universe’ on Iran Nuclear Deal”—
https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/jimrisch-iran-administration-nucleardeal/2022/03/13/id/1060967/
Key graf:
‘…”You’ve got the Iranians and the Russians negotiating a deal for us, [Sen. Risch said]…. I mean, what could possibly go wrong here? This stuff, this is surreal.” ‘
To “Biden”‘s perfidy there is no end.
Ok a quick google says that accusation comes from Jill’s ex husband so while it could be true it’s very easy to believe he might just be a huge bit biased.
If I’m not mistaken, when Jill served papers on Bill Stevenson, one of her objects was walking away with a piece of the business he’d built. His lawyer managed to fight hers off on this point. She’s always been skeevy.
If I still had access to Readers’ Guide, one project I could think of would be to see if anyone in the media ever located Betty Ford’s 1st husband and induced him to speak for attribution. BF included a vague and puzzling chapter about her 1st marriage in her memoirs (“The Five Year Misunderstanding”). The man was diabetic (which may have been why he was not in the service during the war) and had some sort of crisis ca. 1945 which nearly killed him and left him an invalid under the care of his mother while BF worked at a local department store; he then unexpectedly recovered and she then filed for divorce. (She said her mother-in-law hadn’t been impressed with this maneuver). Surprisingly, the man lived until 1989 and died while traveling abroad.
One curio about Gerald Ford was that he married fairly late in life (at age 35) and when he did, it was to a woman past 30 who’d received a divorce decree the previous year.
With their “world class vote fraud operation”, why were they worried about Bernie as a candidate? They coulda got him the election too and at least been a little more honest about their agendas.
‘”Democracy Is At Stake” – Dems Urge Americans’ Shared “Sacrifice” Over Soaring Gas Prices’ (continued from above):
In this two-minute excerpt, Lee Smith explains “Biden”‘s devious goals- and how acceding to the “Biden” narrative poses a danger to unsuspecting Republicans this November—
https://twitter.com/RonColeman/status/1502347380334731274
A brace of important articles (H/T Powerline blog):
1.
An ultra-sober, objective (if tilting toward a successful Ukraine defense of that country) and detailed assessment of the war thus far in Ukraine so far, complete with suggestions (though the author seems to believe that the US will somehow step up with non-participatory support). The focus is on what has gone right and wrong militarily on both sides, but warns of the likelihood of increased Russian forces and firepower (in the wake of initial Russian missteps) to overpower and capture at least the eastern half of Ukraine, including Kiev and the all-important Black Sea coast, while suggesting ways that Ukraine, if provided with enough vital and timely help from the West, might be able to withstand the—almost certain—coming onslaught:
“A Winning Strategy in Ukraine”—
https://www.hudson.org/research/17637-a-winning-strategy-in-ukraine
2.
Russiagate, etc. (which seems like an afterthought but which must not be forgotten, especially in light of the latest “Biden” deceptions, lies and manipulations):
“The Stench of Spygate;
“It won’t go away, no matter how much the media ignores it”—
https://spectator.org/the-stench-of-spygate/
The problem they have is they had no one else. Due the a variety of circumstances mostly COVID they were able to run Joe as the “Generic Democrat”. The Generic candidate often wins verses a real person. Their world view tells them that thinking Kamala, a female person of color, is not super awesome is only done by racists. It can’t be that she is objectively terrible.
We got here due to the world view of people who can only see racism and hate in people who disagree. People who worry about climate change in the face of a real possibility of war. Who let our adversaries if not outright enemies created deals that they want us to be bound by.
I don’t know the way back to an America worthy of the birthright of freedom half of us want to throw away.
LeClerc:
I haven’t a clue what she might be on. But her demeanor really has gotten worse. She was a lot more coherent during the debates. She was never “likeable,” but she certainly sounded better than she does these days.
LeClerc and Neo: Maybe Harris is back to using pot? Both she and “Mayor Pete” have admitted to smoking weed back when it was still illegal. The marijuana sold now is much stronger than the stuff that was available in the 1980s, so a return to pot might explain her recent behavior.
Biden wasn’t put up to defeat Trump.
He was put up to defeat Sanders. Bernie winning would have destroyed the careers of a large number of Democrat insiders — in a way that Trump winning would not.
They had assumed, in their little bubbles, that Trump was toast anyway. Lucky for them Covid came along, because otherwise he would still be in the White House.
The EU shows its decrepit sense of values. No doubts that “Biden” is heading in this direction as well….
“Conservative European countries facing pressure to turn woke”—
https://nypost.com/2022/03/13/conservative-eu-countries-facing-pressure-to-turn-woke/
@ BigD > “The sad thing is I’ve read some of DocBastards more recent tweets, he’s now has the same attitude as the “thrown clear” guy.”
I read the post you linked, and it was quite — well, entertaining is not exactly the right word, given the topic, but enlightening is too grandiose.
His style reminded me of a blogger I used to follow, called Taxi Hack (I think from Hot Air back when it was allowing real comments). I didn’t find anything on the net search, and didn’t have him bookmarked on this new (5 year old!) computer.
Then, in remarkable serendipity, I read Gerard’s post at his Pingback, and there in the comments was a link to one of the Hack’s most popular posts: The Pig Trap!
It’s worth a read.
https://taxicabdepressions.com/?p=1193
So is Gerard’s post, of course; it’s a wide-ranging round-up and I still haven’t followed up on all his links.
As for the Doc: I looked at his most recent post from 2020 (he hung up his keyboard in December that year), which was a “myth buster” on Covid.
Let’s just say he was a little premature on separating myth from reality.
His patient stories would make a good book, though.
The rule is never pick as a #2 someone better than you.
That’s how we got Harris ( being nicer than using using that name)
LeClerc and Neo: Maybe Harris is back to using pot? Both she and “Mayor Pete” have admitted to smoking weed back when it was still illegal. The marijuana sold now is much stronger than the stuff that was available in the 1980s, so a return to pot might explain her recent behavior.
Uh, no. You likely know people who use it and you have no idea. The idea that it makes you demonstrably stupid is ignorant. Suffice to say, that isn’t it. Not even close.
The idea that it makes you demonstrably stupid is ignorant. Suffice to say, that isn’t it. Not even close.
https://alchetron.com/cdn/pugsley-addams-c3bce0b2-5a1d-4fc0-9965-651ccac23d3-resize-750.jpg
The Democrat voters had little say in who the nominee would have been, their first choice was clearly Bernie Sanders.
The Democrat leadership needed someone who would convey the message that everyone who is used to getting paid by the Federal government is going to get paid. There is no one more plugged into that system than Joseph R Biden. And Kamala Harris was just to check the boxes.
Democrats typically don’t understand real competence. Obama was also lacking, he just did a better job of faking it.
They confuse credentials with competence.
Also I agree with Neo that they didn’t want the public to realize this. Note that Putin and Xi both care about public opinion, hence why they censor. Likewise Democrats censor as well.
The Russia collusion scandal was a demonstration of incompetence, which is why it didn’t play out as they wished.
Now, they are also smart in their fashion. Most are lawyers and know lawfare well. They are also media savvy. But in many practical ways they are idiots.
And Stan’s point about lack of vetting by the media is correct.
“The idea that it makes you demonstrably stupid is ignorant.”
The problem with the marijuana debate is that it is now dominated by high-functioning non-addicts. It’s like talking about booze but pretending alcoholism, drunk driving, and cirrhosis of the liver don’t exist.
Mike
deadrody:
I don’t think you have any way of knowing what anyone’s experience here is with cannabis or with people who use it.
Although I have never thought that Harris’s drug of choice would be pot, I nevertheless certainly have observed plenty of people under its influence and most of them are decidedly less coherent at that time than otherwise.
Now, they are also smart in their fashion. Most are lawyers and know lawfare well. They are also media savvy. But in many practical ways they are idiots.
The media is part of the social nexus for which the Democratic Party is the electoral vehicle. So is most (not all) of the legal profession.
Democratic pols themselves are seldom adept at the law or at public performances. They have other people to clean up after them and file suits for them.
Have a gander at the congressional leadership: Clyburn and Pelosi are not lawyers, Schumer never practiced, and Durbin and Hoyer have not practiced in > 40 years; when they did practice, Durbin and Hoyer were very ordinary lawyers and Durbin had patronage contracts from the time he was admitted. Are any of them better public speakers than the average high school teacher?
Of all their presidential candidates of note, Amy Klobuchar, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, John Kerry, Jerry Brown, Michael Dukakis, Richard Gephardt, and Gary Hart are the only ones who (1) actually practiced law and (2) did so for more than about four years. You could add Liawatha, who had a long run as a law professor (f/t faculty who published, unlike BO). Hillary Clinton’s career in law was a function of sharing Bill Clinton’s bed. She was dismissed from her position on the staff of the House Judiciary Committee at the end of 1974; the man who fired her said later that over a period of 14 years he’d employed just three lawyers for whom he’d never give a reference, and she was one of the three; she did legal aid work for two-and-a-half years; she was hired by a mid-law firm in Little Rock after her husband was elected state attorney-general. Kerry and Gephardt were very common-and-garden lawyers and it’s a reasonable wager that Kerry was hardly making a living at it. Jerry Brown was the governor’s son when he landed his first law job. Gary Hart worked for the federal government for nine years. John Edwards had a very lucrative practice; critics of that practice maintain he made himself rich by snookering juries with junk science.
The Democrat voters had little say in who the nominee would have been, their first choice was clearly Bernie Sanders.
They had plenty of say, but primary donnybrooks are weirdly vulnerable to preference cascades. James Clyburn managed to set one off by engineering primary victories for Biden in states where the majority of Democratic voters are black and amenable to appeals from opinion leaders like ministers. You can see these cascades develop in other years – e.g. the emergence of John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004.
John Edwards made a lot based on junk science attacking the implant industry.
Also I’ll note that the ADA who prosecuted Kyle Rittenhouse seemed ignorant. He asked Kyle why he didn’t buy a handgun, to witch Kyle responded “I couldn’t legally do that “. Pretty bad when the 18 year old defendant knows the law better then the ADA.
“They had plenty of say, but primary donnybrooks are weirdly vulnerable to preference cascades.”
And after Clyburn gift-wrapped those wins for Biden, the Democratic political establishment and the media went all in with a “You must vote for Biden” message unlike anything I recall in the past.
Say what you will about GOP primary voters but when told they HAD to vote for a Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio, they responded “Screw you! We’re not voting for those jagoffs!” When Democratic primary voters were told they HAD to vote for Biden, a candidate many had already considered and rejected in their own minds, they said “Yes sir! Whatever you say, sir! How high should we jump, sir?”
Mike
Bernie isn’t any more competent anyway. If anything less so.
@Art Deco:They had plenty of say…
a) Superdelegates; there are still enough of them that they have the casting vote in any close contest.
b) Sanders suspended his campaign in April and endorsed Biden, which prevented it from ever being a close contest requiring superdelegates to be the casting vote (which they would never want to be or it gives the whole thing away). After that there was essentially one candidate left with any sort of support, Joe Biden.
@M Bunge:When Democratic primary voters were told they HAD to vote for Biden
There wasn’t anyone left. The Party had seen to it.
Also there were no good choices among the Democratic field. Tulsi was sane. Maybe Yang. Neither ready.
At one debate the entire slate of candidates rose their hand that they would give free health care to illegals.
I wonder if they really believe that their actions could bring down the world they live in. Things are running. They’ve always been running. There’s nothing to worry about. We’re just going to do a better job of milking the system, and Happy Days will be Here Again Forever!
Meanwhile they scream like Chicken Little about Climate Change.
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Managed decline folks. And it’s intentional.
I can’t believe Harris was their best choice for VP. The New York Times post-mortem expose of the Harris presidential campaign was a devastating indictment of her incompetence. They’re both frauds & we’re in big trouble.
It is very simple to understand: During the primaries, Trump was, well, triumphant. He was doing well with the public and looked like a shoo-in for 2020. So who can the democrats toss into the ring, knowing that those tossed in were simple place holders, sacrifices as it were. Then COVID came ambling along and the democrats seized on it as a holy cudgel with which to pound Trump. Between the (inflated) case/hospitalization/death numbers and the high panic induced by the democrats (with a special hat tip to the media, but I repeat myself), Trump took an nose dive from which he could not recover. COVID did its job, help eliminate Trump. But by now they were invested in what can be considered the most incompetent and pathological candidates ever. Ooops.
huxley —
As I recall “The Fourth Turning” the Boomers would become the Prophet Generation leading the Millennials, the Hero Generation, who would do the heavy lifting in the Crisis.
There’s nothing to say that the Prophets leading the Heroes will be on the side of Good. The antebellum Prophet generation in the south was just as much to blame for the Civil War as their counterparts in the north.
I would argue that the faction of the Boomers (consumed with Selma Envy?) have been leading the Millennials doing the heavy lifting of inflicting wokeness on us all and causing the Crisis that way.