US Politics Thread

[Vic]

It was telling he didn’t have the wherewithal to go over and shake her hand at the end, as she did at the beginning. Not for reasons of cordiality, of course, but it would have been the savvy thing to do. Instead he just turned on his heels away from Harris snd fucked off.

It was also telling that he wouldn’t look at her throughout. She’s seriously rattled the ****.

Now stalking behind her, he'd have been up for that.

 

[Gabriel]

Had Biden come out with half Trump’s utterances of last night, his fitness to continue would have been called into question, rightly, and he wouldn’t have been allowed to soldier on for another three weeks.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Had Biden come out with half Trump’s utterances of last night, his fitness to continue would have been called into question, rightly, and he wouldn’t have been allowed to soldier on for another three weeks.

As I've said before, dems and reps hold themselves to different standards.

Fox News and newsmax will be happy to confirm Trump as the winner of that debate as in their world view, what he said was better. The fact he lied will be ignored. If dems lie they call each other out and don't wait for the media to take the lead.

There is however a consequence to that. Biden had a bad debate and he was effectively although politely asked to stand aside. The gop doesn't have that kind of capability. They just drink more of the koolaid.

 

[Trevor Morley's Tache]

I don't think Trump has slept.hes rambling on Faux News. When asked his view on Taylor Swift he's replied; "I like...Mrs....er..
.erm...."

It didn't go his own way one little bit last night and it's absolutely floored him.

The odds of him getting on his private jet and fucking of to Russia or Hungary shortened significantly after that shit show, because barring him getting elected, it's the only way he avoids getting jailed.

 

[blueinsa]

I did stridently predict a few days ago that when the heat turned up he’d start to unravel and make increasingly bizarre comments as he did so (not that makes me Nostradamus!) so I cannot wait to see how he ups the ante from Haitians eating Buster and Simba for dinner, but I know it’s going to be fucking epic!

Kamala is the very reason for his unraveling and it’s why many said Biden should have been nowhere near the Presidency a long time ago.

Saying that didn’t make you a Trump fan which most seemed hell bent on claiming, it meant you could see he was being given an easy ride by the Democrats who should have ensured he was up against someone capable of actually beating him!

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

Kamala is the very reason for his unraveling and it’s why many said Biden should have been nowhere near the Presidency a long time ago.

Saying that didn’t make you a Trump fan which most seemed hell bent on claiming, it meant you could see he was being given an easy ride by the Democrats who should have ensured he was up against someone capable of actually beating him!

Yes, it’s not easy usurping an incumbent President, especially one who is reasonably popular, but it went on for far too long ending in that shambles of a debate in the summer.

Voters were bound to ask, if Biden is like this now what will he be like in four years time?

Now they are asking the same of Trump!

 

[Gabriel]

As I've said before, dems and reps hold themselves to different standards.

Fox News and newsmax will be happy to confirm Trump as the winner of that debate as in their world view, what he said was better. The fact he lied will be ignored. If dems lie they call each other out and don't wait for the media to take the lead.

There is however a consequence to that. Biden had a bad debate and he was effectively although politely asked to stand aside. The gop doesn't have that kind of capability. They just drink more of the koolaid.

Agree, though even on Fox News Brit Hume was savvy enough to acknowledge that Trump had damaged his own chances last night.

 

[Gareth Barry Conlon]

Kamala is the very reason for his unraveling and it’s why many said Biden should have been nowhere near the Presidency a long time ago.

Saying that didn’t make you a Trump fan which most seemed hell bent on claiming, it meant you could see he was being given an easy ride by the Democrats who should have ensured he was up against someone capable of actually beating him!

The thing is with Biden, if had not sought a second term there would have been primaries and the primaries that Biden won were not good for the party. The front runners had masses of cash as they were all old with decades of experience raising cash. It was pretty stayed and dull contest, like a beauty pagent in a care home.

No one planned the transfer from Biden to Harris but it avoided that shit show and gave her such a great boost with everyone just relieved it wasn't going to be old man Biden. The dems to their credit all ultimately want their side to win and they hate Trump. They took that energy and gave it to Kamala to run with.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

Yes, it’s not easy usurping an incumbent President, especially one who is reasonably popular, but it went on for far too long ending in that shambles of a debate in the summer.

Voters were bound to ask, if Biden is like this now what will he be like in four years time?

Now they are asking the same of Trump!

That's exactly the point. But I think it's worth backtracking for a moment, and recognising what that cost Biden. Above and beyond his ego, he saw the bigger picture.
Now all politicians have pretty outsize egos, and all like power. They may use power to good ends, they may abuse it, but they all definitely like it. That is the game they're in.
I remember very clearly when Mitterand stood for his second term of office as president in ’88, it was clear, even to those who had been well disposed towards him in 1981, that he not a well man, and no longer fit for purpose. Remember that a presidential term in France at that time was seven years! To this day, I consider that the man's ego got the better of him — he was always, consciously or unconsciously (mainly the former) in competition with De Gaulle, and De Gaulle's legacy, and I'm convinced he just thought, “Sod it, he had two terms as president, I'm going to get my two terms, and to hell with the country”. Anybody who doubts what I'm saying might ponder the fact that the National Library — the copyright library that is the equivalent of the BL — is called the Bibliothèque François-Mittérand (although no-one calls it that, of course. I don't know a single person who uses that library who calls it by that name).
So, to go back to Joe Biden: it must have hurt him, hurt his ego, to know that despite having had a pretty good term, there was a groundswell of opinion — there were doubts before, but especially after that debate — not just within the country but within his own party that the election was unwinnable if he did not stand down.
I repeat: if Harris does pull this off, Biden should get some credit for just being big enough to rise above his own pride. It doesn't always happen with that lot, left or right…

 

[AliBobbyJ]

To this day, I consider that the man's ego got the better of him — he was always, consciously or unconsciously (mainly the former) in competition with De Gaulle, and De Gaulle's legacy, and I'm convinced he just thought, “Sod it, he had two terms as president, I'm going to get my two terms, and to hell with the country”. Anybody who doubts what I'm saying might ponder the fact that the National Library — the copyright library that is the equivalent of the BL — is called the Bibliothèque François-Mittérand.

if having buildings named for a politician is a mark of their ego or their reputation in history I look forward to the creation of the DTW (Donald Trump Whorehouse) in Florida sometime in the next year or so. Won't be a library, that's for sure.

(I could digress here and tell a story about being held against a wall by secret service agents in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library after a chance encounter with Nancy who was there on a book-signing, but will refrain.)