Joe Biden: A-hole
[guest post by JVW]
I chickened out on the headline, but Charlie Cooke over at NRO has it exactly right: Joe Biden is an Asshole. We have discussed this now and again with respect to his denial of his seventh grandchild and his failure to own up to his son Hunter’s tawdry and embarrassing lifestyle along with his general peevishness and grouchiness, and Charlie Cooke makes it plain:
He’s an asshole. Can we not all see it? For those who cannot conceive of truth without triangulation, I will freely stipulate that Donald Trump is an asshole, too — and that, in some ways, he’s an even worse one. But that does not let Biden off the hook. President or not, Biden is a decrepit, dishonest, unpleasant blowhard. He’s a nasty, corrupt, partisan fraud. He is, as Shakespeare had it, “a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality.” Biden is twice as irritating as he believes himself to be, and half as intelligent into the bargain. From the moment he arrived on the scene — nearly 50 years ago, Lord help us — he has represented all that is wrong with our politics. A century hence, his name will be set into aspic and memorialized under “Hack.”
The court stenographers (as Rush Limbaugh used to call them) still want us to believe that Joe Biden is a lovable, grandfatherly, figure who — ok, sure — may from time to time lash out in a rather startling manner but who otherwise is dedicated to restoring honor and dignity to the White House. Pish posh. He’s a raging jackass, a man who was only about half-bright to begin with and now has lived long enough to witness his mind turning to mush in his dotage, which in itself has made him infinitely more irascible and stubborn. Mr. Cooke continues:
At Axios, Alex Thompson reports the apparently surprising news that Biden “has such a quick-trigger temper that some aides try to avoid meeting alone with him.” Among the president’s favorite admonitions are: “God dammit, how the f**k don’t you know this?!,” “Don’t f**king bullsh*t me!,” and “Get the f**k out of here!” Per Thompson, these revelations are important because, like his refusal to acknowledge his own granddaughter, they threaten to damage Biden’s “carefully cultivated image as a kindly uncle.” But that image is for cretins and sycophants. Joe Biden has never been a “kindly uncle” — or anything approaching one. For his whole life, Joe Biden has been a plodding mediocrity with a Delaware-sized chip on his shoulder. What about him, I wonder, would not lead him to shout stupidly at people? He’s a bully. Check. He’s insecure. Check. He’s senile. Check. He is hostage to his precarious record of lies. Check. His anger is as inevitable as the sunset.
The President’s eruptions of sputtering episodes of rage are apparently even directed at young female staffers. It was just the other day that an older powerful white male speaking harshly to young women aides was considered to be absolutely unacceptable and an unquestioned abuse of authority. These days, with a progressive establishment desperate to keep Democrats in power and stuck with a truly wretched human being as party leader, the media is finding it harder and harder to cover for this pompous jerkwad. Not that they don’t try. The same Axios article which related President Biden’s awful temper took some ameliorating steps to explain them away by dutifully quoting an unnamed Biden aide who insists that the Boss’s temper-tantrums and barbed outbursts demonstrate a measure of respect for the unlucky recipient. They also quote unnamed employees of Team Biden as pondering whether more public displays of his temper would help assuage concerns by the voters that the 80-year Chief Executive lacks passion for the job, somehow ignoring the fact that Biden has on many occasions shown his prickly and pugnacious side, never really to any positive effect save for his most devoted fans.
Whether it’s in lashing out at other branches of government, his repeated lies and fairy-tales, or the simple bullying of his overmatched staff, Joe Biden has proven conclusively that he is unfit for the office which he holds. Given that this has been the trend for our Chief Executives in recent years and that there is a very strong chance that next year’s election will come down to two grossly unfit choices offered up by our two major political parties, we seem to be entering into the dying days of the American experiment. It was fun while it lasted, but we voters proved to be incapable of keeping our Republic, just as Benjamin Franklin seemed to foreshadow nearly a quarter-millennium ago.
– JVW
In related news of (often) a-holes, Senator Ted Cruz is once again being Good Ted, the Constitutional stalwart who identifies a defect in how our government is executing its sacred duties and formulates a plan to rectify the situation. This as opposed to Bad Ted who trolls social media for likes and puts on the ill-fitting suit of Trumpy populist.
JVW (e179af) — 7/11/2023 @ 12:44 pmYup, he’s an Asshoe (hopes that sneaks by the swear filter, if not, please edit as appropriate!)
Particularly when he claimed, numerous times that a drunk driver killed his wife and kid, when it was known from the beginning that wasn’t true. To use the death of your wife/kid to score political points is as scummy as one could get.
whembly (5f7596) — 7/11/2023 @ 1:10 pm@1
This is the based Cruz we’ve been wanting. Absolutely imperative that Cruz joins the suit to overturn the Chevron doctrine.
Pie in the sky wish: When Chief John Roberts steps down, I’d hope the next GOP President considers Cruz for that nomination. (Mike Lee would be better imo).
whembly (5f7596) — 7/11/2023 @ 1:13 pmThank you for the accurate description of the current occupant.
DN (89ede8) — 7/11/2023 @ 1:54 pmIt was fun while it lasted, but we voters proved to be incapable of keeping our Republic, just as Benjamin Franklin seemed to foreshadow nearly a quarter-millennium ago.
And so, Empire. But Trump thinks he’s Augustus. I’d hope we don’t start with Nero.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 1:59 pmNo, it’s a full fifty years now. When was this written?
Joe Biden is, at heart, mostly a moderate, but, on some issues, he is shameless demagogue, and he can pushed around and avoids a break eith the left most of the time.
I think that there are two places where Joe Biden could be real trouble::
1) He facilitated his son Hunter’s influence peddling (and his swindling of would-be bribers) by always being ready to meet with anyone Hunter proposed he meet with.
It could be one reason was that he thought Hunter might try something worse — Hunter was in need of a lot of money because of drug addiction and philandering. I don’t think he got a portion of w=Hunter’s payments. Stephen Bannon completely msinterpreted a message Hunter sent to his daughter on January 3, 2019.
Hunter was supporting his nuclear family for thirty years (Hunter was in no position to give anybody money, although he included Joe’s brother Jim in his dealings with the now defunct Chinese company CEFC); and sometime way back in the past when he was young Joe had advanced him money and demanded Hunter pay it back by giving him half his salary. That’s the obvious meaning. Hunter is not dropping some deep dark secret in passing.
I also think that Hunter and Joe’s funds got a bit commingled during the time he was vice president because Joe couldn’t bother himself to take care of paying bills. So an associate, both of Hunter and Joe, would pay sometimes from Hunter’s account when Joe’s was empty and straighten things out later. I think he really did repay the money he borrowed from Hunter. This is no crime. It’s stupid though. I guess nobody could get Joe’s attention so this associate figured it was easier this way..
I don’t think Joe was really there, sitting next to Hunter, when Hunter extorted millions of Dollars from some Chinese connected to the government of China claiming that even though Joe at that time held no public office, he knew a lot of people. But the IRS investigators were prevented from trying to determine Joe’s whereabouts that day, although I suppose if they were both in the same house, it wouldn’t say anything about whether or not Joe was really listening to that phone call..
2) There has been very subtle political interference with the investigation. Merrick Garland and Delaware prosecutor David Weiss have been playing games with words:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/david-weiss-letter-to-lindsey-graham-hunter-biden-congress-gary-shapley-64df990f
What does it mean “if it proved necessary?” What standards? Who decides?
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/11/2023 @ 2:00 pmPie in the sky wish: When Chief John Roberts steps down, I’d hope the next GOP President considers Cruz for that nomination. (Mike Lee would be better imo).
In a word, no (and Hell No for Lee). Both of them signed on to Trump’s pitiful attempt to stay in office. Trump is an idiot, he has an excuse, but these two?
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 2:02 pmwhembly (5f7596) — 7/11/2023 @ 1:10 pm
Strom Thurmond’s daughter really was killed by a drunk driver in 1993, at the age of 22.
From Google:
Joe wanted to be close to him. I don’t know how many times Joe Biden said his wife and daughter were killed by a drunk driver before. (actually she didn’t have the right of way)
It’s not always drunk driving that causes accidents.
About Strom Thurmond’s age Joe Biden said at one point:
“He gives us all hope.”
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/11/2023 @ 2:09 pmTed Cruz is a year younger than I am (dammit, I need to start having goals and aspirations!). Mike Lee is six months younger than Cruz is. Let’s say that 68-year-old John Roberts decides to give it four more years (assuming a Republican President). Ted Cruz would be pushing 57 at that point. I think one smart move that Republicans made in the last couple of generations (Democrats belatedly signed on too) was to appoint young Justices who could spend two or three decades on the bench. It’s not clear that Chief Justice Cruz would be up to the challenge.
JVW (1c2653) — 7/11/2023 @ 2:10 pmIf I were picking an actor to portray Joe Biden, I’d consider William Sanderson (the grotesque mayor in Deadwood) or maybe Kevin Spacey (several roles including real life).
You would think that all those fact-checkers you hear about would spend their days debunking the president, but apparently not.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 2:13 pmApparently not as bad as Bill Clinton when he was president.
The cussing seems to be triggered by someone by telling Joe Biden something he does not understand, and/or the use of jargon; or not being able to explain something further to him.
Ypu;d think maybe he’d try to replace some staffer or recruit more if they can’t explain things to him (and it is said that you don’t fully understand something if you can’t explain it to fifth grader or something.
Back in 2008 it was also triggered by someone telling him where to go but now Joe lets himself be led around.
He walks slow since he broke his foot in 2020.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/11/2023 @ 2:19 pmJudge sotomayer staff pressured colleges where she spoke to buy her books. Its legal for supreme court. Over a DU no big deal and attack the messanger. When its our side no big deal when its their side capital offense! This is why the far left needs to take out the corrupt corporate democrats.
asset (c68890) — 7/11/2023 @ 2:22 pmBy the way, here’s a prediction: At some point the Biden Family will have a reconciliation with little Navy Joan Roberts, the seventh Biden grandchild. The media will spin this as good ol’ Joe, decent family man, embracing flesh of his flesh and blood of his blood to his own heart, but the reality will be that pollsters and consultant will have told Team Biden — Jill specifically, no doubt — that their shunning of the little girl is hurting his public image in what promises to be a tight race. And then we’ll be treated to some nonsense along the lines of “from the beginning, Joe and Jill Biden embraced little Navy Joan, but they wanted to keep their contact with her secret in order to prevent a media onslaught from descending upon her.” Of course that will be utter bullcrap, and those of us with memories longer than houseflies will recall that the girl’s mother had to haul deadbeat Hunter into court in order to make him acknowledge his paternity and pay child support for his daughter while his father and stepmother pretended she didn’t exist.
I just wanted to get that prediction out now, so when it comes to fruition I can rightfully be seen as the seer that I am.
JVW (1c2653) — 7/11/2023 @ 2:37 pmThe cussing seems to be triggered by someone by telling Joe Biden something he does not understand
“Sir, it is Saturday!”
The jokes write themselves.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:04 pm@13:
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:09 pmAt some point the Biden Family will have a reconciliation with little Navy Joan Roberts, the seventh Biden grandchild.
When Junior goes potty in the front yard, you don’t bring it into the parlor. It’s not the baby’s fault, but she has a mother who is the kind of girl mothers warn their sons to stay away from. Can you imagine what she could parlay an acknowledged Biden family connection into? Is Alibaba really ready for a stripper on its board of directors?
And, BTW, Jill is not Hunter’s mother. She is his stepmother. Her “one flesh” is Joe and he is the one she will “cleave unto” and try to protect from Hunter and his hootsie tootsies.
nk (23a008) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:13 pmWhat Gal Luft claims about Hunter Biden is that Hunter Biden had an informant in the FBI.
It is possible that Luft believed that but what he tells is more consistent with Hunter pretending to have an informant in the FBI – if there is any truth to that. It (Hunter’s supposed FBI source) would help explain why he got money from CEFC after Biden was no longer in office but this needs to be carefully checked out, if it can be. One question: Was Ye’s family indeed in the United States? I didn’t read this anywhere else.
This is the allegation:
https://nypost.com/2023/03/22/hunter-biden-used-fbi-mole-to-tip-him-off-to-c/hina-probes-tipster
Note: One Eye sounds like Jimmy Breslin’s fictional Mafia boss “Un Ochio” I don’t think Hunter would have used that name.
The fact that, according to what Luft says, all of Hunter’s information turned out to be wrong, gives the whole story of Hunter claiming circa 2017 to have had an FBI or ex-FBI informant, the verisimilitude of truth.
Would Luft invent a story of a bad informant?
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:24 pmI guess this doesn’t count since he is the one being disrespectful and talking down to staff:
Dana (560c99) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:28 pmIs Alibaba really ready for a stripper on its board of directors?
Instead of a crack addict? The major difference is that stripping is not a crime, but crack possession is.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:31 pm“I’m not joking when I say this: If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect…
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:34 pmThe New York Times story about Navy Joan said that her mother was working as an assistant to Hunter Biden.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/01/us/politics/hunter-biden-daughter-arkansas.html
It said nothing about what other sources say, that she was working as a stripper.
This is what it says:
Further deponent sayeth not.
I suspect she worked as a stripper before Hunter put her on his payroll.
She might also have gotten pregnant without consulting him.
hey settled the lawsuit by the way, without lawyers, it seems:
I suppose Hunter might have said that in a few years he could be completely disgraced and have no income to speak and could even be in prison so it wouldn’t be a good idea for her daughter to take his last name.
She maybe agreed but also came up with the idea of taking the paintings – the paintings might be something that goes up and down with Hunter’s income.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:38 pm“I’m not joking when I say this: If you’re ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot,” he told his new employees at the time before adding “on the spot, no ifs or buts.
Dana (560c99) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:28 pm
He may have forgotten ever making that promise.
God Save The Queen!
norcal (e5b4c8) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:58 pmI wonder if we have more annoying, narcissistic national politicians because politics attracts people who crave easy power and fame. They certainly aren’t very humble, except for people like Mitt Romney and Joe Liebermann (and maybe they aren’t either).
In a way, though, who can blame them? Politics must be very frustrating because it is so hard to effect meaningful change. The agency system is needed for such a large government, but it delegates power so extensively that it is unmanageable. All that is left is grandstanding, and Congress has done that forever.
We end up giving up on politics or looking for saviors. I hope we can find some better saviors.
DRJ (92ff85) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:59 pmSure, Biden’s an arsehole. So’s his predecessor. So is Trump’s chief rival for the nomination.
Paul Montagu (8f0dc7) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:12 pmAmericans seem to be okay with nominating and electing arseholes for POTUS. I’m not sure how I feel about that, but “not an arsehole” is not in my top ten for qualities I look for in a president.
This may be unfair.
IMO anyone who chooses politics as a career at a young age, having never had a real career, was already an A-hole or will inevitably become one.
DRJ (92ff85) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:12 pmBiden has long had character problems. People think his plagiarism started just prior to his 1988 run for President. Not true. From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Biden
One would think he would have learned a lesson from that experience, but no. He went on to plagiarize a British politician.
Biden has always been a mediocre political blowhard. Drunk driver killed my wife and daughter. Uh huh. The Republicans will put you back in chains. Right. Georgia making elections more secure is Jim Crow 2.0. Sure.
And yet, in 2020, he looked like the wise option compared to Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, et al.
Except for Bloomberg. Bloomberg is a moderate who understands economics. Unfortunately, at his first debate appearance, Lizzie took an ax and gave him 40 whacks, and thus ended Mike’s candidacy.
Surely the Democrats can do better than a hack in his dotage, and without a doubt the Republicans can pick a better candidate than an ALL CAPS degenerate who is his own reality distortion field.
norcal (e5b4c8) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:17 pmStill. Isn’t Hunter already enough of an embarrassment? (And I understand that other legitimate non-disavowable Bidens have gotten into the racket, too.) Why bring in one more meal-ticket scrounger?
nk (23a008) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:23 pmPolitics must be very frustrating because it is so hard to effect meaningful change.
DRJ (92ff85) — 7/11/2023 @ 3:59 pm
That’s by design.
Obama’s “If Congress won’t act, I will” was against Constitutional principles. No, Obama, if Congress won’t act, you will NOT act. Don’t like it? Too bad. That’s the way the Founders set it up.
All you can do is use the bully pulpit and try to persuade. If that fails, then you just have to eat it until enough momentum builds that Congress is willing to act. Oftentimes, gridlock is good.
norcal (e5b4c8) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:26 pmAnd we owe it to veteran commenter Leviticus that the word “asshole” is not in the naughty word filter. He just could not figure out how to bowdlerize it. He would write out something like a “assho*e”, till Patterico finally just gave up and allowed the word. And people say we don’t live in a permissive society.
nk (23a008) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:30 pmUnfortunately, a large swath of American voters have already demonstrated that they prefer annoying, narcissistic national politicians who are also corrupt and compulsive liars and grifters. There is no longer any real measurable standard for a politician that is universally agreed upon by Americans. And that is incredibly sad and unbelievable.
Dana (560c99) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:33 pmOur system us designed to impose limits, norcal. But the Founders never set up the agency system, although there is an argument Hamilton would have. They saw Congress as the great drliberative law-making body, with the Constitution and Bill of Rights imposing limits on what they came up with.
DRJ (92ff85) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:33 pmWhat a classic memory, nk. Thank you.
DRJ (92ff85) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:35 pm> the Constitutional stalwart who identifies a defect in how our government is executing its sacred duties and formulates a plan to rectify the situation.
I thought that conservatives opposed courts substituting their policy judgment for that of the elected branches, and sarcastically called them wannabe philosopher-kings when (in the view of conservatives) they did so.
How is this not the courts doing just that?
aphrael (4c4719) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:51 pm> Judge sotomayer staff pressured colleges where she spoke to buy her books.
I suspect that’s normal behavior for just about anyone doing a speaking tour associated with a book release.
aphrael (4c4719) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:52 pm> The agency system is needed for such a large government, but it delegates power so extensively that it is unmanageable.
Ah, but we won’t have that problem any more, because we’ll just shift the power from the agencies to the courts.
aphrael (4c4719) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:54 pm> And yet, in 2020, he looked like the wise option compared to Sanders, Warren, Buttigieg, et al.
I’m not convinced that’s true. (I voted for Warren).
One of the things that happened in the Democratic primary in 2020 is that the *entire thing collapsed* because of COVID — there was a real flight to the security of known names, and the emergency interfered with voting in the middle-time-period states.
aphrael (4c4719) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:56 pm> veteran commenter Leviticus
anyone heard from him recently? how is he doing?
aphrael (4c4719) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:57 pm> Unfortunately, a large swath of American voters have already demonstrated that they prefer annoying, narcissistic national politicians who are also corrupt and compulsive liars and grifters.
This is a big part of why I now believe the fall of the republic is inevitable.
aphrael (4c4719) — 7/11/2023 @ 4:57 pmHow is this not the courts doing just that?
Mr. Senator Eduardo Rafael “Ted” Cruz, who is so squeezably soft it’s irresistible, already has one judge in West Texas, and blue slips for a dozen more, who will do just that and not let those icky Deep State bureaucrats have their own way.
That’s what Mr. Cuz has, and that’s what it is all about.
nk (23a008) — 7/11/2023 @ 5:01 pmShe maybe agreed but also came up with the idea of taking the paintings – the paintings might be something that goes up and down with Hunter’s income.
I suspect the value will go up and down with the worth of Hunter’s influence on Joe Biden.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 5:05 pmI have never cared for Mr. Biden. Ever. I remember this:
https://youtu.be/D1j0FS0Z6ho
Along with many similar incidents.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 7/11/2023 @ 5:05 pmUnfortunately, a large swath of American voters have already demonstrated that they prefer annoying, narcissistic national politicians who are also corrupt and compulsive liars and grifters.
If they believed that, it would be really scary. But they don’t, which is even more scary. They have been taught to think this is normal. They have no idea how government is supposed to work — it might as well be algebra or one of those other fascist subjects no one studies any more. What matters is your passion!
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 5:10 pmWorse:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gII8D-lzbA
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 5:12 pmI suspect that’s normal behavior for just about anyone doing a speaking tour associated with a book release.
Speaker Wright resigned over it.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/11/2023 @ 5:13 pmSimon Jester (c8876d) — 7/11/2023 @ 5:05 pm
Egads.
Thanks for linking that, Simon.
norcal (e5b4c8) — 7/11/2023 @ 5:14 pmnorcal, it is a drinking game in that video: take a shot for every lie.
Simon Jester (c8876d) — 7/11/2023 @ 5:26 pmAs I said over at The Dispatch, this inter-family drama is not really much of my business. If the child has not been welcomed into the family, that’s mainly on Hunter….and we all have a low opinion of him anyways. We simply don’t know what’s been said and done, though we tend to create our own narrative based upon our desired tribal result. Hey, don’t get me wrong, I’ve not thought much of Biden going back to the ’80’s. He’s an accidental President in my book, as he’s never come across as that bright and the blue-collar-Joe routine is gassy at best.
Now the temper tantrums are a more legitimate critique….at least better than insisting that Biden must gives us some reality TV drama. If he doesn’t recognize the grand-daughter he’s an a-hole; if he recognizes her, he’s being a disingenuous a-hole. Sort of tedious, no? I want the President of the United States working on matters of national importance…say border security, inflation, mounting debt, Ukraine. I want Hunter Biden to stay sober and get his life back on track. If that means not recognizing the girl, then so be it. In my book he owes me nothing and his relationship with Ms Roberts is his own business. He owes more to his wife and current family. Just as it nauseated me to see how the Palin family was treated, I think a lot of this just lacks Christian charity. There’s something about stones and glass houses…..
AJ_Liberty (c16a80) — 7/11/2023 @ 6:38 pmMonths ago I wrote here of Trump: Trump talks too much, thinks out loud, makes unforced errors, and says stupid things into an open microphone. The irony is, the public figure who most resembles Donald Trump is Joe Biden. Most all of Trump’s characteristics apply to Biden.
There is a forgotten irony in this, especially with the Never Trumpers, who fawned over Biden during the 2020 election. Biden was portrayed as a paragon of “decency.” George Will wrote numerous columns extolling Biden’s “decency.”
I’ve been reading about Ted Kennedy’s actions (or nonaction) at Chappaquiddick. It makes no difference to the Left. media, Dems in general. No less than two more Ted Kennedy hagiographies were published last year, with fawning reviews. Trump resembles Ted Kennedy in some respects. Kennedy acted a lot like Trump during his failed 1980 presidential run. He lost some 25 of 37 caucuses and primaries to Jimmy Carter but insisted on staying in the race to the convention. Then he refused to graciously support the winner. Just like Trump.
DN (89ede8) — 7/11/2023 @ 7:28 pm@15 I had that problem over a DU when they told the bernie supporters to get out.
asset (051d43) — 7/11/2023 @ 7:32 pm#49
steveg (dfd02c) — 7/11/2023 @ 8:38 pmThat is a problem I’ll never have to endure
78% of republicans have a favorable opinion of trump. David brooks points out that now most republicans have similar policy to trump. The bush libertarian corporate free trade pro immigration republicans are wondering out in the wilderness with their donor class. Trump supporters are like minded and like each other so attacks on trump or them have no meaning to them. Democrats how can we get unstuck from biden? We don’t want him to run in 2024 and know one major will run against him. Democrats have to vote for him because of abortion if there is no one else.
asset (051d43) — 7/11/2023 @ 8:48 pmI thought that conservatives opposed courts substituting their policy judgment for that of the elected branches, and sarcastically called them wannabe philosopher-kings when (in the view of conservatives) they did so.
Well yeah, in a perfect world Congress would seize back the power that it has so foolishly devolved to the administrative state under the control of the Executive Branch. But one thing we know about the administrative state is that they do not want to give up power, and they have entrenched themselves in such a manner that they are able to thwart all attempts to bring them under reign. We also have one political party which appears willing to allow this administrative state to usurp the power delegated to the legislature.
Imagine if you lived in a city where the taxpayer-paid city council and taxpayer-paid police force had decided to devolve the power to make and enforce laws to private entities such as militias or to street gangs. Sure, you can just declare that in next year’s elections you will begin the process of electing a new and improved city council, but in the meantime some serious damage is being done. This is why I believe that at this point the courts need to help determine exactly what authority unelected bureaucrats are allowed to exercise in the absence of a capable legislative body.
JVW (1c2653) — 7/11/2023 @ 9:20 pmIf the child has not been welcomed into the family, that’s mainly on Hunter….and we all have a low opinion of him anyways.
That’s true as far as it goes, but I’ll make the same point I made this past weekend on the open thread: either Joe Biden is the grand paterfamilias that his allies so desperately want us to believe he is, or else he’s a weakling who simply cannot help but indulge his privileged louse of a son. If Joe Biden decides that Hunter Biden can no longer appear at White House functions or sell his ridiculous paintings to wealthy Democrat donors for far more than they are worth or peddle the story of his decades of debauchery to a New York publishing house which is no doubt staffed almost exclusively by Democrats, then I’ll leave Hunter alone. But as long as Hunter continues to appear by Daddy’s side and we’re told ridiculous lies along the lines that he is a legitimate businessman or artist, I reserve the right to publicly ridicule the degenerate whelp and his asshole father who is too weak to make him go away.
JVW (1c2653) — 7/11/2023 @ 9:29 pmor else he’s a weakling who simply cannot help but indulge his privileged louse of a son
JVW (1c2653) — 7/11/2023 @ 9:29 pm
Don’t forget that during the prosecution of, and prior to the conviction of, Hunter, Joe said Hunter did nothing wrong, as if Joe was always with him.
norcal (e5b4c8) — 7/11/2023 @ 9:46 pm@52 that stopped after the warren court. You put conservatives on the court and more and more you like their conservative decisions. To now dred scott II on abortion. The republican party was formed in 1854 because the whig party was discredited and democrat party was pro slavery. This time all that needs to happen is the left take over the democrat party as the system is rigged against third parties. The corporate establishment and their running dogs in the media may be able to drag biden across the line as a beached whale ;but only by deal making with the squad. If tulsi and yang ran no party they would hand the election to trump. The democrat party leadership is terrified that a AOC will run on cleaning out the supreme court and got her not to run in 2024 primaries. Don’t be surprised at the damage rfk does to biden.
asset (051d43) — 7/11/2023 @ 11:11 pm@53, It’s curious that a party of “family values” so desperately needs Joe Biden to give up on his son trying to recover from substance addiction and the chaos that accompanies it. Is it really “weak” to support and love a family member during tough times?
Personally, I don’t care if Hunter Biden writes a book, I ain’t gonna buy it. Same if he produces grossly over-valued “art”. I don’t have to view it or display it. I think it’s corrupt that he’s monetized the Biden name, but to this point it does not appear to have been illegal. Hunter Biden is not a public servant and, frankly, it’s weird that the GOP is so obsessed with him. There is enough policy disputes over the border, inflation response, Afghanistan, crime, fentanyl, over-the-top wokeism, and unconstitutional vaccine and eviction orders that a Hunter preoccupation is unnecessary.
As I said before, Joe Biden is an accidental President…only there because his opposition was Trump, Andrew Cuomo imploded, and the Democrat bench is ridiculously barren. Beyond Gavin Newsom, who will struggle to win swing states as a California liberal, what other DEM has national recognition and executive bona fides? Maybe Tim Kaine or Mark Warner, but neither appears interested or collecting much buzz. The best that can be said about Biden is he’s not Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Biden based on his record and approval numbers should lose in 2024….heck in normal times he would step aside….but it increasingly appears that the GOP simply refuses to nominate “normal”.
We refuse to clean out our stables. We seem to have adopted Trump’s modus operandi of punching down at easy targets like Hunter rather than meaningfully address Trump’s abuses of the law and constitution. After J6, Trump should have become a pariah….not the runaway leader for the 2024 nomination. If you want to throw stones at Hunter’s glass house, then the GOP needs to re-establish some moral authority….
AJ_Liberty (c16a80) — 7/12/2023 @ 3:27 amThank you for calling out Biden. Those still trying to cover for him are showing who they really are.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 7/12/2023 @ 5:25 amBiden is doing a terrible job as president in most areas.
It’s no surprise that a man of his age would lash out when provoked. It must be a constant battle for him.
The way he treats hunters grand daughter is sad.
Stuff like this is why no one not named Biden voted /for/ him. Most of the votes were against Trump.
It’s a shame it doesn’t look like 2024 will give us better choices.
Time123 (23a6f4) — 7/12/2023 @ 9:42 amI am relieved that my vote against Biden was not a vote for Trump.
This should end all the TRUMPIST!!! accusations.
#ThatWasEasy
BuDuh (bb2d65) — 7/12/2023 @ 10:00 am@53:
Justice White predicted all this in his dissent to INS v Chadha, as profound and on point as Harlan’s dissent to Plessey.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/12/2023 @ 10:11 amUmm @52, not 53.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/12/2023 @ 10:11 amI think AJ_Liberty @56 said it all.
nk (a7373e) — 7/12/2023 @ 10:29 am@59, many ppl said they voted for Trump despite us flaws. It’s a very believable argument. The difference between them and other Trumpers is that the ppl that voted against a worse outcome don’t spend time defending him or attacking others who call out his many horrible flaws and failures.
Time123 (fc07b9) — 7/12/2023 @ 10:38 amI accept that most Republicans no longer care about character. That is their choice. My choice is to care about it.
No one is perfect. Not Trump, not Biden, not me. But we should at least try to appear decent and moral, like we still care about those qualities. That is why Biden looks so bad on the way he treats his granddaughter, and why Trump routinely looks so bad.
If we have leaders who appear to care about decency, even if they fail at times, it sets an example for everyone. If we have leaders who don’t care about decency, it opens the door for everyone to follow suit.
DRJ (92ff85) — 7/12/2023 @ 10:43 am#59
If your vote against Biden results in a Trump presidency, then the harms are (in part) on you. If my vote against Trump results in a Biden Presidency, than the harms are (in part) on me.
So, that means I can still yell TRUMPIST at you, if you sound like one. And you can blame me as the reason why this doddering expletive is President.
By the way, Biden could simply refuse to meet with anyone Hunter works with, make that very well known, and end the whole H Biden influence peddling stench that is on his Presidency. Until he does, it is fai that the GOP keeps persuing this.
Appalled (a670e5) — 7/12/2023 @ 10:44 amKevin 60,
Yes. Many states have sunset or similar laws. The federal government needs that, too.
DRJ (92ff85) — 7/12/2023 @ 10:47 amI think AJ_Liberty @56 said it all.
Indeed. But who will bell the cat?
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/12/2023 @ 11:20 amYes. Many states have sunset or similar laws. The federal government needs that, too.
It’s not about sunsetting laws, it’s about controlling the bureaucracy. Between the Depression and 1983, Congress retained authority over regulations promulgated under its delegated powers. Then the Supreme Court, in a very marginal case, tossed out that entire body of law overnight.
The clear and predictable result was a wholesale transfer of legislative power to the Executive branch. Justice White was quite clear in pointing that out. We now live in the dystopia he predicted.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/12/2023 @ 11:25 amNo one is perfect. Not Trump, not Biden, not me.
Yes, but two of those 3 make no attempt to seek perfection. They seek only power for the sake of power.
Kevin M (2d6744) — 7/12/2023 @ 11:27 amTo be fair biden and Trump also seek ice cream and fast food respectively.
Time123 (ae7b06) — 7/12/2023 @ 11:44 amOh please. Ted Cruz is a January 6 conspiracy theorist:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 7/12/2023 @ 1:44 pmJonathan Chait dispels the argument (usually implicit thought sometimes explicit) by anti-anti-Trumpers that Trump’s character is no worse than Biden’s. (I doubt JVW adopts that equivalence, though I’d welcome him weighing in on the matter.):
lurker (cd7cd4) — 7/12/2023 @ 4:50 pmlurker (cd7cd4) — 7/12/2023 @ 4:50 pm
Nice piece by Chait. Although I criticize Biden, I would never equate his deficiencies with those of the ALL CAPS degenerate.
norcal (e5b4c8) — 7/13/2023 @ 11:28 amChait is a leftist who will sink to any levels to cover for his candidate. Here he is cheering on Hillary and minimizing her criminal behavior.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2016/09/the-abnormalization-of-hillary-clinton.html
NJRob (4461fc) — 7/13/2023 @ 12:07 pm@74: Ad hominem.
Q.E.D.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 7/13/2023 @ 2:40 pmlurker (cd7cd4) — 7/13/2023 @ 2:40 pm
Hyperbole is a frequent feature.
norcal (e5b4c8) — 7/13/2023 @ 2:57 pm72. Chait:
People have a hard time sticking to the truth. This is simply not the case. In the Access Hollywood tape Trump confessed to pursuing someone else’s wofe (and failing) and to grabbing at women – but he said they consented (with the implication that if they did not he would stop. A jury in New York decided that the most likely possibility was that he, as he stated, grabbed at a woman, but did not proceed to rape as she claimed, (and she had claimed she flirted.)
The Democrats in 2016 ignored the attempted adultery he confessed to, and focused on the grabbing while ignoring his caveat about it, since they were only interested in violations of criminal law. They had to misinterpret what he said about grabbing to make it clearly illegal, since this might be after previous consensual acts.
If it wasn’t illegal – and adultery is no longer prosecuted – it wasn’t a “gotcha.” I mean, Hillary was not going to say that adultery, and still less attempted adultery was a disqualification, even if it was the woman who was married, so they ignored that angle.
Trump himself described everything he said in the Access Hollywood tape as “locker room talk” which means to say he was lying. It’s about as close as Trump ever came to saying he lied.
Well, now he’s done it again. Trump has now said he didn’t have the classified material in the folder he waved around in the July 2021 recorded meeting in preparation for a book.
It was full of newspaper clippings etc about a possible attack on Iran, but didn’t actually contain the classified item, he now says. (in any case he probably falsely described what General Milley and the Pentagon actually wrote.
Milley reportedly was not advocating an attack on Iran – he said that a surgical strike would not work and if Trump wanted to eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons, he’s have to try such and such, but he recommended against it and apparently said it would lead to or amounted to war with Iran and they weren’t ready or something.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/13/2023 @ 3:23 pmCaught on the radio today: Something about the Secret Service saying 500 people could have brought the cocaine into the White House; claims about changing the reported location – and that maybe it was found in the library; complaints about them not doing any fingerprint or DNA testing or interrogating the staff or trying tp pin down when it was left, with maybe a hint about looking at surveillance video; a statement that this is actually the third time some illegal drug was found on White House grounds; Sean Hannity saying he has sources and they know who it was but it wasn’t Hunter. (let’s drop that to “probably was)
MTG wanting to give all the 500 possibilities drug tests.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12297
In 2022 marijuana was found two times lawmakers were told today in a briefing.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/13/2023 @ 3:34 pm72.
It was Hillary who always wanted to make it a tie.
She was under investigation by the FBI>
So was Donald Trump! (and she tried to get one started and leaked.)
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/13/2023 @ 3:41 pmAppalled (a670e5) — 7/12/2023 @ 10:44 am
But he didn’t want to! In fact he tried to help out his surviving son. But I don’t hink he took part in it, although he also let his brother Jim and other members of his family profit from that.
But that is all in the past. He did end it. Probably back in 2019. It’s definitely over now.
The only thing going on now is taking care of Hunter’s legal problems, which requires great lawyers, money from donors, and subtly manipulating the criminal justice system.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/13/2023 @ 3:47 pmMaurren Dowd on the situation (Her usually Republican sister, who however met Biden and votes for in 2008 and 2012 (in 2012 for president) wrote him a letter
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/08/opinion/hunter-biden-child.html
The NYT printed some letters today in response, pro and con.
BTW, this is how Hunter deals with this in his (probably substantially ghostwritten) book
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/13/2023 @ 4:26 pmI see no such implication. Here’s what he said:
That’s a plain confession of sexual assault. That many of his victims don’t press charges, and it’s understandable that one might avoid engaging a financially flush, serial litigant in a legal battle, doesn’t mitigate the confession.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 7/13/2023 @ 4:49 pmlurker (cd7cd4) — 7/13/2023 @ 4:49 pm
An uninvited kiss might be considered a sexual assault, but it isn’t usually treated that way, if it is quickly rebuffed and ends quickly. Trump here says anyway they let him do it.
Now things are not like that.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 7/14/2023 @ 2:08 pmSammy,
Consent to sexual contact, kissing included, often involves an unspoken exchange of subtle cues and responses. Woke activists want all such consent to be verbal and explicit, or else men be held criminally liable for any unwelcome contact that follows their failure, however well meaning, to read the cues correctly.
This isn’t that.
Trump outright confesses that he waits for no signal of consent, whether silent, verbal, subtle or explicit. He takes what he wants, and because he’s a star they let him. That doesn’t mean they welcome it. They let him get away with it. As I said above, who wants a legal fight with a rich, vindictive, vexatious litigant? And that’s his story. I’ll bet plenty did object. Like all narcissistic predators, he just neither cares nor registers the complaints. This is all supported by the consistent reports of accusers who finally did come forward once the dam broke.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 7/14/2023 @ 4:17 pmThis point may have already been made, but it seems to me that when Joe Biden decides to ignore his granddaughter — presumably to please his son Hunter or because Joe wants to protect his “legitimate” family — then:
It is fair to question just how far Joe will go to please or protect his family. Will he lie for them? Will he take bribes for them? Will he condone family members lying or taking bribes?
DRJ (531157) — 7/16/2023 @ 5:40 pmWell said, lurker, first all the good it does. Why are people so willing to parse words and actions to excuse Trump?
DRJ (531157) — 7/16/2023 @ 5:41 pmPriam let Troy be destroyed so Paris could keep his paramour, and what a story, eh?
Isn’t it supposed to be the sins of the fathers which are visited on the heads of the children, and not the sins of the children which are visited on the heads of the fathers? Hunter should carry his own water. Joe has bigger responsibilities.
nk (9dfdfd) — 7/16/2023 @ 5:54 pm@DRJ, till the day I die I won’t understand the lengths to which some people go to defend this skidmark of a human being. But I don’t include Sammy in that. He doesn’t strike me as a Trump cultist or in any way a bad faith actor. I think Sammy can just sometimes be… how shall I put it… eccentric.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 7/16/2023 @ 8:26 pmSammy has very specific interests that he focuses on excessively.
DRJ (531157) — 7/16/2023 @ 9:47 pmI agree he doesn’t seem like a Trump defender.
DRJ (531157) — 7/16/2023 @ 9:49 pmI’m not sure what those interests are, but I confess I glaze over many of his longer comments. Anyway I defer to your impeccable judgment and larger sample size.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 7/16/2023 @ 10:44 pmIn the light of day, I’m a little concerned that my last comment (@91) might be read as snarky, since snark and sincerity are so easily confused on the internet. To avoid any doubt, “impeccable” was sincere.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 7/17/2023 @ 1:33 pm