What a day this has been. The fever pitch of the Whoa Is Us, Biden Faltered Last Night hit an absolute crescendo when the New York Times editorial board issued its demand for Joe Biden to leave the Democratic ticket. I’m surprised that dogs didn’t start howling nor crystal shattering, such was the insanely high pitch of this over the top, nonsensical reaction. Let me share a few paragraphs:
At Thursday’s debate, the president needed to convince the American public that he was equal to the formidable demands of the office he is seeking to hold for another term. Voters, however, cannot be expected to ignore what was instead plain to see: Mr. Biden is not the man he was four years ago. […]
In polls and interviews, voters say they are seeking fresh voices to take on Mr. Trump. And the consolation for Mr. Biden and his supporters is that there is still time to rally behind a different candidate. While Americans are conditioned to the long slog of multiyear presidential elections, in many democracies, campaigns are staged in the space of a few months.
It is a tragedy that Republicans themselves are not engaged in deeper soul-searching after Thursday’s debate. Mr. Trump’s own performance ought to be regarded as disqualifying. He lied brazenly and repeatedly about his own actions, his record as president and his opponent. He described plans that would harm the American economy, undermine civil liberties and fray America’s relationships with other nations. He refused to promise that he would accept defeat, returning instead to the kind of rhetoric that incited the Jan. 6 attack on Congress.
The Republican Party, however, has been co-opted by Mr. Trump’s ambitions. The burden rests on the Democratic Party to put the interests of the nation above the ambitions of a single man.
Democrats who have deferred to Mr. Biden must now find the courage to speak plain truths to the party’s leader. The confidantes and aides who have encouraged the president’s candidacy, and who sheltered him from unscripted appearances in public, should recognize the damage to Mr. Biden’s standing and the unlikelihood that he can repair it. […]
The clearest path for Democrats to defeat a candidate defined by his lies is to deal truthfully with the American public: acknowledge that Mr. Biden can’t continue his race, and create a process to select someone more capable to stand in his place to defeat Mr. Trump in November.
Now, let’s cut to the chase. First of all, this narrative is running on its own speed. It’s taken on a life of its own as crazy ideas so frequently do. And it’s gotten to the place where some people are actually anticipating that the Democrats will do this and deciding that the attorneys general of the various states should and could stonewall it.
Calling all GOP AGs be ready to fight the socialist Dems in your state. Don’t let them break the law with a Biden replacement. Get tougher.
— Matt Schlapp (@mschlapp) June 28, 2024
Almost four in the morning and this clown was communicating, in his mind at least, with attorneys general nationwide, warning them how to handle an issue that won’t happen in the first place. This is batshit. But then we live in batshit times.
Let’s get down to brass tacks reality, shall we? Having lived through the assassination of John F. Kennedy as a child (I was ten when it happened) I can tell you first hand that even when the absolute worst has happened in a presidential administration, the show goes on. Joe Biden is not out there by himself in the stadium. He’s part of a team. The team is what makes the entire situation work. Biden is not leaving the game, nor is the team. Biden and the team will win reelection in the fall.
And yes, last night was a lousy night. Barack Obama has already shared on Twitter that he knew what it was to have a lousy debate. His first debate with Mitt Romney was bad. That one bad event did not prevent his reelection, nor his evaluation as being one of the best American presidents in history.
We live in extraordinary times, to be sure. We have two elderly men running for reelection as the 47th president of the United States. We have never seen this before. We also have never seen a candidate who is a liar, convicted felon, all the descriptors that fit Trump, run for president — let alone three times. Yet somehow we are supposed to be gaslighted into believing that one bad night on the debate stage conflates as a defeat for the candidate with the successful presidency and suddenly elevates the felon as the “normalcy candidate?” Seriously?
While I freely acknowledge the fickleness of the American electorate and its unwavering devotion to believe that anything it sees on television is somehow “true” that is a bit of a stretch.
We have had nine years to get to know Trump. We have had much longer in the case of Joe Biden and we’ve seen his track record in the Oval Office. It is time to calm the hell down and get a grip. Biden’s not going anywhere. Trump, on the other hand, will be attending three more criminal trials and may end up going to prison.
💙💙💙💙💙
Who in the f*ck pays attention to the nyt anyway–I thought they were the printed version of fux nuz? I mean, talk about bottom of the barrel. sheeeit.
…..the NYT has been coasting along on the reputation it built when there were close to a DOZEN dailies on NYC newsstands for more years than I can accurately pinpoint. Today’s choices in the Big Apple are the Times, the Daily News (sole survivor of the tabloid wars), and the Post, which has sunk to new lows since taken over by Murdoch.
Print news media is either on assisted living or hospice care in NYC. I know it has passed away altogether in many parts of the country.
Well said! Thanks Ursula!
Thank God for the calm and wisdom of Ursula. Trump lied about everything that came out of his mouth. Shit that he just made up.
I never thought the NYT had its head so far up its ass. In 1968, incumbent President Johnson didn’t run, so Humphrey, the sitting VP, ran for President and lost to Nixon, one of the worst Republican Presidents ever.
We can’t give up on Biden. He has a great record and he can beat the felon. Biden made a strong showing in North Carolina today. We need to get behind Biden or suffer the worst consequences in US history.
From the NYT whinefest: “While Americans are conditioned to the long slog of multiyear presidential elections, in many democracies, campaigns are staged in the space of a few months.”
Maybe the NYT should investigate (hah! investigative journalism in this day and age! what a concept!) why those other democracies are able to do that. The main reason is THEIR CANDIDATES ARE LOCKED IN WHEN AN ELECTION IS ANNOUNCED. In the UK, for instance, when an election is called, the job of Prime Minister is NOT directly up for grabs. The person who becomes the Prime Minister is whoever is the head of the party that wins a majority in Parliament. The same applies to Israel, except there’s usually a need for the head of the party with the most seats to form a coalition to make a majority so that he becomes the Prime Minister. In India, the same thing–each party holds a convention or assembly to determine who they want as the party leader; when it’s time for elections, the country votes for members of the Parliament and the head of whichever party receives a majority of seats becomes the Prime Minister. (It’s worth noting that India, with a population some 4 times that of the USA–and a potential electorate roughly triple that of the whole population of the USA–was still able to hold their parliamentary elections recently, taking just 44 days. India’s electoral process is a bit complex with each state and territory voting in assigned phases–the closest analogy to US politics would be the way we hold primaries.)
Even in Mexico (which also recently held presidential elections), the presidential candidates were selected by their parties months before they formally register to run for president. The newly-elected Claudia Sheinbaum was chosen by her party alliance (MORENA) back in September of 2023 and she formally registered her presidential candidacy in February of 2024. She began her formal campaign in March and the election was held back on June 2 with final votes being counted on June 6. (She won’t actually take office until October 1, a bit longer than the time between Election Day and Inauguration Day in the US–although not unlike the time frame prior to the 20th Amendment.)
There is NO reason the US can’t do the same thing or something similar though I imagine all the folks who whined about not being able to vote for Bernie in the primaries because they weren’t registered Democrats in states requiring party registration wouldn’t like this system. And, of course, it would cost the media a lot of their revenue because they wouldn’t be able to have some kind of year-long horse race (between the primary fighting and then the general election campaign).
Very informative – thanks Joseph
Thanks!!! Does anyone outside of New York read the editorials???
Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. One bad debate erases 3 1/2 years of overwhelming growth and progress. One bad debate means throw him aside for a serial felon rapist bigot?WTF ! The NYT has been dead to me for more than a decade. Just like CNN. We don’t have time to play.
President Biden on his worst day still kicks CONVICTED FELON DON VON SHITZINPANTZs A$$!
The ticket I’d like everyone was the McGovern-Eagleton ticket. McGpvern replaced Eagleton and it really hurt the campaign. And that was inlt replacing a VP candidate. Let’s not make that mistake.