The analogy is apt. But your description of Trump's liabilities is far from complete. Yes, the events around 1/6 and his overall coup attempt are disqualifying. But there has been inadequate reporting and faulty memories as to his astoundingly poor record as POTUS. He passed nothing of consequence other than a tax cut for the rich that bloated the debt. He never delivered on his promise of the Wall or a check from Mexico. His constant promises of a new healthcare plan or infrastructure plan were never fulfilled. He bungled Covid beyond belief, greatly exacerbating the harm to our country and fully displaying that he is a know-nothing and malignant narcissist. He had an endless revolving door of top advisors and appointed manifestly unqualified people as replacements. These are just a few of the reasons that numerous former appointees who worked closely with Trump say he is unfit-- e.g., Farrah, Tillerson, Kelly, Bolton, Barr. The press needs to dive deeply into Trump's record and contrast it with Biden's , which is good when viewed in isolation and outstanding when viewed in comparison.
Agreed, Todd. More and more as I continue to read Chris’ columns, I am disappointed that he is STILL failing into the same ol’ same ol’ patterns that he criticized in a “Chris Crucial” post: that the mainstream media is continuing with the “fair and balanced” approach to these two candidates. The absolute truth is that these issues are not even REMOTELY equivalent, and this is NOT your typical election. The “horse race” reporting does a disservice to us and misses the point of what the media SHOULD be doing: shining a BRIGHT LIGHT on just how much this election is a choice between continuing American democracy or falling to an authoritarian regime.
I would challenge Chris to get out of his house and truly TALK to young people about this election, and maybe his speech will be just such an opportunity. I went to a Super Bowl party at one of our niece’s homes, where her parents and my wife and I were the oldest ones there (we’re in our sixties). The crowd was mostly couples in their early to mid-thirties, many with small children, and I was able to engage with a number of attendees about the choices in November. While I heard the common refrain of “They’re BOTH too old!”, which I acknowledged is true, each one that I spoke to understood my comment that while that was true, the choice was still very much “binary”: you could “hold your nose” (if you must) and vote for Biden and the continuation of American democracy OR vote for anyone else and watch Trump destroy every democratic principle we’re founded on and bend everyone in political office to his personal whims (as he’s already proven he can do).
They “got it” and understood just how significant their vote for Biden will be….
Hey there. So, again, I wanted to respond at some length to make sure you all get where I am coming from -- and where I am going.
First of all, this is a speech for non-political people so I am painting in broad strokes here.
Second, I always want to level with you -- presenting the world of politics not as I WANT it to be but as it IS.
Yes, I believe that Donald Trump poses a real threat to the way in which our democracy has operated for the past 200 years or so. But, no, MANY people -- including independent voters, lower information voters etc. -- do NOT share that view.
I will keep writing about Trump's excesses in word and deed. But I will also note what the public writ large thinks about them. And those views don't always align.
I view my job as being my authentic self -- trying to judge what is happening out in the world (as indicated by polls, anecdotes, reporting etc -- and bring it to you with no bullshit.
Living in a bubble in which EVERYONE believes that Donald Trump should be in jail and will lose overwhelmingly to Joe Biden does not reflect lived reality. I don't ask you to LIKE that fact. I simply ask you to understand it IS a fact. And that my goal with this newsletter is to bring those realities to light -- while also shining an analytical light on them .
I hope this makes some sense. And thanks as always for your engagement and support.
It's an inconvenient truth. It doesn't matter if people are deluded, misinformed, or simply not politically aware enough to understand what's happening. When a group of people in our own polity have rejected democracy, we all stand to be held to account by clear-headed humans across the globe. The people of Germany found this out the hard way in WWII.
Thanks for the extended reply, Chris: it’s appreciated. Let me clarify my own perspectives by addressing your comments one by one:
#1 My experience this weekend at the Super Bowl party I attended is NOT dissimilar to whom you’ll be giving your speech to. The crowd were young families, ALL 49’ers fans (sorry, guys!), and not particularly politics motivated. The “entry point” for me bringing up politics was this whole Taylor-Travis far right conspiracy thing and that the most idiotic part of it was the view of Biden: either he was a doddering old man with a “poor memory” or he was an absolute genius who could fix the Super Bowl, arrange a “fake” relationship between a billionaire and multimillionaire, and use it all to gain the upper hand in November. The point is, for the non-political, you need to ACCURATELY account the pros-and-cons on both sides and our comments here were that you DRASTICALLY underreported the “cons” on the Trump side. It’s not just that he’s made it clear he wants to be a dictator, or that he would shift the geopolitical balance by giving up on NATO, or that is credibly guilty of at least SOME of the 91 criminal counts (as well as being “liable” for rape and defrauding NY State), but that he was also quite objectively one of the 5 worst Presidents in our history (that is, if you want to believe a consensus of presidential historians…). He just didn’t accomplish much, virtually none of what he SAID he would.
#2 and more. Understood. You have a perspective and that is what you report. Yours is an opinion column and we would indeed want you to be “true to yourself”.
And I don’t live in a bubble, as I pride myself on having a dialog with many with opposing views (though I’ve given up on hardcore MAGA types, as there’s no talking to them. As Robert Heinlein so succinctly put it, “Never try to teach a pig to sing: you waste your time and you annoy the pig.”). And clearly your speech cannot assume whether the audience members are in an information bubble or not. That’s precisely why it’s SO important to lay out the cons as clearly and completely as possible, as you may be introducing them to these concepts for the first time.
You clearly know that both sides are not equivalent, and the challenge for you will be to make the case as clear as possible (for “how things are”, as you’ve stated) without becoming a Biden apologist. You’ll have to thread that needle, but it’s certainly possible for you to lay out the situation AS IT IS for your audience.
This is the kind of sane, rational, and kind discussions that I value on your platform. Even us demo or liberal if you will can disagree. But we do it with class. Good job to all who commented.
I agree, Elaine! Many of the Comments on the writers’ columns I read are very contentious, bordering on rude, and (for the most part), Chris’s readers show a lot more respect.
I frequently don’t agree with Chris’s attempt to be “fair and balanced”, when he clearly understands the uniquely dangerous place American democracy is in, and I have no problem calling him out, when I think he’s not thinking a subject through.
And what I truly appreciate is that Chris responds, and in detail on this particular subject, and engages in dialog with his readers! It’s a welcome change of pace from the non-Substack social media world.
I thoroughly understand, Chris! For those of us that regularly read your column, I suppose that “shorthand” may be sufficient, given that we readers “stay up” on the issues.
For your intended audience, though, maybe a list of bullet points, ALL the bullet points, might be a good suggestion.
Best of luck on the speech! Hope they’re paying you…. 😆
I'm glad to hear that report. And I agree that it's important to make people understand that Trump is an authoritarian . But I know some people view the talk of democracy being at stake as alarmist. That's why I think it's also important to refresh recollections about how incompetent Trump was. We need in depth reporting about his many failures and broken promises. We also need the many former Trumpers who were firsthand witnesses to his boorish and reckless ways to speak up - loudly and regularly.
The media, all of it, must stop the false equivalence between Donald J Trump and President Biden. They are not two sides of a coin. There was an excellent article by neuroscientist Charan Ranganath in yesterday’s New York Times about how we think about Biden’s age and memory. Interesting read.
To be fair, Chris, and as another writer pointed out, being more complete about who and what Trump really is, as he has shown himself to be, would make for a more even-handed comparison.
Knock ‘em dead in your speech…begs the question, if you knock someone dead in your speech, will you lose any subscribers?
I know - bad joke…
My only reaction to your piece, it seems to equate Biden’s issue of ‘appearing’ to be older with Trump’s legal issues, and his attempt to subvert the will of 80 million voters as part of a broad criminal conspiracy. I do not think the two are equivalent. To alter your analogy, the two hikers are not the same distance from the bear…
Not only is Trump charged with 91 felony counts but he also made millions off the presidency. Think about forcing secret service members to stay at his properties, at an inflated prices, and the gifts he received from foreign entities.
Trump didn't "incite a riot" - those are the words of his defense counsel and the GOP enablers in Congress - on January 6.
HE INCITED AN INSURRECTION.
Also, regarding Biden: "His speech is, at times, halting." BECAUSE OF A LIFELONG ISSUE WITH STUTTERING - HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN "HALTING."
Please try to drop the CNNThink. Your job is supposed to be to make people smarter by not using Teh Stooopid to explain things. This is a good example of what's wrong with your old friends back at Hudson Yards.
Agree 100%, TC! Chris has a LONG way to go to shed himself of the horrible effects of “CNNthink”, as you rightly call it. As much as he always makes a point of saying “this is not a normal election”, he STILL falls into the same ol’ habits.
I don’t read Chris’ columns because I’m looking for a Democratic “apologist”, as there are PLENTY of very good Substack writers that provide that POV, but I AM looking for Chris to provide some “perspective” on what’s occurring now.
Once again, he has missed the entirety of the “pros-and-cons” of a Trump Presidency, and his “shorthand” version does us a disservice….
The issue with them TCinLA is that they try to minimize Trump's deficiencies and weaknesses but try to make a mountain out of mole hill of Biden's only weakness. They will all eat their words in January 2025 when Biden is sworn in
And, as an aside, I don't think that those running the Biden campaign realize just how much unhappiness there is out there. They seem to think that not being Trump will be enough in November. It was four years ago; I don't know that it will work in nine months.
I've never been a fan of the "right track/wrong track" polling question. There are far too many ways to interpret the question, and the polling changes from month-to-month. The RCP graph shows that, with only a very few exceptions, the chasm between right and wrong track has been consistently wide since 2009. Basically, we have held a pessimistic view of our country's track for 13 years. That says we're pretty much resigned to be miserable, regardless of which party is in charge and what policies are put in place.
Biden just made a speech about the Ukrainian funding bill. Spoke well. Hit Trump hard. Was good to see. If he keeps his up regularly he will not be caught by the bear.
Good story, but in principle this should still be a no contest. Saying Biden is old and has slowed means what? FDR had polio, was in a wheelchair, but was still able to run the country during a war. Was still able to formulate excellent ideas aimed at invigorating a country ravaged by an awful depression because despite his physical disability his mind was sharp. Biden has a stutter which has always resulted in his speech making, particularly off the cuff speech making, being very much suboptimal compared to others like Obama, Clinton etc. And yes, he has mixed up things as recently while talking about a policy regarding Egypt he ascribed it to Mexico. But he still very much has the reasoning to make good policy decisions. To realize that we need to support our allies like Ukraine in order to save us and our European allies from Russia. He knows when to support Israel, but also when to condition that support when it is obvious that Israel is totally overdoing and aiming at creating a situation in the Middle East that is not in line with US or humanity’s interests. Then look at Trump. He may appear vigorous. But he is sweating profusely, perhaps due to his weight issues. He clearly does not have his facts straight. Is that because he can’t read the teleprompter properly or because he just doesn’t know what he is actually saying? We know from his “management” of Putin and other autocrats he just can’t hack it. We know he handled the pandemic exceptionally badly with many people dying unnecessarily due to the delays and mixups he caused by his administration’s lack of preparedness as well as understanding of the problems and required solutions. These alone would be reasons to indicate his unfitness to win the race to the bottom let alone the top. Then add in his basic stupid, lying, narcissistic, mysogenistic behavior. The reality that he has been found guilty of sexual misconduct and behavior that was really a euphemism for rape. And in truth it was unlikely the first or last time that he did what he did. Add to that the fact that he has lied and cheated his way through life, to get out of serving in the army, to get into selected schools, to cheat the government out of taxes, withholding payments that he has owed to people who did honest jobs for him, and on and on. The myriad of schemes, bribery and corrupt behaviors that have been his way of life doing business and transactional way of dealing with others and even family members. Can such a person truly be even compared to Biden who has spent his life, sometimes in the midst of horrific personal tragedies, trying to serve his community and country as best he could. There really shouldn’t even be a question as to who should be supported as the best of the presidential candidates in November this year. They might neither be ideal for various reasons, but there is only one who can do the job, and one who should be kept away from any public office for ever. Clearly, every sane and rational person who wishes the best for this country as also for the world, must vote for Biden - this is NOT A CHOICE under the circumstances of what is truly at stake.
People need to stop being distracted by the “age” issue. The issue is not about age, it’s about “competency”.
I’ll take an 81 year old president who has been a good and decent person, has been a public servant for decades, who has a strong resume as president over a narcissistic sociopath rapist with 91 criminal charges , has no respect for our democracy or constitution and only wants to be president to profit off the office, seek vengeance on his perceived enemies and stay out of prison.
I'm finding out that, yeah, it is up for debate for many people. Love it or hate it, that is the plain truth. It sucks to find out one’s own family and friends are part of the basket of deplorables. For many, that is also the truth, and it is further dividing us.
Donald, I agree with you. It, sadly, has been up for debate and continues to be. But should it? This is not an apples to apples comparison. The fact that this is even a contest is a sad commentary on our country and where we are heading. People obviously don’t care enough about our country to nurture our democracy or too gullible to recognize a con man.
It's not apples to apples. I think a lot of this has to do with corrupted conservatism. People have allowed others to tell them what liberal/conservative means. I believe Roe v Wade to be the catalyst. To me it was always religious in nature, a problem that could only be solved by affording women the same rights as men. We must accept an individual woman's choice - she alone must decide what lives inside. Or, we cannot allow others to make that choice for them. From what we've seen in Florida and Texas, I hope people understand what the end goal of that issue is. Subjugation of personal autonomy.
Good point. Ironic that conservatives want less government involvement and intervention but are happy to have the government make decisions on women’s choices for her own body.
I get where you are coming from, Chris. This speech will be a great one for the audience that you are addressing, IMO. If you get too deep in the weeds with the wrong audience, they will tune you out. You need to speak in broad strokes for some and hope that your points get through to them.
I've said this before, but I'll say it again (and, I wish the general media would press this point): The "Deep State" is nothing more or less than our established laws, and the officials who hold people accountable to them. The Deep State is not nefarious, nor personal. It just is. The person who got Trump in trouble with the "Deep State" is Trump himself. I'm so sick and tire of Trump (or any politician) invoking the "Deep State" as an enemy.
I would much rather have "old" and "slow" than "corrupt" and "bad."
I think Pres Biden's speech is halting because of his stutter and his efforts to control it. All his life he's had to work against it, and now he's under tremendous pressure between Israel and his campaign. Stress exacerbates stuttering. Constantly trying to make sure he doesn't confuse Macron and Mitterand doesn't help.
Just FYI: Sisi of Egypt's nickname is "the Mexican." I'm sure Pres Biden is aware of this. It's no wonder that he called Sisi the president of Mexico or whatever it was he did.
Just writing things like "Biden is old" vs. "Dumpy/Trump is corrupt" looks like whataboutism. Those are *not* valid or equal comparisons. "Trump is corrupt" vs. "Biden is an a$$hole" are valid comparisons. Yes, the American people see the former as equivalent, but when you and every other journalist write that way, it reinforces that general perception. We, your usual readers, know it's not true, but if, as you say, you want to write for a more general audience and truly inform them, then you need to stop comparing the two as if they're equally bad.
Regardless of what either candidate has or hasn’t done or how more despicable one is over the other, the issue is that the majority of Americans want neither one of them. The bear wants to dispose of both of them. I keep hopping the No Labels group will pull a rabbit out of the hat and give us a candidate that can be supported. I know it’s a pipe dream because I can’t think of anyone that could pull off an upset like that.
The analogy is apt. But your description of Trump's liabilities is far from complete. Yes, the events around 1/6 and his overall coup attempt are disqualifying. But there has been inadequate reporting and faulty memories as to his astoundingly poor record as POTUS. He passed nothing of consequence other than a tax cut for the rich that bloated the debt. He never delivered on his promise of the Wall or a check from Mexico. His constant promises of a new healthcare plan or infrastructure plan were never fulfilled. He bungled Covid beyond belief, greatly exacerbating the harm to our country and fully displaying that he is a know-nothing and malignant narcissist. He had an endless revolving door of top advisors and appointed manifestly unqualified people as replacements. These are just a few of the reasons that numerous former appointees who worked closely with Trump say he is unfit-- e.g., Farrah, Tillerson, Kelly, Bolton, Barr. The press needs to dive deeply into Trump's record and contrast it with Biden's , which is good when viewed in isolation and outstanding when viewed in comparison.
Not equivalent in any way...
Agreed, Todd. More and more as I continue to read Chris’ columns, I am disappointed that he is STILL failing into the same ol’ same ol’ patterns that he criticized in a “Chris Crucial” post: that the mainstream media is continuing with the “fair and balanced” approach to these two candidates. The absolute truth is that these issues are not even REMOTELY equivalent, and this is NOT your typical election. The “horse race” reporting does a disservice to us and misses the point of what the media SHOULD be doing: shining a BRIGHT LIGHT on just how much this election is a choice between continuing American democracy or falling to an authoritarian regime.
I would challenge Chris to get out of his house and truly TALK to young people about this election, and maybe his speech will be just such an opportunity. I went to a Super Bowl party at one of our niece’s homes, where her parents and my wife and I were the oldest ones there (we’re in our sixties). The crowd was mostly couples in their early to mid-thirties, many with small children, and I was able to engage with a number of attendees about the choices in November. While I heard the common refrain of “They’re BOTH too old!”, which I acknowledged is true, each one that I spoke to understood my comment that while that was true, the choice was still very much “binary”: you could “hold your nose” (if you must) and vote for Biden and the continuation of American democracy OR vote for anyone else and watch Trump destroy every democratic principle we’re founded on and bend everyone in political office to his personal whims (as he’s already proven he can do).
They “got it” and understood just how significant their vote for Biden will be….
Hey there. So, again, I wanted to respond at some length to make sure you all get where I am coming from -- and where I am going.
First of all, this is a speech for non-political people so I am painting in broad strokes here.
Second, I always want to level with you -- presenting the world of politics not as I WANT it to be but as it IS.
Yes, I believe that Donald Trump poses a real threat to the way in which our democracy has operated for the past 200 years or so. But, no, MANY people -- including independent voters, lower information voters etc. -- do NOT share that view.
I will keep writing about Trump's excesses in word and deed. But I will also note what the public writ large thinks about them. And those views don't always align.
I view my job as being my authentic self -- trying to judge what is happening out in the world (as indicated by polls, anecdotes, reporting etc -- and bring it to you with no bullshit.
Living in a bubble in which EVERYONE believes that Donald Trump should be in jail and will lose overwhelmingly to Joe Biden does not reflect lived reality. I don't ask you to LIKE that fact. I simply ask you to understand it IS a fact. And that my goal with this newsletter is to bring those realities to light -- while also shining an analytical light on them .
I hope this makes some sense. And thanks as always for your engagement and support.
It's an inconvenient truth. It doesn't matter if people are deluded, misinformed, or simply not politically aware enough to understand what's happening. When a group of people in our own polity have rejected democracy, we all stand to be held to account by clear-headed humans across the globe. The people of Germany found this out the hard way in WWII.
Thanks for the extended reply, Chris: it’s appreciated. Let me clarify my own perspectives by addressing your comments one by one:
#1 My experience this weekend at the Super Bowl party I attended is NOT dissimilar to whom you’ll be giving your speech to. The crowd were young families, ALL 49’ers fans (sorry, guys!), and not particularly politics motivated. The “entry point” for me bringing up politics was this whole Taylor-Travis far right conspiracy thing and that the most idiotic part of it was the view of Biden: either he was a doddering old man with a “poor memory” or he was an absolute genius who could fix the Super Bowl, arrange a “fake” relationship between a billionaire and multimillionaire, and use it all to gain the upper hand in November. The point is, for the non-political, you need to ACCURATELY account the pros-and-cons on both sides and our comments here were that you DRASTICALLY underreported the “cons” on the Trump side. It’s not just that he’s made it clear he wants to be a dictator, or that he would shift the geopolitical balance by giving up on NATO, or that is credibly guilty of at least SOME of the 91 criminal counts (as well as being “liable” for rape and defrauding NY State), but that he was also quite objectively one of the 5 worst Presidents in our history (that is, if you want to believe a consensus of presidential historians…). He just didn’t accomplish much, virtually none of what he SAID he would.
#2 and more. Understood. You have a perspective and that is what you report. Yours is an opinion column and we would indeed want you to be “true to yourself”.
And I don’t live in a bubble, as I pride myself on having a dialog with many with opposing views (though I’ve given up on hardcore MAGA types, as there’s no talking to them. As Robert Heinlein so succinctly put it, “Never try to teach a pig to sing: you waste your time and you annoy the pig.”). And clearly your speech cannot assume whether the audience members are in an information bubble or not. That’s precisely why it’s SO important to lay out the cons as clearly and completely as possible, as you may be introducing them to these concepts for the first time.
You clearly know that both sides are not equivalent, and the challenge for you will be to make the case as clear as possible (for “how things are”, as you’ve stated) without becoming a Biden apologist. You’ll have to thread that needle, but it’s certainly possible for you to lay out the situation AS IT IS for your audience.
Good luck!
Fair enough. I was shorthanding Trump's many problems to the big ones (as I see it): The 2020 election conspiracy and the variety of criminal charges.
This is the kind of sane, rational, and kind discussions that I value on your platform. Even us demo or liberal if you will can disagree. But we do it with class. Good job to all who commented.
I agree, Elaine! Many of the Comments on the writers’ columns I read are very contentious, bordering on rude, and (for the most part), Chris’s readers show a lot more respect.
I frequently don’t agree with Chris’s attempt to be “fair and balanced”, when he clearly understands the uniquely dangerous place American democracy is in, and I have no problem calling him out, when I think he’s not thinking a subject through.
And what I truly appreciate is that Chris responds, and in detail on this particular subject, and engages in dialog with his readers! It’s a welcome change of pace from the non-Substack social media world.
I thoroughly understand, Chris! For those of us that regularly read your column, I suppose that “shorthand” may be sufficient, given that we readers “stay up” on the issues.
For your intended audience, though, maybe a list of bullet points, ALL the bullet points, might be a good suggestion.
Best of luck on the speech! Hope they’re paying you…. 😆
I'm glad to hear that report. And I agree that it's important to make people understand that Trump is an authoritarian . But I know some people view the talk of democracy being at stake as alarmist. That's why I think it's also important to refresh recollections about how incompetent Trump was. We need in depth reporting about his many failures and broken promises. We also need the many former Trumpers who were firsthand witnesses to his boorish and reckless ways to speak up - loudly and regularly.
Well said Todd David!!
Thank you,Todd David, for your excellent, comprehensive post!
very kind of you
The media, all of it, must stop the false equivalence between Donald J Trump and President Biden. They are not two sides of a coin. There was an excellent article by neuroscientist Charan Ranganath in yesterday’s New York Times about how we think about Biden’s age and memory. Interesting read.
To be fair, Chris, and as another writer pointed out, being more complete about who and what Trump really is, as he has shown himself to be, would make for a more even-handed comparison.
I shared this at Morning Shots and will toss it in here. Lawrence O’Donnell had a great monologue on the Biden age question last night.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-last-word-with-lawrence-odonnell/id1316084734?i=1000645129392
Should be required listening for all voters, because the context is essential to better understanding the difference between the two choices today...
just listened, excellent. Thanks for sharing.
Knock ‘em dead in your speech…begs the question, if you knock someone dead in your speech, will you lose any subscribers?
I know - bad joke…
My only reaction to your piece, it seems to equate Biden’s issue of ‘appearing’ to be older with Trump’s legal issues, and his attempt to subvert the will of 80 million voters as part of a broad criminal conspiracy. I do not think the two are equivalent. To alter your analogy, the two hikers are not the same distance from the bear…
Not only is Trump charged with 91 felony counts but he also made millions off the presidency. Think about forcing secret service members to stay at his properties, at an inflated prices, and the gifts he received from foreign entities.
That's a good follow-on analogy.
Trump didn't "incite a riot" - those are the words of his defense counsel and the GOP enablers in Congress - on January 6.
HE INCITED AN INSURRECTION.
Also, regarding Biden: "His speech is, at times, halting." BECAUSE OF A LIFELONG ISSUE WITH STUTTERING - HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN "HALTING."
Please try to drop the CNNThink. Your job is supposed to be to make people smarter by not using Teh Stooopid to explain things. This is a good example of what's wrong with your old friends back at Hudson Yards.
Agree 100%, TC! Chris has a LONG way to go to shed himself of the horrible effects of “CNNthink”, as you rightly call it. As much as he always makes a point of saying “this is not a normal election”, he STILL falls into the same ol’ habits.
I don’t read Chris’ columns because I’m looking for a Democratic “apologist”, as there are PLENTY of very good Substack writers that provide that POV, but I AM looking for Chris to provide some “perspective” on what’s occurring now.
Once again, he has missed the entirety of the “pros-and-cons” of a Trump Presidency, and his “shorthand” version does us a disservice….
Yes to all.
And if Chris reads this, let me say we wouldn't complain, buddy, if we didn't know you were fully capable of much better.
The issue with them TCinLA is that they try to minimize Trump's deficiencies and weaknesses but try to make a mountain out of mole hill of Biden's only weakness. They will all eat their words in January 2025 when Biden is sworn in
From your lips to goddess' ear, Doctor (yes, all the Great Religious Seers were very surprised when they got past the "pearly gates" :-) )
What a perfect yet incredibly depressing analogy.
And, as an aside, I don't think that those running the Biden campaign realize just how much unhappiness there is out there. They seem to think that not being Trump will be enough in November. It was four years ago; I don't know that it will work in nine months.
I've never been a fan of the "right track/wrong track" polling question. There are far too many ways to interpret the question, and the polling changes from month-to-month. The RCP graph shows that, with only a very few exceptions, the chasm between right and wrong track has been consistently wide since 2009. Basically, we have held a pessimistic view of our country's track for 13 years. That says we're pretty much resigned to be miserable, regardless of which party is in charge and what policies are put in place.
Expect to see any graph that makes Biden looks bad in this Newsletter.
Biden just made a speech about the Ukrainian funding bill. Spoke well. Hit Trump hard. Was good to see. If he keeps his up regularly he will not be caught by the bear.
Good story, but in principle this should still be a no contest. Saying Biden is old and has slowed means what? FDR had polio, was in a wheelchair, but was still able to run the country during a war. Was still able to formulate excellent ideas aimed at invigorating a country ravaged by an awful depression because despite his physical disability his mind was sharp. Biden has a stutter which has always resulted in his speech making, particularly off the cuff speech making, being very much suboptimal compared to others like Obama, Clinton etc. And yes, he has mixed up things as recently while talking about a policy regarding Egypt he ascribed it to Mexico. But he still very much has the reasoning to make good policy decisions. To realize that we need to support our allies like Ukraine in order to save us and our European allies from Russia. He knows when to support Israel, but also when to condition that support when it is obvious that Israel is totally overdoing and aiming at creating a situation in the Middle East that is not in line with US or humanity’s interests. Then look at Trump. He may appear vigorous. But he is sweating profusely, perhaps due to his weight issues. He clearly does not have his facts straight. Is that because he can’t read the teleprompter properly or because he just doesn’t know what he is actually saying? We know from his “management” of Putin and other autocrats he just can’t hack it. We know he handled the pandemic exceptionally badly with many people dying unnecessarily due to the delays and mixups he caused by his administration’s lack of preparedness as well as understanding of the problems and required solutions. These alone would be reasons to indicate his unfitness to win the race to the bottom let alone the top. Then add in his basic stupid, lying, narcissistic, mysogenistic behavior. The reality that he has been found guilty of sexual misconduct and behavior that was really a euphemism for rape. And in truth it was unlikely the first or last time that he did what he did. Add to that the fact that he has lied and cheated his way through life, to get out of serving in the army, to get into selected schools, to cheat the government out of taxes, withholding payments that he has owed to people who did honest jobs for him, and on and on. The myriad of schemes, bribery and corrupt behaviors that have been his way of life doing business and transactional way of dealing with others and even family members. Can such a person truly be even compared to Biden who has spent his life, sometimes in the midst of horrific personal tragedies, trying to serve his community and country as best he could. There really shouldn’t even be a question as to who should be supported as the best of the presidential candidates in November this year. They might neither be ideal for various reasons, but there is only one who can do the job, and one who should be kept away from any public office for ever. Clearly, every sane and rational person who wishes the best for this country as also for the world, must vote for Biden - this is NOT A CHOICE under the circumstances of what is truly at stake.
People need to stop being distracted by the “age” issue. The issue is not about age, it’s about “competency”.
I’ll take an 81 year old president who has been a good and decent person, has been a public servant for decades, who has a strong resume as president over a narcissistic sociopath rapist with 91 criminal charges , has no respect for our democracy or constitution and only wants to be president to profit off the office, seek vengeance on his perceived enemies and stay out of prison.
Is this really up for debate? Really?!?
I'm finding out that, yeah, it is up for debate for many people. Love it or hate it, that is the plain truth. It sucks to find out one’s own family and friends are part of the basket of deplorables. For many, that is also the truth, and it is further dividing us.
Donald, I agree with you. It, sadly, has been up for debate and continues to be. But should it? This is not an apples to apples comparison. The fact that this is even a contest is a sad commentary on our country and where we are heading. People obviously don’t care enough about our country to nurture our democracy or too gullible to recognize a con man.
It's not apples to apples. I think a lot of this has to do with corrupted conservatism. People have allowed others to tell them what liberal/conservative means. I believe Roe v Wade to be the catalyst. To me it was always religious in nature, a problem that could only be solved by affording women the same rights as men. We must accept an individual woman's choice - she alone must decide what lives inside. Or, we cannot allow others to make that choice for them. From what we've seen in Florida and Texas, I hope people understand what the end goal of that issue is. Subjugation of personal autonomy.
Good point. Ironic that conservatives want less government involvement and intervention but are happy to have the government make decisions on women’s choices for her own body.
I get where you are coming from, Chris. This speech will be a great one for the audience that you are addressing, IMO. If you get too deep in the weeds with the wrong audience, they will tune you out. You need to speak in broad strokes for some and hope that your points get through to them.
Astute, as always. A great read.
I've said this before, but I'll say it again (and, I wish the general media would press this point): The "Deep State" is nothing more or less than our established laws, and the officials who hold people accountable to them. The Deep State is not nefarious, nor personal. It just is. The person who got Trump in trouble with the "Deep State" is Trump himself. I'm so sick and tire of Trump (or any politician) invoking the "Deep State" as an enemy.
Amen
Since you're using an animal analogy here, I would refer you to Nikki Haley's husband reply to Donald Trump's insult. Check it out people
Several things:
I would much rather have "old" and "slow" than "corrupt" and "bad."
I think Pres Biden's speech is halting because of his stutter and his efforts to control it. All his life he's had to work against it, and now he's under tremendous pressure between Israel and his campaign. Stress exacerbates stuttering. Constantly trying to make sure he doesn't confuse Macron and Mitterand doesn't help.
Just FYI: Sisi of Egypt's nickname is "the Mexican." I'm sure Pres Biden is aware of this. It's no wonder that he called Sisi the president of Mexico or whatever it was he did.
Just writing things like "Biden is old" vs. "Dumpy/Trump is corrupt" looks like whataboutism. Those are *not* valid or equal comparisons. "Trump is corrupt" vs. "Biden is an a$$hole" are valid comparisons. Yes, the American people see the former as equivalent, but when you and every other journalist write that way, it reinforces that general perception. We, your usual readers, know it's not true, but if, as you say, you want to write for a more general audience and truly inform them, then you need to stop comparing the two as if they're equally bad.
Good analogy, Chris.
Regardless of what either candidate has or hasn’t done or how more despicable one is over the other, the issue is that the majority of Americans want neither one of them. The bear wants to dispose of both of them. I keep hopping the No Labels group will pull a rabbit out of the hat and give us a candidate that can be supported. I know it’s a pipe dream because I can’t think of anyone that could pull off an upset like that.