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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#333126: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:33:28 AM

[up] What would make him impressive?

It seems like all people care about is rhetorical flourishes, if you actually look at policy Biden is a pretty progressive candidate. This is the same problem Clinton had, where people based their whole perception of her off a “vibe” or what have you.

Edited by archonspeaks on Oct 10th 2020 at 7:35:07 AM

They should have sent a poet.
singularityshot Since: Dec, 2012
#333127: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:35:51 AM

I think it should also be said that after the election, Biden is just another member of the Democrat party. His statement in the debate "I am the Democrat Party" is true only until the votes are counted.

After that, the game has shifted. Don't like the filibuster? Pressure Schumer, not Biden. (Or pressure Biden to pressure Schumer) Want to see more action on climate change? Let's put the pressure on Pelosi to get a bill through the House.

The mistake in general is putting too much emphasis on the power of the presidency to move things forward. The role of the executive is to carry out the decisions of the legislative.

To that end I am curious as to who Biden will pick for his cabinet. We know that the grift in the Trump Administration was wide and deep - it's hard to think of any cabinet member who isn't lining their pockets somehow. So on a basic level there is a lot of institutional damage to fix just to get these executive offices back up to speed. After that, we can judge appointees on their priorities. Like AG: do you want someone whose going to focus on dealing with police brutality (a Sisyphean task if ever there was one) or someone whose going to go after Trump in an effort to expose all the corruption and the damage that man has done.

RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#333128: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:36:22 AM

@ Red Savant, eehh no worries, just voicing my opinion. Sure lesser of evils and all that.

Believe me, I want Biden to make sure my vote mattered.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#333129: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:37:47 AM

I think the argument for Biden being the most progressive presidential candidate (that has a chance of winning natch, fuck off Greens) we've ever seen in America is a pretty strong one. The (sensible) counter-argument still tends to be, "that might not be progressive enough for the planet, or for the millions of people still not covered by health care" - but neither is that an excuse to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#333130: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:38:53 AM

[up][up][up] You're right. I guess that's just the myth the US has created for itself and the world. Not to mention that people tend to equate foreign countries with their leaders.

Edited by Redmess on Oct 10th 2020 at 4:39:05 PM

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
PointMaid Since: Jun, 2014
#333131: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:40:55 AM

@singularityshot: Yeah, I was saying I'm interested in who he would pick for his cabinet, too.

We also obviously need a strong Senate and House showing. We've seen before how not having that can gum things up as well as just not produce progressive policy.

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#333132: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:41:32 AM

Can Biden just sweep the Cabinet clean and fill it with new positions?

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
GoldenKaos Captain of the Dead City from Cirith Ungol Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
Captain of the Dead City
#333133: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:43:11 AM

I think that's what tends to happen yeah. I'm not sure if any Cabinet members tend to stick around once a new Prez comes around.

"...in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."
RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#333134: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:44:06 AM

I just want to pop in again and say that I am sorry for the sharpness with which I said what I said, though I stand by it. It's not my intention to hurt anyone or throw a temper tantrum, and I apologize for getting worked up.

It's been fun.
nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#333135: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:44:06 AM

[up][up][up] Yes, it's customary for the incoming President to appoint completely new people (that would be true even if the Trump hadn't picked unqualified hacks). What I'm worried about is, a lot of institutional knowledge has been lost during the Trump era due to the regular rank-and-file career people leaving government due to the administration's incompetence. There's gonna be a lot of hiring necessary at all levels.

Edited by nova92 on Oct 10th 2020 at 7:44:38 AM

RedHunter543 Crimson Paladin Since: Jul, 2016 Relationship Status: Barbecuing
Crimson Paladin
#333136: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:45:33 AM

[up][up] Naawww, it's cool. The tone may have been harsh and sharp, but the sentiment is not wrong, if that makes sense.

"The Black Rage makes us strong, because we must resist its temptations every day of our lives or be forever damned!"
nova92 Since: Apr, 2020
#333137: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:52:28 AM

NC Sen. Thom Tillis at a debate: [1]

The best check on a Biden presidency is for Republicans to have a majority in the Senate. And I do think 'checks and balances' does resonate with North Carolina voters

This seems a questionable strategy, considering that he's running behind Trump in polls. Also, who's gonna buy this after 4 years?

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#333138: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:55:10 AM

Presidents always pick their own cabinet members, confirmed by the Senate. Occasionally you have odd cases like Obama asking Bush's Sec. of Defense to remain at his post, but I doubt Biden will be doing the same.

Reportedly Biden has been reaching out to career officials who Trump forced out or quit in protest to Trump's policies and is asking them to come back of he wins so that all that institutional knowledge will come back with them.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#333139: Oct 10th 2020 at 7:55:30 AM

What sort of check were they on Donald Trump?

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#333141: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:00:29 AM

In a healthy political climate I'd agree, but US politics is anything but healthy.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#333142: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:00:52 AM

That is the best answer I've ever heard.[lol]

Steven (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
#333143: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:05:01 AM

Someone a few pages back said the drugs are making Trump very incoherent. Ya sure he was coherent before the drugs? Cofveve and the United Shtahtes feel left out.

Remember, these idiots drive, fuck, and vote. Not always in that order.
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#333144: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:09:29 AM

An observation I can't help but make is that while Biden was almost nobody's first choice, he is arguably the majority of peoples' second choice, third at worst.


Also, this got posted by ~Imca a few pages back, but it was given no context and the discussion was clearly going in another direction, so giving it a quick repost:

Regeneron board member and executive sell $1 million in stock after Trump touts treatment
“These are pre-established at a time when the executive/director is not aware of any material, nonpublic information about Regeneron," a spokesperson said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/regeneron-board-member-executive-sell-1-million-stock-after-trump-n1242762

    An Excerpt 
A Regeneron executive and one of its directors sold $1 million worth of stocks two days after President Donald Trump announced he was taking their therapeutic, recent filings from the Securities and Exchange Commission reveal.

Last Friday night, the White House announced that as part of Trump's treatment for coronavirus, he had received Regeneron’s experimental antibody cocktail that has not passed formal trials or been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

One day later, the president appeared in a video posted to his Twitter account about his treatment at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

“They gave me Regeneron,” he said, saying the company name instead of the treatment’s name, REGN-COV2. “It was like, unbelievable. I felt good immediately. I felt as good three days ago as I do now.”

At another point in the video he said that the therapeutics he was given were “miracles...we have things happening that look like they’re miracles coming down from God.”

"I think this was a blessing from God that I caught [the virus], I think it was a blessing in disguise," Trump said in the video. "I caught it, I heard about this drug, I said, 'Let me take it' … and it was incredible the way it worked."

“I call that a cure,” he said. “It’s a cure.”

After the video posted, Regeneron’s stock jumped over 3 percent in after-hours trading.

On Monday, when markets opened, Regeneron stock prices surged from $564 to over $600 a share. That day, Joseph Goldstein, who sits on the company’s board of directors, and SVP and Head of Commercial Marion Mc Court exercised stock options that let them sell a total of 10,200 shares for a net profit of over $1 million. According to filings, that netted about $740,000 for Goldstein and $260,000 for Mc Court.

Company executives have been selling shares at the company on a regular basis, but insider sales activity jumped at the same time the coronavirus took hold in the United States, starting the second quarter of 2020, according to data collected by Market Beat. The year isn’t over and already $100 million more in stock has been sold compared to 2019 and 2018 — $248 million vs $142 million and $143 million, respectively — a 70 percent increase. The company's stock price has climbed from $400 to $600 a share from the beginning of the year, a 50 percent increase.

The SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday evening.

Edited by sgamer82 on Oct 10th 2020 at 8:09:54 AM

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#333145: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:13:25 AM

I think Biden has the advantage of being very bland and unobtrusive, with nothing that really sticks out. This makes him a very safe choice against Trump.

It is rather telling that comedians are struggling to satirize Biden. The best Colbert can come up with is... sunglasses. I'm not even sure what that is supposed to caricature about Biden.

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
Forenperser Foreign Troper from Germany Since: Mar, 2012
Foreign Troper
#333146: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:14:47 AM

[up][up] Well that's because Biden, Sanders and Warren were the Big 3.

Nobody other than these 3 had any real chance to begin with whatsoever.

Certified: 48.0% West Asian, 6.5% South Asian, 15.8% North/West European, 15.7% English, 7.4% Balkan, 6.6% Scandinavian
sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#333147: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:15:03 AM

[up][up]They could just be out of practice after four years of Trump doing their jobs for them.

Edited by sgamer82 on Oct 10th 2020 at 8:15:18 AM

MichaelKatsuro Since: Apr, 2011
#333148: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:18:46 AM

On that note, Trump must have been very hard to satirize. If he insists that Denmark should sell him Greenland, there's nowhere for a comedian to go from there.

Somebody not watching where he's going, and slipping on a banana peel, is funny. But there's just nowhere to go from there, for a comedian.

Edited by MichaelKatsuro on Oct 10th 2020 at 5:18:59 PM

Redmess Redmess from Netherlands Since: Feb, 2014
Redmess
#333149: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:23:42 AM

[up] I meant on a basic level of satire: the voice, the mannerisms. Those parts have been very easy to satirize, because Trump has a very distinct mannerism and way of talking. Compare that to Biden, who is wholly unremarkable in that regard. He doesn't really have a strong mannerism you can magnify into satire. He has a mild stutter sometimes, but that is not nearly enough to identify him with.

[up][up][up] I think another thing to remember is that no one really believed in Biden winning until he started doing well in the primaries.

Edited by Redmess on Oct 10th 2020 at 5:24:48 PM

Hope shines brightest in the darkest times
NativeJovian Jupiterian Local from Orlando, FL Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: Maxing my social links
Jupiterian Local
#333150: Oct 10th 2020 at 8:24:52 AM

Biden's aviators are a thing. For example.

Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.

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