Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Biden's road rage is scary

Not a fan (a nor foe) of Chris Ciillizza (CNN) but I have to note this:

He spent more than he raised and he has half (or less) of the cash on hand than his main rivals for the nomination. That's bad stacked on bad, with bad slathered on top.
On a symbolic level, Biden's fundraising struggles are indicative of his broader issues with energizing broad swaths of the Democratic base beyond the black community. (According to CNN's Fredreka Schouten, small-dollar donations -- typically a sign of grassroots energy -- accounted for less than one-third of Biden's total contributions in the third quarter.)
On a practical level, Biden's cash-poor status will complicate his efforts to a) build and maintain top-level organizations in not only the four early-voting state but also the slew of states slated to vote on March b) run the necessary TV ads in early states to reintroduce himself to voters and c) raise more money to fund all of these efforts because money is driven by momentum.
Yes, Biden remains the best-known candidate in the field. And yes, because of that status, he has less introducing (or reintroducing) of himself to do to voters. So his cash situation isn't a death knell as it might be for some of his rivals.
But make no mistake: Biden's fundraising situation is bad. And there are few signs it's getting better.


Okay.  I'm sorry but, "That's bad stacked on bad with bad slathered on top"?  I loved that sentence.  I didn't care what else he wrote, that sentence alone is worth noting.  I do agree with the other points he raises, but that sentence should be a t-shirt.  It's perfect.

Nothing was perfect about Joe in the debate.  Read Ava and C.I.'s "" and grasp how out of it he was and how he stumbled and fumbled and then, near the end, apparently woke up in a grouchy mood and tore into Elizabeth Warren like a crazy man.

I wanted to yell, "Joe, she didn't steal your lawn mower! It's behind the garage! Put down the weed wacker before someone calls the police!"

He was having road rage on the debate stage in front of everyone.

Did he know where he was?

He is just not fit to be president.  And that rage moment showed it.

And it was just horrible to watch.  Poor Elizabeth Warren.  She handled it and maintained her cool but he just went off on her and it was appalling.  He was a jerk but that really doesn't capture it.  He was trying to intimidate her.

I found it frightening.  Again, she played it cool and good for her, but he was raging and spitting because he was so mad and I wondered, "Is he going to hit her?'  He was that out of control and that frightening.

I'm being completely serious, by the way.

I don't talk about my kids' father here.  And if he wanted a relationship with them, I'd allow it.  But it should be obvious by my silence all these years (and by some of the things I had Bettina go through when I was doing the comic novel here up until 2008) that it was not happy and I have nothing good to say about it.

So I am dead serious that I will never, ever vote for Joe Biden after what he did in last night's debate.  I don't care if that means Trump gets four more years.  I can't vote for him.  That rage he threw at Elizabeth Warren?  I don't trust him, I don't like him and, frankly, I fear him.  A man who pulls that stunt is not to be trusted.  Ever.




"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Wednesday, October 16, 2019.  Joe Biden loses it at the debate and plays out the verbal equivalent of domestic abuse.


Last night, THE NEW YORK TIMES and CNN hosted the latest Democratic Party presidential debate.  It was not a pretty sight.

Ugliest of all?  War Hawk Joe Biden screaming at Elizabeth Warren.

Joe Biden, "You did a hell of a job at your job," seconds after yelling at Warren about the 'votes he got her,' as yknow, part of his job. One day I hope to have the unabashed confidence of a white man.
 
 
Joe Biden, STOP YELLING. It doesn’t make you look stronger, it makes you look like a nut job.
 
 
Joe Biden yelling Elizabeth Warren:
 
 
Biden yelling at Warren made me deeply uncomfortable while watching it live. Watching it a second time just made me angry. needs to drop out.
 
 
Joe Biden yelling at women does not make me want to vote for him.
 
 



Please note, you have never seen anything like that before in a debate of would-be presidential candidates or in a presidential debate.  This was not just loud, this was bullying, this was let me try obliterate you.

It was conduct unbecoming.

Joe made very clear how he actually feels about women.

And everyone should be objecting to his behavior.  It was outrageous.

And they should be noting that it was not even his time to talk.

As usual, Joe treated the debate as though it was THE JOE BIDEN SHOW and everyone else was a supporting player.  He interrupted repeatedly.

When he started raging at Elizabeth Warren, it wasn't his turn to speak.  That didn't stop him.

It was outrageous and you were left with the feeling that, if cameras hadn't been present, you would be witnessing a domestic violence incident.

There is no excuse for his behavior.  It was insulting and it was outrageous.

*cringe* I'm so tired of angry, aggressive white males. I bet she would have thanked you if you would have stopped yelling and pointing like an orange menace. What's next? Lurking behind her on stage?
 
 
Replying to 
Here's me pitching in a handful of dirt for the grave you dug yourself tonight. Yelling at women, really? I mean the incoherent babbling was bad enough but to throw rude on top of that....
 
 
Arrogant old man yelling at an accomplished woman about what HE did for her. We’ve all seen this picture before. Biden, drop out. You are blatantly out of touch. I can’t think of a soul who supports you. You ruined any cute “Uncle Joe” legacy you had.
 
 


It is time for Joe to go.  That was abuse, right there on the stage.  His actions should not be defended.  He has no control over himself.


OMFG Joe Biden yelling in Warren's face "I got you those votes!" wtf. Every woman knows that feeling of a fragile man's feelings getting hurt over a woman's success. gtfoh.
 
 
yelling at is NOT a good look.
 
 
F**k Joe Biden for yelling at Warren.
 
 
Why is Joe Biden yelling at Elizabeth Warren? Not a good look
 
 
Joe Biden yelling at Elizabeth Warren and sticking his hand in her face was...really ugly.
 
 

Wow. yelling at Elizabeth Warren to be grateful for “what he did” for her. Not a great look, Joe.
 
 
Joe Biden yelling at Elizabeth Warren should go over well
 
 
Joe Biden yelling at Senator Warren and then she sonned him with the Obama shout out
 
 
Joe Biden yelling at Warren when she points out that she has done big things is not a good look
 
 


Some people have spent the last years worrying about Donald Trump having the nuclear codes.  Now someone wants to give them to rageaholic Joe Biden?


This moment. This was a meltdown but nobody is questioning his decorum like they did Castro last debate. He straight up yelled at her and took credit for her work.
 
 
  • This is so bad
     
     


    Joe needs to go.  He has yet again demonstrated that he is not fit for the presidency.  He did so by attempting to bully and terrorize a woman on stage.  That Elizabeth Warren kept her cool is a testament to her strength and argues that she would handle an attack on stage from Donald Trump quite well.

    As Ava and I noted last night "TV: Let's kill Elizabeth!" was the theme of the debate.

    Let's move over to Kamala Harris who begged America to indulge her yet again as she went off on a tangent about something trivial and unimportant.  Acting like the always injured Ellen on thirty-something, convinced Hope had somehow again sleighted her, Kamala wanted to make it not about America but all about her hurt feelings.

    The most important issue -- and she went after Elizabeth for this -- how could Elizabeth not support Kamala's plan to get Donald Trump removed from Twitter?

    How!!!!!!

    Doesn't Eliabeth know that war, poverty, starvation, all of it is a distant second to getting Donald Trump off Twitter!

    Until last night, Maya Rudolph did the best parody of Kamala.  After last night, no one mocks Kamala more than Kamala herself.

    As for the Twitter issue, it's political speech and it's Constitutionally protected.  Kamala really doesn't know the law which is rather surprising since she was Attorney General for the state of California.  But then, as many have noted (even Tulsi to her face at the July debate), Kamala's AG record is one of hiding evidence and wrongful convictions.

    Kamala can't compete with Donald -- or doesn't think she can -- so she wants to silence him.

    Now I would love to get a through a day where whatever idiotic thing Donald Tweeted didn't consumer hours of 'news' (while real issues were ignored) but his Twitter feed is a good thing.  It will give historians a wealth of information that no other president has provided.  It makes clear what he thinks and that's a good thing -- know your enemy.  And, again, it's political speech.  He is the President of the United States, whether you like it or not.

    Kamala has wasted everyone's time yet again.  She's a joke at this debate, she was a joke at the last one and the one before.

    Fat Amy wanted to attack Elizabeth repeatedly as well.  Amy Kobuchar, the candidate no one wanted, is convinced that she's enough of a sell out to woo those corporatist donors and supporters that are worried Joe is imploding.  So she used last night to go after Elizabeth over and over.  Fat Amy wants you to know that, when not grazing, she can defeat Trump because, well, Minnesota!

    She is one of two US senators from Minnesota and, no offense, Amy, but Minnesota is part of the United States, it is not the United States.

    Amy's image in the press has been the boss from hell.  On stage at the debates, she's tried to counteract that with (bad) attempts at humor.  Last night, she was joking about her daughter -- when not making a joke of herself.

    Amy's been in the Senate for a long, long time and she has nothing to show for it.


    Iraq came up briefly in the debate.  Not in any serious way.  No one wanted to note that over 100 protesters were killed by the Iraqi government this month.  No one wanted to touch that.  But in a superficial manner, Iraq did come up.  (I'm using the WASHINGTON POST transcript.)


    COOPER: Congresswoman Gabbard, last week you said that American troops should get out of Syria now. You don't agree with how the president handled the withdrawal. What would you have done differently? How would you have pulled out troops without the bloodshed we're seeing now?

    GABBARD: Well, first of all, we've got to understand the reality of the situation there, which is that the slaughter of the Kurds being done by Turkey is yet another negative consequence of the regime change war that we've been waging in Syria.
    Donald Trump has the blood of the Kurds on his hand, but so do many of the politicians in our country from both parties who have supported this ongoing regime change war in Syria that started in 2011, along with many in the mainstream media, who have been championing and cheerleading this regime change war.
    Not only that, but the New York Times and CNN have also smeared veterans like myself for calling for an end to this regime change war. Just two days ago, the New York Times put out an article saying that I'm a Russian asset and an Assad apologist and all these different smears. This morning, a CNN commentator said on national television that I'm an asset of Russia. Completely despicable.
    As president, I will end these regime change wars by doing two things -- ending the draconian sanctions that are really a modern-day siege the likes of which we are seeing Saudi Arabia wage against Yemen, that have caused tens of thousands of Syrian civilians to die and to starve, and I would make sure that we stop supporting terrorists like Al Qaida in Syria who have been the ground force in this ongoing regime change war.

    COOPER: Thank you.

    GABBARD: I'd like to ask Senator Warren if she would join me in calling for an end to this regime change war in Syria, finally.

    WARREN: So, look, I think that we ought to get out of the Middle East. I don't think we should have troops in the Middle East. But we have to do it the right way, the smart way.
    What this president has done is that he has sucked up to dictators, he has made impulsive decisions that often his own team doesn't understand, he has cut and run on our allies, and he has enriched himself at the expense of the United States of America. In Syria, he has created a bigger-than-ever humanitarian crisis. He has helped ISIS get another foothold, a new lease on life.
    I sit on the Armed Services Committee. I talk with our military leaders about this.

    COOPER: Thank you, Senator.

    WARREN: I was in Iraq and went through the neighborhoods that ISIS destroyed.

    COOPER: Thank you.

    WARREN: We need to get out, but we need to do this through a negotiated solution. There is no military solution in this region.

    COOPER: Thank you, Senator. Mayor Buttigieg, Mayor Buttigieg, like many of your fellow candidates on the stage, you've been calling for an end to endless wars. What's your response on Syria?

    BUTTIGIEG: Well, respectfully, Congresswoman, I think that is dead wrong. The slaughter going on in Syria is not a consequence of American presence. It's a consequence of a withdrawal and a betrayal by this president of American allies and American values.
    Look, I didn't think we should have gone to Iraq in the first place. I think we need to get out of Afghanistan. But it's also the case that a small number of specialized, special operations forces and intelligence capabilities were the only thing that stood between that part of Syria and what we're seeing now, which is the beginning of a genocide and the resurgence of ISIS.
    Meanwhile, soldiers in the field are reporting that for the first time they feel ashamed -- ashamed -- of what their country has done. We saw the spectacle, the horrifying sight of a woman with the lifeless body of her child in her arms asking, what the hell happened to American leadership?
    And when I was deployed, I knew one of the things keeping me safe was the fact that the flag on my shoulder represented a country known to keep its word. And our allies knew it and our enemies knew it.

    COOPER: Thank you, Mayor.

    BUTTIGIEG: You take that away, you are taking away what makes America America.

    COOPER: Thank you, Mayor.

    BUTTIGIEG: It makes our troops and the world a much more dangerous place.

    (APPLAUSE)

    COOPER: Congresswoman Gabbard, your response?

    GABBARD: Yeah, absolutely. So, really, what you're saying, Mayor Pete, is that you would continue to support having U.S. troops in Syria for an indefinite period of time to continue this regime change war that has caused so many refugees to flee Syria, that you would continue to have our country involved in a war that has undermined our national security, you would continue this policy of the U.S. actually providing arms in support to terrorist groups in Syria, like Al Qaida, HTS, al-Nusra and others, because they are the ones who have been the ground force in this regime change war? That's really what you're saying?

    COOPER: Mayor Pete -- Mayor Buttigieg?

    BUTTIGIEG: No, you can embrace -- or you can put an end to endless war without embracing Donald Trump's policy, as you're doing.

    GABBARD: Will you end the regime change war, is the question.

    BUTTIGIEG: What we are doing...

    GABBARD: What is an endless war if it's not a regime change war?

    COOPER: Allow him to respond. Please allow him to respond.

    BUTTIGIEG: What we are doing -- or what we were doing in Syria was keeping our word. Part of what makes it possible for the United States to get people to put their lives on the line to back us up is the idea that we will back them up, too.
    When I was deployed, not just the Afghan National Army forces, but the janitors put their lives on the line just by working with U.S. forces. I would have a hard time today looking an Afghan civilian or soldier in the eye after what just happened over there. And it is undermining the honor of our soldiers. You take away the honor of our soldiers, you might as well go after their body armor next.
    This president has betrayed American values. Our credibility has been tattered. 


    "Allow him to respond! Please allow him to respond!"  Oh, Anderson, thinking with your cock again.  We'll come back to the little rat that is Pete in just a moment.  But it is so curious that Anderson rushed to defend the object of his affection but didn't do a damn thing when it was Elizabeth's turn to speak and Joe Biden wouldn't stop interrupting her to yell at her.  We see where your loyalties are, Anderson.  Keep pretending you're objective -- maybe you'll convince yourself but no one else will buy it.

    Also note that, NYT's Marc Lacey, looking like Peter Lorre, insisted at the top of the debate, "Please refrain from interrupting your fellow candidates, as that will count against your time."

    When, Lacey, when is that ever going to happen?

    Joe interrupted everyone -- as usual.  When did he lose any time for that?

    Stop announcing these rules if you don't enforce them.

    Back to the cheese eater, now US troops are upset?

    Who died and said a little person could speak for all US troops?  That's the first question.  Second, we know you're young and immature but do you not remember Abu Ghraib.

    Donald Trump is such an offense to you, Petey, but in the real world, the US government -- even under Saint Barack -- has done many things that have outraged.  Just because you choose to ignore it does not make it go away.

    We'll pick up on the debate again tomorrow.


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