Do tell it. I love a good joke 
Youâve become American. Heâs not senile. Heâs just old. What we are seeing neither has to be pathologized or ruled in/out with medical testing. The popular idea that he can and perform some test where the results would clear him as a credible candidate is weird, when he is getting more applicable and relevant tests every day on the campaign trail (and failing them).
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The underappreciated issue with what will happen is that by staffing all levels of government with political appointees vetted for their commitment to Trumpism, is what happens to government data. No one likes violent crime, so hey presto âofficialâ crime stats now show it is the safest era to life in. That doesnât jive with what you are seeing? We tough shit, fucko. The crime stats say the country is at peace.
It is going to be near impossible to even try to hold the government accountable based on outcomes because all the data on outcomes will be shaped towards whatever message the government wants.
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I was offering the suggestion based on Biden slightly changing his position. First, he said no way, he wonât leave he race. Then he said that only God Almighty would rule him out. Now that has softened where he said that if a doctor says he should bow out, for some medical reason, then he will do so.
At that point there may be a medical reason, Iâm not a doctor.
Clearly he is old and more frail. It appears to have accelerated. What we saw in the debate - the quiet voice, the mumbling, the answers that trailed off mid sentence, the confusion over facts and figures - yes, it can all be explained by getting old⌠BUT if there is also a medical reason behind it, such that a doctor will diagnose the early stages of dementia or whatever, it might give Biden a tipping point to bow out honorably.
In and of itself it might not be quite enough, depending on the findings of the doctor, but with the growing voices calling for him to exit the race - and Adam Schiff might be consequential in moving others as he has some gravitas - it all might add up to Biden calling it a day.
If Biden stays on I think the Dems almost certainly lose.
If it passes to Kamala Harris, she will take the fight to them. She will certainly get after abortion, and that will be double trouble for the Republicans. The wider public is more in favor of the usual Democrat position, and they are not happy with the Supreme Court ruling on Roe v Wade. Kamala Harris will hammer that, all day long. It is a vote loser for the Republicans.
Their double trouble is that Trump has softened his language on abortion, and indeed JD Vance has been in favor of the abortion drug mifepristone, so the extreme religious right in America is not fully impressed with them on this issue either.
Kamala Harris is well placed to hammer that message home.
She can also speak to women. Trump is a convicted sexual assaulter, and a judge ruled that rape was credible too. He had to pay many millions in damages. I would love to see a woman hammer the message home about all this. Suburban women - a huge block that could sway the whole election - will come out, in force, against Trump, on abortion and sexual assault.
There is all the other stuff too - dodgy judges, documents, insurrections, etc. and as a lawyer she can speak concisely and forcefully to all that.
Bottom line, if Biden is the choice, he will lose.
If it is Kamala Harris, she can take up the fight on the two main issues I highlighted above, and could win this election.
And as we all know, for any of this to even happen will require that Biden steps down.
It needs a medical reason. At that point I suspect it wonât be black and white, again Iâm not a doctor, but there is probably some evidence of dementia there, and that could be his cover to bow out, honorably.
Weâll see!
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Iâd certainly like to see someone take Trump on head on. Ask some really uncomfortable questions to him and basically remind people what he really is.
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Well MacDonalds, from a different location daily.
I understand what you are saying about him giving himself an out, but a âmedical reasonâ doesnt have to be limited to cognitive issues. There is no need to jump straight there, especially as what weâre seeing from him on the campaign trail doesnât have to medicalized to determine that he should not be running again. There are tests that can be done to indicate some form of pathology such as dementia, but a clean bill of health on those tests wont change what weâve already seen and decided about his fitness to run. I would actually argue that at this point, pulling out because a Doc told him he had dementia would actually be far worse for his legacy and the partyâs credibility than the actual face saving move of falling on his sword because when clear of mind he had come to understand it was the best thing for the party and the country.
My comment about you becoming American was tongue in cheek, but it is reflective of a uniquely American attitude where there is a reflex to medicalize everything. You go to a Dr and say "my shoulder hurts when I do this [waves arms around] and the Dr sends you for imaging. You then ask the Dr if the results will alter the clinical decision making and they say ânoââŚ
I think we need to be a lot savvier than this. Trump by himself is simply not credible as a moderate on abortion, even if he only created an extremist record for himself by accident and personally doesnt agree with the situation he enabled. He doesnt get to position himself as moderate on this without a forceful rebuke of his own record and a stated plan for how to get the country back to a mainstream place on the issue of reproductive health. Likewise now with Vance. He has a record of extreme extremism, and any attempt to moderate on language now heâs in a position of authority should be viewed through that lens. Anything he says that might indicate moderation now heâs more in the limelight is just a way to couch his extremist views in something more reasonable sounding.
âI think abortion should be left to the states*âŚâ while still imposing a strict Federal ban that helps us criminalize women who travel out of the state looking for better options.
âI think the people want Mifelpristone to remain legal and we need to respect thatâŚâ, but we are going to enforce the Comstock act so it is practically impossible to obtain.
I dont know where you are picking up that the religious right are unhappy with his selection as from what I have seen they seem to see right through the theatre of it and understand that he is on their side. While not religious right per se, the Susan B Anthony foundation at least retain his A= record on being pro life and are very happy with his selection.
*Also important to point out, âstates rightsâ in the absence of broad federal protections as present under Roe is not actually the moderate position, despite several outlets trying to position this language as.
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The 4th pillar ok Hulkamania
- do your training
- say your prayers
- take your vitamins
- deport the mexicans
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Reporting on info found on the shooterâs phone is starting to draw a picture of a man with suicidal thoughts looking for a high profile target that could allow his suicide by cop to take him out in a blaze of glory. Heâd searched for events for Biden, the AG, and FBI director and appears to have simply found one from Trump that was most convenient to where he lived.
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Yeah, but âtheyâ got him to do it.
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But wasnât Jill Biden doing some kind of event in the area or another city close by?
No idea. I wasnât part of the logistical planning for the kid, just reporting what he allegedly thought worthy of searching for.
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All good stuff, as ever, cheers.
My comment on the religious right was based on reading an article this morning in Christianity Today. It wasnât based on a large movement or anything, but there were some pastors who were saying they were not very impressed with Vanceâs position.
They are likely representative of a larger group.
Mind you, the point is well made that for the religious/extreme religious right, to whatever degree Trump and Vance donât quite measure up to their ideal on abortion, Trump and Vance are massively preferable for them on this issue than the Biden-Harris ticket.
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That is fascinating you are seeing that, and I think a great illustration of how weird and garbled the Republican message has become.
There is a whole cottage industry of Trump translators who position themselves to tell us âwhen trump says this he really meansâŚâ very often with explanations completely at odds with Trump is very clearly saying. The result is people aligning themselves with him who clearly have different ideas and objective than he does, but who seemingly think they can convince him of their path, and a watching public who knows Trump has no thoughts of his own and are liable to impose those surrogateâs beliefs, or sometimes even their own, onto a Trump who is out there saying something completely different.
I think that is why Trump should be so much easier to run against now than he was in 16. He now has a record. No matter what he says about his thoughts on abortion, he created this. He has rhetorically supported it lots of times. If it was a mistake, an outcome he didnt want, then make him justify why we should overlook such an enormously consequential âoppps, did I do that?â and give him a chance to do it again on a different issue.
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And to add to this, if there can be a change to the ticket, Kamala Harris will obliterate them on this issue.
The majority of the American public side with her, which is of course why Trump is trying to be all things to all people, happy to win brownie points with the hard right for overturning Roe v Wade, but at the same time, trying to tone it down for fear of coming across as too extreme on the issue, as potentially that is an election-losing position.
If Biden is left to make the case I fear Trump will sail through, unimpeded.
Interesting that in his overnight (to those of us in the UK) speech he said that he would govern for all Americans and that there is no point in governing for just half the population.
I havenât listened to the full speech yet, but didnât hear any mention of Corey Comperatore during my cursory skim through it. Disappointing, but hardly surprising.
There are reports that Biden may step down, possibly as early as this weekend.
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Trump,like many politicians will say anything to get elected,he is a great example.
What he doesnât say is more illuminating,for argument he has gone quiet on banning abortions because it ainât a vote winner,but it isnât off the agenda.
In short,believing and voting him may be something many may regret.
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So should Biden start the next debate hitting trump with a chair shot?
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What ya gonna do, Donny Boy, when the 24-in pythons run wild on youuuuuuuuuuuu?!?!?!?!?!
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