Glum.

I’ve been busy the last 48 hours, and am still wading through the comments on the last thread. But I thought we should start fresh with a new comment thread for the weekend, after the events of last night.

I was thinking it might be comforting to have religious faith right now, to believe God has a plan, and it will be revealed in the fullness of time. But I don’t. And if I did, I’d ask God why he hates America so much, to allow this person, these people, to reach such powerful positions. Then I’d switch from Judeo-Christian to something with more of an Eastern flavor, and ask that if karma is catching up to the Democrats, who still can’t get out of their own goddamn way, when is it going to be Trump’s turn? When will he feel one side of his body go numb? When will he grab his left arm and collapse, preferably on national television but certainly in view of several cameras?

I am not feeling good about this country’s future, at all. Talk me out of it, if you think you can. And I’ll see you Sunday/Monday.

Posted at 1:22 pm in Current events |
 

24 responses to “Glum.”

  1. Jeff Borden said on June 28, 2024 at 2:02 pm

    I’m sick to my stomach this morning. It doesn’t look like it could’ve gone much worse for Biden last night. And because so many ‘Muricans prefer performances over results, it’s hard not to give tRump the win. Why Biden didn’t drill in on Project 2025 or point to the out of control SCOTUS or what tRump’s insane economic ideas would do to the country is beyond me. Too late now.

    Despair isn’t a strategy. Indiana Jones or James Bond aren’t coming to the rescue. It’s on us. Let’s get this tired old man who has given so much of his life to government service reelected. Let him resign soon thereafter. Harris will be an adequate caretaker and a new generation of Dems can fashion a future vision for our battered nation.

    If this were solely about the U.S., I’d say we deserve tRump. A nation so fucking stupid, so selfish, so mean-spirited and short-sighted deserves him. But he WILL leave NATO. He WILL abandon Ukraine and Taiwan. He WILL reserve whatever stumbling steps we’ve taken on climate change. He WILL wreck our economy and start a global trade war.

    As Woody Harrelson says in “Zombieland,” “It’s time to nut up or shut up.” Crude but oh so true.

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  2. Bob (not Greene) said on June 28, 2024 at 4:58 pm

    Well, Joe Biden had a bad night and looked old, so I guess we have no other choice than to vote for the guy who is promising to kill off American democracy and install an army of goons to make everyone’s life hell. If people in this country are that fucking dumb (and they may be!) then we don’t deserve democracy.

    Trump being a convicted criminal who has two more criminal cases pending against him and who we have already seen fail miserably as president is somehow not disqualifying, but Biden looking old is a bridge too far.

    As for those panicking and calling for Joe Biden to withdraw, it’s a ludicrous expectation. The people who are supposedly now going to vote for Trump because Biden had a bad night are going to vote for Kamala Harris or Mayor Pete or Gavin Newsome instead? Miss me with that bullshit.

    There are two choices and one of them is self-immolation. If that’s a hard choice for you, you’re too goddamn dumb in the first place.

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  3. brian stouder said on June 28, 2024 at 5:00 pm

    To be blunt and concise: I agree. That said, I have absolutely ZERO reservations about absolutely supporting the Biden/Harris ticket. First, Biden is the better choice, period. Second, it’s a two-fer, and Vice President Harris being one heartbeat away from the presidency of the United States is (for me, anyway) very, very reassuring.

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  4. Sheryl Prentice said on June 28, 2024 at 5:26 pm

    Trump may have won the “bamboozle them with bullshit” award but I am still voting for an honest old guy who stutters. Some observations:
    This wasn’t a debate in any sense of the word. Trump spewed so many lies that Biden didn’t know which lie to respond to first, an intentional move to exploit and trigger Biden’s stuttering. The mic cut-off and no studio audience was an improvement.
    The network’s nattering nabobs are absolute fools with their polls. The only one that counts is the one on election day. I was particularly incensed that they gave no coverage to reproductive rights and the rogue Supreme Court, and they still don’t know how to cover a candidate like Trump.
    The great silent segment of voters might just be the angry women of all ages who are pissed about their reproductive rights. None of the pundits are talking about them, and we are many.
    People should stop complaining about the choices and their ages. These are the choices because younger generations are so self-absorbed that they haven’t stepped up.
    Democrats should stop panicking and get to work. We already know that there’s no deal-breaker, no matter how heinous, that Rump’s voters will pause for.

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  5. Cheez Whiz said on June 28, 2024 at 5:42 pm

    Its important to remember that all the hoo-hah is about the *impression* Biden made, and nothing to do with the content. Furthermore, its about the impression made on The Deciders, the newest name for uncommitted/swing/independent voters, the group that votes based on reasons that passeth all understanding. So, all the DOOOOOM is about the impression made on people that no one has a coherent theory of their motivation or intent. Please don’t jump on the funeral pyre just yet. What you SHOULD be worried about is the prep team that convinced Joe the best way to “debate” Trump was to spit out an endless stream of bullet points on what a great job he, Biden, is doing. The worst possible approach to dealing with Trump.

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  6. Jeff Borden said on June 28, 2024 at 5:48 pm

    Agreed it’s all hands on deck this fall. Let’s hope our news outlets smarten up, too. Allowing a douchenozzle who told 30,000 lies while in office to debate without fact-checkers is journalistic malpractice.

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  7. David C said on June 28, 2024 at 6:32 pm

    It seems like a lot of the Biden should step down I’m hearing is “Democratic campaign consultants say…”. Is there any group of more inept and whiny assed baby like than Democratic campaign consultants? Reporters’ rolodexes must be full of them and they’re probably pissy because Joe didn’t pick them. Anyway, I’ll take a guy who needs a Ricola over a guy who needs a straitjacket.

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  8. Jeff Gill said on June 28, 2024 at 6:33 pm

    A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech,
    winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord;
    therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

    ~ Proverbs 6:12-15 (or, the current situation is not without precedent; anyhow, I think this is the verse Nancy is looking for)

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  9. Sherri said on June 28, 2024 at 6:36 pm

    SCOTUS, to no one’s surprise, made homelessness a crime yesterday. The city in question, Grants Pass, OR, has one homeless shelter. That shelter filed an amicus brief in the case, supporting the city’s desire to arrest homeless people. Why?

    Homeless people didn’t want to come to their shelter because they required people to attend two chapel services a day and refrain from alcohol, nicotine, and sex, in exchange for a bed at their shelter.

    At least jail lets you smoke and doesn’t require chapel.

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  10. Deborah said on June 28, 2024 at 6:40 pm

    This was helpful for me to read https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/06/biden-withdrawal-democratic-health/678839/?gift=e2EpXMuPtOgT-df8U_sJIL5WoJ2gwspMc5P2xmmzBg4&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share. take deep breaths everyone, it’s going to be OK and we are better for it.

    edit: it’s a gift link no paywall

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  11. Will said on June 28, 2024 at 7:57 pm

    Cheez Wiz — exactly. ABC was doing a bunch of person on the street bits with undecided voters and most of them didn’t even seem to know why they were undecided. It was a whole bunch of id. So you’re absolutely right … hard to know what effect it will have on the 80,000 people who will decide this dumb election for us.

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  12. Peter said on June 28, 2024 at 8:18 pm

    I’m still in a state of shock from last night. Biden’s answer about abortion rights – what the hell was that?

    What gets me even angrier is that if it was Biden who was coherent and cogent last night and Trump was in one of his usual rants about sharks, batteries, and wind power, not a single commentator would say he should be replaced. He wouldn’t lose a single vote.

    I was doom scrolling the other day, and there was this headline “I’m a pro-choice feminist: here’s why I’m voting for Trump.” I would have clicked on the article, but I thought the only explanation would be that she has shit for brains.

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  13. tajalli said on June 28, 2024 at 8:31 pm

    Gavin Newsome put it quite well

    https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1806673300849926309

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  14. tajalli said on June 28, 2024 at 8:39 pm

    And here’s a PSA worth attending to

    https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1806071517975048468

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  15. Dorothy said on June 28, 2024 at 8:47 pm

    I will never give up on (1) Biden, (2) this country or (3) the voters.

    The President’s team subjected him to waaaay too much debate prep. He was holed up in Camp David for a week and thus it was evident with how he spewed his first statement with rapidity and a raspy voice. He did fine at the SOTU in January (or was that February?). He’ll be okay again but now everyone knows he is showing his age. Lawrence O’Donnell last night said that to be President you need to be able to talk to people, to negotiate, to explain things, and he does that very well. He has decades of experience that does not go out the window just because he had a bad night.

    Anyone who voted for the dumbass in 2020 but witnessed January 6, and followed the trials he has gone through, and realize what he still faces, and knows right from wrong, will not vote for him again. Biden will need to re-prove himself and he started today in Raleigh. Ads for him will have to have clips of dumb sh** you-know-who says, on repeat, and they’ll have plenty more to choose from in coming days because it’s technically impossible for him to open his mouth and not say something that is not true, or is crazy, or both.

    I’ve seen far fewer Tr*** flags and signs than I did in Ohio four years ago. I might not be a church attendee anymore, but I’m talking to God on a regular basis and trying to have faith that it’s going to work out in our favor. If I didn’t have that iota of faith, I am confident I would have to be locked up before I hurt myself or end my life. I won’t allow myself to get to that point. There’s too much riding on it.

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  16. Jeff Gill said on June 28, 2024 at 9:18 pm

    FYI: Grants Pass has a population of some 40 thousand, but has a major homelessness situation. There’s one shelter, as Sherri noted earlier, housing almost 140 people, but they are high-barrier for sure.

    https://religionnews.com/2024/04/22/do-homeless-people-have-constitutional-rights/

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  17. Mark P said on June 28, 2024 at 9:48 pm

    I feel sorry for Biden. He has spent many years in public service and has done an incredible job the last four years, despite no one giving him any credit. I am sure he will do a good job for another four years, if given the chance. But he looked tired, and he deserves a peaceful retirement. It’s a shame, almost a tragedy, that he has to stand for election again because there is no one else to do it. Even if you think he’s not up to the job, and will have to rely on the people around him, you can be sure he will have good, competent people, unlike trump, who will surround himself with criminals who want to destroy the country. I am certain that there has never been as clear and obvious a choice in an election, save the last one.

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  18. FDChief said on June 28, 2024 at 10:14 pm

    The Grants Pass decision is a classic GOP “are there no prisons?” scheme. The new “conservative” Multnomah County AG celebrated because his wet dream is to harass and arrest the hoboes until they’re “somebody else’s problem”. The whole notion fits with all the other simpleminded Trumpendross “solutions”; beat it or shoot it until it goes away.

    I texted the DA; “So who’s gonna pay to lock up all those homeless, Ace? Where does the money for all the jail space come from? Taxes on your sugar daddy donors? You wanna bet? Who pays to jail some drug-addled schizophrenic hobo, slick? The 1%? Or my property tax increase? Tell me how that works. Be specific.”

    The kind of country that thinks jailing hoboes will work is the same country who thinks because Tubby “looks more energetic” they should vote for him.

    That’s a pretty goddamn stupid country.

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  19. Sherri said on June 28, 2024 at 10:24 pm

    So many pundits calling for Biden to step down. So few pundits calling for the Convicted Felon to step down.

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  20. Dexter Friend said on June 29, 2024 at 3:02 am

    I have been posting support for Joe-Kamala for a long time. Not that any candidate can agree with any voter’s opinions 100%. Supplying Netanyahu with bombs that kill dozens of Palestinians is likely to be judged genocide in history books, but not now it seems. I wish Joe would have run with Stacey as I have posted here before, as I am no fan of Harris. If Joe can’t run, I would vote for Josh Shapiro, a brilliant politician and a Joe supporter. Also, Whitmer-Buttigieg or flip that ticket, either way. People just have to at least skim Project 2025 to see what this nation will face if Trump wins. Out front would be an impossible SCOTUS situation as Trump would appoint 2 more Neanderthals.
    I just want Trump to go away after 11-5. Away forever.
    Right now I am all fired up because FINALLY the shingles have arrived and my new roof is going to be pounded on come Monday.

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  21. David C said on June 29, 2024 at 7:07 am

    Monday, the corrupt court will likely punt immunity back down to a lower court for more delay. That’s not going to look good for Trump. Two senior judges have let it be known that they told Loose Cannon that she’s in over her head and should step aside. She won’t and eventually Jack Smith will petition to have her removed and it will probably be granted. That’s not going to look good for Trump. On July 11, Trump will be facing the music for his 34 convictions. I hope he’s sentenced to prison time because he goddamn well deserves it. That’s bigly not going to look good for Trump. He’s going to be going through some things this summer and none of it is going to look good for him.

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  22. Suzanne said on June 29, 2024 at 8:39 am

    I honestly don’t know what happened to Biden on Thursday. He appeared completely out of it, kept getting lost in mid-sentence, and had almost no inflection in his voice. He apparently spoke to some supporters after and was fine, back to feisty Joe. Trump spoke in actual sentences and really put on a good show, except everything he said was complete unadulterated BS. Biden tried to counteract the BS but it’s impossible in a minute or two. Interesting but not the least bit surprising that the moderators never asked about Project 2025 or the SCOTUS members being given millions by billionaires or Trump’s indictments, nor did they once point out any glaring factual errors.
    I am still voting for Biden.

    Last night, we started watching Netflix’s Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial. Chilling. If people can’t see the similarities to today, they ain’t looking.

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  23. Mssr. Coffee said on June 29, 2024 at 9:34 am

    Several more boosters will make everyone feel all better.

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  24. Colleen said on June 29, 2024 at 1:22 pm

    Agree with so much posted above. Biden was overprepared with facts and stats and was trying to get them out at break neck speed…not good for a man with a stutter.
    He had a bad night. And a cold. He’s been doing the job, and doing it well, for nearly 4 years.
    Calling for a new candidate is suicide. Ya don’t switch horses mid stream.
    I wish he’d snapped back at some of orange Hitler’s more outlandish claims, such as doctors murdering babies.
    And the “moderators” were a joke. Biden at least answered the questions posed, and didn’t turn everything into a rant about what a hellscape the US is because of people streaming over the southern border intent on killing and raping….
    Too bad Americans go for style over substance….

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