Grading the first Biden Press Conference
Joe Biden held his first press conference this past week in a sparsely populated room (30 reporters) to which he arrived ten minutes late. There was no hiding that he had a list of 10 reporters (with photos attached) of whom he would grant a question. Being the Biden we have come to know we got to hear him say: “Okay, where am I here?”
Let us start by grading six of the 10 reporters who were on his list and got to ask questions.
1) Zeke, the Associated Press.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. You mentioned your progress on COVID-19. I’d like to ask you about some of the other issues facing your presidency. One of the defining challenges you face in the coming months is how to deliver on your promise to Americans on issues like immigration reform, gun control, voting rights, climate change. All of those right now are facing stiff, united opposition from Republicans on Capitol Hill. How far are you willing to go to achieve those promises that you made to the American people?
Translation: Will you finally advocate for the end of the filibuster as Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and we in press want so badly, so we can ram through H. R.1 ? Biden gave a long vague answer laying the blame on Republicans if they don't go along, thus being "divisive." Zeke then asked a follow up question which doubled down on the original.
Zeke gets an F for being an advocate rather than a journalist.
2) Yamiche, (God knows where)
Q Thanks so much, Mr. President. You’ve said over and over again that immigrants shouldn’t come to this country right now; this isn’t the time to come. That message is not being received. Instead, the perception of you that got you elected — as a moral, decent man — is the reason why a lot of immigrants are coming to this country and entrusting you with unaccompanied minors.
How do you resolve that tension? And how are you choosing which families can stay and which can go, given the fact that even though, with Title 42, there are some families that are staying? And is there a timeline for when we won’t be seeing these overcrowded facilities with — run by CPB [sic], when it comes to unaccompanied minors?
This question first flattered Biden as being a "moral man" until it dawned on even him that he needed to run in the opposite direction from Alcindor’s premise that he was a magnet for illegal immigrants.
Q My follow-up question is: One, if you could talk a little bit about which families — why they’re being allowed to stay. The families that are being allowed to stay, why they’re being allowed to stay.
And in addition to that, when it comes to the filibuster, which is what Zeke was asking about, there’s — immigration is a big issue, of course, when it — related to the filibuster, but there’s also Republicans who are passing bill after bill, trying to restrict voting rights. Chuck Schumer is calling it an “existential threat” to democracy. Why not back a filibuster rule that at least gets around issues including voting rights or immigration?
Jim Clyburn, someone who — of course, who you know very well, has backed the idea of a filibuster rule when it comes to civil rights and voting rights.
Translation: Yamiche also wants Biden to end the filibuster.
This is where Biden gave his classic befuddled answer:
"And so, I’m going to say something outrageous: I have never been particularly poor at calculating how to get things done in the United States Senate. So the best way to get something done, if you — if you hold near and dear to you that you like to be able to — anyway —
I — we’re going to get a lot done. And if we have to — if there’s complete lockdown and chaos as a consequence of the filibuster, then we’ll have to go beyond what I’m talking about."
Yamiche Alcindor gets a double F for being an obvious radical advocate
3) Okay. Hang on. Sorry. Oh, Seung Min — Ms. Kim.
Q Thank you, Mr. President, to follow up on the filibuster: So do you believe it should take 60 votes to end a filibuster on legislation or 51?
THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.) If we could end it with 51, we would have no problem. You’re going to have to — the existing rule — it’s going to be hard to get a parliamentary ruling that allows 50 votes to end the filibuster, the existence of a filibuster.
Ms Kim gets an F for being an advocate
4) Let me get here. Okay, Cecilia Vega.
Q I’d like to circle back to immigration, please. You just listed the reasons that people are coming, talking about in-country problems, saying that it happens every year; you blamed the last administration. Sir, I just got back last night from a reporting trip to the border where I met nine-year-old, Yossell, who walked here from Honduras by himself, along with another little boy. He had that phone number on him —
THE PRESIDENT: Astounding.
Q — and we were able to call his family. His mother says that she sent her son to this country because she believes that you are not deporting unaccompanied minors like her son. That’s why she sent him alone from Honduras.
Ms Vega gets a B for a responsible question
5) Ken.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to ask you about Afghanistan. You face a May 1st deadline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from that country. As a candidate, in foreign affairs, you wrote that it is past time to end these forever wars. Can you commit to the American people that by May 2nd the U.S. will no longer have forces in Afghanistan?
At that point Joe had to pull out and read from his notebook, as he did for all foreign policy questions. The man who is supposed to be setting foreign policy for the US had to read the talking points of someone else.
Ken gets a B for a responsible question.
6) Okay. Kristen.
Q Thank you very much, Mr. President. Given the conditions that were just laid out at the migrant facilities at the U.S. border, will you commit to allowing journalists to have access to the facilities that are overcrowded moving forward?
THE PRESIDENT: I will commit when my plan, very shortly, is underway to let you have access to not just them, but to other facilities as well.
Q How soon will journalists be able to have access to the facilities? We’ve obviously been allowed to be inside one, but we haven’t seen the facilities in which children are packed together to really give the American people a chance to see that. Will you commit to transparency on this issue, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: I will commit to transparency, and — as soon as I am in a position to be able to implement what we are doing right now.
And one of the reasons I haven’t gone down — I have all my — my chief folks have gone down — is I don’t want to become the issue. I don’t want to be, you know, bringing all of the Secret Service and everybody with me to get in the way. So this is being set up, and you’ll have full access to everything once we get this thing moving.
Q Okay. And just to be clear: How soon will that be, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know, to be clear.
Q Okay. And do you bear responsibility for everything that’s happening at the border now? I hear you talking a lot about the past administration. You decided to roll back some of those policies, did you move too quickly to roll back (inaudible) policies?
THE PRESIDENT: To roll back what? I’m sorry.
Q Did you move too quickly to roll back some of the executive orders of your predecessor?
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, all the policies that were underway were not helping at all — did not slow up the amount of immigration — and there’s many people coming.
And rolling back the policies of separating children from — from their mothers, I make no apology for that. Rolling back the policies of “Remain in Mexico,” sitting on the edge of the Rio Grande in a muddy circumstance with not enough to eat and — I make no apologies for that.
I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became President that have an incredibly negative impact on the law, international law, as well as on human dignity. And so, I make no apologies for that.
Q If I could just ask you about foreign policy, Mr. President. Overnight, we learned that North Korea tested two ballistic missiles. What, if any, actions will you take? And what is your red line on North Korea?
THE PRESIDENT: Let me say that, number one, U.N. Resolution 1718 was violated by those particular missiles that were tested — number one. We’re consulting with our allies and partners. And there will be responses — if they choose to escalate, we will respond accordingly.
But I’m also prepared for some form of diplomacy, but it has to be conditioned upon the end result of denuclearization. So that’s what we’re doing right now: consulting with our allies.
Q Just a very quick follow-up —
THE PRESIDENT: You’ve only got another hour now, okay?
Q Diplomacy: Can you define what you mean? And former President Obama warned the incoming President Trump that North Korea was the top foreign policy issue that he was watching. Is that how you assess the crisis in North Korea?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Kristen Welker gets an A for asking tough questions.
Of course, this reporter was in the room, but was left off the list:
Peter Doocy (Fox News) gets an A for striking so much fear in the hearts & minds of Joe Biden's handlers that he was excluded from the list of those to be called.
Joe Biden gets an F for failing to clear a low bar and being open to manipulation by left wing advocates pretending to be journalists.
For those here interested enough to read the questions and responses, here is the full transcript:
https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/biden-100days/full-remarks-president-biden-gives-his-first-official-press-conference-since-taking-office/
World leaders are watching. One can only imagine what they think.
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Again I ask: Is this what you voted for?
Not even.
It isn’t Trump, so yep! Frankly a vacant presidency would be better than having g that fat fuck in office for another second.
Is Joe Biden in control of his faculties? Obviously he is. Does he take the normal amount of time a 79 year old might take to explain his positions, yes. So what? Right wingers complaining about Biden's mental sharpness is baked into the political cake now. In the real world, it is the slightest of issues. To them it is everything. That is how bereft they are of ideas and proposals, and frankly, decency.
We have to laugh at they way they continue to support Trump , the single worst president in US history, but openly obsess about Biden's stuttering. There is no hope for these people in the "let's all get along" realm and the rest of us need to stop waiting for something that is never going to come.
Can you not even imagine why it could possibly be a problem for the most powerful person in the world to be declining mentally? Really?
but openly obsess about Biden's stuttering
I've never heard anyone obsess over an issue Biden conquered as a teenager.
Of course that would be a problem. Are you putting forth an argument that Biden is in a cognitive decline and that the decline is at a pace that would make him unable to competently perform the duties of his office?
Your support of a bumbling, stumbling sorry excuse of president, let alone world leader is hilarious. Sorta like the blind leading the blind....from behind
Ironic considering that we just got through with the most unhinged presidency ever. Dozens of psychiatric professionals concluded that Donald Trump is mentally ill (malignant narcissism). I dont recall a peep from you about that crisis.
Of course he is. Trust your eyes. If you don't trust your eyes, trust science. There is no way a 78 year old man with two prior brain aneurisms is in the same cognitive shape as the guy who cheated his way through law school 50 years ago. It's just not possible.
ecline is at a pace that would make him unable to competently perform the duties of his office?
Maybe. Certainly no member of the public or press has anywhere near the access to Biden to make that call. His cognitive ability is always going to be an issue. His demeanor and his age make it inescapable.
Let's say China invades Taiwan. Does anyone believe Biden is capable of managing a crises of that nature that will require 24/7 leadership. Can you imagine Biden in a 2021 version of the Cuban missile crisis, trying to make decisions after a week of incredible stress with no let up?
Yes, and Democrats such as your self discussed it non-stop.
Trump isn't President anymore.
I dont recall a peep from you about that crisis.
I recall tons of peeps from you. How is it okay to discuss Trump's health and not Biden's?
I see Biden on tv fairly regularly. I dont see anything wrong with him other than normal old age.
You are obsessed with this because you comment about it constantly. Trump lied, on average, something like 10 times a day. There was reason to comment on Trump's unhinged behavior as president of the United States, there is no such reason with Biden.
... one hypocrisy at a time please...
Do you understand what science is? I'm curious what exactly "science" dictates on the handling of the pandemic or the handling of the election which are both political questions?
The decline in the function of the human brain as we age is a scientific issue. Weighing the necessary tradeoffs on how to handle a pandemic is not.
So we agree there is "something wrong." It's just a question of how much.
Trump lied, on average, something like 10 times a day.
The irony here..
there is no such reason with Biden.
sure John, if you believe the only job of the President is to make carefully scripted stage managed appearances and read notes when responding to friendly reporters, then I suppose there's nothing to worry about with Biden. He can just nap through the real part of his job so he can impress you by appearing legally competent while playacting as a President.
e rush to offer a diagnosis that you have neither the ability nor credentials to come to an informed opinion.
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My opinion is that Biden is not as sharp as he was 10 years ago. But that is my untrained observation. Do you have professional diagnostic data to back up your allegation? Seems to me that you are simply offering an untrained opinion too.
Well that I do not see. Biden appears perfectly competent —from my observations— to perform the duties of his office. Also, if Biden were to become unable to perform the duties of his office I am sure there is a massive amount of support to put Harris in charge. So you will know if that happens.
Hard to imagine what might happen with that much stress but Biden has a ton of experience with world politics, etc. I will say that I greatly prefer Biden at the helm over Trump. The reason is that I have zero trust Trump would do what is best for the nation unless that aligns with doing what is best for Trump. Biden, in my opinion, will do his very best for the nation and will consider the council of his advisors and other experts.
Sean, for myself I cant stand to be lied to by anyone, having my president lie to me about some of the most important issues and problems we face SUCKED !
And the undisputable fact that Biden is 78 years old.
If you have some information that Biden is the first person to defeat the aging process, I'd love to see it. But nothing I've seen supports that sort of fantasy.
Biden appears perfectly competent —from my observations— to perform the duties of his office.
Yes, in that he is legally competent to be responsible for his actions, I agree. He's not insane. But "competent to perform his duties" is an exceedingly low bar that all but a tiny percentage of adults can pass.
lso, if Biden were to become unable to perform the duties of his office I am sure there is a massive amount of support to put Harris in charge.
From who? Harris? When Wilson was incapacitated, Democrats were more than happy to go along with the illusion he was in charge. A couple of stage managed photo ops was all he had to ge through to keep the party on his side. The idea that in a much more ideological era, Democrats will push to depose a President is almost unthinkable. All they want Biden for is to be a figurehead of a "moderate" that the media can point to.
Hard to imagine what might happen with that much stress but Biden has a ton of experience with world politics,\
I don't think the invasion of Taiwan is that hard to imagine. Remember, he's famous for being wrong about pretty much everything. That's his experience. I'm not sure how his track record inspires any confidence, but that's for you to decide. The idea that a man who had trouble getting through the routine, stage managed duties of the Presidency can handle a sustained period of massive stress is not a fantasy I care to indulge.
I don't disagree. But to believe Biden isn't lying to you is simply not tenable.
I means, it's Joe Biden. The guy is literally famous for lying.
I wonder if the people complaining about Joe's age hold the same standard to those in congress.
If so, we could clear out most of it....
Where do you see me claiming Biden defeated the aging process? Read what I write Sean. Hell, I even specifically stated the exact opposite in my opening sentence:
This is not clear to you??
Also, does this mean that you would be against Trump running again in 2024 due to his advanced age?
Competent to perform his duties as PotUS. Clearly very few can function as PotUS whereas most everyone can sweep floors. At this point I have no evidence that Biden cannot competently perform his duties as PotUS. You have provided no such evidence.
The D party is profoundly different than it was when Wilson was PotUS. It has two major factions and the more liberal faction would certainly favor Harris. Also, nowadays (vs. a century ago) we have far more insight into the White House so hiding incapacitation of a PotUS would be next to impossible. There is no unified D party; aligning everyone to support an illusion would be quite a feat nowadays.
I did not state that it was hard to imagine. Try again. Read what I actually wrote.
I did not state anything about his track record. Here, Sean, read this:
If you choose to reply, try to at least reply to what I wrote.
What is your evidence that Biden is having trouble getting through the routine, staged, managed duties of his office?
who were we talking about, again?
Are you OK with Biden's lies?/
I doubt it's as copious as Trump's lies.
Why would that bother you and yours now? Y'all cheered for 4 years of Trump's narcissism, which BTW is a personality disorder, a type of MENTAL disorder.
no
Pretty sad when someone picks their president based on "he's not the other guy".
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How many of them actually sat down personally with Trump and evaluated them.
The correct answer is zero.
Therefore every one of those "dozens of psychiatric professionals" have committed malpractice.
Says the guy that posted hundreds of "I hate Trump, but really don't know why" seeds over the past 4 years.
He was legally evaluated by who?
BTW...your opinion doesn't count.
desperate to place the many illegal activities by the previous administration behind them, republicans scramble to deflect away from any responsibility the former president and his sycophants had in creating the political and humanitarian crises for the new president in a laughable attempt to rebuild their damaged political capital.
Name them and give the convictions by actual Trump administration officials.
I'm not going to wait for an answer. I don't have days to wait.
I'm a Brit/Canadian and dead so I only voted 3 times and no, you can't ask me.
As compared to this?
Yes.
but, but, but...
As compared to anything Sandy. Even a deranged feminist would make Biden look pathetic. Thanks for the billboard./s
Right? Some will focus on the other's guy's gaffe's while ignoring their own guy's gaffes (and ignorance, and megalomania, and ineptness).
Who were our choices last election, Vic? Biden, and the guy in the video I posted. Both are gaffe-prone. One botched a pandemic response and ignored the advice of his experts ("the best people", until they told him what he didn't want to hear). One was impeached twice. One lied for months about the election results.
So, yeah, I'll take the guy who didn't lie about the election for months and hold events that spread a deadly virus, thanks.
Our choices were the President who found a way to secure the border, restored fair trade, restored the military, got us a covid vaccine within a year, as promised and most importantly gave us a thriving economy. The other choice was a clearly cognitively challenged proxy, presented to us as old Joe from Scranton PA. The man who would leave us some peace of mind at night during the nightly news shows.
What we got was the proxy who was not the moderate who was presented, but a man who is institutionalizing the most radical agenda the US has even seen.
So, yeah,
So yeah, if you happen to be a radical progressive, you got everything you could possibly want.
We had a thriving economy when Trump took office. How did we do last year?
Labeling Biden as cognitively challenged while defending Trump is ironic in the extreme.
BTW, I'm curious, Vic. Why bring up feminists out of nowhere?
it's been stuck in his craw for 50 years, when the last R traitor held the white house.
Joe Biden has argued that President Donald Trump didn’t so much build a strong economy as inherit one. It’s good line — but it ignores the successes, at least before the pandemic, of Trump’s unconventional policy . If Biden is elected president, he should continue Trump’s economic approach rather than returning to Barack Obama’s.
In 2016, real median household income was $62,898, just $257 above its level in 1999. Over the next three years it grew almost $6,000, to $68,703. That’s perhaps why, despite the pandemic, 56% of U.S. voters polled last month said their families were better off today than they were four years ago.
How did we do last year?
What a dishonest question. China killed the economy last year with the pandemic they let go out to the world. They killed Trump as well. Kind of a bonus for Xi.
Labeling Biden as cognitively challenged
It is fitting. Biden doesn't "stutter" - he gets lost! Just check the quote I have highlighted.
BTW, I'm curious, Vic. Why bring up feminists out of nowhere?
It wasn't totally out of nowhere. I was searching for something to make him look rational.
Really? So why was the situation there a self-declared crisis for his entire presidency? Doesn’t sound too secure to me.
He made shit more expensive for American consumers while doing virtually nothing to make American products more attractive abroad. Or trade deficit did not improve o trumps watch.
Lol okay, specifically how did he do that? Exactly what did he do that “restored” the military? Such a bullshit meaningless phrase and your use of it has actually made me think even less of you, something I hardly thought possible.
Scientists got us a vaccine, all Trump did was what anyone would have done, and either funded or promised X number of purchases when a viable vaccine was available. Essentially he did the bare minimum. So thanks to all the scientists around the globe that worked o the vaccine.
He inherited a growing and strong economy, all he had to do was literally nothing and yet he pretty well fucked that up with his laughable COVID response which left the economy limping by the time he left office and actually drug his economic numbers down so much that he left office having o e of the poorer economic records among all recent presidents.
And of course you leave out how he damaged our alliances around the globe, sucked massive amounts of dictator dick, was a national embarrassment on a daily basis, had absolutely no plan or direction for anything, undermined faith in American governing institutions, and just all around whined endlessly about how mean everyone is.
Sorry man, your guy sucked shit and given a choice between your mentally challenged guy and a mentally challenged Joe Biden, gimme handicapped Joe any day and in any situation.
Vic, IMO: trump trumped trump
trump didn't want to deal with the pandemic during his reelection so he undermined it as long as he could and people died as a result. This man put his own POWER before the health and safety of We the People.
"The virus will just disappear" .. As he lied about the election results, brought numerous law suite that were thrown out, intimidated congress people and election officials, then when all else failed riled up his unhappy deluded followers and sent them to our Federal capitol. Where they rioted and killed. "stop the steal and fight for trump !"
Again trump put HIS own power over WE the People.
IMO: That alone is reason enough for this person to never have another chance of having power over us.
Personally I always thought trump was a bully, a manipulator, a cheater, a lier and power hungry.
He didn't disappoint me there.
SAD !
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Biden, I voted for him of course , but I am not real happy with what he has done.
IMO: Biden should have held out and negotiated with the republicans on the relive bill and set the tone for the next four years, I'm also pissed that he and none of our presidents before didn't do detailed planning with immigration and their border policies. Every time it's real mess at the border from their lack of planning..
WTF ?
What your quote says is - lots of improvement under Obama (a 5.2% drop in unemployment) followed by some improvement under Trump (a further 1.2% drop).
As regards your link - ah, yes, the fiscally responsible tactic of cutting taxes while increasing spending. And soybean farmers did great under Trump (but only after Trump sent them some government cheese to keep them in his pocket).
That put us in a precarious position going into the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Trump engaged in deficit spending to the point where the government was in fiscal dire straits before the pandemic. He kicked the can down the road, and the road went over a cliff.
Particularly disturbing is this:
There is no economic stability with debts at the level we currently have.
Unnecessary deficit spending (and political popularity falls in that category) is not, IMO, a policy generally embraced by actual fiscal conservatives.
The damage to our economy could have been mitigated with a better response. Instead of following the advice of his experts and urging others to do the same, Trump engaged in magical thinking, and eventually replaced those experts with sycophants like Atlas. He encouraged various states' residents to rebel against their state governments' pandemic restrictions.
As far as Biden "getting lost" - let us all know when he can't find the limo right in front of him, changes weather forecasts with a Sharpie, or tells folks to inject disinfectant, and I'll start worrying. Until then, he's cognitively superior to Trump.
I notice you don't address the two months of lying by Trump about the election results. Probably for the best, as there is no excuse.
He is still lying. Called into fox and said the 6th insurrection was a love fest.
I don't think he can help himself at this point. It's what he's always done, and he's been called on it too seldom, until the election results rolled in, and his psyche, weakened by all those years of being coddled by yes-men, couldn't handle the blow.
He's psychologically weak. Not leadership material.
What flavor is that KoolAde?
The border has never been secure since 1912, before that, no one cared.
He renamed existing trade agreements with a few tweaks and put up tariff around the globe.
He threw more money at the best military in the world, bar none, unless you believe partisan hysteria.
OK, Pfizer and other's working on Hotez's groundwork were in human trials when Trump was saying it would go away by Easter. But the vaccines were approved on his watch, so he gets that one.
A thriving economy? Which he and his, allowed to overheat and crash. He had the record highs as well as the record lows. That is not thriving. Thriving is when it applies to all of us and doesn't leave 10 million unemployed for the next POTUS.
How's that wall Mexico paid for coming along Vic?
Which did very little to affect the trade deficit, while causing imbalances in other sectors.
What was wrong with it to begin with? We already had the most powerful and fiscally expensive military in the world. What was there to restore?
Pfizer and Moderna did that. Meanwhile, Trump exacerbated Covid spread by downplaying the virus, enflamed anti-science sentiment, and set poor examples by not wearing masks or social distancing.
Meanwhile, the federal deficit is the highest it's ever been, GDP growth did not reach his own goal of 3%, and job growth was small, especially among manufacturing and coal industries he promised would grow. The economy was already in good shape when Trump took office. The only real benefit he brought to it was the tax cuts, which was a short term benefit. But his inept response and leadership to the pandemic pretty much destroyed any accomplishment or gain he might have had, including his reelection.
Better choice than whom was currently there.
It's the results that matter. And Trump's results have not been as stellar as he'd like you to believe.
I guess Trump wasn't up to the challenge of handling a major crisis.
Meant to say whom was previously there.
That's what happens when I don't pay enough attention or proof read first.
Ya really.
So why was the situation there a self-declared crisis for his entire presidency? Doesn’t sound too secure to me.
What took Donald Trump 4 years to accomplish on the border has been largely unappreciated. Joe Biden has changed that perception very quickly. For the record, we had the wall, which we all remember Trump had to fight for every inch of and just as important we had those complicated agreements with Mexico (the Migrant Protection Protocols, or MPP) and Northern Triangle countries, which President Trump negotiated and left for the incoming administration.
Scientists got us a vaccine
There was no way they were going to be able to have it approved within 10 months under normal FDA regulations. It took Donald Trump to pressure the FDA and get the vaccine for us in record breaking time. Haters will hate, but it will always be the Trump vaccine!
He inherited a growing and strong economy
As I already pointed out to Sandy, it took the Obama-Biden administration over six years to produce the job growth and retail-sales gains the Trump administration produced in five months. Industrial production, durable goods, and housing starts all grew much more rapidly under Trump than Obama-Biden. Haters will hate, but history will record that Donald Trump did more for the middle class than and president since Ronald Reagan.
Sorry man
And I'm sorry too, but unless Chuck Schumer can end the filibuster and ram through H.R.1, the democrats are destined to lose both Houses in 2021.
It wouldn't be democrat Governors like in NY and NJ and the state of Washington who were responsible for the deaths of the vulnerable in nursing homes? You know, the ones that Trump sent ventilators and hospital ships to? As I said before haters got to hate, but it is Joe Biden that is screwing America!
The same one Obama kicked down to him and Joe Biden intends to blow up for good. You do remember Joe Biden? He's the topic of the article. It seems that you and your friends can't let go of Trump.
As far as Biden "getting lost"
And that's just the way the radical left likes it. All I want to know is who wrote out his foreign policy for him. The best part was when senile Joe was asked when reporters could see the holding facilities along the border. How did he say it? He'll let us know. The progressive reporters accepted it. You don't recognize it? It's called bias.
I've already answered that twice over here, the topic is Joe Biden. I'm confident the history books will get it right. I'm not as optimistic about the future of this country.
Fairly well. Perhaps you might want to listen to the President of Mexico:
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blamed President Biden for the migrant surge that has erupted into a full-blown border crisis , arguing the “expectations” he set left migrants with the perception that they would be let in the US.
López Obrador made the remarks while speaking to reporters Tuesday, the morning after his government met with Biden’s envoys for the region, who were visiting to address the record spikes in illegal border crossings.
“Expectations were created that with the government of President Biden there would be a better treatment of migrants. And this has caused Central American migrants, and also from our country, wanting to cross the border thinking that it is easier to do so,” he said at his daily morning presser.
You and your friends all decided to make it about Trump? Can't defend the idiot in the White House? How about the science you always talk about? Why won't the Teacher's Union (and therefore the Biden administration) accept the science?
That doesn't answer my question Vic. It's just a deflection. You implied Trump secured the border. That is clearly not the case. Instead of blaming Trump for a failed and undelivered promise, you prefer to blame Biden.
Does he? Or is that what partisans would like to believe about him?
The Obama administration worked on reducing the budget deficit.
Under Trump, it has only grown. We borrowed to fund the Trump tax cuts, increasing both the deficit and the national debt. As a fiscal conservative, that doesn't sit well with me, at all. I worry about the effect that will have on my future, and that of my son and grandchildren.
The rest is just partisan vitriol.
Yeah, bias is recognized.
Vic, IMO: here is probably lots of blame to go around. But, trump's crap about "The virus is just going to disappear." really was unexpectable to me.
Trump had much power and he set the tone on how the pandemic was handled, till so many Americans were dropping dead from it then president trump had little choice but to actknolage we had a real problem.
I think it was totally un-presidencal, an act of betrayal and so self centered by a leader it's and it was hard to believe. That was not the only thing trump did that was IMO: Over the top for any leader of men.
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As far as Biden, I voted for him, But I admit I am not too happy with how he has started out either.
So sorry, I could have sworn I commented on your comments about Trump.
Absolutely, at least the one's you will approve of.
So sorry to hear that.
The presser was depressing and dreadful.
Not sure if 'Is this what you voted for' is the correct question for this seed. Perhaps a better question would be 'Is this how you imagined the free press would act after a Biden win?'
It's surely disappointing that we continue to see how biased the so-called free press has become. There are so many critical issues occurring right now and the majority of questions asked were pitched in such a way you have to wonder who really wrote the question. Very few IMO real questions and little follow-up where there should have been. For example, that line about letting reporters and cameras into the border stations and the vows of transparency. How could they let him get away with saying that reporters won't be let in until his policies are in place to allow him to clean up the problem?
I have to wonder what the plan is for this administration beyond removing all that Trump set up. Why do they continue to change policy in order to remove what Trump had set up or touched, without something already to take it's place? And just the other day Mayorkas fired almost everybody from the Homeland Security Advisory Counsel because they were all nominated by Trump, but he's still coming up with a plan on what the counsel will look like? Why not just leave the current system in place until you have a replacement in line?
So to answer your initial question, no this is not what I voted for. Unfortunately, on Nov 4th this is what I expected.
Yeah, I think that’s right. They’ve gone back to being sycophants and stenographers again. I’m surprised no one asked him what he had for breakfast.
Sounds to me like the current administration is running in a very defective autopilot.
Flying along on a sputtering engine in no particular direction with a broken rudder
Yep.
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Trolling [Perrie Halpern R.A.]
Seriously? The entire article is trolling.
I realize that you are somewhat new here, but your comment was trolling and this article is a perspective from a member, and that is not trolling. I normally remove comments like this as meta, but I am giving you the benefit of the doubt.
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How did you come to the unfounded conclusion that Biden was referring to 'someone else's' talking points Vic?
Yeah, they’re probably his own talking points. He’s just too senile to remember them.
Well the are hand written and NOT in sharpie...
Right because as we all know, every Executive that refers to notes is senile. /s
It’s fine with me if he has notes. But if that’s acceptable, then maybe we owe this lady an apology?
Right, since openly referring to notes is the same as notes written on you hand to keep them concealed. /s
Why does that matter?
If you don't know, I can't help you.
If you knew, you would say. But you don’t know, so we get inane jabs like that one, designed only to deflect.
This
Is this supposed to be addressed to me?
Hmmm. So we’re going to wait to see what other countries do and follow their lead. Not very inspiring. So much for American “leadership” on the international stage. “Leader of the Free World” my ass.
You know that the U.N. includes 'our allies and partners' and 'consulting with' them would be a requisite to International sanctions against NK right?
What part of
is confusing for you? That’s not leadership. That’s following. That was the point of my comment.
And just to remind you of the context, he was not asked about international sanctions. He was asked to answer for himself - for the United States. He was asked:
And his answer was that he takes actions depending on what other people do first. You couldn’t ask for a more spineless response.
Do you think "leadership" means acting unilaterally?
I think it means the leader sets the tone. A leader has a vision for the appropriate response, and inspires others to go along with what he wants. Our president is waiting for others to tell him what to do.
He said "we're consulting with our allies and partners." You seem to object to that. The other option is for the US to act unilaterally. Not wise in matters of international importance.
That is a lot of reading between the lines.
I certainly do not want a PotUS to simply let other nations tell us what to do; but I absolutely prefer a PotUS who will engage other nations with respect and diplomacy. Leadership which comes across with respect and diplomacy is far better than trying to bully or go rogue. Would you agree or not?
And I do not know that this is what Biden is doing, I am just saying that I have no evidence that Biden's strategy is to mindlessly 'do whatever the other nations want'.
That’s not consistent with what I wrote. I never said he shouldn’t consult with our allies and partners. He was asked what he would do and his answer was that he was going to wait for someone else to act. Do you not see the significance of that?
Come on. If you’re truly a leader, how freakin hard is it to have a point of view on something like this? Biden has nothing.
He does not have the luxury of acting solo. He must act with the cooperation of our allies. Many object to the US being the "world's police force" - acting unilaterally would make us that.
A wise leader will take all opinions, suggestions, and options into consideration before making a decision.
Yes, it means he is not rash or jump into something blindly.
A leader absolutely would have a view on an intended initiative.
You seem to have special information that shows Biden has no opinion and is willing to be subserviant. I do not have access to this special information. I do, however, have a historical understanding as to how our government works and it typically does not wait in line to merely follow other nations.
and there in lies a problem. In America we have three branches of government for a reason, so NO ONE person has too much power.
IMO: A true good American government leader is one who works across the isle and is wiling to compromise to get problems solved.
Without compromising we have one party rule then the other party rule when the voters get pissed off because nothing is going like they want.
Back and forth we go wasting time, effort and money that could be used to help solve Americas problems.
Messed up system.
Are you suggesting the North Korea situation is a surprise that Joe Biden hasn’t had time to think about? 47 years in federal government. 8 years as VP. And he needs to take time to consider the problem, and talk to other countries before saying what it is he wants to do or what he will tolerate? It’s North Korea!
The general nature of North Korea is known and no doubt the USA has a long-established conditional strategy in place. But when dealing with a nation one must also consider the current situation and factor that into the immediate handling. I would expect Biden (and especially his team) to consider current intelligence on NK which includes their current relationship with local nations such as China, their economic situation, their trade relationships, the internal politics (e.g. Kim Jong-un's health and potential challenges to his rule), NK's strategy, etc.
I would not want our leadership to exclusively rely upon historical knowledge because reality is dynamic and we need to react according to the current state and our best projection into the future state based on current events, constraints and opportunities.
In short, it would be unwise to not continually reevaluate with the most timely information.
Any action regarding North Korea will likely have serious repercussions, either politically, diplomatically, or economically. If other countries become involved, as China or South Korea likely would and possibly the EU too, it's a good idea to first see what the consequences, either positive or negative will be from taking whatever actions might be on the table. Perhaps collaborate with other countries for their intelligence and connections to NK? But simply leading a charge or call to action for the sake of leadership is not necessarily a good course of action to take.
Exactly so. I'm not worried about NK itself. I worry about the result if China gets dragged into the conflict, or if Russia uses conflict between us and NK to become militarily aggressive, rather than just politically aggressive. We shouldn't overreact to posturing by Kim Jong-un.
Posturing is all it is and has been. NK might have a sizeable army, but they are not as technologically developed militarily. Neither do they have significant resources to fund or power a large scale or long term conflict. The NK missile tests is their proverbial eggs all in 1 basket.
I have little doubt both situations would occur. China is an ally to NK. South Korea will likely become involved too, whether they want to or not. The only way I can see China not involving themselves or possibly siding against NK is if NK is the aggressor and attempts the first strike. The most we've seen in that regard are idle threats (posturing), but nothing more.
In eight years under Obama, this country did virtually nothing with respect to North Korea for almost the whole time he was in office. I see no reason why that will change now that the VP of that administration is the president and he doesn’t seem to have an opinion on North Korea. Are you content with the United States simply ignoring North Korea? Some people think we should.
My comment was about the likelihood and importance of any administration (including Biden's) to consider current conditions in context of historical strategy with NK (with any nation). You did not comment on any of that but instead shifted to a question about ignoring NK.
Okay, I will simply shift to this new sub-topic.
NK needs to be watched and kept under control. It continues to pursue WMD and is headed by a nutcase. Our strategy should be one that ensures South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and other local nations are motivated to do likewise. I am against the USA employing a strategy of unilateral control of NK and am also against ignoring NK.
As time moves on and advanced weaponized technology becomes more available to more nations, it will require a unified world to control the rogue nations. The USA cannot possibly police the entire planet (nor should we morally do so). But we cannot operate as isolationists, that is irresponsible.
It worked out so well for us in Afghanistan and Libya./S
Of course we tend to fuck it when we take the lead as well. Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine.
Like Iran, North Korea is going to get nuclear weapons, it is just a matter of how long. With North Korea Biden seems bound and determined to make it as difficult as possible- while with Iran he wants it easy as possible. Iran has violated the UN Resolution so many times it isn't worth the paper it is printed on; but Biden wants to get the US signed back on. Like that will make one damn bit of difference to the way Iran operates. It will just give Iran access to US money, banking, and trade for nothing in return.
Epilogue:
I hate to have the final word here, but I have to ask a final question, one that never got asked last week. Where is the person that senile Joe put in charge of the border?
"The Biden administration is putting out a call for government volunteers to report for duty amid the significant surge at the border, but many are asking -- where is the person deputized to 'fix' the line in the sand crisis?
As the immigration mess at the southern border gets more and more out of hand, Vice President Kamala Harris still remains inexplicably silent.
Even after President Biden officially tapped the VP Wednesday to lead in response to border challenges, there aren’t any plans for her to travel south or even address the issue. According to the Office of the Vice President , Harris had no events this past weekend and no mention of border-related activity.
This comes as the Biden administration is now asking for government volunteers to help manage the migrant surge. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has sent memos to agency heads seeking "volunteer deployments" for up to 120 days, Fox News confirmed."
Key member of the Harris/Biden Administration
Some may think that Joe Biden did away with all that Trump accomplished because he hated Trump. I believe that senile Joe was instructed to open up the border. That's the only logical explanation.