Joe Biden has previously shown a callous refusal to act when people around him were getting hurt. But when the situation became untenable enough, he gave in.
I think this is one of your finest pieces, possibly eclipsing Gavin Newsom is Gross and Embarrassing and Kennedys Suck (I don't remember the title on that one).
Fuck you Biden. I used to be a fan but it turns out you're as selfish as Trump. At least Trump doesn't believe he's a threat to the republic, Biden does and he's still putting himself first.
And don't give me any crap about him believing he's got the best shot. Everyone has an excuse in their own mind when they act selfishly. Politicians who accept bribes tell themselves they would have voted that way anyway.
Acting on a belief while ignoring evidence it's wrong so you can feel good is every bit as selfish as ignoring the evidence about the best choice because you economically benefit from doing so.
When I was younger I wasn't mean or severely arrogant but deep down I did kind of think of myself as the main character of the universe. My life has gone pretty well but I'm not a President or a Nobel Prize winner or whatever and so I've gradually humbled. I don't expect that unlikely stuff will break in my favour because I am The Chosen One. But if I had become phenomenally successful, I think the whole main character psyche would have worsened.
You or I or anyone else can see that Biden will probably lose and should step aside. But he has had almost nothing but positive reinforcement for his grandest aspirations for his entirely adult life. Eight billion people and he is US President somehow. However down to earth he has always seemed, I can see how anyone in this position would develop unrealistic notions about the nature of reality.
Right, it's like trying to convince someone who has won 3 million dollar slot jackpots that playing the slots is a bad idea. Biden's becoming president by repeatedly beating the odds.
But it's still a personality flaw. Biden's gone from being the guy who uses his money to play slots to the guy who bets the company retirement account on the roulette wheel. Giving it a try in the primaries is a different beast. If you're wrong no reason to believe it will hurt anyone but yourself.
Tho TBF probably even more blame goes to his staff and advisors such as Donilon.
While Biden has a good chance to be fetted by history as another Washington if he steps aside -- a president who saved the nation by relinquishing his personal power -- Donilon and other senior advisors go down in history as the morons or selfish actors who kept him in the race and let him debate and never get hired by another admin.
They have even more reason to bet on on an unlikely upset since that's the only outcome they end up looking good in.
And it's not just with Biden we need to apply this fact but with each other -- ignoring evidence that, say, a policy that purports to aid the poor or minorities actually has the opposite effect so you can feel good about yourself is every bit as selfish as fighting a law that benefits society because it hurts your pocket book.
Unfortunately, social media has a tendency to make us forget this.
The "Trumpification" of the Biden administration is one of the most fascinating aspects of this whole story.
Brazen denial of the facts, stubborn insistence (in spite of all evidence) on the standard-bearer's uniquely positive qualities, and a view that the party exists purely to serve the leader's whims... welcome to the world neverTrump (former) Republicans have been living in for almost a decade, Democrats. xD
what a great insight, I agree and if he stays, we get 4 more months of gas lighting by the party and administration, though I don't think the media will go along with this, it's just too juicy a story.
This episode revealed something to me. In pro-democracy circles, we talk about putting country first and doing whatever it takes to defeat the authoritarian threat. In the trump era, some genuinely have had to make such sacrifices — and pretty significant ones, at times.
But Biden never had to, so far. In fact, he's been the *recipient* of such efforts, when, for instance, everyone coalesced around his candidacy in 2020. Buttigieg sacrificed his presidential campaign for "country first"; Joe *saved* his through "country first". Now, Biden did pay lip service to the idea, but I don't know that it means much when you're asking others to make tough choices while benefitting from those.
AFAICT, we've assumed that Biden was a good moral man because he is, in person-to-person interactions, a decent human being (something I still believe to be true), and because he paid lip service to democracy, America, etc. But he has yet to show that he's willing to give anything up to save democracy, and I'm starting to doubt that he's actually the upstanding citizen we thought he was. I sincerely hope he proves me wrong, but it's getting increasingly hard to avoid that realization.
Mostly agree but think it's a bit harsh on Commander. I'm sure the right trainer could turn him around.
Fuck, if the Biden media team was better they'd have invited Ceaser Millan or some other TV dog trainer to do a special episode in the WH (if not with Joe w/ Jill). What is better coverage than a soft story showing you caring for your dog?
Insofar as this is an article not just about Biden but about democrats collective unwillingness to push him out, I’m reminded of a quote by Edward Albee:
“Remember one thing about democracy. We can have anything we want and at the same time, we always end up with exactly what we deserve.”
> His delegates are bound to vote for him at the convention
Not... teeeechnically, actually. There's a "good conscience" clause that says they don't have to support their bound nominee if they cannot in "good conscience" do so. A nominee whose clear age-related decline has accelerated since he won the nomination is a pretty decent example of when one might invoke such a clause.
Re: Unwillingness - More public calls, from elected officials, for him to step aside. Public pressure is the mechanism I was referring to. But you’re right, beyond that there really isn’t anything.
It's a prisoner's dilemma - the only personal upside in calling for him to step aside is if everyone calls for him to step aside. If you step out first and it doesn't happen there could be significant downsides. Politicians are risk averse people pleasers by nature.
The decision Obama made to convince Biden to not run in 2016 in order to clear the decks for Hillary is why Biden will not drop out before the election.
There is basically one good plan. He steps aside and Harris takes over. Anyone but Harris can't use the money raised (directly it could go to superpacs) and she's actually a pretty decent choice.
It's just that Biden and staff seem unwilling and no one can compell them.
Ceasefire almost certainly won't happen and I think Biden is being unfairly judged here. His options are to publicly stand by Israel and retain leverage to reduce the harm to Palestinian civilians or leave Israel feeling isolated, abandoned and push them into a harder line position (not to mention the last thing we need is to incentivize Israel to conserve the most accurate smart bombs and to have less intelligence about where Hamas is hiding so they act more indiscriminately).
I do trust Biden to handle the complexities of the Middle East more than I do Harris, so I think he should endorse her and finish the term. I don’t think it makes as much sense to resign and hand the reigns of governing over to her as well as have her campaign. Better for her to focus exclusively on the campaign.
Stepping away from any serious or complex analysis of the situation, I can only imagine how absolutely over the moon Trump is over the narrative that has unfolded.
It’s like watching that scene from Austin Powers of the man getting run over by the steam roller. I just can’t tell if it is Biden or the American people that are primed to be flattened.
Matt Yglesias writes: "A joint press release from Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and Nancy Pelosi would not force Biden out of the race." I don't think that this is true. If all those people signed a letter calling for Biden to withdraw, he'd withdraw. If Bill Clinton and Barack Obama started criticizing Biden on TV, Biden just wouldn't have what it takes to fight back.
The press release is a figure of speech by Yglesias, but Biden just can't stand against the party if they really want to reject him.
There are many, many dog trainers - most of them women - who can regale you with stories of men like Biden who just refuse to stick to a realistic management plan, with "management" including the option of removing them from the White House. There's a strong sense - often fed by "pack leader" type trainers - that the dogs will just behave out of love and respect but that's just not how it works.
Biden has always been a B or a C lister in the Democratic party and a laughing stock. When an undeserving idiot finally hits the jackpot by winning the presidency under unique circumstances, he’s not going to step down unless Democrats exercise the nuclear option against him. Threaten to impeach that SOB unless he goes through a full medical checkup. Many centrists or center left Democrats are to blame for Biden’s ego and delusions about what a great job he’s doing by propping him up with those stupid Dark Brandon memes and praising the trillion dollar debt financed bills signed under him which most normie voters DGAF about.
I’m increasingly thinking that the cleanest way for this to happen is for Biden to resign the presidency. Harris becomes the nominee and the incumbent and gets to use the war chest to go after Trump. Biden’s age is taken off the table, and he endorses Harris so his base voters hopefully rally around her. Yes, she has her weaknesses as a candidate, but this seems like the least bad option.
Alright, so I want to float a question (almost a thought experiment really), and before people pile on me, I’ll preface this by saying that I know it’s unrealistic / not feasible, and - ethically - far from the ideal. Alright, all that said…
If you think the Dem. candidates primary responsibility is beating Trump, and all other jobs are secondary to that (because you can’t do the other jobs without having done the first), how do you feel about outside the box / celebrity candidates (E.g. Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, etc.)? One major hurdle of anyone running in Bidens stead is low name ID among low information voters - and such a candidate would obviously be able to work around that.
Again, lots of reasons to hate this idea: 1) Being president is a hard job and shouldn’t be handed off to random celebrities (ala Trump). 2) They would need to be vetted and who knows what would turn up. 3) No celebrity has raised their hand to do this, and so idea is moot.
But in the current “break glass in case of emergency” type situation we’ve found ourselves in, are there other reasons - ethical / logistical / etc. - why this shouldn’t be considered?
This is an interesting idea. I'd long operated under the assumption that if say, Gretchen Whitmer was nominated, she would become well known enough by November that name ID wouldn't matter much. I do wonder if she'd face a certain amount of "they replaced somebody with nobody" criticism, whether she'd be able to establish herself as an entity in 4 months. I think she could, if she campaigned hard and talked on every TV show she could.
At any rate, I'd rather have a 40% chance of Whitmer than a 45% chance of someone as politically inexperienced as Tom Hanks. But if Hanks were 55% in the comparison I'd choose him.
I think this is one of your finest pieces, possibly eclipsing Gavin Newsom is Gross and Embarrassing and Kennedys Suck (I don't remember the title on that one).
I hope to shit you're actually correct!
Sorry but that’s not possible. This was solid but the Newsom piece is a pure work of art.
no
This is legit one of the most hopeful things i’ve read recently, which is sad af. Inshallah you are right
Fuck you Biden. I used to be a fan but it turns out you're as selfish as Trump. At least Trump doesn't believe he's a threat to the republic, Biden does and he's still putting himself first.
And don't give me any crap about him believing he's got the best shot. Everyone has an excuse in their own mind when they act selfishly. Politicians who accept bribes tell themselves they would have voted that way anyway.
Acting on a belief while ignoring evidence it's wrong so you can feel good is every bit as selfish as ignoring the evidence about the best choice because you economically benefit from doing so.
When I was younger I wasn't mean or severely arrogant but deep down I did kind of think of myself as the main character of the universe. My life has gone pretty well but I'm not a President or a Nobel Prize winner or whatever and so I've gradually humbled. I don't expect that unlikely stuff will break in my favour because I am The Chosen One. But if I had become phenomenally successful, I think the whole main character psyche would have worsened.
You or I or anyone else can see that Biden will probably lose and should step aside. But he has had almost nothing but positive reinforcement for his grandest aspirations for his entirely adult life. Eight billion people and he is US President somehow. However down to earth he has always seemed, I can see how anyone in this position would develop unrealistic notions about the nature of reality.
Same issue for Harris.
Right, it's like trying to convince someone who has won 3 million dollar slot jackpots that playing the slots is a bad idea. Biden's becoming president by repeatedly beating the odds.
But it's still a personality flaw. Biden's gone from being the guy who uses his money to play slots to the guy who bets the company retirement account on the roulette wheel. Giving it a try in the primaries is a different beast. If you're wrong no reason to believe it will hurt anyone but yourself.
Tho TBF probably even more blame goes to his staff and advisors such as Donilon.
While Biden has a good chance to be fetted by history as another Washington if he steps aside -- a president who saved the nation by relinquishing his personal power -- Donilon and other senior advisors go down in history as the morons or selfish actors who kept him in the race and let him debate and never get hired by another admin.
They have even more reason to bet on on an unlikely upset since that's the only outcome they end up looking good in.
And it's not just with Biden we need to apply this fact but with each other -- ignoring evidence that, say, a policy that purports to aid the poor or minorities actually has the opposite effect so you can feel good about yourself is every bit as selfish as fighting a law that benefits society because it hurts your pocket book.
Unfortunately, social media has a tendency to make us forget this.
The "Trumpification" of the Biden administration is one of the most fascinating aspects of this whole story.
Brazen denial of the facts, stubborn insistence (in spite of all evidence) on the standard-bearer's uniquely positive qualities, and a view that the party exists purely to serve the leader's whims... welcome to the world neverTrump (former) Republicans have been living in for almost a decade, Democrats. xD
what a great insight, I agree and if he stays, we get 4 more months of gas lighting by the party and administration, though I don't think the media will go along with this, it's just too juicy a story.
and trump will win.
This episode revealed something to me. In pro-democracy circles, we talk about putting country first and doing whatever it takes to defeat the authoritarian threat. In the trump era, some genuinely have had to make such sacrifices — and pretty significant ones, at times.
But Biden never had to, so far. In fact, he's been the *recipient* of such efforts, when, for instance, everyone coalesced around his candidacy in 2020. Buttigieg sacrificed his presidential campaign for "country first"; Joe *saved* his through "country first". Now, Biden did pay lip service to the idea, but I don't know that it means much when you're asking others to make tough choices while benefitting from those.
AFAICT, we've assumed that Biden was a good moral man because he is, in person-to-person interactions, a decent human being (something I still believe to be true), and because he paid lip service to democracy, America, etc. But he has yet to show that he's willing to give anything up to save democracy, and I'm starting to doubt that he's actually the upstanding citizen we thought he was. I sincerely hope he proves me wrong, but it's getting increasingly hard to avoid that realization.
Mostly agree but think it's a bit harsh on Commander. I'm sure the right trainer could turn him around.
Fuck, if the Biden media team was better they'd have invited Ceaser Millan or some other TV dog trainer to do a special episode in the WH (if not with Joe w/ Jill). What is better coverage than a soft story showing you caring for your dog?
Insofar as this is an article not just about Biden but about democrats collective unwillingness to push him out, I’m reminded of a quote by Edward Albee:
“Remember one thing about democracy. We can have anything we want and at the same time, we always end up with exactly what we deserve.”
What unwillingness? There isn't any mechanism to do it.
His delegates are bound to vote for him at the convention. Literally every other democrat alive could want him out and he could ignore them.
> His delegates are bound to vote for him at the convention
Not... teeeechnically, actually. There's a "good conscience" clause that says they don't have to support their bound nominee if they cannot in "good conscience" do so. A nominee whose clear age-related decline has accelerated since he won the nomination is a pretty decent example of when one might invoke such a clause.
Re: Unwillingness - More public calls, from elected officials, for him to step aside. Public pressure is the mechanism I was referring to. But you’re right, beyond that there really isn’t anything.
It's a prisoner's dilemma - the only personal upside in calling for him to step aside is if everyone calls for him to step aside. If you step out first and it doesn't happen there could be significant downsides. Politicians are risk averse people pleasers by nature.
The decision Obama made to convince Biden to not run in 2016 in order to clear the decks for Hillary is why Biden will not drop out before the election.
I mean, I'm sure that plays a role, but I blame Biden's faulty moral character.
I hope someone somewhere with some sort of significant influence is working out the best possible plan B for Biden stepping down.
There is basically one good plan. He steps aside and Harris takes over. Anyone but Harris can't use the money raised (directly it could go to superpacs) and she's actually a pretty decent choice.
It's just that Biden and staff seem unwilling and no one can compell them.
That would be my plan. Harris is the nominee, party rallies around her to avoid intraparty fighting, and do a campaign blitzkrieg until November.
Biden can finish his term, try to bring ceasefire to Israel-Gaza, and perhaps begin peace negotiations with Ukraine-Russia.
Ceasefire almost certainly won't happen and I think Biden is being unfairly judged here. His options are to publicly stand by Israel and retain leverage to reduce the harm to Palestinian civilians or leave Israel feeling isolated, abandoned and push them into a harder line position (not to mention the last thing we need is to incentivize Israel to conserve the most accurate smart bombs and to have less intelligence about where Hamas is hiding so they act more indiscriminately).
I do trust Biden to handle the complexities of the Middle East more than I do Harris, so I think he should endorse her and finish the term. I don’t think it makes as much sense to resign and hand the reigns of governing over to her as well as have her campaign. Better for her to focus exclusively on the campaign.
At the convention we're gonna have a lot of loud noises and flash photography. That should do it.
Stepping away from any serious or complex analysis of the situation, I can only imagine how absolutely over the moon Trump is over the narrative that has unfolded.
It’s like watching that scene from Austin Powers of the man getting run over by the steam roller. I just can’t tell if it is Biden or the American people that are primed to be flattened.
Matt Yglesias writes: "A joint press release from Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, and Nancy Pelosi would not force Biden out of the race." I don't think that this is true. If all those people signed a letter calling for Biden to withdraw, he'd withdraw. If Bill Clinton and Barack Obama started criticizing Biden on TV, Biden just wouldn't have what it takes to fight back.
The press release is a figure of speech by Yglesias, but Biden just can't stand against the party if they really want to reject him.
There are many, many dog trainers - most of them women - who can regale you with stories of men like Biden who just refuse to stick to a realistic management plan, with "management" including the option of removing them from the White House. There's a strong sense - often fed by "pack leader" type trainers - that the dogs will just behave out of love and respect but that's just not how it works.
That, or he could have a really bad episode soon. Something at least as bad as the debate, if not worse; it needs to be bad enough to make the rounds.
I know this is a bad thing to wish for, but it's that or the end of America — and also, this is entirely Biden's fault.
Biden has always been a B or a C lister in the Democratic party and a laughing stock. When an undeserving idiot finally hits the jackpot by winning the presidency under unique circumstances, he’s not going to step down unless Democrats exercise the nuclear option against him. Threaten to impeach that SOB unless he goes through a full medical checkup. Many centrists or center left Democrats are to blame for Biden’s ego and delusions about what a great job he’s doing by propping him up with those stupid Dark Brandon memes and praising the trillion dollar debt financed bills signed under him which most normie voters DGAF about.
I’m increasingly thinking that the cleanest way for this to happen is for Biden to resign the presidency. Harris becomes the nominee and the incumbent and gets to use the war chest to go after Trump. Biden’s age is taken off the table, and he endorses Harris so his base voters hopefully rally around her. Yes, she has her weaknesses as a candidate, but this seems like the least bad option.
Alright, so I want to float a question (almost a thought experiment really), and before people pile on me, I’ll preface this by saying that I know it’s unrealistic / not feasible, and - ethically - far from the ideal. Alright, all that said…
If you think the Dem. candidates primary responsibility is beating Trump, and all other jobs are secondary to that (because you can’t do the other jobs without having done the first), how do you feel about outside the box / celebrity candidates (E.g. Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, etc.)? One major hurdle of anyone running in Bidens stead is low name ID among low information voters - and such a candidate would obviously be able to work around that.
Again, lots of reasons to hate this idea: 1) Being president is a hard job and shouldn’t be handed off to random celebrities (ala Trump). 2) They would need to be vetted and who knows what would turn up. 3) No celebrity has raised their hand to do this, and so idea is moot.
But in the current “break glass in case of emergency” type situation we’ve found ourselves in, are there other reasons - ethical / logistical / etc. - why this shouldn’t be considered?
This is an interesting idea. I'd long operated under the assumption that if say, Gretchen Whitmer was nominated, she would become well known enough by November that name ID wouldn't matter much. I do wonder if she'd face a certain amount of "they replaced somebody with nobody" criticism, whether she'd be able to establish herself as an entity in 4 months. I think she could, if she campaigned hard and talked on every TV show she could.
At any rate, I'd rather have a 40% chance of Whitmer than a 45% chance of someone as politically inexperienced as Tom Hanks. But if Hanks were 55% in the comparison I'd choose him.