2020 Election Thread (formerly: 2020 Presidential Candidates Thread) (Part 1)

It’s also not a good look to parrot right-wing talking points that originated in St. Petersburg. As most of the Dem politicians you’re accusing with that statement have rightly said, #MeToo is a process, not a religion.

6 Likes

When I was her age, that was pretty much the standard line almost every single adult man I came into contact would say to me, often in front of my parents. This is how women and girls were treated. Older men are finally having to answer for it, but it was standard operating procedure in the '50’s, '60’s, '70’s, and '80’s.

That helps explain why the men are so confused and certain that they did nothing wrong. They all did it, openly, so it wasn’t wrong.

Every once and a while, you get someone who says “OMG, I didn’t realize how hurtful and damaging my behavior was back then”, but usually people double-down on their innocence instead of looking inward.

15 Likes

Now that it’s too late* to pick anybody else, ALL OF A SUDDEN Joe Biden doesn’t look so good

BETTER NOMINATE HIM ANYWAY, and have this same stupid argument about whose fault it is over and over for the next six months four years rest of our lives

 
∗ not really

7 Likes

I don’t think it is normal to provide a statement like this when there is no official investigation or proceedings under way; the DC police don’t operate an “oaths R us” concession on the side. Biden could write and sign an affidavit and have it witnessed and notarized, affitavits like this normally have the legal status of a sworn oath when they are filed in support of something, but I don’t know if it has the same strength if it is not filed anywhere: if you lie under oath in front of a court or grand jury or even Congress there is perjury or contempt of Congress behind it, but I don’t think that would be the case for a back-pocket document. In any event nobody would believe it any more than they believe his strong denials this week.

1 Like

Gee! It’s almost as if there are any number of people, from Trump and other Republicans, to Putin and his minions and trollies, to nutcase leftists who want to sabotage Biden, who are interested in stirring shit up to delegitimize and disrupt the whole election, and/or weakening Democrats’ chances in the November election.

Well, yeah. Biden really has nothing he can, or should, do beyond what he has already done.

“Normal” has no bearing on it. He’s interviewing for a job that carries extraordinary authority and power; it requires extraordinary leadership to be worthy of it. While it’s not typical for someon accused of a crime to go to the authorities and ask to make a statement, it is absolutely within their purview. He could make arrangements to do so and they would accommodate him.

At that point, there would need to be direct evidence that he’s lying to bring it up again. Maybe there is some in the documents at the LoC or U of Delaware. But beyond that, anyone who continues to call him a rapist was going to do so regardless of any evidence or accusations in the first place.

If he can’t deny the accusation under oath, that’s a whole different ballgame and a strong sign that he needs to step aside.

3 Likes

everybody but Biden and his “electability” cult, it’s certainly not THEIR fault

6 Likes

I have been watching Hollywood Squares from the 60’s and 70’s on youtube and OMG you are not kidding. Even for me at 52 I am steeped in it but have managed to grow out of it… (thanks in part to our wodnderful members here like youself and well you know who you are but I still stumble but at least I know I done fucked up now) while still funny there are some real cringeworthy lines from both the men and women back then.

12 Likes

I don’t share your confidence in “their purview” – I still don’t even know who “they” would be – but in any event it is irrelevant, as it isn’t our decision. I assume Biden’s advisors have decided that the number of people for whom having such a sworn statement will make a difference in how or whether they vote is an integer strictly between -1 and 1.

We have a precedent as to how to proceed, the Clinton impeachment. After the election, when rule of law is restored.

“They” would be the DC police and prosecutors. And it is our decision. Biden is interviewing for a job, and we’re the interviewers. We have the right to ask these questions and be satisfied with the answers or vote otherwise. And the Dem primaries aren’t even over. Maybe we should do a little due diligence before selecting our candidate?

You would invite a repeat of that shitshow? What a perfect example of what not to do. Also, that was a result of Clinton’s actions in office. We’re talking about Biden’s actions well prior to official nomination.

3 Likes

It really isn’t. Biden can decide whether to make such a statement or not. You and I can’t decide this for him. All we can do is vote accordingly. If your primary hasn’t happened yet you can vote for someone else, in fact I encourage it – I did. That won’t change who the nominee is. And, we can vote against Biden in the general election; I won’t, but you can.

Party leaders can decide not to back Biden unless he adds a sworn affidavit to this week’s strong denials, but they’re not going to do that either. They might decide not to back him if something else comes out, but the statement under oath is not going to be the difference. It really isn’t.

As for the “shitshow”, if this is to be investigated officially it has to be at a time when such an investigation can be done impartially. That time is not while Trump controls the DoJ and the FBI.

1 Like

One could argue that once Trump is out of office, it still won’t be done impartially. If Biden is president at the time, it certainly won’t be. But luckily, that and the DoJ/FBI aren’t the only options, which I’ve called out specifically, and which you’ve ignored.

What I’m saying is that it’s better to rip off this bandaid now than let it linger. Because if it does, you can bet it will become a major issue in the campaign. If we, as a country, are lucky and the pandemic quiets down and economy comes back sooner rather than later, we can’t count on the memory of voters to punish Trump at the polls over his mishandling of the pandemic response in November. Just as Trump is desperately flailing to find something to distract voters from the body count against him and the recession he’s made much worse, if Biden didn’t do what he’s accused of, now is the perfect time to deal with it. Anyone who can plan even a few months ahead can see that there’s a decent chance the longer he waits to address it, the bigger a problem it will be.

And if he did, he needs to get the fuck out of the way.

3 Likes

Democrats are far from perfect in trying to find the truth, but I think there will be will to try to track this thing down. We’ve seen it before, both with Clinton and with Franken. Moreover, several politicians have gone public with statements to this effect even while they reiterated their support of Biden, so their own careers depend to some extent on following up.

As for the rest, I don’t disagree with you that this is an electoral liability, and I wish that he wasn’t the candidate…but I thought that independent of the allegations.

However, I do not think there is any timeline forward where Biden steps down or where people make him, at least not over the lack of a sworn statement. There are other possibilities – he dies, more evidence arises and he steps down, more evidence arises and he loses at the convention – but these are all political disasters at this point, I think worse than if he goes forward under this shadow (though of course not worse than if he remains the candidate after the convention and then new compelling evidence arises, as happened with HRC).

Ultimately, what I think no longer matters; Biden and his advisors obviously think his statements are enough and he can weather the storm going forward. The other politicians who have rallied around Biden – most recently Donna Edwards – seem to have made the same calculation. They might be wrong, but I think they are better at these predictions than I am. Hell, I thought Biden was toast in 1988, yet here he is.

Remember when all the Dems were freaking out about Trump’s attacks on the media?

6 Likes

If this is the same Lindy Li that ran for Congress in Philly, calling her a “campaign surrogate” is a huge elevation in status; she’s basically the Biden equivalent of a Bernie Bro.

2 Likes

Justin Amash laments ‘partisan death spiral’ but insists White House run won’t help Trump

4 Likes

Now all we need is Jesse Ventura running as a Green.

when a typo gets into worldcat…

https://www.worldcat.org/title/institutionist/oclc/1012112985/editions?editionsView=true&referer=br

1 Like

It looks like Eva Murry’s claim was a false one; Biden wasn’t even present at the dinner.

And while we’re at this:

1 Like

I wonder where the money for Jr’s deal came from?

14 Likes