[HoosierDaddy]

QuickTidal, on 25 August 2023 - 11:52 AM, said:

worry, on 25 August 2023 - 02:06 AM, said:

He self-reported his stats.

This. When you're booked you need to write down your stats. He wrote them. They are intended to help identify him. From what I understand there are people who were there who said no one was weighed properly or measured...

There is literally no way he's that...like does he think we can't SEE him?

To be fair, his sycophants will believe whatever he tells them. It's all projected image and for some unbelievable fucking reason it works on people. How they don't see a conniving, avaricious, narcissistic cesspool of personality flaws is truly a monument to humanity's ability to be willfully stupid.

[worry]

They see it. They're on that team.

[QuickTidal]

HoosierDaddy, on 25 August 2023 - 12:40 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 25 August 2023 - 11:52 AM, said:

worry, on 25 August 2023 - 02:06 AM, said:

He self-reported his stats.

This. When you're booked you need to write down your stats. He wrote them. They are intended to help identify him. From what I understand there are people who were there who said no one was weighed properly or measured...

There is literally no way he's that...like does he think we can't SEE him?

To be fair, his sycophants will believe whatever he tells them. It's all projected image and for some unbelievable fucking reason it works on people. How they don't see a conniving, avaricious, narcissistic cesspool of personality flaws is truly a monument to humanity's ability to be willfully stupid.

I have an American co-worker (he moved here for the job), and he's a really good dude, and dislikes Trump and usually votes Democrat...but a few of our Canadian guys here are right wingers and Trump supporters (why yes it IS weird that Canadian people are vocal fans of some has been political conman from another country, why do you ask?)....and the American guy texted one of the Canadians with the mugshot with he caption "inmate #________" ...and the cAandian guy replied "A true patriot, unlike you"

Now, I've had discussions with this guy and he's definitely a rube who thinks he knows things and is intelligent...I don't tell him he's not, he's a big guy and has a lot of sway here....but as far as he's concerned Trump has done nothing wrong, and everyone else is lying about him....I don't know what deep well of self-pity or cult you need to be in to be so obsessed with a nearly 80 year old conman in another country who would not spit on you if you were on fire...but he's in it and no one will bring him out. He also claims he's not right-wing and is a Libertarian...fuck me...I hate even being AROUND these people because it's all they can talk about.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 25 August 2023 - 01:12 PM

[Mezla PigDog]

HoosierDaddy, on 25 August 2023 - 12:40 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 25 August 2023 - 11:52 AM, said:

worry, on 25 August 2023 - 02:06 AM, said:

He self-reported his stats.

This. When you're booked you need to write down your stats. He wrote them. They are intended to help identify him. From what I understand there are people who were there who said no one was weighed properly or measured...

There is literally no way he's that...like does he think we can't SEE him?

To be fair, his sycophants will believe whatever he tells them. It's all projected image and for some unbelievable fucking reason it works on people. How they don't see a conniving, avaricious, narcissistic cesspool of personality flaws is truly a monument to humanity's ability to be willfully stupid.

I can't even look at the guy. Still images of him make my skin crawl. Video of him speaking makes my soul want to exit my body. I don't get how anyone can take him even slightly seriously.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Mezla PigDog, on 25 August 2023 - 04:32 PM, said:

HoosierDaddy, on 25 August 2023 - 12:40 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 25 August 2023 - 11:52 AM, said:

worry, on 25 August 2023 - 02:06 AM, said:

He self-reported his stats.

This. When you're booked you need to write down your stats. He wrote them. They are intended to help identify him. From what I understand there are people who were there who said no one was weighed properly or measured...

There is literally no way he's that...like does he think we can't SEE him?

To be fair, his sycophants will believe whatever he tells them. It's all projected image and for some unbelievable fucking reason it works on people. How they don't see a conniving, avaricious, narcissistic cesspool of personality flaws is truly a monument to humanity's ability to be willfully stupid.

I can't even look at the guy. Still images of him make my skin crawl. Video of him speaking makes my soul want to exit my body. I don't get how anyone can take him even slightly seriously.

Quote

the "Kubrick Stare" is one of Stanley Kubrick's most recognizable directorial techniques, a method of shot composition where a character stares at the camera with a forward tilt, to convey to the audience that the character in question is at the peak of their derangement

Spoiler

370430245_10161146750274391_542331634203020054_n.jpg (1080×820) (fbcdn.net)

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Quote

The Greek myth of Medusa takes many forms, but the most common is this: Medusa was a woman who, having angered the goddess Athena, was made into a monster. Athena punished Medusa by turning her hair into a writhing tangle of serpents, and then by ensuring that anyone who looked into Medusa’s eyes would be turned to stone. In shaping their story of a gaze made violent, the creators of that early democracy were prescient about the man who has tried to destroy ours. [...] Trump’s head may be covered in spray rather than snakes, but he is a Medusa all the same, reconfigured for the age of mass media: Once you look at him, your fate is already sealed.

[...] Photos like this are typically exercises in enforced humility. Trump’s is a display of ongoing power. He treats his mug shot as our menace.

[...] he looks straight at the viewer, seemingly incandescent with rage, taking the advice he has reportedly given to others: Perform your anger. Turn it into your script. Make it into your threat. His menacing glare gives a similar stage direction to the people who follow him and do his bidding [...]

Sean Hannity began his Fox show with [...] “You are looking at Joe Biden—oh, I’m sorry, Donald Trump’s—official mug shot,” [...] He paused for dramatic effect before clarifying the point: “Joe Biden will be soon enough anyway.”

The Mug Shot Is a Warning (msn.com)

He probably considered how his face would look on anti-Trump coffee mugs and T-shirts and aimed to make it as unpleasant as possible... (well, almost---could've done worse, though at risk of being funny). OTOH pro-Trump coffee mugs and T-shirts will be implicitly exhorting his followers to action....

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Quote

To understand why a brown Hindu man would advocate for Christian nationalism[...] requires an explanation that goes beyond mere cynicism and the concept's popularity with the GOP base.

[...] Ramaswamy's family sits at the very top of India's caste system. This isn't uncommon in the U.S. [...] "Hindus suffer harms under white supremacy, [...] But I think he's trying to have it both ways: Stan white supremacy and be like, 'Hindus are part of your club.' "

[...] a significant number of Indian Americans from both political parties have found themselves drawn to Modi's Hindu nationalism. Despite Modi's bloody record [...] many Indian Americans are excited by Modi's insistence on elevating India's cultural identity.

[...] Ramaswamy has [tried] to slot Hinduism in with the privileged religions of the U.S.

You can see this intention in how he talks about "Judeo-Christian" values. "We share the same values, the same Judeo-Christian values in power," [...]

[...] Ramaswamy is trying to appeal to a less extreme version of the ideology that's just expansive enough to tolerate Judaism. He seems to believe that if Christian nationalists can accept Jews into their project, they could embrace Hindus too. [...] "If you look at the rhetorical move on the right to Judeo-Christian, in some ways, Vivek is trying to perform the same move again.

"Vivek is trying to make a case that starting in '20, '23, we want to think of America as Hindu-Judeo-Christian, [...] "

[...] it's particularly easy to stake a specific theological stance with Hinduism because it's so diverse. [...] Ramaswamy is presenting all of Hinduism as closely related, at a philosophical level, to American evangelical Christianity. [...] "It's clearly motivated, because it's not even a well-thought-out, well-developed, theologically argued position."

[...] there is a long tradition of making Hinduism appear more palatable to white Westerners[...] But Chopra sees only politics in Ramaswamy's stance. "If he had developed the position, you could engage with it," he said. "Vivek seems to be making this stuff up on the fly."

[...] Winning over right-wing Hindus would be a savvy move for Ramaswamy, [...] "They are not only wealthy but come with the benefit of a deeply organized set of organizations that can offer resources and mobilization [...]

... so he thinks he can get more money out of the Hindu community... in addition to a seat on Trump's cabinet (probably as head of one of the department's he's said he wants to abolish:

Quote

Ramaswamy wants to "shut down" the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Education Department and other government agencies.

He opposes efforts to fight climate change, wants to burn more coal and says fossil fuels are essential for "human flourishing."

How Vivek Ramaswamy's policy proposals would transform the U.S. - The Washington Post

To be fair, they might aid 'human flourishing' for the ultra-wealthy if climate change kills off everyone else just as robotics/AI/biotech advance to the point where they don't need other people anymore (aside from sex, etc., perhaps though by then full-body VR will probably provide a better experience)....

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 30 August 2023 - 04:55 PM

[amphibian]

There is not a monolithic Hindu community. There has always been a conservative/rich or wannabe rich crowd that sits off to the side of the main crowd of "hey we just wanna live our lives and be community people".

Most of the emigrants from Nepal/India are not conservative, but some of those who come in as H1B are conservative and have been wealthy in India or are still wealthy here in the US.

Modi is hated by some, loved by some, and ignored by many.

I know all of this because my family was the first Nepali family in our large area. We were involved in the establishment of the biggest Hindu temple locally and it has remained culturally open in a way that many Hindu temples in other areas that grew up later did not think was important. That has prevented to some degree the codification of strong right wing Hindu groups in our area.

It's a headache and those who cater to them are catering to bigots.

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

amphibian, on 30 August 2023 - 09:01 PM, said:

There is not a monolithic Hindu community. There has always been a conservative/rich or wannabe rich crowd that sits off to the side of the main crowd of "hey we just wanna live our lives and be community people".

Most of the emigrants from Nepal/India are not conservative, but some of those who come in as H1B are conservative and have been wealthy in India or are still wealthy here in the US.

Modi is hated by some, loved by some, and ignored by many.

I know all of this because my family was the first Nepali family in our large area. We were involved in the establishment of the biggest Hindu temple locally and it has remained culturally open in a way that many Hindu temples in other areas that grew up later did not think was important. That has prevented to some degree the codification of strong right wing Hindu groups in our area.

It's a headache and those who cater to them are catering to bigots.

According to the article even wealthy conservative Hindus have been reluctant to support Republicans because of Christian nationalism and white supremacy... and Ramaswamy is there to persuade them to. He seems like a completely unprincipled grifter so I'd imagine that's the main reason why he hasn't pretended to convert to Christianity.

Seems like Ramaswamy wants to make rich conservative Hindus into 'the new Jews' for the Republican party. But evangelical support for Israel does have some 'genuine' theological content. Trying to treat Modi's authoritarian India as equivalent to Israel doesn't seem likely to work very well, even with Trump's support. OTOH he probably doesn't have to really convince the evangelicals in order to convince enough rich Hindus to make the grift worth his / Trump's while....

But it's not just a grift, it's much worse:

Quote

[Ramaswamy] seemed to praise Modi’s Hindu nationalism—and call for an American equivalent.

Vivek Ramaswamy’s religion: Where Hindu nationalism and Christian nationalism collide. (slate.com)

Quote

Violence Is the Engine of Modi’s Politics

With its gleaming malls and opulent high-rises, Gurugram had become symbolic of India’s economic rise. But for much of this month, the city has been in a state of siege from Hindu mobs running amok, attacking Muslim homes, commercial establishments, and places of worship. Smoke billowed from buildings set ablaze, riot police trawled the streets [...]

[...] as Modi and his party have begun to feel politically threatened, they have let loose the foot soldiers of the Hindu right upon India’s minorities.

[...] Akhlaq’s neighbors suspected him of storing beef in his fridge. They dragged him out of his house, where a mob, in an act of medieval bloodletting, killed him with sticks and stones.

[...] The terror is sustained by a nexus between emboldened vigilantes and a partisan state. [...] The violence is now geographically dispersed, continuous, and chillingly unpredictable.

[...] one of Modi’s ministers went so far as to celebrate those convicted of having carried out a beef lynching with garlands, a high mark of respect in Hindu society. Such crimes have become so routine in today’s India that they are relegated to the inside pages of newspapers, usually truncated to single-column reports.

[...] Extrajudicial killings of Muslims by police officials and arbitrary, illegal demolitions of Muslim homes by civic authorities have grown exponentially.

[...] Between lone wolves and an organized mob, [...] nowhere in India [are] Muslims safe.

Violence Is the Engine of Modi’s Politics (msn.com)

Quote

All this talk about civil war has many, many, many people worried, and justifiably so. But I think we should consider the fuller context, to wit: we are already in a sort of civil war. It’s slow-motion, one-sided and covert, to be sure, but it’s plainly visible if you’re willing to see it.

[...] in any other time and place, in any other part of the world, we’d call this out for what it is: intentional, political, seditious, treasonous. It’s guerilla warfare.

[...]They share the goal of ruling, in God’s name, the real America. If Realamericans can’t dominate real Americans lawfully, they must take ‘the law’ into their own hands. With the proliferation over two decades of semiautomatic rifles, they have.”

[...] white-power guerillas have prosecuted their insurgency. They “hit soft targets – schools, churches, nightclubs, Walmarts – anything that can’t fight back, [...] The status quo is upheld by establishing an atmosphere of dread and fear that’s designed to prevent reformers from using democratic politics to reform the existing order.”

The Jacksonville shooter was one of 'the chosen people' - Alternet.org

Quote

‘Where is safe?’: gun violence takes particular toll on mental health of Black Americans

In aftermath of Jacksonville shooting, experts say Black people deal with additional fear and stress of racialized violence

[...] hate crimes in the US are on the rise. “Where is the safe place for Black people to be?” [...] “Not church, not the playground, not the supermarket, not the library, not the university, not the classroom. There’s nowhere. So, there’s a constant anxiety that Black people live with.” [...] “The racialized violence that we’ve seen at the hands of police officers has led Black people in Black communities to feel as if there’s no one we can call,” [...]

The Jacksonville shooter’s presence at the [...] campus came at a time when several HBCUs across the country have faced bomb threats.

‘Where is safe?’: gun violence takes particular toll on mental health of Black Americans | Race | The Guardian

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Quote

As the great illusionist Harry Houdini once said, "The secret of showmanship consists not of what you really do, but what the mystery-loving public thinks you do." Entrepreneurial huckster Vivek Ramaswamy has graduated from being the court jester of corporate governance [...]

As one of the few people who have debated Ramaswamy in multiple public appearances and studied the reality of his business resume, I have repeatedly cleared the diversionary smoke he deploys by revealing the reality of his pump-and-dump business playbook. Now Ramaswamy seems to have retrofitted it for politics.

I always knew that Ramaswamy would excel on the debate stage by running circles around his more experienced rivals who are more likely to be grounded by facts and dignity.

Smoke and mirrors: I've been debating Vivek Ramaswamy for 2 years. Here's how I got past his diversionary tactics (msn.com)

Quote

This week, [... in] an essay in The American Conservative called "A Viable Realism and Revival Doctrine" [...] "We will be Uncle Sucker no more," [Ramaswamy] writes. [ lol ]

It would be foolish to underestimate Ramaswamy, who has vaulted past many of his detractors to become a breakout star in the GOP primary. [...]

[...] slapping the realist brand onto a hodgepodge of policy proposals that are divorced from reality. Realism is about a number of things—the balance of power, national interests, spheres of influence—but one thing it is not about is wishful thinking. Yet that is what Ramaswamy is peddling. [...] substituting the belief that America should intervene everywhere with the conviction that it shouldn't intervene anywhere. And his proposals almost seem calculated to injure, not promote, American interests.

[...] Ramaswamy's candidacy has exposed real rifts within the GOP over foreign policy. The Wall Street Journal denounced him for seeking to sell out Ukraine, and National Review asked whether "he's auditioning for a geopolitical game show instead of the presidency of the United States." To some extent, his comments can be dismissed as bluster. But he and his fellow self-proclaimed realists—a cluster of activists and thinkers at places such as The American Conservative[...]—are responding to a genuine, if dismaying, phenomenon in the American electorate. No one is trying to exploit it more audaciously than Ramaswamy, who continues to offer chimerical promises about restoring America's national identity. We now know better than to disregard such salesmen.

The Emptiness of the Ramaswamy Doctrine (msn.com)

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Quote

For most Americans, polls show, higher prices in the past few years have overshadowed the consistent job growth and accelerating pace of new plant openings that Biden is now touting under the label “Bidenomics.”

[...] “I’ve watched it in Greece; I’ve watched it in the U.K.: The longer the inflationary period goes on, the more frustrated people are, the more negative they are about the economy, the more they are in trouble” [...]

[...] In a[...] national survey this spring, Americans preferred Trump by an 18-percentage-point margin when asked whether he or Biden managed the economy better. Younger adults preferred Trump over Biden on that question 2-to-1.

[...] a Trump pollster[:] “[...] People actually thought [Trump] did a good job as president,” [there's a bit more to the job than whether the economy happens to be doing well + it tanked when the pandemic struck ...] arguing that while most Americans may have disapproved of Clinton personally, they supported him during impeachment “because they thought the trains were running on time. They thought he was doing a good job.” [Trump minion comparing Trump to Mussolini?]

The other big change weakening Democrats is that Biden is older now. In polls, as many as three-fourths of Americans have said they believe Biden is too old to serve effectively as president. (Far fewer Americans express that concern about Trump, though he’s only three years younger than Biden.) Images of Biden walking stiffly, or clips of him intermittently mangling his sentences, which he was prone to do even when younger, leave many Democratic strategists in a perpetual state of anxiety, fearful that the president is one slip, physical or verbal, from political disaster.

[...] A historically large number of states appear safely locked down for each party, leaving the result to be decided by a small group of swing states. [...]

Democrats generally ran well in these swing states in 2022 (except North Carolina), generating optimism [...] But these few purple states are likely to be decided by small margins, creating an overall situation that many Democrats find unnervingly precarious

Why Biden Just Can’t Shake Trump in the Polls (msn.com)

Reminds me of ancient China: if 'the economy' seems to be doing well, most people attribute it to the president (whether he had a positive effect on it or not). (Though unlike ancient China iirc, plagues and natural disasters are apparently not attributed to the president... of course Republicans are in denial about how badly Trump bungled the responses (or in the case of the devastating hurricane in Puerto Rico, many of them don't care... or worse).)

Surprisingly, they're apparently not going by their own economic situation, nor by an accurate assessment of the economy in general:

Quote

Since 2020, people's perceptions of the economy haven't quite lined up with, well, how the economy is doing.

[...] 10-14, 71% of Americans described the economy as either not so good or poor. [...]

But 60% said their financial situation is good or excellent.

[...] There's evidence from other surveys that Americans' view of the overall economy is entwined with partisanship — especially outside of a recession.

Over 70% of Americans say the economy's bad, while their own finances are good, poll shows (axios.com)

Quote

Republican politicians and the rightwing billionaires who fund them want a nation of uneducated, compliant serfs in their workforce, not a nation of well-educated union-conscious people who are willing to strike to get better pay and benefits.

[...] Oklahoma approved the use of public-school taxpayer funds to pay for kids’ attendance at a private Catholic charter school: it’s the first explicitly taxpayer-funded religious school in modern America and a clear violation of America’s founding principle of the separation of church and state.

Meanwhile, Arkansas [... passed] legislation gutting that state’s prohibition on child labor. Now 14-year-olds can skip school and go straight to work at their local slaughterhouse.

Eight other Republican-controlled states have similar legislation pending.

[...] As public schools become starved of cash, use that crisis to destroy their teachers’ unions and ultimately to shut many of them down altogether.

— Once most primary and secondary schools have collapsed and the teachers’ unions are broken, begin to dial back money available through vouchers, so poor people must use special “cheaper” schools designed just for them.

— Over time cut back voucher funding so, just as Reaganomics has done with our colleges, low-income people have to borrow from banks to send their kids to good schools.

This is not a new model: Reagan began the process with colleges, from substandard junior colleges for low-income people to throwing average Americans who wanted to attend a good college into a $1.8 trillion debt hole.

It’s not even a unique conservative model just for education: we’re halfway through it with Medicare.

Republicans and right-wing billionaires want a nation of uneducated serfs | Opinion (msn.com)

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Quote

trickle-down wasn't even a new con. Back in the 1890s it was called "Horse & Sparrow Economics."

The sales-pitch [...] was that if you fed your horses more oats than they could normally digest they'd pass through all that undigested oat in their manure for the sparrows to pick at[...]

It not only didn't work; it was blamed, in part, for the Panic of 1896.

Republican Warren Harding revived Horse & Sparrow Economics in 1920 [...] the rich got fabulously richer while working people saw their wages actually drop
[...]

It all came to a startling end in 1929 with the Great Crash that set off what was then called the Republican Great Depression[...]

A recent study from the London School of Economics has now totally debunked the Reaganomics notion that tax-cuts for rich people incentivize them to "create jobs" or lead to economic growth.

[...] the researchers note, such tax cuts only serve one single purpose: to move more of a nation's income and wealth from the bottom 99% up into the money bins of the morbidly rich. And they do nothing whatsoever for the overall economy.

"[D]ata from 18 OECD countries covering the last fifty years [...]

[...] economic performance, as measured by real GDP per capita and the unemployment rate, is not significantly affected by major tax cuts for the rich. The estimated effects for these variables are statistically indistinguishable from zero…"

[...] "Overall, [...] our analysis finds strong evidence that cutting taxes on the rich increases income inequality but has no effect on growth or unemployment. Our results … suggest that lower taxes on the rich encourage high earners to bargain more forcefully to increase their own compensation, at the direct expense of those lower down the income distribution."

[...] Now McCarthy and his House Republicans have reinvented Horse and Sparrow economics [...]

[...] McCarthy isn't even bothering to convince GOP voters of Reagan's lie that cutting taxes while gutting social programs will produce a stronger economy. [...] if Democrats don't go along, he'll kill the American economy and destroy our economic standing in the world for a generation.

The GOP's 'Horse & Sparrow' economic scam is back | Opinion (msn.com)

[Lady Bliss]

I’m a democrat and even I say that Biden needs to go. This G20 speech is awful. Dems need to pick someone else fast and Biden needs to get 100% behind them.

[Lady Bliss]

Also couldn’t his people put a little makeup on him so he doesn’t look quite so dead?

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

Quote

Halfway through a ceremony this past week, without saying anything, the president just wandered off the stage through the crowd to somewhat stunned silence. The same thing happened in an MSNBC interview on live television not so long ago. He just stood up stiffly — and meandered away.

Every time you see Biden walk, he seems, well, in his eighties: he's slow, careful, stilted. Every time you hear him speak, he's also just a little off, eyes now barely visible in the ancient, botoxed, fillered face, words often slurred, [...] occasionally rallying to the point, or strangely loud-whispering. [...]

[']He seemed so old. His eyes were slits, he turned the pages of his very prepared remarks haltingly. He slurred his words, slightly. His physical condition overwhelmed the message. He assayed passion in a few closing sentences about the racist murders in Jacksonville, but it wasn't passion that came across — it was the attempt to convey passion.[']

[...]

In the latest brutal polling, 49 percent of Democrats say Biden is too old for reelection. An additional 20 percent said their "biggest concern" is either: his "mental competence, sharpness, senility," his "health," his "stamina" or his "risk of dying." So in fact, nearly 70 percent of his own party thinks his age is a serious concern. Overall, only one in four Americans believe he has the "stamina and sharpness" to serve as president, and 67 percent of his own party want someone else to run in 2024.

[...] Yes, Trump is almost as old as Biden. But he has the energy and stamina and obsessiveness of the truly mentally ill.

[...] the zeal, untempered by time, the persistent, angry passion, the untiring drive to regain power. [...] up against Biden, he seems like raw energy.

[...] Trump now has the aura of the American outlaw, a victim of the Biden DOJ, a man on the run [for president...]

It's Time For Biden To Leave The Stage - Substack

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 10 September 2023 - 03:27 PM

[Lady Bliss]

I’m sure with the polling the DNCis secretly looking for someone else.

[Abyss]

Lady Bliss, on 10 September 2023 - 03:50 PM, said:

I'm sure with the polling the DNCis secretly looking for someone else.

I doubt they're being very secret about it.

[QuickTidal]

I'd like to know in what imaginary universe people are living in where Joe Biden's health is in more jeopardy than Trump's.

Trump is fuelled by cheeseburgers, Salisbury steaks, pizza (toppings only) and Coca-Cola....and if rumours are true, Adderall props him up (probity giving him the "speed" he seems to operate at).

Biden also has had a LIFELONG struggle with speaking and stammering...so any comments on his speech are silly. Is he too old for the position? Yes, and yes someone else should be put forward for the candidacy for 2024...but pretending like Trump is at all a viable healthy candidate is bargain basement level stupid...he's a walking heart attack just waiting to go off.

Azath Vitr (D, on 10 September 2023 - 03:27 PM, said:

Quote

Halfway through a ceremony this past week, without saying anything, the president just wandered off the stage through the crowd to somewhat stunned silence. The same thing happened in an MSNBC interview on live television not so long ago. He just stood up stiffly — and meandered away.

This was a planned removal of himself from the proceedings to minimize exposure to COVID to the attendees....this is not at all what this author paints it as...come on.

And the other incident on MSNBC....they were fucking FINISHED speaking. I imagine that the questions were pre-ordained and Biden knew when he out to leave was. He didn't "leave mid-interview"...as someone who knows the industry, EVERY SINGLE INTERVIEW in this history of TV interviews, be it on the news, or late night, or whatever is planned and scripted

Is this all the media has? Fucking pitiful.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 11 September 2023 - 01:16 PM

[Azath Vitr (D'ivers]

QuickTidal, on 11 September 2023 - 12:37 PM, said:

I'd like to know in what imaginary universe people are living in where Joe Biden's health is in more jeopardy than Trump's.

Trump is fuelled by cheeseburgers, Salisbury steaks, pizza (toppings only) and Coca-Cola....and if rumours are true, Adderall props him up (probity giving him the "speed" he seems to operate at).


Biden also has had a LIFELONG struggle with speaking and stammering...so any comments on his speech are silly. Is he too old for the position? Yes, and yes someone else should be put forward for the candidacy for 2024...but pretending like Trump is at all a viable healthy candidate is bargain basement level stupid...he's a walking heart attack just waiting to go off.

Don't worry, Trump probably will have a heart attack before too long after he conquers Canada. Especially if he takes the subway. So you'll be ruled by Empress Ivanka....

Seriously though, the main concern isn't risk of dying, but cognitive decline and energy level.

Unfortunately biology does not necessarily reward 'virtue' or punish 'vice'; plenty of obese people who eat like Trump does and don't exercise don't get heart attacks. But Trump's diet, obesity, and lack of exercise make him more likely to die than he otherwise would be, so you're probably right that (given what little we know) he's more likely to die or have a debilitating stroke than Biden is. However, most of Trump's voters don't care about that, and don't believe it will happen. Most probably because they believe he's favored by Go*. Potential Biden voters OTOH are generally more reality-based, and many Biden voters are voting against Trump more than anything... but too many also apparently wouldn't vote for Kamala Harris.

QuickTidal, on 11 September 2023 - 12:37 PM, said:

Azath Vitr (D, on 10 September 2023 - 03:27 PM, said:

Quote

Halfway through a ceremony this past week, without saying anything, the president just wandered off the stage through the crowd to somewhat stunned silence. The same thing happened in an MSNBC interview on live television not so long ago. He just stood up stiffly — and meandered away.

This was a planned removal of himself from the proceedings to minimize exposure to COVID to the attendees....this is not at all what this author paints it as...come on.

That's what the White House press secretary is claiming, but it doesn't make much sense in context:

Quote

explained that the president's departure was planned to minimize his contact with attendees amid a resurgence of covid infections. However, Biden did remove his mask and come in close contact with the 81-year-old veteran while pinning the medal around his neck.

Here Is Why Biden Abruptly Left Medal of Honor Ceremony (mediaite.com)

Why would Biden remove his mask to put the medal on him? Currently circulating variants are contagious enough that if it was circulating in the room, he probably would have gotten more than enough of the virus while he had his mask off.

QuickTidal, on 11 September 2023 - 12:37 PM, said:

And the other incident on MSNBC....they were fucking FINISHED speaking. I imagine that the questions were pre-ordained and Biden knew when he out to leave was. He didn't "leave mid-interview"...as someone who knows the industry, EVERY SINGLE INTERVIEW in this history of TV interviews, be it on the news, or late night, or whatever is planned and scripted

Is this all the media has? Fucking pitiful.

If the interviewers seemed surprised by his abrupt departure, then it almost certainly wasn't planned in advance with them.

But according to a BoomLive fact check:

Quote

the video has been falsely shared to claim that Biden left midway during the interview; the full clip shows Biden shaking hands with Nicolle Wallace, the journalist, and saying goodbye before leaving the set.

No, Joe Biden Did Not Walk Away Mid-Interview On Live TV | BOOM (boomlive.in)

Quote

Overall, we rate BOOMLIVE [...] High for factual reporting as the fact-checks they conduct are sourced properly and evidence-based.

BoomLive - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check (mediabiasfactcheck.com)

... assuming that's the MSNBC interview that was referred to.

What do the media have? Almost every recent clip of Biden speaking.

Or walking....

Quote

Biden Wraps Up G20 Conference by Announcing 'I'm Going to Bed'

[...] the "Sleepy Joe" narrative had already taken hold on Fox News. "He was rambling, near incoherent at some points and then ended the press conference saying he wanted to go to sleep,"

Biden Wraps Up G20 Conference by Announcing 'I'm Going to Bed' (thedailybeast.com)

Quote

"You have nary aged a day and I would say you look even better than before," [Vietnamese leader] Trong told Biden [...] at Communist Party headquarters [...]

Biden, 80, laughed

'You Have Nary Aged a Day,' Vietnamese Leader Tells Biden - Bloomberg

Good policy (yay Vietnamese Communism!), but bad for Biden politically... oh and it seems he repeated himself:

Quote

'I'm going to go to bed,' [Biden] says during Vietnam press conference

[...] "rambling" press conference [...] abruptly cut short by the White House staff, leaving many in the audience puzzled.

Joe Biden's rambling speech cut off by White House staff | The Independent

... is that going to be his new catchphrase? Biden 2024: 'I'm Going to Bed'

This post has been edited by Azath Vitr (D'ivers: 11 September 2023 - 03:54 PM

[Lady Bliss]

I’m not saying that Biden is too old, but that his behavior is concerning. Until recent months I haven’t seen anything of concern and can sympathize with the stress of public speaking, but yesterday was BAD. His going off on calling climate deniers “lying dog-faced pony soldiers” pushed his speech as ott bad. He sounded like a rambling old man.