The Real timschochet

Serious question for you (and any other Trump supporters who want to answer): if the roles had been reversed in that debate, and Trump showed signs of mental deterioration but Biden did not, would you still support Trump?

There is a way that Biden could lower inflation significantly right now- remove the tariffs on China. Endorse free trade. He should have done this years ago. If Trump is elected he’s only going to make inflation far far worse. I just don’t understand how people can’t see that.

I actually think she has shown some acting chops in The Handmaids Tale and Euphoria. Those were pretty serious roles, and she did well.

The minute that Biden declared he was staying in that ended the rebellion. Like most politicians, the Democrats are cowards- they’re never going to do anything that threatens their future position in the party. AOC is a good example. If she truly believed that Biden was fine why didn’t she offer her endorsement a week ago? Instead she waits for everyone else. So pathetic. So everyone will stick with Biden and hope for the best. But if he loses (and I can’t think the odds are in his favor) do you believe any of these Democrats like AOC and Fetterman will take responsibility? Of course not. They will blame Biden and forget their own role in endorsing him. And then they will push for a much more leftist, progressive candidate in 2028. This whole thing really sucks.

The “never has in the past” part appears to be wrong. Apparently the doctor has been coming there since 2012 on a regular basis. Anyhow I don’t believe Biden has Parkinson’s. I’ve been around a few people with that awful disease and he doesn’t show the signs.

None of that leads to him being responsible for the bombing of a hospital. That’s a serious war crime.

I despise Donald Trump. But I don’t see how he can be blamed for this hospital. That’s going too far IMO.

The narrative that everything was great until Covid under Trump is BS. Trump was a terrible President all throughout his term. Completely incompetent and corrupt and his actions will lead to long term problems for us. The only difference with the Covid year is that the results of his actions were immediately awful. But make no mistake he was lousy all the way through. This time around he will be far worse because none of the establishment figures he had around him last time will be there.

Hmm. I could explain how I’m exposed to MSNBC in Europe (I’m no longer in Amsterdam) but you’re a smart guy; you figure it out.

History always seems to repeat itself. Lots of similarities between this election and Leon Blum’s election in 1936. That was also a loose confederation of the left designed to combat fascism. Blum, however, failed because he focused too much on domestic issues and was not willing to prepare France for the coming military struggle.

I tend to agree but you never know. Lots of time before the election.

I can’t speak for others but personally I will congratulate his supporters and wish him well. Then, just as before, I will support him when he does stuff I like and oppose him when he doesn’t. And I will hope the guardrails hold. What else is there?

Gave a strong interview on Morning Joe. Said he wasn’t quitting and went on the attack.

Well it is what it is. If he’s staying in all I can do is support it and hope for the best: He’s got to have more days like today: angry, fiery, Dark Brandon. Just keep slamming Trump and maybe it will be enough.

Biden doesn’t appear to be quitting. The Democrats could still form an insurgency but they’re a bunch of cowards. So I think he’s sticking. And losing.

I don’t believe in a straight representative democracy. I would keep the two bodies, House and Senate. I think that works very well. But I would refigure the Senate based on population.

My viewpoint on this really has nothing to do with liberal vs conservative. Doing away with the states would not necessarily favor liberal ideas, particularly long term.

I don’t believe in the rule of the majority. I am in favor of a strong constitution that protects individual rights. Again, states’ rights have nothing to do with that. States rights can be every bit as tyrannical as federal rights. If you don’t believe this, try getting an abortion in Alabama.

Back to the topic: Biden just wrote a letter to Congress. He’s refusing to quit. Says he owes it to the voters who chose him. Theres an argument for that except that, per polling, Democrats almost overwhelmingly want him gone. This is a crisis. Nobody can force Biden to quit. And if he doesn’t quit he’s going to lose. I will vote for him, hope for the best but realistically I don’t see this changing. And it also may lead to Republicans doing much better in the House and Senate than expected. I’ve never been a huge fan of Joe but IMO, and much to my surprise, I think he’s done a very good job as President. But this may ruin his legacy. It’s hubris on an extreme level. It might be worse than Woodrow Wilson refusing to quit and demanding Congress ratify the Treaty of Versailles without any compromise or discussion. That was the ultimate hubris in our history: one man’s ego and it led directly to the rise of Adolf Hitler and World War II. And now we’re back here again.

You can be opposed to a strong central government and still want to do away with the states. In fact that would define my position. I’m not looking to get rid of the Senate, just base it on population. So Vermont and North Dakota regions might have one senator between them. And California would have around 8. You might think that’s unfair but that’s where the people are so it’s totally fair IMO. And it has nothing to do with centralized power.

You realize there are republics all over the world without states, right? You could have senators based on population count rather than two per state. That would be a lot fairer system.

Our cat is 17 so I know she is on borrowed time. I’ll be pretty miserable when the time comes….sorry to hear about yours.

Of course it would. We elect legislators to pass laws rather than pass them ourselves. That’s the definition of a Republic. States have nothing to do with it. Guess you failed civics.

Sure it “saved the nation” from a breakup…over slavery. For a while anyhow.

See the reason, @Strike, you want to preserve states rights is that you know your views on a host of issues are widely unpopular so you want to protect them through legal means rather than attempt to convince the majority of the rightness of your position. It’s weak. Someday we’ll get rid of it.