THE OLD MAN AND DEMOCRACY
Caption: U.S. marines hoist the American flag on Mount Suribachi in a lull in fighting.
By Wilfredo Gatbonton Villanueva
U.S. President Joe Biden in his debate debacle with lying former President Donald Trump may have stuttered and appeared frail, but his conviction is intact as in Day One of his campaign for reelection. He was the same low-key person, who when toe-to-toe with DJT may have appeared forlorn and defeated. But he stood his ground against the torrent of lies–doused nonstop as if being drowned–not thinking of himself, for he could have dropped anytime with myocardial infarction, for all we know, for shock at such audacity from a convicted felon born to raise hell.
This is the American spirit. In the time of confusion and self-aggrandizement, Joe Biden stands up with flag aloft.
Which brings to mind Santiago in Ernest Hemingway’s novella The Old Man and the Sea. Like Santiago, Joe Biden is determined to bring the immense marlin–every fisherman’s dream–back to shore, to finish the job he is ordained to do. The marlin broke his 80 days straight of dismal fishing in open sea without a catch.
On his way back, sharks devoured the fish posthaste, leaving only its head and skeleton strapped to his skiff. When Santiago reached safe harbor, he was not met with derision but admiration from the fishing community, for bagging the great prize. More importantly, Santiago inspired Manolin his sidekick to pursue the same passion which made him an admirer of the old man in the first place. Back in his hut, Santiago dreams of lions, symbolizing his continued quest for glory and fulfilment, sharks farthest from his mind.
Joe Biden may win or lose in November, or may even be replaced at the last minute, but this much I know as a U.S. watcher, himself in a struggle in his own Absurdistan (thanks for this term, Ireneo): He has inspired Manolins, those American men and women of all races and creeds to continue fighting for God and country, even if they bring home skeletons and Afghanistans. It’s the spirit, remember, the spirit. We fight, therefore we are alive.
Manolin stands for the American voter. I wonder what inspires him or her nowadays. Taylor Swift, the Kardashians, insulation from the rise of the oceans and roar of thunder, apathy being the loser’s door to happiness?
The Greatest Generation who stormed the beaches at Normandy, what would they have done in the face of the new Nazi Germany, people who would go down fighting for the wrong side, Hitler reincarnated with fluffy, blond hair? America isn’t like this, looking for the fix of instant gratification, without regard to the challenges posed by charlatans, climate change, China. Why would a bad debate night even erase the disappointment of being lied to north to south, east to west, as a matter of corporate vision and mission? The Greatest Generation would stand up like Santiago against unmitigated evil.
Democracy requires a break from stark personalism, where opinion is fact, and fact, opinion.
Happy Fourth, America!
Wilfredo Gatbonton Villanueva June 29, 2024
Editor’s note: This is the final form of the post from author Wilfredo Gatbonton Villanueva. The one sent through email and rss was the first draft.
The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Of Mice & Men is probably more apt here, Wil. And Joe’s Lenny. He’ll need a George. Which maybe Obama but more likely has been Jill all along.
Four months is too tight. No time for a primary. Put Newsom on now, move Kamala Harris to Sotomayor’s position (her diabetes is really bad, don’t want another RBG). Harris can’t win.
Someone’s gotta be George now.
I can’t wait to read Harris’ word salad in a SCOTUS decision.
I thought the Primary was over?
I believe it is too late for Dems to change the ballots for 3 states. for 2 of these, it is still possible under 25th Amendment. for one of them, it is plain impossible.
Why do the Dems leave it to this stage to panic?
This is my opinion. The puppet masters have no worries about a lame duck old man unable to remember or understand anything. The better to control. Because they thought they can win by (1) the lawfare against Trump will damage him politically beyond any hope, (2) they still control the narratives over the media. All conservative voices will be killed off. Look at the timing of the attempt to shut down Alex Jones’ Infowars against the bankruptcy judges’ orders, (3) Dems still control the election as long as voter registers are not cleansed, mail-in ballots allowed, and no ID required.
You see, the fact that Biden is mentally incapacitated is of no consequence to the controllers as long as he can still win the election. But the moment they realise Biden may possibly lose, that’s when panic sets in. There is no love-lost with Biden, it is the Power they fear loosing.
I think you are behind the curve in the vote cheating claims. I suggest you go google and read up on Fractal and what they have been doing in their investigation into vote cheating using their AI based Quantum Computing solution. You ain’t seen nothing yet.
chemp, they hand counted every ballot in Maricopa the police helicopter you said was some NSA craft flying around reading biometrics. and zip nada nothing. every vote cheating case was thrown out, 4 years no evidence of nothing chemp. ergo no vote cheating.
though the vote cheating machines first laid claim in the Philippines may be something. they’ll need to do a similar Maricopa county recount to figure out what happened in the Philippines. like i said evidence and proof important here. this aint some intelligent design mumbo jumbo.
as for Harris being a Justice, she’ll have clerks for that. hell Clarence Thomas doesn’t even ask questions. easiest gig ever and get paid bank on top of your gov’t salary. lol. but yeah my point, get Harris out of the way.
If Newsom runs, just like he woo’ed Hannity in their interview and Hannity hosting the Newsom/de Santis debate, Newsom will woo Republicans scared of another Trump presidency. as to the rest of your conspiracy theories check back after Nov. i might buy.
TicTac UFOs are still in play. but imho voter fraud is out, chemp. sorry.
I like it when you are factual and in no non-sense mood. I never thought I’ll agree with you 100% about anything. Boy, did you surprise me with this post!
Biden won the last race fair and square. It was Trump who tried to cheat in Fulton County, Georgia and having fake electors in several states.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-charges-fulton-county-georgia-election-investigation/
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/politics/fake-electors-explainer/index.html
exactly, JP. voter fraud if you have new evidence sure i’ll entertain it but chemp is just spouting the same trust me theres something there crap. lift that kimono up chemp but he never does. but as to TicTacs the media needs to figure out what happened to all the data recorded.
from: https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/research/a29771548/navy-ufo-witnesses-tell-truth/
@Chemrock, Your comments cause me to reflect on communication processes in two respects, blog writing and MAGA writing.
For this blog, in our heyday, we had our act together. Indeed, we were brilliant at times (your MRT article is in bibliographies around the Philippines). We were read by presidents and senators and agency heads and bright Filipinos looking for insights that would help build the Philippines. Now we have this trash. My fault for granting Will the respect to publish an article not focused on a commonly understood mission. Read his interview list and you see how he has earned that respect. But his article has attracted a MAGA nut.
The MAGA form of communication is emotional. It is not discovery. Not analysis. Not open minded. It is advocacy, propaganda. It makes up stories founded on lies and “statements as facts” with the goal of overthrowing democracy. To weaken the US. It preys on the needy. The ignorant. The weak. It has no intellectual integrity, no moral foundation. It is animalistic. Power seeking ultimate power. It’s a tragic, destructive fools errand. You love the stuff.
Well, my goal is to try to revitalize the blog to have some influence on 2028, and to keep dredging up insights that BUILD the Philippines. This requires help from people smart enough to grasp that concept, and who are willing to contribute in kind.
At your current pace, you don’t qualify to contribute here.
ooooops, almost for got, JP. here:
ps. i always follow chemp’s leads and crumbs. they mostly lead nowhere though.
the forensics for voter fraud seems simple to me (Google Phd), JP, people register and then people vote. if theres voting irregularities just match it with registration. and that’s exactly what Cyber Ninjas did in Maricopa. they even had different colored shirts like Teletubbies. it was no joke. they were thorough. and nothing was found.
Will, great that you remember Absurdistan, though that place is now all over the world. I have become more cautious in commenting about far-away places, especially those I am not connected to directly. I wonder, I wonder how Biden will fare.
LCPL_X, Steinbeck references do make it clear that we are in an era similar to the 1930s. We regularly have Grapes of Wrath incidents in the Southeast of Munich where the trains come from the Balkans, with the desperate on freight trains like in that novel. It is also an age of authoritarian leaders and even democratic leaders (see FDR and Churchill back then) tend to need to be stronger, it isn’t an age that forgives perception of weakness as easily as simpler times. Germany of the stable late 1960s forgave lackluster Chancellor Kiesinger but probably isn’t going to forgive Scholz who is at best an average leader. Still, the US election in late 2024 is more significant for the world than the German election in 2025. Not holding my breath.
I’m deep into a book LCX recommended for JoeJr, “Cryptonomicon”, wonderfully confusing and hilarious trip through time during which assorted philosophies and loyalties to country get stress tested through the ravages of war, mathematics, love, and history. Goto Dengo, the Japanese survivor of headhunters and Australian army in Papau New Guinea, not to mention sharks and American dive bombers, has been deposited in the Philippines to meet Catholicism. Meanwhile, the Shaftoes and Waterhouses, two generations later, are putting together an online financial scheme, and hunting for treasure and love, also in the Philippines. This rich drama, full of tragedy, comedy, and heroism, not to mention sex and it’s relative love, is more honest than real people are these days. More inspiring, for sure. And lucky or unlucky, which seems to be a common theme to anything.
America is sick, as is China, as was Japan, as is Israel, as is Russia. Germany is just the Philippines of the EU, captured by the notion of an ethical democracy but actually ruled by the feeble of concept, character, and accomplishment.
All the nattering over Joe Biden’s age is mere modern lunacy, the craziness when people of no philosophical foundation, moral bearing, or knowledge get hooked by the emotionalism and click dirt of modern media and become preachers and little dictators. They are chickens in the barnyard knocked about by acorns and are adept only of misreading the sights and sounds before them.
Feeble Joe is better than Lunatic Trump a hundredfold, nay, a million-fold, so the chickens are lost to me.
The books are more honest. JoeJr, I’m happy to say, understands that it is best to be a global person detached from barnyards here and there. He’s reading a biography about Einstein, and learning to play Desperado on the piano and Layla on the bass guitar. He and his compatriots will sort all this shit out just fine, if they survive the blundering asses of our times.
I would add that Joe Biden is being bludgeoned by that insecure and blind part of humanity that insists good people must be perfect, or they are wretched people, but wretched people are okay because, well, we know they are wretched. It is what keeps scoundrels in charge of the Philippines, I would note, to stay on the topic of the Philippines.
Joe, I love the General MacArthur thread in that book. especially battle of Manila scene. Would you agree Cryptonomicon would be better than any ROTC curriculum ever devised in the Philippines. i mean do away with patriotic songs and prayers on Mondays. no need for ROTC. just have kids master and memorize the characters in Cryptonomicon. especially America Shaftoe. study the Navajo code talkers. this stuff has more implications in the wider world than high school kids getting stupid military haircuts, marching like baffoons, and bribing their AFP minders in ROTC. learn knot tying, as metaphor to codes. lots of knots to master.
start ’em with the Butterfly knot.
James Bamford books go great with Cryptonomicon. Attorney Alejandro is my favorite side character, as all allusions to dentistry and oral surgery. Filipinos use Attorney like we use the title Doctor in the US was funny as hell. i wanted to add like the Arab use the title Engineer. i guess Accountant too in the Philippines. lol. glad you’re enjoying the book, Joe, Baroque cycle next.
I can tell you have the hots for America Shaftoe. Understandable, without question. The book could definitely be a year’s worth of studying, or three. But at college level. It’s a tough read for those not hardened by life. I think the humor is so intense, and intellectual, and fast-paced that it would speed blankly by. But I thank you for the introduction. In my heirarchy of life-living literature, it’s a sliver below Shogun but above The Milagro Beanfield War.
Had i read it when it came out in 1999, half or more of the stuff talked about would have completely flew by my head, Joe. or even had i read it 5 yrs ago, w/out benefit of Micha’s MMT or Bitcoin or blockchain, etc.
I’m glad I read Anathem after sonny sent me a list of religious orders. having gone thru it. Carthusians especially.
Thanks. That goes onto my reading list after I recover from this one. It takes psychological energy to digest his thinking, and physical from laughing so hard.
Good. I gotta feeling this one will dislodge your Shogun.
Terrific.
https://mb.com.ph/2024/7/4/the-questions-about-biden-s-age-and-fitness-are-reminiscent-of-another-campaign-reagan-s-in-1984
americans have been through that, aging presidents and so on.
Yup. Biden is only 3 years older than Trump. They are both old.
Amid all the call for Biden to step down, the article below asking for Trump to leave the race is hard hitting and truthful.
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/editorials/first-presidential-debate-joe-biden-donald-trump-withdraw-20240629.html
For those assailing Biden’s mental acuity and competence, despite his numerous accomplishments, how about this?
https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/president-joe-biden-oil-trader-extraordinaire-e97947fb
thanks, fantastic’ articles, good read. judging bidden’s lifetime achievements on those few debatable moments is foolish.
bidden has a punishing schedule and if he looks tired of sort, it’s understandable. sure he flops, dont we all? we forgot our car keys, forget anniversaries, appointments too and sometimes turn up on the wrong day. I once forgot to take my money from atm, and when I came back, the money was gone. and I’m not even that old yet!
americans ought to give bidden a break, and reelect him. there is more good in him than the other apathetic candidate.
Germany between the wars was more like the Philippines today, with an excellent Constitution but few really democratic citizens. It was a bit like present-day America as well, with its extremes of Right and Left.
Postwar West Germany had the luck of relative stability and responsible leaders. Germany now has its Eastern part not fully sold on democracy. There are lots of reasons for that but that is a totally different topic.
Re Santiago BTW, for Will: St James aka San Tiago is an important saint in Spanish lore, a saint that symbolizes the perseverance of Spain in winning its land back to Christianity and also it’s subsequent colonial outward push. That Fort Santiago is one of the most durable forts ever built is not by chance. The name is probably as little a happenstance as Santiago de Compostela being the destination of the famous pilgrimage route that is a hiking marathon.
Who transliterated James to Tiago, Ireneo. seems so far apart. was it some Irish monk that screwed this up .
The city name, Santiago de Compostela, then holds significant importance. The word “Santiago” is derived from the Latin name “Jacobus” which translates to “James” in English
Jacobus to Tiago , would have to be Yacobus, then maybe Yago’ for short, then add a T in front. I guess I can see the evolution, karl. thanks.
Welcome sometimes the Google PhD needs to hire a Google research assistant.
LOL. tenure has its perks, karl.
Irineo, I think, the germans have much to thank an aging american president for having the gumption to say, “Mr President, tear down this wall!”
Age is not the issue. It is competence and strength or the perception thereof, which I can’t judge with Joe Biden, but I believe Trump would let Russia have its way in Europe. No question that is bad for us over here.
Aside from Reagan, Germany, especially Berlin, has Kennedy to thank for clearly giving it support during the difficult 1960s. Or whoever ordered the Berlin supply airlift to counter the Soviet blockade of Berlin earlier. Come to think of it, Old Man Adenauer, West German Chancellor, refused Stalin’s 1950s offer of neutral unity for Germany, saying Unity without Freedom is useless. Adenauer like LKY knew how to play different roles as a politician. Allegedly, he once said one has to talk to every donkey in its own language.
Campaigning (traveling all over the US) while doing all his presidential duties (flying to Europe for G7, constant contact with world leaders like Zelensky and Netanyahu, intel briefings, numerous meetings, etc) will take its toll even on a younger man. Not to mention that he had a cold during the debate. It is also widely known that Biden is a stutterer and has a slight lisp. I would say the “weakness” is more of a perception than reality.
I wish Biden and Trump would take medical, cognitive and psychological tests and make the result public. Let the people decide based on tangible evidence.
ahem, bidden will probly fail his lung function tests, his diaphragm doesnt look able to expand 5cm on demand. and at his age, his bone densitometry is probly sus too coz he has falls and tumbles notably. but he’ll most likely pass cognitive and psychological test as appropriate to one his age. and as a person concerned about his health, he most likely have a physical once a year and knows how tests are conducted and is prepared for any eventualities. in the interview alone, his doctor probly knows all there is to know about his mental faculties, in the way he answers questions put to him and whether he is oriented or not.
and trump will probly just bully his way and threaten the examiner. or better still, bribe.
as for people deciding, not all people can interpret a medical, let alone know the significance of the data and info presented as they come in strange notations, but can speculate.
but I believe people can be good judge of character and will vote accordingly.
blockades one and two and each time americans come to germany’s aid, that’s what allies are for. there was a time when an american president threatens with a big stick, bidden though is reportedly big on appeasement and world peace and gotten two wars instead, both allies of america, ukraine and israel.
you are correct though, age is not the issue, but. it was painful to watch the debate between two aging protagonists with one clearly enjoying the discomfort of the other.
I hope bidden wins. an american president has once resigned from office due to ill health, if bidden goes along that path, he would not be 1st.
and you may not agree but philippines do have a fair share of ‘adenauers’, they just did not live long.
Quezon was the most similar to Adenauer, a conservative patriarch and modernizer, but for some reason, little was left of his legacy except the structure of the Philippine State – one reason was WW2 and post-WW2. The other reasons might have been the quarrel between his two second in commands, Osmeña and Roxas, and the early death of Roxas, who might have left a legacy after quelling both Huks and warlords. Quirino was iffy, Magsaysay was great but he too died too early. There certainly were a number of Presidents that never were.
I also believe a major issue is that nobody leaves much of a legacy because a lot of Filipinos are like kids that behave only when the principal is around. When the principal aka reformer is gone all goes back to the same old ways of doing things, as if NOTHING was really learned.
I dont know, maybe I’m just grassroot and sees things from a different level. as regards legacy/s of our great men and women, their legacies are everywhere ubiquitous as mosquitoes and often taken for granted, streets carry their names like edelfonso de los santos avenue when the man couldnt even drive a car or change a car tire! school buildings like the ramon magsaysay high school, airports like the ninoy aquino airport that may soon have a name change, places like quezon province, quezon circle, quirino grandstand sa luneta, roxas blvd, order of sikatuna named after sikatuna, the latest recipient was I think the soldier that lost a finger in ayungin shoal.
legacies are too numerous to mention and their influence spread all over the country like miasma.
as for those reformers no longer around, I say, thanks for the memory! did they wish to be remembered, no; I think, they’d be happy their hapless tenure is over, thank the lord! they have passed on the baton, and that’s it. done things coz they wanted to, not because of they wanted to be remembered and honored and celebrated and given statues, and paid dues, etc. though it probly help if they are mentioned now and then, and thanked. for the sake of the living.
a lot has been learned, people just choose not to apply them. it is apparent their mistakes are their own and they’re enjoying them! let the devil take tomorrow.
“People just choose not to apply them.” Well, that’s worse.
And probably they are proud of their ignorance, which is worse than stupidity.
Street names and statues as legacies, it is like I used to joke that it was Filipinos who put cement around Rizal and turned him into a statue instead of throwing him into the Pasig, hey who really cares what he wrote nowadays it might make the youth question things!
Many a German may not know what Kant wrote about, but his influence on how people live their lives and get stuff done here is deeper than many know. Same on a European scale with St. Benedict, something sonny made me realize.
Well, I guess the answer is simple. Europeans, including Germans, needed to learn new stuff and apply it because they didn’t know better. Filipinos always knew the right way and never needed to change anything since eternal millenia that only the others disturbed.
The knives are out for Joe Biden from the left. To those many liberals in the media and outside who have suddenly woken up from the slumber after the debate and angry they have been lied to about Biden’s mental acuity, well the ‘conspiracy’ conservative sites have been telling you for 4 years.
To all those Dems in the house, media, and leftist activists who are calling for Biden to step down or the 25th Amendment, you are the real insurrectionists calling for the disenfranchisement for the voters who had cast their votes for him in the Primary.
To Jill Biden, all those pulling the puppet strings in the white house and the doctor who’s been giving him some juicy stimulants as suggested by forensic psychiatrist such as Dr Carole Lieberman, you all should be charged for elderly abuse.
Look who’s lying.
Well for one. Joe didn’t hook up with Jill after her divorce, the way he liked to tell their love story. Jill’s husband Bill Stevenson was a volunteer in Biden’s campaign. That’s when Biden met Jill. He had an affair with the wife of a man who was assisting him. That’s why Bill divorced Jill.
Politico 11 Dec 20:
Biden signals to aides that he would serve only a single term
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/11/biden-single-term-082129
Special Counsel Robert Hur investigated Biden’s collection of classified documents. In Congressional hearing, Hur stated in clear simple English (1) Biden stole those classified documents, (2) He did not wish to charge Biden because he felt it was meaningless to charge an old man who is practically unable to remember anything.
Why does DOJ Sec Garland refuse to hand over transcripts of Robert Hur’s interview of Biden to the extent of refusing to accept subpeona from Congress?
Don’t need much grey matter to reason it out.
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/is-joe-biden-a-10am-4pm-president-new-details-emerge-on-how-the-white-house-has-been-active-in-shielding-the-president/articleshow/111410006.cms?from=mdr
Is Joe Biden a ‘10am-4pm’ president? New details emerge on how the White House has been active in shielding the president
US’ enemies are not allowed to fire missiles at Uncle Same during the hours of 4pm-10am.
In 2017 Nancy Pelosi asked for Trump to relinquish control of the codes to the nuclear bombs. Those codes are safe with Biden. An incoming hypersonic missile from Russia has only a 6 minute timeframe for reaction before it arrives. Can Biden wake up in time?
Astrology pretty much won the Cold War, chemp. so I won’t worry too much about Biden’s sleep schedule. the Deep State handles everything. and by deep State i mean bureaucracy. the US is set up to run on auto pilot. as it should be. any chicken little talk I tend to dismiss. especially all the democracy has fallen crap. this is the most participatory time in the US since the 60s. it is good. people might find it uncomfortable. but trust the process.
Happy 4th!!! i know old folks in the Philippines still celebrate this date.
Deep state has a different connotation today. It means government is working behind the scenes to pursue agendas not revealed to ordinary Americans, and the person using the term generally thinks those agendas are bad, or against his ’cause’. So you are suggesting there is a Biden deep state yada yada yada building nothing and shaving confidence off the democratic process.
No i’m saying elected officials come and go, especially at the federal level. maybe some policies stick maybe not. but for sure what keeps things plugging away, like that scenario chemp’s outlined of rockets or hyper sonics with nukes flying from Russia or China, Biden can stay in bed for that. the bureaucracy will have activated things already in place for this very situation. that is the deep state at least for me, Joe. although theres another one which i don’t normally label deep state cuz they seem to be too specific (eg. the stuff Enoch Root is fighting against) that surround this UFO stuff. i think this is chemp’s Deep State. but they’d be above elections. bureaucracies and elections. so maybe its just a definition issue. hence my clarification of Deep State. i’m just talking about bureaucracy here. day to day sorta stuff.
Words mean what the speaker means for them to mean, and you defined your meaning, so that’s all fine. Humpty Dumpty gives you two thumbs up. My point is that others have a different definition, and the result of your commentary could be negative even if you don’t intend that. So readers need to know that the deep state that MAGA lies about is different, and they do lie about it.
I think my usage of Deep State predates all the Trumpian stuff of today though, Joe. here:
https://www.npr.org/2019/11/06/776852841/the-man-who-popularized-the-deep-state-doesnt-like-the-way-its-used
Well, yours and his are similar, but “bureaucracy” is on the surface and visible, common processes tied in knots, while his deep state is hidden, sludge that has moved into the pipes. Mine sees Trump gameplaying as the most common current definition, and his and yours will be outdated as soon as Cambridge gets around to updating definitions. Or Webster, or whoever does those things today.
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/july-4-philippines-independence-day-america-holiday
“The Surprising Connection Between the Philippines and the Fourth of July”
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/the-one-other-country-that-celebrates-the-fourth-of-july-sort-of/259410/
“The One Other Country That Celebrates the Fourth of July (Sort Of)”
Thank you for this article, Kuya Will.
“I know what millions of Americans know. When you get knocked down, you get back up.” ~ Joe Biden
There is a lot of fight left in Joe Biden. I will not discount his chance of winning the election again. He is honest and takes responsibility for his actions. He did not blame the media or Trump for his botched debate performance. The CNN moderators could have stopped and fact checked Trump for all the misinformation he spewed. Bette Midler on X posted about a fallacious debating technique called gish gallop which Trump employed during the debate. It is very controversial and called an abhorrent debate technique.
https://effectiviology.com/gish-gallop/
The fat lady has sung, JP. I honestly think Biden’s just doing smoke screen at this point to cover the figuring out who’s gonna run part. I don’t think they should do an open convention. best to come together now and agree who’ll take over. Kamala’s probably kicking and screaming right now about how she’s next. but she’ll have to move aside. but looks to me like Biden’s just running interference now. which makes sense, no one should wish for an open convention it’ll just propel Trump even farther.
Harris has to accept that she’ll be Queen Who Never Was. if she’s serious about defeating Trump.
Dems are definitely pushing Kamala away now. you can hear it in the rhetoric.
https://x.com/EricAbbenante/status/1809291538049957940
I don’t agree and I hope you are wrong about it. Not logical and strategic to put Newsom and Harris in the ticket because they are both from CA so it will not be good for the electoral college votes result. Also, 3 states will not allow a substitution for Biden so that will be an awful lot of lost popular as well as electoral college votes. I’d say Biden will be there for the long haul or the ensuing chaos will result in the D’s loss of not only in the Executive but also in the Legislative branch. And the R president will also get to replace Alito and Thomas in the Judicial branch. 6-3 votes for every docket will be the SC norm.
many Dems still feeling the Bern, JP. so a Newsom/Bernie ticket is my preference. most folks didn’t come out to vote for Hillary in 2016 precisely cuz of what was done to Bernie. make amends. its a symbolic position anyways. VP Bernie.
I asked my bookie about a Harris/Sanders ticket and he almost choked. He ran for a beer to get relief. I agree with JP. You are bipolar between sense and nonsense. Well, let me take that back. The ultra-libs can find sense to a hard left ticket like that, but the odds of it happening are about 0.0006%.
Newsom/Bernie ticket is my wish list, Joe. More than likely it’ll be Newsom/Whitmer or Booker or Dean Philips. but for sure Newsom, all else just don’t have national recognition. haven’t gone into FOX to interview or debate w/ Republicans. only Newsom has done it and won them over. again Hannity. 4 months is cutting it too close. ask your bookie about Newsom.
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-11-26/fox-news-host-sean-hannity-newsom-desantis-debate
and for the record i always make sense, just the listener if they agree or disagree with what am saying that differs. thats the only variable here. but i always make sense, Joe.
My bookie thinks Newsom will be the next democratic president after Biden. Harris will not be. Newsom is Bill Clinton, West Coast.
there won’t be a Newsom presidency if Trump wins, Joe. for the simple fact that voters every where will hold every Democrat who didn’t pull Biden out wholly responsible. eventually this Maximus act that Newsom’s doing will have to end if Biden’s really this delusional.
its like this scene, only Marcus Aurelius didn’t wanna leave the presidency.
The future is predictable only in the short term, and then only if the data are sound. What you think is not useful data. The value to what-ifs is to guide actions, not to win arguments.
you guide actions thru winning arguments, Joe. democracy is about arguments. what do you think people are doing now behind closed doors in the WH and other venues re Biden? the reporters are reporting more and more of these arguments: https://www.vox.com/politics/359160/biden-abc-news-interview-drop-out
“I did the goodest job…”
This is for LCPLX. Sorry Joe, the comments were nestled to the max I guess.
Trying to win arguments all the time will shut down communication. For a lot of people, silence is a natural defense mechanism. Arguments signal that there is(are) an issue(s). The best way to resolve an issue is to talk about it without being competitive. Democracy is about win-win situations.
understandably , theres gotta be a balance i agree push pull give take but for anything to get done at all. it has to be zero-sum, JP. otherwise you’ll have a bunch of people saying okay lets agree to disagree, thus no progress. have you seen 1776 musical? better than John Adams HBO with Giamatti. but if all those colony reps just said folks lets just agree to disagree here, then we’d still be beholdened to the crown.
speaking of Paul Giamatti, here’s a great video even apropos to win-win and zero-sum, JP.
I see the win-win engagement of it but I am oblivious to the zero-sum part. Could you please explain it to me where is that part like I am a 5 year old? It might be that I have blinders because I am not a zero-sum type of person because of its win-lose outcome.
I meant that as example of win-win, JP. giamatti was in John Adams HBO series (mentioned above), that example is zero-sum. video above is win-win. my point theres a time for both, hell even making a zero-sum into a win-win is a skill in and of itself. this is next level stuff. jedi mind trick. theres examples too of that. im sure. but just wanted to feature Paul Giamatti.
re Project 2025 and zero-sum as win-win, here:
ooooppss… i meant this one, JP.
Project 2025 + zero sum = win-win?
What I saw is power and control, a form of abuse. The manipulation by a con-man and the exploitation of a dupe to the townpeople’s peril. As I said before, zero sum is a win-lose proposition. The real loser of the manipulator’s deceptive practice is the public.
no, JP.
Project 2025 is just a template, whether Trump implements most or some or none is up to Trump. my point is just the liberals too can have a template, where is that?
zero-sum, some one(s) have to win to move things along. otherwise you’re stuck in debate mode.
win-win, my point win-win doesn’t have to be exclusive from zero-sum, theres room for both games to be played concurrent. but in the end, zero-sum needs to be accomplished to get things accomplished. like Jesus said, it is finished. otherwise, the New Testament will go on forever. no salvation.
https://www.npr.org/2017/08/24/545812242/1-in-10-sanders-primary-voters-ended-up-supporting-trump-survey-finds
Joe: “The ultra-libs can find sense to a hard left ticket like that, but the odds of it happening are about 0.0006%.”
I don’t think you ever understood how big a deal that whole screwing of Bernie played out, Joe. Trump was elected cuz of it.
No, that was the media’s screwing of Hillary. Bernie was always a fringe player, like George Carlin could never host the Oscars.
You’re not remember 2016 correctly, Joe. that’s why your analysis of 2024 is skewed i think. he was not fringe. had it been Sanders vs. Trump Bernie woulda won. Now its happening all over again. its like Dems never learned. Get Biden out. Kick Harris somewhere else. and get Newsom in. Newsom vs. Trump is how you win.
Useless chewing of speculations. Anything could have happened if . . . It didn’t happen.
Clinton’s plunge was caused by the media’s tabloid blow up of the e-mail scandal. The same thing that’s happening now with Biden’s age. While Trump’s felonies pass under the media’s distorted view that the good must be perfect or it’s a scandal, while the bad are okay because their being bad is not a scandal. You are merely one more pawn hooked on the anomalies.
If you mean Comey’s memo regarding emails then I’ll agree, Joe. but by that time Oct people that even cared about Hillary’s emails were decided. if anything the media ran interference regarding emails and servers as a whole a long time before. granted media was complicit too in over covering Trump. two different motivations media tried to bury Trump with negative publicity (much like this time around w/ court cases); but media in the 2016 cycle propped up Hillary and minimized all the email stuff (much like they’ve been propping up Biden). again my point here is just to push back on your notion of Bernie’s fringe-ness, you’re wrong. Bernie was hugely popular hence why Hillary submarined him. thus a Newsom/Bernie ticket isn’t so nonsensical. just will make amends, thus bringing more voters out once Biden is dropped.
You’re right, Joe. I remember these: https://x.com/i/bookmarks?post_id=1808602985934602483
that’s a weird link, JP. almost had a heart attack. cuz when I clicked on it (via my account) my bookmarks showed. so I was like Oh shit someone out there bookmarked the same shit I did! then I was like oh its just the link which leads you straight to bookmarks (in general). LOL. ps. all UFOs no Only Fans (well some, lol).
My bad. I copied it from my bookmarked archive. X is getting complicated for me. Did you see the the post though? If not, I can copy it directly from the poster’s page.
well that’s why I almost had a heart attack, JP. cuz it lead straight to my bookmarks. lol. i don’t know what you intended to share. the link just led to my bookmarks.
I got no problem with UFO believers. My mom’s Erich von Daniken books were part of my childhood readings. They are part of the reason I respect people’s beliefs and opinions even though I might not fully subscribe to them. They made me think and be open to all possibilities.
Tell me if this is better:
https://x.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1808602985934602483
Thank you.
I knew a dude that joined the Masons, and he didn’t know anything about them at all. just got to talking to the Grand Master (or whatever theyre called) one day about cars. anyways, when asked if he wanted to join. they asked him first if he believed in a higher power. had he said none, it woulda been a no go. well he’s atheist, but he also wanted in, so he said, Do aliens/UFOs count. and masons were like, well thats a higher power. LOL. now he’s in. close to 3 years now. loving all the secrets and shit.
my only counter to this sentiment is that Hillary was able to prove ’em wrong. every appearance Biden is doing now seems to corroborate said depiction of him, JP. the emails/servers i think were bigger issues, which the media swept under the rug for Hillary, until that Comey memo which was more innuendo like what was in the memo which the media couldn’t help with. but like i said to Joe, it was the Bernie treatment that got Dems to stay home (or vote for Trump as revenge). not so much the emails. but yeah i do remember these health scare and remember Hillary just proving ’em wrong, but i don’t think it factored in as much. whereas Biden’s is.
this meme i think you’ll like though.
Yeah. Seen it before on X. There is truth to it.
My theory is that Tea Party and MAGA germinated out of the R’s opposition to Obama’s presidential run. Trump created and pushed the birther propaganda against Obama. He was a D who turned R because of it. US has self-correcting mechanisms and one of them is the idea of democracy. Democracy worked and Obama had successful two terms despite the R’s relentless obstruction of all his policies.
Will Trump subvert democracy if voted in and rid the US of her self correcting mechanisms? There is a possibility.
Is the US ready for a Black/SE Asian/woman president? If US can keep democracy, after November 2024, anything is possible.
have you seen this Howard Stern interview of Biden?
Thanks for sharing. I just watched it. What a great interview.
they shoulda just let that Stern interview make its rounds, forego debate. it was a high point.
here’s another meme, i think you’ll like:
Are you familiar with Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025? What is your take about their presidential transition policies?
I think Trump just distanced himself from it. and rightly so. just seen it on twitter reposts. I’ve not gone thru it seems like a conservative wish list cutting gov’t programs. I do know Heritage is pretty anti-VA from their past policy recommendations. JP, if you remember I’m a Bernie guy so I’m no conservative. whatever that list is I’m sure i’ll disagree with 99% of it. as I did with their attempts to gut the VA. i’ll have to read thru it. to give you a better take.
LCPLX, I like Bernie too even if we don’t see eye to eye about some of his ideas.
Trump distanced himself from HF’s Mein Kampf style manifesto but his prints are all over it and his close advisers/ex-staffers put it together. They even scheduled a hiring convention for presidential transition staff and replacements for the career gov’t officials Trump wants to fire.
Yes, lot of social services and vets/military benefits cuts. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
I do remember him gutting the Dept of State, not sure if that was a HF idea as well. but I thought that made sense. most of these diplomats don’t really represent US interests, many of them have maids abroad some higher ups get so used to it they never do w/out them. but mostly diplomats don’t think in terms of whats in it for us (meaning US taxpayers). having maids doesn’t help. so i was totally for this cut. Like I’ve stated before on here, Manila Embassy always denies Filipinos visas (DU30 always mentions this). yet talk about how the US and Philippines are besties, if they’re gonna deny them just do it by phone instead of having them spend a lot of money to fly to Manila just to get rejected. Dept. of State doesn’t really get it. so there are institutions that need culling. Coast Guards and Merchant Marines need to be expanded for example. so i’m for balancing priorities out.
You are blabbing in circles, bring in irrelevant incidents as proof of concept. They are incidents that have their own merits and contexts (US Embassy in Manila). I shall refrain from reading or commenting further. You are echoes of Chempo to me, lost in dirty data.
At least unlike Chemrock, who believes he has everything figured out, LCPL_X seems to know he is just trying to figure stuff out just like all of us are.
He does at times try to pass a mix of hot water, Knorr instant chicken broth, Chicken Joy recooked rests stolen from Jolibee, kamote and dishwasher liquid as original tinola. At least he doesn’t j-rk into a dish, add chili, meat and veggies and sell it as Bikol express.
Irineo, Ah, good point, made with artistic clarity. Thanks.
hahaha. chicken joy recooked. Ireneo, i have mixed jolibee spaghetti, rice and fried chicken together since rice was about to go bad (by smell). it was delicious. as for Manila Embassy i was just trying to bring the conversation back to Philippines. i sense that with Project 2025, you get Heritage Foundation which is pro smaller gov’t think tank which has policy recommendations in place to cut certain programs and Trump who’s more a business guy he’ll want to cut superfluous processes. I’m more of an anti DoS guy (Ireneo even knows this), i’m always pissing on them. to me if you wanna cut then DoS makes sense. those people as a whole (there are exceptions) have no sense of the streets. i also think Border Patrol can be cut but unlikely cuz they the union of border agents are very pro-Trump, but their job can be automated with walls and sensors (Anduril is making bank on this). but Coast Guards are more versatile do a variety of roles so theres more bang for you buck. and Ireneo is correct, the job of Chief Troll is to probe and figure out people’s weakness in their world view. eg., Bernie was fringe, no he wasn’t; on Project 2025, could just be Trump is the type to cut stuff, and HF just so happens to have a list so liberal think tanks should also come out with their own list of things to cut. duke it out. but using Project 2025 to scare voters into voting for Biden that’s just a bad idea.
ps. I also agree with the idea of using more National Guard (which answer directly to governors not the US president). making possible the draw down of Border Patrol to less personnel. with added benefit of roatating just regular citizens in the Nat’l Guard so as to share the weight of guarding the border. but their job, with said walls in place and sensors, is just to herd and kick out. but increasing Nat’l Guard role and decreasing Border Patrol agents would be a good idea. their union’s too powerful. same was happening in California with corrections union (prison guards) too powerful prisons as profit generation, Newson dismantled them. police are more broken up although theres a union that represents smaller depts. no power. CHP and LAPD unions pretty powerful but they tend to stay within their lanes, eg. pension. so cut superfluous stuff. whether Trump is wise enough to know whats superfluous or not , thats another matter, JP. more people should chime in on what to cut and what not to cut. ex. VA for example is an experiment in universal healthcare keep that going increase funding. same for MDMA trials, get vets off their meds and onto MDMA. but pharmaceuticals don’t want this cuz 1 pill of MDMA fixes you, 3 at most, and that’s it you continue living your life. pharmaceuticals industry is based on selling you more pills. so VA is the only place they can buck the pharmaceuticals industry. thats useful. a lot of gov’t waste, JP.
pps. JP, i’ve said this on here before but the Philippines should totally reach out to the VA and convince them to have geriatrics facilities in the Philippines. more cost effective and i think better care can be given there (eg. 20 attendants at gas stations) plus quality of life. or maybe instead of facilities, they can fund individual smaller homes that cater to say 10 patients at a time. or give the patients themselves options where they want said care to take place. then a better means to do inheritance from the Philippines, cuz most of these old vets have no families, why not let Filipinos inherit. tangent, like Marlon Brando was watching enjoying Wowowee prior to dying or how Richard Dreyfuss has employed 3 generations of Filipino help with him. so even in Hollywood a bunch of Filipino help have already benefitted from inheritance stuff. Jack Nethercutt gifted his Filipino (mostly Filipino) help houses. i just don’t know a lot of rich vets for examples, but something similar can happen in smaller scale. it happens all the time in Hollywood. i knew a Filipina help now retired who married her VA patient no hanky panky it was platonic to ensure inheritance, his family abandoned him so he said fuck them and made sure everything went to the Filipina.
@LCX, That is sheer brilliance. It’s like medical tourism with no time limit. The medical care here is pretty much excellent at private hospitals, and very inexpensive. The only negative is that most doctors don’t set appointments. Waiting in unhealthy hallways is dumb.
“Trump who’s more a business guy he’ll want to cut superfluous processes.”
Trump is not a good businessman. He is a hustler kicked by karma several times. The one that stands out in my mind is: He and his 3 children created Trump Foundation to fleece 7 charity organizations leading a court to order them to pay $2 million reparation payments. Who the hell would have gall to steal from charity organizations?
Biden buying and selling oil to make money for US has a better business acumen.
I agree with you re Trump’s business prowess, JP. I’m just saying Project 2025 is simply conservatives (which Trump certainly is not) and Trump coming together. and Heritage Foundation is simply leveraging Trump’s business experience ie. cutting extraneous stuff. my point in all this is if Heritage Foundation can do this why not the liberal think tanks whats stopping them. and to connect it to the Philippines i gave an example why not Filipinos they can also provide a proposal to cut costs by importing geriatric care for the VA, cost effective in the Philippines plus added bonus re inheritance laws. the response of Project 2025 shouldn’t be to use it as fear mongering to vote for Biden (bad strategy) but as opportunity by taking a page from their playbook. hence the Filipino example i outlined, JP.
I cannot agree, philippine importing aged american veterans. end of life care is high demand care and quite costly, and with people living longer than usual, money soon runs out and older people left on their own, and some are abandoned. I hope philippines will not become dumping ground. though, kung tutuusin, many veterans who have pinoy citizenship end up in care homes here and being cared for. then again, many spend their last days at home with families and friends and not in the cold comforts of care homes cared for by strangers.
older people who are sick and no longer in control of their faculties and with little to no hope of recovery, those with conditions too severe to manage now have options. many countries now legalize euthanasia.
@kb, the “dumping ground” problem would be controlled by the VA working through Philippine Immigration. Either people would be housed in hospitals (staffed by Filipinos), or would have to meet other criteria for extended stays, one of them presumably financial means and the other good behavior. The Philippines is developing electronic visa procedures specifically to manage these kinds of cases. In my mind’s conceptual space, I see a hospital in Subic Freeport under their medical tourism oversight. Locals welcome incoming US ships for the money and jobs they support. The VA would be another big ship. Staffed entirely with Filipinos. Docked there a long time. Win win. Jobs and care.
kb. geriatric care is a spectrum. so yeah there is the portion of it that s more like hospice or even just assisted care stuff. but I’m also including 70 year olds thats still healthy but otherwise stuck in their apartments alone, why not let them get out and about and for cheaper in the Philippines. Joe was talking about hospital lines. but a lot of these vets are hospital averse so they just need minimal care but in a better setting. my point its a spectrum. and with the surplus of care giver and medical staff why not just import the patients instead of exporting the Filipinos out. the funding would be thru VA. as for dumping ground, here’s a good list of truisms re geriatrics. the last one should give you solace.
ps. if thought of geriatrics dumping ground is really a worry. let Philippines be epicenter for Right to Die laws. just like theres Oposa Doctrine, let there be LCPL_X doctrine. Hospitals should be the place where people elect to die, just like theres maternity wards where babies are born same place inside hospitals there should be death wards where people come in to die. theres already morgues . its less painful. less of a mess. no ghosts in homes. its a win-win-win. hospitals for death. hospice care is so inhumane, death thru morphine is no good death, kb.
Hillary did not prove them wrong to the public, which is why her poll numbers tanked on your chart. Sanders upward tick is corollary, not causative. You are making arguments up to defend a position, not to recognize that American mainstream media are tabloids.
I do recognize that American mainstream media are tabloids, Joe. been saying that all along. The public not liking Hillary had nothing to do with emails or her health , Joe. it was her. and why Bernie was popular. in 2016 people prefered both Bernie and Trump.
No, which merely illustrates that even the aware are unaware when they have been taken for a ride.
“Lock her up!” Brilliant. Truly. I say that as a marketing professional who admires a good theme.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/12-days-stunned-nation-how-hillary-clinton-lost-n794131
“The public not liking Hillary had nothing to do with emails or her health , Joe. it was her.”
The public liked Hillary as evidenced by her winning the popular votes. Trump won through electoral college votes. The indictment of the 2020 Trump allied fake electoral college voters in the news (to make it look like Joe Biden lost electoral college votes to Trump) makes one think: Did Hillary really lost the EC votes?
https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/21/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-popular-vote-final-count/index.html
Here are the articles about the fake electors:
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/2/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/27/politics/fake-electors-explainer/index.html
https://www.npr.org/2024/04/25/1247076398/11-fake-electors-from-2020-including-meadows-and-giuliani-indicted-in-arizona
Due to the SC’s “Trump immunity” 6-3 decision, Trump is now claiming that he is immune from prosecution about his involvement with the fake electors scheme because it is an “official act.” (Baloney! It is a private act to cheat Joe Biden out of his presidency)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-attorney-argues-fake-electors-124918062.html
Joe, ‘lock her up’ was very common in Trump rallies. and I agree it s catchy but that’s not the reason for Hillary not winning. her not winning rested on Bernie/Trump supporters in swing states. JP, yes Hillary won the popular vote, but we’re talking about swing states and Biden/Trump supporters. as to electroal college votes, the fact that its the same swing states thats contested year in year out (though sure with some others opening up this year) means battlegrounds can be focused. again those chanting ‘lock her up’ weren’t Hillary supporters to begin with its the folks that dithered between Bernie/Trump. because i don’t think they cared about emails or her health certainly not ‘lock her up’, what they cared about was going inward which Bernie/Trump represented, not outward which Hillary represented. who bytheway screwed up the Arab Spring thus her outward world view wasn’t really anything to be proud of. thus her unpopularity. where it counted, the swing states. blue collar folk. that’s why Make America Great Again MAGA resonates. going inward not outward nationalist globalist. which Biden thanks to Trump prosecuted. this is Biden’s strength that he didn’t depart too much from Trump’s foreign policy, eg. China. Obama never completely pivoted to China, it took Trump then Biden. Biden can focus on bringing manufacturing back but for some reason he wants to talking about NATO instead. just focus inward, that’s all. i think Newsom knows this better than most Dems. certainly not Harris who keeps on talking about race, etc. this is why Harris is weak.
ps. i’m not talking about isolationism here just the concept of what’s in it for us, which Trump and Biden represented in 2016. what’s in it for us. inward. both Trump and Biden were wary about forever wars. so was Biden. but instead of towing Trumps whats in it for us philosophy he went globalists like Hillary. thus dithering. you gotta decide if you’re inward or outward. for or against forever wars. Trump and Bernie were very clear on this. Bernie never got to implement but Trump did and no wars. it can be done.
LCPLX, Do you subscribe to the “America First” and ” Make America Great Again” thinking? You mentioned Trump and Bernie’s push “inward” several times which was also Charles Lindberg’s sentiment before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. His “isolationist” movement fell apart as he and its members joined the US war effort. Guess what Lindberg named his movement? America First.
You do not believe if US does not support its allies across the pond, their defeat will eventually bring war on US doorsteps? BTW, Biden did not start any wars. Hamas attacked Israel. Putin invaded Ukraine. No boots on the ground in these wars.
1930s America and 2024 America are totally different countries, JP. though oil and steel factored prominently to say Japan’s expansion and decision for going to war against us. its pretty safe to say that since WWII, beginning with Gen. MacArthurs foray into Chairman Mao territory its been the US thats been the instigator. its from this that most of my inward thinking stems from, not really Lindberghs or Fords, eg. the Nazis took heavily from the US when setting up their policies vis a vis race. so this notion that the US is some force for good I don’t agree with. at least not face value. its better than most countries now sure. i’m not gonna move out. but playing world police is not our responsibility. we have enough weapons to protect ourselves, allies and partners (if it suits us). so for me when thinking about these wars I always ask who’s making money off it. your Red Dawn scenario is the farthest from my mind. as for the wars Bidens currently mired in (agreed no conventional boots on the ground), if in fact Jill or Hunters the ones making these decisions then maybe that explains a lot. here’s a good addage to keep in mind.
corporal, that probly sums up the difference between the east and west. the west uses weapons to protect lives and keep peace while the east (mainly hamas) uses people to protect weapons.
I do believe in American exceptionalism, kb. that when compared to other countries we’re both strong and just. but theres also elements that just wanna profit from war. and since WWII the USA has had a difficult time balancing this. so being a cynic and skeptic pays off whenever theres wars or whenever theres a rush to wars. the military-industrial complex is the enemy. usually, kb.
Let’s hope people are wiser and see these qualities of Biden. He is the incumbent. Never underestimate the incumbent.
I’m hoping that it will suddenly dawn on Americans what a horrid character Trump is. The worst. President Biden is experienced and sane.
JP, did you catch this one?
here’s the link: https://wurdradio.com/2024/07/07/accountability-access-and-a-path-forward-why-black-media-matters/
they shoulda said, “no comment”. i hope CNN gives her a job, both of them actually. CNN did them wrong. so wrong.