All Purpose News and Politics Thread Part IV: The Center Cannot Hold

[Kevinroc]

I can’t watch this debate, someone just tell me if Biden is blowing it

Harris went on the offensive against Biden and he never recovered for the rest of the debate. It's not going to be enough to knock him from his frontrunner status in the immediate aftermath, but it could be the beginning of the end for him.

[numberthirty]

Just had NBC employees again just let Harris talk about when the Federal government has to step in when the state governments has failed without asking her about ignoring a Federal order to release an innocent man for around two years.

Not even a little bit shocked.

[numberthirty]

As for Biden, "Blowing It..." feels kinda overstated.

He feels like he has some of the same weaknesses/issues that he has had the entire time. Maybe a little bit worse shape after tonight?

[wjowski]

I usually don't mind Biden but he freaking deserved that.

[C_Miller]

I mean the debate stage is always where Biden excelled. He was average tonight which is a failure for him. Frankly, he looked old and weak. The last three years were not kind to him.

[Mecegirl]

Harris went on the offensive against Biden and he never recovered for the rest of the debate. It's not going to be enough to knock him from his frontrunner status in the immediate aftermath, but it could be the beginning of the end for him.

Don't be surprised if it gets played as Harris going all "angry black woman" on him.

[Mister Mets]

I'm sure you have had your share of altercations, would those ever justify someone pulling out a gun and shooting you? It's childish to talk about who started it when the end result was an act of violence with a weapon/gun.

This leads to a messy discussion which we have never had as a society, whether it is ever possible to shoot someone in self-defense if they are attacking you with their bare hands. I have never been in that situation, and expect to never be in that situation, because it is a rare event. Barring an unknown mental illness (undiagnosed in my 33 years) I would also expect to never throw a first punch. But that does not mean that no one else will ever be in the position of being attacked.

There are some difficult questions that we haven't addressed as a society. Should we demand that people who did not instigate a fight accept a serious risk of bodily injury and even death rather than be allowed to defend themselves and end the fight immediately?

If we've never had this discussion as a society how can we insist that others have internalized it so deeply for the only relevant question to be the end result rather than who first made the decision to harm another?

[numberthirty]

One other thing about Biden...

If you want to frame it in strictly "Civil Rights..." terms, he's still going to be the guy that came out in front of the administration that he was VP of to endorse marriage equality.

While I'm not going to say he handled that well tonight, the bigger picture is a bit more complicated when it comes to that guy and civil rights.

[Mister Mets]

Like I said. Mets party cares more about the unborn and protecting the right to shoot someone, especially if they are black, than they do about actual human life.

And just remember when he tries to run from that assessment, "Isn't the argument that she started the altercation?".

Own your **** or denounce your fucking team, man.

Is it so outrageous to suggest that in a summary of a fight that went very badly, it is relevant who may have instigated it and placed another in a position where their choices are risking bodily injury or acting in self-defense?

I don't know what exactly happened, and whether the prosecutors are making the right choice. But I also can't say with an absolute certainty that they're making the wrong choice, which is the argument of their detractors.

[Tendrin]

This leads to a messy discussion which we have never had as a society, whether it is ever possible to shoot someone in self-defense if they are attacking you with their bare hands. I have never been in that situation, and expect to never be in that situation, because it is a rare event. Barring an unknown medical illness (undiagnosed in my 33 years) I would also expect to never throw a first person. But that does not mean that no one else will ever be in the position of being attacked.

There are some difficult questions that we haven't addressed as a society. Should we demand that people who did not instigate a fight accept a serious risk of bodily injury and even death rather than be allowed to defend themselves and end the fight immediately?

If we've never had this discussion as a society how can we insist that others have internalized it so deeply for the only relevant question to be the end result rather than who first made the decision to harm another?

None of this is relevant to charging a woman who was shot by another woman with the death of her own child, but none of us are surprised that you would, in fact, find a way to argue that this is okay.

[Theleviathan]

Just had NBC employees again just let Harris talk about when the Federal government has to step in when the state governments has failed without asking her about ignoring a Federal order to release an innocent man for around two years.

Not even a little bit shocked.

Her prosecutorial record is going to be someone's hammer in a future debate. She got off a bit easy, but it was nevertheless a good showing this time.

[numberthirty]

Her prosecutorial record is going to be someone's hammer in a future debate. She got off a bit easy, but it was nevertheless a good showing this time.

Just stuck out that the exact issue she brought up is something she herself absolutely did as well, and not one person in the MSNBC/NBC employee pool thought to call bull.

Edit:

Never mind if the GOP get to run with that. It could make whatever lumps folks thought Joe took tonight look tame.

[Mecegirl]

The internet is quick. Oh man poor Sanders, stuck in the middle. lol

[numberthirty]

The internet is quick. Oh man poor Sanders, stuck in the middle. lol

Folks are all "Crazy..." Bernie.

Dude looks pretty darn chill there.

[Tami]

Folks are all "Crazy..." Bernie.

Dude looks pretty darn chill there.

Not Chill, more like befuddled and maybe nervous.