All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[babyblob]

I will agree with Mets that there is no way that Biden's paintings are worth much and the only reason he is getting what he is is because he is the presidents son. His art is just really not that good. And anyone paying that much for his work is dumb as Hell. Are some buying them to try and get sway with Biden? If they are they are dumb as hell. Even more so with the stuff happening right now.

All the news out of Afghanistan has everyone questioning Biden. His own party, other world leaders (even more so because he did not speak to any NATO leaders about the with draw until Tuesday when he spoke with Boris Johnson and with Merkiel from Germany today, and even CNN which is the Democrat Pr machine most of the time is bashing the Hell out of Biden. Showing that clip from 6 weeks ago where Biden said he doesnt see the Taliban taking over for some time if it happens at all. There are a lot of talking heads (Not on Fox News) calling Biden the quickest lame duck president in the history of America. And he will pretty much not have anything else being able to get done. His agenda at home and in congress will have a Hell of a time passing from here on out and he is pretty much done as any kind of power in not only the world but in Washington as well. And that is coming from CNN. And he looked very angry and upset in his ABC interview with George S.

This mess is not all on Biden. But he is the head of the table when all this went to hell and the Taliban take over is happening so he gets the blame. All 20 years of Mistakes and problems in Afghanistan are all now 100 percent of his shoulders in some people's minds.

I am very much worried they are right.

[green_garnish]

I agree with all of this. But I think Biden's decisions were stupid, not influenced because of a buyer of his son's art or anything else

[babyblob]

I agree with all of this. But I think Biden's decisions were stupid, not influenced because of a buyer of his son's art or anything else

I dont think anyone said that anything that happened in Afghanistan is based on that. I think the main argument that Mets was making is that the sale could be used as a conflict of interest if the buyer tries and get favors from Biden because of it. My point anyone doing so right now are dumb as Hell because what is going on Biden I dont think has the power to pull off any favors at the moment because of the mess in Afghanistan.

[green_garnish]

I never said any of his decisions were based on the sale of his son's art work.

The question to Mets, which I thought you were responding to, was what ethically sketchy decisions Biden has made as president that indicate improper influence behind the decision. My apologies for misunderstanding your post.

[babyblob]

The question to Mets, which I thought you were responding to, was what ethically sketchy decisions Biden has made as president that indicate improper influence behind the decision. My apologies for misunderstanding your post.

All good. I dont do the best job with my typing. I was more pointing out that is is not the same as the guys who own stock in the pharma companies that treat covid while being anti max and anti vax. And Biden was not trading favors for sales. At least that we have heard. The sale has not happened yet so nothing Biden has done can be a result of the sale.

[Malvolio]

Two months from now, we won't be talking about Afghanistan any more. The majority of the news media will have grown bored with the story and moved on to the next crisis. Maybe we'll have one report from Rachel Maddow reminding us that it's still pretty shitty in Afghanistan even after all of our people are out of there. But for the most part, we will pretend that it's not a problem any more.

[babyblob]

Two months from now, we won't be talking about Afghanistan any more. The majority of the news media will have grown bored with the story and moved on to the next crisis. Maybe we'll have one report from Rachel Maddow reminding us that it's still pretty shitty in Afghanistan even after all of our people are out of there. But for the most part, we will pretend that it's not a problem any more.

The Average American will. At least not until the mid terms or 2024 for the GOP will talk about it in every other campaign ad.

But The members of Congress and other world leaders will not forget in just a couple of months.

We can say what we want about how another president could not have done better. or how this is also a lot on Trump. But Biden is the president during the withdraw. he is the president when the videos of afgan people clinging to the side of a plane taking off and being killed are being played every hour. So whether it is fair or not most of this is going to fall on him. The mistakes of the last 20 years do not matter because in most people's eyes Biden lost Afghanistan and let the Taliban regain control in 11 days.

[Mister Mets]

What is your example of something Biden has done as president that he shouldn't have?

This is a good question.

I want to be clear that my comments weren't meant to suggest that Biden is a political disgrace. I thought he'd be a good candidate before he ran, voted for him in the general election and don't regret that at all.

I'm a New Yorker. I have had three consecutive governors end their careers in disgrace. In addition to that, there have been resignations from my state attorney general (Eric Schneiderman), and congressman (Anthony Weiner) and I've had a state senator (Shirley Huntley) lose a primary while indicted. I'm reasonably sure my former mayor Rudy Giuliani deserved to lose his bar license, and that former President Donald Trump (the most prominent politician from Queens NY) has committed serious offences that merit an ignominious end to his political career. If I say there's stuff Biden did that he shouldn't have done, this is not suggesting that he's on the level of people whose careers ended in disgrace. These would be standard mistakes by high-level politicians.

I think it's a bad idea to have his recovering addict son sell artwork at a gallery. It would not surprise me if that were scuttled in the coming weeks.

The decision to leave Afghanistan was correct, but the execution was seriously flawed. His best argument would be that he surpassed his three predecessors.

He was right when he said it was unconstitutional to extend the eviction moratorium. His decision to do it anyway, openly as a delaying tactic, is not to his credit.

[numberthirty]

Two months from now, we won't be talking about Afghanistan any more. The majority of the news media will have grown bored with the story and moved on to the next crisis. Maybe we'll have one report from Rachel Maddow reminding us that it's still pretty shitty in Afghanistan even after all of our people are out of there. But for the most part, we will pretend that it's not a problem any more.

Let's make that "Some of us will pretend..."

[babyblob]

American politics is not so much about policy as sound bites and visuals on the cable news channels. And sadly The GOP has a whole batch of sound bites and tragic videos (such as the plane incident or the Taliban taking pictures in the office of the Afgan president) in the last couple weeks that will last them through the mid term election, the 2024 election and maybe beyond depending on how the Taliban behaves in the next few years.

[worstblogever]

The idea of a person bleating about Hunter Biden is supposedly somehow profiting off his father's presidency for being overpaid for art... trying to use that to distract from current Republican politicians owning pharmaceutical stock that means their spreading information is getting people sick was already ludicrous...

If there wasn't silence from the same person doing it the past five years while Ivanka got a job in the White House in an unspecified capacity, and so did her husband Jared in spite of the fact THAT HE FAILED HIS BACKGROUND CHECK and they made $640 million in their business dealings in four years... plus the number of free advertising they did for Goya industries in their capacity... and let along the money Don Jr. and Eric made while Trump businesses profited off of their father constantly vacationing at his own properties and charging Secret Service (and taxpayers) rent... just...

There's a level of inconsistent, disingenuous, pearl-clutching we should recognize for being the "whataboutism" distraction it is, and we're about five degrees past that level.


Back to the lede that's not about to be buried:
Ron DeSantis and Rand Paul are spreading misinformation that gets people sick, possibly killed to increase the amount of medical treatments for a preventable disease, aiding stock portfolios of the family and/or their political donors.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The Average American will. At least not until the mid terms or 2024 for the GOP will talk about it in every other campaign ad.

But The members of Congress and other world leaders will not forget in just a couple of months.

We can say what we want about how another president could not have done better. or how this is also a lot on Trump. But Biden is the president during the withdraw. he is the president when the videos of afgan people clinging to the side of a plane taking off and being killed are being played every hour. So whether it is fair or not most of this is going to fall on him. The mistakes of the last 20 years do not matter because in most people's eyes Biden lost Afghanistan and let the Taliban regain control in 11 days.

I'm guessing Biden knew all of that was going to happen (though not so quickly), but he still went ahead with the pullout and refused to second guess himself when everything went south. He made the call not to kick this can down the road for a fifth administration to agonize over, even though the decision could well cripple him politically after everything that's happened over the last several days. While history won't be kind to Biden in the short term, over time, he'll most likely be lauded for ending America's longest war.

[green_garnish]

This is a good question.

I want to be clear that my comments weren't meant to suggest that Biden is a political disgrace. I thought he'd be a good candidate before he ran, voted for him in the general election and don't regret that at all.

I'm a New Yorker. I have had three consecutive governors end their careers in disgrace. In addition to that, there have been resignations from my state attorney general (Eric Schneiderman), and congressman (Anthony Weiner) and I've had a state senator (Shirley Huntley) lose a primary while indicted. I'm reasonably sure my former mayor Rudy Giuliani deserved to lose his bar license, and that former President Donald Trump (the most prominent politician from Queens NY) has committed serious offences that merit an ignominious end to his political career. If I say there's stuff Biden did that he shouldn't have done, this is not suggesting that he's on the level of people whose careers ended in disgrace. These would be standard mistakes by high-level politicians.

I think it's a bad idea to have his recovering addict son sell artwork at a gallery. It would not surprise me if that were scuttled in the coming weeks.

The decision to leave Afghanistan was correct, but the execution was seriously flawed. His best argument would be that he surpassed his three predecessors.

He was right when it was unconstitutional to extend the eviction moratorium. His decision to do it anyway openly as a delaying tactic is not to his credit.

In all the back and forth, the original context of the question seems to have been lost, i meant, what decisions had Biden made as president that would suggest improper influence, like from someone who pays too much for bad art, or otherwise lining the pockets of the president or his family?

[babyblob]

I'm guessing Biden knew all of that was going to happen (though not so quickly), but he still went ahead with the pullout and refused to second guess himself when everything went south. He made the call not to kick this can down the road for a fifth administration to agonize over, even though the decision could well cripple him politically after everything that's happened over the last several days. While history won't be kind to Biden in the short term, over time, he'll most likely be lauded for ending America's longest war.

It is little comfort that history will look on him kindly when right now he has given the GOP the ball on foreign policy and matter like keeping America and the people who helped us safe. (which is laughable as I type that out)

I agree with what Biden Did. I think we needed out and there was never going to be a good time.

History looking on him is great and all but I am worried about the mid terms and 2024. If god forbid Trump runs again do you really think he will take the high road on this?

[Mister Mets]

In all the back and forth, the original context of the question seems to have been lost, i meant, what decisions had Biden made as president that would suggest improper influence, like from someone who pays too much for bad art, or otherwise lining the pockets of the president or his family?

I do think that while all of them have made mistakes, we shouldn't assume Joe Biden, Rand Paul or Ron DeSantis did anything to to line their pockets.

I'm guessing Biden knew all of that was going to happen (though not so quickly), but he still went ahead with the pullout and refused to second guess himself when everything went south. He made the call not to kick this can down the road for a fifth administration to agonize over, even though the decision could well cripple him politically after everything that's happened over the last several days. While history won't be kind to Biden in the short term, over time, he'll most likely be lauded for ending America's longest war.

The consensus seems to be that the problem seems to be the execution, rather than the decision to leave Afghanistan.