Out of the ruins
Out from the wreckage
Can't make the same mistake this time
We are the children
The last generation (the last generation, generation)
We are the ones they left behind
And, I wonder when we are ever gonna change, change
Mad Max.
The third one, I think.
Two men enter, one man leaves, that one. The one with post apocalyptic Tina Turner -- which is mostly just regular Tina Turner, but in chainmail. Back when you could watch Mel Gibson movies without cringing.
So, long time ago now, since that movie came out.
But you remember.
Anyway, despite the aforementioned Mel Gibson thing, it's still a damn good movie, if you're into Australian post nuclear war wasteland car flicks without the graphic brutality of the more recent installments.
There's a reason I mention it.
See, there's this one scene:
Max beat Blaster in the Thunderdome and was betrayed by his erstwhile allies. Now the whole town is after him and he's running for his life, again. Max and the Onlies, along with their former enemy Master, have busted out of Bartertown's pig shit methane factory, blowing up half the town in the process, and they're roaring down the rails through a nuclear wasteland on this slapped-together ramshackle circus train that's half truck and half locomotive with a dash of construction shack thrown in. They've got Aunty and an army of turbocharged barbarians chasing after them, hellbent on revenge. Max throws the last of the enemy warriors off the caboose and fights his way upstream to the engine where he's clinging to the outside of the door and over the roar of the motors and the wind he shouts to a guy artfully named "Pigkiller" in the driver's seat,
"So, what's the plan?"
"PLAN?!" Pigkiller laughs incredulously. "There ain't no plan!"
There ain't no plan. It's just ass backwards straight towards the radioactive horizon, a whoopin and a hollerin' and hopefully Bruce Spence will show up and fly us all to safety.
That scene has stuck with me over the years and I find it's a useful metaphor far more often than you would think.
You know where I'm going with this, don't you?
Sure you do.
So, what's the plan?
Here we are, hanging on for dear life, barbarians in hot pursuit, rolling ass backward through the apocalypse in a circus train full of howling mutants, and you're like, hey, let's shoot the engineer!
Yeah, let's just shoot the guy driving the train. Good idea, right?
So, tell me, what's the plan?
What's the plan after we shoot the engineer and toss him over the side?
You want Biden to step down, resign, drop out of the race, go away.
Let's face it, Ol' Creaky Joe had a good run. Sure. No one's arguing that. But after that one debate, woo, yeah, he's just dragging us down. Dead weight, man. We gotta dump him. Throw him off the train before the barbarian mutants catch us.
Turns out Republicans were right.
We can admit that, can't we? New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and Bernie Bros and Trump and the MAGAs were all right. It's Dementia Joe. He's just too damn old. And so here you are in my mentions, standing with Republicans and the Russians, calling for Biden to drop out. For the good of the nation. Of course. I mean, you're not an asshole. But, look at the guy. He needs a nap and a cup of hot cocoa.
We gotta get out while we can and find us a new hero.
Looking for something, we can rely on
There's gotta be something better out there
Ooh, love and compassion
Their day is coming (coming)
All else are castles built in the air
Right?
Right.
So, tell me, Pigkiller, what's your goddamn plan?
We're barely four months and some change away from the most important election of your lifetime. And you want to dump the one guy who has managed to win every single election he's ever been in, and who beat Trump last time around?
Yeah, yeah, I hear you. This Biden is a lot older than that Biden. Yep. I got it. I'm not arguing that. Biden is old. And tired. And he's slowing down. And maybe he's not as sharp as he used to be. Biden's in the back bedroom taking a nap while Trump is out golfing 18 holes and fucking 17-year-olds. That's all true, probably.
But we're one Steve Bannon prison sentence out from the election and you're talking about handing Biden over to the mutants.
I don't think I'm out of line here asking to see what you plan to do after that.
We don't need another hero
We don't need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond Thunderdome
You all love military metaphors. Military terminology.
This is war! you shout. We're in this fight to the end! We're ready for battle!
I've been to war. Couple times now. War was my profession, most of my life. I don't recommend it, but it worked for me. I know something about it.
You know who wins wars? Who wins the battle? Who ends up victorious in the end?
The army with the plan, that's who.
You can lose the general. You can lose the colonels and the captains and the lieutenants. Hopefully not all at once, but if you've got a good plan and you've got good people who can execute that plan, who can flex and improvise when needed, sergeants and foot soldiers who will stay the course, well, you can win. You will win, if you've got the courage to stay the course and hold the line.
But you got to have a plan.
Which is why we in the US military spend so much time and energy on planning. I know, I used to be a military war planner, amongst other things.
We're all in this fight together you tell me. Great. What's your plan?
We dump Biden. Then what?
Tell me how you spin up a full blown, fifty state, national campaign for an as-yet undetermined candidate in four months. Fully funded, fully staffed, organized, on the ground, on the air, on message, on target, in the ballots, in the debates, websites, pamphlets, buttons, slogans, yard signs, hats, bumper stickers, grassroots, in Trump's face and toe-to-toe.
Show me your plan for that.
Come on, let's see it.
Who's the candidate? Because liberals, lefties, progressives, democrats, can't even agree on what they already agree on -- see my aforementioned social media mentions for examples.
Where is that candidate? Where is that plan? The one we all agree on and are ready to fully support?
Because if you don't have that, and if you don't have that right fucking now, then you don't have a plan and you don't have a chance in hell.
All the children say
We don't need another hero
We don't need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond Thunderdome
Who's your candidate? Tell me.
Kamala Harris?
Is it? And we're all agreed on that, right? There's not going to be any fighting. We're all going to fall in line behind Kamala Harris, are we?
Heh, heh. Sure.
I like Harris. I'd vote for her. In fact, I liked her a lot better than Biden. Biden wasn't even in my top three, back in the day. I'd to love to see a woman of color as president, though that's not the reason I'd vote for her. That said, is Harris who we all agree on? Is she?
No, of course not.
No, we don't agree.
No, instead we're going to argue. We're going to argue bitterly even though we don't have the time for it. And we're going to argue and argue and argue some more while Trump is out there campaigning and mocking Democrats in disarray -- and he won't be wrong.
Some of us are not going to accept the results no matter who ends up the candidate.
And don't tell me you will, because you won't.
And you won't because you don't get to choose Biden's replacement.
The primaries are over.
The delegates are already pledged.
You had your vote.
Didn't think of that, did you?
There's no time. There's no mechanism for a do-over primary. If we're going to replace Biden, we have to do it now and democracy just isn't fast enough, even if liberals could actually agree on anything.
So, any replacement will perforce be selected by the party and you are not going to get any say in it.
You good with that?
Are you really?
Those of you still seething about the "anointment" of Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders? You're going to be good with the Democratic National Committee picking your candidate for you? Really? And the rest of you? Are you really going to be good with the party apparatus telling you who you're going to vote for in the general election?
Don't blow smoke up my ass and call it beef jerky.
We'll lose right there.
Some of you will be madder about that than you are about Trump taking away your rights. And you'll stay home, just like you did last time and we'll lose right there.
Might as well just hand the keys over to King Trump and hidey ho yourself down to the nearest concentration camp.
So, what do we do with our lives
We leave only a mark
Will our story shine like a light or end in the dark?
Give it all or nothing
And then there's the rest of it.
The practical aspects of changing horses midstream without drowning.
And the legal aspects. And the political ones.
As I noted up above, there is no national campaign for any other candidate. You'll have to create one from scratch, overnight, in fifty states. It's not just a matter of changing the names, there are legal aspects to it. Campaign finance law for one. Campaign filings with the state, ballot issues, and so on. And not every campaign staffer who supports Biden is going to support the new candidate -- for whatever reason. So you're going to need to hire at least some new people.
Where are you going to get the money?
No. No. Don't look away. Don't roll your eyes. Where you gonna get the money?
See, while it's possible that Biden's campaign war chest, those millions and millions of dollars, could be legally transferred to Harris, because she's already on the ticket with him, it's never been done before. There will most certainly be legal challenges -- by the Trump campaign if not various Democrats -- tying up that money for some period of time, maybe a long period of time.
And if the candidate is not Harris, well, then that money very likely can't be transferred and a new non-Harris candidate would have raise all new money themselves. Which takes us right back to the previous paragraph: How are you going to spin up a nationwide campaign across fifty states fast enough and powerful enough to challenge Trump without any money at first and when you can't just change the names on the Biden Campaign offices?
PACs?
Well, about that, Political Action Committees that accept money for one candidate can't just use it for another without certain legal issues. Now, a PAC can become a multicandidate PAC, but the rules for doing so are complex and have to meet pretty specific federal and state election requirements. You think you can do that in a couple of days? Fast enough to spin up a campaign in time? Across fifty states? Well enough to avoid legal challenges? Do you really?
Show me that plan.
No money. No campaign.
Yes, I see you. Rolling your eyes. In the back there.
You can wave your hands all you like, but you still have to answer the question. You still have to adhere to campaign finance law. You still have to have money to get elected. And you have to do it in such a manner that the other side, the one infamous for suing people and trying to overthrow elections, can't legally challenge you on it and de facto kill your campaign before you even start.
You have to have a plan to address all the legal requirements. Where is it?
States are already printing ballots and programming election equipment. It's a process. It's a long legal process and it has to be in order to prevent election fraud -- and to be able to withstand scrutiny when someone like Trump accuses the process of fraud in court.
There may not be time to swap out candidates.
Particularly in red states run by Trump supporters who don't want there to be time and who would love nothing better than Trump running unopposed in their state.
There are thousands of details like this, some legal, some practical, some political.
Some are solvable in time.
Many are not -- even if you did have a plan, and you don't.
Folks, we're on a runaway train, barreling through the wasteland, chased by mutants, ass backwards into the unknown. This isn't the time to throw the Engineer over the side. Yes, in this metaphor, Max was without doubt the far better driver and Pigkiller was crippled by a hole blown through his thigh. But you don't change the hand on the wheel in the middle of an escape and you need to remember that when it was all going to hell and they were neck deep in manure, it was Pigkiller who fired up the engine and got them all the hell out of bondage. No, this isn't the time to replace the Engineer. This is the time when you grit your teeth, put the hammer down all the way to the goddamn floor, cock your pistol, and ride full throttle for the horizon.
Biden may or may not win. That's up to you.
But you pull Biden off the ballot now, and Trump most certainly will.
See you around, Soldier.
And, I wonder when we are ever gonna change, change
Living under the fear, 'til nothing else remains
All the children say
We don't need another hero
We don't need to know the way home
All we want is life beyond Thunderdome
-- Tina Turner, We Don't Need Another Hero
Yes. This. All of it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for laying it out
ReplyDeleteI do agree, 100%. Joe’s our horse.
ReplyDeleteBut this is my problem with this whole freakin’ mess.
Four years ago, we elected the Democrats on the campaign premise that they were not trump, and that they would save democracy.
And here we are, 4 years later, in the very same, if not a worse, situation.
The Republicans have spent over two years putting together this plan for the future of the country, and as dystopian as it is, it is still a plan.
The Democrats have nothing.
There is no plan from them for what begins on November 8, 2024, what the intermediate goals are, what the strategic goals are, or where the country is going once they win the election.
Their only campaign tool is fear mongering. “Vote for us because we are not trump, and we will save democracy”, only THIS time, they are flavoring it with “saving democracy is up to YOU.”
This whole mess is due in very large part to the absence of leadership from the Democratic party, who have had four years……FOUR YEARS…… to come up with, virtually, ANYthing, and they simply dogged it.
I will vote for Biden, however I won’t consider it a “win”, and my question to people who start popping champagne on November 8 is going to be, “So now, what happens next? Where we going?” And every single person that gives me the dodge answer, “WE just saved democracy!!”, is going to make me change my mind.
ANY one with ANY just rudimentary understanding of Leadership….,Republican, Democrat, Nazi, Communist, serial killer or cop,…..will tell you that, in the absence of plan for the future, the people will accept whatever plan is offered.
The Democrats have a lot to prove between now and November, and they need to stop playing catch up and start leading.
I mean really; how can a cartoon character like trump be this hard to defeat? You can’t get elected to a city council if you have unpaid parking tickets, but trump has done everything except sell heroine at a junior high school, and he’s running for President. Again!
I better see those pasty faced Democratic campaign volunteers humping it 7 days a week, 24 hours a day on leading this country AWAY from this situation, because if trump loses, and we get right back here again in 2028, it may certainly be a better choice to give somebody else a shot.
And this “immunity” works both ways.
I promise, the Democrats are as delighted by the supreme court decision as the Republicans are. Expansion of the powers of the Executive Branch has been a goal if both parties as far back as the mid 1800’s, when they were known as “Jeffersonian” and “Lincolnian” Republicans.
All Biden has to do is issue an Executive Order saying the “Executive Branch waives all future immunity for criminal acts or acts that are not deemed official by the courts”.
But he won’t; you watch.
I want to know what our plan is after November 7, 2024. I am an American citizen and long standing Center-Left voter, and I deserve to know what it is I have been supporting, because otherwise, I am just in a cult, too.
Spot on... Unless some of this gets reversed asap, meaning both house and senate with blue majorities as well as the presidency, we're just facing this in 4 more years...
Delete"Our" plan? Who's the "we" of that "our"? You talk about the party in the first person plural in one paragraph and throw it into the third person singular in the next .
DeleteI used to hear bellyaching like this back when I was a union local president. The union oughta this, the union oughta that, the union oughta.... If you reminded people that local meetings were open to all members, if they wanted the union to do a thing all they had to do was come to a meeting and make the suggestion, they'd start making excuses. Somehow they were always busy when local meetings were scheduled.
If you don't like what the Democratic Party is doing, go to a local committee meeting and make some noise.
Exactly!
DeletePresident Biden tried to give you the plan in the debate and succeeded as well as could be expected with the horrible moderators. Read the transcript. There is an extensive Party Platform on the DNC site. Yes, it needs to be updated some but it is still quite pertinent to today.
DeleteNo.
DeleteNo what? No all of what you wrote, in essence.
No, the Democrats did not campaign on fearmongering, for example. They told us the truth. You're here, reading Jim's essay, presumably because you've read other essays or what he writes on social media, where he's been saying the same thing about Trump, The republicans, and democracy, and you don;t know that Democrats saying this are telling us the truth?
No, "all Biden has to do...". Think about what you wrotte for a moment, in the context of the Supreme Court decision. What you wrote is already what the GOP Extreme Six on the Court unilaterally decided. The COURT will make any final determination. And it is obvious at this point that the GOP Extreme SIx Court will determine Trump or any GOP did nothing wrong, but not so for the Democrat. And, of course, whatever EOs any POTUS issues can be overturned by any EO the next POTUS issues.
No, on what you wrote re leadership. The Republicans did not spend two years putting together a plan for the take over of the US government and transformation of it into an authoritarian one -no, because they have been at this far longer than that and from far before anyone thought about Trump. No, because the Democrats have done so much during this presidency to date, to clean up the massive mess trump and his partymates in Congress left, and that with out even an actual majority in Congress. If you don;t understand how a 5050split Senate works, in detail, and why it means that the "majority" party has to work incredibly hard to get ANYTHING through or anything done, please spend some time familiarizing yourself with that. And President Biden DID "save democracy" -ie he restored Constitutional government in the exec after Trump damaged it severely. That, he had the power to do. He could not fix Congress, and neither could his partymates without the numbers that the voters did not give them.
And that is on US, not on THEM.
No, on the idea that it is all up to the Democrats in office to keep demcoracy safe after we, the voters, caused such a mess by whom we put into office. We got complacent, we got apathetic, we didn;t bother to learn about candidates, we didn;t bother to show up...and what happened happened. That's another "jim-ism" you will recognize, isn;t it. The "you better show up". And it cannot be fixed in one election, or two, or three, or four. The Republican Party leadership won;t just think better of wanting that authoritarian government with themselves in charge and go back to being who they were 60 years ago because they lost one presidential election and never even had to deal with an actual Democratic majority in both chambers of Congress.
We are in this for the long haul. We better show up, and keep doing it, not switch off every two years or every four, because we want it all to be nice and tidily fixed right away and we're mad at the Democrats for not doing that with one hand tied behind their backs and their feet hobbled by us.
It IS up to us, and always has been. For the long haul, not one election.
I get that you're mad, sad, tired, and want it all to be ok. We all do. And it is still up to us to get them into those seats in numbers enough to get that done, over multiple elections, consistently.
If the Dems put a potato up for President, you pull the lever. If Joe is doing “Weekend at Bernie’s” you pull the lever. Plenty of people in a Dem administration will pick up the slack. You put a R, any R in the White House and we are done. It’s literally that simple.
Delete👏👏👏 Well said
DeleteWell, the comment that begins with "No what? No all of what you wrote, in essence." pretty much covers all the territory I was thinking of. So thanks, whoever you may be.
DeleteAs for you, whoever you may be: thanks for the depressing reminder of how willing even well-intentioned people are to simply swallow corporate media narratives whole without doing any of their own fact checking.
There it is. I never see anyone else say it.
DeleteTrump, and the state of things he created, is the end result of a Conservative plan in the making since longer than most people reading this have been alive. Some of it stretches all the way back to FDR, some of it older than that.
This, this mess right now, has been the endgame for most of the nation's history. And now they have it. They've ALMOST won. One step shy of the finish line and then it's all over but the weeping.
This election is already going to be BAD, beyond what anyone expects. They're going to make sure of it, because they're *right there*. Infinite power forever is a fingerlength away.
Sure, Democrats need a plan, and a solid one. They NEED to be better about presenting themselves, and their victories.
But for the foreseeable future, maybe for a generation to come, the only acceptable answer is opposing them, in everything. Because the consequence of not doing that is their total victory.
I'm not American, and from where I'm standing the Biden administration and your government have achieved quite a bit given they have been severely hampered by a hostile senate. You have a healthy economy and a healthy employment market, just for a start.
DeleteSurely the question all of you should be asking is what the hell has happened to your media? Is your media so scared of being accused of displaying liberal bias that it can't even report facts that could be seen to favour the Democrats? And if they are, why are they so scared? What do they think will happen?
Is it the 'balance' fetish gone mad? Or is it that simple reporting on how governments are working doesn't drive engagement anymore?
Your country doesn't just have a serious problem with the Republicans - it has a incredibly serious problem with its media. The fourth estate. The estate that is meant to shine a light into dark places. To uphold and support democracy. What the hell has happened to your media?
So what you're wanting is a Democratic dictator. Joe has a plan, always did. But because this is a democracy, his plan has to change because he's not a dictator. He has to deal with all the malcontents in Congress, SCOTUS, even his own damned party so his plans change. Don't like the plan? Get your hands dirty and get involved with those that influence the plan. Posting on a blog, or Twitter, or Facebook isn't enough.
DeleteRepublicans have been lock step, working on covertly totally remaking the Country in their ideal since at least JFK. They became more overt starting with the disgraced former Speaker of the House Gingrich and supercharged with Obama.
Democracy is messy. The alternative, Project 2025, only messy for the losers. Unless you're a straight white male or can pass for one, you're in the loser camp.
Pick your fighter. I'm still ridin with Biden.
"Or is it that simple reporting on how governments are working doesn't drive engagement anymore?
Delete"
Lay eyes on this graph. Note when the revenue increase trends upward.
Donald Trump has been a financial boon to a faltering media industry. He taught them what the entertainment industry already knew. Trash sells.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/279835/new-york-times-media-groups-quarterly-circulation-revenue/
"All Biden has to do is issue an Executive Order saying the “Executive Branch waives all future immunity for criminal acts or acts that are not deemed official by the courts”."
DeleteWrong. Flatly, objectively, totally, *catastrophically* wrong.
The recent SCOTUS immunity decision was made on Constitutional grounds. Now, I'm with Sotomayor that this was a bad decision, quite possibly the worst SCOTUS decision ever, but as of now, presidental immunity is a *matter of Constitutional law*.
No president has, or should have, the authority to casually override the Constitution with an Executive Order. Because that would give POTUS the authority to equally casually revoke *other* Constitutional provisions, *starting*, but certainly not ending, with the First Amendment.
What's that old saw? Dance with the feller who brung ya. Yep. Let's do that and stop with the pie-eyed what ifs.
ReplyDeleteThis is an absolute mic drop. Powerful. To the point. There are so MANY who need to read it. Wish I could share it.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't you? Copy the URL and share that with your friends. How hard can it be?
DeleteYep....Eliza Gilkyson's Runaway Train song comes to mind:
ReplyDeleteEveryone knew she was gonna be fast
Everyone said they could build her to last
10,000 tons of hurtlin steel
Screamin round the curves nobody at the wheel
Everyone said don't pay it any mind
There's a pot of gold waitin at the end of the line
Just move with the eye of the hurricane
You'll never get off this runaway train
Nobody cared when they piled on board
And the doors snapped shut and the engines roared
They pushed to the front
Some fell to the back
Buyin and sellin every inch of the track
Deep in the engines fire in the hole
Dark skinned workers shovelin coal
All singin their sad refrain
We'll never get off this runaway train
Up in the diner everybody decked out in their finery
Can't see the wreck comin up ahead
With their bellies full of wine
It's the last thing going through their minds
So proud of the engine proud of the speed
Call for the porter give them everything they need
Stare through the glass feel no pain
Don't even know they're on a runaway train
Long after midnight a pitiful few sound the alarm
Don't know what else to do
Bangin on the doors of the cabin and crew
Hey we gotta slow down or we won't make it through
Sleepy riders don't want to wake
Or suffer the shock when they put on the brake
Don't want to question , don't want to complain
Rather keep ridin on this runaway train
Wow- Eliza! Nice!
DeleteExcept it ISN'T a runaway train, which negates the whole irrelevant song. Behind Joe Biden are a whole team of young people on his administration, doing tons and tons of work, pushing the most progressive agenda we've seen since FDR. A whole team of young, talented people no one recognizes because 1) they're working, not showboating, and 2) The Media have given Trump all of the oxygen in the room, just like that two times he ran. We're not riding a runaway train, we're running on a huge talented team with a huge talented plan who have kept unemployment below 4%, reduced inflation from post-COVID highs, passed a ton of laws which positively affect tens of millions of Americans, and not one of them has become a convicted felon, tried to overturn democracy, sexually assaulted anyone. Yeah, we're not on a runaway train at all. This train is going exactly where we want to go, maybe slower than we wanted, but we're heading in the right direction. So why you trying to derail it?
DeleteThank you; this is a very good rebuttal.
DeleteBest argument I have read.
ReplyDeleteCommon sense where art thou
ReplyDeleteExcellent post.
ReplyDeleteThank you for articulating this reasoning. I just can’t believe how many people have seemed to have lost their minds over that debate.
ReplyDeleteErudite observations AND movie references! You are spot on as usual. There is no time to pick another candidate with any hope of winning. There is no perfect candidate and the Republicans are counting on us to be distracted by fighting with each other about how to proceed and who to support. They have always played the long game and we are always in crisis mode. The largest problem is Trump and we cannot lose sight of that. Project 2025 may not be his idea but he will damned well take advantage of it. Thanks Jim. Extra points for using Mad Max to demonstrate what we need to pay attention to. My plan? Vote for Bide or kiss democracy good bye.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
ReplyDeleteExactly!
ReplyDeleteI think a Harris/Whitmer ticket would a strong one!
ReplyDeleteWhat is your plan to make it a winning ticket?
DeleteI get the feeling you didn't read, or didn't understand, Jim's essay.
Thank you for this! I was a combo of shocked, angry and scared when it was suggested that Biden should drop out. He also wasn’t my first choice last time, I will live in the reality of 2024 & vote for the honest guy with the plans.
ReplyDeletePeople need to put full support on the Biden Harris ticket. Dumping Biden now would just handing the election to Trump. What the Republican ticket is planning on pushing on us is downright frightening. Read project 2025. They’ll do it. I am not overreacting when I say that.
ReplyDeleteAs always…you hit it right over the fence. Thank you.
ReplyDelete"We are a pair, ain't we, Raggedy Man!"
ReplyDeleteI'm Canadian, but here's what I'd do.
ReplyDeleteVote for Joe.
Joe sticks around for 6 months and then gracefully steps down.
Harris steps up.
Repubs blow a forehead vein.
I'm a USA citizen. That plan works just fine for me. Biden could retire as early as February and it would still work for me.
DeleteMichael Moore:
ReplyDeleteThis is not an unusual moment we are in this week. It happens. There’s precedent. And if President Biden is unable to perform his duties, there is a tried and true solution. He resigns due to the obvious medical issues that were on full display the night of June 27th. His vice president, Kamala Harris, is sworn in as President. By federal campaign rules, she, and only she, inherits all the campaign funds in the Biden-Harris war chest. Biden will urge all his Biden-Harris convention delegates to support her. She will now be the Incumbent President who will run on the incredible accomplishments of the Biden-Harris administration. There will be no real convention fight, and nearly every American who had planned to vote for Biden will vote for Harris (as recent polling has revealed). Many have already stated that they’d vote for a dead cat or a ficus plant instead of Trump. Some have even said that they would go all-out-Weekend-at-Bernie’s and vote for a “dead” Biden if that meant keeping Trump out of the White House.
One possible bonus in all of this will be that a record number of votes from women for Harris will make up for some of Biden’s loss of the youth and Arab vote. And there’s this: For over 8 months, it has been reported that Kamala Harris has pushed for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. One thing seems possible from this mess we’re in — less Palestinians will die with her in the Oval Office.
And this: Some day we will look back and see that we grew and got better as a country and finally finished the job of having a full, equal and complete Democracy. Our first female President, it turns out, ended up playing a big role in making that happen. Another gift from Joe Biden, picking her, knowing she was the right one when, during their own debate on a stage in 2020, she gently but caustically reminded him that as a Senator in D.C., he once stood in the way of her going to an integrated school in Berkley, CA.
Well said, Mr. Moore.
DeleteAnd the same people who are complaining about Biden now will have an entirely different set of complaints to lodge against Harris. I could write the NYT OpEds for you right now.
It appears that Biden made such a bad showing because he was jetlagged from back to back international trips. Been there quite a few times. First few days back from being 4-6 time zones from home I was barely functional.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I'm concerned this one is on his people for blowing it big time. They set it up, he did the best he could and it was not good at all. Although he did much better toward the end.
I'll take a jetlagged Biden over The Former Guy at his "best" ,whatever that might be and it won't be much.
And he had a cold and his cold medicine didn't help. This is getting in conspiracy territory but some sound experts speculate that CNN sound engineers made Biden sound bad.
DeleteAnd he had a cold medicine and his medicine could've affected him. Entering conspiracy territory, some sound experts think CNN sound engineers made him sound bad.
DeleteThank you Jim for enumerating all the consequences. I'm absolutely stunned by the Democrats who are flopping around suggesting Biden step aside "for the good of the PARTY" or "the good of the NATION." Those proclamations make me want to throat punch those idiots. I once deeply respected Lloyd Doggett as one of the good guys in Texas politics, there being precious damn few of them. No more. He can now kiss me square on the middle of my ass.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work, Jim. I needed that. I've been waffling and I am now solidly in the Pancake Party.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been pounding my liberal friends with this reality since the debate, but not so eloquently.
~ mak ~
Thank you
ReplyDeleteThanks for another much needed kick in the post-derriere with an apocalyptic train reference to boot. People need to focus and learn from the enemy in this case, but it is tough with all the noise. However this excercise in futility does illuminate some people's intentions.
ReplyDeleteLiking the new unit of measurement for 4 months as well. Wish it was longer but will take it as a good start.
Thank you for laying out once again how our government ACTUALLY works. Too many people are acting like they believe in magic wand government, where we wave a wand and make it so. Biden wasn’t one of my top picks either, but I’m happy with the job he’s done so far and hope we have a chance for him to do more. Well said as usual!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Biden resigned *right now*, Kamala were sworn in, could things go smoother in that the incumbent was on the ballot? Probably not.
ReplyDeleteThat won't work because if Kamala wins, the House has to confirm any VP that Kamala might select, and the MAGA House won't do that. Also, if the GOP takes back the Senate, and there's no confirmed VP, the GOP Senate will select a MAGA president pro tem to preside over the election certification, and that person will refuse to certify her election (based on Trumped-up claims of election fraud).
DeleteThere are multiple ways to share it at the bottom of the article.
ReplyDeleteLove all the anonymous posts. And to all of you who are screaming that the Democrats didn't deliver I have a question for you: Where the fuck were you during the midterms When the House of Representatives was handed over to the MAGA?
ReplyDeleteWe got to help the Democrats deliver and that means turning out and voting blue all the way down the goddamn ballot.
And a paraphrase Jim, In case this post was TL;DR: What's your plan, Pigkiller? Who have we got Besides Biden who can rebuild trust in the United States government with international allies; continue to support Ukraine; rebuild (some) trust with China; continue to bring down inflation; Invest in this country and our jobs; protect what liberties we still have; and push us to do better? Nobody who's going to challenge Joe Biden, Because they all know he's the best guy for the job.
Wait, wait, wait
ReplyDeleteAre saying that running around in a pants shitting panic isn't a plan?
Are you really saying that even though we have all the tools we need, right now, to keep a fucking psychopath from an office where he now has utterly unfettered power we shouldn't just start over?
It can't be that simple can it?
God love you for writing this
ReplyDeleteBiden all the way..we have come this far
ReplyDeleteI'm shaking my head over the calls to "draft Bernie."
ReplyDeleteWith each day I understand we are actually reliving 1930's Germany. Except we have a good man at the end of the table, legally in power. Facing him and us is Mad King Donald I, who spent 4 years ripping this country to pieces, breaking laws and stealing from everyone he got close to. His rule, and that is what it was, he made no effort to govern, he wanted to and did rule. A group of classic thugs got close and understood how easy it is to use him and they are still loosely aligned in a shadow government mostly in DC. Then Charles Koch had the Project 2025 put together and they plan the actual end to our Constitution and democracy. They are ptound of their work and getting more vocal every day.
ReplyDeleteIf it isn't Joe Biden on the ballot in November we get Mad King Donald - I don't know about you but I doubt they'll wait on inauguration to come get me.
Biden hasn't delivered? My God, he's gotten more accomplished than anyone in a century., and with a House that's half stupid and would not vote for ANYTHING, even if they wrote it themselves. Come on, give Dems the House back and a secure Senate and this country will roll.
ReplyDeleteYes. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what we do about the media problem; no-one has a plan for right-wing capture of all the major media outlets. Sulzberger ought to be ashamed of himself, but, as with so many people with inherited wealth, his ability to be ashamed of harming the little people is apparently non-existent.
My Plan:
ReplyDelete1. I want Biden to stay in the race.
If alive .. I will vote for him.
If dead .. I intend to herd Trump and ALL of his cult into HELL.
2. I am posting on my blog .. I am posting on FB and I am answering all the blooming polls that they keep sending me saying YAYAYAY Biden.
3. IF the Democratic Party are stupid enuf to force Biden out and replace him .. I will foam at the mouth rage-mad quietly and then:
a. Support the new candidate
b. Vote for the Democrat
c. If Trump wins the election in November:
1. I will buy a gun - not sure at this time WHAT I might do with it.
BUT I will NOT give up or give in to Trumpers nor will I go quietly.
I am female in my 70's .. no use to them anyway.
AND I fear for my adult autistic grandson.
I also have to have a serious conversation with my family here.
And fergawdsakes, all the people who undercut Obama because of his race, and Clinton because of her sex, won't support Harris, either.
ReplyDeleteWe need more solidarity and courage.
Indeed.
DeleteIndeed.
DeleteThanks Jim. I understood much of this, in a nebulous, reflexive common-sense way. But it helps immensely to have it all laid out.
ReplyDeleteBottom line: Joe’s not gonna resign. We need to get behind him. Or else.
ReplyDelete100% agree. You can't make it as you go along. Even Indiana Jones couldn't -- not really.
ReplyDelete“But you pull Biden off the ballot now, and Trump most certainly will.”
ReplyDeleteThat’s all people need to know.
Great essay Jim, one that is spot on.
Chief, I am an old (80) E7 and I have followed plans while in the service and later making and selling my own plans. I am painfully aware that my mental and physical self has deteriorated. This will be the last cycle for me.
ReplyDeletePete Seeger singing Waist Deep in the Big Muddy keeps playing in my head.
All the people calling for Biden to pull out have never understood the phrase "don't change horses mid-stream".
ReplyDeleteI swear, people will make the stupidest knee-jerk decisions that are completely against their own interests.
Ugh!
Nothing but truth. Changes now and we hand trump the presidency.
ReplyDeleteYes! Thank you for articulating this better, clearer, and in a way more entertaining way than I could!
ReplyDeleteExcellent post !
ReplyDeletethank you
ReplyDeleteExactly, if not Biden who and how?
ReplyDeleteThere are several of you that are confusing Plan For Governance with Plan For Getting Elected.
ReplyDeleteThe Biden Administration had a plan for governance, and executed a large portion of it, despite being hamstrung by the Republican blockade in the House, coupled with several democrats that can't see the forest for the trees. If you can't see that, there may be little hope for you. But your vote still counts.
The plan for getting elected has holes, but that's not the goddam point. If the Dem candidate was a soccer ball named Wilson with a face painted on it, that entity would be light years ahead of Trump. If Biden doesn't step down, then all of you unicorn hunters need to can it. He can win- but only with our support. And when he does, he will still be the masterful politician that was behind d his li g list of achievements.
Getting things done in DC is usually not pretty. Especially when it's close. It's about who you know, and what you know about them. It's about what you are willing to compromise on, in order to achieve your bigger goals. And you know who's been doing that longer than anyone that might be considered for the ticket? Ya, that guy. So, if you don't have a better plan, or any plan, take a look at reality, before it lands a right uppercut and finishes us off.
Sorry Chief, but I have to disagree. The way to beat Trump is to show how old he is, how much he has lost in the last eight years. Biden does not have the energy to do that, a younger candidate will. It’s not a great situation, the hour is late, Joe has been a great president, but he hasn’t shown me the energy to go toe-to-toe with Trump’s bombast and bluster. Four years ago, he could and did, but I don’t see that he has it in him now.
ReplyDeleteAnd your plan is? If you are going to disagree, then respond to what the essay is really about.
DeleteForgive me if this has been said. The last incumbent to step down prior to an election was LBJ. I remember very well what a shit storm 1968 was. Thanks, but no thanks. Suck it up, buttercup, and get behind our guy.
ReplyDeleteSo Dan Rather wrote a short article where he says Biden should step down for the good of the country, and that Kamala Harris should replace him.
ReplyDeleteDan is a pretty good journalist/pundit, he's been around, he's seen things, he's been through shit, and has actually learned from it. But man, he's really old, his Texas drawl is beginning to really really drawl.
It may take him longer, but Dan can still think things through. Eventually.
You see, the Constitution already has a system set up where Harris can stand in for Biden if he can't carry out his duties. No DNC back room deals necessary.
Last week, on Thursday, June 27, CNN hosted the "first" 2024 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Biden came out appearing stiff and a little disoriented. His mouth was out of synch with his thoughts, which appeared to be racing at the speed of light. He seemed over-prepared and hurried. It took him a good 30 minutes to find and drop into the rhythm of the debate.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Trump swaggered ponderously onto the stage as if he was falling over his rather oversized belly. Once he planted himself behind the podium, he did not even try to observe or follow the debate format. He just lorded over the next 90 minutes by glaring at everyone as he forcefully spewed unmitigated bullshit.
The moderators were already conditioned to give way to Trump because they make a fairly comfortable (if highly competitive and insecure) living as performance artists. They're not journalists (whatever the fuck that means). They're news celebrities working a cushy job within "big media", one of several multi-billion dollar, multi-national, multi-level corporate conglomerate media empires that siphon inconceivable sums of money out of the economy by enforcing and perpetuating an obsolete social construct that is the structure and logic of chaos and conflict, suffering and death.
They're what I call Profits of Doom, for-profit truth seekers, making the big bucks by seeking knowledge, guidance and wisdom so you don't have to—but they're not finding it. What they uncover and communicate is only terrible beyond words.
The Profits of Doom went into full panic mode live on the air immediately after the debate. They appeared to be acting out a collective hallucination. On live TV, moments after the debate, it was decided Biden was not in control of his faculties. Next, they collectively decided to nullify the Democratic primary vote.The only choice in front of them was for the sitting president of the United States to retire at the end of his first term. He had to refuse the nomination because he's simply too old and feeble to go on.
Accordingly, over the course of (what is presently) eight solid days and nights, the headlines have been dominated by "behind the scenes" reports "documenting" the angst-ridden struggle between Democratic elected officials and the Biden campaign to nullify the results of the primaries and run a younger and more vigorous candidate.
I am reasonably certain no such struggle is happening among the Democratic elite. The primaries are over. Four candidates ran, and 15,489,919 voters voted. There is no ambiguity in the results. President Biden secured 87% of the vote and 99% of the delegates. The president is not going to step down with that kind of support—and no Democrat in his or her right mind is going to step forward and run in his place and disenfranchise virtually all rank-and-file Democrats.
It seems to me in their rarefied, insulated, conglomerated workplace of performance art and big ideas, the Profits of Doom are competing among themselves for compelling, dramatic headlines of utter despair to raise their prominence and increase their market share. In my mind, that's the cause and effect of what they do, the reality of the circumstances they're presenting.
But whatever the motive, denying everyday American citizens (Democrat, Republican, or Independent) the right to vote and to have their voice heard is what Democrats are fighting to protect. Any notion of nullifying the vote is un-American. It's the opposite of democracy.
The threat to democracy is real. Trump's MAGA Republican Party are antithetical to democracy for sure. But Trump could never have become president without the passive-aggressive non-support of the far left and big media. And in *this* moment, in my mind, the subterfuge on the left pressuring Biden to step down as distorted and amplified by big media is *the* greatest threat to the survival of the republic.
Amen.
DeleteSpot on as usual.
ReplyDeleteThis in particular struck a chord with me: "... but if you've got a good plan and you've got good people who can execute that plan, who can flex and improvise when needed, sergeants and foot soldiers who will stay the course, well, you can win."
After he wins in Nov. *if* something happens that Biden can't complete his 2nd term his Admin., his Cabinet,... are the good people who can & will continue to execute the plan of democracy.
It terrifies me to think of a world in which all the key positions of the USA's Federal Gov are trump loyalists. It should terrify everyone.
I can't speak for the lunatics just now noticing that Biden is old; but I can say that I voted for Kamala Harris in 2020 and I'm voting for her again in 2024. I had no illusions about Joe Biden's age even four years ago. I still say it will be a miracle if he lives until election day.
ReplyDelete...and after he dies in office, who wouldn't vote for her in memory of Joe? I swear, some people don't understand a thing about politics. https://ranthonyings.com/2024/06/debate-post-mortem/
"I still say it will be a miracle if he lives until election day." Why? Why do you think a man as active as Joe Biden is at death's door at 81 years old?
DeleteHe's 81. Do you not understand what aging is? Any one of us can drop dead at any given time at any given age. Sometimes it just happens and the doctor's doing the investigation into why the next person who drops dead either finds a thing we didn't know about before (and goes in the record books along with the dead person) or they find something they overlooked before.
DeleteAs you get older the chances of some system just simply failing increase. The older you are, the more stress you are under, the higher the chance gets. There is no job with more stress than the Presidency of the United States. Barack Obama went into the White House a young man. He exited it eight years later a grey-haired old man. Now put that much aging on a man who's already white-haired.
It is, quite frankly, near miraculous what modern medicine can do. We have gone from the children of the President dying of infections from blisters in the 1920's to octogenarian's leading active lives and not questioning how that is possible. I don't know how they've kept him alive for the last four years. I have no doubt that he will not last four more years.
That doesn't matter. We are locked in to Biden/Harris or Trump/Other Lunatic no matter what happens. I'm voting Biden/Harris knowing he won't survive the term, just as I did in 2020.
According to the Social Security Trustees Report for 2024, the life expectancy for an 81 year old man is 7.43 years. Seems overly dramatic to fear he won’t live 4 months to election day. He stands a good chance of living through another 4-year term as well.
DeleteThanks Chief. And let's face it, there is only a 3 year difference between Biden and Trump. We need to point out that, if Biden is too old for the job, so is Trump. For god's sake, the man still thinks Obama is president.
ReplyDeleteAll spot on, per usual. It has been distressing to see mis-representative polling results used to generate clicks by media outlets that really should be better than that. It is even more distressing to hear them trumpet the Biden's too old bullshit - I'm talking to you NY Times, Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, etc. Did any of these so called journalists actually read the debate transcripts?
ReplyDeleteFurther, Biden's staff effed up bigly. An 81 year old man with no notes, no prompter? Within a week and a half of flying across over a dozen time zones? And CNN - wtf kind of moderation at a debate doesn't throw the bullshit flag at bullshit? Fair and balanced, even at a debate, doesn't allow you to mindlessly broadcast all of the lies...
Thanks for this, Chief. I need as much ammo to defend our current president against the naysayers and idiots.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Excellent and exactly right.
ReplyDeleteJust watch the next debate dark Brandon will fry trump to prove heroes rise from the ashes in america!
ReplyDelete"I would vote for a black woman. Just not 'THAT' black woman." That's what we would hear if Biden dropped out and Harris too her place. Bet on it.
ReplyDeleteI agree but believe that Joe and his circus, as you so aptly put it, need to find a new carnival barker. My proposal: former President Obama. Swap him in for Kamala at VP and have him and Joe stand together on stage and make a pledge: Joe and Obama will meet at least 1x/week for 2 hours and if Obama ever feels Joe is not competent he will let know Joe it's time to resign and Joe will pledge to do so. In which case Obama is not barred by the 22nd Amendment from becoming President, and since he has already been President, everyone should be comfortable with his taking the reins until January 2029. Obama will also pledge not to run for President again (and of course, he is Constitutionally prohibited from doing so). The one who would have to bite the bullet and take one for the team is Kamala Harris. But then she could be appointed Attorney General for that wallflower Garland, and begin fundraising for her 2028 Presidential campaign early. She also would be in strong position to say she took one for the team if Biden-Obama lose. Comments and thoughts appreciated.
ReplyDeleteThere's the tiniest sliver of a legal theory that between the "elected" bit in the 22nd Amendment and the 12th's statement that "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President" one could squeeze a term-limited President into the VP slot then have them succeed upon the death or retirement of the President. But it's a pretty fringe theory--one that absolutely would get contested up to the Supreme Court.
DeleteTell me, do you really think there's a snowflake's chance in Hell that this Supreme Court would allow the most popular Democratic politician--one frequently cited by historians and political science analysts as one of the best Presidents in history--in a couple generations to ascend to the Presidency?
Under the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States".
DeleteUnder the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, "no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice President of the United States".
DeleteThank you, Jim. I couldn’t agree more. And I will use your arguments the next time someone tries to convince me that Joe Biden should drop out.
ReplyDeleteI look at it this way: I'm not just voting for a president. I'm voting for someone who has a very good chance of putting a new justice on the Supreme Court (a bunch of them are getting real old too). I'm voting for someone who very well could have a bill land on their desk that protects our voting rights, or a bill that could codify Roe v Wade. I'd rather have Joe sitting behind that Resolute desk than the other guy, so I'll vote for Joe because it is so much more than just one old guy.
ReplyDeleteThank you. A solid, logical analysis, explained in plain, clear English. Just what is needed.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, Jim as usual. As far as I can tell, after listening to Joe Biden speak since the "debate", he is pledged to be our candidate, no if, ands, or buts.
ReplyDeleteTime is not in our side, so let's all ignore corporate media, stop talking about making changes, and get behind Biden. That is the plan.
I will vote for President Biden and/or any other democrat that runs. I would crawl over broken glass to vote for whoever might defeat tRump. I understand everything you're saying about the difficulty of coming up with a different candidate at this stage. I was concerned about President Biden's ability to defeat tRump before the debate. The debate didn't convince me that I shouldn't support President Biden. It convinced me that he won't beat tRump. For all of those potential swing voters, and those normal Democrat voters who are uninspired and might just stay home, the debate confirmed everything they have been told and in many cases already believe about President Biden. This race was too close before the debate. Barring a miraculous healing and the discovery of the fountain of youth, President Biden will lose. Someone else that gets nominated might also lose. I would rather go down giving it a fighting chance. I no longer believe President Biden can win this election. It doesn't make any sense to me. Any Democrat with a heartbeat should be able to beat tRump. But that's where we are at this point with the voting public.
ReplyDeleteApparently google doesn’t want me to ID myself. I am always amazed at how the D team wants to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
ReplyDeleteI've commented my brains out on another blog, so I'll say something different here. "Beyond Thunderdome" has almost become epic to me. Just one scene where the Tina Turner character comes up to a prostrate Mel Gibson and says, "Ain't we a pair, Raggedy Man." Oh, the WAY she says it: gloating yet friendly, in charge yet pitying, almost making him an equal and giving him grudging admiration. And notice how she could end his life but she doesn't. Great, great scene.
ReplyDeleteBang on! You don't change horses in the middle of a race, not if you intend to win. The people that are calling for Biden to step out of the race are just handing the election to Trump with a nice bow on it.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteMany good points, Jim. The thought of Kamala's nasal inflections for the next four years nauseates me. She was a great prosecutor, greater senator, but the only way she'll become President is if Joe kicks the bucket minutes after winning. Look at Betty White; she was just days away from turning 100, but the stress sadly did her in. I guess I'm gonna have to hold my nose again and go with Joe, who I've never liked, going back several decades. Such a two-faced panderer!
ReplyDeleteRe Meta's shenanigans with your Threads posts, it's all about chaos with those yobbos, a classic Republican ploy of late. They know you're popular, but also controversial, and too dumb / owned to make up their own damn minds. This is Matt of MPDMedia btw. (I saw a baby owl on my patio this morning, thought of you -- woulda been a great photo.)