Hey Igor, ICE here to check your papers. Unfortunately there was a report of you being a huge retard on the internet. Seems you've been caught in the act again
The Brezhnev point has turned out to be more accurate than I ever thought it was. I didn't think Biden was functional or doing much, but omg he really was just pushed around by the people around him a majority of the time
The most insane part of this for me isn't the coverup of his failing health, but rather that America was governed by a shadow council with zero oversight. Who was making the big decisions if Biden couldn't? Why don't we know their names? I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to guess who the de facto leaders were, but the fact it isn't public knowledge is very concerning.
I was thinking about other potential "greatest political scandals" in my lifetime. And the number of potential other scandals I came up with is a terrible indictment on American politics.
Trump being a fascist isn't the same as him being a monarch, which you seem to equate in this article. Trump's fascist policies are as simple as rounding up immigrants and deporting them, regardless of marital status, time spent in the country, what jobs they work, etc. Originally it was "violent criminals only" but that is completely out the window with his current immigration policy. It doesn't matter what you think about immigrants, illegal immigrants paid $96.7B in taxes in 2022 while not having access to most social services. The effect on the economy of deporting *all of them* is unprecedented, but it comes second to the vitriolic hatred with which these deportation policies are being drummed up. This is what fascism is - directed demonization and expulsion of a specific group. It has nothing to do with Trump "installing himself" as a dictator.
It's hard to digest this in the current context. The moves being made by Trump and the Republicans are so disturbing that it feels somewhat outrageous and partisan to focus on the sins of the opponent. But that's the entire problem, right? Anything is permissible as long as you stop the bad guy. Norms sometimes have to be broken for the greater good. And now the norms lie in tatters by mutual agreement, there is no moral high ground to speak of, and it's just pigs rolling in the mud. So this new information is in fact very relevant and important to discuss, if we want to avoid letting relativism continue to drive politics deeper into the dirt. And Trump simply couldn't do what he's doing if a competent, accountable democratic party faced him, which it won't until it contends with their own bullshit.
I'm not sure it beats Iraq as a scandal, though. Don't we expect leaders to lie in the proverbial job interview and attempt to conceal all weakness? And don't we expect the leader of the free world to decentralise command? The scandal is how unbelievably incompetent Biden and the entire apparatus were. Whereas in the case of iraq, a million plus people died on the back of a series of gigantic lies and manipulations.
Hey Igor, ICE here to check your papers. Unfortunately there was a report of you being a huge retard on the internet. Seems you've been caught in the act again
The Brezhnev point has turned out to be more accurate than I ever thought it was. I didn't think Biden was functional or doing much, but omg he really was just pushed around by the people around him a majority of the time
The most insane part of this for me isn't the coverup of his failing health, but rather that America was governed by a shadow council with zero oversight. Who was making the big decisions if Biden couldn't? Why don't we know their names? I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to guess who the de facto leaders were, but the fact it isn't public knowledge is very concerning.
I was thinking about other potential "greatest political scandals" in my lifetime. And the number of potential other scandals I came up with is a terrible indictment on American politics.
"What do you think, Jake?"
Bold assumption that Jake Tapper is allowed to think without the permission of the Car(D)inals
I forget when you first made the Brezhnev comparison (maybe it was on the election stream with rod?) but holy shit is it a banger lol
I read this out loud to my liberal friends. Love you Richard!
Trump being a fascist isn't the same as him being a monarch, which you seem to equate in this article. Trump's fascist policies are as simple as rounding up immigrants and deporting them, regardless of marital status, time spent in the country, what jobs they work, etc. Originally it was "violent criminals only" but that is completely out the window with his current immigration policy. It doesn't matter what you think about immigrants, illegal immigrants paid $96.7B in taxes in 2022 while not having access to most social services. The effect on the economy of deporting *all of them* is unprecedented, but it comes second to the vitriolic hatred with which these deportation policies are being drummed up. This is what fascism is - directed demonization and expulsion of a specific group. It has nothing to do with Trump "installing himself" as a dictator.
It's hard to digest this in the current context. The moves being made by Trump and the Republicans are so disturbing that it feels somewhat outrageous and partisan to focus on the sins of the opponent. But that's the entire problem, right? Anything is permissible as long as you stop the bad guy. Norms sometimes have to be broken for the greater good. And now the norms lie in tatters by mutual agreement, there is no moral high ground to speak of, and it's just pigs rolling in the mud. So this new information is in fact very relevant and important to discuss, if we want to avoid letting relativism continue to drive politics deeper into the dirt. And Trump simply couldn't do what he's doing if a competent, accountable democratic party faced him, which it won't until it contends with their own bullshit.
I'm not sure it beats Iraq as a scandal, though. Don't we expect leaders to lie in the proverbial job interview and attempt to conceal all weakness? And don't we expect the leader of the free world to decentralise command? The scandal is how unbelievably incompetent Biden and the entire apparatus were. Whereas in the case of iraq, a million plus people died on the back of a series of gigantic lies and manipulations.