Hanaguma

I guess he is going to try and clean up the mess left by his boss this week. Blinken for his faults is no fool. By contrast, here is what Joe said regarding the spy balloon that was seen earlier this year; “I don’t think the leadership knew where it was and knew what was in it and knew what was going on,” the president told reporters before heading to Philadelphia. “It was, I think it was more embarrassing than it was intentional.” https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4055470-biden-on-chinese-spy-balloon-embarrassing/ What a maroon. Of course it was intentional. It was an overt act of espionage and would not have happened without clearance from the highest levels. Biden gains nothing by being soft like this.

Ah yes, the "but Trump..." defence is once again deployed. As if being better than Trump is any kind of vindication or endorsement. Besides, if you have multiple videos of Trump tripping, falling, not being able to rise to his feet without aid, shaking hands with ghosts, sniffing girls' hair, and forgetting basic facts about his own children, please feel free to share them. Biden used to be good as a retail politician, being spontaneous and giving 'off the cuff' remarks. It is clear that those days are long past. Whenever he tries it now, it just goes wrong. Badly wrong. Hence the reluctance for his staff to allow him any kind of serious contact with the media.

Is this the same event where the President so eloquently laid out his position? Talking about his executive order banning so-called ghost guns, he said: "Made it harder for people buy stabilized brief— braces. Put a pistol on a brace, it turns into a gun, makes it more, you can have a higher-caliber weapon, higher-caliber bullet coming out of that gun." What is he talking about?!? https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/06/16/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-national-safer-communities-summit/

Hopefully if the OP does this he can 'back up' the gift with the real thing. Otherwise, the neighbor will be in a world of disappointment...

I can see how he might be confused, after all he DID miss the coronation of King Charles. Someone, please, take the old codger aside and tell him it is time to retire. Are the Democrats really that thin on possible presidential candidates?

Think you might be right there. It is ironic that neither one has anything close to a decent favorability rating. If Trump were to leave the race, Biden would be in deep trouble. Lots of eager and interesting potential candidates in the GOP. IF Biden has to quit, the Democrats are in a mess.

No, it is normal. As you said, hetero NORMATIVE. No sense in spending time worried about the 2% who are not. Tolerance is fine, I don't think anyone is against tolerating people in all their iterations. But messaging to children is gruesome.

None of the above IMHO. Trump picked a very effective VP in 2016- Mike Pence. So far superior to the current holder of that office that it is almost funny. I think, should Trump get the nomination, he would go for either Nikki Haley or Vivek Ramaswamy. Again, both obviously better than Harris.

He was, of course, wrong, as he is on so many things. Black Americans enjoyed the lowest unemployment in history under President Trump. As did Hispanic Americans. Median incomes increased, poverty decreased, high earning African Americans grew also. He also restored and guaranteed funding for Black universities and colleges. Why should they vote for Joe Biden?

In Japan, school lunch is compulsory. Kids do not have the option to bring their own food. Actually, neither do teachers. Everyone gets the same menu. Cost is about 250 yen per meal, so in baht about 65 baht. Always has milk, a hot entree, carbo of some kind, and usually fruit. It is served by the students and then they do the clean up too. All run through the BofE, so little chance for money to "stick" to some fingers. This picture is from an elementary school;

WINNER! First poster to try and deflect the conversation by injecting their personal infatuation with the Bad Orange Man. Biden is probably incapable of making the logical connection between saying that Americans who want to block puberty blockers are prejudiced, yet others who want to do so are not. Interestingly, Europe is taking the lead in protecting children from greedy and unscrupulous exploitation by medical con artists.

Heard a good interview with Vivek today on a podcast. He has some good ideas about foreign policy and trade regulation. Sadly he doesn't have much chance to win. But a very very smart guy and clearly a patriot. Christie, I am convinced, is going to play Al Qaeda in this campaign and try to blow up as close to Trump as possible. Going to be entertaining for sure. Doug Burgum is a smart and well spoken guy, that nobody knows.

Never said they did. Same thing happened in 2019. Conservatives got more votes than the Liberals, but fewer seats in Parliament.

Not defending him- see above post. One thing I do object to is the use of the anti-semitic slur "the big lie". It was coined by Hitler and needs to die along with him. There was no "malevolence towards democracy" in 2016. Trump merely won the election, which so gutted the Democrats that to this day they are still offended. Hillary Clinton, who was touted as the most qualified Presidential candidate in history, was beaten by a reality star and real estate mogul. The burning shame of it stays with Democrats even now and clouds many of their decisions.

And again you are doing the "but Trump..." comparison. There is no need to. I already said that he was wrong and stupid to not accept defeat in 2020. I am merely saying that the Democrats were far less than gracious and accepting of their defeat in 2016.

Not me. Polk was an incompetent as a general, not sure why he deserved this honour.

Actually, a lot of countries have a parliamentary system which is NOT a popular vote- UK, Canada, etc. In the last election in Canada for example, the Conservative Party got the most votes, but the Liberal Party won the most seats in Parliament and formed the government. Just the way it works.

Never said there was, and never said he did. But to imply that the Democrats "graciously" (to quote another member) accepted Trump's victory is also false. They were beyond p1ssed off and it showed. The whole Russia collusion hoax just made it worse. And yes, what happened on January 6 was worse. Never said otherwise.

Again, two things can both be right. Here is John Lewis saying he cannot work with Trump because he thinks Trump is not a legitimate President; https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/john-lewis-trump-won-t-be-legitimate-president-n706676 Hillary Clinton saying Trump stole the election, and calling Trump an "illegitimate President" in 2019 on CNN; https://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/09/30/hillary-clinton-calls-trump-illegitimate-president-sot-ip-vpx.cnn I would call Trump's behavior after losing in 2020 also petulant and unnecessary. Unsurprising but unnecessary.

Winning the popular vote is the equivalent of capturing more pawns in a chess game, but losing the game. Interesting but completely irrelevant. Hillary was calling Trump an "illegitimate President" until 2019. John Lewis, the same. Tim Kaine said, "What we've got to do is fight in Congress, fight in the courts, fight in the streets, fight online, fight at the ballot box, and now there's the momentum to be able to do this". Nancy Pelosi said; "Our election was hijacked. There is no question" https://house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills211/hlrbillspdf/2047H.01I.pdf

I agree. The petulant Democrats and their supporters who refused to acknowledge Trump's election WERE acting Unamerican.

It IS possible for two things to be true at the same time. It is true that, if the charges against Trump are proven, he should be punished and possibly jailed. Doesn't matter what happened or didn't happen to anyone else. It is also true that other politicians who are accused of similar crimes should also face similar investigations and possible consequences.

Calling him "illegitimate" and refusing to attend his inauguration is hardly criticism. It is petulance at best, and refusal to accept the election result at worst.

Fair enough. Seeing is believing.

Like that never happens around here.... besides, Biden is ridiculously easy to tar. Almost feel guilty doing it. Almost.