ChrisWeigant.com

Biden: Let's Finish The Job

[ Posted Wednesday, February 8th, 2023 – 16:30 UTC ]

Last night, President Biden gave (depending on how you look at it) a rousing State Of The Union speech or perhaps the first speech of his re-election campaign. Throughout it all, by my count, he uttered the phrase "Let's finish the job" a whopping 10 times (at the very least... I know I must have missed a few...). That sounds an awful lot like a new campaign slogan to me....

Biden's speech was rather extraordinary, mostly because of his delivery. He actively engaged with Republican hecklers, which is a very tricky thing to do, but he pulled it off masterfully. He stressed cooperation over partisan confrontation, for the most part, and called for unity and getting done what they could both agree upon. Which, again, is a very hard needle to thread in today's hyper-polarized America. But he managed to stay folksy and cheerful throughout it all, which is what made it all so extraordinary. I've already seen the term "happy warrior" used to describe Biden's performance last night, and it fits pretty well.

As expected, the speech stuck mostly to the tried-and-true listing of accomplishments mixed in with Biden's ambitions for future legislation. Biden reportedly heavily vetted the speech himself to remove all "Washington-speak" and/or technical government terms from the text. If this is true, he did a great job. He sounded natural and in his element for the entire speech -- it was all delivered in "Bidenese," to put it another way.

Biden's delivery was fast-paced. Extremely fast-paced, for him. But he didn't stutter much (if at all) and only stumbled over a few words along the way (he called Chuck Schumer "Minority Leader," for instance, but then quickly corrected himself). For a lifelong stuttering sufferer, that was a major achievement. He sounded forceful and when forced by the hecklers to think on his feet, showed a very sharp edge in his responses. He kept up this fast pace and high energy for almost the entire speech, only ebbing when the subject matter turned somber.

Biden knew, going in, that he would be facing the most unruly Congress in a very long time in American history. Remember when one Republican congressman made the news for yelling out: "You lie!" to Barack Obama? Seems almost quaint, now, that so much was made of that one little outburst. But back then, there simply were no outbursts of that type -- it made news for its sheer rudeness and effrontery. These days, it was completely expected and the Republicans showed once again that they lost all sense of decorum years ago. It reminded me more of listening to the British Parliament than it did to classic State Of The Union speeches, which is saying something (if you've ever heard a "Prime minister's question period," for example). The rabble was roused, to put it mildly.

But the surprising thing is that Biden was ready for it. He not only took it in stride, he heckled them right back in many instances. He reminded me of a rather astute comedian being heckled onstage who tosses back his own zingers.

I don't believe I have ever seen anything like it before, from a president giving an address to Congress. Obama was downright shocked the first time he was heckled (to be fair, so was much of the rest of America, just for the sheer disrespect it displayed). He managed to answer back, but he only got heckled the one time, by one person. Biden had to put up with it whenever he approached any contentious issue tonight, and he gave as good as he got. In fact, he likely did a better job of it than Obama could ever have managed, as eloquent as he is. Bill Clinton likely would have been up to answering hecklers (he likely would have had fun doing so, too), but not every president has this ability. And it was a pleasant surprise to see how well Biden took it all in stride.

What else, before I get on to the speech itself? Fashion statements? Senator Kyrsten Sinema apparently was celebrating Sesame Street, as she arrived dressed just like Big Bird. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, meanwhile, channeled her own inner Cruella de Vil.

After Biden's speech, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, newly-minted governor of Arkansas, gave what was supposed to be a rebuttal to Biden's speech, but was instead an absolutely unhinged rant about how Biden has somehow been "hijacked by the radical left" and the hellscape that has ensued due to this insanity. It was pure dystopian fearmongering delivered in a down-home accent. Really, the less said about her speech the better, although I will do my best to review it at the end, here.

 

Biden's 2023 State Of The Union speech

President Biden spoke for a little over an hour, which is a good length for one of these speeches. But to fit it all in, as mentioned, Biden had to maintain a rapid pace of delivery for the whole thing. Which he did a great job of doing, actually.

He opened with a couple of jokes, one of which (to the Supreme Court chief justice) fell completely flat due to Biden's botched delivery, and one of which (to Speaker Kevin McCarthy, after graciously congratulating him on his victory) went over a lot better. The meat of his speech then started, at 9:12 (Eastern).

As mentioned, the first part of his speech was sprinkled with all the things he has already accomplished as president, and Biden led off with a line we'll be hearing again and again (most likely) on the campaign trail -- Joe Biden has now overseen 12 million new jobs get created in America, "more in two years than any American president has created in four years in office." You've got to admit, that's an astoundingly impressive stat!

Biden set a positive tone to his speech from the start, saying "today COVID no longer controls our lives," and "though bruised, our democracy remains unbowed and unbroken." He reminded everyone that he has tried to govern in as bipartisan a manner as his opposition would allow, pointing out that he had signed "more than 300" bipartisan bills already. He listed some of the important ones, including the Violence Against Women Act renewal, the infrastructure bill, the new toxic burn pit law for veterans, and the Respect For Marriage Act. Some memorable lines from this segment of the speech: "No reason why we can't work together on things and find consensus in this Congress as well" (that one got a big bipartisan hand from the peanut gallery), as well as: "Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict gets us nowhere."

Joe then segued into his "building back America" theme, with the prominent use of his signature phrase "from the bottom up and the middle out," which might just prove to have the historic staying power of the message it is meant to contradict, Ronald Reagan's "trickle-down economics." Time will tell.

When Biden talked about jobs, he always returned to the dignity of work. This may sound like a minor thing, but it's not. It also sounds like "just a thing a politician would say," but all that stuff about how Biden grew up obviously shaped the man he became, and his dad's lessons on how a "job's about a lot more than just a paycheck... it's about dignity and respect" ring very authentic, with Joe. He rattled off some more good economic stats to show how good his record so far on this front has been, including highlighting the revival of American manufacturing jobs and the record growth of new American small businesses under his watch.

This led straight to talking about the CHIPS and Science Act, which is also going to do a lot of good when all those factories now being planned actually get built in small-town America. Democrats have been losing a lot of votes from such places, due largely to people there feeling overlooked and ignored by the party ever since the 1990s centrist "New Democrat" wave pushed all the globalism that decimated what manufacturing jobs remained at the time. Biden got off one very good line in this part, laying out his goal for the future: "The supply chain begins in America." This got another big bipartisan round of applause. He also had a different flavor of his new campaign slogan to use: "We're just getting started!"

Which he has certainly earned. Joe Biden is accomplishing what a lot of past presidents (Donald Trump most definitely included) promised but never actually delivered on. The infrastructure bill passed and few people took note, but now the money is starting to flow and ground is being broken on all sorts of new projects, and people will take note of that. The question of whether they'd give Biden any credit for it was always an open one, but Biden looks eager to enthusiastically make that case in the coming months. Which, as I said, is fully deserved. Biden got it done, he didn't just talk about it. The issue didn't help all that much in the midterms, but by 2024 a lot of those projects will be finished or at least nearing completion.

This was the point in the speech where Biden first began almost openly taunting the Republicans. Speaking of all the good infrastructure projects now being started (as a result of both his Inflation Reduction Act and his infrastructure bill), he pointed out that a whole lot of them will be built in congressional districts and states represented by Republicans who did not vote for the money. And in direct contrast to his predecessor, he noted that his administration would not take such things into account, and he would be happy to fund projects in the naysayers' districts, because of his vow to be "president for all Americans," not just the ones who voted for him. But he did so in a friendly, but definitely teasing sort of way, with a genial smile on his face:

I want to thank my Republican friends who voted for the law, and my Republican friends who voted against it as well. I still get asked to fund the projects in those districts as well. But don’t worry. I promised to be the president for all Americans. We’ll fund your projects. And I’ll see you at the ground-breaking.

Biden ended his infrastructure section of the speech with a big rousing "Buy American!" push, which got the Republicans applauding once again, but then he rushed through what might have been another campaign slogan being test-marketed: "a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America."

His next issue to highlight was his achievement on insulin, which just went into effect at the start of this year. Seniors on Medicare will now only have to pay $35 per month for their insulin, instead of the hundreds of dollars per month some of them had previously been charged. Biden pointed out that we pay the highest price for prescription drugs in the developed world and that it only cost drug companies $10 a vial ($13, with packaging costs) to produce insulin -- a drug discovered 100 years ago -- and called on Congress to expand this coverage to all Americans, not just seniors (which, to be fair, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema actually killed in the previous Congress, together with all the Republicans). Biden also touted the fact that seniors' drug costs are now capped at $2,000 per year -- once they hit that cap, they no longer have to pay out-of-pocket any more. This will be an enormous difference for millions of Americans, so it is entirely fitting that Biden (and the Democrats in general) remind people who accomplished it for them. Biden also pointed out Medicare will now be able to negotiate the price of some prescription drugs and that if the prices rise faster than inflation, the companies will have to pay the difference back to Medicare.

Biden then taunted the Republicans a second time, surprising them by co-opting their own talking point, stating quite truthfully that if they did attempt to repeal his Inflation Reduction Act (which accomplished all the progress on drug prices) that it would only serve to raise the deficit by "hundreds of billions of dollars," and daring them to go ahead and try to repeal it anyway, "...as my football coach used to say: 'Lotsa luck in your senior year'... I will veto it!" This frontal attack left many Republicans gasping, or with mental whiplash, from the way it sounded.

Biden devoted a section of his speech to green energy and climate change, and boasted that he had made the biggest climate change investment ever, which has the benefit of being true. He did toss Republicans a bone by admitting that "we're still going to need oil and gas for a while," but then later in the speech said the same thing but ended it with "for at least another decade," which Republicans laughed at (since they'd prefer to continue fossil fuel use forever, of course).

He coupled all this with making the case for taxing big corporations more, and instituting a "billionaires' tax." "No billionaire," Biden stated, "should be paying a lower tax than a school teacher or a firefighter." He called for quadrupling (which sounds drastic, but it'd only move it from one percent to four percent) a tax on corporate stock buybacks, and boasted that "cracking down on wealthy tax cheats" helps bring the deficit down as well. He also took credit for "$1.7 trillion" in deficit reduction under his watch -- the "largest in American history."

Which he had to rub in the Republicans' faces, by specifically reminding them of "my predecessor" who racked up more in deficits and debt than any other president, for four years running. This brought an angry response, to which Biden told them: "They're the facts, check it out. Check it out."

He also reminded them that during Trump's time in office they blithely raised the debt ceiling three times "without preconditions or crisis," because the bills have to be paid. Biden accused the Republicans of wanting "to take the economy hostage," which is an accurate description of the game they are getting set to play. Biden reminded them of a Republican senator's GOP agenda in the last election (which got a lot of attention because the Republican Party didn't put out any agenda and because this particular senator was in charge of getting Republican re-elected to the Senate), which included sunsetting Social Security. Republicans booed this loudly, but again, Biden has the benefit of the truth being on his side. He shot back at them: "Contact my office, I'll give you a copy of the proposal." Many Republicans were angry that Biden accurately pointed out how they are thinking of slashing Social Security and Medicare, and when a whole bunch of them loudly protested, Biden claimed a point -- "Apparently, it's not going to be a problem." You can bet he'll be reminding them of their outrage when they do actually propose slashing Social Security and Medicare, that's for sure.

Biden then moved on to less-contentious ground, talking about how he had lowered medical bills and allowed over-the-counter sales of hearing aids. He pushed hard for his "Junk Fee Prevention Act," which would reduce extortionate hidden fees by airlines, hotels, cable companies, concerts, and sporting events: "Americans are tired of being played for suckers. Pass the Junk Fee Prevention Act so companies stop ripping us off." He had one particularly good line in the middle of all this, when he attacked airlines for charging a fee to allow families to sit together, saying: "Airlines can't treat your child like a piece of baggage." Some Republicans and pundits may scorn this as being somehow "small ball" politics, but Biden knows that this is one thing that could make a very visible change in millions of Americans' lives, so it's a great issue to push for: "Junk fees may not matter to the very wealthy, but they matter to most folks in homes like the one I grew up in. They add up to hundreds of dollars a month."

Biden then decried "non-compete agreements" and used the example of a person working at a burger joint who wants to go across town and work for another burger joint but can't because of a piece of paper he had to sign to get his job. Again, more GOP heckling was heard, to which Joe told them: "Look it up!"

The last portions of Biden's speech dealt with what might be called obligatory issues -- Union support, further plans for education, COVID ("we've broken the COVID grip on us... deaths down 90 percent"), crime and policing, drug use and fentanyl overdoses, banning assault weapons, the border and immigration (most which got a lot of GOP heckling, naturally), the Ukraine war, veterans, his cancer moonshot, and a few other traditional Democratic ideas. Biden issued a threat on a national ban on abortion -- "I will veto it!" -- but with a Democratic Senate nobody expects any such bill to make it to his desk, so it was a rather easy promise for him to make.

Biden closed by speaking of his defense of "our democracy itself," and introduced Paul Pelosi (husband of Nancy) in the gallery. Biden reminded the Republicans that Paul's vicious attack was done by a man who was "using the very same language the insurrectionists used," and scolded that we must "give hate and extremism no safe harbor." He turned his message into "hope over fear" and quickly wrapped up the speech (at 10:22, or a little over an hour).

President Joe Biden had reportedly made a sort of deal with Kevin McCarthy -- Biden would forgo using the term "extreme MAGA Republicans" if McCarthy could keep his caucus under control. Biden kept his half of the bargain, but McCarthy failed utterly to hold his end up. McCarthy, to his own credit, was polite throughout the night while sitting directly behind Biden, but he simply could not control the craziest of his crew. Not even close -- there was more yelling and heckling last night than any State Of The Union address in modern times, perhaps even "ever." But it wasn't entirely unexpected, after the past six years or so -- and Biden did a great job of handling it virtually every time he was jeered. I certainly hope that this isn't going to be a regular feature of such speeches, but I fear that that may be the case (at least for the next few years, at any rate). Biden overcame this with aplomb, but not every president we've ever had would be able to do so.

 

The Republican response

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders spoke for the Republicans, and the less said about her rant the better, really. As always, I have to at least point out (in all fairness) that these speeches aren't ever really a "response," since the opposition party member who gives it is not provided a copy of the president's speech ahead of time. To give a true response would require doing what I just did -- take notes during the president's speech and then try to rebut all the points he made with the Republican agenda. But no politician (these days) is up to thinking on their feet this quickly, so the "response" speech is always just guesswork, since you can't respond to something you haven't even heard yet.

So Sanders attempted to answer what she thought Biden would say. And she guessed wrong, in a big way. Sanders, of course, is full-on MAGA and has always been very comfortable telling the American people lies (as she continually did as Trump's press secretary) and she proved this once again last night.

Sanders painted a picture of an American apocalypse. Or, to put it slightly differently, she gave a speech specifically for the Fox News target audience. There was zero attempt to reach out to anyone in the middle, and Democrats were all lumped in together as "the radical left."

Without a hint of irony, Sanders presented the choice America faces as "between normal and crazy." No, really -- she actually said that, and she actually meant the Democrats were the crazy ones. What made me laugh was how she followed this up -- with what has to be one of the worst political segues ever. If an anti-Trump Republican had said it, it would have made perfect sense, but Sanders is far from that. Here was her delivery (although no doubt she would have put a paragraph break in there): "The choice is between normal and crazy. It's time for a new generation of Republican leadership...." Again, without a hint of being aware of the irony of it all.

Let's see, what else? Donald Trump is a colossus who strode the Earth, everything under his watch was peachy-keen, and now "violent criminals roam free" while true-blue 'Merikins are "under attack in a left-wing culture war that we didn't start and never wanted to fight!" Um, yeah, sure Sarah. Those dastardly lefties are going to corrupt the youth of America, blah blah blah.

Also: "I am young, and Joe Biden is old as the hills" (I am paraphrasing, but not by a whole lot). She made that point several times during her speech. I guess she's unaware of how old Trump is? It's hard to figure what this woman is thinking, and after a while I just sort of gave up trying. Her speech was so unhinged and divorced from reality it really only belonged on Fox News, that's a good summation of it.

-- Chris Weigant

 

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant

 

31 Comments on “Biden: Let's Finish The Job”

  1. [1] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    First off, being a fellow Left Coaster Hillbilly Libtard as yourself I was about to contact your local Search and Rescue on account that vous went off the grid at this (actually NOT) critical political juncture.

    No biggie, it’s not important that I didn’t bother watching Joe‘s SOTU speech (just because I expected — no, RELIED upon) incisive analysis from [name redacted] shortly thereafter. It didn’t ultimately matter.

    Having not reviewed film it sounds like Joe went and practiced effective politics on the Bad Guys, once again.

    It’s almost like Joe is shooting fish in a barrel. Joe has historically always positioned himself in middle of Democratic thought and hath therefore swung with us Dem Progs.

  2. [2] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    It makes me wonder just how much of that 18 month Manchinema Death March was choreographed ahead of time.

  3. [3] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    I was a nerd in High School so therefore I definitely didn’t have to devote any time to (even theoretical) dating activities.

    So I had oodles of time to do what I (still) like to do, reading histories and biographies of Hitler, Stalin and other principal players back in the day.

    I mention this because what I learned that the really sophisticated players did what Joe Effing Biden seems to have done — working the levers of power to direct political action in a desired direction. Practicing good politics and such.

    Stop bagging on Joe, Elizabeth, he got Ukraine right. Frankly I remain uncertain as to what opportunities Joe missed that would have forestalled Putin’s invasion.

  4. [4] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Elizabeth if that sounds “off” to you give a one minute listen to geopoliticist Peter Zeihan, on Russia because Elizabeth I hate to see you bag on Joe when as on many OTHER issues Joe got this one “right.”

    Myself I’ll reserve fire for what Joe didn’t get right…

  5. [5] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    …aaand speaking of that mid-Seventies depressing era of intentional attacks upon where OUR Murican Pie should be directed towards…

    In the 70s I regarded Bruce Springsteen as “overrated”…right up to when the moment I heard this New York City Serenade” and thence regarded BS as having heart.

    It’s a Klingon thang, you wouldn’t understand

  6. [6] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    So, perhaps now I shall read your SOTU teview…

  7. [7] 
    Mezzomamma wrote:

    One small point of information: for all the rowdiness of Prime Minister's Question Time (in particular) in the UK, calling someone a liar is 'unparliamentary language'; the person doing the calling has to leave the chamber for an indefinite period, generally at least until they formally apologise. I'm not sure of the details, but I think it's more than just leaving the room for a bit. Even the sometimes very rowdy Australian parliament bans 'liar' and 'lying'.

    Did the Dems ever shout 'liar' at notorious liar Trump during a State of the Union? I don't remember that they did. [sigh] More projection, I suppose.

  8. [8] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    So, upon further review…Joe in this SOTU speech did (ho hum) once again practice effective politics upon the hapless Repugs, who cain’t rebut what Joe said.

    In other words, CW, I think you should consider tossing what was recently considered “Conventional Wisdom” that even marginally gives any attention to The Polls. Dude, shit was already WHACK only Trump gave it an unashamed veneer of legitimacy. And has gotten killed three elections running.

    To be more specific I always regarded part of Obama’s w

  9. [9] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    …part of Obama’s NEGATIVE ratings as Prog Disapproval of “Hope and Change” for being a lie.

  10. [10] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    (mic drop)

    Whopah, NOT Gangnam Style

  11. [11] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    Okay, this be Gangnam Style.

  12. [12] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Chris,

    Biden's speech was rather extraordinary, mostly because of his delivery. He actively engaged with Republican hecklers, which is a very tricky thing to do, but he pulled it off masterfully. He stressed cooperation over partisan confrontation, for the most part, and called for unity and getting done what they could both agree upon. Which, again, is a very hard needle to thread in today's hyper-polarized America. But he managed to stay folksy and cheerful throughout it all, which is what made it all so extraordinary. I've already seen the term "happy warrior" used to describe Biden's performance last night, and it fits pretty well.

    Extraordinary? Yes! And, vintage Biden. :-)

    One of my favourite classic Biden quotes from decades ago:

    "I'm not on the right. I'm not on the left. I'm Joe Biden in the middle. Come join me!"

  13. [13] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Chris,

    Biden's speech was rather extraordinary, mostly because of his delivery. He actively engaged with Republican hecklers, which is a very tricky thing to do, but he pulled it off masterfully. He stressed cooperation over partisan confrontation, for the most part, and called for unity and getting done what they could both agree upon. Which, again, is a very hard needle to thread in today's hyper-polarized America. But he managed to stay folksy and cheerful throughout it all, which is what made it all so extraordinary. I've already seen the term "happy warrior" used to describe Biden's performance last night, and it fits pretty well.

    Extraordinary? Yes! And, vintage Biden. :-)

    One of my favourite classic Biden quotes from decades ago:

    "I'm not on the right. I'm not on the left. I'm Joe Biden in the middle. Come join me!"

  14. [14] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Caddy,

    It’s almost like Joe is shooting fish in a barrel. Joe has historically always positioned himself in middle of Democratic thought and hath therefore swung with us Dem Progs.

    Biden has always been 'progressive', in the truest sense of the term, before it was hijacked by the current crop of left-wing progressives in congress. You know the ones who make it easy for Republicans to paint Dems as extreme ... like shooting fish in a barrel!

  15. [15] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    ... and, I've always thought BS had heart! :)

  16. [16] 
    Kick wrote:

    CW

    Obama was downright shocked the first time he was heckled (to be fair, so was much of the rest of America, just for the sheer disrespect it displayed). He managed to answer back, but he only got heckled the one time, by one person.

    Remember that time during the 2015 SOTU when Obama was "heckled" by Republicans in unison? He shut them down fast.

    Obama: Surely we can agree it’s a good thing that for the first time in 40 years, the crime rate and the incarceration rate have come down together, and use that as a starting point for Democrats and Republicans, community leaders and law enforcement, to reform America’s criminal justice system so that it protects and serves us all.

    That’s a better politics. That’s how we start rebuilding trust. That’s how we move this country forward. That’s what the American people want. That’s what they deserve.

    I have no more campaigns to run. My only agenda...

    Republicans: [Interrupted by Republicans clapping and laughter]

    Obama: [smiling at them/laughing] I know 'cause I won both of 'em.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S6nwCpO000

    *
    Good times. :)

    Biden had to put up with it whenever he approached any contentious issue tonight, and he gave as good as he got.

    The Q-Anon crazy conspiracy MAGA rubes who cannot ever allow themselves to keep their ignorant mouths closed even for a short period of time performed like pavlovian dogs on cue, and Biden definitely owned them.

  17. [17] 
    John M wrote:

    I would also hope this finally puts to bed the Republican lie that Biden is senile, incompetent and somehow not in charge. I would love to be as fiery and intelligent as Biden is when I am 80 years old. Unlike Trump who thought that a test for dementia was an IQ test instead.

  18. [18] 
    Mezzomamma wrote:

    I have friends and family of 80, 90 and more who are mentally healthier than Trump, not that that's saying much. (75 myself)

    I would like to get away from old white men having so much of the power, but I would also like to see some of the younger political generations gain a little more experience. (OK, old white women, excepting Nancy Pelosi, as well, and Pelosi has done well to retire as Speaker now.) Yes, Obama badly disappointed many of his supporters, but I think lack of political experience led to much of that. Four or eight years as VP or in a more senior senatorial role would have prepared him better for the obstructionism of Republicans.

  19. [19] 
    MtnCaddy wrote:

    [18]

    I must disagree, said the Loud and Proud Libtard who literally wept in ‘08 when Obama won. Obama was nothing more than a good “house n*gga” that kept the rich folk in BOTH parties happy.

    Obama and Shaquille O’Neal are both M.U.P.E. Most UnderPerforming Ever

  20. [20] 
    Mezzomamma wrote:

    Caddy, can we agree that some people had unreasonably high expectations of Obama and that they were bound to be disappointed? I thought then and still do that he did not have enough experience of either house to be a truly successful president. And no, he wasn't actually all that liberal.

  21. [21] 
    nypoet22 wrote:

    @caddy [19],

    That was an incredibly racist statement. Obama with his soaring rhetoric created expectations he didn't have the political chops to manage. Mediocrity does not equal betrayal. Biden is a much less talented, less inspirational orator, but his results say something different.

  22. [22] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    I wish you guys would have known Senator Biden and his senatorial arias. Obama had nothing on him.

  23. [23] 
    Kick wrote:

    John M
    17

    I would also hope this finally puts to bed the Republican lie that Biden is senile, incompetent and somehow not in charge. I would love to be as fiery and intelligent as Biden is when I am 80 years old.

    Very well said.

    Unlike Trump who thought that a test for dementia was an IQ test instead.

    I know, right!? It takes a "special kind of bone-deep stupid" to keep prattling on and on repeatedly (with cameras rolling) about passing a cognitive questionnaire as if it was a Mensa IQ test rather than an assessment designed specifically to assess for dementia and/or evidence indicative of possible neurodegenerative disease. It's like watching a grown man bragging over and over how he can go potty all by himself. #DiaperDon

  24. [24] 
    Kick wrote:

    MtnCaddy
    19

    Not about to sit here in silence while you post this racist drivel and spew, and you're definitely proving beyond doubt that you meet your self-description of "Libtard," a nice bit of introspection on your part that didn't require immediate proof in order to substantiate the admission.

    I won't attempt to debate the nuances of your political beliefs and whether or not Obama met with your personal approval because politics is subjective, being that one man's definition of "progressive" is another man's idea of a "centrist."

    As for Shaquille O'Neal, his career doesn't match your description, having been named "Player of the Week" his first 7 days in the NBA and in only his second season being number one in goal percentage at 60%, which he won that title 10 times in his career. In his third season, he was number one in scoring average. Cut to the chase: NBA Hall of Famer and one of the greatest centers in NBA history who held the 7th spot in all-time scoring upon retirement, but not before winning four NBA championships and named MVP of the league three times. In conclusion: All the above and having your number retired by not one NBA team but two of them doesn't meet with any sensible definition of "most underperforming ever."

    You go earn all those accolades while at the same time being a substandard free-throw shooter (by NBA standards, obviously), and then you can talk shit about Shaq. :)

    So, to recap: You go earn all those accolades while at the same time being a substandard free-throw shooter (by NBA standards, obviously), and then you can talk shit about Shaq. As for that other crap, I was (tried to be) nice the first two times I saw you use this type racist language on this forum, but I'm warning you now that my third shot will be nothing but net. :)

  25. [25] 
    Kick wrote:

    So I see I got repetitive in my post. If MC reads it twice, maybe he'll learn something. :p

  26. [26] 
    Kick wrote:

    nypoet22
    21

    That was an incredibly racist statement.

    Totally unnecessary too.

    Obama with his soaring rhetoric created expectations he didn't have the political chops to manage. Mediocrity does not equal betrayal. Biden is a much less talented, less inspirational orator, but his results say something different.

    Very well said. The benefit of hindsight hasn't hurt either. If roles were reversed and Obama was Biden's Vice President for eight years and all things being otherwise equal, I suspect we'd now be reaping some of the same benefits of living and learning... as one does. :)

  27. [27] 
    Kick wrote:

    Elizabeth Miller
    22

    I wish you guys would have known Senator Biden and his senatorial arias. Obama had nothing on him.

    He's still got it somewhere in him, and now he has time behind him and that "I'll be your worst nightmare" and "eff around and find out" attitude to go with it. :)

  28. [28] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Well, Kick, he's always had that streak in him, too. :)

  29. [29] 
    Kick wrote:

    Elizabeth Miller
    28

    Well, Kick, he's always had that streak in him, too. :)

    Yes, he certainly has, hasn't he, but ain't it great to see that side of him coming out more often?

    It's good to see him come out swinging and metaphorically knock them back on their heels because in politics (as you know), if your opponent has to keep explaining things, you're winning. It's a hoot to watch the Republicans and MAGAts trying desperately to memory hole their multiple statements/plans to dismantle the social safety net and claim they're "all for it" when obviously they've been gunning for cutting it or doing away with it entirely. It's good to see Biden rip them over it.

    Hey, remember that time Biden got caught on a hot mic referring to the Affordable Care Act as a BFD? Of course you do... rhetorical question. I think it would be an absolute laugh riot if Biden would add that to his "I'm your worst nightmare" list of protections since Republicans wanted to dismantle that too. I dare the lying cons to even try to claim they're not gunning for the BFD ACA. I can picture Biden saying something along the lines of:

    "If cutting Social Security is a dream of yours, then I'm your worst nightmare. You guys can lie about this, but you should really give the American people more credit than that. They were also watching right along with me while you Republicans voted over and over to dismantle the ACA and replace it with nothing, no plan that ever existed. It took my good friend John McCain and some other thoughtful Republicans along with every Democrat in the Senate to stop Trump and MAGA from hurting hard-working Americans by killing their healthcare. You know, I got caught on a hot mic telling President Obama what a BFD it was. It's still a BFD, and if it needs some fixing around the edges, I'll consider it, but I won't allow Trump and MAGA and Republicans to dismantle Americans' healthcare like they've been attempting for years and years. Any attempts to hurt Americans whether it's Social Security, Medicare, and the BFD ACA aren't happening on my watch. I will veto them all."

    Or something like that.

    Would I put it past Trump et alia to say they weren't ever trying to dismantle the ACA? No, I definitely would not. Knock them on their heels more. I like it. :)

  30. [30] 
    Elizabeth Miller wrote:

    Kick,

    i>It's good to see him come out swinging and metaphorically knock them back on their heels

    That is precisely what drew me to Biden in the first place all those many decades ago...

    My most vivid memories of Biden are of a wily Senate chairman coming out swinging and metaphorically knockin' 'em on their heels, all the while sporting a smile to light up an arena! Love it! Love him!!

    The happy warrior, indeed. :)

  31. [31] 
    Kick wrote:

    :)

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