Friends, our esteemed leader, President Joe Biden, has waxed poetic on many occasions about how he'd like to give DJT a good thrashing. Well, pretty soon he'll get his chance -- rhetorically speaking, that is. The two upcoming debates between Sleepy Joe and the Donald will be, make no mistake, MUST SEE TV!!! I'm highly skeptical, however, that they'll amount to a hill of beans politically. And that, no doubt, is the point, as the Biden campaign is one big exercise in risk management, in case you haven't noticed...
Here's my latest article, which is an enhanced, expanded version of the post I made on Wednesday. Enjoy!
False Bravado: Joe Biden is our Debater-in-Chief?
Joe Biden came out swinging this week, agreeing to face off against Donald Trump in two debates and taunting the former president. Biden claimed that he already beaten Trump in both of their debates in 2020, implying that he was confident that he could do so again. “Make my day, pal,” declared Biden, as he playfully suggested that Trump might be “free on Wednesdays” – a reference to the schedule of the Stormy Daniels hush money trial in New York City.
Despite Biden's tough talk, however, the truth is that Democrats, including key Biden confidantes, have been hedging their bets for months about whether any presidential debates would be held. Biden backers have been advising the president against debating Donald Trump – including, most recently, Nancy Pelosi. Their stated reason has generally been that Trump is a lying sack of [expletive deleted], so no self-respecting person should ever talk to him. Lurking underneath this flawless logic, however, is a burgeoning leftist contempt for all forms of dissent, as well as strong doubts about Biden's ability to go toe-to-toe with the fast-talking Trump.
Well, the people who tell Joe Biden what to say and do obviously crunched the numbers, and they decided that he simply couldn't dodge the obligation to debate his major party opponent -- not without looking like he was lily-livered and senile, that is. What Biden could do, however, and has done, is frame the debates so as to give himself maximum advantage, particularly since Trump had already declared that he would debate Biden "anytime" and "anywhere". Biden thus took up the challenge and accepted specific invitations to debate Trump in June on CNN and in September on ABC. The timing is favorable to Biden, since few people will be engaged that early in the process, and, if he stumbles, he will have plenty of time to recover before the voting starts. The venues are even more obviously favorable to Biden, since there is no such thing as a Trumper who works at CNN or ABC.
Be all that as it may, the mere fact that Biden has begrudgingly agreed to debate Trump is highly significant. There can be little doubt that the audiences for both debates will be massive, and the stakes will be, or at least will seem, high.
Then again, we should bear in mind that neither Trump nor Biden is broadly popular, and very few people do not already have extremely fixed opinions about both men. In that sense, no debate is likely to move the political dial all that much. Indeed, one could argue that no development, period, is very likely to change the election landscape, given the fact that, over the last six months, based on RealClearPolitics polling averages, in a five-way race Trump has been consistently ahead of Biden nationally, by a minimum of one and a maximum of six points. Trump has consistently held similar, if modest, leads in most of the swing states. Only a very remarkable debate indeed could shift this race out of the narrow channel through which it's been flowing for so long...or so an objective observer might conclude.
One other notable corollary to the announcement of these two debates is the effective elimination of RFK, Jr. from the lineup, which appears to please both the Trump and Biden camps. It is extremely difficult to see a third party or independent candidate breaking through and claiming victory in a presidential election, when he (or she) is denied the opportunity to appear at, and participate in, the highest profile clashes between the major candidates.
One thus has to wonder whether, in the wake of this setback, RFK, Jr. might propose a debate between the also-rans, including himself, Cornel West, and Jill Stein – or whether he might find some other, inventive way of maximizing his visibility as a candidate. If he does not, then the likely trajectory of his support in the polls will be, as both Trump and Biden seem to want, down, down, down.
And that, in the end, may be the most significant aspect of the Trump-Biden debates: their exclusion of any and all alternatives to the two least liked major party candidates in history.
Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is an Associate Professor of History at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmaker Show on WLEA 1480/106.9.
You can find it here at Townhall:
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In other news, we're moving closer to the full House of Representatives holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt. Gee, I wonder if the DOJ will prosecute Garland? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/may/16/house-panel-holds-attorney-general-merrick-garland/
RAY TO DR.WADDY/NICK
ReplyDeleteU.S. Politics these days is becoming more like Indonesian Wayang Shadow Puppetry, Japanese Kabuki Theater and Noh Drama, and Chinese Cantonese Opera. However, the Asian arts just mentioned have some meaning.
Presidential debates and party conventions solve nothing! They are just more stylized bullshit dished out by people who can't run the country and those who think they can.
I'm still waiting (and with no glee) to see what The Leftist pukes in power are going to do to sabotage the elections. Must be some legal ways out there they can do that, don't you think?
Let's say Trump wins in November. Then what? The BidenISTAS will still be in power for two more months. Then what? More of the same shit they (the Left) pulled for 4 years in Trump's previous presidency.
What an insult to The American people that a bunch of mediocre political assholes have actually managed to manipulate them.
Some Christian theologians and writers have been yapping about "The Tribulation" for decades now. Maybe that event is already here and they don' know it.
Trump should have declined o debate Trump by saying. " I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed person " Trump is the senile one and he has dementia, not. Biden, who merely has a speech impediment. which is a remnant of his boyhood stutter, which he largely overcame with help . His mind is still razor sharp . Don't underestimate Biden !
ReplyDeleteGreetings Mr. "The Horn"
DeleteIf Biden's mind is "razor sharp", why doesn't he act like it? However, his handlers have done a marvelous job in helping him to overcome his speech impediment.
Thanks for commenting. Always a pleasure to hear from American Leftists in praise of their hero Biden. Keep up the good work.
Biden DOES act like his mind is sharp . He doesn't babble idiotically and incoherently , He doesn't boast about his alleged. "genius ". He doesn't whine about allegedly being "persecuted " . He doesn't make vicious ad hominem attacks on his opponents . And Biden doesn't have "handlers " ( whatever those are ) . Like him or not, he's 100 % in charge of our. government .
DeleteUnlike. Trump worshipers , I don't. idolize Biden . He's not perfect , but there never has been or will be a perfect resident . But like so many other Americans, a respect and admire him . Unlike Trump , Biden is a good, decent, honorable and highly intelligent man .
Dr. Waddy from Jack: If leftist contempt for dissent is burgeoning then it bids fair to bloat into gargantuan proportions especially if they win in Nov. The old left certainly demonstrated it by being as disdainful as to deny myriad millions of life itself for real or doctrinally defined dissent. The boomers who went new left in the '60s harbored withering contempt for their parents' generation for its "uncaring" complacency and unforgiveable self seeking in the face of unendurable imperfection in this, to the callow, new world. Well gee, they
ReplyDeleteknew no empathy or even sympathy for those who were, well, worn out by malnourishment and dread in the 30s and the inviting beaches at Tarawa and Normandy in the '40s.The old left "encouraged" them in this infamous ingratitude so well that it is a reflexive instinctive staple of the antiamerican left today. The conviction that dissent from their unimpeachable wisdom is both objectively mistaken and morally reprehensible is readily evident in the savage "by any means necessary" mien they manifest now. By golly, you are right; it is burgeoning, with a vengeance too!
Mr. Horn from Jack: The emergency long snapper on an NFL team is actually a very good athlete. Admittedly, you must have much on the ball to achieve the Presidency but for the good of the country you should be first string or even an MVP prospect. President Biden falls short in that respect. DJT falls far short of the perfection that the left apparently expects of him but not of such as Mr. Clinton, who skated for offenses at least comparable to those of which now intensely harried DJT is accused (eg. lying to his draft board in war time, perjury while President, denying an American citizen he considered "no count"a meaningful day in court when she legally tasked him for presumptuous and vulgar advances on her and some credible testimony holding him as otherwise having committed physical sexual offense). Thanks for your objectively expressed opinion and I hope you will continue to comment here.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy from Jack: For any dem being held in contempt of a by definition condemned institution like the GOP House is a mark of honor
ReplyDeleteHe will probably be unscathed.; his pension and perks are safe I'm sure. The antiamerican left has few compunctions anymore against the public being fully aware of their amoral expeditiousness. In this electoral season perhaps they could choose to make a very dispensable Garland a sacrificial offering "see, we can do principle!".
Ray and Dr. Waddy et al from Jack: I think one of the main reasons the antiamerican left so fearfully dreads a restoration of DJT is that they perceive that they may have come close to exhausting their arsenal of calumny. Both during his tenure and after it they have directed an unrelenting torrent of fervently hoped ruinous injustice and he's still kicking. That has to be a never ending maalox moment for them as they see the precipice beckoning them. Being emotionally captured as they are ever, this must be doubly agonizing. Being vicious beyond measure they well know that an hombre like DJT is going hit the ground STEAMING if he wins and they will have tied themselves to the track.
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
DeleteAlways keep in mind (and I am sure you do) that even if Trump becomes president again, he is not going to make many dents in in The Leftist agenda. If he did, he would have to have dictatorial powers, and that is unlikely to happen. In other words, the Media will remain Left for the most part, as will the Entertainment Industry, and of course Higher Education. However, aside from The Left, there are other areas of our society where rot set in long ago, that is just plain evil. Think about it.
Ray and Dr. Waddy et al from Jack: Regretably, too true, too true. They may already have sealed the deal. But Britain in 1940 comes to mind and bids us keep faith. Those like Lord Halifax were understandably convinced that the Nazis were unbeatable . Even Churchill feared it too late. These people must be resisted; as Churchill reasoned "we would be no worse off having fought it out and lost". As historically minded as he was he knew the Nazis would terminate British civilization; America faces the same threat but from within. If the antiamerican left prevails we must expect unrelenting tyranny. They are perfectionists and would never be satisfied.
ReplyDeleteRAY TO JACK
DeleteThanks for this post. As you know, I can be very negative, to say the least. I'm glad you used Churchill as an example. If that great man had my attitude, Germany really would have taken over Great Britain. But you are right. Those of us on that "thin red line" must never give in. I'm stealing that line about the old British Empire Army to describe The Right (red), but it fits the situation.
Frankly, over the decades, it's guys like me that let The Left have what they wanted, or compromised. I could have resisted all those Leftist professors I had in graduate school, but instead I kept my mouth shut when I realized that Marxist nonsense they were peddling. If course I would have had to give up graduate school. Maybe if I had, in protest, it would not have been the best thing to do in my interest, but it would have been the right thing to do, no pun intended.
RAY TO JACK
DeleteI have a book recommendation. Yikes! Another book recommendation. How very boring. Yep. I know, but I'll make it anyway, and because I believe that much of the world we live in today is a product of World Wars One and 2, especially WW 2. With that said, the book is:
"1945 Year Zero, The Shaping of the Modern Age" by the late John Lukacs, one of my favorite historians. It's about 300 pages and published around 1978. Lukacs is Hungarian and came to the U.S. in 1945. His portraits of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, and Truman still stick in my mind. I have the book my parents bought me as a gift.
I'm sure with your library experience, you can get a hold of this book easily.
As far as the Christian religion goes, and I don't know what your denominational preferences are, BUT, a lot of excellent information about how Christianity reacts with secular society today is "Way of Life Literature" a site maintained by David Cloud. Cloud is a Baptist, but if you can get past that, his assessment of current events and the state of our society are outstanding, in my opinion. A major theme of his, revolves around how churches have become more secular. Interestingly, he blasts the late Bill Graham, but he tells you why, as he always does when discussing anything. He has lots of free books you can read on line. Give him a try. If for nothing else his "Friday Church New Notes" are always interesting.
Ray, I don't know if you ever watched "House of Cards", but Frank Underwood found some mighty creative ways to capture and keep his grip on power, and I'm sure the Dems are capable of being equally inventive and ruthless. Trump could be vulnerable to lot of intrigues, but one that I would advise him to be on guard against is manipulation of the electors (should he win).
ReplyDeleteWelcome, "The Horn"! Your nickname implies that you are formidable, or possibly horny. Maybe both. In any case, your comments are welcome! I personally don't regard Joseph R. Biden as "razor sharp" in any way, shape, or form -- he never was, and he isn't now -- but you're right that he shouldn't be taken lightly, and it's entirely possible that he will be seen as the "winner" of the debates, since it's mostly Democrats who watch them, after all.
I suppose leftists have always been self-satisfied, but it's only recently that their command of our major institutions has become so complete that they can cocoon themselves and never hear a disparaging word. That makes them, needless to say, more insufferable than ever, and more unchecked in their ferocity.
Jack, I suspect Garland will be jettisoned by the Left, but not for his excesses -- for his incompetence. He was supposed to have nailed Trump to the wall by now and have him in jail. Instead, neither of the federal cases are even coming to trial in time to be useful. The Dems will never forgive Garland for that.
I agree with Ray: a second Trump presidency would make the lefties apoplectic, but it wouldn't fundamentally transform the country, much less our deeply diseased culture, unless Trump assumed dictatorial power, and I've seen no sign that he has it in him. Idle talk won't cut it.
Ray, I've faced many of the same dilemmas. As the Left has steadily expanded its reach in academia (and beyond), I could have spoken up on countless occasions, but generally did not. I got along to get along. Do I regret that? Not necessarily. I'm a big believer in picking one's battles. The question is...when are we conservatives going to dig in our heels? We can't put it all on Trump's shoulders. If ordinary conservatives don't push back, and don't do their part to wrest back control of at least a few of our institutions, our goose is as good as cooked.
Thanks for the book recommendation, Ray. That one sounds very interesting. I'm certainly sympathetic to the idea that WWII totally remade the world we live in. The irony for me is that Marxism, which lost the Cold War, is steadily winning the culture wars in its wake. I wonder if any of the apparatchiks saw that coming?
RAY TO DR.WADDY (NICK)
DeleteYour comment about "Marxism which lost the Cold War..." Reminds me of a book (that I own) by the late Pat Robertson titled "The New World Order" published in 1991. (I realize Robertson was a primarily a religious leader. HOWEVER, this is really an excellent book, in my opinion).
In his foreword, he makes a very good case that the so called coup of August 1991 in Russia was a masterful piece/work of disinformation. He makes a fine case of it. I highly recommend this book, along with "1945, Year Zero". Looks like Americans might have been duped (again) by disinformation. Get a hold of this book, and you will realize that Robertson is not a raving religious "fanatic" as some have labeled him.
No, I have not lost my mind. Ha! I'm serious about recommending this book by Robertson.
Ray , Dr. Waddy et al from Jack: Churchill was born to the purple and bred for leadership in the demanding British way; I think by 1940 he had Hitler pretty well sized up. When that presumptuous, incredibly lucky strategic amateur gave the world the gift of the monumentally wrongheaded restraint he ordered in front of Dunkirk, wily old Churchill, a killer himself and a very fine soldier, took full advantage. We need such leadership, foresight and perhaps much of that serendipitous good fortune now in order to defeat a domestic totalitarian threat sure to be as thorough in its destruction as its nazi model.
ReplyDeleteRay from Jack: Thanx for your recommendation. I have gotten fascinated with the immediate post war era and I will access Lukacs' book for sure.You are right; we librarians know how! My primary motivation has been to learn more about Britain's and especially Churchill's experience in those years. I see no reason to think Pat Robertson an any less creditable commentator because of his Christianity. I think it compliments his views. I would challenge anyone reflexively condemning Christian information of present day secular life to defend such a position.
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy and Ray et al from Jack: Mayor Guiliani was no dictator but he wrought a fundamental change in an apparently irredeemably far left NYC using common sense and monumental physical and moral courage. He proved, under harrowingly adverse conditions, that it CAN be done if America wills it so!
ReplyDeleteDr. Waddy, Ray et Al from Jack: Since the far left was forced into a long term seditious strategy in the '70s after the rejection of the silly"Age of Aquarius", we have fancied that they were defeated for good. Not so; their corruption has "progressed" to lengths which, understandably, we(and they) could not have imagined then. But so many of us from back then are living now in the once future. The antiamerican left is "BAAACK", reinvigorated and firmly and laboriously esconsed in many of our vital institutions (such as proliferating entertainment , the American "academy", government of course and even law enforcement and the military)! So many of us of American views were unprepared for this counterintuitive development, especially after the international left's disastrous discreditation in Russia and its slave territories. We must, if America is to survive, reconcile ourselves to this reality somewhat as our parents rallied to fight terribly unwelcome WWII.
ReplyDeleteThe Horn, I respect your point of view on Biden -- and in fact I'm very reassured by it. Not that I think that highly of Biden, but I desperately want you Dems to maintain your devotion to him long enough to crash and burn in November. I'm curious: do you think Biden is currently "winning"? That is, based on the polls, do you think he's likely to beat Trump? Because I don't see how any objective observer could believe that. And, if he's not winning or likely to win, then, regardless of how great you think he is, aren't you obligated to consider alternatives???
ReplyDeleteRay, my curiosity is piqued! How does Robertson demonstrate that the Russian coup of 1991 was "disinformation"? Who was...disinforming us, and for what purpose?
Jack, Churchill sure had his moments, but don't you think that even the most doltish of PMs could have figured out that it would be expedient to recover as much of the BEF as possible from France after that country's defeat? Seems like a no-brainer.
Jack, if anyone ever thought that the Left was defeated, or on its back foot, then they were spectacularly naive! The lefties have gone from being dominant in most of our institutions, to enjoying virtually sole possession of them. This is a development long in the making too. The steady purge of conservatives from education, Hollywood, the mainstream media, bureaucracy, and now even corporate boardrooms, occurred only because conservatives themselves let it. Possibly our very success at the highest levels of politics caused our wider complacency?