Quicker on the trigger than I am, Joan. Agent 36 just called to let me know. Deb and I have been kayaking all morning. As soon as she gets back from an errand we're going to celebrate by taking a nap. Hope Joe is going to do the same. Hat off to him for doing the right thing.
Feel like I should offer to teach Joe and Jill to kayak. Best thing they could do in retirement!
No political symbolism intended here. From our paddle:
I'm heartbroken not just because I love Joe Biden but because I really think he was the best to beat Trump. I know I am in the minority thinking this way. I am all in now behind Kamala Harris. She is our only viable choice now. She can hopefully smoothly receive the Biden delegates and it's better to keep the choice within the Biden team. Love, Joanie
Haha! Actually i was going by what i SAW in the rally clip, Jack. And, yes, there are more women out there who are perfectly capable, but I would hope, taller. It was the height of the poor agent who was trying to shield a much larger, taller Trump, that left me shocked. If a guy of the same height had been trying to shield, I would be equally surprised and unimpressed. To call inedptitude "keystone" is pretty common when the chaos calls for it. Don't need Fox news to teach me what that means, as I was well aware of (again) what I SAW with my own eyes (such as they are). Thanks for taking time to readdress what is a dead horse...at least, until 'the horse's mouth' Director Cheatle puts her hand on the Bible. Nothing like hearing the other side and understanding where those who are most responsible, are coming from.
Though there are a few shows I like on Fox: MEDIA BUZZ, for one. FOX personalities like Brett Baier, Neil Cavuto and Trey Goudy always give reasonable and enjoyaable analyes, as well as interesting interviews. Late night CNN hosts Abby Phillips and Laura Coates each have good shows, too. Many mixed viewpoints on debating panels. For the record, I applaud any and all lawsuits that result in improving information sources.
Last but not least, Joanie, my heart hurts for you now that Biden has finally stepped down. Praying that COVID will leave his body quickly, as we all know at our ages, even the common cold doesn't behave as it once did. A life of much more R&R and much less pressure is likely the best medicine of all. The good news is that you like Kamala Harris, as it looks like she's the lucky choice to beat the bejeesus out of Mr. Trump!
The Democratic Party has a deep bench of qualified, experienced potential candidates. We would be happy if Kamala Harris is the one to beat Trump. A woman beating Donald Trump. Wouldn't that be a great way to increase respect for our country?
Police risk their lives in a firefight in which two people are killed, three wounded. They eliminate the attacker and successfully extract the President of the United States to safety.
Fox News and its followers, many/most of whom have never heard a shot fired in anger, ridicule the police as keystone cops.
Keystone cops are not police protecting the public. They are incompetent buffoons.
You speak in ignorance, Nori. I hope.
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I'd love to teach Joe and Jill to kayak. Perfect follow up to the Presidency and life in the White House
Heather Cox Richardson points out what may be part of the newly altered Presidential race:
". . . if Biden is off the ticket, they are in yet another pickle. Just last week, the Republicans nominated Donald Trump, who is 78, for president. Having made age their central complaint about Biden, they are now faced with having nominated the oldest candidate in U.S. history, who repeatedly fell asleep at his own nominating convention as well as his criminal trial, who often fumbles words, and who cannot seem to keep a coherent train of thought. Democrats immediately pounced on Trump with all the comments Republicans had been making about Biden. Republicans have already suggested that Trump will not debate Harris, a former prosecutor."
Harris, 20 years younger (ok, so I've rounded the numbers), former prosecutor and attorney general unlike the First Felon. First woman of color President, opposed to another old white dude.
Yes, now Trump is the oldest one running and he sure has major cognition problems from preferring electrocution to sharks and for his fascination with Hannibal Lector to name just a few. As for my talking of Harris, I like her fine but if I could pick anyone to top the ticket, it might have been someone else, however, she is very capable and I think sticking with Harris who is part of the Biden Admin would be the smoothest transition and best chance for us to win Love, Joanie
Wow, Kamala was great last night. So sweet too that Biden called in and the love Kamala and her husband have for Joe was so touching and genuine. Glad Joe will be working hard the next six months on the things that are so important to him and our country, things like the climate, Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza, banning assault weapons and so much more. Love, Joanie
All I can do is try and keep my sense of humor, laugh at its inanities and insanities, remind myself that misinformation and disinformation can be spread by and believed by anyone, anywhere on the political spectrum
From NPR, 7/23:
A coup, fake signatures and deepfakes are the latest conspiracy theories about 2024
"President Joe Biden’s decision to bow out of the 2024 election followed weeks of pressure from Democrats concerned about his age and ability to win and serve another four years. But conspiracy theorists, right-wing influencers and even some Republican politicians immediately cast Biden’s resignation from the campaign as evidence of something more sinister.
The flurry of unverified rumors, speculation, and conspiracy theories comes as people are reeling from an onslaught of high-stakes political upheaval, from the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump on July 13 to Biden’s withdrawal from the race eight days later.
On the most extreme end, Charlie Kirk of the conservative youth organization Turning Point USA and far-right activist Laura Loomer suggested, without evidence, that Biden may be dying or already dead.
Others, including billionaire hedge fund boss Bill Ackman, raised doubts over the president’s letter announcing his decision, baselessly suggesting his signature wasn’t really his.
Republican politicians including U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado speculated about why Biden had not been seen in public since the announcement. On Tuesday, the president emerged from his beach house in Delaware where he had been isolating while recovering from Covid. He plans to address the nation on Wednesday.
“If this were a hostage situation, that letter would not qualify as proof of life,” Ackman posted on X on Sunday. (On Tuesday, Ackman shared a post with a video of Biden boarding Air Force One that read in part, “President Joe Biden seen in public for the first time in nearly a week, debunking conspiracy theories online.”)
Still others on the right framed Biden’s move as not his at all, but an anti-democratic coup orchestrated by shadowy forces including George Soros, a frequent target of conspiracy theories. In doing so, they cast doubt on the legitimacy of Vice President Kamala Harris’s candidacy — and, ultimately, on the election as a whole.
“The idea of selecting the Democrat[ic] Party's nominee because George Soros and Barack Obama and a couple of elite Democrats got in a smoke-filled room and decided to throw Joe Biden overboard, that is not how it works,” Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance told the crowd at a rally in Ohio on Monday.
Harris is also being targeted with baseless claims and conspiracy theories, including the long-running falsehood that she’s not really an American citizen, despite the fact she was born in Oakland, Calif. These “birther” smears came up when she ran for president in 2020 and were amplified by Trump, who previously promoted similar false claims about former president Barack Obama.
After any breaking news event, people search for answers that may not be available right away. That information void is a ripe environment for the spread of incorrect and incomplete information, as well as for exploitation by those seeking to gain clout or financial reward by amplifying the wildest theories, said Melissa Ryan, CEO of consulting firm CARD Strategies, which tracks disinformation and extremism.
“The thing to understand is for folks who live in this cinematic universe, things are never what they seem. It's always a false flag,” said Ryan.
When Biden called in to an event with Harris and campaign staff on Monday, some online commentators immediately began to speculate that it was not in fact Biden’s voice, but a deepfake created with artificial intelligence.
Some figures on the right had been pressing the narrative, without evidence, that Biden would be replaced on the Democratic ticket at the last minute since at least last fall. Much of that speculation claimed former first lady Michelle Obama or California Gov. Gavin Newsom would be the replacement nominee. Despite the discrepancy in the details, the reality of Biden stepping out has many of them feeling validated.
“It’s shocking how precisely right you can be, right down to the exact timing,” former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who was among those who had long suggested Biden would drop out, posted on X on Sunday.
There is little downside to this kind of speculation, which can boost an influencer’s profile whether or not their claims pan out.
“The truth is, you know, sometimes things change. It doesn't mean that, oh, the conspiracy theorists were right all along. It means everyone was working with the information they knew to be true,” Ryan said.
When speculation does line up with reality — even imperfectly — that creates opportunity to build trust and expand their audience.
“We've been seeing that in a lot of different contexts, whether it's in politics or astrology even on the internet, of people trying to say like, ‘Oh, we knew that this was going to happen,’ and that assigns some sort of authority to your voice,” said Danielle Lee Tomson, research manager at the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public.
“You know, FDR 16 years — almost 16 years — he was four terms. I don’t know, are we going to be considered three-term? Or two-term?” Trump quipped at the National Rifle Association annual meeting, speaking before a crowd of gun rights supporters.
“Get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what: it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians…. Get out, you’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/july-26-2024?r=asnwm&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
The most consequential decision Vice President Harris will make in the first weeks of her new campaign will be choosing a running mate. And the predictable questions surrounding that choice are already budding like cherry blossoms in springtime.
Who can deliver a swing state? Who can outwit JD Vance in a debate? Who is capable enough to take the wheel someday yet restrained enough to ride shotgun in the meantime?
As Harris ponders her selection, let me issue a gentle warning: These familiar questions frame the decision too narrowly.
An uncommon candidate (Black, Asian American, female) in an unusual campaign (a 100-day sprint rather than a 100-week slog) against an unprecedented opponent (a thrice-nominated, twice-impeached, once-nearly-assassinated former president) calls for an unconventional approach.
Instead of choosing one person, why not pick a team?
Help us deliver a jolt of adrenaline to the American imagination!
Share your bold, unexpected idea for improving our country, our organizations or our lives. We read every submission and will select the most intriguing ideas to explore in future columns.
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Donald Trump has said many nutty things over the years, but among the most alarming were five words he uttered in his 2016 Republican National Convention acceptance speech. After reciting a litany of national miseries, Trump assured America: “I alone can fix it.”
Four years later, he told devotees, “I’m the only thing standing between the American Dream and total anarchy, madness and chaos.” And in his speech at this month’s convention, after vividly describing how a madman’s bullet lacerated his ear, he suggested that “I had God on my side” — an echo of his earlier statement that “I am the Chosen One.”
Confronted with such a cartoonish megalomaniac, Harris could draw a lesson from the best comic books: Fight back with a team. Their five-word promise: “Together we can fix it.”
Harris could select her prospective vice president, as presidential candidates always do. That person’s name would appear with hers on ballots. But at next month’s Democratic National Convention, she could also announce the core members of her eventual government, including people who didn’t get the VP nod.
Imagine an ensemble of All Stars. She could tap swing-state celebrities across the country, such as Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona as her potential defense secretary, Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky or Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina as attorney general, and Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania as transportation secretary.
She could elevate a few popular Biden officials — make Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo secretary of the treasury, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy secretary of health and human services, and multilingual Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg secretary of state.
It could be an opportunity to introduce fresh faces — perhaps Los Angeles Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho as education secretary, California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger as solicitor general, Adm. Lisa Franchetti as national security adviser and General Motors CEO Mary Barra as commerce secretary.
Now imagine this entire crew appearing alongside Harris and her veep choice at the convention, waving together from the stage as balloons descend from the rafters, and then fanning out across the country to campaign for the next 10 weeks.
In a compressed and competitive race, a dream team helmed by Harris has several advantages over the usual dynamic duo.
1. A team offers good government, which is almost always good politics.
Trump’s presidency exposed the absurdity of his “I alone” boast. His unwillingness to listen, to tolerate opposing views or to demonstrate even the barest humility stalled his policies and produced record turnover in his administration.
By replacing the arrogance of isolation with the confidence of delegation, Harris can set herself up to succeed as president. Research in organizational behavior and social psychology demonstrates that individuals often outperform teams in solving simple problems. But teams are better at tackling complex challenges. Groups bring diverse experiences and clashing perspectives, which generate more options and yield smarter solutions for complicated problems.
So, to determine whom to fire on a reality TV show, rely on a triumphant loner. But to repair a broken immigration system, strengthen wobbling democratic institutions, manage ever-shifting geopolitical alliances, prepare for the rise of artificial intelligence or address just about any 21st-century issue, a squad beats a squawker.
At the same time, this novel approach shines a light not just on her opponent’s past performance but also on his future policies. Trump allies have laid out two equally disturbing plans of governance. One is Project 2025, 900 pages of authoritarian revenge porn that rolls back rights, rewinds regulations and rewards the president with the powers of a king. The other is the platform the party unveiled at its convention this month — a shaggy collection of randomly capitalized catchphrases and outbursts that read as if Bart Simpson scratched them on a chalkboard.
A fleet of pragmatic policy wonks ready to govern on Day 1 delivers a stark contrast — more mainstream than Project 2025, more substantive than an ALL CAPS party platform.
2. A team recasts the conversation about age and vigor.
Many national elections distill to a single question: Forward or back?
With Biden out of the race, Trump is the oldest presidential nominee ever. In the space of two weeks, he has become the last gasp of baby boom politics, the very embodiment of “back.” Democrats can press that case.
Picture a split screen. On one half is an elderly Florida man dishing out a word salad with a side of grievance. On the other half is a lineup of accomplished, energetic professionals — a physician, a carmaker, even an astronaut, almost none of them yet eligible for Social Security — rolling up their sleeves and getting to work.
On one side is a 78-year-old politician who has attempted to launder his age by selecting a 39-year-old yes-man as a running mate — enlisting him less as a partner than as a sidekick. On the other side is a Gen X woman tough enough to assemble a team of rivals to serve her country.
Present that contrast relentlessly until Election Day and the question bubbles to the top of the conversation: Forward or back?
3. A team mitigates some of the nominee’s political disadvantages.
Women leaders often confront what social scientists call a “double bind.” Though people in general, and voters in particular, readily accept that a male leader can be both likable and effective, they assume that women face an inherent trade-off. If you’re warm, you must not be competent. If you’re competent, you must not be warm. And we want our leaders to be both.
A contingent of running mates gives Harris a way to untangle this unfair knot by outsourcing some of the effort. When she’s displaying the steely competence of a prosecutor, her partners can project warmth. When she’s showing the kindness, laughter and dance moves of “Momala,” her colleagues can demonstrate competence.
Likewise, a unit can insulate Harris from the inevitable attacks. It’s tougher to portray her as a woo-woo San Francisco liberal if she’s leading a squadron of political centrists, corporate executives and military veterans.
In movies and comics, heroes like Batman and Wonder Woman can battle most bad guys on their own. But facing a supervillain requires a team. The signal goes out. The band assembles. And the work begins.
That’s the secret to victory in November: Kamala’s own Justice League of America.
Thank you for your kind remarks, Joanie. As a Nat. Geo. fan since before I could even read the articles, only look at the photos in my grandparents' copies, I appreciate the comparison.
Another couple from the paddle. Baby loon getting fed, young heron. That heron is adult sized. Grew that big, hatching from a 2-3" long egg to about four feet tall, in three months or so! Now fledged, on its own. And we think our kids grow up fast.
And met this white-tail in the woods the other day. Young, I suspect, but probably a year+ old.
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And while posting that, Joan posted the WaPo "Team" suggestion!
"With Biden out of the race, Trump is the oldest presidential nominee ever. In the space of two weeks, he has become the last gasp of baby boom politics, the very embodiment of “back.” Democrats can press that case.
"Picture a split screen. On one half is an elderly Florida man dishing out a word salad with a side of grievance. On the other half is a lineup of accomplished, energetic professionals — a physician, a carmaker, even an astronaut, almost none of them yet eligible for Social Security — rolling up their sleeves and getting to work.
"On one side is a 78-year-old politician who has attempted to launder his age by selecting a 39-year-old yes-man as a running mate — enlisting him less as a partner than as a sidekick. On the other side is a Gen X woman tough enough to assemble a team of rivals to serve her country."
When you realize your candidate can't make it to the finish line.......you seek alternatives. As the Dems wisely did. Maybe Trump should do the same with his horrendous VP pick!
I think that Joe Biden really merited a second term and was and is a wonderful great President. Here he just rolled out his plans for revising the Supreme Court. He is the most knowledgeable about foreign policy. Regarding the changes to the Supreme Court, it will never happen with the Republican house but its good to start the discussion. I expect Biden to do more great things in the six months that remain. The problem is that the public saw him as too old to be President and the party were not unified with him at the lead. ...(as Lincoln said, "A House Divided Against Itself Cannot Stand.") We need to beat Donald Trump so with Biden endorsing Kamala Harris, and the party unified and 2/3's of the 200million dollar donations coming from first time donors and 170,000 wanting to sign up to help, the tide is changing and Trump is on the defense and the Republicans are now worrying that they picked J.D. Vance who is even more extreme then Trump. This is Trump's worst nightmare that Kamala is getting all the attention now. Love, Joanie
Or Trump's worst nightmare is that he is now the soon to be 80 year old, often apparently befuddled candidate, susceptible to the voters' awareness that he repeatedly confuses Nikki Haley with Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama with Joe Biden.
