Althouse: "America is an idea" — Biden comes out sloganing.

April 25, 2019

"America is an idea" — Biden comes out sloganing.

UPDATE: I have now watched this video (halfway) and condemn it. Read my new post.

82 comments:

henge2243 said...: He should have gone with the line from Thor Ragnarock, "America is not a place, it's a people".

That would leave him free to argue for open borders.; 4/25/19, 9:30 AM
mccullough said...: The E in Biden looks like gropey fingers.

The Apology and Groveling Campaign begins.; 4/25/19, 9:31 AM
WisRich said...: So Joe goes with "Trump's a racist" platform.; 4/25/19, 9:32 AM
Henry said...: He has a kind of John McCain vibe.; 4/25/19, 9:33 AM
chuck said...: Well, I'm sold :); 4/25/19, 9:33 AM
jeremyabrams said...: Trump condemned the neo-Nazis, and his "good people on both sides" comment related to the people on both sides of the Confederate statues debate. This has already been debunked, and so Biden is basing his entire campaign on a slander.

And he looks like death warmed over.; 4/25/19, 9:34 AM
Henry said...: 4 years of Donald Trump is survivable. But 8 years is "forever and fundamental". Okay then.

Is internal logic too much to ask?; 4/25/19, 9:34 AM
mccullough said...: White people calling other White people racist got old a long time ago.

Joe can’t run on the economy since it was stagnant for most while he was VP.

Biden should have run in 2016. But he is a oust. Hillary scared him.; 4/25/19, 9:35 AM
Seeing Red said...: What’s up with the democrat party and dirty old men?; 4/25/19, 9:35 AM
Kevin said...: And the the idea is to keep your hands to yourself.

Especially if you’re the government.; 4/25/19, 9:36 AM
Henry said...: The "moral equivalence" line is an interesting borrowing -- from conservatives.; 4/25/19, 9:38 AM
tim maguire said...: He's right at least that far--America is the only country in the world founded on an idea.

Which is why being a patriotic American means something different than being a patriotic anywhere else.; 4/25/19, 9:39 AM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Ugh.
Indeed. The left sure do know how to milk their own lies.; 4/25/19, 9:39 AM
chuck said...: Arrrgggghhhhh. It's a political commercial, horrible music, sententious tone. Go away Joe, and don't come back until next year.; 4/25/19, 9:41 AM
Limited blogger said...: Go Joe!!; 4/25/19, 9:44 AM
rhhardin said...: Beware the ideas of march.; 4/25/19, 9:45 AM
StephenFearby said...: "Joe Biden For President -- America Is An Idea"

A good example of Identity Politics frequently used by the Left.

America is America, not an idea.

General Semantics 101.; 4/25/19, 9:47 AM
Big Mike said...: That is a face that needs to be hit with a cream pie.; 4/25/19, 9:48 AM
Darrell said...: Biden his time.; 4/25/19, 9:48 AM
Q22 said...: A) Starting your campaign by repeating debunked hoax is a major gaffe.
b) his logo looks like a hand groping a boob.; 4/25/19, 9:48 AM
Francisco D said...: Dems have to brand Trump a racist (no matter how far fetched that is) because he is likely to get a larger share of the Black vote than any Republican POTUS since Nixon.; 4/25/19, 9:50 AM
rhhardin said...: Go, Joe!

No, Joe, them is trucks, some with cows in, some with ducks.; 4/25/19, 9:50 AM
Fernandinande said...: I think Biden was referring to an "America" other than the short-form name for the United States -

"A man I'm proud to call my friend. A man who will be the next President of the United States— Barack America!" -- Biden; 4/25/19, 9:50 AM
Howard said...: Run Forrest run; 4/25/19, 9:51 AM
Lucien said...: He did this just to piss off Scott Adams, didn’t he?; 4/25/19, 9:52 AM
Big Mike said...: his logo looks like a hand groping a boob

Props to Q22. Once someone points it out, it's obvious.; 4/25/19, 9:56 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: And Trump has not even really started to return fire yet.

I think creep joe is much better than sleepy joe.

Forest comment is so true!; 4/25/19, 9:57 AM
livermoron said...: Slow Joe Biden, the fresh new face to get the electorate all excited. He's a big fucking deal.

He should prove his environmentalist bona fides by recycling his signs and bumper stickers from his previous presidential campaigns.

Or maybe he'll just copy someone else's?; 4/25/19, 9:57 AM
Big Mike said...: @Fernandistein, is that green eel naked? Is that the Green Nude Eel?; 4/25/19, 9:58 AM
Henry said...: White man quotes white slaveowner to oppose white people. You don't get more white than that.; 4/25/19, 9:59 AM
Bay Area Guy said...: Hate to admit it, but the Biden video is pretty darn good. The Dems are getting smarter. Compared to the other wacko Dems, Biden seems sane and lucid.

The first part - where he talks about the Dec of Independence -- is good. He even gives a slight dig at Jefferson (didn't quite live up to the ideals) to pay homage to his leftwing friends. (Jefferson owned slaves!)

However, the Charlottesville stuff is pure demagoguery. But it is effective. Many sane folks don't want Robert E. Lee statutes torn down -- but if small subgroups of impotent Neo-Nazis or Klansmen or other wackos join the fray, well, that's very bad optics.

Of course, Biden ignores the violence and property damage caused by Antifa, and other radical Communists. But either Trump or his allies has to do a better job of EXPLAINING the dynamics of Charlottesville. Yes, there were decent folks on each side; but there were also wackos on each side, and the clash of wackos left one girl, Heather Heyer, dead.

Biden will be Trump's most formidable opponent. Democrat politicians are a distasteful bunch, but there's millions of decent Democrat voters (blue collar, union-types, teachers) who are are mostly good people, despite some seriously muddled political thinking. These aren't far left folks or ignorant college kids. Many are older who grew up in the JFK era, and still pine for those days.

My 2 cents. As always, could be wrong.; 4/25/19, 9:59 AM
Fernandinande said...: Biden's mama always said "Life is like a box of lies. You never know what you’re gonna say."

"My mama says that I'm stupid."

"I’m not the smart man. But I know what money is."; 4/25/19, 9:59 AM
Rae said...: It's too early in the campaign for three straight minutes of Biden.; 4/25/19, 9:59 AM
Birches said...: That's a really bad video.; 4/25/19, 9:59 AM
Rumpletweezer said...: America IS an idea. And Joe doesn't get it.; 4/25/19, 10:01 AM
Fernandinande said...: Is that the Green Nude Eel?

According to the guy on facebook that I swiped it from, yup.; 4/25/19, 10:02 AM
Henry said...: @Bay Area Guy -- That's a good, honest take.; 4/25/19, 10:03 AM
rhhardin said...: Forrest Gump was a film about good character, not about stupidity.; 4/25/19, 10:04 AM
Quayle said...: "America Is An Idea"

But, apparently, to Democrats, not an idea one can have south of the 30th parallel north.; 4/25/19, 10:05 AM
Brian said...: Looks like Biden got the B team of campaign communication staff. I guess the A division teams are on the other 19 campaigns.; 4/25/19, 10:07 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: I like the 3 red fingers groping the D cup boob in his logo.

I also like the BID "medicate twice daily" message.

Joe looks old. Old, slow Joe.; 4/25/19, 10:08 AM
Michael K said...: Rush Limbaugh talked about this speech yesterday. Biden was going to roll out his campaign in Charlottesville but was told they didn't want him.

Poor guy. Then he was going to have a rally in Philly and PIttsburg but they didn't happen.

He'll never get anywhere in the Democrat Party with a motto like :"All men are created equal"; 4/25/19, 10:10 AM
Darrell said...: An idea is usually represented as a light bulb lighting.

Which the Democrats banned.; 4/25/19, 10:11 AM
Jaq said...: One of the ideas of America is not to use the institutions of government entrusted with great powers over our lives for partisan purposes.; 4/25/19, 10:12 AM
Sebastian said...: Biden is positioning himself as the least crazy Dem. Let the real progs split the lefty vote, Bernie get his 30% -- and he'll take the rest. When it becomes a three-way race between Joe, Bernie and prog #1, Dems will face a choice: risk Bernie or prog #1, or take Joe as the relatively safe default. Gotta get the nice midwestern women on board.

Not sure it will work, but I think that's the gamble.

His problem is that a majority of Dems actually do hate America, idea and all. Can't hear him say all men are created equal at the convention. And if he somehow makes it to the general, Trump can easily out-America him.; 4/25/19, 10:17 AM
rehajm said...: OMG Kevin has it so right. “Hands off, Joe!” captures the literal and the metaphoric. That’s the slogan...; 4/25/19, 10:18 AM
Temujin said...: I realized 3 seconds into this, that I was not going to listen to Joe Biden for 3:30, so I cut it off then. 3 seconds. Joe has always come off as a nice guy, the guy next door, the drinking buddy kind of guy, the I'll stand up for you kind of guy. But Joe has always been a 1st rate bullshitter. He's got a history of it. A long history of it.

The good news for Joe is that the American people have a short memory and many of the Dem voters think that world history started in 2008. Joe was actually messing things up long before 2008. Look- everyone messes things up. But very few get to preen around about it. Joe's a preener. And he's full of shit. You'll all see it.

As for me, my vote comes down to one question: Do you stand for individual rights, or do you stand for collective (group) rights? Joe has already failed on this account.; 4/25/19, 10:18 AM
rehajm said...: America is a country. With borders.; 4/25/19, 10:18 AM
JAORE said...: Joe's voice changes when he addresses an audience (or videotapes as if speaking to an audience). It is sooooo phony/you can trust me/I will help you/let me explain it to you little people. I'd rather listen to Lizzy Warren.

Fortunately as a motorcycle rider I have a large supply of ear plugs.; 4/25/19, 10:19 AM
Tommy Duncan said...: Joe delivers a touching massage.; 4/25/19, 10:20 AM
JAORE said...: An easy test off the honesty of the press (don't laugh, I have a point to make) is how many call Old Joe out for his phony Trump quote.

Bueller? Bueller? Anybody? Is this mike on?; 4/25/19, 10:21 AM
tcrosse said...: Biden should recycle Bernie's Look for America ad, which was so successful in 2016. Or would have been if Bernie hadn't been schlonged bye the same people who are about to schlong Joe.; 4/25/19, 10:22 AM
Nonapod said...: So he's focusing on the "fine people" media created hoax? Man, that's pretty sad.

I've said before that Biden is the best chance the Dems have of defeating Trump. He' the one that feels the most moderate. He's the one that most Americans are very familiar with. I believe he's the only one that could potentially get votes in the key swing districts that went for Trump in 2016.

But launching your campaign on the strategy of framing Trump (and by inference, his supporters) as a racist based on a demonstrable hoax is pretty feeble. I don't believe it's persuasive or welcoming to those critical swing voters because I don't believe that most of those swing voters believe he or his supporters are actually racist. And I think if he pushes this issue it's extraordinarily easy to disprove the premise. It indicates a level of stupidity and delusion within his campaign that is a little surprising. Even with his long history of gaffes, plagerism, silly comments, and inappropriate behavior I assumed he was a bit more savvy than that.; 4/25/19, 10:22 AM
pacwest said...: So his rollout speech is RASCIST!! I did get a kick out of his saying "make America America again" though. Too close and tone deaf to MAGA. Chance he beats Trump = 0% imo.; 4/25/19, 10:25 AM
iowan2 said...: Birches said...
That's a really bad video.

msdnc had on a couple of guests to talk about sloe Joe. The were brutally honest, as much as you can get from a talking head Democrat operative. One of them said the video had him longing for the edit/undo button on his computer, he said the entire video should have been and edit undo. He then went on to explain that Barak Obama is a man of great character, wisdom, temperament and knowledge, was a lousy President. That's when the hosts head exploded.; 4/25/19, 10:29 AM
MadisonMan said...: So, 2-1/2 minutes of complaining about Trump, then he, a visibly old white man, announces his candidacy.

I'm unconvinced that I need to vote for him.

This is a very 1980s/1990s start for a 2020 campaign.; 4/25/19, 10:30 AM
Achilles said...: The white supremacists were led and organized by a democrat.

There is a party with out and proud anti-semites in it. There is a party smearing entire groups of people with broad brushes.

Israel is naming towns and trains after Trump.

Fuck Biden and the democrats.

Fuck these divisive pieces of shit and all the people that vote for them.

You people are the racists and dividers.; 4/25/19, 10:31 AM
JAORE said...: Like listening to a "soft sell" evangelist.

But, yeah, let me sit (and sit and sit) here to tell you how awful that other guy is.

Go big or go home, Joe. For God's sake, we are LOSING America! Right Joe?

Truth? Feh! Tell us just how bad it is! Haven't you noticed the rail cars headed toward the camps, the dead minorities clogging up the storm drains, the women forced into pregnancy with no health care available? Don't you know Trump will force you all you black folk back into chains?; 4/25/19, 10:32 AM
StephenFearby said...: Another example of Biden putting his foot in his mouth.

I couldn't bear to listen to all of his swarmy campaign ad, but the Daily Caller did.

JOE BIDEN STARTS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN BY PRAISING ANTIFA

'Former Vice President Joe Biden endorsed Antifa in a video announcing his presidential bid Thursday, characterizing the group as “courageous” and saying it’s wrong to draw a moral equivalence between white nationalist groups and those opposing them.

The violent methods of Antifa are well documented. The nebulous group often uses these violent means against peaceful conservative speakers, benign free speech advocates, and even journalists.

In a retelling of the events at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Biden describes the white nationalists as having “crazed faces, illuminated by torches, veins bulging and baring the fangs of racism,” but describes the Antifa members who engaged violently with them as “a courageous group of Americans.”'

'...At rallies in D.C. last year, an Antifa protester repeatedly punched a man in the face, and others threw water bottles and launched fireworks at police officers. (RELATED: Five Times The Establishment Media Excused Antifa Violence)

They started fires with Molotov cocktails during a protest of a planned Milo Yiannopoulos event at Berkeley. More recently, Antifa members showed up at Tucker Carlson’s house and hurled threats, while one of them slammed into his front door.

The Daily Caller News Foundation’s reporting led to the arrest of two Antifa leaders who accosted and assaulted two Marines in Philadelphia. The perpetrators attacked the Marines, both Hispanic, while shouting about white nationalism.'

https://dailycaller.com/2019/04/25/joe-biden-antifa/; 4/25/19, 10:34 AM
iowan2 said...: I saw President Trumps tweet to slow Joe, on tv. I notice he tied Joes success in the primary battle to his low intelligence. When slo Joe fails in the primary,(he will fail. He's an old white man that had 8years to address all the evils he claims he can fix now) it will prove sloe Joe is not intelligent.
See what the President did there?; 4/25/19, 10:36 AM
wendybar said...: Bahahahhahahhahahhahah. This is even a bigger Joke than Socialist Bernie Sanders running!!; 4/25/19, 10:39 AM
Leland said...: I so want Biden to win the nomination. He's the perfect candidate for Trump. As for the video, pathetic. Others announce in front of a crowd to show support. If Biden doesn't get out there in front of people, he won't win, and that would be bad for Trump.; 4/25/19, 10:39 AM
AZ Bob said...: I just heard on the radio that Biden said he asked Obama not to endorse him so that the primary would be fair to all candidates.

Sour grapes!; 4/25/19, 10:39 AM
wendybar said...: AZ Bob said...
I just heard on the radio that Biden said he asked Obama not to endorse him so that the primary would be fair to all candidates.

I think he believes it would be the kiss of death. And it would be!!; 4/25/19, 10:40 AM
Birches said...: I went back to watch Hillary's video to see if it was just as bad. It was actually pretty good until it got to her. All the hallmarks of intersectionality of course, but it was positive, forward thinking.

Trump's campaign announcement was not positive. Maybe that's why Biden's team went dark. But I don't think Charlottesville sells the same way as a border wall and bad trade deals.; 4/25/19, 10:41 AM
Mark said...: Then there was the time when Joe Biden led the fight against efforts to desegregate public schools -

Biden proposed his own amendment to the $36 billion education bill . . . He explained, “All the amendment says is that some bureaucrat sitting down there in HEW cannot tell a school district whether it is properly segregated or desegregated, or whether it should or should not have funds.” . . .
[Black Massachusetts Senator] Brooke pointed out that the amendment would do much more than Biden claimed. Like the Helms gambit, it would still gut Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. . . . [Brooke] called the vote on Biden’s amendment “the greatest symbolic defeat for civil rights since 1964.” He argued that Biden’s amendment would eliminate virtually every remedy for segregation, as school systems would be prohibited from assigning students on the basis of race no matter what the method. Brooke accused Biden of effectively leading an assault on integration.; 4/25/19, 10:51 AM
JK Brown said...: We are in a battle for the soul of this nation. Will America be defined by an often repeated hoax or will Americans see through the media manipulation; 4/25/19, 11:22 AM
rcocean said...: Joe Biden has NEVER been a good candidate. He's been in the Senate since 1972, and he ran for POTUS twice and didn't get out of the starting gate. Why? He's not a good candidate.

He got elected in some weird liberal small state, that just re-elects Senators year after year unless they kill somebody or turn Republican. He lost the VP debates to Palin and Ryan. He embarrassed himself in the Bork, Roberts, and Thomas hearings. No one has any respect for him. He's never been in the Senate Leadership. He's an empty suit.; 4/25/19, 1:05 PM
rcocean said...: BTW, Charlottsville was NOT a Neo-nazi rally, It was a communist Anitfa rally. The neo-Nazis were outnumbered 10-1. IRC, about 200 vs. 2000.; 4/25/19, 1:06 PM
rcocean said...: Leaving aside the LIES. I wasn't impressed. So Joe's running for POTUS because he's against Neo-Nazis. Wow, that's a bold stance. Do any of his opponents differ? No. Do anyone of them like Trump? Nope.

I suppose its deliberate. Biden has no agenda other than, I'll return us to the days of Obama. He's just after the status-quo "don't rock the boat" Democrats who don't want a radical like Sanders or a untried young gun like "Mayor Pete". This is his way of saying "I'm bland. I'm safe. I'm the white Obama". Maybe it will work.; 4/25/19, 1:11 PM
Kevin said...: I just heard on the radio that Biden said he asked Obama not to endorse him so that the primary would be fair to all candidates.

Shorter Biden: Obama won't endorse me and I need a reason why.; 4/25/19, 1:46 PM
Bilwick said...: America was BASED on an idea, and it wasn't Big Government pseudo-liberalism.; 4/25/19, 2:09 PM
tcrosse said...: I just heard on the radio that Biden said he asked Obama not to endorse him so that the primary would be fair to all candidates.

He has also asked not to be considered for the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
Still up in the air is the coveted Hillary Clinton endorsement.; 4/25/19, 2:18 PM
chickelit said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/25/19, 2:18 PM
chickelit said...: And as white guys go, he’s the worst. He subverted the Senate process for getting SCOTUS nominees. Joe Biden deserve to go down losing.; 4/25/19, 2:21 PM
Nichevo said...: iowan2 said...
I saw President Trumps tweet to slow Joe, on tv. I notice he tied Joes success in the primary battle to his low intelligence. When slo Joe fails in the primary,(he will fail. He's an old white man that had 8years to address all the evils he claims he can fix now) it will prove sloe Joe is not intelligent.
See what the President did there?

He's Fredo Biden! He's smrat! Not dumb like everybody says!; 4/25/19, 2:22 PM
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Quaestor said...: Ideas have no borders and no citizens.

But they do have taxpayers.; 4/25/19, 5:43 PM
Todd Roberson said...: Was sipping a glass of craft beer when I read JAORE's comment at 10:32AM:

"...the dead minorities clogging the storm drains ..."

What a waste of good beer!

Still chuckling over that one!; 4/25/19, 5:47 PM
Anonymous said...: When did Biden start looking so much like Anderson Cooper?; 4/25/19, 6:14 PM
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