October 16, 2019

"He’s old, but he looked energetic and spoke clearly. He made a few errors — who’s 'clipping coupons' in 'the stock market?' But in general..."

"... he was forceful and seemed knowledgeable. In particular, he nailed Sen. Elizabeth Warren on how her health care plan would increase taxes on the middle class. And he was surprisingly sensible in dismissing 'court-packing' schemes. His final remarks were a bit over the top, but after three hours I’d probably have been raving, too."

Writes Glenn Reynolds, declaring Joe Biden one of the "winners" of last night's debate (in USA Today).

A low bar for "surprisingly sensible"!

ADDED: Here's the transcript of the Court-packing part:
BURNETT: The Supreme Court is currently made up of five Republican-appointed justices and four appointed by Democrats. The court just announced it will hear arguments in a case challenging some abortion rights. Vice President Biden, the Constitution does not specify the number of justices that serve on the Supreme Court. If Roe v. Wade is overturned on your watch and you can't pass legislation in Congress, would you seek to add justices to the Supreme Court to protect women's reproductive rights?

BIDEN: I would not get into court packing. We had three justices. Next time around, we lose control, they add three justices.
Three? Seems to me — if "we" means Obama and Biden — that they had 2 — Sotomayor and Kagan and "they" — if "they" means Trump — had 2 — Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
We begin to lose any credibility the Court has at all. I want to point out that the justices I've supported, when I defeated Robert Bork -- and I say when I defeated Robert Bork, I made sure we guaranteed a woman's right to choose for the better part of a generation. I would make sure that we move and insist that we pass, we codify Roe v. Wade.
This is a good point. If the Supreme Court overrules Roe v. Wade, you don't have to pack the Court and keep going back to the Court for a different answer. You just need to pass a federal law guaranteeing the right. If you have the power in Congress to legislate to changed the configuration of the Court, you'd also have the power to legislate a federal right to have an abortion (though there's a slight danger that the Court could say the commerce power doesn't cover the regulation of abortions).
The public is already there. Things have changed. And I would go out and I would campaign against those people in the state of Ohio, Alabama, et cetera, who in fact are throwing up this barrier. Reproductive rights are a constitutional right. And, in fact, every woman should have that right. And so I would not pack the court. What I would do is make sure that the people that I recommended for the court, from Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Elena Kagan, who used to work for me, to others, that they, in fact, support the right of privacy, on which the entire notion of a woman's right to choose is based. And that's what I would do. No one would get on the Court. And by the way, if, in fact, at the end of this -- beginning next year, if, in fact, one of the justices steps down, God forbid, in fact, I would make sure that we would do exactly what McConnell did last time out. We would not allow any hearing to be held for a new justice.

66 comments:

henry said...

I suppose if Biden wasn't seen eating paste on stage it must count as a win for him. Besides, the moderators covered up his (and Hunter's) blatant corruption. That too is a win, the mdeia hasn't tossed him under the bus and picked Warren, yet.

David Begley said...

Low bar is right. Biden is a dopey old man who has limited intellectual capacity but compared to that set of socialist loons, he looked okay.

Howard said...

So the head deplorables is afraid of Warren.

MadisonMan said...

Biden will be road kill under a media bus just as soon as Hunter Biden gains traction.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Without evidence, Biden claims innocence in the face of corruption accusations.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Speaking of old:


Erdogan MOCKS Trump, saying he 'can't keep track' of the President's tweets about Turkey's Syria invasion after dismissing US economic sanctions as nothing to worry about

Darrell said...

Biden's knowledge of economics is impressive. Ronald Reagan solve the coupon clipping problem in the bond market, so he shouldn't fear. Bearer bonds were a problem for the IRS.

Darrell said...

Go to bed, Howard, you're drunk.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

But in general...

There is no cure for dementia. In another year he will be even worse.

Hagar said...

No mention that the Democrats held a presidential campaign debate last night on today's front page of the Albuquerque Journal.

wendybar said...

He's a WINNER all right!!!!! Go with him Democrats.

rhhardin said...

Anybody with bearer bonds is clipping coupons. It refers to living on interest (having enough principal to live on the interest it generates alone).

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

So what branch did ARM serve in? I assume his marine son is on the line too.

What? He's just a chickenhawk chickenshit.

Bob Boyd said...

“I don’t see deplorables, I see fellow Americans."

It will be interesting to see if Tulsi Gabbard is punished or rewarded by her party and the media for this. Hillary won't like it, that's for sure.
I find it encouraging, like a break in the clouds.

Wince said...

Maybe Hunter Biden gave his father some of his Bolivian marching powder?

Biden seemed energetic, but sounded gacked out.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Glenn Reynolds:
"Rep. Tulsi Gabbard: When she challenged her colleagues who wanted to “end endless wars” but who were also criticizing President Trump from withdrawing troops from Syria, she didn’t back down, and blasted the New York Times and a CNN contributor for calling her a “Russian asset” for criticizing what she called the “regime change war” in Syria. She then challenged Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who says we shouldn’t have troops in the Middle East at all, on the issue. On this and other issues, she was firm, clear, and was willing to buck the herd. And in her closing remarks, quoting Lincoln, she said “I don’t see deplorables, I see fellow Americans.” "

a nice FU to Hillary Corruption Queen Clinton. Free walking criminal.

Michael K said...

Howard and ARM were enthralled by Joe and Lizzie.

Ann misses the sarcasm

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

I watched 'Where's My Roy Cohn?'. Let me just say, Trump is no Roy Cohn.

Kay said...

Most telling bit:

So I watched the Democrats’ debate tonight, all three hours of it, which probably makes me a loser.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Goodwin on Warren:

"...It was left to Beto O’Rourke to identify what I regard as a key liability of Warren’s campaign, namely her obvious desire to use the power of the presidency to punish rather than help. There’s something stridently negative about that and I’m only surprised that O’Rourke was the one to point it out.

He began the sequence by saying she didn’t seem interested in “lifting people up.” Instead, he said, she is “more interested in being punitive and pitting one part of the country against another.”

Bingo. That insight captures Warren’s finger-wagging demand that everyone “understand” what she knows about the evil nature of corporations, whether it’s Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Big Banks or Wall Street.

Her passion never seems to be about the benefits of her plans, only the virtue of singling out wrongdoers for “accountability.”

And anybody who doesn’t agree with her is part of the problem, as she demonstrated when she got little support for a wealth tax. Using sweeping gestures to include her rivals, she accused them of thinking it’s “more important to protect billionaires” than help the middle class."


This explains why angry Antifa freaks like Warren.

I do like how the left want to kill billionaires - but Tom Styer gets a pass.

Susan said...

"surprisingly sensible " Low bar and sad commentary all in one.

Eddie said...

If it weren't for low bars, we'd have no bars at all.

Kay said...

MadisonMan said...
Biden will be road kill under a media bus just as soon as Hunter Biden gains traction.
10/16/19, 7:11 AM


There are A LOT of things that would keep me from voting for Biden in the general election, but this isn’t one of them.

narayanan said...


All except Tulsi Gabbard. She has the mind and the personality of a leader. So she was treated as a threat by the Dem Media actors.
_________
I responded
When will D's figure out she's ringer for Trump and use her for speed-bag and sparring!?

today Bob Boyd said...

(Tulsi) “I don’t see deplorables, I see fellow Americans."

It will be interesting to see if Tulsi Gabbard is punished or rewarded by her party and the media for this. Hillary won't like it, that's for sure.
I find it encouraging, like a break in the clouds.
________________
I respond again ...
When will D's figure out she's ringer for Trump and use her for speed-bag and sparring!?

Temujin said...

A low bar, indeed. As I keep commenting, we have few standards left in our society. This did not start in the age of Trump. We've been working on it for years. And it's not just the US, it's all of Western Civ. (remember Obama getting a Nobel Prize just for...being, and before he even started doing his 'job'? That was a high standard.)

I still have a hard time believing what I'm seeing from the Democrat Party. This is it? This is what you got? After all of the howling, crying, demanding, fit-throwing, threats, intimidation, posing, and mask-wearing- the best you got is Biden, Warren, Little Pete, or Crazy Tom Steyer?

And on the other side, Trump.

Yes, the standards are low. Not sure they'll reach heights again in this current version of our Republic. It starts and ends in the schools.

Seeing Red said...

Who is clipping coupons in the stock market?

Bond owners.

“The rich.”

Seeing Red said...

Anybody with bearer bonds is clipping coupons. It refers to living on interest (having enough principal to live on the interest it generates alone).


The 11th Commandment: Thou Shalt Not Touch Thy Principal.

Quaestor said...

A low bar for "surprisingly sensible"!

Reynolds is grading on the curve.

Ken B said...

Bob Boyd
I think the strategy is to ignore Tulsi.

I gotta say, I don’t like any of them, but I think I might have some respect for Gabbard.

stevew said...

I didn't watch but have read a bit about it this morning, including that piece by Glen Reynolds. Interesting that Warren is being confronted over spending required to implement her plan(s) and that it will necessitate an increase in taxes on the middle class. With Biden seeming to have stabilized his position, with the Hunter interview putting that issue on the back burner (Dems would not attack him on that anyway, I think), he is establishing himself as the middle of the road candidate as compared to the other viable players, Warren and Sanders. Gabbard and Buttigieg are playing for VP, are they not? Beto seems increasingly irrelevant, and quite vacuous to boot.

The Boston Globe and NYT headlines in email this morning described the confrontation with Warren is less alarmist tones; didn't use the word 'attack'. I think that tells me something.

Drago said...

ARM once again looks at Erdogan's words instead of his actions which tell the real tale.

Not surprising.

Not unlike the Fightin' Bitin' Debatin' Dems and their media allies "forgetting" to talk about the economy!!

LOL

All the voters in the flyover states are well aware of what is happening on the ground and that's why Trump is looking good for reelection against any of the declared democrat nutjobs.

Which is also why there are so many rumblings about other dems that might jump in. The primary season isn't even underway and the democrat mover and shakers ALREADY have buyers remorse!

NCMoss said...

I enjoyed Joe's "must keep teeth from flying out" thought bubble.

Drago said...

Howard: "So the head deplorables is afraid of Warren."

LOLOLOL

This again.

I'm so old I remember when Trump was afraid of Beto!! And Buttigeireeieneenegeggeee!! And Bernie!! And Warren the first time before she imploded, only to return due to how pathetic the rest of the dems are!! And Kamala!! Oh my gosh, how supposedly afraid of Kamala we all were!!

Too funny.

I stick with my earlier prediction: Michelle at the last moment.

Known Unknown said...

"Biden's knowledge of economics is impressive. Ronald Reagan solve the coupon clipping problem in the bond market, so he shouldn't fear. Bearer bonds were a problem for the IRS."

Old news.

Darrell said...

Old news.

Not to RH Hardin.

stevew said...

A thought arrives: the best Dem candidates are not running because they don't believe Trump can be defeated. Though I am hard pressed to say who these best non-candidates are, I don't really follow that crowd closely enough.

stevew said...

Picking a nit: "clipping coupons" is indeed related to Bonds and so not in the "stock market". Reynolds is correct, Biden shows some confusion or ignorance with that comment.

Ken B said...

I gotta say, Beto made the most insightful comment of the week. Warren is about being punitive. That’s the content of her incel joke. It’s behind her ads showing HENRY Kravitz's house. And you can see it clearly in the comments of her supporters on lefty sites.

chuck said...

What happened to Climate Change? The world will end in ten years, one would think it worth a mention. If nothing else, we could throw one H*ll of a party before we all pass on.

Rusty said...

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
I watched 'Where's My Roy Cohn?'. Let me just say, Trump is no Roy Cohn.
And you're no wit. Remember when you were claiming that the Chinese were going to bury us capitalists? Just the opposite appears to be the case. The CCP is losing Hong Kong.

Michael K said...

A thought arrives: the best Dem candidates are not running because they don't believe Trump can be defeated.

That's what happened with Mario Cuomo. He thought Bush unbeatable after Gulf War I. We got Bill Clinton as a result.

With the state of the Democrat base, I don't see any sane Democrat left.

Bob Boyd said...

Tulsi shows a refreshing independence of mind. I hope it boosts her numbers and shows the hateful wing of her party that they're on a dead end road.
Having said that, I could never vote for any Dem candidate. A Dem victory wouldn't be good for anyone, not even the Dems.

Michael K said...

I stick with my earlier prediction: Michelle at the last moment.

I think Hillary. Michelle is still getting used to her millions. Having too much fun. Probably no fire in the belly,

Bob Boyd said...

Better to be clipping coupons than clipping the taxpayers.

narayanan said...

NCMoss said... I enjoyed Joe's "must keep teeth from flying out" thought bubble.
__________________
if Joe can get hair plugs on Congress Health Plan why not dental implants?

hope somebody ask him

rehajm said...

That’s so weird. Do you think his brain was thinking supermarket?

Clipping bond coupons is such a bad Mr. Potter image for Biden...

Tommy Duncan said...

I miss Marianne Williamson.

Michael McNeil said...

John Podhoretz (who's pretty much a NeverTrumper) described Biden's performance last night as he saw it in this NY Post column: [quoting…]

Ninety minutes in, it seemed like Biden was determined to prove every argument against him true — that he can’t say anything coherent, commits gaffes every sentence and has no response to the Trump claims that his son Hunter did bad stuff in Ukraine.

He declared himself proud of Hunter’s judgment only hours after Hunter himself said he had shown “bad judgment.” He referred to people “clipping coupons in the stock market” when he meant “supermarket.” He said he had spent “thousands of dollars in the situation room” dealing with foreign policy, and he called Syria “Iraq.”

It was all painful — until he snapped to attention more than two hours in and went at Elizabeth Warren by saying Democrats need to talk straight to the American people and tell them what things are going to cost and how they’re going to work.

Before long, he pointed out to Warren that he had worked to get the consumer-protection agency she had created as an Obama administration official the votes it needed to become a reality.

She thanked Barack Obama for helping her. She did not thank Biden. It was a spectacularly graceless moment, especially when Biden then congratulated her on her work creating the agency.

To which she said, surprised, “Thank you.”

This was easily Biden’s best moment ever in any debate. I don’t know if it negated the horrid impact of his opening moments, but he gave it a shot.

[/unQuote]

CStanley said...

“You are old, Joe Biden" the young voters lament,
And your hair has become very white;
And yet you repeatedly run for president—
Do you think, at your age, it is right?

“In my youth," Joe Biden replied to the group,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure my brain’s soup,
Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youths, "As we mentioned before,
And your son’s grown most uncommonly rich;
Yet no qualification had he to serve on these boards—
Pray, what is the reason for such?"

"In my youth," said the sage, “I commuted by train,
And passed legislation for bankers;
But then as VP went to China and Ukraine
And found riches for which my son hankered.”

Iman said...

If bullshit were gold, every one of these cantdidates would be billionaires...

Skeptical Voter said...

Hey, in that crowd, any instance of being sensible is surprising. Cut Professor Reynolds some slack!

eric said...


BIDEN: I would not get into court packing. We had three justices. Next time around, we lose control, they add three justices.
Three? Seems to me — if "we" means Obama and Biden — that they had 2 — Sotomayor and Kagan and "they" — if "they" means Trump — had 2 — Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.


Maybe the transcript is wrong. It makes more sense if Biden said, "We add three justices. Next time around, we lose control, they add justices."

Add be had. Sounds similar.

Chris-2-4 said...

I think maybe the transcript is slightly off. I suspect he said (or meant to say) "We ADD...next time they ADD". Not "We HAD...next time they Add".

Chris-2-4 said...

Yeah... what Eric said...

Caligula said...

"the commerce power doesn't cover the regulation of abortions ..."

Perhaps not, but General Welfare would probably cover a national federally-funded abortion service.

Of course court-packing is a terrible idea. Unless you're convinced your party will be in power forever, and that the Supreme Court judges it approves will consistently prove to be unfaithful to those who seated them.

But, repealing Roe v. Wade could go a long way toward re-legitimizing the Court.

Then again, it might cause the Court to question many things, such as whether "equal protection" as defined in the U.S. Constitution actually requires universal recognition of same-sex marriage. For if an honest Court were to truly consider the massive over-reach found in precedents established by prior Courts, would or could it find the courage to reverse all or most of these and thereby return these to democratic processes?

Or will the very possibility of re-opening all of this restrain the Court from reversing Roe v. Wade?

(Yes, it's the USA's version of Kremlin-ology. Did Soviet commissars ever consider packing the Politburo?)

Yancey Ward said...

The Democrats will pack the court if they hold the House, the Senate, and the Presidency. Count on it. They are telling you what they are going to do, you should listen to them. Even a filibuster won't be allowed to prevent it.

Michael K said...

Keeping up with the Bidens.

Hunter Biden’s deals are textbook examples of how political families become rich from public service. Nevertheless, many in the media continue to repeat Joe Biden’s position that “no one has asserted my son did a single thing wrong.” That, of course, is untrue. Even if Hunter Biden’s deals did not amount to crimes, they were wrong. They have always been wrong, but both parties have always protected these deals as a dirty little secret.

bagoh20 said...

You could win that debate by refusing to say anything while eating a sandwich.

bagoh20 said...

If a Dem says it won't happen, then you can rest assured it won't happen.

That's why I lost my plan, my doctor, and never got that $2500 premium reduction, but hey, my premium did double, so I got that going for me.

walter said...

Biden had a pretty good showing of mush mouth...at one point trying to pronounce a word twice before giving up and substituting another. But give him credit for at least mentioning the cost of all that free stuff being offered up.

walter said...

I listened to the debate...which gave me the freedom to imagine Bernie wearing an old 70's tennis outfit, a yellowed headband..working a 2 pound dumbbell when it was his turn to speak.

Greg the class traitor said...

stevew said...
A thought arrives: the best Dem candidates are not running because they don't believe Trump can be defeated. Though I am hard pressed to say who these best non-candidates are, I don't really follow that crowd closely enough.


the best Democrat candidates all lost their seats during the Obama Admin.

The best candidates are people who can win in "purple" States. But between 2010 and 2014, just about every significant purple Democrat Governor or Senator lost.

Thanks to 2018, the Democrats are starting to build a "bench" again. Maybe by 2028 they'll have someone worthwhile to run against President Pence.

Bilwick said...

"If a Dem says it won't happen, then you can rest assured it will happen." FIFY.

I'm old enough to remember when Medicare was proposed. Democrats insisted that anyone who claimed it was the first step to socialized medicine was a raving lunatic. Fast forward a few decades. . . .

Same with "sensible" gun control. "No one's planning to take your guns away." Right!

narciso said...

so it turns out the testimony of George kent shows the administration was out to sack shokin, not on the advice of the eu or the imf,

DavidD said...

“ ‘It was left to Beto O’Rourke to identify what I regard as a key liability of Warren’s campaign, namely her obvious desire to use the power of the presidency to punish....’ ”

This from the guy (O’Rourke) who’s promising to take AR-15s away from lawful gun owners. Or what? Will there not be punishment for those who are disinclined to acquiesce to his request?

Bob Boyd said...

Is Tulsi's comment a crack in the Dem dam? The damn Dem dam?

Damn dem dammed Dems and their damn Dem dam, dammit!

Will dammed Dems damn Dems who put cracks in the Dem dam?

How many Dems could a dammed Dem damn if a dammed Dem could damn Dems?