August 21, 2020

I live-blog my first reading of Joe Biden's convention speech.

Transcript (with punctuation improved in spots based on the video):
Good evening, Ella Baker, a giant of the civil rights movement left us with this wisdom: give people light and they will find the way. Give people light.
I give this post my "light and shade" tag (one of my favorites).  I don't remember ever hearing about Ella Baker, but it's a good quote, and it sets up a theme, and gives us something we can use to test the success of this speech. He must give light. He cannot simply claim to be the light. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world," but Biden is not Jesus.
Those are words for our time. The current president has cloaked American darkness for much too long, too much anger, too much fear, too much division here.
I don't yet know if Biden is going to claim to be the light, but he has asserted that Trump is the dark. The dark is defined as anger, fear, and division, but I don't know how the Democrats can say they are not part of that darkness. The speech is already marked with divisiveness: The other side is the darkness and we bring the light.
And now I give you my word. If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us. Not the worst. I’ll be an ally of the light, not the darkness.
So he's not the light, but an ally of the light.
It’s time for us, for We, the People to come together and make no mistake. United, we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America.
"We can... overcome." Not: We shall overcome. He didn't Lyndon Johnson it! If he'd said "We shall overcome" it would have tied to the Civil Rights Movement, and he did begin the speech with a quote from "a giant of the civil rights movement," but he's not talking about racial justice specifically here. He's talking in the most generic way about light and darkness. There's nothing about any specific people, just all the people, the ethereal entity "We, the People," which needs to "come together."
We’ll choose hope over fear, facts, over fiction, fairness, over privilege....
Pretty much everyone chooses those things in the abstract, but he's telling us what we will do. What's the evidence of that? It seems to me that We, the People have been, in reality, choosing the negative side of each of those binaries, but if Donald Trump can be made to embody fear, fiction, and privilege, then it's correct to say we'll choose hope, facts, and fairness if only we vote him out of office.

Biden accepts the Democratic Party nomination for President, but if he is elected, he'll be "an American President," working for everyone, "not just our base or our party":
This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment. Someone with a cause for hope and light and love — hope for our future, light to see our way forward, and love for one another. 
I've been wondering where's the love. He's offering love — love and hope and light. That's all very abstract, of course.
No, nearly a century ago, Franklin Roosevelt pledged a new deal in a time of massive unemployment, uncertainty, and fear. Stricken by a disease — stricken by a virus — FDR insisted that he would recover and prevail, and he believed America could as well. And he did. And we can as well. This campaign isn’t just about winning votes. It’s about winning the heart and yes, the soul of America — winning it for the generous among us, not the selfish when needed for workers who keep this country going, not just the privileged few at the top, winning for those communities who have known the injustice of a knee on the neck, for all the young people [who] have known only America being  rising inequity and shrinking opportunity....
The metaphorical "knee on the neck" has affected whole communities... but weren't these communities in cities run by the Democratic Party?
And now history has delivered us to one of the most difficult moments America has ever faced: four historic crises.
The 4 crises are: the pandemic, the economy, the "call for racial justice," and climate change.
As many have said America is at an inflection point...
Inflection point! (I blogged about the term "inflection point" twice yesterday — 1, 2 — after Kamala Harris used it in her speech.)
We can choose a path to becoming angrier, less hopeful, more divided, a path of shadow and suspicion or, or we can choose a different path and together take this chance to heal, to reform, to unite, a path of hope and light.
As if the idea of light could meet 4 crises. By the way — only 4? Why not 6?



Back to Joe:
Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot, decency, science, democracy.
He's incanting abstractions.
They’re all on the ballot, who we are as a nation. What we stand for. And most importantly, who we want to be, that’s all on the ballot. And the choice could not be more clear. No rhetoric is needed....
Are you kidding?!! It's nothing but rhetoric! You have 4 crises, and what are you going to do about it? Tell us we're voting for good versus evil. That's what's on the ballot. It sounds like you have no idea what to do.

He complains that Trump "does not have a plan" to deal with the coronavirus and asserts that he has a plan, then lists some things that Trump has been doing. He uses one of my favorite political bullshit phrases: "We’ll make sure our schools have the resources." "Make sure" is not a plan. It's just another way to say what you want. We all want the schools to be good.
We’ll have a national mandate to wear a mask, not as a burden, but as a patriotic duty to protect one another and short we’ll do what we should have done from the very beginning....
What's the basis of federal power to make everyone everywhere in the country wear a mask? The Commerce Clause? And he's telling us not just that we must wear a mask but what state of mind we're supposed to have while we wear it. Patriotic. Spare me. I'll keep my own thoughts and you won't know what they are unless I write them out loud.
Look, I understand. I understand how hard it is to have any hope right now on this summer night.
Summer, the season of darkness.
Let me take a moment to speak to those you who have lost the most. I have some idea how it feels to lose someone you love. I know that deep black hole that opens up in the middle of your chest and you feel like you’re being sucked into it. I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes, but I’ve learned two things. First. Your loved one may have left this earth, but they’ll never leave your heart. They’ll always be with you. You always hear them. And second, I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose.
Okay. We know that Biden suffered a great personal loss long ago. He uses this to connect to people. In this speech, it works as part of the dark-and-light theme. The deaths made a "black hole" inside him. But he found a way out: Purpose.
As God’s children, each of us have a purpose in our lives. We have a great purpose as a nation to open the doors of opportunity to all Americans, to save our democracy, to be a light to the world, once again, and finally to live up to and make real the words written in the sacred documents that founded this nation, that all men and women are created equal endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The nation's purpose is written in the Declaration of Independence, he says, then moves on to the individual characters in his life:
You know, my dad was an honorable decent man. He got knocked down a few times, pretty hard, but he always got back up. He worked hard and he built a great middle class life for our family. He used to say, Joey, I don’t expect the government to solve my problems.... 
Kamala and I both draw from our families. That’s where we get our strength for Kamala’s Doug and their families. For me, it’s Jill and ours. I’ve said many times, no man deserves one great love in his life. Let alone two. But I’ve known too. After losing my first wife in that car accident, Jill came into my life and she put our family back together... 
Beau inspires me every day, Beau served our nation in uniform...
He brings up Charlottesville and says some of the same words that I objected to a week ago (here):
Remember what you saw on television. Remember seeing those neo-Nazis and Klansmen and white supremacists coming out of fields with lighted torches, veins, bulging spewing, the same, same antisemitic bile heard across Europe in the thirties. Remember the violent clash that ensued between those spreading hate. And those are the curries to stand against it. Remember what the president said when asked, he said there were quote very fine people on both sides.
You wanted us to choose between fact and fiction, and you are doing fiction!
It was a wake up call for us as a country. And for me a call to action. At that moment, I knew I’d have to run because my father taught us that silence was complicity and I can never remained silent or complicit. At the time, I said, we’re in the battle for the soul of this nation. And we are. You know, one of the most important conversations I’ve had this entire campaign. It was somebody. So someone who was much too young to vote, I met with six year old Giana Floyd. The day before her daddy, George Floyd was laid to rest. She’s an incredibly brave little girl and I’ll never forget it. When I leaned down to speak to her, she looked in my eyes and she said, and I quote, “Daddy changed the world. Daddy changed the world. ”
That's extremely touching, but I'm hearing it as I am outraged that he told that "very fine people" lie. It's emotional trash. It's maudlin. It's the use of an innocent child. Please leave our souls alone. You're in a battle for a position of governmental power.
Her words burrowed deep into my heart. Maybe George Floyd’s murder was a breaking point. Maybe John Lewis is passing the inspiration, but however it’s come to be — however it’s happened — America’s ready. And John’s words to lay down, quote, the heavy burden of [hate] at last. And then the hard work of Rudy.
Something's amiss in the transcription. Rudy? But I get the idea. He's talking about "the soul" and then John Lewis, recently deceased, is some sort of Holy Ghost infusing the protestors. Maybe!!!
Now, our systemic racism, you know... 
No, I don't know.  I want you to specify exactly what you mean when you say it and explain why, if it's systemic, you — as a fixture of government — are not very much a part of it.
American history tells us that has been in our darkest moments that we’ve made our greatest progress that we found the light and this dark woman....
What?! I must check the video. Is there a visual image? [ADDED: He badly garbles the word, but I think he said "in this dark moment," not "and this dark woman."]
I believe we’re poised to make great progress again, that we can find the light once more. You know, many people have heard me say this, but I’ve always believed you can define America in one word: possibilities.
This is gaseous. From there we float into the stratosphere:
To defining feature America. Everything is possible that in America, everyone, and I mean, everyone should be given an opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God given ability will take them. We can never lose that in times as challenging as these, I believe there’s only one way forward as United America. United in our pursuit of a more perfect union United in our dreams of a better future for us and for our children United in our determination to make the coming years bright, are you ready? I believe we are. This is a great nation. We’re a good and decent people. For Lord’s sake, this is the United States of America, and there there’s never been anything we’ve been able to accomplish when we’ve done it together.
The Irish poet, Seamus Heaney once wrote “History says don’t hope on this side of the grave, but then once in a lifetime, the longed for tidal wave of justice can rise up and hope and history rhyme.” This is our moment to make hope and history rhyme with passion and purpose. Let us begin — you and I together. One nation under God united in our love for America, united in our love for each other for love is more powerful than hate. Hope is more powerful than fear and light is more powerful than dark. This is our moment. This is our mission. May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight as love and hope and light join in the battle for the soul of the nation. And this is a battle we will win and we’ll do it together. I promise you. Thank you. And may God bless you. And may God protect our troops. Good night.
ADDED: My transcription had "And then the hard work of Rudy. Now, our systemic racism, you know..." I found the spot in the video, and it should be: "And then the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism. You know...."

175 comments:

wendybar said...

Hilarious. And people think he did a great job reading the speech somebody else wrote from a teleprompter...

wendybar said...

And not a word about the riots and looting and burning down of cities run by Democrats, who told the cops to stand down.

Kevin said...

We’ll choose hope over fear, facts, over fiction, fairness, over privilege....

Fine people hoax over what Trump really said...

Lucid-Ideas said...

"I live blog my first reading of Joe Biden's convention speech."

I actually read that as "I live blog Joe Biden's reading of his convention speech" before I did a double take.

The initial take is actually better though, because it is more accurate.

Kevin said...

Joe Biden has a secret plan to end the Coronavirus.

MadisonMan said...

I noticed the sub-header at Slate: After four days celebrating his empathy, the Democratic nominee showed he can make a crisp speech

Talk about a low bar for the Presidency!

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Fox News raves Joe Biden's speech was 'enormously effective,' 'a home run'

I trust FOX News on this. I didn't watch any of the convention. Too boring. Like watching a cop show when you already know who did it.

rhhardin said...

Biden likes light people more than dark people.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Joe will do lots of hiding behind his dead son, Saint Bo.

rhhardin said...

No Corn Pop.

Dave Begley said...

Kasich dined out for years on his dad being a mailman. Biden has done the same thing with the death of his first wife and Beau.

And that his whole platform? He lost loved ones and therefore he feels our pain and should be President?

Does Joe draw strength from Hunter? What about his new grandchild?

And I don't get how George Floyd has become a saint.

Biden is totally and completely full of shit.

Nice analysis Ann.

I wonder if he got some shots to spark him up for the speech.

Bay Area Guy said...

"You wanted us to choose between fact and fiction, and you are doing fiction!"

Regarding toxic racial issues, Joe Biden and the Democrats are liars. They contnue to lie about Charlottesville. They continue to lie about peaceful protestors" who tore down and/lor looted parts of Seattle, Portland, Minneapolis, NYC , Chicago and LA.

In Oakland, the "peaceful protestors" shot and killed a black federal officer, Patrick Underwood, His murder was ignored.

In Portland, the "peaceful protests" commit arson nearly every night.

The Democrats are racist liars.

Ken B said...

“ Biden is not Jesus.”

He is risen from the dead.

Temujin said...

"...same antisemitic bile heard across Europe in the thirties."

Same anti-Semitic bile heard throughout the Democrat Party today.

Lucid-Ideas said...

First dem presidential candidate to be introduced by a socialist and a billionaire. All hail Caesar.

Fernandinande said...

Franklin Roosevelt — stricken by a virus

"Poliovirus is usually spread from person to person through infected fecal matter entering the mouth."

That's how I like to think about Joe "Close-set Beady Eyes" Biden and, come to think of it, Franklin "Citizen Interment Camps" Roosevelt too.

Winnie said...

"For Lord’s sake, this is the United States of America, and there there’s never been anything we’ve been able to accomplish when we’ve done it together.”

I'm happy you posted that line. I heard it last night. Nobody I saw or read afterward mentioned it. I began to think I misheard. It sounds like a call, not for unity but people to accomplish by going it alone.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Joe is a liar and a crook. an old puppet for the extreme left.
He won't disavow antifa. Biden is also a racist and he sexually harassed Tera Reid.

#Disqualified.

Amadeus 48 said...

"If you give the people a light, they will follow it anywhere."--Principal Poop in Firesign Theater's Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers.

I guess it was only a matter of time until real life reached the zany heights and harrowing depths of the vision of FT. We are about to test Fudd's First Law of Opposition: If you push something hard enough, it will fall over.

Wince said...

...give people light and they will find the way.

Did Biden plagiarize Principle Poop quoting Eukipha Heap, founder of Mor Science High?

"Give them a light and they will follow it anywhere."

Amadeus 48 said...

"Hilarious. And people think he did a great job reading the speech somebody else wrote from a teleprompter..."

Are we talking Biden or Obama?

Ralph L said...

It's all designed to bring out the black vote. Without an Obama-level turnout, he's toast.

Fernandinande said...

but it's a good quote

That might why it's been around for about 500 years.

"If you give people light, they will find their own way." — Dante Alighieri

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Kruiser:

"Biden Manages to Clear Low Bar, Media Weeps Tears of Joy."
“It’s true, Biden didn’t make any major mistakes during his big moment at the DNC. Then again, the expectations for his speech have been lowered for months so all he really had to do was get through it without pausing to eat his foot and it was going to be judged a rousing success.”

Bob Boyd said...

How come Misty didn't do the hard work of Rudy?

Martin said...

I am biased, surely, but I note the contrast between Biden talking up the loss of his family members decades ago, truly a terrible thing, with how the media and Democrats all over Twitter reacted to Trump losing his brother last week.

While I can sympathize with what Biden went through 45 years ago, given how Biden's partisans reacted to the death of Robert Trump just last week (and no sign of Biden telling them to cool it) I see no reason at all to cut Biden any slack.

stlcdr said...

"This is not a partisan moment. "

And yet, he has stated by his suggested 'policies' that this is exactly what he will be. Just as Obama was a partisan president. Placating specific groups of people to the detriment of others.

Wince said...

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...
Fox News raves Joe Biden's speech was 'enormously effective,' 'a home run'

ARM misses the point.

Aside from Donna Brazile repeatedly blowing (unsafely) on an actual party favor following Biden's speech, Fox News simply doesn't want to give Biden an excuse not to come out of the basement for a highly rated interview on... Fox News.

gspencer said...

Joe has such good ideas. It's a shame he hasn't been in a position these last 45 years to enact some of those ideas into law.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Antifa militant & convicted pedophile who stabbed black Trump supporter in Portland released on $250,000 bail by antifa group


Jake said...

“May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight as love and hope and light join in the battle for the soul of the nation.”

I remember the “moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal ...”

Where does that fit into Joe’s vision?

rehajm said...

We’ll have a national mandate to wear a mask...

The deaths are dropping towards zero- doesn't matter if you locked down or masked up or not. T cells and antibodies and sunshine and vitamins and virus mutation- somethings working.

Joe wants a mask mandate for sometime late next year after he's elected. What for?

stlcdr said...

If democrats stop being angry right now, they will see that they have it pretty good, and are in control of their lives - exactly what The President has delivered.

The states, counties and towns are in full control of what policies are enacted, not the Feds. Ironically, when the feds do step in they cry about 'fascist gestapo'. What is wrong with these people?!

Mike Sylwester said...

For a while after Trump was inaugurated, many journalists routinely used the word dark frequently in describing Trump's statements. This parroting of the word dark by journalists continued for several months.

Then that phenomenon receded. It was replaced by other parroted phrases, like the walls are closing in and this is the beginning of the end.

Now the journalists will resume parroting the words dark and darkness.

Limited blogger said...

Biden is Luke Skywalker, Trump is Darth Vader. Got it.

CJinPA said...

As we follow media coverage of the conventions and the campaign, note what FiveThirtyEight said in an item linked to in yesterday's post about Biden-Trump poll numbers in Minnesota:

"This surge and decline in media attention clearly corresponds to changes in public opinion among white Americans... That also means that without prolonged activism and sustained media attention, the impact of this year’s protests on white public opinion could evaporate entirely."

What Ann said was "wishful thinking" by the NYT in the previous post, hoping Trump's attempt to stomp on Biden's speech was "unsuccessful," is really something more. If the media wishes it, the people are more likely to think it.

Joe Smith said...

There is one crisis, the pandemic. Fix that and everything else takes care of itself.

Joe has wedded himself to the whiny, infantile racialists who will never be happy until all white people are dead. He is squarely in line with Marxists.

Say what you want about Trump, he's a pretty good-natured guy.

If the Dems win and manage to pack the Supreme Court, there will be a shooting war that will make this Floyd nonsense look like a church social.

Michael K said...

Maybe Joe can send Hunter and the grand kids out to campaign.

Bob Boyd said...

Look, I understand. I understand how hard it is to have any hope right now on this summer night.

Why is so hard to have any hope, Joe? You are their candidate! Oh...

Joe Smith said...

Was it live? I haven't gotten to any Twitter takes. I'm sure it won't be found in MSM 'reporting.'

If so, congratulations, you have a candidate who can read.

hombre said...

There may be better choices but I am continually drawn to these:

Psalms 12:3-4, 8
May the LORD cut off all flattering lips,
the tongue that makes great boasts,
those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail,
our lips are with us; who is master over us?”
...
On every side the wicked prowl,
as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

They are prowling the streets of Portland, Chicago, Seattle and elsewhere, Joe. They are prowling the Congressional halls in DC. They are prowling the bowels of our government, the teachers’ unions, the intelligence services, city halls, Joe. What are your plans?

The issue from your tongue and your lips may regale the mediaswine, but not the normals among us.

Joe Smith said...

"I wonder if he got some shots to spark him up for the speech."

Kamala was behind the podium, IYKWIMAITYD.

Francisco D said...

I am curious as to how many people watched the speech.

How does that number compare to prior acceptance speeches?

Howard said...

Some people relish banal tedious hack political speek. Taking it seriously and/or pedantic analysis of it is a mental disorder.

tim maguire said...

A spent the weekend at a beach house with a very nice woman wearing a shirt that said,

When they go low, we go high
Michelle Obama

One of the big problems with liberals is their love of words (another is their tendency to make every choice a Manichean moral issue). They so love a pretty turn of phrase that they will happily choose a bad policy argued well over a good policy argued poorly.

Or in this a case, they so love the pretty words that they don't care that they are empty and that the people uttering them have vile fetid souls.

Stephen said...

Live blogging Althouse

Do you think that the problem of knee on the neck of folks of color is exclusively, or even primarily, a problem of Democratic run cities.

How do you think black and brown people are treated better in red States or in rural red areas of blue states? However bad the problem of systemic racism is in Blue cities, it is almost certainly much worse in those areas.

Where's your sense of geography and history!!!!

tcrosse said...

He's a lightweight.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Joe left out the part where Democrats and GOPe obstructed Trump’s cabinet picks, forcing him to govern without his own people in place, fighting the resistánce at every turn, subject to moles like Vindemin and Yates embedded in NatSec and DOJ, with the FBI pretending to brief Trump shine actually spying on him. That’s why a lot of us chuckle at Trump’s asides about needing a do-over 3rd term. It’s true. And sad he won’t get it. Just think if Clinton had simply conceded and her party been good sports for day 30 days or so after inauguration. Their acts were treasonous in so much as they damaged our elected government and thwarted the will of the people. They aimed at Trump but they harmed all of us.

John Borell said...

Surprisingly, the media is giving him A+++++++ for the speech, telling us he hit it out of the park.

Okay, I'll admit, he was able to stay awake and read word salad off a teleprompter late at night.

Super. Most of my friends and neighbors could clear that bar.

Then again, I'd pick most of them to be president over Joe Biden.

Mary Beth said...

Daddy changed the world.

Fentanyl, what can't it do?

MayBee said...

As far as I know, no governors- not even Democratic ones- have risen to his call to mandate masks outside your own home.

That tells you how effective his plans are, right? Not even Gretchen Whitmer has mandated masks outside our own homes.
So what good is his campaign rhetoric if we see in real time it isn't going anywhere.

TreeJoe said...

I get this speech needs to be elevated, aspirational speech. And calling the state of our nation today darkness is fair: Civil unrest that no longer has anything to do with racial justice, covid-19, economic pain due to shutdowns around covid-19. It's not an easy year.

But holy shit that's some useless pablum. I'd like some examples of how Biden is going to "bring us together" or "work across the aisle" after coming up on 2 decades of democrats NOT doing that.

Mark said...

So he begins with divisive ad hominem attacks and demonization of others and says that is the road to unity and peace?

William said...

Not every child whose father passes counterfeit bills while on drugs has such fine and inspiring memories of their father.

Iman said...

Low energy Biden lies every time an opportunity presents itself. The country faces significant problems that the Democrats, as is true to their nature, have tried to exacerbate. We’ll need an energetic leader who can lead and promote policies that will help us return to the booming economy we were enjoying before 2Q2020. That ain’t who Joe Biden is.

Eleanor said...

In his actual speech Biden said, "“There’s never been anything we’ve been able to accomplish when we’ve done it together.” Was that a Kinsley gaffe?

Original Mike said...

"Give them a light, and they will follow it anywhere".

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"hope over fear": See Covid 19, where at every point the Democrats chose fear over hope

"facts, over fiction": "Good people on both sides"? I think we know which Party does that, Joe

"fairness, over privilege": Democrat Mayor Lori Lightfoot orders police to prevent all protesting on HER block.
Cannon Hinnant, 5 year old white male, was shot by an adult black male neighbor. If the colors were reversed, it would be a national news story, and have multiple features at the DNC. As it is, teh DNC ignores him

Because the Democrats are all about privilege, and utterly opposed to fairness

Two-eyed Jack said...

Among the rhetorical nonsense of our politics (three-fifths of a person, etc.) the invocation of "a more perfect Union" peeves me more than most. The phrase doesn't mean "a nation and people approaching Earthly perfection," it means "a less defective operation of cooperating states than was achievable under the Articles of Confederation." The Founders' straining after exalted phrasing has introduced a lot of nonsense into our constitutional law and political processes.

Kylos said...

He got a do-over on the Declaration of, oh you know the thing!. Much easier when reading from a teleprompter.

Drago said...

Beijing Boy ARM: "I trust FOX News on this. I didn't watch any of the convention. Too boring. Like watching a cop show when you already know who did it."

LOL

Are you really this dumb, or just playing this dumb?

Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows that the Fox "news" cats are liberal and were becoming more so. Wallace, Stirewalt, Baier (Baier especially is the only one on TV who keeps the NeverTrumper democrats like his college roommate Stephen Hayes and Jonah Goldberg and AB Stoddard on the air) etc are all part of the same establishment crew. AB Stoddard has spent 4 full years telling us it is simply unpossible that anyone at the FBI would ever lie to a FISA court....and she STILL won't admit that they did even though we have the actual hardcopy evidence and their pleas that they did. (notice the difference here with the forced Flynn "confession"? We still have never seen the original Flynn 302's because the FBI altered them and buried them)

No one in the republican base is buying what Wallace/Baier/Stirewalt are selling which is why Trump continues to consistently garner 95%/96% of the republican base vote despite what the establishment liberal hacks James Murdoch kept alive and well at Fox.

Of course, James Murdoch was pushing so hard to the far left in the Fox News Division that even the liberal/milquetoast establishment Board of Directors at News Corp started saying whoa baby! Slow your roll! Our entire brand is about being in the center in the News Division (wink wink..actually sliding left) and on the right in the opinion shows! That's how we, you know, garner audience share and profits and all.....and James and his lefty wife couldn't take it. Have you seen a breakdown of what causes James and his wife give to? All the usual suspects.

And that's why James Murdoch had to resign from News Corp:

Murdoch resigns from News Corp. board over editorial disagreements

That's what makes this so funny.

Its 2020 and ARM, as with all the other lefties like LLR-lefty Chuck, STILL has NO idea how it is that Trump captured the republican nomination and beat Hillary.

None.

It's amazing. Its sitting right there in front of you and you can't even see it, much less attempt to understand it.

Which pleases me greatly in a political and tactical sense. Dems are still stuck in OODA loop deficit mode.

Next up for Beijing Boy ARM: Hey republicans, did you see that "powerful speech" from "muh principles" "republican" "conservative" Susan Molinari who blasted Trump......(who has voted democrat for the last 20 years and works for Google.....LOLOLOLOLOLOL)

Yeah, that should pull quite a few Trump voters over to the side of the rioting/burn it all down marxists.....

tcrosse said...

Drudge Report rates it with the Sermon on the Mount.

D.D. Driver said...

"What about his new grandchild?"

That's an interesting question I would like to see asked. If Biden's brand is Compassion and Decency (TM): has he welcomed his new grandchild into the Biden family, or has he ignored his grandchild and treated him like a bastard (the way Hunter did).

Mr Wibble said...

Daddy changed the world. Daddy changed the world.

Daddy got high on fentenyl, tried to pass a counterfeit $20, and then freaked out and resisted the cops.

Your daddy was an idiot.

Mr Wibble said...

To be honest, I thought the speech was depressing. He's a old man, and worn out.

Bob Boyd said...

If Biden promised he'd issue an executive order that people can't move out of California and the blue cities, I'd vote for the old bastard.

Big Mike said...

And that [Joe Biden’s] whole platform? He lost loved ones and therefore he feels our pain and should be President?

How about his house gets surrounded by shouting, screaming BLM and AntiFa protestors at 2:00 AM, who proceed to spray graffiti all over it? Then he’ll feel other people’s pain.

Michael said...

Light. As in "gaslight?"

Well, it was "light" alright. Like a souffle in the oven - someone slams a door and the whole thing collapses.

Sebastian said...

"He must give light."

Like, a thousand points or something?

"that Trump is the dark. The dark is defined as anger, fear, and division"

Isn't that, like, racist?

"I don't know how the Democrats can say they are not part of that darkness. The speech is already marked with divisiveness"

Ah, you don't know. But good to call BS on divisive fear-mongering.

"but weren't these communities in cities run by the Democratic Party?"

Well, now that you mention it, yes, they were. Dems want more Dem governance, which has worked so well.

ga6 said...

Dr Feelgood put in for a bonus on that speech.

rhhardin said...

Scott Adams delivers an anti-Biden rant today, as the biggest fucking asshole on the whole fucking planet, politician or not, or words to that effect.

Browndog said...

Joe Biden's husband didn't bif, so that's huge win for the democrats-

So I've heard.

Drago said...

Uh oh.

Isn't it supposed to be the candidate who is having the convention that improves in the polls?

LOLOLOL

"Rasmussen Poll: 51% of Likely Voters approve of President Trump's Job Performance"

All on top of these from the last 48 hourse:

Trafalgar Group poll has Biden and Trump in virtual tie in Minnesota

Trump in a statistical tie with Biden in Pennsylvania

And these are usually cooked polls showing republicans far, far behind in August and September.......and if these last 2 polls amongst registered voters (not likely) in the swing states are showing Trump right there, then we already know that Trump is ahead in all those swing states.

The only remaining question is whether or not Trump is far enough ahead of the democrats "found more ballots a week after the election in trunks of cars" fraud margin.

Sydney said...

He needs better speech writers.

Jupiter said...

I see he had sense enough not to discuss any of his party's policies. He may be a po-faced crypto-Communist, but he is at least circumspect.

Narr said...

"Give light and the people will find their own way" was the corporate motto of the Scripps-Howard newspaper empire.

Narr
Great take-down, Prof.


Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, suggested on Twitter that Biden had disqualified himself by telling "the most divisive lie in American history."

Adams rips off Althouse!

chuck said...

Seamus Heaney? What the H*ll is Seamus doing in a Biden speech?

Drago said...

Dave Begley: "Kasich dined out for years on his dad being a mailman. Biden has done the same thing with the death of his first wife and Beau."

Can you imagine a dinner party with Kasich, Biden and John Kerry in attendance?

John Kerry: The memory of "President" Richard Nixon speaking to us by radio in December of 1968 (Yes, that is literally Kerry's story, Nixon...in December of 1968..see if you can find the flaw....) will forever be seared, seared, did I mention seared(?), in my memory...

Kasich: No doubt John. No doubt. I can distinctly recall my father telling me stories of the wave after wave of correspondence that "President" Nixon radio broadcast caused which made my father work even harder as a mail carrier which he was happy to do because we all know mail carriers are the real heroes who are the backbone of the United States...even though the United States is horrifically and irredeemably racist and all republicans must pay the price for historic slavery and Jim Crow and Segregation.

Biden: They told me we would have tapioca...but I don't see any tapioca. We are having tapioca aren't we? I think they are lying to me again about the tapioca. I like tapioca. It's kind of lumpy, you know. But in a good way. Not lumpy like, in a bad way. I remember threatening to give Cornpop some lumps and he ran away. I wonder if Cornpop likes tapioca?

Mattman26 said...

"Summer, the season of darkness."

Love it.

Fernandinande said...

And I don't get how George Floyd has become a saint.

Sleazy police chief, sleazy prosecutor, sleazy-crazy mayor, sleazy governor, and last but definitely not least, sleazy media.

Amazing and disgusting, together at last!

stevew said...

Do we know who wrote the speech and how many takes it took to get that reading of it recorded?

rcocean said...

Great analysis. On the plus side, at least Old Slow Joe can speak and read a speech off a teleprompter. Otherwise:

1) One mention of immigration. What about your support for Amnesty, defunding of ICE, and UNLIMITED legal immigration Joe? Why are you keeping your pledge to tear down the Border Wall a secret?

2) What about Foreign Policy and Trade? Why no mention of Joe's support for NAFTA, TPP, and globalization? Why no talk of his hatred of Putin and attacks on Trump for getting us out of Syria and Afghanistan?

3) Clean Energy. Yeah, we're going to shut down Fracking, Coal mining, and oil production and replace it with "Clean Energy". And hey, all you guys who are going to lose their jobs, don't worry. You'll be "retrained". Yep, the same old Con job.

4) No attack on Antia. No attack on the violence and rioting. More lies about Charlottsville. George Floyd, a violent criminal, who died at least partly from a drug overdose, is submitted as a Saint.

5) Pathetic discussion of CV-19 and the economy. What will Joe do differently then Trump? Nothing, except force everyone to wear masks. His plan to recover from CV-19? He doesn't have one.

6) Blather about Racism. Whole lotta racism going around here. And Joe will do what, exactly to "eliminate" it? No mention of defunding the police. No mention of reparations. No mention of moving black people to the white suburbs. No mention of Censorship and mandatory "Re-programming".

7) Gays and Transgenders? They don't exist. Government funded Abortion? Not mentioned. Religious liberty? Who cares. Gun rights? Nope. Social issues are AWOL.

8) Health care for all? Not mentioned. Drug Prices? Will do what Trump is doing.

LA_Bob said...

"Compassion is on the ballot, decency, science, democracy."

It both amuses and enrages me when people invoke "science" to support a policy position.

You want a national mask mandate, huh, Joe? What does science tell you about masks and coronavirus? Anything you want to believe! You can find scientific support for any position you want to take on masks (and a whole bunch of other issues as well). It's almost as disreputable to invoke science for political ends as it is to use children the same way.

Just a pet peeve of mine, because it's such a snotty way to shut down reasoned discourse to claim, We follow the science.

LA_Bob said...

And I agree with Begley. Althouse's take-down of the entire speech was well-done.

rcocean said...

The Speech accomplished what the D's are trying to do. Present Old, slow Joe, as a "moderate" who will unite the Country. Hide the radical left-wing, anti-working class, anti-middle class, agenda behind a smoke screen of blather. Hide the support for antifa, violent protests, socialized medicine, globalism, open borders, middle east wars, and $trillions for climate change. No mention of Pelosi or Schumer who will be running "Moderate Joe".And the same tired attacks on Trump we've heard every single damn day for almost 4 years.

So, will the US public buy this con job? They always seem to fall for Democrat "Moderates" who then turn out to be not moderate at all. In this case, there's no excuse. The D's have said precisely what their radical agenda is, and how they plan to make over the USA. If you're stupid enough to believe Joe and Kam will be "Moderates" in office, you'll deserve everything you get.

Thistlerose said...

According to your post Biden said "This is a great nation. We’re a good and decent people." I don't believe the Democratic party believes this. I believe the Democratic party thinks that I am evil and hateful based on my skin color. They know nothing about me, and have no interest in knowing anything about me other then I am white and that makes me the enemy of all POC and the future. The sad thing is how many people will believe what he said rather than looking around them and seeing what the Democratic party is really doing to our country.

wildswan said...

What it just comes down to is he's telling us to live up to the future, not the past. If you forget the past, you can overcome injustice. Get rid of the police and there will be no lawlessness. Get rid of banks and no one will be poor. Imagine all the people. The reality is CHOP. The reality is more murders. The reality is living in tents and shacks. The reality is leaders protected armed guards while unarmed citizens are being beaten on the streets. The reality is utter indifference to any problem caused by the government - indifference to the consequences of closed schools, indifference to unaffordable energy prices, indifference to job losses in the gig economy, indifference to the loss of the tax base from businesses closing and the flight of the rich. If the government did it, it is good. It is just. If the government did and you don't like it you will be cancelled. There won't be some old law out of the past which protects your right to your thoughts. There won't be a trial, there won't be witnesses, there won't be any ridiculous requirement that you be able to confront your accusers, there won't be a fixed term of imprisonment for a defined crime, you will rot in a community-helping-people-to-better-thoughts camp till someone notices you have better thoughts - if you ever do and if anyone cares. So it will be.
Until China takes over. The you'll know that as a patriot and a Christian, you'll never get out.
But the ones in charge still be talking about how ripping up roots leads to better plant life.

Bilwick said...

"Give people light and they will find a way"--to statism? Their flashlights must need a change of batteries.

walter said...

"For Lord’s sake, this is the United States of America, and there there’s never been anything we’ve been able to accomplish when we’ve done it together."

Come on, man!


Rose McGowan
@rosemcgowan
·
Mar 1
History says, Don’t hope
On this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.
---Seamus Heaney, "The Cure at Troy”
Rose McGowan and Ronan Farrow on the Weinstein Verdict, and a Look at Candidate Bloomberg | The New...
An accuser of Harvey Weinstein responds to his conviction. And David Remnick assesses the political career of Michael Bloomberg with two people who have watched it up close.
newyorker.com

rcocean said...

Final comment. The most irritating thing of the whole speech, was Biden taking about all the anger, hate, and division. Its the Fucking Democrats who are responsible for 90% of it.

Starting in November 2016, with a silent coup and Hillary talk of "Russia Collusion" and a "Stolen election", the D's have REFUSED to treat Trump or the Republicans with the respect normally given to the winner. They impeached Trump over nothing, and have refused to confirm his nominees or cooperate on anything. Pelosi even tore up his State of the Union address. Not to mention calling Trump a racist/sexist/bigot/crook/liar every single chance they've gotten.

They behaved worse, and more irresponsibly, than any out-of-power party in USA history. They couldn't even pass up an attempt to play politics over CV-19 and 170,000 dead Americans. I want them to lose and lose badly, so no minority party ever behaves this way again.

Meade said...

"Joe Biden has a secret plan to end the Coronavirus."

Ha. But candidate Nixon, in 1968, really did have a plan to get us out of Vietnam and he didn't keep it a secret. He shared the plan privately with media elites who characterized it as "secret" in order to mock and disparage Nixon. The plan was to "phase down" U.S. involvement rather than the Johnson/Humphrey approach of 1.escalation, 2.more escalation, 3.? Vietnamization was actually working by 1972 when Nixon fatally shot himself in the phlebitis of trying to cover up the idiocy of Watergate.

The "secret" of Joe Biden's plan to end Covid is that he has no plan at all. Except for his plan to hide in his basement with his mask on.

JAORE said...

And a chicken in every pot...

without the benefit of support from those raising chickens.

Joe: I'll do it gooder. I'll do it more sciency. I'll do it fairesty.

But how,Joe?

Joe: I've talked long enough.

Mike Sylwester said...

Did Joe Biden suspect that Donald Trump was colluding with Russian Intelligence to win unfairly in the 2016 election?

Has Biden ever spoken out against that suspicion?

Has he ever spoken out against that dark poisoning of US politics?

JAORE said...

Let the people hear the sirens and they'll find their way to the Morlocs.

madAsHell said...

It sounds like Slow Joe is pleading, begging.

I missed the part where he asks, "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

DEEBEE said...

Maybe he waS referring to Giuliani. Perhaps Rudy has agreed to join his Govt. yes I had to go back a few time to understand the “real” meaning.

To my ear the money phrase that distilled down the colliding worlds is America being “selfless and humble”. The establishment wants that the deplorable do not. Whether the latter want “selfish and haughty” is not exactly clear but they surely do not want “weenie” to have the world walk all over US

madAsHell said...

His whole speech sounded like a kid pleading with his Mom for a puppy.

Howard said...

I remember my old man. I think that they would have called him sort of a little man, common man. He didn't consider himself that way. You know what he was? He was a streetcar motorman first, and then he was a farmer, and then he had a lemon ranch. It was the poorest lemon ranch in California, I can assure you. He sold it before they found oil on it. [Laughter] And then he was a grocer. But he was a great man, because he did his job, and every job counts up to the hilt, regardless of what happens.

Kevin said...

Daddy changed the world. Daddy changed the world.

The child did not come up with that line.

Giana Floyd was fed that line right before she met Biden so she could feed it to him.

This is why people have become so cynical about politics and politicians.

Fernandinande said...

Scott Adams delivers an anti-Biden rant today, as the biggest fucking asshole on the whole fucking planet, politician or not, or words to that effect.

It's a great rant, here it is.

SensibleCitizen said...

1. The notion that light is good and dark is bad is a controversial concept at the moment. Really surprised the speechwriter used that metaphor.

2. Another political BS device: "As my [mother, father, brother, teacher, etc.] used to say, [insert meaningless cliche].

3. Hunter Biden must go to a dark place when his father invokes Beau's name and the other ghost Bidens. I feel sorry for him. I suspect he's been self-medicating in the battle with depression his entire life.

Linda Seebach said...

I don't know who Ella Baker was either, but I doubt that line was original with her. Scripps first used it in 1922:

https://scripps.com/company/history/

LIGHTING THE WAY WITH JOURNALISM

1923
The expanding Scripps newspaper empire introduces its first logo and motto in the 1920s. The company motto “Give light and the people will find their own way” is first used in 1922 and adopted by the company in 1923. In May 1927, the company adds the lighthouse emblem to its logo. Both the lighthouse and the motto are core to the Scripps identity today.

Ray said...

The Gospel of John as well as the Letters of John are full of the Light and Dark comparison.
Biden's dark and light metaphor are a cryptic way to reach out to Black Christians, who may be concerned by the rioting and increase in crime in their communities, without offending the radicals who are militant Atheists.
I've said elsewhere, Black Christians are our only hope to getting us out of this mess we are in. It won't be by swallowing what the Democrats are selling, but it also won't be by taking a political stand supporting all Republicans. It will be about what's right and what's wrong on both sides and offering a way forward that honors Dr. King.

walter said...

Shorter Biden: This is not who we are. (borrowing from President my boss)

rehajm said...
Joe wants a mask mandate for sometime late next year after he's elected. What for?
--
Science! (Does he really want to mention masked up Japan right now?)

So if Biden hit a home run here, he's up for the debates.
Put Trump on the usual stage and Biden inside a computer screen on a stand behind the other lectern.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Biden’s speechwriters declared Chauvin guilty of murdering Fentanyl Floyd, against our principles of law, and without evidence.

Michael K said...

stevew said...
Do we know who wrote the speech and how many takes it took to get that reading of it recorded?


Key fact. Would love to see the out takes.

Rob said...

My favorite part was when he quoted the Declaration of Independence but added “and women.” The Founders weren’t sufficiently woke, but Joe fixed it for them. History rewritten, no extra charge.

Swede said...

He didn't drool and they kept children away from him.

HUGE VICTORY!

iowan2 said...

How do you think black and brown people are treated better in red States or in rural red areas of blue states? However bad the problem of systemic racism is in Blue cities, it is almost certainly much worse in those areas.

After our host admonishes Joe for using the term "systemic racism" lacking any specificity. Along comes this load of manure. I have no idea of what you are asking for, because you refuse to define the metric you use. Intent on dividing the Nation by race, a simple description of what exactly you are measuring. Maybe because, "systemic racism" is nothing but buzzwords. Words with no substance.

iowan2 said...

11:30 cdt Im watching President Trump give a speech in Arlingtion VA. There is no way Biden can do 10 minutes of what President Trump is doing, every single day.

walter said...

Joe should lift a line from Rudy for the debates.

Rudy: You're like school on Saturday: no class.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

The national mask mandate won’t be a burden, so Biden won’t hear any complaints.

iowan2 said...

Watching President Trump give this speech, the left, and never Trumpers, may be getting exactly what they keep saying they want. More Presidential.

I don't think they are going to like what they have been clamoring for.

This speech to directly compare with Bidens speech.

Bidens corner man should be throwing in the towel, this is getting bloody, and out of hand. There is no Referee to call the fight.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

"You wanted us to choose between fact and fiction, and you are doing fiction!" Nope, very fine people was the fiction.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The plan to stop the Wuhan chiCom corona virus = Media will stop covering it.

cacimbo said...

NPR "fact checked" the speech.NPR did not note how Biden shortened the Charlottesville quote in a way which changed the meaning.

When will Republicans stop funding Democratic infomercials like NPR/PBS.

Leslie Graves said...

I read "Win Bigly" by Scott Adams last month. It is his account of how persuasive tactics came into play in the 2016 POTUS election. He goes into this by way of illustrating how it is that he correctly predicted the outcome of that election. (His claim is that on a professional level, he has a high-level understanding of persuasion, and he was therefore much more readily able to see those elements of the campaign than were people [reporters and other pundits] who don't have much of a grasp of persuasion.

I say all that because he says that the one thing the Hillary campaign finally did, but too late, was to start using "dark" to describe Trump and all his works. Scott Adams, i.e., thinks that the contrast between dark and light is a very powerful and effective persuasive tactic.

Kai Akker said...

@Stephen:
"Do you think that the problem of knee on the neck of folks of color is exclusively, or even primarily, a problem of Democratic run cities."

The premise underlying that question is erroneous so you immediately have a GIGO problem in your thinking. George Floyd was dying of a Fentanyl (and other) drug overdose long before a knee was put on his neck in approved police control of a resisting arrestee. That is why Floyd repeatedly said "I can't breathe" when no one had him under any physical restraint. The problem in Democrat-run cities is the Democratic political leaders cater to the lies of those with riot and destruction as their agenda, rather than enforcing the law that would protect all the residents.

"How do you think black and brown people are treated better in red States or in rural red areas of blue states? However bad the problem of systemic racism is in Blue cities, it is almost certainly much worse in those areas."

Your assumption is wrong, again. Here are the actual facts about police shootings, the most severe form of brutality and a measured, quanitifiable phenomenon.

----- In 2019 police officers fatally shot 1,004 people, most of whom were armed or otherwise dangerous. African-Americans were about a quarter of those killed by cops last year (235), a ratio that has remained stable since 2015. That share of black victims is less than what the black crime rate would predict, since police shootings are a function of how often officers encounter armed and violent suspects. In 2018, the latest year for which such data have been published, African-Americans made up 53% of known homicide offenders in the U.S. and commit about 60% of robberies, though they are 13% of the population.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-myth-of-systemic-police-racism-11591119883

"Where's your sense of geography and history!!!!"

An appeal to what? Some "known truth" you have put your faith in? Try facts, instead. You will see a different world than the one you prefer to imagine in your head.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

So, was the speech "live", or a replay of a recording?

Have the Dems said? (They told us that Michelle's speech was recorded, after all)

Have people started posting claims that 1: it was recorded and 2: It was spliced together, with video cuts to show where they claim it was spliced together?

Enquiring minds want to know. I had thought about watching Biden's speech, but we ended up watching some Great Courses instead

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

via insty:

CNN's Van Jones let the cat out the bag!
"And we were prepared for it to be a terrible speech. As long as he didn't embarrass himself, we were going to come out here and praise it!"
This is what the liberal media will be doing tonight, tomorrow, and the foreseeable future.."

Francisco D said...

Meade said...

The "secret" of Joe Biden's plan to end Covid is that he has no plan at all. Except for his plan to hide in his basement with his mask on.

I don't think that is quite true, Meade. According to a recent Biden ad, his plan is to hire "the best scientists and listen to them" in order to end the pandemic.

Why didn't Trump think of that, huh?

Tony Fauci could not be reached for comment.

Big Mike said...

How do you think black and brown people are treated better in red States or in rural red areas of blue states? However bad the problem of systemic racism is in Blue cities, it is almost certainly much worse in those areas.

@Stephen, your bigotry is showing. I have lived in urban areas. I live now in a rural area. My experience is 100% difference from your bigoted expectations.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"I know how mean and cruel and unfair life can be sometimes, "

Why yes, he does. Because he's been that meanness

This is the man after all, who spent years telling a story about his wife and kid being killed by a druck driver. The reality was that the accident was entirely his wife's fault, and the driver who she ran in to was nut drunk, was not tipsy, was not impaired, a nd was doing the right thing.

But Joe repeatedly slandered him, for political advantage.

That would be "mean and unfair"

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Now, our systemic racism, you know...

Yes, I know all about systemic racism

The Left calls it "affirmative action". They call it "diversity". They show it when they divide people into "Black lives" and "white lives", and care only about the "Black" lives. They show it when they later abotu "white privilege", and the Smithsonian tells us that expecting positive characteristics from "Black" people is racism.

"Systemic racism" is what you get when you give power to Democrats and / or the Left. Vote against systemic racism, vote for Trump and Republicans

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"This is our moment to make hope and history rhyme with passion and purpose."

Tell it to Cannon Hinnant. Oh wait, you can't. He's dead.

Show it when you celebrate Cannon Hinnant, and vow to bring justice to him and his family. Oh wait, you can't. because you are all a bunch of racists, and are opposed to punishing a "Black" for murdering a "white."

No matter how innocent that 5 year old boy was, the narrative and the systematic racism of the Left is more important

Drago said...

Van Jones accidentally blurts out the truth:

"And we were prepared for it to be a terrible speech. As long as he didn't embarrass himself, we were going to come out here and praise it!"
--Van Jones, 8/20/20

Earnest Prole said...

I was reliably promised Biden’s dementia would prevent him from stringing more than two sentences together, so compared to those expectations the speech was an astounding triumph. It apparently hasn't occurred to Trump that his opponent benefits from underpromising and overdelivering.

Drago said...

Meade: "The "secret" of Joe Biden's plan to end Covid is that he has no plan at all. Except for his plan to hide in his basement with his mask on."

Joe Biden's staff knows he does not need a plan....and Tom Friedman explained it all very succinctly:

Asked by a lefty media talking head "When does all this end?", Friedman replies "November 9th".

Exactly Tommy boy. If Biden were to win, suddenly, ALL the experts would come around to being open to opening.........almost as if this were all political from the very first day.......

Lewis said...

What complete and total nonsense. He didn't say anything that meant anything during his entire speech. I can't believe people are swooning over it. It's like no substance, an empty vessel, complete bullshit. How do such complete idiots get into such powerful positions?

Big Mike said...

As if the idea of light could meet 4 crises. By the way — only 4? Why not 6?

You know, Dick Nixon wrote his book in 1962, when he had been a Congressman, Senator, and two-term Vice President, but not yet a President. Similar to Joe, except that Nixon was, apparently, 50% more adept at handling crises.

Craig said...

I want them to lose and lose badly, so no minority party ever behaves this way again.

Amen. I don't think it will happen, though.

Yancey Ward said...

Well, if the speech was live and Biden really did a great job when the pressure was on, then there should be no excuses left for Biden not to sit for detailed interviews with multiple people from across the political divide, the way Trump does regularly. Just a live press conference or a live campaign stop with Biden speaking extemporaneously and taking questions from non-Biden Campaign people would be a start.

However, I expect it is back to the basement with more trial balloons about how a live in person debate isn't the right thing to do.

My suspicion on watchign Biden's speech was that it was the best recording they could get in 10 run-throughs, though I am looking for video frame analysis to actually convince me it wasn't all spliced together.

Crazy World said...

They’re gonna put y’all all back in masks!
What a bunch of bs

Big Mike said...

As if the idea of light could meet 4 crises. By the way — only 4? Why not 6?

You know, Dick Nixon wrote his book in 1962, when he had been a Congressman, Senator, and two-term Vice President, but not yet a President. Similar to Joe, except that Nixon was, apparently, 50% more adept at handling crises.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Stephen said...
Do you think that the problem of knee on the neck of folks of color is exclusively, or even primarily, a problem of Democratic run cities.

How do you think black and brown people are treated better in red States or in rural red areas of blue states? However bad the problem of systemic racism is in Blue cities, it is almost certainly much worse in those areas.


Well, Stephen, it should then be very easy for you to provide us all those cases where those rural cops "I can't breathed" innocent blacks to death.

You know, like Eric Garner. Oh, wait, that was NYC, when Bill de Blasio was mayor.

Of course there's the "gentle giant" Michael Brown. But we all know that "hands up, don't shoot" was a lie. So, give us your cases

StephenFearby said...

shipwreckedcrew
@shipwreckedcrew

"When you read the text of Biden's speech, what jumps out are the shortness of the sentences, and the lack of any inter-connectivity in the ideas. It's just "Read this line, skip down, read the next line, skip down, read the next line.
Very revealing when you see it typed out."

Biden came across to me as a persistent used car salesman. Since his father was "a successful used car salesman" (Wikipedia), it runs in the family.

Yancey Ward said...

What was striking about the speech was how short it was in actual text, and how short the sentences were. I could have given this speech in about 10 minutes, and with far more emotion than Biden was capable of showing last night. Another striking thing was that nothing in it seemed to hold the whole of it together, even within the different sentences that immediately followed each other- in other words, no building of a complex thought of any kind.

It is exactly the sort of thing I would write for someone who has trouble reading text emotively and with emphasis in the right spots along with the right pauses before continuing to the next part. The Biden speech is the reductio ad absurdum application of the rules of paragraphing text and speech. In essence, the entire speech didn't seem to have a single true paragraph in it- it was all solitary, short sentences that were not connected to each other other than in a general sense of saying the same idea over and over in different ways- that Trump is a force of darkness and Biden will be a force for light, but never once explaining either idea- at all. There was exactly one policy proposal discussed- a face diaper mandate, a power no president actually has.

To understand what I mean, you can try watching other acceptance speeches from the past. In those speeches, probably all of the ones in the last 40 years done with a teleprompter with the sentences broken down like the CNN transcript I read (which Biden never once seems to not be looking at the teleprompter, by the way), the delivery is far different than Biden gave last night. Those speeches have clearly defined paragraphs in the verbal delivery- each one contains an idea that is described and explained, even if the idea itself is nonsensical pablum a lot of the time. Biden, at no time last night, created a verbal paragraph out of the text he was reading, and the reason is pretty simple- the speech doesn't have any.

In short, Biden's speech (not written by him I am assuming, though maybe I am wrong about that- it would explain a lot) is the kind of thing a first or second grader would write and read to the class to describe his Summer vacation. "We went to Disney World. I road a lot rides with Dad. It was fun. We ate a lot of hotdogs. My sister got sick in the car. It stank. My gold fish died. I got a new one. The end."

rcocean said...

"Thousands point of Light" "Message: I care".

Looks like Biden is plagiarizing Bush-I.

rcocean said...

"Thousands point of Light" "Message: I care".

Looks like Biden is plagiarizing Bush-I.

Yancey Ward said...

"When you read the text of Biden's speech, what jumps out are the shortness of the sentences, and the lack of any inter-connectivity in the ideas. It's just "Read this line, skip down, read the next line, skip down, read the next line.
Very revealing when you see it typed out."


I am not the only one, I see. Just to emphasize- the text I read was probably from the file used in the teleprompter (I got CNN's version last night), but it is important to not fool yourself by the way the text is presented in the transcript- teleprompters split up paragraphs into individual sentences. An experienced speaker, however, will connect the individual sentences together to form verbal paragraphs of the thoughts being conveyed, where the double spaced breaks are the correctly used pauses that you do before moving on.

Biden just read the speech in exactly the same flat way the teleprompter presented it to him last night (or the day before)- one individual sentence after another, all unconnected, and not really developing any ideas other than "Trump Bad, Biden Good." When I was watching the speech last night, I literally said to myself that a first grader could have done that.

FWBuff said...

I watched his speech and the maudlin run-up to the speech, including a video from a little boy with a serious stutter who apparently was inspired by Biden overcoming a childhood stutter. Who knew? With all the media coverage of Biden over the years, I hadn't heard about a stutter, but they kept hitting it hard last night over and over. Of course, if Biden had flubbed words in his speech, it would be attributed to his stutter that he courageously overcame and that he has inspired brave little boys everywhere to overcome.

Original Mike said...

"However bad the problem of systemic racism is in Blue cities, it is almost certainly much worse in those areas." (emphasis added)

You don't have to be honest with us, Stephen, but be honest with yourself. You just made that up.

Just because you think the world is a certain way doesn't make it so. And acting on your unfounded beliefs make the world worse, not better.

Kevin said...

PARODY: I Forced a Bot to Write A Joe Biden Acceptance Speech. Here Are The 10 Most Powerful Lines.

Gospace said...

Joe Smith said...
.....
If the Dems win and manage to pack the Supreme Court, there will be a shooting war that will make this Floyd nonsense look like a church social.


Have you picked your side yet? Made a list of targets to be taken care of at the outset of hostilities? Are you going lone wolf or planning with others what to do at the onset of widespread shooting?

Do I know anyone doing any of those things? Maybe, maybe not. If your neighbor is doing it right, you don't know. Trouble with most amateurs is they don't plan logistics and have no clue what OPSEC is. Just a word of advice- if you get together with others- and there's someone new in the crowd- and he's the one proposing all the targets and actions- he's the informant. Only work with people you've known for years. And all cell phones go into a metal trash can while meeting- in a room without Alexa.

Michael K said...

Earnest Prole said...
I was reliably promised Biden’s dementia would prevent him from stringing more than two sentences together, so compared to those expectations the speech was an astounding triumph. It apparently hasn't occurred to Trump that his opponent benefits from underpromising and overdelivering.


Great ! So, you are in favor of how many debates ?

bagoh20 said...

I'll ask again: What has Biden done with four decades in power and giving endless speeches like this, some plagiarized, few, if any, written by him. What did he do with all that that we desperately now need done bigger and harder from the substantially diminished version of that lameness?

I understand some people will vote for anybody rather than Trump, but this guy is a big nothing and always has been. His has been one of the most consistently wrong people in politics for all of my adult life. The ultimate "next in line" candidate.

Craig said...

It isn't worth listening to or analyzing Biden's speech. It was written by a committee and offers no insight into what he actually thinks about anything.

The same is true for Harris. They are both obviously puppets of the elites behind the scenes.

As Scott Adams has said, Trump is the last human president. The nomination of Biden and Harris, and their likely pending victory, confirms it.

hombre said...

For Democrats it’s all about blather. If not, Obama would not have been elected. Dithering ranks high too as does grifting.

Joe Smith said...

@Gospace

"there will be..."

And you assume I will be actively involved how?

Purely observational...get a grip...

gadfly said...

Ann, you accuse Biden of lying about Charlottesville when he said:

Remember what you saw on television. Remember seeing those neo-Nazis and Klansmen and white supremacists coming out of fields with lighted torches, veins, bulging spewing, the same, same antisemitic bile heard across Europe in the thirties. Remember the violent clash that ensued between those spreading hate. And those are the curries to stand against it. Remember what the president said when asked, he said there were quote very fine people on both sides.

You wanted us to choose between fact and fiction, and you are doing fiction!


Perhaps you didn't see the photographs with white nationalists carrying torches surrounding antifa (here) and have not heard about Trump's press conferences when he said that there were good people on both sides?

Josephbleau said...

Even prior to the Biden acceptance speech I have listened to him as if he were a Fire Sign Theater recording. There's but one butt by that name!

effinayright said...

gadfly said:

Perhaps you didn't see the photographs with white nationalists carrying torches surrounding antifa (here) and have not heard about Trump's press conferences when he said that there were good people on both sides?
****************

Arrrrggghhhhh!

Trump said there were good people on both sides...of the issue regarding taking down Confederate statues. He CONDEMNED the racists. You might look it up.

gadfly, maybe you are "out of it" most of the time, and just post here during one of your infrequent "lucid intervals", but you are condemning yourself as a LIV when you post bullshit like this.

Unknown said...

there’s never been anything we’ve been able to accomplish when we’ve done it together.

This quote is the gaffe many have noticed, but I was struck by how many odd omissions and elisions there were throughout the speech. In the second or third sentence, Biden said "cloaked American darkness" when he should have said "cloaked America in darkness." This kind of thing happened repeatedly in the speech, and it's a huge tell: Biden doesn't have the mental acuity to process the words he's reading. He was reading rote.

He was also reacting to obvious stage directions with forced smiles, increased volume, and faster pace at certain times. But all of that seemed disconnected from the words he was saying.

It was a bizarre, eerie performance, and did nothing to reassure me about Biden's fitness for the presidency.

Joanne Jacobs said...

George Floyd's daughter in Houston is six year old. He left Houston for Minneapolis in 2014. I wonder if he left before or after she was born.

I think Americans do want a nicer, happier, friendlier country. ("Hope and Change" is a nice slogan.) But I'm not persuaded that Democrats are the party of love. Do they love the "all lives matter" people. Are they willing to tolerate them? Allow them to keep their jobs? I'd like Biden to stand up to the angry, intolerant radical left. There are "clowns to the left" and "jokers to the right."

I don't want these politicians to tell me about their dead loved ones. I want them to admit and explain their past mistakes. For example, Biden sponsored the crime bill that threw black men into prison, disproportionately, and destroyed black families. When did he realize his error? (I was writing op-eds about it at the time. The inequities were no secret.) What did he do to correct his mistake?

iowan2 said...


Perhaps you didn't see the photographs with white nationalists carrying torches surrounding antifa (here) and have not heard about Trump's press conferences when he said that there were good people on both sides?


Perhaps you didn't....no, that's not it. You know fully and completely the numerous times President Trump condemned neo nazis and white nationalist. You know exactly what was said and the full context of the statements.

You choose to post lies here. You have the same agenda as he, who is banned and shall not be given the respect of naming. Your intention is to smear, and demean, President Trump, with no notion of being truthful, or engaging in good faith discussion.
Always the same, must lie, because there is no truth that supports your position. If President Trump were a racist, why would you lie?

RichardJohnson said...

Stephen:
How do you think black and brown people are treated better in red States or in rural red areas of blue states? However bad the problem of systemic racism is in Blue cities, it is almost certainly much worse in those areas.

If you believe that blacks are still treated "much worse" in the South than they are treated in the North, consider that for the last 2-3 decades, the Great Migration of Blacks to the North has reversed. For several decades, more blacks have been moving to the South than blacks have been moving out of the South. I doubt that would be happening if blacks today got treated in the South the same as they were treated in 1940.

Another way to look at black vs. white treatment is to look at incarceration rates. Blacks are incarcerated at higher rates than whites, but there is a fair amount of state-by-state variation in incarceration rates. The black/white incarceration rate varies from 2.4 in Hawaii to 12.1 in New Jersey. Nationwide, blacks are incarcerated at 5.1 times the rates of whites.

Here are the 10 states with the highest differences between the black/white incarceration rates.
State B:W
New Jersey 12.2
Wisconsin* 11.5
Iowa 11.1
Minnesota 11
Vermont* 10.5
Connecticut* 9.4
Pennsylvania 8.9
Illinois 8.8
California 8.8
Nebraska 8.4
State Average 5.1


Here are the 10 states with the lowest differences between the black/white incarceration rates.
State B:W
Hawaii* 2.4
Mississippi* 3.0
Georgia 3.2
Kentucky 3.3
Alabama 3.3
Wyoming 3.5
West Virginia 3.5
Florida 3.6
Tennessee 3.7
Arkansas 3.8


For the 10 states with the highest differences between the black/white incarceration rates, the 2016 electoral vote split at 109 for Hillary and 42 for Trump.
For the 10 states with the lowest differences between the black/white incarceration rates, the 2016 electoral vote split 93 Trump to 3 for Hillary.

Liberals like narratives; conservatives like facts.



The Color of Justice: Racial and Ethnic Disparity in State Prisons.

Michael K said...

Perhaps you didn't see the photographs with white nationalists carrying torches surrounding antifa (here) and have not heard about Trump's press conferences when he said that there were good people on both sides?

I'm trying to decide if gadfly is a crazy who masturbates while posting crazy stuff or if he is a bot that just puts up the latest bulletin from Dailykos.

walter said...

Gadfly bringing fresh insights, as always.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

gadfly babbled

"Remember the violent clash that ensued between those spreading hate."

Yes, the Antifa were spreading hate just as much as the Nazis. Because they are Nazis, just with a different Fuhrer .

Like Trump said, there are good people on both sides of teh "keep up / remove statues" issue.

But there are no good people in "Antifa", and there are no good people on the side of "Antifa". Just like there are no good Nazis

Bunkypotatohead said...

Well, he's got my vote.
And Kamala will make a great assistant dog catcher.

Readering said...

AA has a bee in her bonnet about Trump's infamous Charlottesville remarks. Ironic that Bannon was thrown overboard soon after.

Readering said...

You know who's good with a teleprompter? Hilary Clinton. Once watched her from up close when she and someone I was with were among a number getting awards at a charity dinner. Everyone was using a teleprompter at the podium for their acceptances, except Clinton, it seemed, who was just walking back and forth talking. Half-way through I realized that there were several discreet teleprompters on the podium floor she was using. Very smooth.

FullMoon said...

The "counter protesters" mentioned by every left wing media and idiot are the same people attacking police and civilians, looting stores, and burning down police stations. Not a white supremacist, KKK, or Nazi to be seen since Charlottesville..LOL!

DeepRunner said...

Scott Adams went absolutely megaton nuclear on his Periscope today because Biden (or rather, Biden's bigoted 24-year-old dried-up female incel speechwriter, in my opinion) perpetuated the Charlottesville hoax.

At the heart of the Dem party is bitter, divisive hatred. They claim to love America, but eagerly light the match that dangles over the fuse of Antifa, anarchy, agitation, and grievous grieving and grievance. They are humorless and screech "That's not funny." They are Animal Farm, when the world could use a little more Animal House.

Earnest Prole said...

Great! So, you are in favor of how many debates?

Fifty.

Rusty said...

I wonder how much Prednizone and Cialis they had to pump him with to get him out there.

Bilwick said...

iowan2: "You choose to post lies here." There is no truth but socialist truth, comrade.

Unknown said...

Ally of light? OK, Lucifer (/ˈluːsɪfər/ "light-bringer" (a.k.a., "Father of Lies")

Unknown said...

Ally of light? OK, Lucifer (/ˈluːsɪfər/ "light-bringer" (a.k.a., "Father of Lies")

hstad said...

"...Illegal immigrant hailed by Democrats deported under Clinton, re-arrested under Obama..."

https://twitter.com/jsolomonReports/status/1296584018121695232

hstad said...

AA - I like your analysis of Biden's speech - concise and to the point - with one exception.

Did you mention what policies he would implement or how they differed from Trump’s; he simply offered vague picture of a happier, more prosperous future. While the speakers before Biden offered divisive rhetoric and an abhorrent view of America. That gives an oxymoronic view of what the few people who tuned in heard.

Joy said...

What about the lie, the disqualifying lie, about fine people. Biden is the worst to use that to make citizens hate each , divide us. He should be gone.

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