December 3, 2020

Biden (and the NYT) fail to notice ambiguity.

I'm reading "I feel like I’ve done something good for the country by making sure that Donald Trump is not going to be president for four more years" quoted in "Biden Made Sure ‘Trump Is Not Going to Be President for Four More Years’/Here’s what Joe Biden had to say about the future in our interview" (Thomas Friedman column in NYT).

I'm sure Biden only meant to say that he kept Trump from getting reelected in 2020, but the words can just as well mean that it will be 4 more years before Trump can become President again. 

65 comments:

wendybar said...

Cheating will helps. Good for Joe that he thinks he can Govern. He hasn't done shit in 47 years, maybe this is his time??? Go back to sleep now. Everything will be perfect under Joe....just ask China!!

wendybar said...

cheating helps...not will helps...

tim maguire said...

The words can also just as well mean that he didn't stop Trump from getting re-elected in 2020, just stopped him from getting a second term.

Michael K said...

Biden repeats what he is told to say. Not his fault if it is ambiguous.

DrSquid said...

That pathetic motherfucker actually believes he won straight up!

Ann Althouse said...

Sorry. I had 2016 where I meant 2020. That's worse than the mistake I'm complaining about. Fixed.

Ann Althouse said...

Bleh. Please don't use this thread to restate stuff about whether Biden was really elected! Go to old posts where you already said that before and you can say it again. Don't weigh this post down with what is NOT the subject.

Robert Cook said...

"That pathetic motherfucker actually believes he won straight up!"

And you don't know that he didn't, (however much it may satisfy you to confuse your belief for proven fact).

Ann Althouse said...

Please don't talk about the topic of who really won the election. The post identifies something NEW. So say something NEW.

rehajm said...

The man is 78 years old, a lifelong stutterer, and he double dipped on third grade. Ambiguity is considered a communications success...

Robert Cook said...

As for the topic, both nuance and ambiguity have been killed by the prevailing culture. Ambiguity is anathema!

RNB said...

Ambiguous or not, what comes through loud and clear in that statement is Joe Biden's pettiness and lack of class.

tcrosse said...

It's difficult enough for Joe to impart any meaning, so it's a real achievement for him to impart two at once.

mockturtle said...

Biden is taking credit for what someone else did: "Dominion Executive: Trump is not going to win. I made f***ing sure of that." From OANN.

Sebastian said...

"I'm sure Biden only meant to say"

4 more years of that? He said x, but only meant y. He said here's my son Beau, but only meant here's my granddaughter. Etc.

Birkel said...

What comes after Trump will be worse.
Let's vote for China's ascension.

Thanks, Mike Lee.

RMc said...

The post identifies something NEW. So say something NEW.

There's literally nothing less NEW than Joe Biden.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

oh but Biden has done "shit".

Figuring out a way to funnel tax payer dollars to Ukrainian Energy company and BACK to your son's bank account (and family enrichment fund) - all while the American media stay silent about it - that's a real accomplishment.

Birkel said...

Perhaps after the invocation of the 25th Amendment Biden will make more sense.

gilbar said...

Grover Cleveland! Grover Cleveland!

Nonapod said...

Watching Biden speak is somewhat painful. It always seems like he's struggling to find words to me and often he'll simply stumble over a phrase and you'll get a jumble of nonsense. Aphasia can't be wished away.

Yeah, I know that people will point out that Trump seems to speak in a somewhat jumbled way too. But with Trump I didn't get a sense of mental decline. Trump speaks in a stream of consciousness shorthanded sort of way. He elides certain words and phrases while overemphasizing others through repetition (like Chris Rock). It's odd but after a while you get sort of accustomed to it.

But Biden seems to garble words when he speaks a bit too fast, and he's constantly slurring words and phrases as if he's drunk.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Biden should be impeached. But then we get Kamala.
That's what will happen anyway.

Meade said...

Close your eyes
Have no fear
Trump Monster’s gone
He's on the run and Dominion’s here

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful fraud
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful
Beautiful fraud

Before you go to sleep
Say a little prayer
Every hour we garner power
Vote dumps getting
Bigger and bigger

Before you sign that ballot
Take my hand
Democracy flowers in the wee hours
Though you voted for that Bad Orange Man

gilbar said...

remember the Olden days?
Remember what they Used to call the 1st stolen (re)election? Grover Cleveland's

That didn't work out well for anyone, either

mccullough said...

Biden is the Trump Presidency Interregnum.

Readering said...

Cute.

Ambrose said...

I think the inclusion of "more" removes the ambiguity since Trump is now President

Joe Smith said...

How can Biden detect ambiguity?

He can't even spell it...

sterlingblue said...

I don't have the slightest interest in what Biden has to say about anything. He always sounds like an angry dementia patient, and he won't be making any of the decisions anyway.

Achilles said...

Democrats just dropped body bags in front of Republican Senators houses.

I look forward to D.D.Driver talking about boogaloo bois.

I am sure readering will condemn this.

The Gipper Lives said...

What is it with Georgia governors? Lester Maddox stood in his diner doorway with an axe handle. Brian Kemp is standing in the precinct doorway with a Dominion thumb drive and a pocket full of unmarked bills.

Oh, he’ll let you in to vote, but then he’ll cancel your ballot or transfer it to Poodle Joe.

As wrong as he was, at least the segregationist Democrat Lester Maddox believed in his racist cause. Gov. Kemp believes he’ll have another payoff, thank you very much.

Governor Kemp is just a ten-cent whore in a two-dollar town, with twenty tricks to go before sunrise.

Readering said...

I would if I thought this was a threat. But it's a symbol of covid deaths while GOP let's McConnell block relief legislation. Like body bag symbols during an unpopular war.

Readering said...

GOP Governor Kemp a whore...And folks wonder why I complain AA attracts the loonies to her comments.

Readering said...

But let's nitpick over a column on the illusion of divided government, if GOP win runoffs, accomplishing anything.

Temujin said...

Nice lyrics, Meade. Though it should have been placed in a post that talks about election fraud. Gotta play by the rules, Bud.

I like that we now have Thomas Friedman translating Joe Biden. Anyone else feel like they've fallen asleep and woke up in the 1990s?

Birkel said...

Accomplishments?
Please name the goals so that we may measure accurately.
Please list them.

Rory said...

It doesn't make any difference, because everyone thinks it very likely that in four years Trump will be too old to elect.

Gusty Winds said...

There is nothing new here. It’s just Biden pretending he won the election. Pretending he’s not a crook compromised by Communist China. Now he’s just drunk on himself, patting himself on the back, after thousands of people engaged in the fraud on his behalf, both in the Democrat primary and the general election. Another, more ethical nominee may not have gone along with it. It’s fucking delusional.

That’s been going on since the media falsely declared him the president-elect. It’s the same bullshit as him declaring he as a “mandate”. This guy isn’t going to govern anything. He’s not making any of the decisions for his administration.

There is no bigger subject than the coordinated fraud perpetuated in this election. I sense a lack of interest in the fraud from Althouse. Perhaps to publicly acknowledge it sullies the number one place to retire in America. It’s tough to have pride in your community when you realize it’s a swamp full of corrupt leaches.

This is a massive change for the worse in all of our lives, and especially the lives of our kids and grand-kids. Everything else is Chicken Shit. Just like Joe Biden.

Gusty Winds said...

Blogger DrSquid said...
That pathetic motherfucker actually believes he won straight up!

He doesn't believe he won. He knows what happened. We're not talking about a man of integrity here. There's nothing new. If he actually takes the oath of office on Jan 20th, we'll be playing pretend the rest our lives in America.

mockturtle said...

And folks wonder why I complain AA attracts the loonies to her comments.

And...here you are!

Achilles said...

Readering said...

I would if I thought this was a threat. But it's a symbol of covid deaths while GOP let's McConnell block relief legislation. Like body bag symbols during an unpopular war.

LOLGF.

Next you can whine like Raffensberger.

It is going to be fun watching republicans treat you people like you have been treating them.

Rusty said...

Blogger Ann Althouse said...
"Please don't talk about the topic of who really won the election. The post identifies something NEW. So say something NEW."
Did you know that they can 3D print replacement knees and hips and other joints out of metal? Cool huh.

gadfly said...

And it is important to point out that Biden overstated the effect of his victory over #DiaperDon because . . . ???

If NY AG Tish James, Manhattan DA Cy Vance Jr and Laura Birger at SDNY are not restricted, the chances of The Donald serving anywhere other than at a BOP facility is somewhere between slim and none - and, of course, Slim went on vacation.

The Gipper Lives said...

tsk tsk

gspencer said...

Headline, November 6, 2024,

"Trump wins third presidential election; FDR fans unsettled"

Howard said...

Ambiguity is the mothers milk of the long con

n.n said...

Freudian slip? True believer? The tell-tale hearts beat ever louder.

rehajm said...

Ambiguity is the mothers milk of the long con

I agree with Howard!

Gusty Winds said...

Althouse: You know what would be new? Really new? If Joe Biden insisted on fully auditing the election results so half the country (plus 30% of Democrat voters) actually believed he won the election according to election laws. But he knows he didn’t, so he won’t. So we will all just have to pretend while we adjust to our new American reality.

How the media, and even this blog, can ignore the first hand testimony of American citizens stating under threat of perjury the fraud they witnessed…(AZ, PA, MI, GA)…is corrupt and cowardly. The Michigan witnesses were openly harassed by Democrats at the Michigan hearings yesterday.

Of course without Scott Walker our Wisconsin GOP dominated legislature will do nothing. And the WI Supreme court just ruled on procedural grounds that it will not hear Trump’s case (5-4). I’m not even sure beta cuck Governor Evers responded as directed by the court.
Time to start drinking more. Thanks God I live in Wisconsin where this is completely acceptable.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Everything the Bidens do is Plausible deniability.

Included being inserted as the candidate and then winning in the wee hours under circumstances that do not flush out mathematically - with obvious fraud by those willing to partake in ballot fraud - in certain blue precincts

Kai Akker said...

someoneorother and the NYT fail to notice ambiguity

Fightin' words, Ms. Althouse. Do NOT rag on the greatest newspaper in the world, read by all the greatest people. It offers all the facts and opinions anyone would ever need to function in this sad, sorry world of racist, right-wing maniacs. It is MY newspaper! Make it yours, too.

Greg The Class Traitor said...

No, it's four more years before Trump will become President again, assuming Biden gets inaugurated.

The Obama economy was heading to a recession. All Biden will be able to do for the next 4 years is impose a lot of regulations with will f up the economy.

The Obama Biden admin f'ed up H1N1. Democrat Governors have consistently f'ed up Covid response. Any benefits from the Vaccine go the the credit of Trump. Any failures of Vaccine distribution / production that happen 1/20 or later go to the failure of Biden / Harris.

They'll never control the Senate. They'll lose the House in 2022. Their policies suck, and are not popular.

Trump will have 4 years to bash Biden. In 2023 he'll run with "compare this year to 2019. When were you better off?" And for the majority of the Country, the answer will be 2023.

By 2023 Democrats will be wishing Trump had not had the election stolen from him. By 2025, they will be crying like they've never cried before

Robert Cook said...

"Ambiguous or not, what comes through loud and clear in that statement is Joe Biden's pettiness and lack of class."

Hahahahaha!

Boy, oh boy! I'd think this was masterful dark irony if irony were a quality employed or recognized by Trump supporters!

MadTownGuy said...

From the post:

"I'm sure Biden only meant to say that he kept Trump from getting reelected in 2020, but the words can just as well mean that it will be 4 more years before Trump can become President again."

I'm leaning more toward imprecision on Biden's part. What I think he meant is that 'Trump will not be President again forever.'

Joe Smith said...

Reminder: Biden flunked the 3rd grade.

That is all.

Robert Cook said...

"He always sounds like an angry dementia patient."

I had to read your post a couple of times to be sure you were referring to Biden and not Trump.

Really, talk about a bankruptcy of irony. There is little one can say about Biden that doesn't apply to Trump. That is the ugly truth (and farce) of our current systems. We get "choices" between superficially "different" aspirants to the White House, yet nothing ever substantially changes, and the same parties (who are not "we, the people") are served.

Kai Akker said...

Omg.... Robert Cook, was that in the NYT magazine section? So profound; but I just didn't get to the magazine section last weekend. I will look in the recyclables bag, I need to hear all about that.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

It’s a rare day that Dementia Joe remembers what office he was running for. They must have interviewed him before sundown.

DanTheMan said...

A phrase you don't hear much: "Ambiguous leader".

Leaders:
1) Have a vision
2) Inspire others
3) Give clear and concise directions
4) Hold themselves and their team accountable

Does that sound like Joe Biden to anyone?

bagoh20 said...

Remember when Joe Biden during an internationally televised debate called the sitting President of the United States a "clown" and told him to "shut up". Trump stayed respectful and never responded in kind, but yea, Trump is the classless one.

Trumped talked in private to another man in a locker room about how some women "will let you grab them by the pussy". A known fact, and not actually doing anything illegal or immoral, just locker talk. Most powerful men have made that same observation for thousands of years, but Joe Biden digitally penetrated a woman against her will. Something very few men have done, but Trump is the embarrassing one, right?

Biden started getting things done and making changes even before the election when he created "the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics".

I'm very proud I voted for Trump before I knew anything about the job he would do, and I'm even more proud I had the simple wisdom and 3-figure IQ to realize what an effective President he was in only four short years under unprecedented and unhinged opposition. Even if Trump is robbed of his second term, I get to keep that pride I feel in knowing I made the right choice twice when so many others embarrassed themselves and screwed the pooch. I know that at least I wasn't part of the disgrace of the 2020 election.

Robert Cook said...

"Omg.... Robert Cook, was that in the NYT magazine section?"

1. I don't know what "that" refers to. You should strive to write for communication.

2. I don't read the NYTimes, so whatever inspired your inscrutable comment did not come from the NYT Magazine.

gpm said...

>>Remember what they Used to call the 1st stolen (re)election? Grover Cleveland's

I think it was the first election in 1884, not the re- in 1892, but my what a glorious election for slogans! "Ma, ma, where's my pa/Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha!" vs. "Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, the continental [magnificent word!] liar from the State of Maine! Burn this letter!" Not to mention "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion!"

Not sure that "stolen" necessarily fits, but it was preceded by the "corrupt bargain" of 1876, awarding the election to Ruther-fraud B. Hayes.

--gpm

P.S. Meade's lyrics were great, especially in the first couple of stanzas.

Michael K said...

We get "choices" between superficially "different" aspirants to the White House, yet nothing ever substantially changes, and the same parties (who are not "we, the people") are served.

Lying again is not a good look for you. Trump is the first Republican since Reagan who tried to change anything. I know the fall of the Soviet Union was a blow to you. Trump's real changes, The border, Ending regulations and trying to get a fair deal with China are not your choices. Still, you are lying to say nothing changed, In fact the changes are why the Democrat/Billionaire Party was willing to spend billions and cheat to get him out of there.

Michael said...

"...made sure..." indeed - by implementing the Big Steal (or figure-heading for those who did). I think Biden has as much influence on where the Democrats are sailing as the lady carved on the bowsprit had on the direction of an old clipper ship.

DEEBEE said...

Not sure whether Biden has the cognitive ability to understand that distinction. Now talk Corn Pop and hairy legs you have a chance.