January 8, 2021

Biden won the election because people wanted calm, moderation, and normality.

But it's not enough that he may be a calm, moderate, normal person. He must lead. Where is he now? Can he show his supporters how to gracefully accede to power? Can he unite us? I want an aura of beneficence, dignity, and inclusion! 

5 days ago I noted the promise he made: Commenters mocked me for "believing" this promise. I said (in the comments):
I believe that he made the promise. That's what matters. I will hold him to it and link back to this post whenever I need to. It doesn't matter whether you trust a politician to do what he says. You should still note the promises that are made so you can judge the performance. 

I'm judging.  

132 comments:

Jake said...

He doesn’t have all his faculties.

cf said...

if your "I'm for Boring" tag means you support Biden, that's too bad. Pretty clear his administration will be boring, we may hardly notice as we become a hard core Big Blue Government #SerenePoliceState. We certainly won't be talking about it, and I doubt Althouse will cover it anyway.

WisRich said...

He promised Judge Thomas a fair nomination hearing as well.

mockturtle said...

Biden 'won the election' because of the machinations of Trump's enemies.

stevew said...

I expect you will be sorely disappointed if you expect him to live up to his promises.

With what he's said the last couple of days - which is not very much - he is showing himself to be a standard issue politician, using the actions of others to advance himself politically. He doesn't care one bit about the people of good will that showed up at the Capitol to protest and did so peacefully.

Fulfilling his promise will alienate him from his base and other Democrats.

Howard said...

Biden will honor this promise as long as Kamala allows him to be POTUS. When she takes over, she will do that side to side head move with the finger wag while saying "I ain't playin"

Matt Sablan said...

Biden finally was able to recognize political violence when it came to the Capitol. Let's see if he, as president for everyone, can recognize that there has been OTHER political violence too that should be halted. Or, as the cynic in me believes, that Biden will be more fascist than Trump ever was and use this as an excuse to crack down on political enemies, even those who weren't at the Capitol.

Sebastian said...

"Biden won the election because people wanted calm, moderation, and normality."

Yes, a portion of nice whites voted for style, and they may have made the difference.

But most people don't. Dems vote Dem, GOPers vote GOP. People vote for people who will get them more of the policies they want. In Dems' case, more of other people's money.

Of course, you can't always get what you want: people who want calm, moderation, and normality will get prog politics, good and hard. Which will be defined as the new normal.

Todd said...

I will hold him to it and link back to this post whenever I need to.

Sorry Ann but OMG, he must be SO worried! You are going to HOLD HIM TO IT!

I am sure even you have zero influence with Biden or anyone close enough to Biden to matter.

Biden will do and say exactly what his handlers tell him to (until he is replaced by Harris). That has been known since "day one". I hope you are comforted by their brand of "boring". I just don't think it will be what you were expecting. The boring of one truth, one story, and one narrative. The boring of only hearing "approved" ideas. Isn't it so calm and blissful! No longer any need to think. That has been outsourced to "top men".

rehajm said...

Ann has artfully crafted her judgement to avoid attention from the Blogger censors.

Caroline said...

Biden’s immediate statement after the capitol thingy was to inject race into the incident. Media lap dogs ran with it.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

We've normalized democrats as crooks.

So clam.

Kevin said...

Trump and Biden both spoke yesterday.

Seems like the kind of thing Althouse would deconstruct.

Dave Begley said...

The only way Biden could unite us is to order a comprehensive and bipartisan investigation into the election. But that will never happen as it would expose the theft.

Ann, I think you are being very naive. Joe Biden enriched himself and his family with foreign money. What makes you think he really wants to do for the country? He's in it for himself.

Jerry said...

You believe he made the promise. That's so sweet....

And totally irrelevant. Is everything he's promised something you'll hold him to? In that case, I'd suggest you prepare for a hell of a lockdown coming -- and the economic 'benefits' thereof. Maybe you'll get $2k, maybe you'll get $600. Maybe you'll get nothing - because he's surrounding himself with same damned incompetent retreads from the Obama era... but the difference is that THIS time there's not going to be any challengers in 2024 no matter how badly it goes. The DC Elite have decided - outsiders will not be tolerated.

So - here's hoping that Biden/Harris can actually manage their way out of a paper bag, despite no evidence of any ability so far. Because you may have gotten what you wished for - 'calm, moderation, and normality' - but you may very much regret it in a few months.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Didn't Trump say the same thing after he was elected? All presidents say this.

Why is it considered special when a democrat says it?

WisRich said...


Blogger Caroline said...
Biden’s immediate statement after the capitol thingy was to inject race into the incident. Media lap dogs ran with it.
---------------

They sure did.

Sally327 said...

I absolutely believe Biden meant every word of that and it's what scares the crap out of me. Why? Because he and I don't define "making my life better" in the same way at all but he's the one, along with the rest of ClownTown (aka the Biden administration and its fellow travelers in Congress), that has or will have the power, money and influence. To make my life better.

God save me from everyone who wants to make my life better. I am terrified of all the better that's going to come my way.

rehajm said...

...and apparently some of the blog commenters.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

The democrat party elite exists to enrich itself and to gain absolute power. Feel the calm.

I wonder how difficult it is to stay calm when you're harassed by the democrats for 4 years?

Stay Safe said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wince said...

Where is he now?

Maybe he's with Hunter?

clint said...

Don't worry, Ann. (And Happy Birthday, by the way.) In two weeks, you'll get exactly the calm, moderation, and normality you want.

No matter what happens over the next twelve days, the media will portray everything as terrifying chaos. Until Biden's inauguration. Thereafter, the return to fluffy, happy news will be such a relief.

Instead of Daily Covid Death Counts, we'll get stories of happy people getting vaccines. Instead of violent mobs, we'll get puff pieces on the diverse and competent new members of the Biden Administration. And if bad things are happening, you sure won't hear about them on the networks, or Twitter, or Facebook, or Youtube, or Instagram, or anything touched by Google.

Covid panic (as opposed to the disease itself), the riots, mass protests, and even white supremacy will all fade away. They've done their job.

mockturtle said...

The Uniparty party elite exists to enrich itself and to gain absolute power. Feel the calm.

FIFY

Mike Sylwester said...

Tens of millions of people think he did not win the election.

Matt Sablan said...

"No matter what happens over the next twelve days, the media will portray everything as terrifying chaos. Until Biden's inauguration. Thereafter, the return to fluffy, happy news will be such a relief."

-- I wonder how quickly the fact checkers and media will shift back to the Obama stand down on fact checking and speaking truth to power.

elkh1 said...

People wanted calm. Who was behind all these uncalm last four years?

Setting cities on fire was Democrats' campaign strategy.

I never believe American voters could be so stupid, so cowardly.

Big Mike said...

@Altiouse, PLEASE!. Your joke has gone on long enough.

Spiros said...

Joe Biden won because of the mail in ballots. Tens of millions of unsophisticated (or illiterate) voters were “coached” by Democratic activists (“politqueros”) to fill out their mail in ballots in favor of Joe Biden. Without mail in ballots, Creepy Joe loses bigly.

Inga said...

“Biden 'won the election' because of the machinations of Trump's enemies.”

Biden won the election because more people voted for him. Isn’t it time to come to your senses? The mayhem at the Capitol with 5 dead all based on a FANTASY.

It’s time to put some serious thought into what you want for your country, continued conspiracy theory driven chaos or realism based progress for a better future?

I don’t know if Biden will deliver on his promises, but I do know that he will be sworn in and he will be POTUS. Decide if living in your fantasies are more important than the welfare of the democracy. You have conflated Trump with the Country itself. That is so messed up, don’t you see this?

Howard said...

Tons of millions of people believe in chemtrails.

Sally327 said...

Since Althouse didn't vote, those things listed in the caption don't apply to her wishes or desires when it comes to the Presidency. Meaning, Ann didn't vote for calm, moderation or normality. She's a ship without a country, she sails with no flag, neither Calm Country nor Crazy Land can claim her as their own. I guess that means Ann is a pirate?

Howard said...

The Democrats just have a better ground game which requires organization and activists. You people spout your conspiracy theories to paper over your laziness and ineptitude

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Biden "won" because of targeted fraud and ballot stuffing in certain blue precincts.

Retail Lawyer said...

Biden as a leader - honestly, that thought hasn't occurred to me before. Its ridiculous!

Matt Sablan said...

"It’s time to put some serious thought into what you want for your country, continued conspiracy theory driven chaos or realism based progress for a better future?"

-- I expect there will be Trump supporters who won't accept the election. I base this on the fact I *still* have to explain to people Russia didn't hack the 2016 election and that Bush really did beat Gore. Only, in this case, there's enough election incompetence (why do so many key states and cities -- and only those -- continually admit to having lost USBs with vote tallies on them and to not properly securing said USBs?), that I can't just tell them obviously nothing happened. There's both the conspiracy theorist side of the Trump supporters who won't accept the election, and then there's the people with claims that can't be proven or disproven at this point. As opposed to the dead enders who insist Gore really won, Stacey Abrams really won, and Clinton would have won were it not for Russian interference. There's only so much I can do to stop Trump supporters from claiming the election was stolen, because like with Epstein's "suicide," despite the fact I'm not signing on to the "it was stolen" or "someone killed him" theories... there's enough weird activity that I can only argue so much.

mockturtle said...

Selective reporting will continue to be the order of the day and any brave reports of Antifa or BLM riots will be effectively deleted from the internet.

This is actually more insidious than Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia or the Chinese Cultural Revolution because of technology. Perhaps some bold souls will install printing presses in their basements and start distributing pamphlets...

chickelit said...

Sally327 said...I guess that means Ann is a pirate?

Sort of like "Pirate Radio" in the 1960's. For now at least.

Shouting Thomas said...

We sued for calm, moderation and normalcy because the Democrats spent a year waging war in the cities and shut down the economy to punish us.

This was the real election rigging, a year long psy-ops campaign.

This election was a complete fraud.

The message from you, prof, over the last few months has been that the best we can do is surrender to the Democrat’s war in the streets.

Maybe you’re right. But that isn’t a democracy.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

Biden is a complete fraud and a crook. He used his power as VP to stuff his family coffers - and he used his son as the bag man.

Leadership.

Owen said...

Sally327 @ 8:33: “God save me from everyone who wants to make my life better. I am terrified of all the better that's going to come my way.”

Word.

Ray - SoCal said...

Biden is supporting them unpersoning and censorship of Trump.

chickelit said...

Howard said...The Democrats just have a better ground game which requires organization and activists. You people spout your conspiracy theories to paper over your laziness and ineptitude

I can see your point in a general way, but we're talking about a bland statement broadcast in the biggest possible way. Receiving such messages is inherently passive and deserves push back. What is laughable is that Biden tweets at all. Who does he think he is, Donald Trump?

Charlie Currie said...

I don't accept that Biden "won" the election.

If the democrats didn't cheat and steal the election, why did they go to so much trouble to appear that they wanted to before - mail in ballots, no voter ID, blocking signature verification, etc - and that they were during the counting - blocking observers from entering, covering windows, falsely claiming there was a water main break, stopping all counting and sending repub representatives home in heavy dem counties, almost simultaneously, and then start again (or never actually stopping) in the early morning hours with huge gains for Biden, etc?

And then refuse to allow any kind of legitimate audit.

I don't understand it.

Bragging about Biden winning the election is like bragging about your team winning the game when everyone knows the officials made a bad call.

Greg Hlatky said...

Covid panic (as opposed to the disease itself), the riots, mass protests, and even white supremacy will all fade away. They've done their job.

Until the Deplorables get uppity again, then they'll be dragged back out.

Mike Sylwester said...

Howard at 8:40 AM
Tons of millions of people believe in chemtrails.

I think that "President" Biden should appoint a non-partisan commission to investigate the suspicions and accusations about the election.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

If Biden wants to work to make my life better.....he can do just one thing.

BUTT OUT OF MY LIFE.

Stop trying to micromanage the economy, society and everything else. From what we eat to how we are "supposed" to think or speak.

Seriously. Leave us alone!

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Illegitimate President

Shouting Thomas said...

The Democrats just have a better ground game which requires organization and activists. You people spout your conspiracy theories to paper over your laziness and ineptitude.

It’s really just a better set of personal values.

I don’t want to be any kind of activist. I was for a while. It’s a fucked up lifestyle choice.

The problem is convincing Democrats to stop being fucking asshole activists and find something else to do with their lives.

Kate said...

"I'll unite the country" is the new "and a chicken in every pot!" They all say it, they all might even mean it.

andworldpeace.gif

mandrewa said...

Biden is just a figurehead. He's a puppet.

Anonymous said...

What Sally327 said. I’m done, I think. The country I grew up in, the state I grew up in, the city I grew up in- all dead. My governor just extended his dictatorial lockdown another two weeks- another “two weeks to flatten the curve” no doubt. I’m going to withdraw into my private pleasures- Gopher hockey at ‘sconnie this weekend- maybe I’ll hop in the car and take a road trip to Madison and see the games in pers.... what? No fans allowed? WTF?

Sally327 said...

"What is laughable is that Biden tweets at all. Who does he think he is, Donald Trump?"

I am not a Twitter person, I consider it a modern manifestation of Dante's fifth circle of Hell. I wonder, however, how well Twitter will survive in the post-Trump era. And since Biden can't possibly compete with Biden in Twitter world, will a President's Twitter account be deemed unnecessary or not befitting the majesty and glory of the Biden White House.

Howard said...

Chickelit: when this banal biden tweet first broke, I said gag me with a spoon. We are now at the meta stage of the game commenting on the comments. Please keep up.

I'm Full of Soup said...

"I want an aura of...."

That is a joke right?

Howard said...

Thomas thinks Democrats should be quitters like Republican supporters.

Anonymous said...

How long before Slow Joe is Arkan-cided or 25th amendment-ed? I’m guessing Kam will want to be able to run 2x more, so two years or so. Don’t think for a minute that Harris doesn’t know the exact date.

wendybar said...

He already called Trump supporters terrorists. Hell, he called the Tea Party terrorists, and they left the places where they rallied cleaner than they were before they got there. We live in upside down world.

Todd said...

mockturtle said...

Perhaps some bold souls will install printing presses in their basements and start distributing pamphlets...

1/8/21, 8:43 AM


Would need to. Can't use PC printers any longer. With the built in micro-coding, they can narrow down a printed page to a specific brand of PC printer or even finer to an sub-class within model. How long do you think it will be before they can identify down to a specific printer?

Unknown said...

Well, that's ONE impossible thing before breakfast. Only five more to go.

chickelit said...

Howard said...Chickelit: when this banal biden tweet first broke, I said gag me with a spoon. We are now at the meta stage of the game commenting on the comments. Please keep up.

You completely missed my point, despite my getting yours. Trump found a way to communicate directly with us, bypassing media filters. Biden has no such power and I think it is an important power. FDR had that power with radio, for example. Biden MUST communicate through controlled media filters. That is the whole point of his Presidency. Biden defines a new sort of impotency.

Shouting Thomas said...

Thomas thinks Democrats should be quitters like Republican supporters.

Exactly.

I lived in Woodstock (as well as NYC) for 45 years, among the liberal world savers and activists.

You can’t believe how they fucked up their lives with their world saving and activism. Every one of those assholes was a personal disaster.

Yes, Democrats need to just quit. That’s how they can make the world a better place.

Nonapod said...

The funny thing is, all Biden has to do is nothing. Well... not exactly nothing, he has to ignore the extremists of his party, ignore all those who would hope to manipulate him, not bend the knee to China, and not succumb to vanity. It's true that he needs to be boring in terms of messaging, but he also has to be able to resist the temptation to please everyone around him all the time.

Unfortunately I'm unconvinced that he has the mental faculties to not be manipulated or cajoled, nor the moral fortitude to resist bribes and other vanities. He strikes me as a dangerous combination of bad ideas, incompetency, and corruptibility. I hope I'm wrong about him.

Sebastian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Static Ping said...

He's already failed.

Oh well.

Howard said...

Biden defines the old impotancy, Chickelit. Trump is a one of. A unicorn. Anyone trying to duplicate Trump's mastery of social media will fail udderly. I don't see any similarities between Biden and Trump tweeting styles.

Sebastian said...

While non-voting Althouse keeps telling us what she likes and wants--normality! calm!--like a nice liberal American woman who thinks her views matter, Joe is taking a slightly different tack:

"No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday, they wouldn’t have been treated very, very differently"

Expect more prog racial politics as Joe discovers his inner SJW. The new normal. And very practical in squashing opposition.

Fernandinande said...

a calm, moderate, normal person.

He's a mildly demented narrow-minded left-wing race-hustling racist (I know some of that is redundant):

BIDEN (w/video): "No one can tell me that if it had been a group of Black Lives Matter protesting yesterday [@Capital], there wouldn’t — they wouldn’t have been treated very, very differently than the mob of thugs that stormed the Capitol."

His silly video is accompanied by pictures of police groveling in front of BLM protestors.

Meade said...

“I will hold him to it and link back to this post whenever I need to.”

Promise?

Francisco D said...

I wonder what percentage of mail-in ballots "voted" for Biden. That is why he won.

ANoKneedMouse said...

How do you Judge what someone is thinking every morning when they wake up. It's a meaning less platitude like a Miss America world peace answer.

Rick said...

But it's not enough that he may be a calm, moderate, normal person.

We already know this isn't true. This is a man who insults people who asks questions he doesn't like as if he's a king and they his subjects. He plagiarized his own personal story and lies about the rest.

Meanwhile he claims Mitt Romney Republicans want to return blacks to slavery and supports Title IX weaponization, the most outrageous and illiberal movement in modern America, so fervently he refers to even the most basic due process reforms as support for rape.

The fact that even crazier people exist does not change what Biden is.

Bob Smith said...

SloJoe may be calm and polite or he may be suffering dementia. President Harris will be neither.

exhelodrvr1 said...

The question is not whether he made the promise, the question is what the reasonable expectation was.

Mr Wibble said...

You can’t believe how they fucked up their lives with their world saving and activism. Every one of those assholes was a personal disaster.

Many people don't believe in God. Very few have no religion. They simply transfer it to something else. Unfortunately these new religions often lack the support, beauty, and fulfillment of what they replaced.

Francisco D said...

If Joe wants to be POTUS for ALL Americans he should stop calling conservative protesters "domestic terrorists".

Gahrie said...

How long do you think it will be before they can identify down to a specific printer?

How long until they pass a law mandating that all printers carry identifying watermarks?

unknown said...

Very calming and unifying to try to use this incident to gin up racial resentments and accuse Capitol police of racism.

Rick said...

Inga said...
It’s time to put some serious thought into what you want for your country, continued conspiracy theory driven chaos or realism based progress for a better future?


Left wingers have been governing by fantasy for decades. For example they claim to believe 1 in 5 woman are sexually assaulted on college campuses in a 4 year period, the highest rate anywhere in the world. In fact it's greater than in the Congo during its Civil War where rape was used as a weapon against enemy populations.

Left wingers create this and similar conspiracies (white supremacists are everywhere!) because scaring their acolytes motivates them to take and support actions reasonable people reject out of hand. These are the exact tactics now being used against them as people on the right have seen their success and adopted them.

It's revealing none of the leftists lecturing about civility and putting the country first are willing to give up these tactics for their country.

The key takeaway is that voting Dem does not end conspiracy driven chaos. It ensures that the conspiracies are vastly more harmful and long lasting.

But kudos for the board nutjob lecturing others about serious thought. Normal people would have some hesitancy with such open hypocrisy, but never Inga.

Ken B said...

Yes indeed some commenters were blinded by their resentment and anger and shot off stupid comments about Althouse trusting Biden.
How's it going Big Mike?

hawkeyedjb said...

I'm not a union member, not a Democratic politician, and I'm not Chinese. There is literally nothing Joe Biden or his handlers want to do that will make my life better.

Todd said...

Francisco D said...

If Joe wants to be POTUS for ALL Americans he should stop calling conservative protesters "domestic terrorists".

1/8/21, 9:25 AM


Oh, I see your problem! You though Joe meant us too!

He does not see us as Americans. Joe's definition of "Americans" is liberals, Democrats (I know, redundant), and illegal aliens. That is it, full stop. Us "deplorables" are not Americans in his eyes. We do not count other than for the tax money he can take from us and for the "distractions" he can use us for, when things start to go sideways for him.

Please note, all above uses of Joe and "he", actually refer to Joe's handlers. Not Joe Biden, the empty suit (head) that they put in as POTUS. Joe is clearly just the puppet reading the words he has been given.

Ken B said...

The most presidential, uniting thing Biden could do, or Trump could do, is to apologize and resign. A tandem resignation would have a salutary effect.

Harris, Pelosi too.

hawkeyedjb said...

"How long do you think it will be before they can identify down to a specific printer? How long until they pass a law mandating that all printers carry identifying watermarks?"

Watch the movie The Lives of Others. One of the greatest movies ever made about socialism. For some, a cautionary tale, for others a how-to.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Where is he now? Can he show his supporters how to gracefully accede to power? Can he unite us? I want an aura of beneficence, dignity, and inclusion!

Serious answer:

Well, he promised to be President of all Americans and has been touted as a healer and unifier. Except he can't make any conciliatory overtures to the Right because it will alienate his base and the rhetoric he has to use to shore up his base is garunteed to alienate the Right. Therefore, I suspect he's in the Presidential-Elect Basement in Delaware, wishing it was 1964 so he could get some real old-fashioned Bromo-Seltzer, you know with the tranquilizer in it, because he's got a huge mess on his hands.

mockturtle said...

Watch the movie The Lives of Others. One of the greatest movies ever made about socialism. For some, a cautionary tale, for others a how-to.

Outstanding film, hawkeyedjib.

Darrell said...

Here's what Biden said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTkZOcIOL18

Joe Smith said...

"Can he unite us?"

That ship has sailed.

Joe will last 2 years and one day, so Kamala will be able to run for two terms of her own.

Over the next couple of years we may see Joe a lot, but we will rarely hear him speak and he will give almost zero serious interviews.

He will be a basement president for good reasons.

Mr Wibble said...

Joe will last 2 years and one day, so Kamala will be able to run for two terms of her own.

I think that they'll push him out this year. He's declining too fast to keep up the charade. And if they think that they'll lose the Senate and House in 2022, they'll get rid of him before then so that Kamala will get her VP pick.

MikeD said...

I don't believe Biden has ever personally composed and sent a "tweet".

Curious George said...

"Biden won the election because people wanted calm, moderation, and normality."

Nope. But bless your heart.

"Inga said...
“Biden 'won the election' because of the machinations of Trump's enemies.”

Biden won the election because more people voted for him. Isn’t it time to come to your senses? The mayhem at the Capitol with 5 dead all based on a FANTASY.

It’s time to put some serious thought into what you want for your country, continued conspiracy theory driven chaos or realism based progress for a better future?

I don’t know if Biden will deliver on his promises, but I do know that he will be sworn in and he will be POTUS. Decide if living in your fantasies are more important than the welfare of the democracy. You have conflated Trump with the Country itself. That is so messed up, don’t you see this?"


Our resident dullard, who still hasn't given up on the Russia Russia Russia dream, spews this crap? The poster child of the delusional left, she makes it so easy to understand that the left, having no shame, could rig an election, and then sleep at night.

Kevin Walsh said...

Dems should drop the unification bull. It was never about that, anyway.

Bilwick said...

"Biden won the election because people wanted calm, moderation and normality." No mention of liberty. How surprising.

Sebastian said...

I believe. I'd like. I want. I will hold.

Give it up, Althouse.

I'd would like to think your sensibilities will still matter in the new America--we'd be a better country--but I don't think they will. The Gleichschaltung is proceeding. Even if you escape canceling, your wishes are illusions, and the progs in charge could not care less about your judgment.

Clyde said...

Calm, moderate, normal people don't grope women and sniff children. They also don't get millions of dollars in grift from foreign countries through their family. If you thought you were getting calm, moderate and normal, you bought a pig in a poke. A very muddy pig.

Sam L. said...

I don't believe a word he says, or is alleged to have said.

cacimbo said...

"Biden won the election because people want calm, moderation, and normality."

I believe in the past you had expressed the idea people would vote for Biden in the hope it would end all the rioting and bring calm. Well if you believe Biden legitimately won (I don't) that means violence was rewarded. Sure sends the message that the right needs to start rioting too.

Joe Smith said...

"I don't believe Biden has ever personally composed and sent a "tweet"."

I don't think he knows how to use a computer or a smart phone.

Joe Smith said...

"I believe. I'd like. I want. I will hold."

I think our hostess is a brilliant woman in many ways.

But she reminds me of my sister; the most kind-hearted but naive and gullible person I know.

She just can't believe that anyone would have an ulterior motive.

It's beyond her ability to understand except in an abstract manner...

stevew said...

The media have been enlisted in delivering on calm, moderation, and normalcy.

Help Us Identify the Insurrectionists

Hey Joe, were BLM and Antifa ever subjected to this sort of thing? Nevermind, we know the answer.

Leland said...

I'm judging.

He lied to you, and you called him on it. You refused to vote for him, yet he "won" with 10% more votes than any candidate in the history of the United States. Judge all you want, but he wont' be held to account, and he's been successful with his lies. If I was him, I would stick with the winning strategy as the rational choice.

hawkeyedjb said...

Ms. Althouse needs some new tags. Unity Bullshit. Moderation Bullshit. Normalcy Bullshit.

mandrewa said...

There's a sense in which Biden doesn't exist. He supposedly won the election. And he did this despite barely campaigning, spending most of his time at his house, and barely saying anything -- including on social media.

Biden was obviously heavily managed and it was very rare for him to speak off the cuff. He was a teleprompter candidate. Or he would have been if he didn't keep making mistakes reading the teleprompter. Biden's contribution to the process was mistakes and lots of them in the few opportunities he was given to make a mistake.

We are going to see even less of this invisible man now that he is the president.

The point is he was barely there during the campaign and he will be even less so now.

n.n said...

Unity Bullshit. Moderation Bullshit. Normalcy Bullshit.

Yes, starting with the semantic games, progressing to conceptual liberalization. Bullshit piled higher and deeper. They need to lose their Pro-Choice ("ethical") quasi-religion.

Joe Smith said...

"The point is he was barely there during the campaign and he will be even less so now."

There will be more unicorn sightings than Joe sightings...

Kensington said...

Biden "won" because Democrats cheated, period.

Rusty said...

Howard said...
"Tons of millions of people believe in chemtrails."
Tons of millions of people believe in liberalism. You dumbasses will believe anything.

Mark said...

Biden won the election because people wanted calm, moderation, and normality.

Well, then either the people are full of shit . . . or you are for asserting this.

Milo Minderbinder said...

1. Biden is sedated most of his days.
2. You might bookmark his tweets. You may try to hold him accountable by citing to them in the future. But, Biden didn't write them, one of his handlers did, and no one ever will accept accountability for them. Because you aren't in the know, bless your heart.

Bilwick said...

I was scrolling upward when I came to a comment from Curious George referring to "our resident dullard." I hadn't scrolled up far enough to see who he was referring to, but I guessed he was probably referring to Inga. And by golly, he was! What are the odds?!

In an obituary he wrote, William F. Buckley Jr said of Eleanor Roosevelt that her entire life could be seen as one unending war against the syllogism. That's pretty much true these days of most "liberals" and other State-cultists, but especially true of Inga, the State's Handmaid.

Bilwick said...

In response to a post from the ever-brilliant Howard, Rusty wrote of "liberals" that "You dumbasses will believe anything." So true! If you can really swallow the snake-oil brew of junk economics, magical thinking and State-cultism that nowadays calls itself "liberalism," you can pretty much swallow anything.

Lurker21 said...

Biden may claim to want harmony, etc., but the people programming him are true believers who are out for scalps. It's not so much about ideology as about power and partisanship and tribal belonging. Biden has to read what his staffers give him in order to keep the partisans satisfied. Also, he's not going to let any crisis go to waste. I'm not saying his responses to crises will necessarily take the form of policy, but when the opportunity comes up to score points against the other party, Biden and his team are going to take it. In a 50-50 country, nobody thinks they can afford to show any mercy or magnanimity to the other side.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

The idea that Biden would be capable of leading anything at this point is beyond belief. He was specifically selected because he’s an empty figurehead for those behind him pulling the strings. Joe will spend most of his remaining days in his basement, believing he was re-elected to the senate.

Meade said...

"Joe will last 2 years and one day, so Kamala will be able to run for two terms of her own."

We have a friendly bet going here at Meadhouse: Biden will be out of office by March 1, 2021 vs Biden will be out of office by April 1, 2021.

hstad said...

"...Commenters mocked me for "believing" this [Biden's] promise. I said (in the comments):
I believe that he made the promise...?"

Gees, AA - what planet do you live on? A politician's "...promise..." is golden to you?

BTW, is this your idea of uniting the Nation? From NBC News: "...Biden slams Capitol rioters as 'domestic terrorists': 'Don't dare call them protesters'..."

AA - there goes your fictional narrative!

Joe Smith said...

"We have a friendly bet going here at Meadhouse: Biden will be out of office by March 1, 2021 vs Biden will be out of office by April 1, 2021."

So you're both taking the under. Which makes perfect sense if (as I believe) Biden is much worse off than any of us know, and that the powers that be think they might not be able to keep power in congress in 2022 despite cheating again.

It gives the super-left Kamala a year and a half to go full-on Vlad Lenin on our sorry asses.

The Dems know they fucked up when Obama first was elected and they had the whole shooting match and squandered it.

They learned from it I'm sure.

Jim at said...

Not my President.

That's how it works, right? Right?

Jim at said...

It’s time to put some serious thought into what you want for your country, continued conspiracy theory driven chaos or realism based progress for a better future?

Take your lecture and shove it up your ass.

Rick said...

Joe Biden:
"They weren't protesters, don't dare call them protesters. They were a riotous mob, insurrectionists, domestic terrorists."


Joe's idea of moderation. When riots are left wing there's a careful effort to protect them by insisting on the difference between protesters and rioters (and just by chance the rioters are wearing masks so we can't tell who they are). When a riot develops out of a right protest they're all terrorists.

So it turns out people who scoff at Joe's supposed moderation were exactly correct. On the bright side he didn't claim everyone who didn't vote for him wants to return blacks to slavery. He must be saving that for his inauguration speech.

Someday I'd like to be proven wrong about someone on the left. Just once.

Joe Smith said...

"...progress for a better future?"

I can just see the black, white, and red banners now.

"Progress for a better future, comrades!"

That is some serious, Orwellian brainwashing.

Cue the jackboots and the rubber hoses.

Daddy Binx said...

Gahrie said...

How long until they pass a law mandating that all printers carry identifying watermarks?

Too late, they already do.

n.n said...

So, more than 16 trimesters of Democrat-lead witch hunts, warlock trials, JournoListic brayng, and protests, spying, collusion, and obstruction, were an invention for a creation of contrasts?

n.n said...

"Progress for a better future, comrades!"

Progress is an unqualified, monotonic function: one step forward, two steps backward.

Bunkypotatohead said...

“I will hold him to it and link back to this post whenever I need to.”
Be sure to let us know where to read you after Google shuts this place down.

Lurker21 said...

Biden compares Cruz and Hawley to Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

I wish I could say that I was making that up, or that somebody was, but it looks like he actually said it.

Calm, moderation, normality?

aw said...

Holding Biden to a higher standard than Trump?

Where is the humility of Trump voters?

Anonymous said...

For my entire life, Republicans have campaigned on shrinking the Federal Government. It's important to do that. All this micromanaging of lives comes from a bloated Federal Government. Republicans campaign on that, but will not actually do it.

If we want to maintain the fiction of being 'self governing' we need a 2nd Party. The Dems and the Reps have a sweet gig going. They ain't giving it up. 2nd Party. (after the Civil War, of course)

John Clifford said...

The mistake made was to ever trust a Democrat to actually say what they mean, or mean what they say. Yet, the folks who keep voting for Democrats because they're optimistic (as opposed to America-bashing nihilists) keep getting fooled. They got fooled by LBJ, by Carter, by Clinton (twice), and by Obama (twice). Not to mention the fools who ran as the Democrat nominee after winning their primaries (Kerry, Dukakis, Gore, McGovern, and Hillary). It's like they enjoy being the Charlie Brown to the DNC's Lucy, falling for that "I won't move the football" trick while they keep falling on their backs.

Did you really think Biden was sincere when he promised to be president for all Americans, and to try to restore unity and comity? Have you seen what he's said in the past couple of days... not to mention his entire political career?

Readering said...

What's your point?

Sam L. said...

I'm sure he said that, but I doubt that he meant it, or that he will be allowed to actually do that.

The Crack Emcee said...

Biden won the election because people wanted calm, moderation, and normality - SO THEY ELECTED THE PEOPLE WHO CAUSED ALL THE TROUBLE FROM DAY ONE JUST BECAUSE HE WAS IN OFFICE.

Fuck them.

Anonymous said...

Most Democrats don't want the Democrat Party. Most Republicans don't want the Republican Party. 70% of the voting public are Americans. The rest are the philosophical 5th column.