January 25, 2021

"When I say that Joe Biden is basic, by which I mean 100 percent medium grade, I don’t intend it as an insult."

"I mean it as an honest description of everything he seems to want to assure us he is: ordinary, relatable, comforting in the lack of intellectual, ideological, or political threat he poses. Biden looks and talks like presidents have looked and talked—before the election of Barack Obama and his bilious cartoon inversion, Trump—since forever.... Biden had a long and largely unremarkable political career as a senator from Delaware.... Prior to 2020, he had made two unsuccessful tries at the presidency, in 1988 and again in 2008, when he lost the Iowa caucuses well behind two historical firsts, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. During his primary contest against Obama, Biden had made gently racist comments about his opponent, noting the 'storybook' qualities of 'the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.' With this paternalistic appraisal, and its lightly resentful affirmative-action framing of Obama’s success, Biden had projected attitudes so familiarly American that they perhaps sealed his deal as Obama’s running mate—the strain of average white masculinity he radiated would calm the nerves of some who might be discomfited by the meteoric rise of a Black man.... And now [Biden] is received as a balm. For what injury? The one caused by the spasm of violent revulsion and resentment millions of voters and politicians felt after having elected a single Black man to, and considered a single white woman for, the American presidency. Of course, neither of those people—Obama or Clinton—fully challenged the system of white capitalist patriarchy that Biden is a neater symbol for. Had they presented more substantive rebukes to that system, they never would have made it as far as they did."

From "America Is Back, Indeed With Biden we’ve restored our country’s favorite tradition: basic, middling, white patriarchy" by Rebecca Traister (NY Magazine). This gets my tag "Biden attacked from the left." Like the article, the photograph is hostile:

163 comments:

rhhardin said...

He seems to be completely nuts as well.

The Crack Emcee said...

I've heard both Thomas Sowell and Christopher Hitchens denigrating Biden's intelligence in old interviews - from when Biden was supposedly sharp.

cf said...

“ caused by the spasm of violent revulsion and resentment millions of voters and politicians felt after having elected a single Black man to, and considered a single white woman for, the American presidency.”
They hate us. They truly hate us. And they completely misunderstand us. Our revulsion had nothing to do with the nature of Barack and Hillary’s bodies. It had everything to do with their by-all-means-necessary power-mad minds.

tim maguire said...

All the racism aside, that's pretty much accurate about Biden. I don't think he has any principles at all other than, don't make waves. Take the easy path to preserve his electability.

The problem now is that Biden's a figurehead, he's not in charge. And the people who are actually calling the shots are leftist radicals who have already begun to do serious damage to the economy, the environment, national security, and international relations. All the things they said they needed to evict Trump to save.

David Begley said...

This is flat out wrong. Look at the EO’s Biden signed. He appears basic but is radical. Cancelling KXL and letting boys compete against girls in HS sports are very radical policies.

Jeff Vader said...

How is it that the physically uglier women get, the more that the awful white patriarchy affects them?

rehajm said...

He failed third grade.

tim maguire said...

David Begley said...This is flat out wrong. Look at the EO’s Biden signed. He appears basic but is radical

In Biden's defense, he didn't know what he was signing. (As you may have already read, that's not a joke. He literally said didn't know what he was signing as he signed it.)

Temujin said...

Yeah. Just go read HR-1, the first bill coming out of the House. You'll see how middle of the road Joe is. Here's the thing: either Joe is a con. He's all about just having a position of power and will say or do anything to get and hold onto that position. Or...he's a Sack O'Potatoes, with nothing left in his head, and those around him (the more radical Leftists) are running this country.

See how far HR-1 goes. It will turn the entire country into California in the snap of your fingers. Like one-party rule? Because, just like Venezuela, you're about to have it.

Still think Joe Biden is a harmless old middle of the road man?

wendybar said...

If you didn't vote for Joe, YOU ain't black.

wendybar said...

The Moderates got snookered. The Radical left is in charge now, and is going to rub it in our faces. Joe is just a puppet

stevew said...

Patrician, white, old, moderate, middling intellectual, and non-ideologically driven. That may all be true of Slo' Joe but it is meaningless as to what the executive position of President will produce while he occupies the office. I say it is a smoke screen to hide what the real people in charge - Pelosi, Schumer, Biden's cabinet - are doing and implementing. The best part of that is that the Left can go after Slo' Joe on these talking points to distract most voters from seeing the truth of what they are doing.

The Crack Emcee said...

wendybar said...

"If you didn't vote for Joe, YOU ain't black."

Again? WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING TO ME?!?

Fernandinande said...

the system of white capitalist patriarchy

There weren't any true statements in that tirade, were there?

Tank said...

He is a thoroughly corrupt, lying mental patient. Also was mediocre before he was senile.

gspencer said...

"ordinary, relatable, comforting in the lack of intellectual, ideological, or political threat he poses"

Yeah, all he wants to do is completely un-tether fedgov from constitutional constraints.

"Is that so wrong?"

Tina Trent said...

A vagina or a skin color cannot “rebuke” anything, including “the old white patriarchy.” Hillary, Barack, and Joe are just typical Democrat money-grifters.

Traister should have figured this out when her old Salon pals didn’t change the world with their groundbreaking pro-sex-feminism©️ vibrator reviews.

lgv said...

Except that he isn't middling. He is to the left of middling on the bell curve of leaders. He wasn't middling at law school. He wasn't middling at writing speeches.

His policies aren't middling, they are left. He is going full green on energy policy. He wants to increase the min wage. Pretty much open borders. LGBT rights. It is full-on leftist agenda by a full on below middling president suffering from cognitive decline. He isn't even the Joe Biden of the 80's and 90's.

MayBee said...

He's not middling any more.

"Salute the marines"

Iman said...

Biden is the essence of senescence. Embrace teh Suck.

Iman said...

... and please pass the popcorn...

EdwdLny said...

Joey is another grifter selling the country off to line his own pockets. Another typical lib fascist.

chickelit said...

Drivel. Waste of precious time.

Sebastian said...

"relatable"

Ah, yes, tell it to the girls he fondled.

"comforting in the lack of intellectual, ideological, or political threat he poses"

Tell it to the Keystone workers, or the girls who prefer not to compete in sports with men.

"Biden looks and talks like presidents have looked and talked"

Sure, white people all look alike, but he's still an older, senile version.

"when he lost the Iowa caucuses"

And again in 2020.

"And now [Biden] is received as a balm. For what injury?"

None, except that he wasn't Bernie, and could be best used to bamboozle the anti-Trump voters.

"the system of white capitalist patriarchy that Biden is a neater symbol for"

A little off, considering that his family wealth comes from trading on the family name in politics and getting money from non-capitalist adversaries.

Chick said...

I thought white patriarchy was the problem. The numero uno problem. Now white patriarchy is a good thing? SMH

Iman said...

Traister should have figured this out when her old Salon pals didn’t change the world with their groundbreaking pro-sex-feminism©️ vibrator reviews.

LOL... vibrator enthusiasts... too funny!

Jess said...

I wonder what type of person would vote for a mediocre politician, with nothing to show for a career except as a mediocre politician, and only claim to any bill of note was one that increased taxes on the elderly. It shows a huge amount of ignorance, and the majority of the media as even more ignorant than the ignorant voters.

Mr Wibble said...

"Biden looks and talks like presidents have looked and talked"

If you keep doing the same thing, you'll get the same results. If you keep electing candidates who "look and speak" like a president, you'll get the same kind of candidates who've gotten this country into the mess it's been in for the past forty years.

PB said...

A Potemkin President. Nothing behind the facade.

Gusty Winds said...

He's not my white guy.

Kai Akker said...

That is some photo....

I don't see a credit. But that photographer better approach his car carefully in the mornings.

Gusty Winds said...

The most remarkable this about Joe Biden is he was installed through voter fraud that wasn’t even hidden. It was right in your face. So there’s that. I’d call it pretty unique.

Kai Akker said...

Drew ANGERER

LOL. Watch your back, Drew. And front and sides.

Clayton Hennesey said...

Hologram Joe Biden: "I'll do anything you want as long as ~ flicker ~ please, please, please, please, please let me be President, please, I've wanted it so long, please, please, please, please, please ~ flicker ~ please, please, please, please, please..."

gilbar said...

He wasn't middling at law school.

he BRAGGED about "graduating in the upper half from law school"
BRAGGED about being middling
AND (as Igv said), was LYING about being middling

Think about How Crappy you have to be, to:
a) BRAG about graduating in the upper half*
b) be LYING about that

Todd said...

I mean it as an honest description of everything he seems to want to assure us he is...

Important phrasing. He is NOT those things and we have 40 years of history to back that up but he sure wants to "assure" us he is. It is called gaslighting...

jnseward said...

The idea that Trump’s election was a horrified racist reaction to the threat of a black President and a woman who almost became President, is a perverse fantasy. This is the big lie, that all Trump supporters are racist misogynists and that’s the explanation for his popularity.

Mikey NTH said...

I remember when "intellectually incurious" was a knock on a president. Now it seems that middling intellect is sold as "hey, it could be worse".

DarkHelmet said...

So many, many nasty, angry bitter people on the left. I suppose there are a bunch of nasty, angry, bitter people on the right, too. But they don't get their rantings published in 'prestige' magazines.

Funny old world this is.

As a fading old Thatcherite-Reaganite libertarian/conservative I have no political home anywhere. The media-political-Fortune 100 complex looks a lot like Mean Girls acting out the Lord of the Flies.

Stop the world -- I want to get off.

Todd said...

And so we are stuck with at least 4 years of some combination of #badtouchBiden and #kneepadsHarris. As others have said, embrace the suck...

Amadeus 48 said...

"Think about How Crappy you have to be, to:
a) BRAG about graduating in the upper half*
b) be LYING about that"

Yeah, well, Joe's career is one long bleat of pathetic, empty lies that were too petty to be worth challenging.

A low point in the 2020 debates was when Joe started on his mick schtick: "Your kind always looked down on us Irish..." WTF?!!? Who did Joe think he was debating? Henry Cabot Lodge?

Bob Boyd said...

Biden is a dumb Lyndon Johnson

traditionalguy said...

Con men fake being stupid and good hearted. That is how they win trust. Many people relax around someone too stupid to trick them. Around them they feel they are in control of the con man who is a mere stupid step and fetch it. But he is still a con. You just don’t see it...yet.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Biden is a Potemkin president.

He's an old man who doesn't even know what he is signing.
He is ruled and guided by others.

Amadeus 48 said...

"Around them they feel they are in control of the con man who is a mere stupid step and fetch it. But he is still a con. You just don’t see it...yet."

Bingo. Revisit Biden's treachery in the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings.

Fernandinande said...

This article from 1987 has some funny stuff about Biden's academic stupidity and his resultant lies.

"Of his class ranking in law school, he said, 'I exaggerate when I’m angry, but I’ve never gone around telling people things that aren’t true about me.'"

If he's angry, his lies become true.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

He’s already killed tens of thousands of well paying jobs. So yeah, just your standard Democrat.

Wince said...

The quoted piece enumerates Biden's many intellectual and character deficits.

On the Biden racial record especially, Biden intends to make you pay for his past sins.

DarkHelmet said...

Bob Boyd is correct: a dumb LBJ. Though nobody could be quite as gross as that horrid wretch. Still Biden checks the boxes:

1. paternalistic racist attitude: check
2. convinced that manipulating the minority vote is the key to getting and keeping power: check
3. enjoys punching below the belt: check
4. gets extremely angry and aggressive when opposed: check
5. lifelong Democrat party hack: check
6. willing to rip apart the fabric of America to hold power and exert his will: check


Biden is the nasty dog under the porch who rushes out to bite your ankle when you want by. But that nasty dog is getting really old. One of these days he won't make it out from under the porch. It will be interesting to see the media turn on Biden at that point -- the way they turned on LBJ.

If history repeats itself, Biden is very unpopular in four years (if he lasts that long) and decides not to run. Harris gets the nomination (reprising Humphrey's role) and she loses to Ted Cruz or Tom Cotton in 2024.

But Harris is a major step down from HHH and Cotton and Cruz are both a major step up from Nixon.

Rusty said...

Joe Biden. The democracy of mediocracy. When you want your corruption to be just middle class.
It's going to be fun watch the contortions the democrats and the media will have to go through to try and make us believe that Joe Biden is competent and normal.

Patrick Henry was right! said...

Conservatives need to unite around Nikki Haley. She will be a great President!

Tommy Duncan said...

Blogger Jess said...

"I wonder what type of person would vote for a mediocre politician, with nothing to show for a career except as a mediocre politician, and only claim to any bill of note was one that increased taxes on the elderly. It shows a huge amount of ignorance, and the majority of the media as even more ignorant than the ignorant voters.

The media is willfully ignorant and willfully incurious.

MayBee said...

I don't mind people having voted for him. You've got only 2 choices after all, and Trump is not everyone's cup of tea.

But to be swooning over Biden? That is outright ridiculous.

narciso said...

so we have a deputy education secretary, from san diego, that say teachers 'spirit murder' black youth, and education commissioner, who will mandate the the 1619 narrative, a spy chief most well known for reading erotic poetry, a combo at interior, energy and climate, that want to crush fossil fuels, we're so screwed we can't even think of england,

mezzrow said...

Join us in celebrating the joy of being bog standard. And old. And white.

This will clearly go well.

tcrosse said...

The complaint seems to be that Biden, the figurehead, is not truly representative of the ship behind him. But there's another, more representative, figurehead waiting her turn.

Bob Boyd said...

@ DarkHelmet

Good list.
I'd add 7. election fraud and 8. likes to degrade subordinates by exposing himself.

Tom said...

He began his time in office by slashing thousands of jobs in the energy sector by banning fracking and the Keystone XL Pipeline - which will have the lovely impact of raising gas prices just as Americans are getting back to work. His Transportation Secretary nominee wants to tax people for every mile they drive - ooooh, that help the poor and especially the rural poor.

That’s the first week and it’s not nearly all the bad things he did.

So, yeah, it feels like things are getting back to normal.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

The but*licking is strong in the NY Magazine. The newly installed FICUS Malvolio couldn't find his way out of his basement without a guide dog. He started out his reign by banning people from exercising their 1A rights and laying off 70,000 oil and construction workers. What a guy! New Mexico has been hit hard. They should have voted for the Orange Man.

Now Pete Butt is proposing raising the gas tax, a tax that the hits the middle class. Thus breaking Malvolio's promise of no new taxes on those making less than $400,000. Thus, the evergreen behavior of Democrat politicians: promise the electorate anything, after all they're dumb f*cks. We'll break our promises as soon as we can. Donald Trump kept his promises. Never reversed course and screwed his voters.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Democrats politicians and media are barbarians. They've never created a thing; all they can do is tear down everything created by normal folks. They use both words and weapons to do that.

Lurker21 said...

"Normal" isn't the president saying "I don't know what I'm signing?" aloud and in public and getting the answer "Sign it anyway." I get the feeling that the little embarrassments that happened during the Trump years and were ascribed to Trump's inexperience or personality won't stop with Biden because of his mental condition and personality. The difference is that you can praise or blame Trump for what happened. He decided, for better or for worse. You can blame Biden, but the decisions are all being made by someone else (to a greater extent than they usually are).

"Mediocre White men" is becoming a common mantra in the new decade. People believe they should move aside to make room for mediocrities of other races, genders, and ethnicities. Good luck with that.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Biden the Barbarian.

Big Mike said...

The Moderates got snookered.

@wendybar, the Moderates snookered themselves, and I am including Althouse herself. The evidence was right there in front of them, but thanks to our modern news media one did have to look. Also one had to learn how to tune out the 24/7 TDS. But it was doable, if one tried.

Big Mike said...

WHAT ARE YOU PEOPLE DOING TO ME?!?

@Crack, it isn’t us. The New York Times is already calling you a multiracial white guy. They used to use “Oreo” but that’s passĂ©.

Marcus Bressler said...

Hidin' Biden has already called a lid and his *presidency is not even a week old.

THEOLDMAN

Michael K said...

The big moment will come when Biden tries to meet some foreign leader and his ear piece falls out.

"Salute the Marines."

Joe Smith said...

He's far below 'middling.'

If every American had Biden's IQ we'd all be eating dirt and living in caves.

gilbar said...

His Transportation Secretary nominee wants to tax people for every mile they drive - ooooh,
that help the poor and especially the rural poor.


pshaw! i happen to know, FOR A FACT, that Jo Biden won't be raising taxes on ANYONE that makes less than $400,000 a year. So, I'M SURE, that this new gas tax will be means tested..
Right Igna?

Lurker21 said...

Does Biden really look and talk like presidents usually do? He certainly doesn't move like one. He's much slower and wobblier.

As for talking, the countless misreadings of the texts he's given are something new. They would have been newsworthy back in the Ford or Bush years. Most presidents could be trusted to read or even speak complex sentences. And that "drooping scowl" after every sentence is also novel and disquieting.

Biden looks like an old engraving of some forgotten nineteenth century president, a stereotypical dead old white guy. William Henry Harrison, say, or Zachary Taylor. Presidents didn't have much to do back then and neither survived to the end of their term.

Lurker21 said...

Bob Boyd is correct: a dumb LBJ

Also, no sense of boundaries and personal distance.

But LBJ used physical touch and closeness to manipulate or intimidate.

Biden just can't keep his hands off people.

DarkHelmet said...

Bob Boyd, your two additions to the list are spot on.

If Biden starts lifting beagles by the ears we'll know he's actually LBJ reincarnated.

Mikey NTH said...

Joe Biden is a simple man, the common clay of the old establishment. You know, a moron.

Nonapod said...

I honestly can't say if he's really aware of what he's signing or not. But if he's fully aware or if he's an unaware demented fool just signing everything that's put in front of him doesn't really make much of a difference to the average American. He may appear "ordinary, relatable, comforting in the lack of intellectual, ideological, or political threat" but what he's actually done so far and what he apparently will be doing in his first 100 days is definitely radical.

It certainly seems like we're in for a rough time for the foreseeable future.

Mikey NTH said...

"Biden looks like an old engraving of some forgotten nineteenth century president, a stereotypical dead old white guy. William Henry Harrison, say, or Zachary Taylor."


Except Harrison and Taylor had prior accomplishments to point to.

Kathy from Boston said...

She lost me at "gently racist comments". Unbelievable characterization. Who reads the NYT anymore?

Joe Smith said...

"Joe Biden is a simple man, the common clay of the old establishment. You know, a moron."

A humble man with much to be humble about.

Mary Beth said...

Does Biden really look and talk like presidents usually do? He certainly doesn't move like one. He's much slower and wobblier.

But he hurt his ankle running down the hall, playing with his dog. (Abusing his dog by pulling its tail.)

I guess if the left could make people think that an athletic Gerald Ford was uncoordinated and tripping all over himself, they can pretend that the wobbly Biden is athletic.

Ken B said...

She doesn’t mean mediocre as an insult, she means white as an insult.

sterlingblue said...

This article indicates that we may get Kamala assigned as our teacher sooner than we thought.

Mary Beth said...

Joe Biden is a simple man, the common clay of the old establishment. You know, a moron.

1/25/21, 9:30 AM


Are we still allowed to make "Blazing Saddles" references?

Gunner said...

These mentally challenged SJWs who think Old Joe depended on Kamala to win truly astound me. She wasn't even going to win her home state in the primary. The oligarchs would have donated to whichever Democrat won, except maybe Bernie.

Trump won more POC than last time, so why does this dummy thank them and not dumb white guys who voted less for Trump?

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Kathy from Boston: Me too. Can you imagine anyone else saying such a thing and getting away with it?

Dr Weevil said...

I remember when LBJ shocked the nation by picking up a beagle by its ears. (I must have been 12-14 then.) I think it was Time magazine that said that that was a perfectly proper way to pick up a beagle. The proof was that mother beagles pick up their puppies by their ears with their teeth, and the puppies don't mind. Are there any beagle owners here who can confirm or deny this statement? I've never been a pet-owner, but it sounded plausible to me. And don't dogs (or cats? or both?) also pick up their babies by grabbing the loose fur on the backs of their necks with their teeth?

Dr Weevil said...

Sorry, I shouldn't have written "loose fur" in my 10:15. I meant "loose furry skin".

Skeptical Voter said...

Where Shufflin Senescent Joe is concerned 100% medium grade = 100% mediocre.

But leaving the immortal defense of R. Clement Haynsworth IV by Senator Roman Hruska, "Of course Haynsworth is mediocre, but don't mediocre people deserve some representation on the Circuit Court of Appeal?" Shufflin Joe ain't running the show. His handlers are. Joe signs what's put in front of him even though he doesn't know what it is.

Come to think of it, that Senator Hruska defense may apply to "Wise Latinas". The Senator was a man before his time.

Bob Boyd said...

Joe is the thing they threw against the wall that stuck.

PM said...

Likely in 2016 Ms Traister voted for a basic, middling, white matriarchy.

David53 said...

Biden had made gently racist comments...

The are only two choices.

Kendi says, "One is either racist or anti-racist."

So Joe is labeled a racist. Sorry Joe we can't give you a break on this one.

Bob Boyd said...

Is that common clay?
I thought it was school paste.

Known Unknown said...

"the system of white capitalist patriarchy"

Writers never have to make payroll. Remember that.

Amadeus 48 said...

Sen. Hruska's comments on mediocrity were in defense of G. Harrold Carswell. Clement Haynsworth had long and distinguished service on the Fourth Circuit to which he was appointed by Eisenhower, but he got caught in the cross-currents of Senate politics after Abe Fortas got chased off the Supreme Court--which I would argue was the start of all our Supreme Court confirmation miseries.

Lurker21 said...

Biden had made gently racist comments about his opponent, noting the 'storybook' qualities of 'the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.'

Yeah, I can accept the "gently racist" characterization, but it also applies to Traister's article. Why is it that New York politics are so viscerally abusive and rely on so many derogatory characterizations of this or that ethnic group, and New York media are so touchily sensitive about saying in print all the things that reporters and their sources say in private?

With this paternalistic appraisal, and its lightly resentful affirmative-action framing of Obama’s success, Biden had projected attitudes so familiarly American that they perhaps sealed his deal as Obama’s running mate—the strain of average white masculinity he radiated would calm the nerves of some who might be discomfited by the meteoric rise of a Black man.

Obama had to balance the ticket, so that meant going with someone who is White. Joe was non-threatening and bland and had been around Washington for a long time, so he seemed like a safe bet. I get that a balanced ticket may have reassured some people, but to argue that Biden's comment about Obama being "articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" "perhaps sealed his deal as Obama's running mate" is just weird. You have to view everything through a fun-house mirror to come up with things like that and the "perhaps" doesn't help any.

And now [Biden] is received as a balm. For what injury? The one caused by the spasm of violent revulsion and resentment millions of voters and politicians felt after having elected a single Black man to, and considered a single white woman for, the American presidency.

Again, idiocy. Did anybody who voted for Biden really feel that way? The "balm" was getting rid of Trump and the "spasm of violent revulsion and resentment millions of voters and politicians felt" was at the election of Trump (BTW, how many millions of politicians do we have?)

Of course, neither of those people—Obama or Clinton—fully challenged the system of white capitalist patriarchy that Biden is a neater symbol for. Had they presented more substantive rebukes to that system, they never would have made it as far as they did.

It's pretty obvious that they didn't challenge "the capitalist patriarchy." Why would they? Where would it get them? You don't bite the capitalist hand that feeds you big donations. Biden, though, may pose a greater challenge to whatever it is she doesn't like than either Obama or Clinton, since the people using him as a front can get away with more than they otherwise could.

LA_Bob said...

Big Mike said, "@Crack, it isn’t us. The New York Times is already calling you a multiracial white guy. They used to use “Oreo” but that’s passĂ©."

Good one, Big Mike.

By the way, someone grab the extinguisher! Crack's been on fire lately!

Known Unknown said...

"Sorry, I shouldn't have written "loose fur" in my 10:15. I meant "loose furry skin"."

I believe it's called the scruff. Yes, this is usually an okay place to have to pick up a dog if needed.

MadTownGuy said...

"America Is Back, Indeed With Biden we’ve restored our country’s favorite tradition: basic, middling, white patriarchy"

Harris urged to take the Oath of Office in 3, 2, 1...

Bob Boyd said...

My dog doesn't like to be picked up and he's not picky about what he doesn't like to be picked up by.

wildswan said...

There's an old man called Joe Biden
That's the old man grifting me.
What does he care if the world's got trouble?
What does he care if the land ain't free?

Old Man Biden, that Old Man Biden
He don't know nothing, he don't say nothing
He just keeps grifting along.



DarkHelmet said...

It can be argued that we've elected three joke presidents in a row now.

Obama: a man of no accomplishments whatsoever, who climbed the greasy pole of Illinois politics by some sharp practices, generally getting his opponents disqualified. He was a man with no father, not much of a mother and some weird gentry socialist grandparents. He had no real identity at all until he decided to become a Southside Chicago black man. He won election due to Bush/Middle East War fatigue, a reassuring voice and non-threatening manner, and the stupidity of Republican voters for choosing the dumb and backstabbing McCain to run against him.

Trump: a political neophyte. A game show host. A hotel/casino developer with multiple high risk ventures that went south. I staple of gossip sheets who went through a series of fashion model wives. An insult comic, essentially. Hey, I'm actually happy with most of the decisions he made as president, but if you look at his resume and personality you have to be honest and say it was the flukiest thing in American history. Thank you, Hillary for being such a terrible candidate.

Biden: A hack's hack. He's been in politics his entire life and has accomplished nothing in all that time other than the abuse of the hearings process. There are no signature Biden legislative initiatives. He is not an inspiring speaker. He is a plagiarist. He ran for president multiple times and never came close to getting the nomination. He had a strong whiff of not quite right in the head even before he started exhibiting symptoms of senility. He is very old, very stupid and utterly without principle.

Who will we elect next? Joy Behar? Sean Penn?

walter said...

Oh..he can only aspire to middling.
How long before "Dude gotta go!"?

Meade said...

@DarkHelmet: That was truly epic.

NCMoss said...

If I scrunch my eyes, Joe Biden looks like a stump; as in "dumb as".

DavidD said...

“Mostly harmless.” Is that it?

I don’t buy it. He’s a stalking horse. One way or another, he’s a stalking horse,

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Yeah - I must day, Dark Helmet - spot on.

Our political class is broken.

Now it's all about the Tech Oligarchs.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

will we ever have honest representative governmetn ever again?

Dark Helmet - the only thing you left out is the Biden family grifting.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

my fingers cannot type "governmetn" correctly. It's as if they know.

William said...

Some people were reassured by the fact that he's Democratic machine politician. I think they're mistaking Biden for a previous generation of machine politicians possibly because Biden is, in fact, of a previous generation. In any event, Democratic machine politicians used to represent the interests of white working class males. I don't know if that's true anymore. The Machine doesn't produce mayors like Koch or Daley. Lightfoot and DeBlasio are more typical of what the machine churns out. Their constituency is not white working class males....Joe won on the fumes left over from FDR.

William said...

Biden have been wrong about most things, but, strictly speaking, he's never been obnoxious or annoying. That's worth something. The least annoying Democrat won the primaries and the Presidency.

hombre said...

Not the whole country’s “favorite tradition.”

“White,” “male,” even old are not important either way to us non-Democrat normals. The most important things about QuidProJoe are that he is “middling,” synonym “mediocre,” that his mental acuity is diminished and that he is fodder for the wackos running his Party. His grifting family is slightly less important. It is just an enduring Democrat character defect that is less likely to break the country than his policy “decisions.”.

walter said...

"Biden won the presidency because voters of the Navajo Nation organized and turned out, enabling him to flip Arizona for the first time in decades. He won because Black, Asian, Latino, and white suburban voters in Georgia, activated and organized over years by leaders including Stacey Abrams and LaTosha Brown, flipped Georgia. He won because llhan Omar, a leftist Black woman who is regularly targeted (by Trump and by leaders of her own flaccid party) as un-American, secured 88 percent turnout in her district and helped him win Minnesota. He won because Kamala Harris, a woman he had beaten in the primary, made his ticket historic and therefore more exciting and because her presence as his running mate helped him rake in absolute fuck-tons of money."
<
"I see future presidents everywhere. Of course I see AOC; how could anyone not? I see Speakers and governors and party leaders yet to be: Ayanna Pressley and Stacey Abrams and Jamaal Bowman and John Fetterman and Pramila Jayapal and Julián Castro and Katie Porter and Lauren Underwood and Cori Bush."

walter said...

Mike McCormick, former Biden staffer, estimates Joe's cognitive decline is about 50% from when Xi was manipulating him in 2011.

JPS said...

"For what injury? The one caused by the spasm of violent revulsion and resentment millions of voters and politicians felt after having elected a single Black man to, and considered a single white woman for, the American presidency."

It really never occurs to Traister and the like to think critically about their straw man.

I was delighted that the United States had reached a point where a black man could be elected president.

I wasn't delighted with his policies, or his contempt for anyone who disagreed with him. His assumption that we all shared his premises, we all knew what the right thing to do was, and therefore anyone who suggested a different course was stupid, dishonest, or bought off.

(A perfect example was in chatting to reporters about the JCPOA: Hey, if I saw a good argument against it I'd consider it. But I haven't seen one.)

gilbar said...

i gotta say this; Jo Biden picked THE PERFECT press secretary (for him, anyway)
She's struggling as press secretary

Francisco D said...

DarkHelmet said...It can be argued that we've elected three joke presidents in a row now.

Yes. I agree.

We seem to be witnessing the serious and unavoidable decline of America.

Now I am sounding like J Farmer.

Gator said...

If we're honest, what do people think his IQ is? I'm thinking around 90. Failed 3rd grade, last in class (almost) in his law school which was Syracuse, and cheated at that. The guy is just plain dumb

MadTownGuy said...

Is it just me or does the photo make Biden look like Trump? Colorize his hair and face orange and it'll look even more like him.

Curious George said...

"The guy is just plain dumb"

You know who is dumb? Delaware. And now 1/2 the country.

Todd said...

William said...

Biden have been wrong about most things, but, strictly speaking, he's never been obnoxious or annoying. That's worth something. The least annoying Democrat won the primaries and the Presidency.

1/25/21, 11:49 AM


OK fat.

You lying dog faced pony solder!

Also, if you don't think he is annoying, you clearly have not been around him with any young daughters...

Daddy Binx said...

Make America Fair-to-middling Again!

I think the new President will serve as an inspiration for all those solid-C, bench-warming, bottom-halfers out there.

I, for one, welcome our totally unexceptional overlords.

JPS said...

By the way, I don't know how Traister can write,

"When I say that Joe Biden is basic, by which I mean 100 percent medium grade, I don’t intend it as an insult"

without a hat tip to Sen. Roman Hruska's immortal defense of Judge G. Harold Carswell:

"Even if he were mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers. They are entitled to a little representation, aren't they, and a little chance?"

Kevin said...

This is all gaslighting, his first days in office are the most radical of any president in history, possibly any leader in history period. The only way it could have gone further is to have gone full St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre on the Trump admin as they were trying to leave town.

Gusty Winds said...

Dark Helmut said… It can be argued that we've elected three joke presidents in a row now.

Well the middle guy in your summary (TRUMP) took ISIS out in a year and a half. Started no new wars. He had the economy raging. Challenged the Europeans to start paying for their own defense. Stepped across the 38th parallel. Renegotiated NAFTA. Made the Chinese start buying US farm exports. But…then China released a virus and the Democrats were all in on it, locking down, masking up, closing schools and destroying the economy for nothing more than a power gain. The collateral damage to them was just a price someone else had to pay.

But don’t forget to reach back to Bush 43 who let the CIA drag the US into Iraq on the lie of the century. Forty three also looked like a deer in headlights as the economy crashed under his watch.

And let’s not forget the that Clinton moron who spooged on an intern’s dress, and that’s what got him busted.

The ONLY one who was not like all the others was… Donald J. Trump. I think you had to include Trump in your analysis to somehow lend credence to the moron bookends.

henge2243 said...

"MadTownGuy said...
Is it just me or does the photo make Biden look like Trump? Colorize his hair and face orange and it'll look even more like him."

To me, he looks like Senator McCain's corpse when it was lying the casket. The corpse, however, was smarter and more competent than President Biden.

Rabel said...

Unaltered version of the photo.

walter said...

" He won election due to Bush/Middle East War fatigue, a reassuring voice and non-threatening manner, and the stupidity of Republican voters for choosing the dumb and backstabbing McCain to run against him."
You seem to forget "African American who's articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man.", not to mention that pants crease.
Was there a substantive reason Powell and Condi voted for him?

n.n said...

Sexist and diversitist are the new normal on a forward-looking basis.

n.n said...

Ah, yes, tell it to the girls he fondled.

"comforting in the lack of intellectual, ideological, or political threat he poses"

Tell it to the Keystone workers, or the girls who prefer not to compete in sports with men.


Spoil the women and don't spare the children with "benefits", a double-edged scalpel.

n.n said...

Joe is just a puppet

Decaffeinated Joe, a paler shade of Twilight Fringe, maybe.

DavidUW said...

Can't expect anything good out of a old Irish hack pol.

Another potato blight on the American political landscape.

thoroughly mediocre, unintelligent, pasty potato-eating papists.

DarkHelmet said...

Gusty, my comment was not to identify good and bad or effective and ineffective presidents. It was to point out that for most of American history a person with Obama's lack of accomplishment and junior status within the party would not have been a major party's nominee. His background was unconventional to say the least. I would say his was basically a red-diaper baby, the son of a Kenyan Marxist and Kansas Marxist. If he had been as white as Biden I doubt very much that he would have been given serious consideration as a nominee. He would have been basically Pete Buttigig. Hence, a 'joke' president.

George W. Bush was a two term governor of the second largest state in the country and the son of a former president. Not to mention a business man and an Air National Guard pilot. Like or hate him, and criticize his decisions, but he was not a joke candidate.

The fact that Trump was a joke candidate, in my view, doesn't mean he couldn't be an effective president. He did a lot of things right. Better than the pros, in many ways, as you point out. At this juncture I would fault Trump mostly for losing the election of 2020. We're all going to pay for that for a long time. A better politician would have won. A better politician would have used COVID to broaden his base and wipe the floor with sleepy stupid Joe.

Conversely, non-joke presidents like Carter (former governor, intelligent by all accounts) can be horrible presidents. The ability to make the right decisions is key, regardless of how you get there.

Rabel said...

"A better politician would have won. A better politician would have used COVID to broaden his base and wipe the floor with sleepy stupid Joe."

Sure.

DarkHelmet said...

Rabel, you disagree?

Humans have a natural tendency to come together in the face of a general threat. It's the 'rally round the flag' phenomenon. COVID is a massive general threat to the public health and economic welfare. A smart politician would have said the right reassuring things (forget the policy actions -- most voters don't really know or care what they are) and impressed low information voters and independents with his 'gravitas.' But Trump doesn't play that game. He is, as I said, basically an insult comic, a shin-kicker, a street-fighter. All those qualities helped him beat Hillary in 2016. They did not work in the COVID era. He needed to adapt his tactics and modify his persona. He didn't. He consequently lost a very winnable election.

bbear said...

Blogger Kevin said...

This is all gaslighting, his first days in office are the most radical of any president in history...


Yep.

Skippy Tisdale said...

Putting "Joe Biden" in an anagram generator produces:

I Need Job

Drago said...

DH: "At this juncture I would fault Trump mostly for losing the election of 2020. We're all going to pay for that for a long time."

Ah yes.

The ever present "better candidate"....that forever will remain a mythical figure who would also have been required to defeat the 16 other republicans in 2016 as well as the Clinton machine.

Dont hold back now! Clue us in! Who is this hypothetical candidate?

Come on, dont leave us in suspense!

Breezy said...

Biden also won because he had big tech hiding his corruption, bid media failing to ask him tough questions (the first being where the hell are you, Sleepy Joe?) and he had big money from god knows where. What was that August haul - $350 million or something? Something not right there.... oh and his very stupendous voter fraud organization... can’t forget all that help.

walter said...

"A better politician would have used COVID to broaden his base and wipe the floor with sleepy stupid Joe."
We certainly have a lot of precedents on which to assert that..right?
Even when warp speed was about to deliver, media and arguably the Pharma companies were working to undermine that. Multiple vax announcements right AFTER tyheelection? Come on, man.
If MSM had examined and tech had allowed the Hunter Biden story sunlight, Trump's 10 mil vote increase could very well have been more...as polling has discovered.
But that ignores a process distorted by fraud and illegal extra-legislature mandates and a judicial system scared into deflections.

Michael K said...

Conversely, non-joke presidents like Carter (former governor, intelligent by all accounts) can be horrible presidents. The ability to make the right decisions is key, regardless of how you get there.

Carter was a habitual liar, something I did not appreciate until reading Bob Novak's book. I agree about Obama. Trump was a desperate try by the people of this country to get some honesty and control of government. It really was "The Flight 93 Election." This 2020 election was stolen by the most audacious vote fraud in our history. The election of 1876 was the closest comparison I can think of but that was a unique period following the Civil War.

Biden is a cipher and we do not know who is saying "Salute the Marines" into his ear piece.

Clyde said...

In the past, Republicans were told not to be Democrat-Lite, because given a choice between a fake and the real McCoy, people will choose the real McCoy. That same advice goes to choosers of patriarchy; rather than choosing "basic, middling patriarchy" under Biden*, the voters should have chosen the real McCoy, i.e., President Trump. Going for the Biden* fake will only be an ongoing source of disappointment for the eleventy-billion people who "voted" for Biden*.

Butkus51 said...

40 years ago I was told Dems are never happy.

Its true.

DarkHelmet said...

Walter, the most obvious precedents are:

1) The Depression. FDR made it worse. Then we got into a World War with rationing of the everyday necessities of life and millions of men torn from their families to fight overseas. FDR got re-elected three times. Not because times were good, but because he could use bad times to his advantage.

2) GW Bush. September 11 was a unifying event. Bush had a 90% approval rating. Even with an inconclusive result to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and Osama bin Laden at large W. won re-election in 2004 with a larger margin than in 2000. He said the right things, projected the right image and ran a good campaign.

Sure, the media was against Trump to a ridiculous and unprecedented degree in 2020. Sure, there was vote fraud. But the media will always be against the Republican candidate and the Dems have been doing vote fraud for as long as there has been a Democrat party. The fact remains that after a pretty solid performance in 2017-2019, Trump had a terrible 2020. He was dealt a crisis. Good politicians 'never let a crisis go to waste.' Trump blew it.


Rabel said...

Yes, I disagree. The forces arrayed against Trump in 2020 would have been arrayed against any Republican in his position and I can't think of anyone on the current scene who could have withstood the assault in the press, on the internet, and at the voting booth (and the mailbox).

A simple assertion that a "better politician" would have won is just wishful speculation.

Rusty said...

"Democratic machine politicians used to represent the interests of white working class males."
Democratic machine politician represent the interests of democratic machine politicians. They will use any means or people to maintain their grip on power.
never forget. Your interests interest them not at all.

Rabel said...

You are living in the past.

Gusty Winds said...

DarkHelmet said... At this juncture I would fault Trump mostly for losing the election of 2020.

I get your points, they're valid. But Trump didn't "lose" the election. We ALL know that. This 90 IQ Biden did not get 80 Million votes. No way. The targeted big blue city fraud is absolutely real. The difference between Biden and EVERYONE else, is he was fraudulently installed.

Trump was so effective at the push back his 2016 voters wanted the insiders put us through the Russian Hoax, Impeachment to cover Biden family crimes in Ukraine, and then the release of the virus. They purposefully paralyzed the economy making their own constituents suffer, and now they want to posthumously impeach the guy. The British treated Napoleon better.

And currently the have loaded up Wash DC with soldiers to keep the only guy to start now new wars out, while all the people who started wars in....

Not to hard to figure out WTF they are doing.



Gusty Winds said...

Michael K said... Biden is a cipher and we do not know who is saying "Salute the Marines" into his ear piece.

I agree with you. Who is speaking into that earpiece? They're the real President. Creepy stuff.

DarkHelmet said...

Drago, I certainly credit Trump for beating Hillary in 2016. That was a tremendous accomplishment, and a blessing to the nation. I'm not ashamed to admit he was about 16th on my list of favorites in 2016, but he turned out to be the right man for the moment. I would still have preferred Scott Walker or Ted Cruz.

But 2020 was not 2016. Trump tried to run the same playbook, but the circumstances were much different. From a political standpoint the COVID crisis was a hanging curveball waiting to be smashed out of the park. A chance to build bridges, display concern, adopt a public persona that is wise, patient and reassuring as well as acting aggressively to combat both the disease and the economic fallout. Trump basically whiffed on the politics of it. From a policy standpoint I'm not sure he could have done much better, but winning the election was about appearance and persona, not policy. Did Biden have some great policy proposal to combat COVID that made people flock to his banner? No, of course not. He simply stayed out of the public eye and let Trump bungle the optics.

Would a Scott Walker or a Ted Cruz have done better in the optics/public persona department in 2020? I don't know. They might have done worse than Trump, conceivably. What I do know is that a clever politician (think Bill Clinton, not his tone-deaf wife) would have ridden COVID to a landslide victory. Can't you just see him squeezing out the fake tears and feeling everybody's pain? Would it have been a sham and a farce? Yes. Would he have won re-election with it? Yes.


KellyM said...

The Crack Emcee said...
“I've heard both Thomas Sowell and Christopher Hitchens denigrating Biden's intelligence in old interviews - from when Biden was supposedly sharp.”

Hmmm, maybe not. Biden voted NO for the Alaska Pipeline project back in the 70s, as it would cause the elk/caribou populations to suffer. In reality, the animals fared quite well because they discovered that the ground around the pipelines stayed warm so they clustered in these spots. Less animals dying from cold and starvation. Oopsie!

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

"I don't mean it as an insult". Yeah, sure.

Classic passive-aggressive nonsense.

walter said...

Kelly,
That is perfectly congruent with what Crack wrote.

walter said...

10 million more voters than 2016, increased support from minorities.
Must have been the optics.....

Michael K said...

1) The Depression. FDR made it worse. Then we got into a World War with rationing of the everyday necessities of life and millions of men torn from their families to fight overseas. FDR got re-elected three times. Not because times were good, but because he could use bad times to his advantage.

I agree on the Depression but people were desperate. If only Coolidge had run again in 1928. He saw the crash coming and told relatives to get out of the stock market. The problem was that he believed he had no power over the stock market. That was the role of the Governor of New York, a guy name Roosevelt.

Even so, he and Harding stopped the 1920 recession/ depression.

As far as the war, had the Japanese left Pearl Harbor alone, I'm not sure Roosevelt would have gotten us into the war. And during the war, if you were not in the military, times were pretty good. I was a kid but I remember quite a bit of it. Rationing was a bummer but there was a black market. Young women worried about men but most of them came home.

Even in the military, only a fraction ever saw combat. A cousin was in the Battle of the Bulge and had neuropathy in his feet from frostbite but he lived to 87 and had a nice family. Another cousin was a B 17 bombardier and flew 50 missions from north Africa but was only slightly wounded by flak.

5M - Eckstine said...

What are Bidens negatives? These fawning reviews by bluechecks lead me to think something is rotten in the bluecheck world.

If Biden really wants to heal the country he should pardon the whole families of Carter, Bush, Clinton, Obama, and Trump. Make a clean slate.

LA_Bob said...

Skippy Tisdale said, "Putting "Joe Biden" in an anagram generator produces:

I Need Job"


Good one! Biden got the job he wanted, not the job he needed, and not the job I wanted him to have.

Biden would've made a great elevator operator in a Trump hotel. Cheerful, friendly, and he would have looked good in one of those elevator operator uniforms.

Oh, if only...

Rosalyn C. said...

Trump was fighting the media for the entire four years and got the worse coverage possible -- inaccurate and defamatory. Journalists (Jim Acosta etc.) were astonishingly disrespectful and rude. Trump was never given any credit for any positive developments. What could he have done about that? Nothing.

Trump wanted to approach Covid with as positive an attitude as possible because that's who he is and how he was raised. Meantime, as a practical man he pushed hard for vaccine development and therapeutics. Yes, if Trump were a regular politician who puts staying in power as the highest goal he might have exploited Covid better. But then again, everything Trump did was interpreted as proof of him acting as a dictator who would never relinquish power. Had Trump imposed a mask mandate or taken a top down centralized government approach those actions would have been used as evidence against him. Leftists would have been even more freaked out.

The one good (and only?) thing about Biden winning is that I don't have to put up with the angst and TDS of the people around me. What a relief that is.

The fact that the election was so close given the odds stacked against Trump is a testiment to his genuine and widespread popularity. Some people hate Trump and some people love/love Trump, they don't love or hate Biden. He's tolerated because he had the qualifications to do the job. He knows how to fill positions.

Drago said...

DH: "But 2020 was not 2016. Trump tried to run the same playbook..."

This is laughably false.

Trump was running in 2020 as the most conservative and populist republican in our lifetimes and with a 4 year track record to back it up.

Just because some of the superficialities were similar does not mean there were not significant and substantive differences.

pacwest said...

Biden is a cipher and we do not know who is saying "Salute the Marines" into his ear piece.

Small potatoes. When Biden says "I don't know what I'm signing" and is told to "Sign it anyways" is when you know he is nowhere near the levels of power. The Presidency is his participation medal.

MayBee said...

When Biden says "I don't know what I'm signing" and is told to "Sign it anyways"

Did this happen?

Doug said...

I figure his handlers are working feverishly to get him to EO all the horrific, terrible stuff they want to do to this country. Just before the riots break out and the shooting starts, Joe will get the ol' 25-skidoo, with his name and fingerprints all over the truly nation-killing decisions that threaten to rip the nation apart.

Kamala takes over, all the bad fallout and unintended consequences being laid at the feet of 'Poor Ol' Joe he really loved his country but he wasn't firing on all cylinders'. Long, long honeymoon period for First Womyns president, first WOC president, you go girl! Leaving both houses of Congress to clean up the mess. Or sell the salvage to China.

Or maybe I'm just really paranoid.

I'm Not Sure said...

"Long, long honeymoon period for First Womyns president, first WOC president, you go girl!"

BJs for everyone! Woohoo!

pacwest said...

@Maybee,

Yes. I don't do links. Can someone else provide it? I'm suprised it isn't getting more attention. The video was linked on instapundit yesterday eve.

DarkHelmet said...

Drago, the mushy middle votes on superficialities. I wish it were not true. Style matters. Especially in this age where people have the attention span of a gnat. Ask the average non-political person on the street to name any president's accomplishments. For Obama you'll get "Uh, Obamacare?" For W. Bush you'll get, "Uh, the Iraq War?" For Clinton you'll get, "Uh,Monica Lewinsky?" They don't remember GHW Bush. Maybe they think they remember Reagan, but how many can tell what he actually accomplished? Maybe some will remember his 'Tear down this wall" comment.

Trump faced a ridiculous level of animosity from the media/education/cultural complex. A lot of the big money tech guys didn't like him, and a lot of the Fortune 100 C-suite types didn't like him. A surprisingly large fraction of them are now all in on the social justice stuff. Or at least they pretend they are. They can't be seen supporting the likes of Trump. So Trump had a lot of obstacles to overcome to win re-election. But when you're the president you have more power than anybody else on earth, both actual legal authority and the bully pulpit. That's one reason that incumbents usually get re-elected. Trump needed to use his bully pulpit better in 2020. And his actual power, too. There was only one person in America who could have done much of anything about voter fraud in advance and that person was the president. He talked a lot, but didn't get much done on the ground. Yes, elections are a state and local matter, but the feds have tools at their disposal.

Water under the bridge now. I wish he'd won the election. Biden's reign is going to be dreadful.

Lurker21 said...

Dark Helmut said… It can be argued that we've elected three joke presidents in a row now.

My count is five or six. Trump was in on the joke, so he was able to transcend it. The others - not so much.

Unknown said...

walter- Omar, a leftist Black woman... secured 88 percent turnout in her district and helped him win Minnesota.

Whatever happened with the Minneapolis Police investigation into Ilhan's voter fraud that was exposed by Project Veritas? Just kidding. There was no investigation. It was like the FBI's investigation into Hunter's laptop.

The rules are so easy for Democrat law breaking:

1- announce an investigation.
2. Wait 72 hours
3. Ooooh, there's a new Tik-Tok dance video.
4. ....and done.