२ मार्च, २०२४

I know it's a puff piece, but I want to quote the first 2 paragraphs of this WaPo article about Joe Biden.

From "The private chats and chance encounters that shape Joe Biden’s thinking/After conversations with his grandchildren, fellow churchgoers and Delaware neighbors, the president brings their worries to the Oval Office" (WaPo):
In the early months of his presidency, as the pandemic dragged on with its stifling restrictions, President Biden often delivered a favorite monologue to aides: He was worried about young people’s mental health, he said. High school seniors were missing prom and graduation. He wanted to know how college students went on dates.

Specifically, Biden wondered how young people could “make love” under the circumstances, according to two aides who heard the president use that phrase multiple times during his first year in office. Biden’s fixation on loneliness among young people, the aides said, grew out of his near-daily conversations with his grandchildren.
Biden had a "favorite monologue" about teenagers "making love."

How old are Biden's grandchildren? I found this, in People, from last August:
Biden has seven grandchildren by way of his four kids. The president's son Hunter Biden shares daughters Naomi, 29, Finnegan, 22, and Maisy, 21, with ex-wife Kathleen Buhle, daughter Navy Roberts, 4, with Arkansas woman Lunden Roberts, and son Beau Jr., 3, with his current wife, Melissa Cohen. Biden's eldest son, the late Beau Biden, welcomed daughter Natalie, 19, and son Robert "Hunter," 17, with wife Hallie.

 I like the way Lunden Roberts has become "Arkansas woman."

Anyway, what's with Joe Biden's fixation on young people's "making love"? It's an old-fashioned locution that has 2 specifically different meanings. It can be a simple euphemism for sexual intercourse, but — this is more old-fashioned — it can also mean the process of wooing.


The OED traces the sexual intercourse meaning back to 1927. The other meaning — "To pay amorous attention; to court, woo" — goes back as far as the 1500s.

Often it's easy to tell which meaning is intended (and funny to think of the other one applying):
1948 — Her lover Diego no longer came to the window at night to make love to her through the iron grille. W. S. Maugham, Catalina (1958) ii. 18 1972

1972 — ‘Are we conversing or making love?’.. ‘Let's go into the slow lane for a minute.’ B. Everitt, Cold Front v. 38
Why not both?
1929 — Besides all the big times we had many small ways of making love and we tried putting thoughts in the other one's head while we were in different rooms. E. Hemingway, Farewell to Arms xviii. 114

But what's going on in Joe Biden's monologue about teenagers? Big times or the many small ways? 

४४ टिप्पण्या:

अनामित म्हणाले...

The "creepy Uncle Joe vibe"... one more time.

Floris म्हणाले...

I'm sure Joe is just picturing college students spending the evening sniffing each other's hair.

Kevin म्हणाले...

I picture Joe using air quotes around the phrase, just like Dr. Evil.

But then I also picture Joe excited to cancel ONE MILLION DOLLARS of student debt.

Breezy म्हणाले...

Well, you can woo six feet apart, you’d be hard-pressed to have intercourse six feet apart….

Goldenpause म्हणाले...

Losing one’s “filter” is a symptom of dementia, as is repeated telling of the same stories over and over again. Welcome to the White House.

James म्हणाले...

She should ditch Diego for the Iron Chef. He can make love through the iron grille. Through it, beside it, on it if she's into that kind of thing.

Rocco म्हणाले...

Much sexier version of the song from Susanna Hoffs at Riverbend in July 1991. Followed by a mini baby boom in Cincinnati in April 1992: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rOEf9vF1kc

Kate म्हणाले...

Instead of thinking about whatever hellish meaning Biden has to his comments, I prefer to contemplate how the hard-bitten Hemingway could write such stunningly romantic paragraphs.

FunkyPhD म्हणाले...

That may be the cringiest Bidenism ever.

Wince म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Wince म्हणाले...

There's a reason older people being obsessed with younger people having sex is a dominant theme in horror movies...

It's creepy!

"They were making love while that young boy drowned."

DanTheMan म्हणाले...

Well, if there's one thing kids today know, it's "the process of wooing". Their TV shows and music are all about genteel afternoon walks engaging in sophisticated conversation.

Iman म्हणाले...

lascivious joe
likes soft pink baby mouse ears
i dare not write more

NorthOfTheOneOhOne म्हणाले...

...and son Beau Jr., 3...

Can someone explain to me how Hunter's son is Beau, Jr.? I could see him being named Beau Biden II, but Beau, Jr.?

Howard म्हणाले...

Yeah if only he could be banging hookers pornstars and mail order brides from Eastern Europe. The fact that he has a very normal and healthy attraction to females, fans of Donald Trump think that that is somehow perverted.

Butkus51 म्हणाले...

remember all those great photos of past presidents fondling little girls in front of the world?

anybody else would be in jail long ago

RideSpaceMountain म्हणाले...

"Well, you can woo six feet apart, you’d be hard-pressed to have intercourse six feet apart"

Challenge accepted.

Cogitor म्हणाले...

The articlet begins by immediately presenting the "stifling restrictions" as the work of "the pandemic". Apparently Mr. Biden's administration was a passive bystander. The excerpt ignores the obvious fact that the President's administration was a driver of the restrictions. Instead the reader is to focus on Biden's grandfatherly concern for young people.

Dagwood म्हणाले...

Maybe he meant they can't shower together.

Temujin म्हणाले...

So...the man who infamously used to shower with his daughter, and is a known groper of other peoples wives, daughters, or just random women strangers, (and has had more than one woman accuse him of worse), is infatuated with how young people make love?
And our press wants to deliver to us the idea that it's because he's worried about their loneliness?

Hilarious.

Bill R म्हणाले...

Every Democrat. Every single one. Every Democrat thinks that Joe Biden is much, much much smarter than himself. Every Democrat admires Joe Biden and looks up to Joe as his intellectual superior.

And every Democrat is absolutely correct.

JAORE म्हणाले...

Sorry your quote got truncated. Let me help.

"The fact that he has a very normal and healthy attraction to females" including those under 12 years of age....

He also wonders how many teenage girls shower with their fathers.

Or if parading nude before subordinates gives them a thrill too and they are struggling mightily to hide their arousal.

Or if he could be in charge of interviewing babysitters for his grandchildren.

Or how Hunter referring to him as Pedo Pete isn't just the funniest thing.

As far as action with (Not that kind of) Doctor Jill (circa 1987), one assumes there is a subordinate guiding him in the right direction and an "X" where he is to position himself. The sexual equivalent of that pathetic three step, semi "jog" must be quite a thrill for Jill.

Then they put a lid on it.

Bang on Biden.

Dogma and Pony Show म्हणाले...

"Can someone explain to me how Hunter's son is Beau, Jr.? I could see him being named Beau Biden II, but Beau, Jr.?"

Using "Jr." or a Roman numeral for nephews and grandnephews, rather than just for sons and grandsons, is not a new thing. It serves the same purpose either way: it differentiates the younger family member from any older ones who have the same name. In the case of the Beau Bidens, it makes perfect sense. We also have the example of former Congressman Joe Kennedy III. His UNCLE was "Joe Jr.," who blew up in a plane while on a WWII bombing mission. Joe Sr. was the former ambassador, movie exec, bootlegger, maker of love to Gloria Swanson, etc., who was the father of JFK, RFK, and the rest of that generation of Kennedys.

BTW, according to tradition, the numeral "II" is not used after someone's name unless and until there's a "III." If there's no "III," then you just go with "Jr."

Breezy म्हणाले...

@RideSpaceMountain: LOL. We’ll need proof ;)!

Rusty म्हणाले...

"But what's going on in Joe Biden's monologue about teenagers?"
We'll never know because what we have is someones impression of what was said. For all we know, like much of the presses releases, this whole conversation could be made up.

Howard just gave us his christmas list.

Ice Nine म्हणाले...

>Anyway, what's with Joe Biden's fixation on young people's "making love"?<

What's to wonder? It's just a part of this disgusting old pedophile's spank bank.

Paul Sand म्हणाले...

A line in Horse Feathers (1932) from the College Widow (Thelma Todd) to Frank Wagstaff (Zeppo Marx):

"Are you making love to me?"

Yes, that phrase meant something different back then.

AlbertAnonymous म्हणाले...

Relax Joe. When it comes to college students making love, Covid was the great equalizer (a different kind of DEI if you will). With everyone wearing masks, the ugly girls had an equal chance of getting laid.

Somewhere there’s a joke about putting a bag over her head, or double bagging (one on your head too in case hers falls off) or the infamous “butter face” (everything’s attractive but her face). But it’s too early in the morning for me to get it right…

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"Are you making love to me?"

I was trying so hard to remember that! Thanks!

Hassayamper म्हणाले...

Biden is a piece of shit and always has been. A corrupt, perverted moron.

Congressional staffers once voted him the stupidest man on Capitol Hill back in the 70's when I was still a teenager.

Anyone who would vote for such complete scum is my enemy, not my countryman.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

The old-fashioned term is REALLY old-fashioned.

Does Biden wax eloquently on the virtues of the horseless carriage?

Probably...

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Howard, the Eastern European women who appeal to Trump are/were also brainy, entrepreneurial, highly educated and hard working. I seriously doubt you can speak as many languages as they can/could, or have been as well educated, or pulled yourself up by the bootstraps, or escaped the psychological malaise of communist Eastern Europe as they did. Coming from traditional, and quite sexist cultures, I think their lives, choices, and intellects should be measured in full.

A curious comparison would be to Jacqueline Kennedy. Jacqueline wasn't self-made or self-educated: she sought men of money and endured horrific spousal abuse. Trump seems to admire smart women who work hard.

I'm not trying to ignore all the negatives. But I think it fair that you consider the qualities of Ivana and Melania, at least. They're far better educated than "Dr." Jill or Michelle Obama. That's cultural too, but don't the latter two just seem like dorks?

Lilly, a dog म्हणाले...

Thank you, Rocco. That Susanna Hoffs cover is beautiful.

Jupiter म्हणाले...

Arkansas woman,
Stay away from me-eeee!
Arkansas woman,
Mama let me be-eeee!

campy म्हणाले...

"We also have the example of former Congressman Joe Kennedy III. His UNCLE was "Joe Jr.," who blew up in a plane while on a WWII bombing mission. Joe Sr. was the former ambassador, movie exec, bootlegger, maker of love to Gloria Swanson, etc."

But Congressman Joe III's father was Joe II, who was also a congressman for a few terms.

The II signified he was named after his grandfather, who was still living at his birth.

"Junior" is used when a son is named after his father.

Clyde म्हणाले...

@ Rocco

I've been a fan of The Bangles and Susanna Hoffs for a long time. That clip of her singing "Feel Like Making Love" is an old favorite of mine. She absolutely sizzles and would bring a dead stick back to life.

Jim at म्हणाले...

The fact that he has a very normal and healthy attraction to females

The dude sniffs the hair of little girls and showered with his teen-age daughter you sick fuck.

Bunkypotatohead म्हणाले...

The kids screw with a mask on, Joe. The way your CDC advised.

Ralph L म्हणाले...

"Are you making love to me?"

Is it in, yet?

Mason G म्हणाले...

"The dude sniffs the hair of little girls and showered with his teen-age daughter you sick fuck."

Yep. And it's not just Brandon, plenty of the left are giddy over the sexualization of children (and even worse, the normalization of it) that is happening on their watch. "Sick fuck" doesn't begin to describe their depravity.

catter म्हणाले...

I've always found "Feel Like Making Love" annoying. Birdcloud offers the perfect counterpoint with "No Worries."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reTvg98z4PA

Howard (not that Howard) म्हणाले...

Rocco made my day with that Susanna Hoffs cover. Amazing.

Iman म्हणाले...

‘I've always found "Feel Like Making Love" annoying’

It’s so subtle, that chorus with the “duh duh DAH! duh duh DAH! duh duh DAH!” beat.

Howard (not that Howard) म्हणाले...

Susanna Hoffs is why God created "Feel Like Making Love."