"Lost control" is right. Lost control of the Washington Post too — whatever control he had. Selecting that quote — it's in the third paragraph of the article — shows vicious hostility.
To get hung up by Crow's Bronze Star! Is there any coherence to "who did something that you never done with your Bronze Star — and your — like my son"?
He's saying he did something as President that Crow hasn't done, even though Crow won a Bronze Star, and he's distracted onto the topic of his deceased son, perhaps because the son is always on his mind but probably because that son also won a Bronze Star.
I wondered why Beau Biden won was awarded a Bronze Star and found some discussion here. I believe it had to do with service in a combat zone and not for a particular act of heroism.
Joe Biden seems bereft of the ordinary tools of human interchange. His son died. Go home and grieve constantly if that's what you really need to do, but don't use your dead son randomly as a weapon when you run short of things to say. Quite aside from how the Democrats are going to extricate themselves from the idiotic jam they've gotten themselves into, the entire world is put at risk when the President of the United States has lost his mind.
Posts
153 comments:
Stay classy, Joe.
Tell me who did the Pacific Basin.
That's pretty good. Debbie only did Dallas.
He has been doing this for years. At least this time he didn't say that Beau died in Iraq.
And this guy is our president? Who elected this fart?
Got news for you Joe. S. Korea and Japan are working together because they can't depend on you.
It means something in military culture, mostly. Biden's probably unaware of it. To a civilian a bronze star sounds like third place, and didn't John Kerry win something? How much could it mean.
Joe Biden got angry because that's what dementia patients due when confronted.
To remove FJB from the ticket is undemocratic. The Democrat voters chose him. Of course, he was the only one on the ballot, but what does that have to do with the voters choosing him? Just like Henry Ford, the DNC told Democrat voters that they can have any candidate they want, as long as it's FJB.
There’s nothing unexpected about Biden’s incoherence except to the Fake News who has covered this up for years.
Watching the Democrat Party right now is like watching the results of a Fauci designed, gain-of-function experiment on a colony of starving rats.
We got Korea and Japan working together!
But we can’t work together with MAGA people. In fact we don’t even want to.
It shows you the incoherence of their worldview.
The Democrats really need to pay for foisting this broke brain pervert on the world, and the Trump party will do a lot to make that happen.
“To get up in Crow's face over the Bronze Star is just insane.”
Not just insane, but disgusting. But to Joe, getting a Bronze Star for being Politicians son is the same as getting one for valor in combat.
There’s an element of “Dr. Strangelove” black comedy here.
A dementia patient is in charge of our nuclear arsenal. And he’s been itching for a war with Russia. The Russia collusion hoax was the first attack in the campaign against Trump that escalated into the assassination attempt.
My dad was awarded his bronze star in the battle of Paderborn in WWII. He was a tank driver whose tank was hit but not disabled. The rest of the crew bailed out but he stayed with it, turned the tank around and picked up wounded soldiers along the way. All the while under fire. F U Biden.
The confrontation is always painful for the alcoholic after years and years of everybody enabling him or her. I’m sure Joe feels the same way. The enabling is gone and he feels abandoned. The truth is he never should’ve been enabled.
That’s always what happens when you abandon principle. It’s all love and goodness without principles until suddenly it’s no love and all pain.
We got Korea and Japan working together!
Because FJB signaled to Putin that a 'minor incursion' into Ukraine wouldn't draw any fire, and neither of them have any confidence that our new 'woke' military will be able to push back against China.
Where would we be if that debate was yet to happen? In other words, followed the normal course where debates are held after Labor Day? Did Joe force that debate subconsciously, deep down knowing he shouldn’t be running? Strangest election ye-ah evah! I sure hope a few screenwriters are busy.
Breezy,
Yeah, it might well have been Joe Biden's idea though I am absolutely certain that it was always a bluff.
The Democrats may have to try to dump him at the convention. He seems dug in to me.
Remember Joe was happy to smear the truck driver in the accident that killed his first wife and daughter saying that he'd "drank his lunch" when in fact the accident was because she pulled out into traffic (https://www.biography.com/political-figures/joe-biden-first-wife-daughter-car-accident-story).
Biden has spent his life creating a narrative about himself that doesn't conform to reality and has always been short tempered when called on it. (Push up challenges, Listen Fat, Higher IQ, etc.)
I read about this a few days ago and what struck me was that Rep. Crow was trying to make the point to the President that all of the administration's accomplishment weren't landing with the voters. He wasn't trying to say that there had been no accomplishments but Biden didn't let him finish and lashed out.
His reaction made me think that the President knows that there's something not quite right and he knows he's off-kilter but he can't do anything about it. It has to be terrible for him if this is the case. It's cruel to keep him in this situation.
But on the plus side he did remember that Rep. Crow was awarded the bronze star.
This is a little off topic and I don't know the answer but I am getting the impression that all the GWOT vets who are getting elected to public office are not huge advocates of America being the world's policeman.
Minor nit
you don't "won a Bronze Star". It isn't a door prize
you are 'awarded' the Bronze Star. And yes, Beau's award was a participation trophy for showing up.
And yes, I have one as well. Mine was more earned than Beau's because I was a SGT :)
Crows a gun grabbing twit
Ventriloquist: Hey...guys? Guys! This fucking puppet won't get off my lap. Ow! Let go you little fucker. You're going back in box, dammit, now let go of my, Ow! Help! Fuck! Somebody...come and...Ow!
Sally327 said...
This is a little off topic and I don't know the answer but I am getting the impression that all the GWOT vets who are getting elected to public office are not huge advocates of America being the world's policeman.
Not unreasonable, with IMHO a few mods.
- change the "all" to many or some
- I would describe the sentiment as "we shouldn't get involved unless we are prepared to commit and win". a sentiment common to Vets from our fights in Korea, Nam, Somalia, Yemen, etc
For those illegals who are caught trying to scale the paywall...
ABC News covered this story a few days ago.
Two sources described Biden's exchange with the former Army Ranger as "incoherent" and "unintelligible."
One member suggested to ABC News that members on the call were left "aghast" after this particular exchange -- with members shaking their heads, some with their hands on their faces in apparent shock.
The man let 13 marines die at abbey gate and doesnt even remember it
When 30 Democrats are calling for you to drop out of the race, and you're trying to reassure 100 Democrats that everything is fine
and you make it worse
it's time to drop out
Bored, yet?
It isn’t a problem he’s lkst his mind because he’s only a stand in as President. There’s the problem of an unelected anonymous cabal running the executive branch and also the recently discovered problem Joe couldn’t keep it together enough to fake it to November and now all the Democrats covering for him look stupid and complicit in the long list of real crimes resulting from a de facto President…
"Joe Biden seems bereft of the ordinary tools of human interchange."
This has always been the case. It is on tape. The "I graduated at the top of my class..." retort, or the lying dog-face pony soldier retort. The only difference is that the degeneration of conversation to worthless discourse happens more often, faster, and in an incomprehensible manner due to his dementia.
No interviewer ever follows up with, "what does that even mean?" If there were no first debate fiasco and bad polling numbers, this wouldn't be happening. All those in the know, (90% of Washington and the MSM) would still be telling us he is fine and should be re-elected. I'm convinced if Joe were polling ahead of Trump, he could die and there would be a well disguised substitute lip synching to AI speeches.
The debate was shocking because so many people were watching and Biden was medicated to be at top performance
It makes you wonder how he is on ordinary days when nobody is watching
And the answer is, worse
30 minutes late
doesn't answer questions
when challenged, responds with incoherent anger
BTW when does the dropping out start?
"The confrontation is always painful for the alcoholic after years and years of everybody enabling him or her. I’m sure Joe feels the same way."
I'm picturing an episode of "Intervention."
"Joe Biden seems bereft of the ordinary tools of human interchange"
This is news? So for example, when he used his "lying dog-faced pony soldier" line, that was just an ordinary tool of human interchange? And all the times he used Beau as crutch, even when talking to military families, also ordinary? For us deplorable normies, he was always a nasty nitwit windbag.
The real news here is that the Dem propaganda apparatus has turned against a Dem. As Charles Cooke said on X, when he turns 80 he wants to be able to tell his greatgrandchildren about the 6 1/2 weeks in 2024 that the press told the truth about a Democrat.
But as incoherent as his rage is, Joe has a point, which deepens the Dem dilemma: by their standards, his record is good. He is a successful incumbent who won the primaries and should get rewarded for his success. Most progressive president in ages, says Bernie.
"Vicious hostility" when crossed has been FJB's stock-in-trade since forever.
Unless there was only one 82nd Airborne platoon involved, Crow was 'a' platoon leader, not 'the' platoon leader. That's a quibble.
Bronze stars can be awarded for outstanding service over a period of time, or for an individual act of heroism--that gets the 'V' for valor.
Mark Felton has an interesting new video about Churchill's unauthorized use of several WWII campaign medals -- the participation trophy for being there, as The Drill SGT puts it.
My wife has a nephew who is a retired career Navy petty officer who spent his twenty fixing electronics on ship and shore, but never overseas and never under fire. The ribbons on his left chest when he wants to show off make it look like he must have won the battles of Manila Bay, Midway, and Leyte Gulf.
OTOH there's the story of Wild Bill Donovan, who attended meetings with presidents and generals displaying only one ribbon on his chest.
Awarding medals to prominent junior officers for just showing up is nothing new.
Lyndon Johnson was awarded a silver star for flying as an observer on one (count 'em, just one) bombing mission in New Guinea in WW2. General Douglas MacArthur personally directed the medal be awarded to the congressman. None of the dozens of other airmen who flew on that mission received a medal.
Awarding politically connected service members an "I was there" medal apparently has a long and honorable tradition in the US Army. That's why those of us who actually served pay attention to the presence or absence of the "Combat V" device.
Yes, I've been thinking about this for the last 3 weeks. At least after the Republican Congressional Leaders went to the isolated Nixon in 73, he was out of office. The USA was safer. All the Democrats and their MSM and Donors care about is the next election. Leaving a demented, bitter and completely isolated old man in the most powerful office in the world for another 6 months, the lamest duck President in history? They don't care about the risk of that.
“To get up in Crow's face over the Bronze Star is just insane.”
Yes, that’s our P0TATUS. The Real Joe.
He has been doing this for years. At least this time he didn't say that Beau died in Iraq.
No, this is not normal Biden. He's significantly worse than he was.
He didn't have Parkinson's four years ago.
I think there should be an investigation into his doctor. There is such a thing as doctor-patient confidentiality. But his doctor has made public statements about Biden's health that are lies.
@Bob Boyd 08:47: Yes, it's Magic
Joe Biden has always been not-quite-smart, vicious, and mean - when it serves him. He's always been unfiltered and driven by gratification impulses. That the meanness serves him more frequently in his dotage should come as no surprise.
The fact that it's a surprise is a disquieting reminder that a lot of voters get their insights on character from the new channels, and don't spend much time doing their own digging, out of curiosity. And that, is something that I find much more disturbing than Joe Biden.
...he's distracted onto the topic of his deceased son, perhaps because the son is always on his mind but probably because that son also won a Bronze Star.
Biden uses his deceased son as a talisman that he believes will repel all attacks and shield him from criticism. Sort of like a priest wielding a crucifix and throwing holy water on a vampire.
The design for correction in our system is for the Congressional assholes what find themselves in this mess is to vote out the cabal come November. For some strange reason they are desperately searching for anything but…
The man let 13 marines die at abbey gate and doesnt even remember it
It gets worse. Don’t you recall him standing there when the bodies of those Marines were brought back to the United States and Joe Biden kept checking his wrist watch during the ceremony?
"his deceased son" appears to have been the only decent, honest Biden in three generations.
I had been going to suggest to Jason Crow that the Republicans still respect combat veterans, but I see that he was an impeachment manager for Trump’s first impeachment, and he is a gun grabber.
Just stay where you’re at, Jason, and accept your abuse. You made your bed, now lie on it.
I would like to put Ann Althouse in for the Bronze Star with Valor for this magnificent post. And she lives in the People’s Republic of Madison. Now that is courage.
They give plain Bronze Stars out like Cracker Jack prizes. And they are generally given to REMFs (Rear Echelon Mother Fuckers) and generally are political - given to those whose noses were farthest up the CO's ass. At least that's what I witnessed in Vietnam. I doubt that it has changed. The only ones of note are those with "V" devices for valor under fire.
Beau was a JAG Corps REMF and got a plain one. BFD. Jason Crow was in the shit and was awarded one with a "V" device. That is a genuine big deal. Biden should have shut up about Beau and his Bronze Star long ago of course. That he threw that Beau bullshit up against Crow is an absolute outrage.
"you don't "won a Bronze Star". It isn't a door prize/you are 'awarded' the Bronze Star."
"Win a medal" is colloquial speech. I'm not a military official. Why should I care about the niceties of acknowledging the power of those who control the bestowal of the item?
It's not a "door prize" but it is a medal, and we say "won a medal."
As Biden realizes that he's Charley Partanna now and the Pelosi hit is running on him, I'd hate to predict how he will react. His lizard brain is in full control without a regulator, and he's the President of the United f'in States until he says he isn't or January 20, 2025. The delegates and the money are pledged. He may dare them to starve his campaign of funds.
Unless they go ahead and run the 25th on him. Would they/will they do that?
Would there be any hope of salvaging anything for the Dems after that?
Biden is there until he volunteers to step aside.
I second traditionalguy's 921AM nomination.
Althouse said..
but it is a medal, and we say "won a medal."
we DO say that.. for medals you get.. FOR WINNING A CONTEST
a Bronze Star (with V for valor) is NOT for winning a contest
If a bronze star doesn't have a V device it is most likely a participation trophy.
E5's get an ArCom for participation. I forget what privates get.
E6's and Officers get Bronze stars for participation.
You don't have to do anything other than not fuck up your job on deployment. One of the parts of any unit commanders deployment is writing up the service awards for everyone in the unit he commanded. Attempts to personalize this paperwork are probably not read very often.
not an American and don't live there, but there is no shortage of evidence that Biden reacts badly when crossed or disagreed with, he gets mean and nasty and uses BS to intimidate others.
I know he's a non drinker but it's kinda like a bad drunk.
It's been this way fo a long time, well before he was elected president do i figure voters have already factored this in.
what will kill his chances will be videos of Joe pre 2008, pre 2020, and now. The decline s obvious, and it is accelarating, as anyone who has watched a loved one go through it knows
Look, fat.
I remember a Chief of Naval Operations who, when confronted about wearing a Bronze Star with an unearned V, was so humiliated that he committed suicide.
How soon before Biden orders the counting of strawberries and begins rolling ball bearings in his fist?
If I was a democratic party leader, I would see my options as follows:
1. Invoke the 25th Amendment and stand up behind Kamala
2. Throw democratic votes out the window and call an open convention and show no faith in the President and Vice President you were JUST a month ago championing
3. Accept you will most likely lose and start planning for 2028
They have publicly lost faith in Joe's COGNITIVE ABILITY to lead. That means they are saying he is currently unfit as shown by existing behavior; there is no worsening needed. You can't allow that to stay President for 6 months until inauguration day. That's insane.
And you can't go back from what has been done and said on this matter at this point.
All the talk of an open convention ignores that if they keep Joe Biden in office, he will drag down the ticket for months AND possibly make terrible policy decisions that hurt democrats short and long-term. So option #2 alone is not enough.
They can't leave him in office like this.
We are about to see some shit go down the likes of which I havent in my lifetime.
At this point the "Kevin Bacon in Animal House Parade" and "Dog in flaming house but everything is fine" memes are the Logo and Mascot of the Biden Campaign.
Joe didn't "know" crow had a bronze star. An aide had it typed up in 48 size font
It looks like Crow came into Battalion as an NCO.
He must be a really impressive soldier. I cannot remember anyone that I knew that did that. I am trying to remember if I ever saw it happen. I don't remember any.
Here's a military discussion of "won a medal."
https://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/56829-won-a-medal/#comment-411084
Various positions taken, including:
"I have been aware of that and try to avoid that usage. But it is not an incorrect usage of the word "won." "Win" has many definitions and people who object to the use of "won a medal" are thinking only of the definition "To achieve victory or finish first in a competition" but clearly when someone speaks about a person "winning a medal" we all know that there the speaker does not think it was as the result of some sort of competition with judges and a scoring system."
“Have you heard the news?” he said, with a grin
“The Vice-President’s gone mad!”
“Where?” “Downtown.” “When?” “Last night”
“Hmm, say, that’s too bad!”
“Well, there’s nothin’ we can do about it,” said the neighbor
“It’s just somethin’ we’re gonna have to forget”
“Yes, I guess so,” said Ma
Joe was sold to us as being full of empathy--in pointed contrast to the Bad Orange Man.
Another case of bait and switch.
And medals. Ah medals. Officers get medals. Grunts get shot. Three scratches no deeper than a Rose thorn and Jean Fraud Kerry writes himself up for a Silver Star (which he received) and boogies out of Nam after about 6 weeks. His fellow officers served a full one year tour. Lyndon Baines Johnson did a Congressional tour of the Southwest Pacific Area in WW II. He was onboard an Army bomber which had difficulty with very bad weather. The plane could have crashed. For that ride Ol LBJ was awarded a Silver Star.
One of my friends died a couple of years back. He was born in 1941. His dad went off to the Pacific as a combat medic. His dad earned a Bronze Star on Okinawa--and came home and lived out his life as milk truck driver.
Biden Drop-out Counter (BDC) is up to 35 Dems
including 4 Senators
Sherod Brown is newest one
You know the media hates Biden now, you can tell by the photographs. He's droopy, sleepy, looking down, looking depressed, discouraged, in the shadows, old, old, old, they look for the worst photograph they can find
And look at all these patriots calling on Joe Biden to step down.
19 Democrats in the Senate are seeing their terms end this year. (Plus 4 Independents who used to be Democrats).
And 212 Democrats in House.
I think many Democrat leaders are resigned to losing this Presidential election.
Which leads to an interesting question: who would be the best person to lose? Is it Joe (tempting to pin everything on him and start fresh), Kamala (tempting to get rid of an incompetent boob), or someone chosen in an open convention (maybe not so tempting to be a sacrificial lamb)?
Okay, I edited out "won" and "a."
Michael K said...
I remember a Chief of Naval Operations who, when confronted about wearing a Bronze Star with an unearned V, was so humiliated that he committed suicide.
7/20/24, 9:36 AM
Colonel Dave Hackworth felt super bad about that. At the time, he was convinced that Boorda would say "it was a stock photo, idiot, I don't decide what goes into the medals on those, now get out of my office." That kind of mistake would end an officer's career, and after his life, in those days.
Every officer who rated Biden as "engaged" needs to pay with their careers in a similar vein.
If I had a lot of time, I would comb through Althouse posts over the past four years where she painstakingly made excuses for, or waved away evidence of, Biden's declining cognitive abilities.
Althouse wrote: "Joe Biden seems bereft of the ordinary tools of human interchange."
Joe Biden is a MASTER PRACTITIONER of the ordinary tools of psychopathic human interchange: Lie, obfuscate, bully, gaslight and if necessary threaten. It has worked for him his entire life. He knows that these tools of human interchange defeat all others.
Joe Biden is a master at using language to defeat ordinary humans.
What does it matter that the guy who plays the President of the United States on television has lost his mind? This does not affect the workings of the Grey Eminence which is actually running things. They just need to re-cast the role. Call up Central Casting.
I recall that President Trump was impeached for a rather innocuous conversation. This conversation is scary and it took a while for it to become public.....I have a feeling that the plain Purple Hearts that several members of my family have won over the years are more indicative of valor and sacrifice than Hunter Biden's Bronze Star or LBJ's Silver Star. The DOJ, the FBI, and now the DOD and its medals are being politicized.
Ann Althouse said...
Okay, I edited out "won" and "a."
Appreciated.
Joe has always been an asshole. Now he's a senile asshole. But lots of Democrats are happy to foist him off on us again. Either him or the Cackler.
I repeat:They are demonic and stupid.
"Joe Biden seems bereft of the ordinary tools of human interchange."
This has always been the case.
What we seem to be getting now is the Biden who was always there, but who used to be able to keep his meanness sufficiently under wraps to render his toothy grin convincing (enough).
For some reason he always struck me as off-putting and creepy. That the Leslie character in Parks and Recreation had a crush on him confused the heck out of me: why him? I know the gag was supposed to be that she was such a wonk that only she would be infatuated with a boring, steady, career politician, but to me it just seemed that she was blind to all the warning signs women are supposed to look for.
Achilles said...
I saw the girls going to school and things slowly improving. I had hope. Boy was I stupid.
7/20/24, 10:07 AM
Don't be so hard on yourself. Some people never figure it out. And now you have skills to set things right. Just do what you've been doing and wait for the correct moment.
Joe picked up the Pacific basin and beat Medicare with it.
Actually as I think about it Ann is right in a way.
Most of the medals doled out like snack prizes are "won."
You could say Beau Biden "won" his medal. JAG's win their medals. They most likely wrote their own recommendations.
Jason Crow was awarded his though. I request please don't mess with that. I will suck it up if you don't though.
I guess it comes down to how you perceive the application of the word Earn.
"she was blind to all the warning signs women are supposed to look for."
Which actually fits a lot of the character. She tended to believe in people for what she wanted them to be. Of course she would idealize a politician who portrayed himself as a working class advocate.
And she also fell for Mark Brandanawicz until he, like Biden, just disappeared.
"That the Leslie character in Parks and Recreation had a crush on him confused the heck out of me: why him?"
Same. We're currently rewatching Parks and Rec. (It's a great show.) In Season One Leslie has photos of all women politicians, from Hillary to Condi. She's bipartisan at the beginning. I think Joe was included later because the show slid into partisanship, but that's just my impression. It's nauseating, though.
Blogger Saint Croix said..."I think there should be an investigation into his doctor. There is such a thing as doctor-patient confidentiality. But his doctor has made public statements about Biden's health that are lies."
Yes. Though I wonder if there are any applicable laws.
Why is the US a member of Nato?
Let Europe do Europe. We'll do us.
If México attacked us does anyone think Germany would help us? Or any other Nato member?
Or could even if t wanted to
John Henry
"For some reason he always struck me as off-putting and creepy."
Maybe the reason is that he is off-putting and creepy.
I doubt few of the platitudes about Joe's character were sincere.
"But on the plus side he did remember that Rep. Crow was awarded the bronze star."
I doubt this is true, Sally- far more likely that one of Biden's aides put that on a note card before the meeting to remind Biden of the identities and brief histories of the people he was talking to.
A dementia patient is in charge of our nuclear arsenal. And he’s been itching for a war with Russia
This makes me wonder about Putin's sanity. And what have our allies' leaders been thinking the last few years?
My dad was awarded a Bronze Star for taking some Navy boats up the Mekong delta in his LSD (Landing Ship Dock) in '69. He said years later it was basically for not screwing up, but it was hostile territory (or why bother?), and they were fired upon a little IIRC. I meant to ask if they could have included Kerry's swiftboat, but didn't. I believe he'd already bailed.
How has Joe expanded NATO (and why is that a good thing?)
Finland and Sweden joined (and I can buy that's a good thing) because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, of which it can be argued Joe is partially at fault. The only other country to join during his term is North Macedonia and they joined 2 months after he took office.
It really troubled me that during the debate Joe kept mentioning Ukraine and Article V. I think Joe thinks Ukraine is in NATO.
That's scary.
Coons, the co-chair of Biden's campaign, says...
I think our president is weighing what he should weigh, which is who is the best candidate to win in November and to carry forward the Democratic Party’s values and priorities in this campaign
That's a strange statement for your campaign co-chair to make!
Ostensibly, the Biden campaign would think that Joe Biden is the best candidate to win in November. If you didn't think that, why are you running?
It's a particularly strange statement to make after you've won all the delegates(!)
But if your secret medical condition is now out in the open, and people know it and are talking about it all the time, and your party is going down in flames in November...you might want to try to salvage the election. And that's why you would be mulling over the idea of who should replace you on the ticket.
Harris, your DEI hire, whom your wife hates?
Or somebody else?
The funny thing is, after Coons -- Biden's biggest supporter in the Senate -- made the admission that Biden is contemplating who would replace him, he ran back to saying what a great candidate Biden is and will always be.
he’s told me he’s in it to win it. I’m with him 100% because I know he can beat Trump just like he did last time.
We ought to sue somebody for whiplash.
Biden's brain...
"If not me, who?"
"It's got to be me!"
If the Democrats want Joe out, they need someone, anyone, to stand up and declare themselves an alternative for the coming convention. Even Harris hasn't taken a position. The get the necessary cascade of abandonment, the opposition to Biden needs a seed crystal to work with.
Joe's as fake as a three dollar bill, always has been. He's been a Senator for longer then I suspect many people here have been alive.
If there was an updated Devil's Dictionary, Biden would be example under "Statesman".
He wears his invented stories like costumes for "authenticity", Corn Pop, Shoe Leather, Football star, Aggrieved widower, Aggrieved Father of a Dead War Hero, etc ad infinitum.
And now he has dementia. And he's still President.
What's bizarre is how he ended up on Obama's ticket. Obama must facepalm daily at that.
Great post and great comments, everybody!
Neighbor traded a kidney for a bronze star in Vietnam
Mezzrow said… “As Biden realizes that he's Charley Partanna now and the Pelosi hit is running on him…”
The plot thickens…
Joe: Just the same, I love her, Barack... I love her.
Barack: Well...
Joe: How can I live with this? I gotta do something about it. I gotta straighten it out.
Barack: Then do.
Joe: Do what? Do I ice her? Do I divorce her? Which one of these?
Barack: Ice her, Joe. Just because she's Machiavellian and fiendishly ambitious…doesn't mean she's not a good woman in all the other departments… (wink, wink)… but she gotta go.
John henry said...
If México attacked us does anyone think Germany would help us?
the Germans would PROBABLY be behind it.. Like they were the last time they tried.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmermann_Telegram
What a mess. It’s hard not to resent Biden for not managing his succession.
Democrats should make this a long-lasting, multi-candidate race to replace Biden. It will suck all the air out of Trump's campaign. Then the scrutiny of the chosen Democrat candidate will take up the rest of the air time until the election.
Achilles,
Thank you for your service. This is why I mean it:
I'm the daughter of a WWII Spearhead tank driver. If you've read the history of Spearhead or the book by Adam Makos, you will understand. They kicked ass and there are no questions about their medals. My dad has pictures. I watched the trailer to Makos' book. I cried.
I guess I should say my dad had pictures. They're mine now. He passed in 2002.
This sounds like one of those examples of "stump the dummy" that Biden is known for. Of course, Biden is an idiot so this is less of deconstructing the arguments of his opponents and more bullying the opposition into submission by screaming and yelling and not letting the opposition actually respond. It is easy to believe you are the most intelligent person in the room when you silence anyone who disagrees.
Biden has always been like this. This is just the senile version of it.
Too clear up what may already have been cleared up. Beau Biden was awarded the Bronze Star without the V device. This indicates the award is essentially for administrative competence not action in combat. Just as you might expect.
Achilles @ 10:07. Eloquent. And really unanswerable except with a (personal) pledge to do better.
Republicans should not fool themselves
Not winning Wisconsin wouldn't surprise me. All those ballot boxes...
Will it be just like last time?
I think the state also has to re-think our open primary. I believe that's how we ended up with loser Kelly instead of Dorow. I think Dorow would have had a chance.
thanks, Althouse for the edit. It IS appreciated.
When I thank a vet "for their service" or buy them breakfast or lunch when I am able to and available to do so, I MEAN IT. I get on my knees and thank God for the people who served this county and kept us safe. It takes all kinds and types to run a war machine (in action or not) and I do appreciate it. I'm sorry if you take umbrage at it or consider it hollow. (Sort of like the Left does when anyone offers "thoughts and prayers"). Thank you , again.
@BG What your Dad did would have earned at least a Silver Star as an officer. There has always been an unhealthy tendency to over- award officers and under- award enlisted men. Of course in WW2 there were so many acts of bravery at every level that I am sure it was difficult the calibrate just how high a level of award to recommend on an individual basis.
I think we should try to take from the ongoing collapse of Biden and his machine some lessons about thed t importance of character I the conduct of public affairs. We place our trust in these people for the control (?) of gigantic forces with gigantic consequences, and we do so with damned little information and damned little power to alter our trust. Maybe we, the People, should try to get a bit smarter about this shuck-and-jive ritual every couple of years?
Rep. Crow is a veteran and a hero, but I am not sure he is actually "retired." His websites don't say "retired," and given his service and youth, "honorably discharged" might be more accurate.
Poor Bich- wishcasting again.
Here is a story from my father-in-law, double Bronze Star who never said much about his service.
Refeeding Syndrome
Over Christmas
We had been bled
Hard at the Bulge
And then for months
We fought Eastward
Through dragons' teeth
Laced with tracers
That took many
O my brothers
Late in April
Reaching Munich
Tough as gristle
Nothing of war
Could still shock
And this shocked us
The guards in flight
Left uniforms
Dropped their weapons
Unlocked the gates
As if to free
The men we found
Who were too weak
To leave their bunks
Or stand to meet
Their rescuers
What I recall
Like a sickness
Was how they died
From what we gave
Some on the meat
From ration cans
Simply choking
But with others
Poisoned by food
Too good for them
It took a week
Their blood damaged
By such rich stuff
Hearts unsteady
Beyond our help
And our learning
Later their cases
Would be set out
"Refeeding syndrome"
As though a thing
We could watch for
And try to treat
By keeping back
And doling out
What instinct said
We should provide
Seventy years
I have kept this
Down like some
Half-chewed food
And even now
I can’t say much
About those men
More than how hard
How stupidly hard
We fought for them
O my brothers
Thank you for sharing that Owen. Those words are going to stick with me.
Facebook consistently deletes my links to Althouse posts, including the present one. I have no idea why the Facebook algorithm identifies Althouse links as "misleading spam" but it does. So I'm going to recite what was my (just-deleted) Facebook post here:
Althouse, always faithful to her long-taken oath of "cruel neutrality" (https://althouse.blogspot.com/2008/03/this-is-post-where-i-take-vow-of.html), eviscerates the incoherent Joe Biden:
"That's what "Biden snapped over Zoom at Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.), a decorated, retired Army Ranger, according to a recording of the virtual meeting with House Democrats," reported in "Behind the scenes as Joe Biden lost control of the Democratic Party/Many Democrats described the first three weeks of July as a kind of nightmare — too extraordinary to be real, too unexpected to be believed" (WaPo).
"Lost control" is right. Lost control of the Washington Post too — whatever control he had. Selecting that quote — it's in the third paragraph of the article — shows vicious hostility.
To get hung up by Crow's Bronze Star! Is there any coherence to "who did something that you never done with your Bronze Star — and your — like my son"? ...
Joe Biden seems bereft of the ordinary tools of human interchange. His son died. Go home and grieve constantly if that's what you really need to do, but don't use your dead son randomly as a weapon when you run short of things to say. Quite aside from how the Democrats are going to extricate themselves from the idiotic jam they've gotten themselves into, the entire world is put at risk when the President of the United States has lost his mind."
[I don't presume to speak for Althouse but I doubt she meant to make a partisan point. I certainly don't. My point would be, rather, that if we had anything remotely like an independent, intellectually honest mainstream news media, Biden's deficiencies would have been long covered rather than covered up.]
The US keeps treating this as an purely internal affair.
Americans are paying no attention to how the rest of the world sees this mess.
Smart ones frozen in shock and horror. Stupid ones delirious with joy. Putin and XI spending a lot of sleepless nights wondering how far they can push.
NATO in a gibbering panic when Joe starts in on Ukraine and Article 5.
Having been a very low level staff in a NATO organization I have to admit a grim satisfaction at those smug sanctimonious European scum having to admit that Trump had a point about how becoming dependant on Russian gas was a bad idea. Then realizing the saviour they greeted with such relief and pleasure is an advanced dementia patient with someone's else s finger on the nuclear button.
When even European "intellectuals" are muttering in low voices that maybe Trump coming back would not be the end of the world you realize just how thoroughly the dems have screwed the pooch.
John henry said...
Why is the US a member of Nato?
Let Europe do Europe. We'll do us.
If México attacked us does anyone think Germany would help us? Or any other Nato member?
Or could even if t wanted to
John Henry
It is worse than that.
Germany acts like an occupied enemy.
Because we are occupying it and we are enemies.
The divisions have nothing to do with lines on a map. They are all socio-economic and class now.
Maybe they always were.
"Maybe we, the People, should try to get a bit smarter about this shuck-and-jive ritual every couple of years?"
I find it difficult to blame the voters when so many powerful people conspire to deceive them.
I'm not at all convinced "enlarging NATO" is or was desirable.
Take a look at the original NATO countries. Now look at today's map including the soon to be added.
FIRST: Russia has shown strong concerns/objections to this continuing expansion.. Seems reasonable from their point of view, the opposing team is getting large and closer with every addition.
Second: List ALL the NATO countries and all those who want to be NATO countries in a column. Now put a check mark next to any you would be willing to go to real, F'ing war for if they were attacked.
Is it ALL of them? Ain't for me.
“To get up in Crow's face over the Bronze Star is just insane.”
=================
did Biden jsut agree with Trump about who are suckers and losers!!
Now put a check mark next to any you would be willing to go to real, F'ing war for if they were attacked.
====================
does USA think only USA can do Gulf of Tonkin incidents? or do USA take contract frorm anybody
Quaestor @12:06: I cannot disagree. My hope is the weakly incrementalist one, that each of us should become just ever so slightly less ignorant/indolent/despairing about the situation and what each of us might do about it.
Let’s at least try to be effective within our scale and scope. If I yell at my selectman maybe that will help to shape action taken at a higher level.
That said: most of us were not born to be politically active. Hell: that’s why we bought into a representative democracy.
SDaly writes, "If I had a lot of time, I would comb through Althouse posts over the past four years where she painstakingly made excuses for, or waved away evidence of, Biden's declining cognitive abilities."
Pretty g'damned low, SDaly. You should be grateful that Althouse runs this blog with such an excess of evenhandedness. If I were in charge I'd bounce you out on your metaphorical ear until you took the time to prove your accusation. ...waved away evidence of..." evokes pity in me in that you could excuse yourself from an obligation you use to castigate your host.
"I realize most people in the US don't understand why it angers me when you say "Thank you for your service." I understand why they say it. It still causes pain.'
I hate that it causes you pain. I wonder how universal that feeling is.
FWIW here is what I mean when I have said it:
You took an oath to stand between my family and those that would do them harm. If you never faced combat it does not diminish that oath. Whether you were Special Forces or a cook in the states does not matter. You took that oath and I believe you would live up to it.
I mean thank you because people like you have made my grandchildren safer.
I doubt that makes a difference, but there it is.
Refeeding syndrome
=================================================================
intelligently handled by Elizabeth Moon in one of "Vatta's War" books. Moon she joined the United States Marine Corps as a computer specialist, attaining the rank of 1st Lieutenant while on active duty
Refeeding syndrome
=================================================================
intelligently handled by Elizabeth Moon in one of "Vatta's War" books. Moon she joined the United States Marine Corps as a computer specialist, attaining the rank of 1st Lieutenant while on active duty
Refeeding syndrome
=================================================================
intelligently handled by Elizabeth Moon in one of "Vatta's War" books.
Moon she joined the United States Marine Corps as a computer specialist, attaining the rank of 1st Lieutenant while on active duty.
"Why should I care about the niceties of acknowledging the power of those who control the bestowal of the item?"
Glad you took the military people position on this.
But your statement I quoted can, with little modification, be applied to those power hungry Trans radicals that tell me what pronouns I must use.
Why is anyone shocked by this? Biden was always a piece of shit, even long before he lost what little mind he had. This outburst has nothing to do with age or diminished capacity, instead this is the true Joe Biden keepin’ it real.
One thing I've observed when people get older and less mentally sharp is that they often lose their "filter" over what they say and do. I remember some incident with Bush the elder when he was in his early 90s and said or did something shockingly lude with some young woman (I don't remember the specifics.) Biden's always been a punk and a fool, but now even with the microscope on him he just can't help saying idiotic things like this.
Every officer who rated Biden as "engaged" needs to pay with their careers in a similar vein.
I think Obama pretty much cleared the military of honest patriotic officers, at least above O-6. I was so disappointed in HR McMasters when he stabbed Trump in the back. His book "Dereliction of Duty" was honest about Vietnam. He has one coming out next month about Trump. I wonder if that will be as honest?
I find it difficult to blame the voters when so many powerful people conspire to deceive them
It's like any other behavior- People respond to incentives. Remove the incentives and the behavior dries up...
I found out my father had a DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross, Korean war) while I was helping write his obit. He never mentioned it. I guessed it was something to do with getting shot down, which I knew about because we had photos. That wasn't it. Even the citation didn't tell the actual story. Dad's brother was also there, same squadron.
My USMC nephew, and eight others, were killed in a bizarre accident involving several fuck-ups among USMC, Air National Guard, civilian ATC, and a bozo in a sailboat. His brother is still a reserve artillery officer.
Argue all you want about foreign policy. Don't disrespect the people who commit to put their lives on the line for you.
LLR-democratical Rich: "Democrats should make this a long-lasting, multi-candidate race to replace Biden. It will suck all the air out of Trump's campaign. Then the scrutiny of the chosen Democrat candidate will take up the rest of the air time until the election."
Seriously, are you posting while under medical and/or psychiatric observation?
I don't know how far gone he is, but he's definitely, visibly addled. He definitely needs to step down and his refusal to do so is only further proof of his addled judgement. In the normal progress of things, he is going to get worse. No one knows how much worse......It wasn't so long ago that Dems were pressing Republicans to use the 25th Amendment against Trump. If he doesn't step down, they are duty bound to take action. Should he even serve out the remaining seven months is the only debatable question.
Bob Boyd: "Watching the Democrat Party right now is like watching the results of a Fauci designed, gain-of-function experiment on a colony of starving rats."
Which is perfectly analogous to watching the remaining elements of the Althouse LLR-democratical Brigade (Rich/lonejustice) continue their bizarre gaslighting efforts without the tutelage of their now departed leader LLR-democratical Chuck.
Taps anyone? Perhaps a Blog "postumous" award ceremony for Chuck?
Perhaps the Reid Hoffman Medal For Service Above And Beyond The Call Of Leftist Duty Behind Enemy Lines At Althouse Blog? With "Rhetorical Deception" ("RD") and "All Around Creepy" ("AAC") Attachment Devices?
To get up in Crow's face over the Bronze Star is just insane.
Joe Biden seems bereft of the ordinary tools of human interchange. His son died. Go home and grieve constantly if that's what you really need to do, but don't use your dead son randomly as a weapon when you run short of things to say. Quite aside from how the Democrats are going to extricate themselves from the idiotic jam they've gotten themselves into, the entire world is put at risk when the President of the United States has lost his mind.
Welcome to where we've been for the last 4 years
Where are those completely corrupted 51 former Intelligence officials when you need them, eh Joe?
Joe?
Joe?
Wait. What time is it? 4:03PM ET?
Oh.
JAORE said...
"I realize most people in the US don't understand why it angers me when you say "Thank you for your service." I understand why they say it. It still causes pain.'
I hate that it causes you pain. I wonder how universal that feeling is.
FWIW here is what I mean when I have said it:
You took an oath to stand between my family and those that would do them harm. If you never faced combat it does not diminish that oath. Whether you were Special Forces or a cook in the states does not matter. You took that oath and I believe you would live up to it.
I mean thank you because people like you have made my grandchildren safer.
I doubt that makes a difference, but there it is.
I keep trying to post things here. To others above I have posts out there. I think most people mean well. I like you all. Most of my problem is not with you. It is with me.
I think you believe I made you, your children and your grandchildren safer.
But did I? I don't. I took an oath, it should have been to the people. Our country is no longer about the people. Lines on a map.
I made a lot of people a bunch of money and pushed some DEI woke bullshit into places that didn't want it.
I spent a lot of time being called a Putin Puppet because I thought the war in Ukraine was crap from the start. Biden started that war. Period. Biden has been starting wars for 50 years.
The people of Russia and the people of Ukraine are the aggrieved parties in this conflict. Fuck the "Country" of Ukraine. Lines on a map. We are fighting for Zelensky and a corrupt political party that cancelled elections.
The people who called me a Putin Puppet? Yeah you guys can eat some dicks. Knowing those people mouth the words "thank you for your service" isn't your fault.
Globalist leaders are soaking the world in blood to push their globalist agenda. The United States and England on behalf of those globalist hegemons started the war in Ukraine to attack Russia because it has a nationalist orientation. These same people are attacking the people of the US and the people in many other countries in a variety of ways.
People are still believing the bullshit about people of Russia being evil or people of China being evil. Lines on a map.
There are certainly some groups that should be eliminated in the most violent and public way possible. The Taliban and Hamas are on that list. But they earn that mostly with their crimes against women and children. With these people it has nothing to do with lines on a map.
I voted for George W Bush in 2004 too. When you all say thanks for your service you are reminding me how stupid I was. That part is not your fault.
These posts start in one place and end up in another. Sorry for that. A little.
OK not sorry.
Drago said...
Where are those completely corrupted 51 former Intelligence officials when you need them, eh Joe?
My guess is at least a few of those 51 were meeting with a number of SS and FBI agents to arrange for some things to happen before July 13th.
No idea what they could possibly have been talking about.
"What a mess. It’s hard not to resent Biden for not managing his succession."
The fact that you believed it possible for Joe Biden to do any honorable thing is really funny to a lot of people, for obvious reasons, BTW, even if you can't see them.
Remember that time when Joe. Biden put country ahead of the interests of his political machine?
Me neither.
She’s already married to a commenter, Quaestor. And they seem to be happy.
Biden is asshoe.
I don't get thanks for my service very often but it does happen occasionally. It doesn't bother me but it doesn't mean much more than saying have a nice day or some other politeness.
About 20 years ago I was passing through Dallas in the American terminal when a flight of troops deplaned.
As as as they came into the terminal someone started clapping and in about 30 seconds there were hundreds maybe thousands clapping for them. I was always very impressed by that.
John Henry
I don't thank people for their service generally. I feels a bit hokey.
In the 90s and oughties I used to buy packs of $5 phone cards in Sams. They were pretty cheap $2-3 per card.
I used to carry them when traveling and give them out to troops I'd run across.
I'm also happy to pick up the tab when I find myself near a troop in a mcd or Dunkin or the like.
I prefer to show my thanks rather than just say it.
John Henry
Clooney: Julia!
(swims over) Kidman: So, did they give you any new medals?
Clooney: Yes, they did.
Kidman: Well, you worked hard for them.
Clooney: Thank you.
The Peacemakers (1997)
"...I would comb through Althouse posts over the past four years where she painstakingly made excuses for, or waved away evidence of, Biden's declining cognitive abilities>."
And what would that prove if you found those posts? She's a retired law professor living in flyover country, with no access to Biden and no role in traditional media.
But yes, go for it, I think a forensic analysis of this blog for that purpose would be a worthwhile endeavor.
Fred,
I was in the Navy at the height of Vietnam. (67-75) never went to Nam but served with a lot of sailors who had.
A master chief Seal was my advanced SCUBA instructor. He'd been udt in ww2, Korea, 3 tours VN as a seal. About 30 pounds of medals including several purple hearts.
A number of shipmate who had served on riverboat including a chief so badly burned by white phosphorus he looked like something from from a horror movie. He had an impressive set of medals too.
And a number of others who served in the rear with the gear.
They all had great sea stories about VN. ("now this ain't no shit...) some might even have been true. But I don't remember any of them talking about combat.
The occasional exception would have been when they might have been swapping stories with someone else who had been there, done that and I was at the table.
I grew up around a lot of adult veterans. My father, uncle (naval aviator) teachers others. I know some of them had been shot at and had shot back. None of them ever talked about it.
The people who've actually done it almost never do.
John Henry
As a holder of a BSM, I'm always amused by conversations concerning them.
This one did not fail.
James K said...
I remember some incident with Bush the elder when he was in his early 90s and said or did something shockingly lude with some young woman (I don't remember the specifics.)
7/20/24, 1:18 PM
https://www.vox.com/a/sexual-harassment-assault-allegations-list/george-h-w-bush
He patted young women on the rear end to put them at ease, he says...
Blogger gilbar said...
John henry said...
If México attacked us does anyone think Germany would help us?
the Germans would PROBABLY be behind it.. Like they were the last time they tried.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimmermann_Telegram
7/20/24, 10:56 AM
Was it over when Mexico invaded the Alamo??
If Mexico attacked us, we wouldn't need Germany any more than Germany would need us if Belgium invaded them.
Besides, I thought it was common knowledge in these parts that the Wily Warmongering Wilson suckered and provoked the Krauts . . . what else were they supposed to do?
In reality the Zimmerman Telegram proved two things: the Mexicans weren't fools, and the Germans were.
"He patted young women on the rear end to put them at ease, he says..."
Well, who among us..?
The things he brags of accomplishing have nothing to do with US citizens. He's expandin' NATO...he's handlin' Putin...he's flyin' illegal aliens directly into the US.
It's as if he thinks he is president of the world, instead of serving the people who elected him in this country.
Dr.Bunkypotatohead said...
instead of serving the people who elected him in this country.
i DON'T understand what you are trying to say? WHAT "people" "elected" him?
you mean fictitious "people" ?
OR are you talking about the vote counters?
John Henry,
I buddied with a retired Seal a few times. Compact guy. Unbelievably relaxed underwater. Used steel 50s when we were all using Al 80s.
Quiet. No stories.
One of the best experiences of my life was when my high school buddy Dennis G. called me up and asked if I'd like to go down to Palm Beach International Airport to "welcome home the Honor Flight veterans". I agreed without asking, because Dennis is a great friend and fighter on behalf of vets, is the one who turned me onto Trump the night of the Hillary - Trump debate, and why pass up a way to "honor vets". I had no clue.
An Honor Flight is conducted by non-profit organizations dedicated to transporting as many United States military veterans as possible to see the memorials of the respective war they fought in Washington, DC, at no cost to the veterans. -
When we got to airport, we went into the terminal and stood amongst the crowd of people who were welcoming these men back from their HF; it was immense. There were all sorts of flags, cardboard and fancier signs thanking these men. From what Dennis explained, this particular flight of war veterans were gathered from service in WW2 and now lived in South Florida. When the first men, pushed along in their wheelchairs came around the corner, heard the cheers they started to smile, wave, and many had tears flowing. Some of the crowd started singing patriotic songs acapella, and many others joined in. These men had NO idea that this was the reception planned for them -- they thought their nice trip to D.C. and back was basically over, and all that was left was for the grandkids to pick them up at PBIA. I began to offer my thanks and gratitude as the men saddled past, many with ballcaps and/or shirts emblazoned with the name of their battalion, fighter squad, and so on. I tried hard to vary my words, but I got choked up quickly and tears began to drop from my eyelids. Some men who had earned the title, "The Greatest Generation", were right in front of me, usually walking slowly, some with traveling companions. I extended my hand several times and got a handshake -- sometimes firm, sometimes not. There was a gleam of happiness in many eyes of these vets and I got to see these heroes of mine. We waited until the last vet passed and joined in singing the National Anthem. Yessiree Bob!
So, I was wrong
Joe's Twitter account has posted a message that he's out https://x.com/JoeBiden/status/1815080881981190320
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