Joe Biden – Page 2

President Urges All Americans To Wear Masks

October 4, 2020 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

Now that Donald Trump has been infected with the coronavirus, and is spending his days at Walter Reed Medical Center, the president is asking Americans to do their part in saving lives by wearing masks.

“We can save 100,000 lives in the next 100 days, according to the head of the CDC, if everyone wears a mask in public,” said the president on Thursday. “Be patriotic. It’s not about being a tough guy, it’s about doing your part.”

No … those are not the words of Donald Trump, the current president, but of Joe Biden, the soon-to-be president.

Instead of taking the opportunity to stress the importance of wearing masks, Trump recorded a four-minute video, from the hospital, focusing on his favorite topic, himself. “I feel much better now,” Trump said.

He then went on to say how ready he is to get back on the campaign trail.

“I have to be back, because we still have to make America great again,” said Trump. “We’ve done an awfully good job of that, but we still have steps to go, and we have to finish that job, and I’ll be back. I think I’ll be back soon, and I look forward to finishing up the campaign the way it was started, and the way we’ve been doing, and the kind of numbers that we’ve been doing.”

Referring to how great a job he’s been doing in fighting the virus, Trump said, “We’ve been so proud of it, but this was something that happened, and it’s happened to millions of people all over the world, and I’m fighting for them. Not just in the US. I’m fighting for them all over the world.”

But, at what could not have been a more opportune moment, Trump couldn’t do the one thing his own director of the CDC, Robert Redfield, did last month at a congressional hearing … stress the importance of wearing masks.

Asked about the significance of mask wearing, Redfield replied, “I’m not gonna comment directly about the president, but I am going to comment as the CDC director that face masks, these face masks, are the most important powerful public health tool we have.”

“They are our best defense,” Redfield added. “I might even go so far as to say that this face mask is more guaranteed to protect me against COVID than when I take a COVID vaccine.”

Is anyone surprised Trump didn’t seize the moment to actually do something that could make a difference in saving lives? God forbid! What would his supporters think … now that he has it, he’s gone soft?

The next president, who will be sworn in on January 20, 2021, will not feel the need to play Macho Man.

No More Debates … Even If They Help Biden

October 1, 2020 By John DeProspo 1 Comment

If you’re a Trump believer, your man won the first presidential debate against Vice President Joe Biden, hands down.

“I really enjoyed last night’s debate with Sleepy Joe … the verdict is in and they say that we, all of us, won big last night,” Trump told a crowd during a rally in Duluth, Minnesota yesterday.

Of course, if you look at the actual polling, it is the complete opposite.

According to a CNN poll of debate watchers conducted by SSRS, six in 10 debate watchers said former Vice President Joe Biden did the best job in Tuesday’s debate, and just 28% say Donald Trump did.

A CNBC/Change Research poll conducted Tuesday and Wednesday found 53% of likely voters nationwide said Biden did a better job in the debate, compared with 29% for Trump.

So, two more scheduled presidential debates should only help Biden, right? Yes.

But would two more exhibitions of what some have called a “national disgrace” and “an embarrassment,” be good for the country? No.

As conservative columnist, George Will, writes in the Washington Post, “The national interest — actually, national security — demands that the other two scheduled mortifications, fraudulently advertised as presidential debates, should be canceled: When a nation makes itself pathetic, the response of enemy nations is not sympathy.”

Yes, more of what we saw on display Tuesday would not only dishearten most Americans, it would also demoralize our friends and allies, while emboldening our enemies.

The bottom line is that the first presidential debate did nothing to change the hearts and minds of voters.

According to the previously mentioned CNBC/Change Research poll, just 2% of respondents said the debate changed their vote, versus 98% who said it didn’t.

So why would we need what would, no doubt, only be the continuation of a fiasco?

Some are suggesting we go ahead with the debates but that they will need to be “fine-tuned.”

Seriously? You cannot fine-tune the mind of a petulant man-child that is Donald Trump.

We’ve heard this phrase many times during the Trump MisAdministration … “enough is enough.”

Yes. No more useless “debates.” Period.

Photo | bbc.com/reuters

Biden To Hire ServPro For White House Restoration Work

September 21, 2020 By John DeProspo Leave a Comment

Reprint from moronmajority.com*

It is being reported that Joe Biden, if he were to win the presidency, will hire the cleanup firm, ServPro, to cleanse a White House that has been thoroughly soiled by Donald Trump and his administration.

While ServPro is a leading firm in disaster restoration services, disinfecting the People’s House will present a unique challenge.

“We at ServPro are very experienced at cleaning up after natural disasters … floods, hurricanes and the like. But we’ve never been asked to clean up after a man-made disaster such as a tainted presidency,” said a company spokesperson.

“We know, from its core, the building is rife with scandal, incompetence and corruption. If hired, we will do our best to rid the White House of such odious elements that, I fear, have likely seeped into every wall, of every room,” said the spokesperson. “We are prepared to do our best restoration work for the American people. Our goal would be to bring back honor, honesty and decency to that grand building.”

“We will be true to our motto, ‘Like it never happened’,” said the spokesperson.

Asked how they plan to rid the White House of the repulsive stench now emanating from every corner of the building, the spokesperson said,” We may actually use something the President has himself suggested to rid a body of coronavirus …. simple household bleach.”

Some political observers are worried Trump may win another four years. If that is the case, the ServPro spokesperson noted a cleanup of the White House would then be impossible, saying, “The building would have to be razed and rebuilt.”

As a pure cost-saving measure, Americans will need to vote Trump out of office on November 3.

Photo | servprohowardcountrymd.com

*moronmajority.com is a satirical site … seriously!

Will Four-Day Republican Lie-Fest Pay Political Dividends?

August 28, 2020 By John DeProspo Leave a Comment

Not very likely.

Sides have been drawn. Minds have been made up. Yes, there are still a number of undecided voters out there but an equal number will be repulsed by what they saw during the Republican “convention” as will be swayed by the avalanche of lies.

If you believe the main Republican talking points, the economy is strong, the coronavirus is behind us and Joe Biden will abolish the suburbs!

No doubt this type of messaging plays well with Trump’s base. Some have suggested the whole purpose of the four-day “misinfomerical” was to shore up those voters already in Trump’s camp.

The problem with that strategy is twofold. First, Trump cannot win reelection just by turning out his base. The numbers don’t add up. They are a minority of the electorate. Most current polling has Trump consistently trailing Biden. Second, the brazen lies Trump has leveled at his opponent only make Democrats more riled up and determined to thrown him out of office.

As many observers believe, in a fair election, Trump, along with those sycophantic Republicans hanging on to his coattails, would lose bigly.

The only path Trump has to reelection is to somehow “fix” the election. The only way he remains in office is to do what he has always done in order to win … cheat.

As Michael Moore put it, “The only way Republicans can win, and this has been true for a few elections, is to cheat, is to somehow game it, rig it, do whatever they need to do.”

Some polls show that nearly 80% of Americans believe the country is heading in the wrong direction. They see a virus that is not contained, an economy that is in the tank and a social system that is so racially unjust that not only blacks, but Americans of all backgrounds, are marching in the streets yelling “enough is enough.”

All the lying and “alternative facts” in the world won’t change that.

As an insightful Barack Obama said in 2008, “You can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.”

What Democrats need to do, and will do, is to vote in such overwhelming numbers as to make Trump’s anticipated cries of voter fraud and rigged election seem both petty and ludicrous.

Photo | wtop.com/AP/Andrew Harnik

Trump Strategy … Throw Spaghetti At The Wall To See What Sticks

August 8, 2020 By John DeProspo Leave a Comment

The Trump reelection campaign has been soundly criticized as being unfocused and undisciplined. Things got so bad last month that longtime campaign manager, Brad Parscale, was ditched in favor of Bill Stepien (yes, the guy of Chris Christie “Bridgegate” fame).

Even with the big shakeup, it doesn’t appear the Trump campaign has settled on any new, comprehensive strategy to hit Biden with. There has been no reset.

Maybe Stepien has learned what Parscale already knew … you can’t stop Trump from being Trump. He will not listen to advice, no matter how sound, if it goes against what he instinctively wants to do.

So, Trump seems to always fallback on one of his favorite ploys from his ruffian playbook … the “spaghetti test” strategy. And why not? Tearing down his opponents with nasty nicknames and baseless charges has worked well for him in the past.

The idea is to come up with as many inane accusations as possible against your opponent and hope something sticks.

So far, Trump has accused Biden of:

Being “Sleepy” and “Corrupt”
Mishandling, along with Obama, the H1N1 pandemic
Wanting to abolish the suburbs
Wanting to defund the military
Wanting to defund the police
Wanting to abolish immigration detention
Wanting to abolish educational standards
Being soft on crime
Being part of the “radical left”
Being cozy with China
Being mentally impaired
Being bad for Wall Street
Being a criminal who, with Obama, spied on his campaign
Being a plagiarist
Being a gaffe machine

Of course, this is only a partial list.

But the latest fistful of spaghetti Trump has hurled against the wall needs special mention.

Yesterday, Trump accused the very Catholic Biden of being against religion! Incredibly, Trump suggested electing Biden would “hurt the Bible” and “hurt God.”

Unfortunately for Trump, his scattershot approach of trying to negatively define Biden isn’t working … and will not work. With only three months until election day, it is too late in the game to see what sticks and what doesn’t. People know Joe.

It seems the only thing (so far) Trump has not accused Biden of being is a pedophile (a charge, by the way, Don Jr. leveled against Biden in May!).

Photo | inkincpr.com

Trump Isn’t Running Against Biden … He’s Running Against Himself

June 25, 2020 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

Donald Trump’s reelection chances are looking flimsier by the day.

The latest nationwide New York Times/Siena College poll has Biden ahead by 14 points. What’s even worse, the same polling has Trump losing to Biden in many of the crucial swing states … 47%-36% in Michigan, 49%-38% in Wisconsin, 50%-40% in Pennsylvania, 47%-41% in Florida, 48%-41% in Arizona and 49%-40% in North Carolina.

So, Joe Biden is a great candidate, a great campaigner, right?

No, not really. He is pretty much keeping a low profile these days, allowing Trump’s self-destructiveness to keep propelling him forward. And, most likely, Biden will stick to that strategy for a while longer. What’s the saying, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?”

As Janet Hook and Evan Halper recently wrote in the LA Times, “Voters are not so much upbeat about him [Biden] as they are upset with Trump.”

Though Trump has tried to make the race about Biden and his faults, he has failed miserably. His campaign has already spent tens of millions on attack ads that have fizzled – tying Biden to that Trumpian concoction, “Obamagate” and, of course, to Ukraine funny business.

Finding that the right’s culture war playbook is proving less convincing against a white male target, Fox News is stepping into the breach.

As Matt Gertz writes in the National Memo, “They have started claiming that this fall’s election isn’t really about the relative merits of Trump and Biden. Instead, they have turned Biden — the septuagenarian center-left liberal who capped four decades in public service as Barack Obama’s vice president and speaks movingly about loss, grief, and the need for reconciliation on the campaign trail — into a stand-in for dark forces poised to shatter civilization.”

Here is what Fox’s Tucker Carlson said recently in one of his monologues:

“We should stop pretending that this is an election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. There is no Joe Biden; the Joe Biden you remember no longer exists. The candidate has no independent thoughts of his own. He has no core beliefs. He is empty. He’s a perfect Trojan horse.”

With his chances for November continuing to slide, like on that “slippery” West Point ramp, look for Trump to shake up his reelection team any day now. Of course, this won’t make any difference or change the dynamics of the race. Trump’s problem is Trump.

As William Galston, a Brookings Institute scholar, succinctly put it, “Right now the election is Trump versus Trump, and Trump is losing badly.”

Photo | cnn.com

Imagine … If You Can

May 20, 2020 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

Call me crazy, but I detect a renewed sense of optimism in the air. While it’s way too early to break out the champagne, Donald Trump’s days in the White House seem to be numbered. Not only do most national polls have Biden ahead of Trump, but many polls have Biden beating Trump in important battleground states.

It certainly is a good time to at least start imagining what the country might look like on January 20, 2021.

We’ve had such presidents before. We can have one again.

Imagine the end of Trumpism, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man.

Yes, you may call me a dreamer, but I’m surely not the only one.

Photo | kutv.com

In A Sane World, Trump’s Reelection Would Be Considered Unthinkable

April 28, 2020 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

After one of the biggest governmental screw-ups in the American history, the president overseeing such a fiasco would be run out of office on a rail. He certainly would have no chance at reelection … right?

But of course, we do not live in a sane world, do we?

That Trump could so mishandle the national response to the coronavirus pandemic and set the stage for an economic downturn possibly not seen since the Great Depression, and still win reelection, is mind-boggling.

Then again, in a sane world a pathological liar would never be elected to the most powerful office on Earth in the first place. In a functioning American democracy, a corrupt, incompetent leader would be removed from office as the Constitution prescribes.

Yet here we are, seven months away from the next presidential election and Donald Trump is only marginally trailing Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, in some battleground states. Marginally … as within the margin of error.

Yes, the latest USA Today/Suffolk national poll has Biden with a commanding lead over Trump (50-40 percent) but national polling strength does not necessarily equate to Electoral College strength, as we so well know.

With an unemployment rate increasing by the day; with so many families unable to pay their bills; with so many of our fellow citizens needlessly stricken by the coronavirus, how could a good chunk of Americans still want four more years of Trump at the helm?

As Chauncey DeVega writes in Salon:

A culture of distraction and spectacle has rendered many Americans incapable of being responsible engaged citizens. Our public educational system does not teach critical thinking skills.

Add to that a right-wing propaganda network, Fox News, ranked the most-watched cable news network 18 years in a row; throw in the Republican Party’s efforts to limit access to voting among predominantly Democratic folk and you have Trump with a good chance of stealing another election, pandemic or no pandemic… depression or no depression.

In politics, seven months is a lifetime. But for current polling to still have Trump with anywhere near a shot at reelection while we are in the middle of one of the worst health and economic crises in the nation’s history should scare the daylights out of us.

Photo | cnn.com

What People Liked Most About Bloomberg Was The Idea Of Bloomberg

March 4, 2020 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

Oh, if only Mike had not found his way onto that February 19 Democratic debate stage!

The former New York mayor’s strategy of saturating the airwaves with his political ads was working like a charm. He was well positioned to be the “moderate” alternative to the “radical” Bernie Sanders. Joe Biden was fast sinking into “afterthought” status.

But in that infamous February 19 debate, Mike Bloomberg proved you can create buzz for a product with countless, well-made ads but you ultimately have to deliver the goods. To say Bloomberg underwhelmed during his first appearance in a Democratic presidential debate would be putting it mildly. He was eviscerated by fellow candidate Elizabeth Warren and his performance was universally panned by political analysts.

Now that Bloomberg has withdrawn from the Democratic presidential race after a disastrous showing in the Super Tuesday primaries, some people are trying to wrap their heads around how someone who looked so formidable … who spent half a billion dollars on a political campaign … could not end up with the brass ring.

It seems clear that what people liked most about Mike Bloomberg was the “idea” of Mike Bloomberg. They liked his ads.

Here was a guy whose stated goal was to do whatever it took to defeat Donald Trump. If that meant spending a cool billion or two of his own money, Mike was the man. People liked the prospect of a real billionaire who could outspend a fake billionaire and his Republican Party.

Democrats thought if supporting a billionaire was the price to pay for kicking Trump out of office, they were willing to set aside their hatred of big money in politics and go with Mike. Some pre-Bloomberg-debate polls even showed he had the best chance to defeating Trump.

Yes, he was a fat cat willing to spend an obscene amount of money but he would also be the one to save the country from another four years of Trump.

But then it came time for Bloomberg to back up his ad blitz with a solid debate performance.

It didn’t happen. Not in his first debate nor in his second.

Say what you will about Bloomberg … that he wasted his money on a vanity campaign. The truth is his hard-hitting ads did real damage to Trump and he succeeded (for better or worse) in steering the Democratic Party back into the arms of the Party establishment by making Joe Biden the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

Photo | floridapolitics.com

Dems Take Trump Acquittal To Court Of Appeals … The American People

February 7, 2020 By John DeProspo 6 Comments

Now that the United States Senate has voted to keep our lawless president in office; now that the courts have shown a reluctance to interfere in what they see as political disputes … it is up to the American people to render the ultimate verdict by voting Trump out of office in November.

But even though a majority of Americans disapprove of Trump, such a simple and obvious strategy runs up against three obstacles.

First, will the Democrats nominate a strong candidate that can send Trump packing? For a while, it appeared they had such a candidate … Joe Biden. But after a poor fourth-place showing in Iowa, the Biden-as-the-Democratic-savior narrative is starting to fray. While many Democrats have a favorable opinion of the former VP, they wonder if he has the stuff to go head-to-head against perhaps the most vicious, hit-below-the-belt politician of all-time, Donald J. Trump. Many seem to have concluded that, at the age of 77, Biden simply does not have the fire in the belly to get the job done. While the fiery septuagenerian Bernie Sanders seems to have the momentum that can carry him to the nomination, many moderate Democrats worry he is too radical (god forbid, a democratic socialist who believes health care is a basic human right!) to win a national election.

Second, do most Americans even know what’s at stake in the upcoming election? Do they understand the Constitutional framework of three co-equal branches of government? Do they understand the Framers’ wise insistence on checks and balances between those three branches? Do they understand that our very democracy and the rule of law is on the line in 2020; that with Trump we are well on the road to an imperial presidency? It is hard to answer in the affirmative on any of these questions when 61% of all Americans cannot even name the three branches of government!

Third, and most important, can we rely on a free and fair election? Now that Trump has been given a pass on trying to extort a foreign government into meddling in our 2020 election, does anyone, other than Susan Collins, believe Trump has learned his lesson and will stop trying to cheat his way into office … again? Can we have any faith in a Department of Justice, run by Trump’s flunky, Willian Barr, to safeguard the integrity of our electoral system? Can the American people have any confidence in the election outcome, no matter which way it goes?

We keep hearing that this next election is the most important in our lifetime. It’s become an election-year cliché. But 2020 truly is the election which will determine whether or not our Constitution still matters … whether the rule of law still matters … and whether we, as a nation, will continue to strive towards that noble, yet elusive, goal of a more perfect union based on equal justice under the law.

Photo | voteosceola.com