# Can I be the only person stunned at just how badly President Joe Biden is doing?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851>\
**Category:** The BBQ Pit\
**Created:** [August 31, 2021, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851 "2021-08-31T19:33:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 17

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**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/334 "2021-11-11T13:09:03Z")

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I am referring to the points raised by those who gave Biden low ratings, and that adds to the title thread! Why are you attacking me for sharing that article?

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**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/335 "2021-11-11T13:17:16Z")

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All I’m asking is, in what way are those points questionable? According to the _Newsweek_ article, more feel that the country is not “on the right track” as seen in the Afghan withdrawal, but the article also points out that the delta variant is not Biden’s fault. That leaves us with supply chain issues, higher gas prices, unemployment, increased immigration, and issues concerning the immigration bills. And the same “tabloid” article links to the ff. to explain them:

> **[Jen Psaki Says Online Shopping Partly to Blame for Supply Chain Crisis](https://www.newsweek.com/jen-psaki-says-too-much-online-shopping-partly-blame-supply-chain-crisis-1643325)**
>
> "So many people across the country are purchasing more goods online," Psaki said. "Maybe some of it is from habits that developed during the pandemic."

> **[Gas Prices Are Rising Fastest in These Five States](https://www.newsweek.com/gas-prices-crisis-rising-fastest-states-1637633)**
>
> Soaring fuel prices seen in some parts of the U.S. is a consequence of supply and demand, combined with a rise in the cost of crude oil.

> **[Concerns Grow Some Unemployed Have Stopped Seeking Work as Open Jobs High](https://www.newsweek.com/concerns-mount-some-unemployed-have-stopped-looking-work-job-postings-hold-steady-1641263)**
>
> Labor Department data shows that hiring has slowed in the past two months while the number of available jobs are at near-record levels.

> **[As Biden Mulls Payments to Trump Victims, Migrant Caravan Swells in Mexico](https://www.newsweek.com/biden-mulls-compensation-trump-border-policies-migrant-caravan-swells-mexico-1644045)**
>
> The Biden administration could offer around $450,000 a person in compensation to migrant families. Meanwhile, roughly 5,000 are journeying north through Mexico.

> **[House Could Pass Infrastructure and Social Spending Bill as Soon as Tuesday](https://www.newsweek.com/house-could-pass-infrastructure-bill-social-spending-plan-soon-tuesday-1644254)**
>
> Democratic leaders are aiming to have a final version of the now-$1.75 trillion spending bill by Sunday, said two Democrats.

Now, apparently, these issues have been waived away because they have been “debunked” even though they’re on-going because they were reported by what are now considered tabloids!

So, how did that happen? Why are several members of this forum now acting like the very politician they despise, i.e., Trump? Suddenly, these are now merely perceptions and probably even fake news?

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**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/336 "2021-11-11T13:20:51Z")

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I wouldn’t know. What I do know is that I now have to explain what is now considered a “tabloid” article because it happens to criticize Biden, which the same participants–for some reason–do not realize is the very point of this thread.

Now, the responses I’ve received so far are personal attacks, profanities, claims that _Newsweek_ is now a tabloid (what’s next: that it only issues fake news, too?), and that on-going issues have for some reason now been debunked, which means “perceptions” from a majority of people polled are all wrong.

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**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/337 "2021-11-11T13:33:48Z")

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So @ralfy ya just gonna ignore Gyrate’s post or what?

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**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/338 "2021-11-11T13:39:24Z")

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There is a tendency to blame anything wrong on the people in charge, even if they have nothing to do with it.

Stub your toe? Let’s go Brandon!

Pretty much all of what you “cited” from newsweek are things that are not within the control of the administration.

Now, if you would like to transition to a command economy, where the executive branch dictates what private industry produces, what consumers purchase, where and in what industry people work, and fixes prices and wages, then you would have a reason to complain about these things.

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/339 "2021-11-11T13:42:31Z")

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> [@ralfy](#):
>
> I wouldn’t know. What I do know is that I now have to explain what is now considered a “tabloid” article because it happens to criticize Biden, which the same participants–for some reason–do not realize is the very point of this thread.

Uh-huh.

Show me in the “gas prices” article where it “happens to criticize Biden” (unless you’re giving Biden the credit for the rapid economic growth that’s partly responsible for it).

And your unemployment article literally says that “the number of available jobs are at near-record levels”. Oh no! How terrible!

Your supply chain article talks about how the Biden administration is working to fix the supply chain issue, not that it was responsible for it.

In fact none of your Newsweek articles “happen to criticize Biden” and most of them are actually positive for him. Did you even read any of them? And who called Newsweek a tabloid besides you?

Or could you not stop yourself from lying again?

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**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/340 "2021-11-11T13:43:53Z")

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No, because I think he still has hope. The problem is that he thinks every critical view of Biden is “Everything bad is Biden’s fault, and everything Biden does is bad,” but the same _Newsweek_ article did point out that the delta variant definitely isn’t his fault. In addition, I think his plans for taxing the rich is more than welcome, but that only covers a trillion dollars; the other two will have to come from other sources, probably corporate tax and buybacks.

What’s the problem, then? I get this sinking feeling that he will play the same neolib-neocon game, i.e., the bill will target the working rich, while the infra bill will involve funds that will be diluted across too many projects. As for warmongering, CNN has some news about that concerning possible attacks on Afghanistan via Pakistan.

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**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/341 "2021-11-11T13:45:28Z")

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> [@ralfy](#):
>
> No, {…}

Well . . . that’s one way to deal with being wrong I guess…

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/342 "2021-11-11T13:51:13Z")

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> [@ralfy](#):
>
> the bill will target the working rich

Damn, that is _funny._

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/343 "2021-11-11T13:51:39Z")

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> [@ralfy](#):
>
> No, because I think he still has hope. The problem is that he thinks every critical view of Biden is “Everything bad is Biden’s fault, and everything Biden does is bad,” but the same _Newsweek_ article did point out that the delta variant definitely isn’t his fault. In addition, I think his plans for taxing the rich is more than welcome, but that only covers a trillion dollars; the other two will have to come from other sources, probably corporate tax and buybacks.
> 
> What’s the problem, then? I get this sinking feeling that he will play the same neolib-neocon game, i.e., the bill will target the working rich, while the infra bill will involve funds that will be diluted across too many projects.

So what you’re saying it that you concede that your lies have been debunked, but here’s some unsubstantiated smear instead. Got it.

> [@ralfy](#):
>
> As for warmongering, CNN has some news about that concerning possible attacks on Afghanistan via Pakistan.

Do they? Well, I look forward to your citation of it. Perhaps you’ll even read it this time.

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**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/344 "2021-11-11T13:54:03Z")

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> [@ralfy](#):
>
> I am referring to the points raised by those who gave Biden low ratings, and that adds to the title thread! Why are you attacking me for sharing that article?

I’m just curious, and this may come out of left field. But speaking of baseball, are you a Yankees fan at all?

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**Author:** ![ralfy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ralfy/32/600_2.png) [@ralfy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralfy)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/345 "2021-11-11T13:54:10Z")

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Well, who else should they blame? That’s been going for decades. In which case, Biden has his work cut out for him. But here’s the hard part:

How do you reverse decades of neoliberalism and neoconservatism while retaining current consumer spending levels given high levels of borrowing and spending from '82 onward because of the dollar used as a global reserve currency? What should be expected when it comes to taxing the super-rich, with the latter lobbying and funding both parties? Is it possible that complaints about vaccine mandates, wearing masks, and even lockdowns might involve more than just Trump supporters, especially given his decreasing ratings, and as another “tabloid” article points out, losses even in places where he previously led?

> **[The calamity facing Joe Biden and the Democrats](https://www.economist.com/leaders/2021/11/06/the-calamity-facing-joe-biden-and-the-democrats)**
>
> The president needs to distance himself from his party’s left fringe

Now, this will probably be dismissed (again) as fake news and more futile attempts by me (who else?) to insist that everything Biden does is bad. Such forum members operate through brutal binaries: either one or another, with nothing in between. Good grief.

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**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/346 "2021-11-11T13:57:15Z")

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> [@crowmanyclouds](#):
>
> So @ralfy ya just gonna ignore Gyrate’s post or what?

Apparently not.

Step 1: Ask people to specifically answer a multitude of hastily thrown out points.  
Step 2: People spend time to itemize a considered response to all the points.  
Step 3: Ignore the response.  
Step 4: You’ve won the argument by successfully wasting the other person’s time.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/347 "2021-11-11T13:58:47Z")

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Hmm, I think there might be a word for that…

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**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/348 "2021-11-11T13:59:05Z")

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> [@ralfy](#):
>
> Now, this will probably be dismissed (again) as fake news and more futile attempts by me (who else?) to insist that everything Biden does is bad. Such forum members operate through brutal binaries: either one or another, with nothing in between. Good grief.

Lying again, I see.

Just to recap: you’ve made multiple false claims, you’ve falsely attributed views to others they didn’t express, you’ve misrepresented your own citations, and when called on it you just move on to new nonsense…but it’s everyone else’s fault for being so mean to you.

Have you considered _not_ lying?

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**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/349 "2021-11-11T14:22:36Z")

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> [@ralfy](#):
>
> Well, who else should they blame?

So, you _do_ blame Biden when you stub your toe?

How about taking some level of personal responsibility for once, and not finding someone else to blame for your failings?

> [@ralfy](#):
>
> How do you reverse decades of neoliberalism and neoconservatism while retaining current consumer spending levels given high levels of borrowing and spending from '82 onward because of the dollar used as a global reserve currency?

You’ve got a point, it’s hard to clean up after the mess that Republicans leave behind, especially when they fight tooth and nail to prevent you from doing so.

That the people then turn around and blame Democrats is a measure of ignorance that should be fought, not promoted.

> [@ralfy](#):
>
> What should be expected when it comes to taxing the super-rich, with the latter lobbying and funding both parties?

To tax them. It is not Biden that is preventing taxes from being raised on the wealthy. It was not Biden that lowered the taxes on the wealthy. If you are looking for someone to blame, how about actually blaming those who want to even further decrease taxes on the wealthy, as opposed to those who would like to increase them?

> [@ralfy](#):
>
> Is it possible that complaints about vaccine mandates, wearing masks, and even lockdowns might involve more than just Trump supporters

Yeah, there’s probably a small percentage of anti-vax, anti-mask on the left, unfortunately. But the left doesn’t cater to and coddle them, which is why the overwhelming vast majority of those who have taken the side of the virus against that of their fellow human beings and citizens are conservatives and Trump supporters.

The best medical science in the world says that vaccines and masks are the way to get us through and past this epidemic, not Biden. People are not disagreeing with Biden when they refuse to follow the most basic of public safety measures, they are disagreeing with reality.

> [@ralfy](#):
>
> Now, this will probably be dismissed (again) as fake news and more futile attempts by me (who else?) to insist that everything Biden does is bad.

No, the articles you cite are not fake news. Your attempts at analyzing and summarizing them, OTOH, are facile and ignorant. It’s not your insistence that everything that Biden does is bad, it’s your institance that everything bad is Biden’s fault that is being pointed out as fallacious logic.

But, since you don’t want to be thought of as someone who insist that everything that Biden does is bad, can you give an example of something that Biden did that you think was good?

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**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/350 "2021-11-11T15:49:51Z")

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> [@Gyrate](#):
>
> And who called Newsweek a tabloid besides you?

[Over here](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/am-i-missing-something-here-re-reopening-of-bars-etc-now/922356/1363) and scroll down a couple.

[_Newsweek_ stopped being serious journalism a decade ago.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-eastmans-essay-re-kamala-harris-citizenship-lawyers-does-he-have-a-point/918307/123)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/351 "2021-11-11T15:57:49Z")

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See, _that’s_ a properly cited response to a question.

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**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/352 "2021-11-11T16:43:01Z")

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> [@ralfy](#):
>
> According to the _Newsweek_ article, more feel that the country is not “on the right track”

Did you read the cite from **squeegee** above? the majority of the country has felt that the country is “not on the right track” since 2009 for God’s sake. This is not a new feeling that Biden has created.

Things are happening, president gets blamed. This is not a new or different thing. You are basically telling us that you have discovered that the ocean is damp.

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**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\
**Post date:** [November 11, 2021, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/353 "2021-11-11T16:47:13Z")

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> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#):
>
> You are basically telling us that you have discovered that the ocean is damp.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Bg_9BpjvTF4/maxresdefault.jpg "How Is The Ocean A Real Thing?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg_9BpjvTF4)

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