# Can I be the only person stunned at just how badly President Joe Biden is doing? **URL:** \ **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:** 51
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2022, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1015 "2022-09-02T20:02:53Z")
The difference is that ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ was a spontaneous, viral moment. No one planned it. ‘Dark Brandon’ was an attempt by political consultants to design a competing meme from scratch and push it out there. It’s very hard to design a ‘meme’ and make it stick. Memes by their nature have to be viral and ideally arise spontaneously. Otherwise it just looks like you are trying too hard, and comes across as lame. Also, ‘Dark Brandon’ and the dark sinister imagery the Biden people apparently intentionally wanted last night are not befitting an American President - both because people generally want their president to be uplifting, but also because it totally works against his ‘unity and getting back to norms’ message. On the other hand, so did the content of his speech. ---
**Author:** ![Chingon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chingon/32/17645_2.png) [@Chingon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chingon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1016 "2022-09-02T20:04:28Z")
High quality concern trolling here. _Chef’s kiss_ ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1017 "2022-09-02T20:05:33Z")
I kinda sorta agree with @Sam_Stone. Except for the last sentence which was bullshit. I think his speech was completely necessary. Pretending that people aren’t trying to tear down the country does not work. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2022, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1018 "2022-09-02T20:05:40Z")
For varying definitions of ‘quality’, true. For popular definitions of ‘high’, undoubtedly. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2022, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1019 "2022-09-02T20:28:13Z")
Yes Sam! It’s all Biden’s fault! And we can just ignore the party of 'DemonRats are the party of child grooming pedophiles that murder babies for fun, profit, adrenochrome, and pizza toppings. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2022, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1020 "2022-09-02T21:01:11Z")
Can you point to anywhere where I’ve said anything remotely like that? I’ll give you a prize if you can find an instance of me ever referring to Democrats as ‘DemonRats’, “Dhimmicrats”, or any other pejorative name. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2022, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1021 "2022-09-02T21:05:08Z")
Umm, where did you get the idea that I’m quoting _you_? ---
**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:** [September 2, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1022 "2022-09-02T21:30:01Z")
From the same place that he jumps in the firing line over “deplorable”. Gotta jump on those grenades if you are going to call yourself a martyr. It’s pretty much just a form of virtue signalling. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2022, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1023 "2022-09-02T21:54:07Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I kinda sorta agree with @Sam_Stone. I’d recommend against that, as he seems to be (willfully or not) completely missing the point. I mean, look at that claim at the end, about how this is going against Biden’s desire for unity. Well, duh. That’s the point. The people who support what Biden is doing now think his calls for unity were the wrong choice while our nation is under attack by fascists. He’s changed it to call for unity only with those Republicans who are sticking with the norm of being conservative, not fascist. He claims #DarkBrandon is artificial, when it isn’t. It arose naturally as a response to all of the vilification of Biden. It’s basically “We wish Biden was this progressive boogeyman.” He mixes up his personally finding it lame and whether or not it is effective. Clearly this meme is catching on. That’s what matters. And then he keeps misinterpreting it, despite people explaining it to him. It’s not calling Biden a dictator. It’s mocking the idea that Biden is this progressive boogeyman. If Republicans ever started acting like we thought it was legitimate, they’d be laughed at for not getting the meme. At the practical level, #DarkBrandon just currently means that Biden needs to have a stronger backbone and start racking up wins for his party going into the midterms. This is a good thing. Consider the loan forgiveness, which Sam argues is not actually progressive. What he doesn’t argue is that it will be ineffective at helping Democrats win, which is ultimately more important than ideological purity tests, which only guarantee that nothing gets done. Biden is doing a great job of amping up his base, while trying to make it look like the Democrats are the ones who actually care about this country. It’s unusual for Democrats to do this, so it can feel off. But many of us (including Sam at other times) have been arguing for years that the Democrats need to grow a backbone and start doing things. And that’s what we’re seeing now. I’m seeing progressives actually start to think the Democratic party might actually care. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2022, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1024 "2022-09-02T22:46:34Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > He claims #DarkBrandon is artificial, when it isn’t. It arose naturally as a response to all of the vilification of Biden. It’s basically “We wish Biden was this progressive boogeyman.” It was something that the White House was using as an image tool, so in that sense it was artificial, yes. I even linked to an article about it. Though they’re not the sole driver of the meme. > [@BigT](#): > > And then he keeps misinterpreting it, despite people explaining it to him. It’s not calling Biden a dictator. It’s mocking the idea that Biden is this progressive boogeyman. If Republicans ever started acting like we thought it was legitimate, they’d be laughed at for not getting the meme. I suppose I do get that. I’m not sure how well it lands though. It’s kind of convoluted and sort of contradictory. “Let’s mock the Republicans by portraying a caricature of what they accuse Biden of being, which is ridiculous, but at the same time we also want him to be that way because he’s not tough enough on the right, so we’re also using it to celebrate when he does something to stick it to them.” It’s almost Trumpian in a sense, the cognitive dissonance in the way it’s being used. > [@BigT](#): > > Biden is doing a great job of amping up his base, while trying to make it look like the Democrats are the ones who actually care about this country. It’s unusual for Democrats to do this, so it can feel off. This I am very much in favor of. One of Biden’s strengths was the ability to work with the other side in the past, but this is a time to not try to please everyone, especially the leopards trying to eat off your face. The “knock it off you assholes, I’m tired of being nice” is very much needed right now. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1025 "2022-09-03T01:14:40Z")
I dig the Dark Brandon meme. To me the point is how awesome it would be if Biden really were the fantasy Boogeyman the right screams about. Framing his recent “This is a big fucking deal” legislative successes plus the most recent jobs report as well as falling gas prices, canceling student debt, etc… in the context of a slumbering Dark Brandon who is now awake and all out of bubble gum so it’s time to kick ass…it just tickles me to no end. I posted this in another thread, but what the heck. > **[r/DarkBRANDON - Dark Brandon is cancelling the red wave. (created by...](https://www.reddit.com/r/DarkBRANDON/comments/wxjg48/dark_brandon_is_cancelling_the_red_wave_created/)** > > 4,056 votes and 137 comments so far on Reddit Love it. Chef’s kiss. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1026 "2022-09-03T03:17:05Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > ‘Another banner at the same conservative conference warned, “You’re Next: The Rise of the Democrat Gulag.”’ Oh man, now Republicans are against gulags again? [But their buddy Putin’s got one!](https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/russia-politics-navalny-gulag/) I thought CPAC trumpies like Putin! It is hard to keep up with all their flip-flopping. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1027 "2022-09-03T12:37:34Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > It is hard to keep up with all their flip-flopping. It’s easy, they’re Gulag Hipsters. They love the quirky, home-grown Gulag system of Old Russia, while thinking that the American Chain-Store Disneyfied Gulags are just lame knockoffs for loser poseurs. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1028 "2022-09-03T13:55:46Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The difference is that ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ was a spontaneous, viral moment. No one planned it. ‘Dark Brandon’ was an attempt by political consultants to design a competing meme from scratch and push it out there. Where’s your cite for this? [Because I read this](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/17/us/politics/dark-brandon-no-malarkey.html): > [@](#): > > Highly stylized images of the current president featuring an otherworldly glow or red laser beams coming out of his eyes, often including stock Biden phrases like “No malarkey,” began popping up in meme factories like 4Chan, a rowdy internet messaging board, or on Twitter. There’s no doubt that Dems picked up the meme and ran with it but that is par for the course from both sides. I’m the first to admit I am not an expert on the micro-history of ironic internet memes, but from what I read, the “Dark Brandon” thing was far from "an attempt by political consultants to design a competing meme from scratch. Feel free to show me I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1029 "2022-09-03T14:50:40Z")
The original DB memes were generated in China, with the original four images posted in May, 2021: > **[Dark Brandon](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dark-brandon)** > > Dark Brandon or #DarkBrandon refers to a series of memes that depict an evil and edgy version of U.S. President Joe Biden. The slang term and trend combine both Let's Go Brandon and DarkMAGA into one meme series about Biden's contentious... Remember when talking to the Right that they live, as the President said, in the shadow of lies. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1030 "2022-09-03T14:50:40Z")
> [@EllisDee](#): > > Framing his recent “This is a big fucking deal” legislative successes plus the most recent jobs report as well as falling gas prices, canceling student debt, etc… in the context of a slumbering Dark Brandon who is now awake and all out of bubble gum so it’s time to kick ass…it just tickles me to no end. Me, too. > [@EllisDee](#): > > Love it. Chef’s kiss. I’ll never not love _In the Hall of the Mountain King._ Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1031 "2022-09-03T14:53:08Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > The original DB memes were generated in China: Agreed. > [@](#): > > On May 21st, 2021, Twitter[[24]](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dark-brandon#fn24) user ne0liberal tweeted three illustrations from Chinese [WeiBo](https://knowyourmeme.com/search?q=weibo) [[25]](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dark-brandon#fn25) artist Yang Quan (@插画杨权), depicting Joe Biden as a warlord or king with glowing eyes. Ne0liberal’s tweet read, “Apparently this is Chinese anti-Biden propaganda, but it kinda just makes Biden seem metal af,” and over the course of 15 months, the tweet received roughly 10,700 likes (shown below, left). Meme creators started using the images, for instance, on May 21st, Twitter[[26]](https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dark-brandon#fn26) user NineEightSix added, “No Marlarky” as a bottom caption, earning over 940 likes in 15 months (shown below, right). [![](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/417/426/3c4.png) ](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/417/426/3c4.png) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1032 "2022-09-03T15:32:14Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > They love the quirky, home-grown Gulag system of Old Russia, while thinking that the American Chain-Store Disneyfied Gulags are just lame knockoffs for loser poseurs. Maybe they have a point. They are loser poseurs, after all ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1033 "2022-09-03T16:29:44Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > I’m the first to admit I am not an expert on the micro-history of ironic internet memes, but from what I read, the “Dark Brandon” thing was far from "an attempt by political consultants to design a competing meme from scratch. This week is the first I’ve ever heard of the “Dark Brandon” thing, but my first reaction is that it’s just a metal band cover of The Onion’s Biden coverage when he was VP. > **[The President Of Vice](https://interactives.theonion.com/biden/)** > > ‘The Onion’ looks back on eight years of killer tuneage, knocking back tallboys, and hunting for trim with the most buck-fucking-wild hombre to ever work in the White House. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2022, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/1034 "2022-09-03T18:36:13Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Also, ‘Dark Brandon’ and the dark sinister imagery the Biden people apparently intentionally wanted last night are not befitting an American President - both because people generally want their president to be uplifting, but also because it totally works against his ‘unity and getting back to norms’ message. On the other hand, so did the content of his speech. Boo-fucking hoo. The time of unity is long-gone. The idiot right doesn’t give a shit about unity so why should the normal side care? The left isn’t going to win over the maga-morons by any means so why does unity matter? The right has been dishing it out for years and now they are melting like the snowflakes they are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851.md?page=50) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851.md?page=52)