Ouchies:
This is definitely a month of firsts: the first Speaker of the House to be ousted by vote…and the first White House dog to be impeached.
The Founders would be so proud.
Yeah, the GOP calls the Dems “Tax and Spend” But the GOP is the party of “Borrow and spend, then blame the deficit on the Dems”.
Currently the outlook is not bad at all. Most economists are now saying the chance of recession soon is small,
This is encouraging. (Gift link)
Good news.
Rather than post a hijack in this thread:
I decided to link and post here instead.
So the above is the shit show the country watches, while Joe Biden puts his political agenda and his personal safety at risk to conduct the most high wire act of diplomacy attempted in recent history in Israel and Gaza. I am personally sickened at the state of what we’ve become as a nation full of spectators.
Even sane Republicans are saying Biden has been pitch perfect in this ghastly conflict.
He rarely receives due credit for the many, many difficult challenges his administration has faced to date. I just wanted to draw some attention to how Biden is handling this one.
Gift link:
He may not succeed. But I do feel we’re in the most capable hands available under the circumstances. I try not to think about how this would be going with Trump running amok in the Oval Office.
Not a great president, but the return to sanity and statesmanship the nation badly needed.
I could not disagree more. He really is a great president. He’s had to swallow a lot of poison pills dropped by the prior administration. Most people aren’t really aware, and at this point, I don’t have the inclination to outline them all. Maybe some other day when I have time.
I agree 100%. His legislative achievements, his management of the international community, and the basic decency alone—God bless Joe Biden.
A while back, I basically asked Dopers if preventing Covid from ever happening would have been worth it if the price was Trump’s reelection. Interesting results and discussion, and absolutely accurate for what had happened up to that time, but I wonder if anyone who voted to prevent Covid think differently after Ukraine and this…
What was the title of the survey you hosted, about the dichotomy between covid or trump’s reelection? I’d like to check it out.
Oh please. Biden’s trip to the middle east is 100% about politics. There’s nothing he could do there that he couldn’t do over videoconference. And nothing that hasn’t already been done by Antony Blinken. Biden’s visit was 100% about being seen to take action, as opposed to the substance of his actions. And, noting that your post may have been before events in Gaza changed due to the hospital bombing, Biden’s visit turned out to be diplomatically useless anyway as his meeting with non-Israel leaders were cancelled.
And there’s nearly zero chance that Biden was at risk of personal danger. Netanyahu is a far greater target for anti-Israeli terrorists, yet that hasn’t happened. Biden would have been moved from stronghold to stronghold with an incredible amount of protection. The idea that he was bravely putting himself in peril is laughable.
When events have already proven you wrong, why post?
Having a US president visit is a big “win” for the Israeli leadership. We can use that win to get them to do things they wouldn’t otherwise want to do. So yes, politics is involved, but it can also accomplish something positive.
Ouch.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67141589
“This was confirmed by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office, which said that “in light of President Biden’s demand, Israel will not thwart humanitarian supplies from Egypt, as long as it is only food, water and medicine for the civilian population”."
Presuming the humanitarian aide corridor is opened and emergency supplies are delivered my earlier post was wrong. I now acknowledge that Biden’s visit did make a difference.
Kudos for acknowledging this.
As penance for your error, you must acknowledge the brilliance of the great Joe Biden by singing his praises in the town square for 1 hour each day until election day 2024.
I would want the leadership to know that this “win” has a price and isn’t unconditional support, but that’s for another thread, and I hope his visit continues to have a positive influence on events.
He’s kind of gone from being a C- president to an ordinary C in my opinion. I don’t think that will look great on a placard.
The Israelis’ use of the word “demand” to describe Biden’s, er, request is interesting.