# The Biden Administration - the first 1,500 days \[NOT an Afghanistan discussion\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 8, 2020, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057 "2020-11-08T15:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 27
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/522 "2021-03-26T12:55:12Z")
there was this bit: [‘Oh God I Miss Him’: Biden Laughs About Trump During First Press Conference (ijr.com)](https://ijr.com/biden-laughs-about-trump-during-press-conference/) that was amusing. 2 months in and the question is will he run in 2024 and will harris be his vp. seriously. the press is having a bit of trouble pivoting. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/523 "2021-03-26T14:15:35Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > …Biden is doing what I wanted: making the Presidency boring again. (Not that the issues facing him are boring-- far from it. But he is not sensationalizing them to feed his own ego.)… Yes, exactly. Well said. A similar point of view: [https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/opinions/biden-news-conference-ghitis/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/25/opinions/biden-news-conference-ghitis/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/524 "2021-03-26T14:29:45Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > There was a moment in the press conference where he said something like “I’m going to say something crazy” followed by him saying something that didn’t sound crazy at all. That’s one area where neither Biden (nor any of his successors, I sincerely hope) will ever be able to surpass Der Trumpenstein. When they made DJT, they threw away the mold. Too bad they didn’t throw away the mold _before_ they made him. ---
**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:** [March 26, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/525 "2021-03-26T15:45:42Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > When they made DJT, they threw away the mold. Too bad they didn’t throw away the mold _before_ they made him. He _is_ the mold. The fungal kind. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/526 "2021-03-26T17:23:56Z")
There’s a fungus amongus. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/527 "2021-03-26T18:14:50Z")
Maybe right next to the men’s room? That way the scent would be appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2021, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/528 "2021-03-26T19:51:36Z")
Hey, are we not almost up to Yeaster now? ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/529 "2021-03-27T19:47:15Z")
I worry about the political impact of the border. It’s a situation that’s out of Biden’s control, and climate change makes it very likely that we are going to be dealing with this as a permanent pressure point. And it’ll be something that’s unfortunately much easier for right wing fear mongers to score points off of than centrists or progressives. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2021, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/530 "2021-03-27T20:34:54Z")
Joe the President did put forth at least part of the sensible solution to the border problem. Not a way of dealing with the mass of people at the border, because improving the situation at the border is not a solution, it is merely coping. The solution appeared in what amounted to a short paragraph (possibly even more than one sentence) on page nine, below the fold: community- targeted aid to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, in an effort to make the people who live there actually want to stay and live there. Of course, the problem with solutions it that they tend to be unsatisfying. They often take a long time to unfuck a particular situation and lack the visceral punch of literally punching that guy. Maybe it will be possible to move forward with this idea, but it will take a lot of slogging through the bog of those who object to progress. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/531 "2021-03-28T13:21:27Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Joe the President did put forth at least part of the sensible solution to the border problem. Not a way of dealing with the mass of people at the border, because improving the situation at the border is not a solution, it is merely coping. > > The solution appeared in what amounted to a short paragraph (possibly even more than one sentence) on page nine, below the fold: community- targeted aid to Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Nicaragua, in an effort to make the people who live there actually want to stay and live there. I’d greatly appreciate you elaborating on this: what do you figure is the _worst_-case, and the _best_-case, for ‘not a solution, merely coping’ with people when they‘ve gotten to the border instead of — as you mention — sending aid to other countries to make folks want to stay there? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/532 "2021-03-28T15:14:33Z")
The worst case would be that we keep doing what we are doing and White-Wing agitation, partially driven by their escalation of this issue, continues to increase until the nation is shattered by civil war. The best case, in terms of not solving the underlying problem is not very different from the worst case, except fewer people die in armed conflict. Of course, the actual solution can be fraught as well. The aid absolutely must be carefully targeted to have optimum effect and not end up facilitating the assholes who make people want to flee to, of all places, texas. And, of course, if the Republicans get control of the solution, they will do their level best to fuck it up hard. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/533 "2021-03-28T15:27:48Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The worst case would be that we keep doing what we are doing and White-Wing agitation, partially driven by their escalation of this issue, continues to increase until the nation is shattered by civil war. The best case, in terms of not solving the underlying problem is not very different from the worst case, except fewer people die in armed conflict. Interesting. I disagree — I’m decidedly _more_ optimistic about our ability to deal with folks who show up to illegally cross the border than our ability to make living conditions better in other countries — but I’ll definitely be giving your _‘X, or Not Very Different From X’_ take some thought. ---
**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:** [March 28, 2021, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/534 "2021-03-28T16:12:47Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I’m decidedly _more_ optimistic about our ability to deal with folks who show up to illegally cross the border than our ability to make living conditions better in other countries To deal with them humanely, or to simply prevent them from crossing by any means, up to and including lethal? We do have a pretty decent solution, in that we could just let them in, not force those seeking refuge from intolerable conditions to have to come _illegally_, but there are those who would object to that, and would rather leave them to suffer. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/535 "2021-03-28T16:17:41Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > To deal with them humanely, or to simply prevent them from crossing by any means, up to and including lethal? Are those the only two options? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/536 "2021-03-28T17:20:45Z")
Yes. If we have to deal with many people at the border, we can treat them decently or treat them like the nasty enemy. There really is no middle ground. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/537 "2021-03-28T17:47:43Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > If we have to deal with many people at the border, we can treat them decently or treat them like the nasty enemy. There really is no middle ground.- THIS is the main thing. Sure it’s still a “crisis,” though why it’s important to label it that escapes me. No it doesn’t. The reason is so the pundits can find something wrong with the way Biden is handling it. 🙄 (I’m lookin’ at you, [Kathleen Parker.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-border-is-a-crisis--and-also-bidens-first-big-mistake/2021/03/26/bd675ac8-8e6e-11eb-a6bd-0eb91c03305a_story.html)) But the main thing is our attitude toward the immigrants. Even if right now they’re overwhelming the resources that are in place, we no longer regard them as criminals, drug-dealers, traffickers, and evil terrorists who are here to destroy the American way of life and take our jobs (but why would they WANT our jobs if they’re here to destroy us?? Never mind.). And if we still have to put children in facilities to care for them, we’re not doing it as punishment for their parents or to deter more people from coming. BTW, I think attempting to make conditions in the countries they’re fleeing more humane so they won’t flee is pretty nuts. Better we find some way to welcome and absorb them. We’ve absorbed millions of immigrants in the past (including my grandparents). ---
**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:** [March 28, 2021, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/538 "2021-03-28T18:44:28Z")
Yes, the options are that we either deal with them humanely, or we don’t deal with them humanely. Do you have something else in mind? What is your proposal for how we should “deal with folks who show up to illegally cross the border”? ---
**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:** [March 28, 2021, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/539 "2021-03-28T18:51:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > BTW, I think attempting to make conditions in the countries they’re fleeing more humane so they won’t flee is pretty nuts. Better we find some way to welcome and absorb them. We’ve absorbed millions of immigrants in the past (including my grandparents). As it is at least partially our fault that the conditions of those countries are intolerable to those trying to live a peaceful productive life, I disagree that we shouldn’t be making an attempt to improve them. Hard to say how much of what we have broken can be fixed, and no matter what, it’s going to take quite a while to accomplish. In the meantime, the least we can do is to provide refuge to those displaced, and to give them a chance for a peaceful productive life within our borders. They can be peaceful and productive here, and we all benefit together. The only ones that lose are the gangs and cartels of the the originating country, no longer having peaceful citizens to prey upon, and the xenophobes in ours, as they are forced to confront their fear of the “other”. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/540 "2021-03-28T18:56:17Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Yes, the options are that we either deal with them humanely, or we don’t deal with them humanely. Do you have something else in mind? Well, you’d originally written _“deal with them humanely, or to simply prevent them from crossing by any means, up to and including lethal?”_ And I figured _that_ framing left more possibilities open than, well, This-Or-Not-This. > [@](#): > > What is your proposal for how we should “deal with folks who show up to illegally cross the border”? The 13th Amendment says that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. I propose that we make _that_ a punishment for illegally crossing the border; we don’t _have_ to go straight to it, we‘d still have the option of letting them off with a warning as we kick them out of the country — but once we’ve made clear that they can be sentenced to hard labor, we can amiably shrug if they mull it over and decide, _oh, yes, that’s what I’d like, please and thank you; here I go walking right up to the border and, upon being given fair warning, accepting the offer._ ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2021, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057/541 "2021-03-28T18:59:23Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Sure it’s still a “crisis,” though why it’s important to label it that escapes me. It’s a re-tread of the “if you can’t even call it what it is how can you possibly do anything about it?” argument. Remember back when conservatives were convinced Obama would be unable to win the war on terror because he refused to brand the enemy as “radical Islamic terrorists”? There is a weirdly persistent belief among the conservative set in the magical power of words. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > The 13th Amendment says that neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted. I propose that we make _that_ a punishment for illegally crossing the border; we don’t _have_ to go straight to it, we‘d still have the option of letting them off with a warning as we kick them out of the country — but once we’ve made clear that they can be sentenced to hard labor, we can amiably shrug if they mull it over and decide, _oh, yes, that’s what I’d like, please and thank you; here I go walking right up to the border and, upon being given fair warning, accepting the offer._ Too soon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-biden-administration-the-first-1-500-days-not-an-afghanistan-discussion/925057.md?page=28)