the president did not commute the sentences of three people whose crimes included mass shootings or acts of terrorism: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two brothers responsible for the deadly Boston Marathon bombing in 2013; Dylann Roof, a White nationalist who massacred nine people at a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.
I don’t agree with the death penalty on principle, so I understand why he didn’t commute those sentences, but I still think he should have.
They remember what happened, they elected Biden and their material conditions worsened so they re-elected the guy that could at least be bullied into cutting them a rebate check.
I’m not saying I agree with their assessment but I can understand it.
they elected Biden and right-wing news told them for four years their material conditions worsened and ignored that 1) cleaning up Trump’s COVID mess left America in a much better spot than every other developed country and 2) how they felt about the economy and the facts about the economy didn’t match.
I don’t really disagree with what you’re saying but it’s important not to dismiss peoples experience at the grocery store and when it’s time to pay their bills as “how they feel about the economy.”
The NASDAQ doesn’t put gas in a car or milk in a fridge, that shit is still expensive.
People are free to believe whatever they want. However, the second those beliefs are shown to be factually incorrect, and those people refuse to acknowledge that, then we absolutely can and should criticize them.
You want to believe in Bigfoot? If the thought of a wild cryptid makes you happy, fucking go for it.
You want to believe the earth is flat and there’s some global (lol) conspiracy to prevent people from finding out the truth? Here’s a bunch of videos and articles on why that’s wrong. Oh, you still believe it? Get the fuck out of here.
Americans spent a record $41 billion over Black Friday weekend. People don’t have that much money to spend when the economy truly is shit. The real egregious part of it all was corporations using COVID to gouge consumers even long after the supply-chain issues had been resolved, and the most dysfunctional Congress in US history refusing to do anything about it.
I don’t remember that, but if that was the plan, why did he start campaigning for a second one then? Was the pan all along bow out so close to election day that we couldn’t have a primary election and just put Harris as the only D option?
If I recall, he decided to run for reelection because the alternative was Trump.
Giving up the incumbent advantage would have been extremely detrimental to the effort to prevent a second Trump Administration. I believe there are articles from that time about him making this decision.
Hindsight is 20/20 so I’m not interested in hearing about how it was a bad calculation or whatever. The rate of Biden’s mental decay after that only increased.
No sane political operator would have held a Democratic primary given the circumstances at the time.
The alternative was always going to be Trump. Biden was never a popular president and they should have held the primaries when they were suppose to. Biden surrounded himself sycophants who told him he could win.
Biden’s visible mental decline started way before the election. He has a history of angry outbursts, which when directed at conservatives was “fun” to watch for some people, but it only reminded me of how my conservative family members deal with disagreements. He was never a good pick, just a better pick over Trump. Not having a primary, even a shame primary, deenergized Harris’s voter base. The people feel like they’re being talked down to by the DNC and their right. This is the same shit that got Trump voted in in the first place, but more of it.
I mean, no? Lol. I was mostly being sardonic about how the entrenched centrist gerontocracy will never willingly give up power, and how after 2 consecutive cycles without a real, open, and full primary the likelihood of the Democrats not pulling some shady shit to coronate their chosen entrenched centrist gerontocrat is… A worrisome concern.
You don’t think 2020 was a real, open, and full primary? You may not like the results, but everyone had their chance. It was also far from given that Biden would win. He ended up winning because he was widely viewed as the most electable option to beat Trump.
During the primaries is when covid hit, chaos ensued, the primaries were cut short, right in the tails of (all perfectly legal) fuckery by the centrists and Warren. I’m not saying that’s some conspiracy shit about covid or that it was planned or anything, just that it was crazy, chaotic, no one knew what was going on. There was a plague on. What I am saying is that with 8 years of no real, full primaries I do not think the entrenched powers that be within the Democratic party are going to relinquish the amount of control they gained by cutting primaries short. The Democrats have always had a problem with primaries, and letting the people actually pick the candidates. That’s why they love their superdelegates so much, it gives the party the power to overrule the people. Limiting the primaries further (again, after giving people 8 years to get used to it, even if it wasn’t planned or intentional) is just an extension of party control over the candidate. Primaries are not elections, there’s no requirement that the private corporations that call themselves political parties give us a choice as to the candidate they run, and I see no reason why they would not limit that as much as possible to protect their interests. There is a balancing act within the party: how much control and power can we hold while not pissing off the base so much that they abandon us?
With the tactic of ‘vote for us or watch your loved ones die or end up in camps’ combined with taking advantage of situations like the aftermath of a chaotic and unavoidably cut short primary season, the answer is “quite a lot”
For the lazy:
I don’t agree with the death penalty on principle, so I understand why he didn’t commute those sentences, but I still think he should have.
If he commuted those sentences, though, the narrative would focus on how Biden was being soft on mass murderers, and not on the death penalty itself.
Considering Biden’s actions with Israel, he is soft on mass murderers
Who cares? He doesn’t need to appear “tough on crime” for reelection.
Almost as if it’s an ideological thing, and not about winning votes. Imagine that.
Idiots will condemn the entire American democratic party because of it though. Either way.
Apparently Americans can’t remember what happened four years ago, so this wouldn’t even register by the next election cycle.
They remember what happened, they elected Biden and their material conditions worsened so they re-elected the guy that could at least be bullied into cutting them a rebate check.
I’m not saying I agree with their assessment but I can understand it.
I don’t really disagree with what you’re saying but it’s important not to dismiss peoples experience at the grocery store and when it’s time to pay their bills as “how they feel about the economy.”
The NASDAQ doesn’t put gas in a car or milk in a fridge, that shit is still expensive.
People are free to believe whatever they want. However, the second those beliefs are shown to be factually incorrect, and those people refuse to acknowledge that, then we absolutely can and should criticize them.
You want to believe in Bigfoot? If the thought of a wild cryptid makes you happy, fucking go for it.
You want to believe the earth is flat and there’s some global (lol) conspiracy to prevent people from finding out the truth? Here’s a bunch of videos and articles on why that’s wrong. Oh, you still believe it? Get the fuck out of here.
Americans spent a record $41 billion over Black Friday weekend. People don’t have that much money to spend when the economy truly is shit. The real egregious part of it all was corporations using COVID to gouge consumers even long after the supply-chain issues had been resolved, and the most dysfunctional Congress in US history refusing to do anything about it.
If he’s alive, the bastard is probably going to run again in 28.
Even though he abandoned his effort in '24? That seems highly unlikely. It seems even less likely that he’d win in an open primary at this point.
he openly said he would only seek a single term when he went for the first one
I don’t remember that, but if that was the plan, why did he start campaigning for a second one then? Was the pan all along bow out so close to election day that we couldn’t have a primary election and just put Harris as the only D option?
If I recall, he decided to run for reelection because the alternative was Trump.
Giving up the incumbent advantage would have been extremely detrimental to the effort to prevent a second Trump Administration. I believe there are articles from that time about him making this decision.
Hindsight is 20/20 so I’m not interested in hearing about how it was a bad calculation or whatever. The rate of Biden’s mental decay after that only increased.
No sane political operator would have held a Democratic primary given the circumstances at the time.
The alternative was always going to be Trump. Biden was never a popular president and they should have held the primaries when they were suppose to. Biden surrounded himself sycophants who told him he could win.
Biden’s visible mental decline started way before the election. He has a history of angry outbursts, which when directed at conservatives was “fun” to watch for some people, but it only reminded me of how my conservative family members deal with disagreements. He was never a good pick, just a better pick over Trump. Not having a primary, even a shame primary, deenergized Harris’s voter base. The people feel like they’re being talked down to by the DNC and their right. This is the same shit that got Trump voted in in the first place, but more of it.
Not OP, but Occam’s Razor applies here. Ever had a job you only planned to be at for a short time, but got comfortable?
I don’t think Occam’s Razor needs to apply to world leaders.
I mean, no? Lol. I was mostly being sardonic about how the entrenched centrist gerontocracy will never willingly give up power, and how after 2 consecutive cycles without a real, open, and full primary the likelihood of the Democrats not pulling some shady shit to coronate their chosen entrenched centrist gerontocrat is… A worrisome concern.
You don’t think 2020 was a real, open, and full primary? You may not like the results, but everyone had their chance. It was also far from given that Biden would win. He ended up winning because he was widely viewed as the most electable option to beat Trump.
During the primaries is when covid hit, chaos ensued, the primaries were cut short, right in the tails of (all perfectly legal) fuckery by the centrists and Warren. I’m not saying that’s some conspiracy shit about covid or that it was planned or anything, just that it was crazy, chaotic, no one knew what was going on. There was a plague on. What I am saying is that with 8 years of no real, full primaries I do not think the entrenched powers that be within the Democratic party are going to relinquish the amount of control they gained by cutting primaries short. The Democrats have always had a problem with primaries, and letting the people actually pick the candidates. That’s why they love their superdelegates so much, it gives the party the power to overrule the people. Limiting the primaries further (again, after giving people 8 years to get used to it, even if it wasn’t planned or intentional) is just an extension of party control over the candidate. Primaries are not elections, there’s no requirement that the private corporations that call themselves political parties give us a choice as to the candidate they run, and I see no reason why they would not limit that as much as possible to protect their interests. There is a balancing act within the party: how much control and power can we hold while not pissing off the base so much that they abandon us?
With the tactic of ‘vote for us or watch your loved ones die or end up in camps’ combined with taking advantage of situations like the aftermath of a chaotic and unavoidably cut short primary season, the answer is “quite a lot”