I just heard Stacey Abrams being interviewed. When asked about the Joe Biden situation, Abrams mentioned that she was friends with Lucy Flores. She also stated that as we are judging leaders, we cannot have perfection as a litmus test. She felt what's important is that Biden has created context for his behavior and that he has affirmed that he will do something different going forward.
Given the paradigm shifts that are occurring, perhaps Biden's political time has passed. What's important is that we're all learning and moving forward.
I also think we have to be deliberate with our attention and intention. While the Biden story has preoccupied so much of the media, the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act is being held up in Congress (with the help of the NRA). A new provision written into the bill closes the “boyfriend loophole.” It proposes to now include those who have been accused of stalking, abusing or assaulting a dating partner, and anyone subject to a court restraining order to the list of people barred from buying or owning a firearm. Even though the bill should pass the Democratic House, the new provision will most likely be stripped out when it hits the Senate.
I had a few more thoughts about this topic that I’d like to share. I took myself out to lunch today, and as I was people-watching, some old memories resurfaced back to when I was a small child. I remember that I hated when I was encouraged by family members to accept another relative’s embrace. Aww, give Auntie Susie/Uncle Jack a hug, you don’t want to hurt their feelings, do you? I was taught to never accept candy or anything else from strangers. I grew up in a big city, so even at a young age, considered myself streetwise. So what’s the big deal if a relative wants to hug me? I was an extremely shy child, so I’m sure that often factored into my reluctance. But even if these relatives loved me and had good intentions, does it make it okay if I wanted no part of it? Since I wasn’t the kind of kid who would throw a tantrum, my best defense was to cry. I remember one incident in particular, a male cousin who I didn’t even know, who wanted to greet me – maybe with a hug, I don’t exactly remember now. But I do remember that I refused to go over to where he was sitting, and when some relatives wouldn’t stop badgering me, I began bawling my eyes out. That shut them up in a hurry! (I also had to put up with nuns occasionally pulling my chubby cheeks. But that’s another story.) This was in the early 50’s-60’s, and the awareness just wasn’t there – kids didn’t have much of a say back then. We’re much better now, but we still have a ways to go.
To quote Stardancer:
I think we tend to project our wants and needs onto others, thinking if it’s what I would want or need, then it’s likely they want and need the same thing.
Sage advice worth heeding.
Well hello again, my friend!
Wow, deetoo can I relate to what you have shared. I had similar experiences right down to the nuns pinching my chubby cheeks! Oh boy! That is another story isn’t it? My experiences occurred during the 50s and 60s as well! I was also raised in a big city.
I’m 68. So many experiences relating to this topic have come up for me. Although I have worked through and been transformed by many of those experiences it hurts to observe others who struggle as they move through their pain. It takes years even with tremendous support and understanding.
Really enjoy discovering another connection with you! ❤️
PS..Love that you took yourself out for lunch!
Stardancer,
I smiled when I read your post. Thank you. We seem to be kindred spirits. I can't believe you had the cheek-pulling nun experience! We should collaborate on a book about it.
I turn 67 this year -- sometimes I feel like I'm 80, other times I feel like a kid. I too have worked through and been transformed by these life experiences, and yet I am still learning -- let's hope so, anyway! I do find that these forums have been instrumental in opening up my mind and heart, for which I am most grateful.
Have a peaceful night, my friend.
Joe Biden is running for President, and I do not really feel that it's a good thing. He is fundraising with corporations like Comcast, and that's not ok. I like Elizabeth Warren, and she has made a good point about him, and that is that he spent years passing legislation that worked for big corporations and banks instead of average people. Also, He helped write a lot of the 1990's crime bill that was really harmful apparently, especially to people of colour. He voted for the Iraq War, and more. I know he has apologised for that crime bill, but I still don't think he is the right candidate, the USA needs someone who can say no to the Military Industrial Complex, to big corporations, and who is prepared for bold action like Medicare-For-All, Green New Deal etc. Joe Biden isn't that person.
Biden would not be my choice but it's all relative. Re: Jaidy's post: I watched the Anita Hill hearings back in '91 where the young woman reported how Thomas had harassed her when he was her boss. It wasn't that Thomas was asking her out on dates or telling her she had a cute ass. He was whispering degrading disgusting sexual remarks to her, more like verbal rape than harassment. After Thomas was confirmed for the Supreme Court, I read a long painful story in the New Republic that described how there were several women waiting to also describe how Thomas had sexually verbally harassed them, accounts that would have most definitely prevented him from being confirmed. But these women were not allowed to speak because the hearings were cut short and it was Biden, capitulating to right wing pressure, who had made that decision.
But as politicians go, and compared to what is running this country now, Biden is a veritable saint. If I thought he could win, I'd support him. And I am careful about overly denigrating any of the progressive candidates who are running. They are all saints compared to the sick creepazoid in the president's seat.
I'm looking for the right person. Back in 2016 I felt it was Bernie. I also felt Warren could do it back then.
But now I get a Kamala feeling. I think this country is ready for a woman of color who is tough, strong, and fiery. I loved her at the Kavanaugh hearings. The opposite of Biden at the Hill hearings.
I agree Jeanne... Kamala is one tough lady and highly intelligent and honest. I hope that by 2020 we are ready for SANITY to return to our beleagured Democracy via a strong leader, but would the majority of Americans vote for a black woman in lieu of the old standard, a white man?
Joe Biden may unfortunately be that 'security blanket' ticket, however controversial he has become. He is for many the echo of the Obama years, when most of us were celebrating our Democracy instead of living our present... nightmare.
I too am feeling kamala- I love warren but I don’t think she can run well against trump and I’ll vote for whoever the nominee is.
I think the narrative that Biden is electable is a false narrative based in a fear that shouldn’t be perpetuated. Hillary won the popular vote, Bernie is incredibly far left and people argue he would have beat trump. Support the right person and get out the vote- Democrat’s relied on black women voters to elect Obama and are far more likely to get out for kamala or someone who inspires them than old uncle joe whose baggage will be a heavy load to bear. Give the party their progressive candidate and you won’t have a reason to splinter the vote and vote third party. If we learned anything it’s that our candidate needs to inspire us- trump inspired his voters and Hillary was creamed by a media campaign against her decades long and Had to fight against an inspiring progressive Bernie that represented youth and the future of the party. I’m from the Midwest- Dems here are tired of feeling battered by trump, they want strength, ethics and vision.
I agree Jeanne... Kamala is one tough lady and highly intelligent and honest. I hope that by 2020 we are ready for SANITY to return to our beleagured Democracy via a strong leader, but would the majority of Americans vote for a black woman in lieu of the old standard, a white man?
Joe Biden may unfortunately be that 'security blanket' ticket, however controversial he has become. He is for many the echo of the Obama years, when most of us were celebrating our Democracy instead of living our present... nightmare.
I like Kamala Harris, too, but she hasn't been under major national media glare as of yet either, and it's unclear to me weather she can weather a major national campaign, especially in the 4-5 key states that will determine who becomes president. I live in California and if she becomes a frontrunner, it's only a matter of time before the "She slept her way to the top by being Willie Brown's wh***!!!" narrative starts playing.
I'm still in wait and see mode. I actually don't think it matters whether someone is exciting or can get out the general vote. It matters whether they can get out the vote and win in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Florida, etc., and especially win back those voters who went from Obama to Cheetolini in 2016. So I'm not writing Old Joe off just yet.
Whether we like it or not, it basically comes down to about 200,000 voters across a handful of states. I definitely don't like it, but that's where the American system is right now.
I've been thinking about this in the last few days, and having lived through a number of crisis management situations in the last few years, the leader immediately following a major crisis (which is what I consider Cheetolini) is almost always the "safe" leader who is NOT going to do anything exciting, and yeah, often is old and boring. And it's because the organization can't handle anything new and visionary in that immediately 4-5 years of healing.
So yeah, not writing Uncle Joe off just yet. (But definitely on the "any functional adult" train for 2020).
So true... it's not exactly 'any warm body' as long as a Dem wins, but the win is what matters above all of our preferences. That said, I really do admire Kamala, and do feel she would stand up to the pressures of all the gaslighting and the BS that will be slung at any Dem nominee whose picking up the aftermath of the Debacle that is T***p.
Kamala is very strong and focused, and I feel she would be a wonderful diplomat on the world stage as well, which we will need desperately... the real issue, as you stated sidwich, are those important votes from conservative states, and just who is going to appeal enough to WIN, sad to say.
I would vote for Kamala Harris in a New York minute though if I thought she could carry that win ?
Resurrecting the Biden thread.
For some time I have felt a concern regarding Biden running. I have loved Biden for years and also loved his humanity. He has always seemed real and human, gaffes and all.
However, a quiet warning came to me when he decided to run. Related to his age and health, and mental health in particular. I would like to think I am not biased against older people being President but we have a president who is old and one of the glaring difficulties we have had with him is the issue of dementia. I have been concerned question of having a clear and sharp mind might become an issue for Biden. This week my concerns seem to be getting some traction. It is difficult to know if the manner in which a person makes mistakes is just their bumbling personality or if it is something more concerning. We adjust our expectations when gaffes are their accepted normal. So when is it more than their normal? I don't think anyone in the media wants question the cognitive health of Joe Biden. They have however begun to question his recollection and clarity of remember events from the past.
This is not good for "candidate" Biden because we are already dealing with the current "placeholder"in chief who is living in his own reality. Whether or not Biden is actually having memory issues, our nation is going to be very sensitive to factual mistakes. This is not going to go well for him if it continues.
f.
@lovendures, I am a senior (67) and agree with you. Frankly, my preference would be to have someone younger in that position. Even though Joe has always been bumbling at times, I believe there are some cognitive issues. I don't know how serious they are, but at the very least, it is a product of aging. And when you consider how stressful that job can be ... well, it makes me nervous.
You stated "We adjust our expectations when gaffes are accepted normal." That is so true. It happened with Reagan. Remember his memory lapses and the crazy stuff he would sometimes say? People adjusted to that because they liked Reagan (I was not a fan.) And now we've got pure insanity being spewed from the WH. We've accepted a new abnormal normal. Scary.
I really like Joe Biden, although I've never forgotten what he did to Anita Hill. He is a good, insightful, passionate, flawed man. What concerns me is many people feel so comfortable with him that they aren't paying that much attention to other candidates. They'd rather go with Uncle Joe, the guy they know and like. But the fact that Warren has gained so much traction is impressive, and gives me hope.
Another concern I have about Biden: would young people come out and vote for him?
Having said that, I do believe that Biden would do a good job, insofar as he would focus on the needs of our country. He would genuinely surround himself with the best advisers. And I would hope Biden would be smart and choose a young, progressive person as his running mate.
Anyway, it's still early in the game. We shall see.
@Lovendures and @Deetoo: I agree. Biden is too old school, his style is too go-with-the-flow. The "flow" is taking us to the edge of Niagara Falls, in a canoe. Borrowing from Barbara Kingsolver:
"The Arctic is genuinely collapsing. Scientists used to call these things the canary in the mine. What they say now is, The canary is dead. We are on top of Niagara Falls in a canoe. We got here by drifting, but we cannot turn around for a lazy paddle back when they finally stop pissing around. We have arrived at the point of an audible roar. Does it strike you as a good time to debate the existence of the falls?"
Biden will be too little too late. Under him, it will be like we are in hospice care when we really need someone to do CPR. He will be sweet and kind, but he's not strong enough to push through. We need the likes of AOC but she's not running, too young, and can't win. Warren is the stand-out candidate with the gusto, brains, and heart to get it done. This is my intuitive, psychic, vision of what needs to happen to turn that canoe around.
Quote is from Kingsolver's 2012 novel Flight Behavior
I agree with you all about Biden. He's too old, and too set in a mindset of the past to be an effective president in this critical time.
My $ is on Buttigieg, whom I think is not only young, energetic, progressive and pragmatic, but I think he can unite the country rather than further polarize. I have a feeling it will come down to Warren and Buttigieg, but my gut still says it will be Buttigieg in the end, mainly due to cross-over appeal.
I keep asking what the zodiac sign of the Democratic Candidate will be. I've gotten Aries or Scorpio several times I've asked (Sanders is Aries and Harris is Scorpio). But the card that comes up the most is the High Priestess (using Rider Waite there is that B and J on it). The High priestess represents the Moon and no zodiac sign is associated with it. Does anyone think that perhaps the High Priestess means Biden or Buttegieg?
Could the High Priestess and the lack of any associated zodiac sign mean that the question of the Democratic nominee is unsettled and that multiple dueling forces have yet to play out? That's how I've been feeling about the nominating process.
@triciact, Although the High Priestess isn't associated with any Zodiac sign, as you mentioned it does represent the Moon. And isn't the moon associated with Cancer? Could it be Warren? Her birthday is June 22nd.
Of course it is human nature to sometimes see what we want to see. Because I like Warren, it could be wishful thinking on my part!