Cont: The Biden Presidency (4)

On the Israel-Gaza thing, was there any sort of calculation on the part of Hamas to be on the news and in this battle just now? Did they fear that Trump would be elected in 2024 and then there would be less sympathy for Gaza? So better get this war going under Biden where they have some chance of controlling how Israel reacts? In terms of funding and UN involvement and all that.
 
Tero said:
On the Israel-Gaza thing, was there any sort of calculation on the part of Hamas to be on the news and in this battle just now? Did they fear that Trump would be elected in 2024 and then there would be less sympathy for Gaza? So better get this war going under Biden where they have some chance of controlling how Israel reacts? In terms of funding and UN involvement and all that.
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Obviously, this is in the realm of speculation, but I'd rate that as plausible, but likely of limited impact on their decision-making if so. Trump's a bit of a wild card, after all, and the anti-semitism, authoritarianism, and Russia that he's frequently pandered to make it plausible that Hamas might feel some kinship with him. He's not at all loyal to or actually a friend to Israel and that's pretty obvious to many of those paying attention.

If it were actually about US elections, though, I'd expect it to happen a bit closer to the actual election time.

Given Hamas' exchanges with Russia and the timing of the attack (Putin's birthday), it is much more likely that sucking up to Russia had a much more significant role in the timing, whether it be pandering or plot.
 
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Tero said:
On the Israel-Gaza thing, was there any sort of calculation on the part of Hamas to be on the news and in this battle just now? Did they fear that Trump would be elected in 2024 and then there would be less sympathy for Gaza? So better get this war going under Biden where they have some chance of controlling how Israel reacts? In terms of funding and UN involvement and all that.
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It was probably the US backed plans to normalize relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia that kicked off the latest round of Hamas killings. A lot of people supported the "If we ignore what Israel is doing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip it becomes much easier to make international economic deals" plan for Middle East Peace.

Normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia? Hamas did not like that. Hamas makes an attack so big that no one can pretend it didn't happen, Israel does what Israel always does, and the whole normalization thing is scuttled for the indefinite future.
 
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Tero said:
For the first time I looked at the graph and noticed that they have to ask two questions.
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/?cid=rrpromo

why would you have to ask: 1 Do you approve of Joe Biden? and 2 Do you disapprove of Joe Biden?
Why would you have to ask both?

This did not clarify it much
https://www.rasmussenreports.com/pu...n_administration/biden_approval_index_history
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As I see it, carving out a space for a neutral opinion. Someone might not "approve" of Biden, but still also not feel particularly negative about him. They would answer "no" to both.
 
In the news there are stories about Gaza, which nobody can control, and Trump with vermin speeches. The left leaning news seems to be intent on scaring voters. They run endless stories on polls. Those people polled do not actually watch Biden on TV. Not realizing that the more they run the stories the more it goes like this. “Biden incompetent say 54% of those polled.” The people polled are not likely to hear about Biden other than the last Israel trip. Politics is still click bait a year before the election in news.
 
Tero said:
The left leaning news seems to be intent on scaring voters.
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On a recent trip, the TV in our motel was on Fox News when my wife turned it on.

Laura Ingraham’s show was on. She had a Chinese lady on who was opining what happens when the left came after religion in her country with Ingraham saying the same was happening in the US. Followed by a story on the ineffectiveness of our attempts to control the southern border and the dire consequences of an “open border”. Followed by a third story where I don’t remember the topic*, only that it was another outrage of some sort with another outrage queued for after the commercial break. What an “outrage machine” is what I thought.

Maybe I’m a bit blind to it if Rachel Maddow or others on MSNBC and the left in general may be doing the same thing. Their outrage seems more justified by facts and a study of history. But it was glaringly obvious what Fox doing over just a 20 minute slice.


*I think it had to do with something Biden did - or didn’t - do with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Whatever it was, it was an outrage!
 
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Well, the belief in the 1900s, not the constitution, was that we have a multicultural society. A wide range of ideas on taxing was allowed. Not so much on moral issues. Religion was pretty much left in the background to be the basis of our morals.

As far as Fox and its hosts, every issue is a straw man. Abortion means "killing babies at 8.5 months."
 
Tero said:
The left leaning news seems to be intent on scaring voters.
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Fast Eddie B said:
Maybe I’m a bit blind to it if Rachel Maddow or others on MSNBC and the left in general may be doing the same thing.
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They would also talk about positive things Biden has done, or at least things Biden has done that they could call positive. But it's been a while since he's given them anything to work with.
 
These achievements mean nothing to Trump voters and independents. Cutting inflation is not sexy enough for news. Causing it, as GOP claimed Biden did, was.

Just once, Joe, call Trump the vermin that he is.
 
Tero said:
These achievements mean nothing to Trump voters and independents. Cutting inflation is not sexy enough for news. Causing it, as GOP claimed Biden did, was.

Just once, Joe, call Trump the vermin that he is.
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Why? Everyone that cares has already noticed.
 
gnome said:
Why? Everyone that cares has already noticed.
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Forthrightness is a positive trait. It implies that a leader is willing to meet challenges directly and honestly. Consider the opposite: a consummate politician who never utters a word that isn't focused grouped and polished to perfection. They may never outright lie to you, but you can be certain that you're never getting the whole unvarnished truth.

Or alternately, "will you shut up, man?" probably won Biden the presidency. We were all thinking it needed to be said.
 
Delvo said:
They would also talk about positive things Biden has done, or at least things Biden has done that they could call positive. But it's been a while since he's given them anything to work with.
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Silly Green Monkey said:
Is it? What was the last thing?
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Lessee....
1. After, "in his first year in office, employers added 6.6 million jobs, an all-time record, per CNN, for a president's initial 12 months in office. In January 2023, the country's unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point in more than half a century.

2. "2022 Inflation Reduction Act; as The New Republic’s Timothy Noah pointed out in September, “hourly wage increases exceeded inflation for the first time in two years” this past summer."

3. 'Similarly, The White House’s late-August release of the first 10 drugs that will qualify for Medicare price negotiations marked a major step forward in a long-awaited democratic priority expected to “unfold over the coming months, with the new prices taking effect in 2026,” according to The New York Times.'

4. "Less than one year into his term, Biden signed a $1.2 trillion dollar bipartisan infrastructure package into law, the effects of which have finally begun to be felt some two years later."

5. " Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in June 2022, it had been stripped of the assault weapons ban, high capacity magazine ban, and universal background checks" by the conservative controlled Supreme Court that Trump and McConnell put in place.

6. "(The Biden Admin.) has outpaced the three previous administrations while placing more than 100 new judges — many of them women and/or people of color — on the bench at both the appellate and, in the case of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Supreme Court level."

And the last things?

Nov. 3, 2020:

1. "the Department of Defense (DoD) announced additional security assistance to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs. This includes the drawdown of security assistance from DoD inventories valued at up to $125 million to meet Ukraine's immediate battlefield needs, as well as $300 million in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds to strengthen Ukraine's air defenses over the long term.

This announcement includes the Biden Administration's fiftieth tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021, including additional air defense capabilities, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and other equipment to help Ukraine counter Russia's ongoing war of aggression. This package utilizes assistance previously authorized for Ukraine during prior fiscal years under Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). Specific capabilities in this package include: See link for list)"

Nov 15, 2023:

"WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, two years after President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $3.5 billion from the Infrastructure Law to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and battery materials nationwide.

Nov. 15, 2023:

"Biden on Tuesday announced another investment of $6 billion from two of his signature legislative achievements – the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – to “make communities across the country more resilient to climate change.”

Includes:
An additional $3.9 billion toward strengthening the electric grid,
will award $2 billion to local projects that use clean energy to respond to climate challenges, $300 million to communities to reduce the impacts of future floods and the Department of Interior will designate $100 million for upgrades to infrastructure that enhance drought resilience.
 
Some of Fast Eddie's post replied to in the 24 election thread.
Fast Eddie B said:
*I think it had to do with something Biden did - or didn’t - do with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Whatever it was, it was an outrage!
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Apparently Chinese TV has been showing positive stories about the US ahead of Biden's upcoming visit.


Delvo said:
They would also talk about positive things Biden has done, or at least things Biden has done that they could call positive. But it's been a while since he's given them anything to work with.
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Maybe you should turn on the news once in a while. :rolleyes:
 
Biden's press conference went well. He clearly was not senile and the answers were not memorized canned answers.


ETA: It turns out Xi and Biden's relationship goes way back to when Biden was VP and Xi was not yet China's leader. It has been a good relationship according to reports.

Contrast that to Trump bragging about the fantastic chocolate cake that was served at Mar a Lardo when Xi visited.
 
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Stacyhs said:
Do you think that matters to the "Biden is senile" contingent? What does not confirm their bias is ignored.
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I think it matters to lurkers who are undecided but being influenced by the Biden bashing narrative.


Re my edit above: Mother Jones: Trump Brags About Eating the “Most Beautiful” Chocolate Cake During Syrian Missile Strike Decision
Then forgets which country he just bombed.
Recounting details about his decision to launch missile strikes on a Syrian air base last week, President Donald Trump took several moments during a Fox Business interview that aired Wednesday morning to enthuse about the “most beautiful” chocolate cake he enjoyed at his Palm Beach resort with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump was entertaining the Chinese leader at Mar-a-Lago when he ordered the military strike.

“I was sitting at the table, we had finished dinner,” Trump told Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo. “We’re now having dessert—and we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you’ve ever seen—and President Xi was enjoying it.”
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:rolleyes:
 
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