[Steve_American]

1. Half a million people died because of coronavirus under Biden administration.
2. Biden failed to stem spread of coronavirus.
3. Democrat controlled states cannot recover from lockdowns. Most recovering cities are Republican. 16 out of 20 are Republican controlled ones.
4. Rising consumer price index make people poorer under Biden administration. Therefore, American people able to buy less things under Biden than Trump.
5. Republican Party is getting popular among Hispanics. Florida is more leaning to Republican each day, for example.
6. Biden's border and immigration failure unite Republican bases and consolidating white vote.
7. Afghanistan disaster proved that Joe Biden is unfit to be commander in chief.
8. Republicans won 2020 general elections in terms of regional and local elections. This brought them redistricting advantage.
9. Biden shows no signs of defending US economy against China so far. Voters are disappointed with that.
10. "Woke agenda" disgusted even anti-Trumpists. Republicans are united against Democrat policies regardless of being pro-Trump or anti-Trump.
11. Democratic governors are facing serious challenges even in most Democratic leaning states. California governor recently faces a recall and a snap election.

Dear lurkers,
I'm sure most of you know that there has not been 500K covid deaths in the US since Biden took office.
When he took office covid deaths were somewhat over 600K.
I just looked it uo on google and 'yesterday' the total for the US was given as 637K deaths.
The difference between 600K and 637K is 37K, so since Pres. Biden took office more like 30,000 Americans have died of covid.
The difference between 30K and 500K is huge. 30K / 500K = 30/500= 0.06 =6%. So, he is off by a factor of 16.7.
Not only that, but Pres. Biden is not responsible for the covid deaths for over 30 days from Jan. 20th; maybe over 100 days from 1/20.

I don't know where Istanbuller gets his supposed facts, but it is not an accurate source.
Because of this, we ought to question every fact he presents.

A 2nd example is his blaming Biden for leaving Afghanistan and for the mess in the 1st few to several days of the evacuation. Here it was Trump who promised the Taliban to be out by May 31st and Trump gave the Taliban 10 air bases before Jan. 1st, 2021, as well as providing the Afghan Army $28B worth of 2nd rate weapons. Then, Pres. Biden is not able to find out the facts for himself. He must rely on people in the defense dept. to find out and tell him the truth. They failed him. Also, Biden was busy with covid and other things, so he could not personally plan for the evacuation. He had to leave it to the US DOD to do the planning. Again, the DOD failed him.
. . . Does anyone expect that Pres. Biden could have somehow collected those weapons from the Afghan Army? No, this thought is clearly impossible. The whole idea for the last 20 years was to create and train an Army that would defend the Afghan Gov. If we took the weapons away, the Army would fail to do that and it would be our fault.
.

[colliric]

Defending Dementia Joe to the bitter end ay?

Blaming everything on the DOD is classic!

[annatar1914]

Defending Dementia Joe to the bitter end ay?

Blaming everything on the DOD is classic!

@colliric ;

I'll say this about it, we are at war whether we realize it or not. Withdrawing from Afghanistan is a defeat, albeit an inevitable one given the population of the West's degeneracy and apathy at this point. The Taliban rightfully see this as a victory, a victory which they earned despite the natural superiority of the troops arrayed against them. But it isn't President Biden's fault as such, this was as I said a ''necessary'' withdrawal, one in which the feckless and politicized General officers need to resign for because of it's incompetent execution.

Now, if the population of the West had some understanding of the dire threat they are under, and some balls, all of this would have turned out different.

[Steve_American]

Defending Dementia Joe to the bitter end ay?

Blaming everything on the DOD is classic!

@ colliric,
Are you saying that Biden should have continued the war? I'm not sure, but I don't think this is your position.

Or, is your point that Pres. Biden should have moved his ofice into the Pentagon and personally planned the withdrawal? If he didn't move and plan the opperation, then what is wrong with me putting more of the blame on the DOD? It was their plan and it failed. It was their projections of how long the Afghan Gov. would hold Kabul that were wildly wrong. Or do you think Pres. Biden should have disguised himself and played James Bond in Afghanistan to find out for himself what was going to happen?

To use an example from history, was it mostly Pres. Roosevelt's fault that the US Army was surprised in the Battle of the Bulge? IMO, NO! It was in no way FDR's fault. That is not part of his job description.

OTOH, if FDR knew,or should have know about it, then it is partly his fault that Pearl Harbor was a total surprise. But, not the Battle of the Bulge.
.

[B0ycey]

Trump thought the election was stolen. He wanted to keep his hopes alive. I don't see anything wrong with this.

Well I wasn't against the farce that Rudy going to court to be shot down each time actually. But Trump didn't think the election was stolen. He was trying to pay off his election defeat. When you go to court with nothing and needing to overturn five states, that isn't hope, that is desperation. It is also desperation to phone the Georgia head of state to "Find some votes somewhere". The irony is the voter fraud that was found was Republican anyway. And perhaps that is what is wrong. Putting pressure of politicians to rig an election.

[ingliz]

General officers need to resign

This is how it should have been done.

The French began evacuating their local Afghan staff on May 10, finishing on July 17, four weeks before the Taliban took Kabul.

[annatar1914]

This is how it should have been done.

The French began evacuating their local Afghan staff on May 10, finishing on July 17, four weeks before the Taliban took Kabul.

@ingliz ;

The French military does maintain it's competence, to be sure. They keep up some understanding of the seriousness of the situation, whereas the US Military does not.

[Unthinking Majority]

Indeed he has. And this is exactly how his followers want it. They want laws to control minorities. That's all.

Rob a rich person though and you get a shit ton of time. Ask the late Bernie Madoff.

Trump will get the nomination if he is out of jail. That is correct. @Unthinking Majority may be correct that he can't win. The problem is though that Republicans will actually finish their coup if he is not. We would not have results for months and even then they will use the various state legislatures to give Trump the electoral votes anyway.

If there's a coup there will be a civil war, which i'm not worried at all about because Hollywood actors will surely defend Americans against gun-wielding military-junkie Trump supporters. I mean did you see Brad Pitt in 'Fury'?

[Drlee]

I just posted in another thread this same thing.

The Republicans do not have to work for election. They can just stand around and wait for the Democrats to hand the election to them.

Democrats had two huge victories this month. One is the Texas abortion bill and the other is the defeat of the recall in California. So what do they do?

They propose sweeping middle class tax hikes. Yes they fuck rich people more but they break it off in every small businessman in the country to the tune of a minimum 20% (or more) tax hike.

So the score for the month.

Republican loss in California +1 for Democrats

Texas abortion law +1 for Democrats

Fucked Afghanistan bug out +1 for Republicans

Raise Taxes on Middle Class +9 for Republicans

Oh. And just in case that did not work, DRAMATICALLY raise taxes on local mom and pop businesses. And small minority businesses. And veteran owned businesses. And doctor's practices.
An to gift even more to Republicans, you have the Biden administration doing less than nothing about immigration, the environment, and mainly voter suppression.

2022 could be a republican rout if the dems do not get their heads out of their asses.

[Rancid]

2022 could be a republican rout if the dems do not get their heads out of their asses.

INdeed.

Generally, I'm fine with a Republican rout, but not this time around given all the MAGA morons.

[Drlee]

INdeed.

Generally, I'm fine with a Republican rout, but not this time around given all the MAGA morons.

Amen Brother.

If we could have Nixon back for 8 years he would fix the economy, fix the environment, balance the budget, get our international affairs in order and tell the truth infinitely more frequently than even the best of today's republicans. After all. What are a couple of burglars to a million needless deaths?

[Potemkin]

Amen Brother.

If we could have Nixon back for 8 years he would fix the economy, fix the environment, balance the budget, get our international affairs in order and tell the truth infinitely more frequently than even the best of today's republicans. After all. What are a couple of burglars to a million needless deaths?

Indeed. Compared to the Presidents who followed him, Richard Milhous Nixon looks like a saint.

[Doug64]

Been awhile for this thread, but we have a big election tomorrow in Virginia. In that Blue State (currently 23.1% on my personal Red/Blue scale) where Democrats have one the last six elections for the senate, the last four for president, and two of the last three for governor, Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball just flipped the governor's race from Leans Democrat to Leans Republican. So will this be a harbinger of next year? Maaayyybeee....... In the Crystal Ball's last word on Virginia, they look at how often the Virginia race presaged the following federal elections, and while when you looked deep into the history the answer not much. But looking at recent history:

Tim Kaine (D) succeeded Mark Warner as governor in 2005, and the Democrats took over both houses of Congress in 2006. President Bush is one of the vital links, of course. He was already down in the polls by November 2005 because of the Iraq War and his mishandling of Hurricane Katrina, and it only got worse for Bush in 2006.

In 2009, Bob McDonnell (R) scored a massive 17 percentage point knockout for governor, partly because President Obama’s ratings were sinking. The health care battle and the balky economy energized Republicans and discouraged Democratic turnout (though a weak Virginia Democratic nominee played a major role as well). One could contend that McDonnell’s triumph presaged Scott Brown’s January 2010 capture of Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat in Massachusetts and the national Republican takeover of the House in November 2010.

Eight years ago, in 2013, McAuliffe (D) won the governorship by just 2.5 points over then-state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R), a margin that was closer than the polls suggested. McAuliffe’s victory — the first time since 1973 that the presidential party candidate won the governorship — did not predict Democratic gains nationally, as Republicans built their biggest House majority since before the Great Depression, flipped control of the Senate, and netted a few governorships.

And most recently, in 2017, Ralph Northam (D) ran ahead of the polls and beat Ed Gillespie (R) by about 9 points. That did reflect a Democratic-leaning environment nationally, particularly in diverse and highly-educated suburban areas like Northern Virginia. That environment continued into 2018, when Democrats flipped the House and netted several governorships, though they did not win back the Senate in large part due to a very challenging map.

In summary, 3 of the last 4 Virginia elections did end up being bellwethers for the future, and perhaps the surprising closeness of McAuliffe’s 2013 victory ended up being something of harbinger for 2014 as well. The Virginia results from the more distant past are more mixed, with some elections serving as previews of the following year’s midterm and others not.

But win or lose, the fact that Youngkin is doing so well in a solid Blue state should be terrifying for Democrats.

[Doug64]

And now Fox News, ABC, NBC, and CNN have all called it, Republican Glenn Youngkin wins the governorship of a Blue state that Biden carried by +9.4. And in a major surprise, the governor's race in New Jersey is too close to call, and is very unlikely to be called tonight--and so far as I know, almost no one saw that coming. That one-two--especially the "two"--has to scaring Democrats spitless.

[Doug64]

Additional news from Virginia, the new lieutenant governor is Winsome Sears. She's the first Black woman elected to statewide office in Virginia, and not her first "first" in that state, she was also the first naturalized citizen to serve in the Virginia House ... and the first Republican woman. Another reason for Democrats to be terrified of what this night might portend.

[Drlee]

Democrats should be terrified of the next election. It is looking now like they are going to lose the house as well as the senate. Why?

They are a mess. They are chasing shit that nobody wants, giving the credit to republicans for the little they are doing and just looking rudderless in general.

[colliric]

Democrats should be terrified of the next election. It is looking now like they are going to lose the house as well as the senate. Why?

They are a mess. They are chasing shit that nobody wants, giving the credit to republicans for the little they are doing and just looking rudderless in general.

In the eyes of the general public, they lost Afganistan since they were in charge when the loss happened.... Deal with it.

Also I've heard Gas and other products is like three or four times the usual price from a few years back which is never a good sign for a sitting federal government, also the democrats are proposing tax hikes in the middle of a major financial crisis. But mainly Afganistan.

[Doug64]

@Drlee, we agree on something again! But yeah, next November is a year away, but for Democrats to hold on would require them to actually learn something from this debacle (for them). Considering the voices blaming their defeat on racism and White Supremacy that doesn't seem likely. (Ludicrous, when you consider that Virginia's new lieutenant governor is Black and its new state district attorney is Hispanic, and apparently the new Republican governor won 54% of the Hispanic vote.)

Meanwhile in New Jersey the Democratic governor won reelection by the skin of his teeth, and last I heard the Democratic state Senate President is a couple thousand votes behind his Republican opponent--a truck driver who spent a grand total of $153 on his campaign. And in Minneapolis the referendum to abolish the police went down to defeat (resulting in at least one activist threatening the torching of another precinct), and in the race for Seattle City Attorney a Law-and-Order Republican is leading her police-abolitionist Democratic opponent 59-41 (the Republican received the endorsement of two former Democratic governors, the Democrat tweeted about her “rabid hatred” for police, praising violence on officers and destructive riots).

So now Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball has shifted four 2022 Senate races towards the Republicans, Michael Bennet (D-CO) from Safe Democrat to Likely Democrat, and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and C. Cortez Masto (D-NV) from Leans Democrat to Toss-Up.

We're in for an interesting year.

[annatar1914]

@Drlee, we agree on something again! But yeah, next November is a year away, but for Democrats to hold on would require them to actually learn something from this debacle (for them). Considering the voices blaming their defeat on racism and White Supremacy that doesn't seem likely. (Ludicrous, when you consider that Virginia's new lieutenant governor is Black and its new state district attorney is Hispanic, and apparently the new Republican governor won 54% of the Hispanic vote.)

Meanwhile in New Jersey the Democratic governor won reelection by the skin of his teeth, and last I heard the Democratic state Senate President is a couple thousand votes behind his Republican opponent--a truck driver who spent a grand total of $153 on his campaign. And in Minneapolis the referendum to abolish the police went down to defeat (resulting in at least one activist threatening the torching of another precinct), and in the race for Seattle City Attorney a Law-and-Order Republican is leading her police-abolitionist Democratic opponent 59-41 (the Republican received the endorsement of two former Democratic governors, the Democrat tweeted about her “rabid hatred” for police, praising violence on officers and destructive riots).

So now Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball has shifted four 2022 Senate races towards the Republicans, Michael Bennet (D-CO) from Safe Democrat to Likely Democrat, and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Raphael Warnock (D-GA), and C. Cortez Masto (D-NV) from Leans Democrat to Toss-Up.

We're in for an interesting year.

@Doug64 ;

If any group of politicians can lose an election that they could easily win, and do so repeatedly, it would be the Republican Party. They are the ''Washington Generals'' of politics, they can be counted on to run for second place most of the time.

But... There's blood in the water, and opportunities for ambitious GOP politicians, so it's possible that they are actually planning on really winning from now on. This is what they are learning from President Trump.

[Doug64]

If any group of politicians can lose an election that they could easily win, and do so repeatedly, it would be the Republican Party. They are the ''Washington Generals'' of politics, they can be counted on to run for second place most of the time.

That's the kind of thinking that's likely to hand Congress back to the Republicans.