M.I.A. Joe

Written By: - Date published: 12:48 pm, March 22nd, 2020 - 19 comments
Categories: Bernie Sanders, covid-19, elections, health, health and safety, human rights, International, leadership, Politics, the praiseworthy and the pitiful, us politics, you couldn't make this shit up - Tags: , , , ,

The guy who touted himself as the one who “get things done” (and god knows what else) – where is he?

As the likely Democratic challenger for the position of US President, it might have been expected that Joe Biden would be gearing up and have a thing or two to say about the Trump administration and the COVID 19 stuff.

It might have been expected that he would be showing off some “President in waiting” gravitas and what not. It might have been expected he’d be all over CNN and MSNBC calling shots. But no. He’s ‘gone to ground’ – disappeared – vanished.

Bernie Sanders on the other hand has  “released a blueprint for what he believes is necessary to fight the pandemic while also protecting working families and the nation’s most vulnerable from economic fallout.” and has been live-streaming, holding virtual round tables and using his email lists for the common good (fundraising for charities working on the outbreak).

M.I.A. Joe does have “The Biden Plan to Combat Coronavirus (COVID 19) and Prepare for Future Global Health Threats“. It’s posturing; a vapid exercise of bureaucratic speak.

In stark contrast, there’s Sanders’ “An Emergency Response to the Coronaviris Pandemic“

Independent media are pulling no punches on Joe’s apparent inadequacy …

And from a piece at CommonDreams

Journalist and co-founder of The Intercept Jeremy Scahill, tweeted: “We were all told that we desperately need Joe Biden’s leadership and experience. Now all we have to do is find him.”

You got to hand it to the DNC.

Not only did they run on RussiaGate tosh for most of Trump’s term (charges against the IRA have been dropped btw), and not only did they push an impeachment on a nothing (there is video of Biden boasting, how as VP he got Ukraine to fire a state prosecutor in a quid pro quo for aid), but they pushed their base out to vote in the middle of a pandemic so they could ‘seal the deal’ and give the US public Joe and another term of Donald Trump.

No doubt the price will have been worth it – gotta keep that gravy train running at all costs.

 

 

 

19 comments on “M.I.A. Joe ”

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  1. AB 1
    22 March 2020 at 1:11 pm

    If the only source of your appeal is that you are not Trump – then silence has to be rated as a pass mark. As the US heads into a world of -pain with C-19, it likely will become a vindication of Sander's policies – M4A and rebuilding public infrastructure at least. Sadly, it is rational to expect humans (especially powerful ones) to keep throwing opportunities to fix things down the toilet repeatedly.

  2. Siobhan 2
    22 March 2020 at 1:48 pm

    Should Biden have to be replaced it will be hilarious watching the political establishment, and his shamed endorsers, running for the hills claiming they hadn't noticed his clearly fragile state, though the real shame being they feel no embarrassment endorsing a guy with such appalling political/social stands, let alone a guy who lies with total impunity.

    • bill 2.1
      23 March 2020 at 10:49 am

      endorsing a guy with such appalling political/social stands, let alone a guy who lies with total impunity.

      It seems that, unlike last time when most on the left held their nose and voted Clinton, that swathes are simply not going to vote this time – regardless of whether they live in a swing state or not.

  3. te reo putake 3
    22 March 2020 at 2:00 pm

    Biden's been pretty busy, as it happens. Like a lot of Americans, he's staying at home as much as possible, but still communicating directly with the media, and with the wider community via social media.

    https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2020-03-21/biden-bides-his-time-as-coronavirus-pandemic-freezes-2020-campaign.

    • Bill 3.1
      22 March 2020 at 2:36 pm

      [Biden] said he spends up to seven hours a day on the phone — talking with governors, senators, House members, mayors, policy experts and hospital officials. And of course he talks to his own policy and political staffs, who also are mostly working from home, spread along the Eastern Seaboard.

      No public display of leadership then. Imagine if Ardern (or any politician really) was to say she was too busy on the phone to communicate with the public.

      But sure. We'll see what happens as from Tuesday our time, given that –

      his staff was working on fitting out his Delaware home and nearby campaign office to allow regular public statements and briefings with reporters (…)

      “I want to be in daily or at least significant contact with the American people and communicate what I would be doing, what I think we should be doing, and how we should be doing it,” Biden said. “I promise you that’s on the way.”

      The idea, which he hopes to launch Monday…

      Maybe they're having problems with the router?

      • te reo putake 3.1.1
        22 March 2020 at 3:01 pm

        Similar bullshit to the claims in the post, Bill.

        Biden is in regular communication with the media, his supporters and the wider public. He's at home because that's the responsible thing to do in the circumstances.

        The campaigning for the Presidential nomination is over because he's won it hands down, so there's nothing he needs to say there. He's been regularly criticising Trump's weirdo responses to Covid-19 regularly on social media and doing everything you'd expect he could do in these difficult times.

        If any polly has gone missing in recent days, it's not Biden. We could probably start the search closer to home, because Simon Bridges has been strangely quiet since he buggered up the response to the Gov't Covid support package.

        Still, it's an eerily quiet Sunday, so I suppose any old strawman fantasy will help while away the hours. Stay healthy cobber, and all the best, TRP.

        • Bill 3.1.1.1
          22 March 2020 at 9:21 pm

          Similar bullshit to the claims in the post, Bill.

          You didn't realise the quotes I provided are from the link you posted to (presumably) back your assertion that " Biden's been pretty busy, as it happens." ?

          Anyway. Go well (both you and yours).

    • Morrissey 3.2
      22 March 2020 at 2:48 pm

      Biden certainly has a pretty busy fantasy life. His recent fantastic claims about his opposing the aggression against Iraq are only the latest of his outlandish lies.

      In 1987 he said to a reporter in Claremont, N.H.:

      “I think I have a much higher I.Q. than you do I suspect. I went to law school on a full academic scholarship, the only one in my class to have a full academic scholarship. In the first year of the law school, I decided I didn’t want to be in law school and ended up in the bottom two-thirds of my class. And then I decided to stay, went back to law school, and in fact ended up in the top half of my class. I was an outstanding student in the political science department and graduated with three degrees from college.”

      All of those claims collapsed on inspection by reporters.

      Trump will eat him alive.

      • Ex Cantabrian 3.2.1
        23 March 2020 at 3:00 am

        Biden may not be perfect but he is a damn sight brighter than Trump!

        • bill 3.2.1.1
          23 March 2020 at 10:43 am

          You know that's entirely beside the point, yes? A soggy water biscuit would be a match for both of them, but the point of the post is that a guy who reckons he'd make a great President, and who has a chance to show how Presidential he is….well, he's no-where to be seen.

  4. Ad 4
    22 March 2020 at 3:47 pm

    It would not be too much to ask to have the previous U.S. Presidents call out President Trump for his incompetence. None of them have anything to lose, and Clinton and Obama in particular have pretty much stellar opinion ratings that afford them some insulation.

    They have public cache ready to use.

    For example, Truman had no compunction coming out against JF Kennedy:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y49FJYbjA4I

    (Although I do agree that the best way for Trump to lose is to just let him)

    • bill 4.1
      23 March 2020 at 11:05 am

      It would not be too much to ask to have the previous U.S. Presidents call out President Trump for his incompetence.

      I can't really see how that one would work. Trump took the game they built up and has been running with it. The suggestion he's been "incompetent" at doing that achieves….what exactly?

      People don't want the game that the Clinton's and Obama's of the world set up. So saying Trump was "incompetent" at developing that game further wouldn't count as much of a negative.

      What the ex-presidents don't want, is a Sanders trashing out their legacy. They're happy enough with Trump.

  5. adam 5
    22 March 2020 at 4:55 pm

    I don't know what is worse, Biden or all the Biden sycophants.

    The only good thing about the guy, is it seems sections of the left in the US have finally realised – that voting for the democratic party because they not the GOP – is a waste of their vote if they want real, meaningful, social democratic change. Took em long enough.

  6. A 6
    22 March 2020 at 7:22 pm

    He has the virus!!

    I'd bet a chunk of money Biden + Trump also come down with it. Why not? They run in the same circles.

  7. Gosman 7
    23 March 2020 at 8:57 am

    You are criticising Biden for what not doing what many are criticising Bridges for doing i.e. getting in behind the national effort to combat the outbreak. Sanders suggestings are a joke. He would have a snowball's chance of getting them through congress even if he was President and they mean nothing at this point beyond politicking purposes.

    • bill 7.1
      23 March 2020 at 10:41 am

      Really?

      So the proposal to Use the Defense Production Act to mobilize resources. (something I believe Trump has enacted) is a joke and would not get through Congress?

      The proposal to Cover all health care treatment for free, including coronavirus testing, treatment, and the eventual vaccine. is also a joke and would not get through Congress, even though things are currently moving in that direction?

      The proposal to Keep workers on payroll (through business subsidies) is a joke and would not pass Congress?

      The proposal to Provide direct, emergency $2,000 cash payments to every person in America every month for the duration of the crisis is a joke and would not get through Congress, although Trump has already authorised some direct payments?

      I could go on. But it's pretty obvious you didn't read the link and are engaging in bad faith – not something I'm going to have much of any tolerance for.

        • bill 7.1.1.1
          23 March 2020 at 12:32 pm

          Aye well.

          As I've said repeatedly, most politicians are just those dull fucks on community boards and such like who had enough cunning to game themselves to "bigger" things. They only know how to dance to the piper who brought them to where they are.

          On the other side, my basic worry is that we're become so inured to a liberal mindset that we're way too far gone to revive any sense of community for ourselves – ie, as people acting independently from a political class, we're unable to collectively organise our way out of a soggy paper bag.

      • Tiger Mountain 7.1.2
        23 March 2020 at 12:28 pm

        Bernie looks like the President in waiting when you consider his organising activity the last several weeks. The Sanders Campaign and the movements that support it have for months raised every facet of the shitstorm currently hitting the USA–and what to do about it.

        What I find most disappointing about the centrists–never mind the declared right wingers–whimping on about supporting Biden, is that they do not actually seem to embrace the social goals and policy points of the Sanders Campaign and its constituent peoples movements. Think about that; why would people that claim to be leftists not support medicare for all etc.? It is not about timing, electability, Congress/Senate numbers, it is in my opinion about vacillation and class collaboration when it comes down to it.

        The Democrats have been exposed yet again with their 90s style horse trading in the House and Senate over the virus. Always the corporates are favoured. I hope the Bernie Campaign stays in the Primaries till the end to get the best policy concessions they can for working people out of the rotten Democrat tops before the elections.