Well, well. McCarthy actually acted for the good of the country

Of the presidents who were elected to the position--as opposed to those who were elevated from the VP--exactly one has been denied re-nomination by his party. That was Franklin Pierce. He's the list.

There is NO reason to think this re-nomination will be any different. Nor should it be.

Thus, Biden ignoring any declared Democrats is NOT the same as Trump doing it.

 

It would probably only provide fodder for Republican attacks and have terrible ratings. JFK Jr is a joke, a bad joke of a politician. If there was someone interesting running against Biden then I'd have a different opinion.

 

RFK is a wako looney tune. Not even his own family supports him. Then his idea to run as an independent makes no sense unless he wants to return Trump to the Oval Office. I'd definitely pick a too old Biden before I'd pick a looney tune Daffy Duck.

quote:
Kennedy is an attorney who made his name as an environmental campaigner before achieving notoriety as a prominent vaccine sceptic, particularly over Covid-19. His campaign has been rife with controversy, not least in a podcast interview released this week in which he repeated a conspiracy theory about the 9/11 attacks on New York.

His campaign has also been roiled by an antisemitism scandal after Kennedy told reporters at a press dinner that Covid-19 was “ethnically targeted” at white people and Black people, while Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people had greater immunity. The false claim was embraced by neo-Nazi groups and condemned by scientists and Jewish organizations.

Kennedy’s remarks echoed antisemitic tropes that circulated widely during the pandemic and portrayed the coronavirus as a global Jewish plot, causing members of Kennedy’s own family to denounce him for “deplorable and untruthful” comments.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/29/robert-kennedy-jr-independent-run-president-2024

 

Respectfully, I disagree. Ironically, for similar reasons I feel Trump should not debate. (Different dynamic, as I said in a post above, but same reason.)

Debating these others elevates them and lowers the leader in question. It makes Biden (or Trump) look like just another contender. As if there is a decision to make. There isn't in either case. Biden because he's the incumbent and has been successful. Trump because he's the overwhelming favorite of Republican voters.

The RNC has to hold debates so it appears to favor democracy. But when was the last time an incumbent president participated in debates during the primary?

 

Perhaps. But that's not what happened in 2016, when Jill Stein peeled off people turned off by Hillary Clinton (as did Trump).

I think RFK Jr running as a 3rd party candidate would have the same effect.

 

My point was that I'm concerned about Biden's age. I wish he wouldn't run. I wish there was an open Democratic primary but, RFK would not be a reasonable choice even it were. Rich is right though. This isn't an open primary. Biden is the incumbent and if he wants to run again, then he gets it. That's just the way it works. Trump is smart not to debate. Biden would be foolish to debate.

Regarding who a run by RFK would help and hurt. I found this.

quote:
(NewsNation) — A poll conducted by a super PAC supporting Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reports a third-party bid would pull more support from former President Donald Trump than President Joe Biden.

https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/2024-election/poll-rfk-jr-would-pull-more-support-from-trump-than-biden/#:~:text=(NewsNation) — A poll conducted,Trump than President Joe Biden.

But that could be a dangerous game since political tides can turn quickly.

 

Lightweights all other that DJT who seems to be running as if he's the incumbent. Hm. Well, other Non Lightweights on the GOP side are Pence and...well, maybe DeSantis. The rest are nobodies. On the Democrat side, Biden of course and no one else.

I think Pence is smarter than he seems to stay in the race.

 

Elon Musk apparently is following the plan designed by a racist which involved buying X (formally known as Twitter) and what he has done with it since. Here's the article explaining it.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/was-elon-musks-strategy-twitter-rcna118490

 

I'm sorry, but Green, Libertarian, or independent doesn't matter. When it comes to presidential politics, those are distinctions without a difference.

 

Oh, I will not forgive Ralph Nadar in this lifetime. I cannot say for sure that he cost Al Gore the Electoral College vote in Florida in 2000 (Gore, of course, won the popular vote) but Nader sure didn't help.

Bush II was a genuine horror. Even Trump didn't kill a hundred thousand people for oil.

 

How Many Bombs Did the United States Drop in 2016?


_pop
Obama Biden Dunford

[Note: This post was updated to reflect an additional strike in Yemen in 2016, announced by U.S. Central Command on January 12, 2017.]

As President Obama enters the final weeks of his presidency, there will be ample assessments of his foreign military approach, which has focused on reducing U.S. ground combat troops (with the notable exception of the Afghanistan surge), supporting local security partners, and authorizing the expansive use of air power. Whether this strategy “works”—i.e. reduces the threat posed by extremists operating from those countries and improves overall security and governance on the ground—is highly contested. Yet, for better or worse, these are the central tenets of the Obama doctrine.

In President Obama’s last year in office, the United States dropped 26,172 bombs in seven countries. This estimate is undoubtedly low, considering reliable data is only available for airstrikes in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya, and a single "strike," according to the Pentagon’s definition, can involve multiple bombs or munitions. In 2016, the United States dropped 3,028 more bombs—and in one more country, Libya—than in 2015.

Most (24,287) were dropped in Iraq and Syria. This number is based on the percentage of total coalition airstrikes carried out in 2016 by the United States in Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR), the counter-Islamic State campaign. The Pentagon publishes a running count of bombs dropped by the United States and its partners, and we found data for 2016

 

I feel guilty, laughing -- but yeah.