Joe Biden issues new statement on the transgender debate

[ripx4nutmeg]

In a Q&A he said he'll reverse all 'anti trans' executive orders if he becomes president. He revealed again that he doesn't really know anything about the trans debate but implied he will still give campaigners everything they want twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1316913590620852224?s=20

I can't quite imagine the response if I told any black person I know that I wouldn't have a serious or spirited political discussion with them because they are black. Or I can, but it wouldn't be a nice thing to imagine.

It's just a bit Robin Diangelo.

@WaxOnFeckOff

Trump is bad but Biden is no better. He's also a proven liar, has dodgy sexual history and has dementia.

Don't be so bloody ridiculous. They are night and day

@shamalidacdak - yes.

It's frustrating that there isn't a perfect Democratic candidate, but when I watch UK political leader races it hardly feels like the Battle of the Titans either.

Sanders polling: Goosefoot is right : there was a poll ages ago that suggested that Sanders might have done better than Clinton against Trump. However there were many caveats about that - one that Sanders had not been vetted . The Trump campaign had lots of oppo research on Sanders (which sort of hilariously they are now trying to use against the present nominee by calling Biden 'socialst') In their Sanders attacks they would have brought out things like (I am putting these in the most negative light, as they would have done): his long period out of work, being a deadbeat dad, his wife's financial dealings with a university which caused it to close, some dodgy misogynistic college writings, his pro-Sandinista past -- see here for that particular bit: nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/05/bernie-sanders-pro-sandinista-past-problem.html) That would certainly be their spin on him and that would be a problem for lots of US voters.

If you are interested, here is a more recent analysis from the Washington Post, which after discussing Sanders' weakness with swing voters says:

'Another line of argument centers on the idea that Sanders’s record isn’t well known and his politics is of limited appeal. Most Americans say they wouldn’t vote for a socialist for president. Sanders isn’t a socialist, as he will remind you, but he has consistently been positioned as one by his primary opponents and the president. As voters start tuning in, the difference between “socialist” and “Democratic socialist” may get blurry.'

You can read the full article here: www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/24/who-would-win-trump-sanders-election/

And most importantly, Sanders was put before the Democratic electorate - twice - in primaries and, ultimately, they didn't go for him. You may think they were wrong but that's democracy.

And I guess, in a couple of weeks, we'll see what it has in store for us.

I would have definitely said Biden is a socialist.
I heard a speech from him a few months ago about what he wanted to give the American people.

My thoughts were he was Jeremy Corbyn mark 2.

Biden is socialist? That's hilarious!

And most importantly, Sanders was put before the Democratic electorate - twice - in primaries and, ultimately, they didn't go for him. You may think they were wrong but that's democracy

Yes it’s hard to imagine he could win the general if he could not convincingly win the primaries.

I have to admit though, I’m not all that familiar with Sanders policies but what I hear is enough to turn me off: free college, college loan forgiveness, Medicare for all, Green New Deal.

I know that those policies appeal to a lot of people, but not enough of them to make a difference in the primary.

I would be pro those policies, I suppose the devil is in the detail though.

College debt is a big issue for many Americans, and really holds them back from launching middle class type lives. I'm using middle class in what I think is the American sense, as in get on the property ladder, start a family.

A green new deal sounds great too, but again the details.
There's no reason though why elements can't be brought in. Future proofing infrastructure while creating employment even on small localised scales would be a step forward. Even done privately but the govt stepping in with tax rebates on qualifying projects. It doesnt need FDR for that, couldn't that be expanded at state or even city level?

College debt is a big issue for many Americans, and really holds them back from launching middle class type lives

I’m in favor of freezing interest or something like that, not total loan forgiveness.

Free college to me seems like a total waste of money. I don’t want to subsidize a bunch of useless (and way overpriced) college degrees. I’m not sure why it can cost 40,000+ a year for a liberal arts degree. Surely making them free on ‘Uncle Sam’ is not going to help with lowering costs ....

I’d only really be in favor of free college if you severely limit the spots, and have to prove you can do the course by passing an exam. Maybe allow more intakes for degrees that are considered critical.

However, the way things are going in the US, it’s hard to imagine mass support for rationing college degrees when the emphasis has always been on getting more into college.

Already you see some radicals wanting to get rid of anything that objectively measures student achievements (like the SATs/ACTs) but this is really the only way to ensure fairness.

A green new deal sounds great too, but again the details

A Green Nuclear Deal is the only thing I’d support and the only thing really proven to reduce emissions by a large factor (well, actually, natural gas replacing coal is another low-hanging fruit that does really reduce emissions)

There's no reason though why elements can't be brought in. Future proofing infrastructure while creating employment even on small localised scales would be a step forward. Even done privately but the govt stepping in with tax rebates on qualifying projects. It doesnt need FDR for that, couldn't that be expanded at state or even city level?

Yep, could definitely be done at a State level and would probably be most effective done that way.

NRatched - I think you may have misunderstood me. I'm not arguing that Boris is all 'nice and smiles' or not a racist. I think he clearly is a racist (though less overtly so than Trump).

But the difference between him and Corbyn was that headlines had been focusing - rightly - for years on Corbyn's anti-Semitism. Labour is being investigated by the EHRC for institutional racism. And the kind of people who are likely to vote Labour are likely to particularly care about racism and be turned off by a party leadership that is overtly racist, as Corbyn's was.

So yes, of course Johnson is/was racist. But this is/was less obsessional - it appears like being anti-racist is something Johnson has no interest in, whereas Corbyn clearly appeared to actually target Jews, less apparent, less reported, and Tory voters care less about racism anyway and are less likely to change their vote based on it as a factor.

Biden is socialist? That's hilarious

Well what do you call someone who wants to tax the rich to give to the poor.
And we all know what happens when governments try to tax the rich.
The rich leave or they hire tax accountants to reconfigure their earnings do the state get $0 to less than they are getting atm

Biden is all for free college but there is something distinctly off about the wording and his vision.

Only 2 years free at a community college then transfer to a 4 year college. I really didn’t think there was any need to mention Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions.
It makes it sound like that these colleges are the only ones that will be guaranteed funding.

Oh crack a book, start with a dictionary

@Oliversmumsarmy

Biden is socialist? That's hilarious

Well what do you call someone who wants to tax the rich to give to the poor.
And we all know what happens when governments try to tax the rich.
The rich leave or they hire tax accountants to reconfigure their earnings do the state get $0 to less than they are getting atm

Biden is all for free college but there is something distinctly off about the wording and his vision.

Only 2 years free at a community college then transfer to a 4 year college. I really didn’t think there was any need to mention Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority-Serving Institutions.
It makes it sound like that these colleges are the only ones that will be guaranteed funding.

Ha ha ha ha ha.

Excellent parody account.

@xxyzz

NRatched - I think you may have misunderstood me. I'm not arguing that Boris is all 'nice and smiles' or not a racist. I think he clearly is a racist (though less overtly so than Trump).

But the difference between him and Corbyn was that headlines had been focusing - rightly - for years on Corbyn's anti-Semitism. Labour is being investigated by the EHRC for institutional racism. And the kind of people who are likely to vote Labour are likely to particularly care about racism and be turned off by a party leadership that is overtly racist, as Corbyn's was.

So yes, of course Johnson is/was racist. But this is/was less obsessional - it appears like being anti-racist is something Johnson has no interest in, whereas Corbyn clearly appeared to actually target Jews, less apparent, less reported, and Tory voters care less about racism anyway and are less likely to change their vote based on it as a factor.

Got you. Sorry obviously massively misunderstood what you meant. I tend to have a bit of a kneejerk reaction when people excuse Boris racism, though of course you didn't do that but I thought you did (for some reason, given the rest of your posts on the topic,. that assumption seems a bit daft I realise!). So many friends will say 'oh hes just using outdated language, he doesn't mean it, hes just old fashioned like many older people' and stuff like that. Which tends to set me off a bit

@7Days

Delphinium I am genuinely very surprised that you say that it was Southerners in Maga hats doing the rioting. I genuinely haven't seen that anywhere - all the news that I've read seem to be saying it's a small proportion of Black Block activists. Obviously I'm not there - but I read sources from right across the spectrum so thought I was kinda hitting the middle.

Hope you are well. I'm just pulling up from much earlier in the thread as in the last 2 days there have been several arrests and developments from the riots in May in the US. Namely, they are far right groups, some having driven up from several states and some are directly linked to the fires at the Minneapolis police station. here’s the AP who put it out yesterday https://apnews.com/article/c7391638033e527ee453470481cbabce

NYTimes today did a comprehensive story on how the far right is responsible for most US terrorism. It's these groups that sparked Biden to want to run for president.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/us/domestic-terrorist-groups.html

Thanks for the questions

@BovaryX

If you lived here, you'd know it wasn't the leftist burning our communities

@Delphinium20

That is a laughable lie. It's Southerners in MAGA hats trashing Portland? Do you imagine that anyone believes you? Sorry. Another narrative fail.

Laughing now?

apnews.com/article/c7391638033e527ee453470481cbabce

A Texas man who says he is affiliated with the Boogaloo Bois anti-government movement and is suspected of opening fire on a Minneapolis police station during a protest in May is facing riot charges, a federal prosecutor announced Friday.

www.nytimes.com/2020/10/24/us/domestic-terrorist-groups.html Far-Right Groups Are Behind Most U.S. Terrorist Attacks, Report Finds

Well what do you call someone who wants to tax the rich to give to the poor.

Using that logic Boris Johnson and Margaret Thatcher are also socialists. All governments tax the rich. Difficult to tax people who don’t have money.

@Delphinium20

From your own article:

According to a criminal complaint, Hunter traveled from Texas to Minneapolis in late May to join in protests over George Floyd’s death

Doesn’t sound like a right-winger to me ... didn’t you read before posting? Or were you hoping that nobody would read down that far?

He was also high-fiving somebody while shouting ‘Justice for Floyd’ after shooting up that police building and bragged that he was attacking the police station with the black community. This was printed in none other than the Guardian (somewhat shockingly):

www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/23/texas-boogaloo-boi-minneapolis-police-building-george-floyd

NYTimes today did a comprehensive story on how the far right is responsible for most US terrorism. It's these groups that sparked Biden to want to run for president

And white nationalist Richard Spenser endorsed Joe Biden. What’s your point again?

Besides, anyone with eyes can see that it’s antifa vandalizing, looting and burning down businesses. But if the police won’t lift a finger to arrest these punks and the DAs won’t prosecute them when they actually are arrested, that means their actions won’t get tabulated into any sort of criminal database.

And then people like you can come on here and bleat about right-wing terror all the while it’s these BLM/Antifa activists destroying our inner cities, displacing residents and forcing small businesses to shut their doors forever. Insidious.

That's some selective cutting and pasting you just did there. The Texas man joined the protests NOT as a supporter of George Floyd but as an instigator of civil unrest because he belongs to a right wing group called the Boogaloo Bois.

Besides, anyone with eyes can see that it’s antifa vandalizing, looting and burning down businesses. But if the police won’t lift a finger to arrest these punks and the DAs won’t prosecute them when they actually are arrested, that means their actions won’t get tabulated into any sort of criminal database.

Now you are just making shit up.

That's some selective cutting and pasting you just did there. The Texas man joined the protests NOT as a supporter of George Floyd but as an instigator of civil unrest because he belongs to a right wing group called the Boogaloo Bois

He was a supporter of George Floyd and participated in the BLM riots. Why else would he be screaming ‘Justice for Floyd’ while shooting up a police precinct?

Right-wingers are generally pro-police. So to me, it’s a good example of the horseshoe theory irl:

www.middlebury.edu/institute/academics/centers-initiatives/ctec/ctec-publications-0/boogaloo-movement-wants-be-seen-anti-racist

Now you are just making shit up

Oh yes, and you with your ‘Southerners coming up here and causing trouble’ line that sounds fake as fuck.

The DAs in certain cities like Chicago and Portland aren’t charging most rioters and are failing to prosecute looters. Is it coincidence that Portland still has problems with rioting when their DA has made public noises that they won’t prosecute?

The irony being that Portland is about the whitest city on earth 😂

Portland may be majority white but it, and the state of Oregon, has a pretty grim history of racial discrimination.

If I were in the States I'd be writing in Kanye

@queenofknives

If I were in the States I'd be writing in Kanye

🙌 Yay at least the inauguration would have great music 🎶 😃! Treat for you candidate Kanye on Joe Rogan m.youtube.com/watch?v=qxOeWuAHOiw

BelleHathor exactly! I actually watched some of that interview yesterday and thought what a shame he didn't get it together to run a campaign. I assume a write-in candidate would be highly unlikely to win but had he campaigned, he would have had a huge effect on the discussion. President Kanye West... it kind of has a ring to it, right?

Queenofknives President West does have a lovely ring to it 😀! Its a shame that the system is so corrupt that you need 100s of millions and the right connections just to run. I do admire Kanye for the hits he took for meeting with Trump to advocate for Prison reform (Kim too). They both saw the bigger picture and due to them there are people who have their freedom, so will always have a soft spot in my heart ❤.
It's been a doozy of a week for rappers lol with 50 cents comments and his white ec girlfriend telling him he can't vote for Trump cos he's black!😬