Ol' shoot 'em in the leg

[Mongrel]

From what I saw in passing, he basically said MAGA chuds have no place in the US and can get fucked.

EDIT: Actual news article. Biden urges Americans to reject ‘extreme ideology’ of Trump, MAGA adherents in Philadelphia speech

[Thad]

Wading into risky political terrain

How come the papers never describe it as "wading into risky political terrain" when Republicans call Democrats nazi socialist America-hating baby-murderers?

[nosimpleway]

That pedophile groomer communist god hating baby killing libtard woke idiot bastard really crossed the line with the divisive rhetoric.

[Friday]

oh my god! this black guy called me a "shit head" as I was tossing him and his infant daughter into a meatgrinder! can you imagine the gall? it's like i've been saying all along; blacks are subhuman leeches with no sense of civilization or decency and must be killed systematically

[KingRoyal]

Wading into risky political terrain

How come the papers never describe it as "wading into risky political terrain" when Republicans call Democrats nazi socialist America-hating baby-murderers?

The same way that right-wingers who commit mass shootings can publish manifestos that basically say, "I'm doing this because I'm right-wing, hate minorities and got my idea from [long list of right-wing pundits]" and the media will basically memory-hole this part of the shooting but will leap on any claim that a stubbed toe is the result of ANTIFA

I'm being intentionally glib and antagonistic there, but a more truthful answer is that the people who own and decide the editorial content of most media publications all summer together in the Hamptoms or the Amalfi Coast, and the editorial direction should be viewed as a reflection of thoughts and beliefs of rich social circles and not the country at large. Calling Trump's views "risky political terrain" isn't because the vast majority of the country is descending into Fascism, but because there are lot of rich people who have

[Mongrel]

There was a comment recently to the effect of "We need journalism to go back to being a profession being a slightly disreputable trade, a home for dropouts with a penchant for asking annoying questions and a modest talent for writing, instead of being a respectable career choice for the idle fourth son of a family whose kids all went to Princeton"

[Friday]

So I was having a discussion about Biden with my friends. I was very against him during the primary and had exceptionally low hopes based on his rhetoric at the time.

He's doing better than I thought he would. My main fear was that he would be a passive nobody and do nothing to actually push back. He's still not aggressive enough in general, but yeah.

Basically, he's a 3.5/10 when I thought he would be a 1/10.

3.5 isn't enough. But it's better than what I thought, so I will give him some credit at the current time. I don't know how much of his actions are fueled by his advisors and the pressure the actual progressive left puts on him vs his own morality, but yeah.

Basically, he's best summed up by his "semi-fascist" comment. Like okay, you used the word fascist, good job. But you tempered it with "semi" first, which is a ludicrous thing to do when the GOP is doing what its doing.

I'll consider renaming the thread "The Semi-Positive President" if he continues to perform as is.

[Thad]

3.5 isn't enough. But it's better than what I thought, so I will give him some credit at the current time. I don't know how much of his actions are fueled by his advisors and the pressure the actual progressive left puts on him vs his own morality, but yeah.

I think Biden's entire political career has been defined by triangulation. He finds whatever position is the median of the Democratic Party and plants his flag there.

The good news is that the median of the Democratic Party has moved substantially to the left in the past twenty years. The bad news is that that move is largely a transition from "preserve the status quo" to "get things back to the status quo but bolt some reforms on it."

The IRA is the most significant environmental reform the US has seen in decades, maybe ever. The partial student loan forgiveness is going to help millions of people. I don't think either one of them goes nearly far enough, but they're also more than I expected. And while his administration hasn't made any big moves in terms of antitrust law, he's appointed people who are gearing up to do that, and I expect it to happen by the end of his term.

I've been pretty disappointed, if not terribly surprised, by the lack of change to immigration and law enforcement policy. Some of that, to be fair, isn't Biden's fault; there are examples where he's attempted reforms and the courts have stopped them. But on the whole he's been far too deferential to fascists, even if he's willing to semi-call them out.

I feel like the thread title's a good example of his need to position everything as a compromise even when he really shouldn't -- as well as his tendency to just straight-up say dumb shit.

Though the "semi-fascist" line is maybe a better example. It shows him saying the right thing, the thing that needs to be said, but feeling the need to qualify it.

[Mongrel]

This is a dumb joke, but I'm still laughing.

Common names of plants in the genus Bidens sound like Biden-isms:

[Yoji]

Man, I can hear him saying that while wearing a pair of aviators.

[KingRoyal]

Biden to pardon prior federal marijuana offenses for simple possession

He's also encouraging state governments to pardon state level offenses, and even looking into (de)/(re)scheduling marijuana at the federal level. The SCOTUS twitter account also talked about wanting federal legislation but I'm more skeptical about that happening

[Thad]

This is another one of those things that's simultaneously huge and too small. Most marijuana convictions aren't for simple possession, they're for possession with intent to distribute.

But it does help people, it's just the beginning of a bigger plan, and it's the latest step in a massive, ongoing change to how this country looks at cannabis use.

It's a good first step! But it's still just a first step.

[KingRoyal]

Yeah, and in addition those in federal prison represent the minority compared to state prisons, but he is encouraging state governments to pardon for state violations, though in that instance I only expect blue states to actually do it

It would be a nice change of pace if this and the student loan forgiveness combine to help Dems secure the midterms, at which point they finally realize that doing things people like actually helps them

Though I'm not holding my breath on that one

[Niku]

texas will subsidize abortions before it will decrim

[Thad]

Really? Legalization passed in Arizona by 20 points, and I didn't think we were that much more left/libertarian-leaning than Texas.

[KingRoyal]

Libertarians are a conservative minority in Texas. They vote Republican reliably, but are far, far outnumbered by the power of the evangelical Christians

[Thad]

The AZGOP is definitely controlled by evangelical Christians (or, more precisely, an alliance of convenience between evangelicals and Mormons), but Republicans are only the second-biggest group of registered voters in Arizona; the first is independents. The independents seem to be close to evenly-split between Democratic-voting and Republican-voting; I'd describe the Republican-voting independents as Libertarian-leaning, in the "Republican who likes to smoke pot" mold. I'd say that probably played a role in the 207 landslide.

I suspect the state's elderly population and longtime fight for medical marijuana played a role, too.

That and just a national trend. Public opinion's only gone in one direction in the last 30 years or so.

[Upthorn]

This is another one of those things that's simultaneously huge and too small. Most marijuana convictions aren't for simple possession, they're for possession with intent to distribute.

Yeah, and in addition those in federal prison represent the minority compared to state prisons, but he is encouraging state governments to pardon for state violations, though in that instance I only expect blue states to actually do it

I was really on board for this, and today I learned that the exact number of people who are released from prison by this sweeping pardon has been tabulated.
The number of people, in federal prison, for simple marijuana possession, who aren't specifically excluded from the pardon due to being an undocumented immigrant, is...
Can you guess?
That's right: exactly zero.

But it does help people

And also, despite pardoning people's past offenses, it does not expunge conviction records. I had originally been under the misimpression that this meant they wouldn't have their voting rights, etc, restored, but that is false. They will have their voting rights, right to hold public office, and right to serve on a jury restored.

However, they will also still have answer "yes" on any employment or rental application that asks if they have any past convictions.

I was so happy when Biden announced the student debt forgiveness program, and then so embittered when he massively narrowed it's scope rather than risk a private loan company potentially trying to fight the order in court.

I was so happy yesterday, when Biden signed a sweeping pardon of marijuana possession offenses, and now I am really bitter again about the administration once again pretending to give sweeping assistance, while actually doing something extremely minimal.

I will feel better about this, though, if anything comes of him putting pressure on state governors to follow suit for state level convictions, but I'm not currently optimistic, as you might guess.

[Thad]

Biden extends student loan repayment freeze as forgiveness program is tied up in courts

Six months. Will expire June 30 now, instead of December 31.

Supreme Court term ends in June so presumably he's hoping it's resolved by then.

[Thad]

Also, since I notice this is the last thing anyone said in the thread:

I will feel better about this, though, if anything comes of him putting pressure on state governors to follow suit for state level convictions, but I'm not currently optimistic, as you might guess.

Gov. Brown pardons past simple marijuana possession offenses for over 45,000 Oregonians
I don't know about "pressure", but I think it's reasonable to assume she's following the federal government's example.