A friend of the people? Well, he gives the impression that he is the
friend of only a certain group of people. He came to Charleston, West
Virginia a few years ago campaigning for Barack Obama. I didn't bother
to attend his speech myself. I only heard a brief excerpt on the local
news where he was ranting about the middle class. However, a couple of
people I know did go. I think their main interest was just to see a
famous person in person. They told me that they were not impressed at
all. They said that all he cares about is middle class people. They got
the impression that he just dismissed people like them by ignoring them
in favor of the middle class.
---
Albert Einstein
???Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.???
??? Albert Einstein
On 10/10/2019 11:49 AM, Carl Jarvis wrote:
Joe Biden. Friend of the People?
Depends on which "People" you mean. Watching Gentleman Joe and his
team of eager Democrats take the field reminds me again of my feeling
that I am nothing more than a spectator...a loud mouthed one, but a
spectator, nonetheless. Some 70 or 80 thousand fans pay at the gate
and pack into the stands to cheer "their team" on. Along with the
corporate sponsors, we pay the bills. But the team, made up of mostly
millionaires, or those who aspire to become millionaires are not on
the field to do our bidding. The team is owned by the Billionaires
who lurk in the background, where they call out the plays.
When the game is over, we all head for home. If our team won, we
chant, "We won! We won!" And if our team lost we say, "bad
refereeing. We was robbed!"
But the truth is that we neither won or lost. That is because the
team is not our team. We are there simply to help pay the costs and
to make lots of noise. Donald Trump knows this. He is a master at
playing the game. And so are the front runners in both of the Major
Parties(Teams).
Frankly, I get more enjoyment from watching the Seattle Sea Hawks play
the LA Rams than I get from watching the Democrats and the
Republicans. And the results are about the same. One team leaves the
field victorious, while the other team begins plotting their next
meeting. At the end of the game the fans are sent away to take up
their lives, unaffected by the games outcome. And the Billionaires?
Not to worry. The Billionaires always come out the winner because
they make the rules. They own both teams.
There is one other benefit from watching the game vs following the
political game. A one hour football game lasts only 3 or 4 hours,
while a presidential "game" lasts about 4 years. Four years of bad
mouthing, tearing down the government, trashing the Press and
Journalists, and turning decent folks against one another.
In the end, decent working class folk will turn on one another in the
streets. The Billionaires will celebrate victory in the country club.
Carl Jarvis: Sea Hawks vs Cleveland, Sunday, 1:00 PM.(EDT). On
10/10/19, Miriam Vieni <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Ryan Grim
Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2019 10:49 PM
To: miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Biden's problem - or one of them
If we were in the middle of the general election, I could understand the
impulse Democrats have to look the other way on the Biden family???s
decades-long habit of cashing in on their connections to Senator Biden. But
we???re still four months from the first votes being cast, so there???s plenty
of time for voters to think this through. I went through all the reporting
that???s been done on Biden and his family over the years, and what???s already
public isn???t pretty.
Biden's problem - or one of them
Oct 10
Public post
If we were in the middle of the general election, I could understand the
impulse Democrats have to look the other way on the Biden family???s
decades-long habit of cashing in on their connections to Senator Biden. But
we???re still four months from the first votes being cast, so there???s plenty
of time for voters to think this through. I went through all the reporting
that???s been done on Biden and his family over the years, and what???s already
public isn???t pretty.
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkNFuwyAMRb-mvCWCQJLmgYdu3X4jIuA07gJExOmUvx-sEjLIPuba1xqCR0yn3uJO7Nghjeh01w6cD8xp5cS1vTLcxzkBeIOrpnQA245pRWsIYyi86IVgi4Z57ixvrBvkZG3ft1IJJbiSM8zS2o4VkdEcDiFY0PCCdMYAbNUL0bZf5O3SfOdDC2AgSBY2qm30OdVwMeRL8Bx4eT0jVMtRqGpCB6Gajcf1rHz-8Mx1hrr0CC44b9TAu1rUsr9f7x-d6lvxdf8Ut4vi_tHU-zHtZOxPkWJJe0xo_CvPiBmIG8WwYoA6AJW9x0z5IyCdIwQzreDeltDbwv8V6dxAB_jdV6A84TtZfFJikIplQRezmUFPxhXsDyn3gzw>
My story on that is here, and I???ll paste the top down below.
Turkish forces are storming into
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkNuKwyAQhp-m3jWoMQcvvOhud18jeJi00kSDjg15-zVbGBj4-eCf-axGeMR0qC1mJCVDmrxTfScplcQp4djYjcTnaU4Aq_aLwlSAbMUs3mr0MZw8GxgjT2W46K3kdqCcduNoeul4ywbXzkwK3c_kLJl0cR6CBQVvSEcMQBb1RNzypb1d-G-dfd-bZ5nnE29sXGsEAdNRdz6S1-H6Ksnl61pS0sfVxPiyTx-mMHV918EAHIShgzR8ZKOE1s3EK06ZZJRRyoWkfcOadriP969eDB37uX-z20XQ9cGbXExGbV9nMUlq9bVwfdeLfQXihjEsPkATAE8LU6XWEjweEwRtFnAfQfgR-v8wHhuoAHteABHSJzytCSZbQWqhi1VtUEa7E_sD-j-Iqw>
northern Syria right now, intent on subjugating the Kurdish community there.
I sometimes get a little bit uncomfortable with the way that the Kurds are
so glamorized in Washington, because often the characteristic about them
that is celebrated is how ???Western??? they are -- which is often a euphemism
for not-totally-Muslim. But that???s separate from the question of whether
they deserve autonomy or, more immediately, the right to survive. Some on
the left are framing Trump???s decision to let Turkey plow into Rojava as a
victory for non-interventionism. That???s nuts -- it???s a failure of diplomacy.
Don???t get it twisted.
I???m helping with a fundraiser for Dave Dayen, who has left The Intercept and
is now executive editor of The American Prospect. If you contribute $50 to
the Prospect to support their journalism, you???ll get a signed (and
inscribed, if you want) copy of my book.
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJx1kTFvhDAMhX8N2UBxgJAMGa69dulWtTMKieGiQkAhtHf99U3u5kqe7M969ntGR5zWcFPbukdy7Bh6ZxVvJaWSWNVYEK0gbu_HgLhoN6sYDiTbMczO6OhWn3noAMglrXHecWytAYZ21KMZ2ChaacTIapCaZJFeH9ahN6jwG8Nt9UhmdYlx24v6VLDXVDuaI2B1n2uTRSqzLmngf64T7fz7QN_g4_ezv06lfZpYUb_iYlxRn2k7ms4aLDWgKFEClEOLsmQCRCcayy0XBeO42ExLNo5cIpaGJuZf2qCzic49SWviFKMggQKlrJGUV1DV3Vmcn3jTtfByfoZT0dBlYtV-DHvU5itfT4JaXHB6-U7PuwSsW1z97DxWHmM2tE_UcngXbz16PcxoH17HRzZ37-JtQ-XxZ58xRgyPZg6gAVk3JAnaNaXk1aBtxv4A5oia8A>
That???s here.
Joe Biden???s Family Has Been Cashing in on His Career for Decades. Democrats
Need to Acknowledge That.
While Democrats pursue the impeachment of President Donald Trump for
pressuring foreign countries to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden, they are
left making an argument that is at once true and electorally and ethically
compromising: What Trump did ??? and continues to do ??? was an impeachable
abuse of power, and it should be considered separately from the question of
what Hunter Biden did.
The problem for Democrats is that a review of Hunter Biden???s career shows
clearly that he, along with Joe Biden???s brother James, has been trading on
their family name for decades, cashing in on the implication ??? and sometimes
the explicit argument ??? that giving money to a member of Joe Biden???s family
wins the favor of Joe Biden. Democrats have been loath to give any
credibility to the wild rantings of Trump or his bagman Rudy Giuliani,
leaving them to sidestep the question of Hunter Biden???s ethics or
decision-making, and how much responsibility Joe Biden deserves.
Republicans, though, have no such qualms, and have made clear that smearing
the Bidens as corrupt will be central to Trump???s reelection campaign. The
Trump approach is utterly without shame or irony, with attacks even coming
from failson Eric Trump.
Investigative reporters and GOP operatives have dived deep into the question
of whether Joe Biden ever used his official power to do favors for special
interests shoveling money to his family and found no proof of this. In the
case of Ukraine, it???s likely that Biden???s actions as vice president, in
demanding the firing of the country???s top prosecutor,
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkN1ugzAMhZ-muQMlBApc5KJbt9dAJnHbrPlBidOJt19YJcuWrGMf-9NAeI9pV1vMxErGtFijzsPM-cyM6o2YhonZvNwSogfrFKWCbCursxrIxnDoxSgEeyg9guR18Abz2EmYUUrkZhzkhPymV8EOkwWKsRg0Knxh2mNA5tSDaMsneTl13zXogTYQJo0btTr62uq4mGvhQ02C15SKjyk3PxGb1RoMTdYQDLimPBPYgA2sObpC2IQYMtZoEt5i8piaDHuuK5hVx1rBBeddP_NzK1o5Xqfrx7kfB_F1_RSXU8_9vWtzWTOBfh7XsKS8TRb8q75hqyBuFIOrnm1AOtAsVeVLsLQvGGB1aN7U6E35nwLtG6qAv9kh1VffzQNlL2bZs2poYuUd1ArmkP0B0qmQng>
did more to hurt his son???s company than anything else. As far as the
impeachment inquiry is concerned, that???s an important point: There was no
illegal behavior for Trump to hang his desired corruption investigation into
Joe Bidenon. His entire goal was to use the power of the American empire to
pressure a client state into ginning up bad press for his Democratic rival.
Nobody seriously believes that Trump has any serious commitment to
eradicating corruption in Ukraine, or any genuine opposition to nepotism. A
member of his own family has
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkNFuhCAQRb9mecOA4oIPPGy77W8YlHGli2BxbOPfd-wmZIDJzdw7Z3QIj1wOu-YN2b5B6YO317YTomPeKi9Na1jY-qkALC5Ei2UHtu5DDKPDkNOpl1pKNlsFYEB6DW2tQINuzDiZQTS1ngzUyrDTpHe7D5BGsPAD5cgJWLQz4rpdmtul_qSDM4SEUEZYsRrzQq1aSE2XOIsUVL5cAc-f-zYnKBxLoJ9Lnk-UkZ6Y-QOQOz67OPEhxEhRuc8xusIH0uQd-VTywr8dukIDWbBk0kkhhahVJ66VrBp9N_e3q9Kt_Li_y9tFieVRV9s-bOjG55mNFbuEEtzyQ0sFEuQVc4ohQZUAT1A9qZY9BTx6SG6gdC-G-GL-zwSPFWyC3y0C0uKv5glWya5RjAx9JvrJDs6fsj-S55UC>
used the power of the White House to shake down Gulf autocrats for a
real-estate bailout, after all.
But that doesn???t mean the Bidens??? behavior isn???t a legitimate problem for
Democrats. Indeed, Biden has been taking political hits over of the
intersection of his family???s financial dealings and his own political career
for some four decades. Yet he has done nothing publicly to inoculate himself
from the charge that his career is corruptly enriching his family, and now
that is a serious liability. By contrast, one of his opponents in the
presidential primary, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., went so far as to refuse
to endorse his son Levi Sanders when he ran for Congress, saying that he
does not believe in political dynasties. In defending the Biden???s nepotistic
relationship, Democrats would be forced to argue that, to be fair, such soft
corruption is common among the families of senior-level politicians. But
that???s a risky general-election argument in a political moment when voters
are no longer willing to accept business-as-usual. For now, Biden???s
opponents in the presidential campaign appear to all hope that somebody else
will make the argument, while congressional Democrats don???t want to do
anything to undermine their impeachment probe. And so Biden skates.
<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJwlkNFuwyAMRb-mvCWCQJLmgYdu3X4jIuA07gJExOmUvx-sEjLIPuba1xqCR0yn3uJO7Nghjeh01w6cD8xp5cS1vTLcxzkBeIOrpnQA245pRWsIYyi86IVgi4Z57ixvrBvkZG3ft1IJJbiSM8zS2o4VkdEcDiFY0PCCdMYAbNUL0bZf5O3SfOdDC2AgSBY2qm30OdVwMeRL8Bx4eT0jVMtRqGpCB6Gajcf1rHz-8Mx1hrr0CC44b9TAu1rUsr9f7x-d6lvxdf8Ut4vi_tHU-zHtZOxPkWJJe0xo_CvPiBmIG8WwYoA6AJW9x0z5IyCdIwQzreDeltDbwv8V6dxAB_jdV6A84TtZfFJikIplQRezmUFPxhXsDyn3gzw>
FULL PIECE HERE
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<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxVkMtuhCAUhp9GlgYYRF2wmNb2NQzCcYaUi4HjNL59sXbT5Ky-_Cf_xWiER8qH2lJBshfIs7NKdiOlI7FKWDZ0A3FlXjNA0M4rzDuQbV-8Mxpdiqee9YyRp7Ic5MqM0R1IaVfdd3yVwlJtDa-Qk9Nk1rt1EA0oeEE-UgTi1RNxK83t3vDPeou2Eb5LW_aloDZfrUmhYuIUp2xklFHKxUhly9pbPw3TmxR9xz6md3ZvBA0P_u-TZBVcdjq8qq2rgrRhit5FaCPgWWWuqrBHh8cMUS8e7NUSr1V-U-OxgTpTeUCEfMGzumDjTZBqaFPdJ6q_8D8FKHXq>
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<http://email.mg2.substack.com/c/eJxNkM1uwyAQhJ_GHC0w-O_AIamb17AwrBNUAxYsqfz2xUkrVdrLjmY1345WCPcQD7mHhCQniLM1smtHSkdipDBsaAdi07xGAKfsJjFmIHteNqsV2uBPP-sZIw_ZdGpdTa_bYQVYDV-bng-iEaPuOKPdSM6QWWVjwWuQ8IR4BA9kkw_EPVX8UjW3MikvCZX-qnVwZVVLyFjxW0Y3p5CjhopPf56q6U7dgbHZFf0F-Svq4BF8OZ3WEBAisbKhbGSUUVqoaFezmvfTMF070bfsc_pgl0pQd2_q_wgkSmejVe5ZuG0xhB2D36yH2gOeXZQk57K3eMzg1bKBedeE71pfb-Oxg_TwnTbAk-Ulnt0JNnJBSqAJhd3LRZnT9gMAxIzR>
