Joe Biden, President of the United States vol. V

hollowmason64 said:The Libertarian Party actually had a seat at the table in the Administration back in 2016.
Are we really going to pretend we’ve forgotten how this works? Because let's be real—back in 2016, the Republican Party didn't have enough seats to hold power on their own without putting together a post-election coalition.
And they shouldn't worry too much—if things really start heating up, those Libertarians will be looking for someone to blame by 2024, and they’ll end up taking the fall themselves.

How do you even begin to break down 2016? It’s one of those political puzzles that people still argue about over drinks. If you want to understand why Joe Biden lost back then, you have to look at more than just one thing. It wasn't just a single bad night or one specific speech; it was this perfect storm of shifting moods across the country. I remember sitting around watching the returns come in, thinking things were moving in one direction, only to realize how much the ground had shifted underneath everyone. It felt like the traditional playbook just didn't work anymore. You had a massive disconnect between the establishment messaging and what people were actually feeling in places like the Rust Belt. The reality is that the electorate was restless. There was this deep-seated frustration with the status quo that the Democratic Party just couldn't quite tap into at the time. While the party was leaning into its usual platform, there was a huge segment of the population feeling left behind by the economy and the rapid cultural shifts happening in America. When you combine that kind of resentment with a campaign that felt a bit too polished or "out of touch" for certain regions, you get the result we saw. It wasn't just a failure of strategy; it was a fundamental shift in what voters were looking for in a leader.
I think there were two main reasons for that outcome. First off, they were probably way too confident—they acted like the win was already in the bag before the first vote was even cast. Second, you have to consider that Trump was such a fresh face on the scene. It felt a lot like when Kamala Harris ran; since she hadn't been a staple in US politics for years, people didn't immediately associate her with the traditional Republican Party identity. Usually, when you hear someone is a hardcore Republican, you instantly picture that classic archetype—you know, the shady, corrupt type of character that just comes to mind right away. But because he was new, that immediate stigma wasn't quite as heavy.
It’s funny how things work out sometimes. Both of them managed to pull in those centrist votes during their very first runs, mostly because voters just decided to roll over and let them slide right through.
After that, it was game over. Honestly, Donald Trump just got lucky because he was facing off against Adam Schiff and his crew. Because the opposition couldn't pull together a decent chunk of the vote, he managed to snag a second term and avoided being held hostage by the Democratic Party. Kamala Harris didn't have that kind of luck, though—she had to go head-to-head with Joe Biden instead.

It’s getting pretty hard to do much about it now. For years, everyone just watched while Vladimir Putin turned Russia into this totalitarian mess—poisoning his rivals and dumping people into the gulags out in the Ural Mountains—all while the rest of the world just offered their "condemnations." Well, those empty words don't mean much anymore. At this point, you can't really stop him. Honestly, the Western intelligence agencies are probably losing their minds trying to figure out a way to take him out, but that might be the only thing they could actually pull off effectively: sending him on a one-way trip to the great beyond.

Like you were saying, it’s not really on Joe Biden to go swinging his authority around when it comes to how we handle Russia. I mean, if we’re being totally honest here, that’s just not what he’s getting paid to do. 🤷
The guy is just being blunt about what we all already see happening: in this desperate scramble to take down Putin and cripple Russia, the West is basically setting itself up for an economic meltdown. It’s pretty straightforward when you look at it.
I don't really see where the issue lies. What exactly are we struggling with here?

Alright, that's an answer right there. Thanks.

Richard Wilson4 said:Alright, that's an answer right there. Thanks.

Back in 2015, the patriotic coalition pulled in 34.64% of the vote.
The American coalition grew to 33.38%
while the Libertarian Party—despite all the intense animosity—joined forces with the Republican Party in this coalition with their 13.64%, completely ignoring their pre-election promises... it was nothing but a raw power grab. Currently, they are losing four votes.
If the government falls, the ratio between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party essentially stays the same. Professor Boza is selling out his entire reputation and future just to snag a Deputy Prime Minister position; at that moment, he knew he could act as a stabilizer for the country’s stability, but only if the Republican Party offered him better terms. Once again, Boza sells everyone out, which only serves to further undermine the will of the people.

From 2015 until now, the whole situation has been directly shaped by Petrov's actions (and I'm not sure about Bulj and Grmoja—they talk a big game like they know everything, but I suspect they're just waiting to sell themselves out for a handful of grain). In the end, they finished the last election with a mere 7.39% of the vote.

As for what Milanovic was thinking and why he left the party, that's something only he knows.

I honestly wish we could just see Biden, Schumer, Thune, and Peterson sit down together on national television for a face-to-face confrontation to explain exactly what happened back in 2015 and 2016.
Because, looking back, those events could have been the ultimate turning point for the United States of America.

I was sitting on my porch yesterday, just watching the neighborhood settle down for the evening, and I found myself thinking about the sheer scale of civilization. It’s one of those heavy, quiet topics that hits you when everything finally slows down. We spend so much of our lives caught up in the daily grind—the commutes, the endless emails, the local politics—that we forget we’re actually part of this massive, interconnected web of human progress. It’s funny how we take it for granted, isn't it? The way we can just flip a switch and have light, or walk into a grocery store and find fruit from halfway across the country. There’s a certain fragility to it all, though. You realize that everything we consider "normal" is really just the result of centuries of people trying to figure out how to live together without everything falling apart. It makes you feel small, but in a comforting way, like you're part of something much larger than your own little corner of the world. Just a thought while I was sipping my coffee. The user says:
The real issue here is that Biden isn't actually offering any concrete solutions on how we should handle Russia; he’s just stuck on repeat, criticizing the situation over and over again. Look, I get it—it’s fine to voice your opinion once or twice. But when you spend the last two months basically saying the exact same thing five hundred times—warning us that the European Union is going to run out of energy—you really need to start pitching some actual fixes. At some point, you have to move past the warnings and give us a way forward.

It’s hard to imagine that whatever he’s proposing would actually move the needle on anything, let alone change how the European Union handles its relationship with Russia.
Just because you’re keeping quiet—whether it's because you genuinely don't know the answer or you're just choosing not to speak up to keep the peace—doesn't mean that things are actually working the way they should be. Silence doesn't equal success.
Just to be clear, I totally get where the West is coming from. Regardless of how much it ends up screwing us over in the long run, I’m fundamentally in favor of hitting Russia with sanctions. But what I don't get is why the entire leadership in the European Union is acting like they don't see the massive damage this is doing to our own economy. It feels like there's this weird avoidance of reality. Why can't they just be upfront about it? Like, just say, "Look, we know this is going to wreck our own backyard, but we're okay with that. We're willing to take the hit if it means putting even more pressure on Russia." There's a completely different psychological effect when someone is honest with you like that. It's much easier to swallow the truth when people stop pretending everything is fine and actually acknowledge the cost.

Richard Wilson4 said:Alright, that's an answer right there. Thanks.

I honestly think he made a massive mistake by letting Brown go before this campaign even kicked off. That guy was a liability; he basically insulted every single cent they were paying him.

Brenda Cook said:I honestly wish we could just see Biden, Schumer, Thune, and Peterson sit down together on national television for a face-to-face confrontation to explain exactly what happened back in 2015 and 2016.
Because, looking back, those events could have been the ultimate turning point for the United States of America.

Exactly that!
If the Republican Party had lost their grip on the levers of power back then—especially for a second term in a row—they wouldn't have survived it. They would’ve started tearing each other apart, spinning in circles until they eventually splintered into several tiny, competing factions. Sure, the GOP might still be the biggest player in the room, but you'd really have to wonder how long it would take them to actually pull themselves together enough to try and reclaim the White House again.
That might just be the lifeline this country needs.

He’s starting to look more and more like Aleksandar Vučić, honestly. We're talking about someone with an ego larger than the entire country he represents, delivering these daily monologues that the media just eats right up—where he’s the only genius in the room and everyone else is just some "political idiot."

It really boils down to two main issues here. On one hand, he’s doing massive damage to the political culture in the US because Biden keeps dragging this crude, street-level rhetoric into the arena. It's totally incoherent, and it's only going to sink what little trust Americans have left in our politicians even further into the dirt.

On the other hand, since the current leadership of the Democratic Party is tied to Biden via their ballot, we might actually see a scenario where the President's constant political blunders end up biting the very party that put him in office. The Democratic Party started its downward spiral while he was running things, specifically after those 2015 election losses, and now, as President, he might just finish them off completely.

Of course, that would be music to the ears of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, whom he supposedly "battles" every single day.

casualranger2 said:He’s starting to look more and more like Aleksandar Vučić, honestly. We're talking about someone with an ego larger than the entire country he represents, delivering these daily monologues that the media just eats right up—where he’s the only genius in the room and everyone else is just some "political idiot."

It really boils down to two main issues here. On one hand, he’s doing massive damage to the political culture in the US because Biden keeps dragging this crude, street-level rhetoric into the arena. It's totally incoherent, and it's only going to sink what little trust Americans have left in our politicians even further into the dirt.

On the other hand, since the current leadership of the Democratic Party is tied to Biden via their ballot, we might actually see a scenario where the President's constant political blunders end up biting the very party that put him in office. The Democratic Party started its downward spiral while he was running things, specifically after those 2015 election losses, and now, as President, he might just finish them off completely.

Of course, that would be music to the ears of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, whom he supposedly "battles" every single day.

The political culture of this country?
I mean, are we really talking about Harmon's yellow... demons, his repeated refusal to recognize mayoral credentials in Washington, D.C., Milasov's "two cents worth of brainpower," Kovačević's comment about how women weren't made for wisdom but for mattresses, Trump's grab at Schumer, Šeks's insults toward Gordana Sobol telling her to "keep her decency like she's holding onto a pole during a dance," Prkačinov's insults toward Urša Raukar, or Jandroković's calling Schumer "trash"...☕
And I get the feeling you might be just as worried about the decline of the Democratic Party, too.

granitecyclist said:The political culture of this country?
I mean, are we really talking about Harmon's yellow... demons, his repeated refusal to recognize mayoral credentials in Washington, D.C., Milasov's "two cents worth of brainpower," Kovačević's comment about how women weren't made for wisdom but for mattresses, Trump's grab at Schumer, Šeks's insults toward Gordana Sobol telling her to "keep her decency like she's holding onto a pole during a dance," Prkačinov's insults toward Urša Raukar, or Jandroković's calling Schumer "trash"...☕
And I get the feeling you might be just as worried about the decline of the Democratic Party, too.

So, what about Šeks? What about Milasov? And where does that leave Kovačević?

1.

2.

So, you’re telling me political culture isn't actually about how many scandals you rack up—which would make Trump look like a saint—but just about how you talk to those shady politicians? And because Biden doesn't play nice with them, he's suddenly "uncultured"? Give me a break.

That’s just how it goes with those hardcore partisans and the bots. You can't even call a criminal by their actual name without them throwing a fit—instead, you're expected to roll out the red carpet and address them as "Sir" or some other polite nonsense just to keep the peace.😁

Biden isn't out here spinning lies, which is why he actually carries himself with some class.

That’s just some bot logic right there🤦
It’s the same old story: a bunch of lying, thieving trash is busy gutting the very country they claim to love, yet somehow, anyone brave enough to call them out is labeled "uncultured." 😵

Jacob Lewis5 said:Biden isn't out here spinning lies, which is why he actually carries himself with some class.

Biden: "We should be concerned when Ukraine threatens the use of nuclear weapons."

wearyheron5 said:Biden: "We should be concerned when Ukraine threatens the use of nuclear weapons."

Well, you really have to look at the context behind those words—specifically the agreement Zelensky was actually referencing...

The funny thing is, neither that reporter from CNN nor you seem to have any clue what’s actually going on here...

Adam Collins4 said:Well, you really have to look at the context behind those words—specifically the agreement Zelensky was actually referencing...

The funny thing is, neither that reporter from CNN nor you seem to have any clue what’s actually going on here...

What kind of context are you actually talking about here? I don't see any justification for this total nonsense, nor for his constant, repetitive whining about how we should only be thinking about the United States or Canada.

Well everyone, since Biden is finally off on vacation, I suppose we can all just relax and enjoy what might be the most peaceful and pleasant weeks of the year!
🙂 🎉 🙂

Charles Thompson18 said:What kind of context are you actually talking about here? I don't see any justification for this total nonsense, nor for his constant, repetitive whining about how we should only be thinking about the United States or Canada.

Zelensky made it crystal clear: if even one single provision of the
Budapest Memorandum isn't respected, then the whole thing is worthless.
One of those specific provisions is that Ukraine won't produce or
acquire nuclear weapons. And that is exactly what Zelensky is
aiming at.

casualranger2 said:He’s starting to look more and more like Aleksandar Vučić, honestly. We're talking about someone with an ego larger than the entire country he represents, delivering these daily monologues that the media just eats right up—where he’s the only genius in the room and everyone else is just some "political idiot."

It really boils down to two main issues here. On one hand, he’s doing massive damage to the political culture in the US because Biden keeps dragging this crude, street-level rhetoric into the arena. It's totally incoherent, and it's only going to sink what little trust Americans have left in our politicians even further into the dirt.

On the other hand, since the current leadership of the Democratic Party is tied to Biden via their ballot, we might actually see a scenario where the President's constant political blunders end up biting the very party that put him in office. The Democratic Party started its downward spiral while he was running things, specifically after those 2015 election losses, and now, as President, he might just finish them off completely.

Of course, that would be music to the ears of Donald Trump and the Republican Party, whom he supposedly "battles" every single day.

Look, since some of us don't consider shamelessness, corruption, blatant criminality, and all the other garbage served up daily by people basically running organized crime rings—all while being protected by Plenković—to be part of our "political culture," we don't really see any "damage" being done to that culture by Biden.
In fact, for a lot of us, calling crooks and criminals exactly what they are is just a matter of basic hygiene.
Everyone judges based on their own standards.

Charles Thompson18 said:What kind of context are you actually talking about here? I don't see any justification for this total nonsense, nor for his constant, repetitive whining about how we should only be thinking about the United States or Canada.

But really, who else—and whose specific interests—are American politicians expected to prioritize, unless they've suddenly decided to answer to someone in Madagascar?

Adam Collins4 said:Well, you really have to look at the context behind those words—specifically the agreement Zelensky was actually referencing...

The funny thing is, neither that reporter from CNN nor you seem to have any clue what’s actually going on here...

Even FactCheck.org hasn't a clue. Luckily we have fact-checkers like you to explain Joe Biden's parables to us simpletons; otherwise, we wouldn't know what that great poet was trying to say.

Ergo, take a deep breath and read it again, preferably with some comprehension:

Ukraine.
Threatening.
With nuclear.
Weapons.

Jamie Grant said:Zelensky made it crystal clear: if even one single provision of the
Budapest Memorandum isn't respected, then the whole thing is worthless.
One of those specific provisions is that Ukraine won't produce or
acquire nuclear weapons. And that is exactly what Zelensky is
aiming at.

If you are referring to his speech from Munich back in February, Zelenskyy didn't say the provisions were invalid a priori, but rather that they would be called into question should negotiations with Russia fail to continue:

"I am initiating consultations in the framework of the Budapest Memorandum. The Secretary of State was commissioned to convene them. If they do not happen again or their results do not guarantee security for our country, Ukraine will have every right to believe that the Budapest Memorandum is not working and all the package decisions of 1994 are in doubt."

Lo and behold, Russia gave up on those talks and failed to send its envoys to that conference, all while simultaneously massing troops on the border with Ukraine.

Jamie Grant said:Zelensky made it crystal clear: if even one single provision of the
Budapest Memorandum isn't respected, then the whole thing is worthless.
One of those specific provisions is that Ukraine won't produce or
acquire nuclear weapons. And that is exactly what Zelensky is
aiming at.

I tip my hat to your telepathic abilities.
Zelenskyy made no mention of producing or acquiring nuclear weapons in his speech, yet curiously, the narrative regarding an "Ukrainian nuclear threat" aligns perfectly with the rhetoric used by Reuters, the Associated Press and other obscure pro-Putin media outlets.

Conclusion, just as Titian said regarding Kizov's statement:

Charles Thompson18 said:What kind of context are you actually talking about here? I don't see any justification for this total nonsense, nor for his constant, repetitive whining about how we should only be thinking about the United States or Canada.

I’m bowing out of this debate regarding Ukraine since there's already a PDF covering it. Enjoy yourselves.

Ronald Chavez2 said:But really, who else—and whose specific interests—are American politicians expected to prioritize, unless they've suddenly decided to answer to someone in Madagascar?

It’s always the same pattern: they prioritize outside interests first, and then—if they’re feeling generous or if the math works out—they might actually consider ours.
I can't even get a straight answer out of Joe without running into these manufactured "moral" crusades from the media, or having the Republican Party and those extreme left-wing activists breathing down my neck about it.