President Biden is a member of a sad community of grandparents who don’t get to meet or visit grandchildren due to custody disputes. He only deserves our sympathy on this issue.
I’m disappointed with Maureen Dowd as well. Hunter Biden seems to have created a kind of hell on earth for himself and those around him which is incredibly sad. Families are complicated and it’s all too easy to call the kettle black.
Stopped reading her during the campaign for little bush’s reelection. She was clearly opposed to Al Gore, because he would not provide enough material for her writing style as little bush did!
TC, I read your comments on a regular basis, and like them.
However, this comment today is, I'm sorry to say, is as bad as her article was.
I wouldn't call her a bimbo moron, even though I HATE what she wrote about Biden on Sunday. "Bimbo" is a very derogatory name to call any woman. She also is not a moron. I know, because I have met actual morons! I think you could have made your point more effectively by using other adjectives which do not demean her as an intelligent woman who went astray in this article.
I also blame the Editors of the Opinion section for allowing that article to be published.
Someone should have stopped her, and this, I think, is an issue the New York Times should be ashamed of. Not checking the details of this more thoroughly has given Republicans another handy issue to criticize Biden for.
I have a friend who is not Republican but who liked Dowd’s perspectives. That is not me. It’s not that I loathe her. It’s just that she is in a deep dive to Dante’s Inferno now. I try not to pay attention to her. Jennifer Rubin’s take on things is more my style. With that said, we all must be disgusted by Tubby Tuberville’s stranglehold on our military personnel! How can we knock this schmuck off of his throne? There must be some way! How about a psychiatrist examine him and deem him unfit to carry out his job?
All it would take to rein in Tuberville would be for the Senate to do something it should have done decades ago: repeal the “Senatorial courtesy” rules that give the Tubervilles such unnecessary individual power.
Long ago, the US Senate stopped being a courtly, courteous place.
There is no question that the Biden Administration’s foreign policies have been extremely effective and have to some degree restored faith in our country with with the leading countries of the world. This is just another example of effective government that most Americans have little or no knowledge about and more importantly do not understand what and how these policies indirectly been fit them.
The last eight years with the MAGA bunch has all but eliminated the happy confidence and hope for America I felt during the Obama-Biden Administration. Why have so many people embraced the Stupid Club? I wonder if folks felt like we do during the McCarthy era. I really don’t get it.
As I keep saying, Biden is the best president of my lifetime, which began during the first Eisenhower Administration. He puts the wind at our backs. Yes, too many have embraced the Stupid Club, but when they start to feel the wind at their own backs, some of them will likely change their minds. Biden is just amazing! Feel better, Susan!
As you point out, Robert, family dynamics are complicated and often painful. I like Maureen Dowd's columns but was surprised to read her Sunday piece about how many grandchildren Biden has. The premise that he is a heartless 'grandchild denier' is a specious piece of journalism. My reaction was, "it's none of your ******* business!"
Sometimes I wonder how different the world would be if the fossil fuel industry had accepted the news that fossil fuels were heating up our climate and worked to mitigate the problem with their massive cash instead of fighting it. So much that is evil and wrong in our world has its source in the money that the industry has. I think of the clout and money of Russian oligarchs and Saudi Arabia to the billionaires corrupting our Supreme Court, the dark money in our political campaigns, and the disinformation that spreads through paid propaganda. I'm sure we can all add to the list. I also wonder what if Gore and not Bush had been elected. Oil has been called "black gold" maybe we should call it "black venom."
Gore WAS elected. The Supreme Court stole that election. But yes, if he'd made it to the White House, we'd probably be living in a much more benign world.
David, believe me, I think about this every single day! Had Gore become President, the whole world would be in better shape today. It's hard not to blame Republicans for the mess we are in now!
Powerful newsletter today. So thankful Biden is President. Gotta get solid Dem lock on Congress and White House, for 8+ years to make solid progress re:climate (and other things!). Get busy people.
You say that climate change occurs incrementally and over long periods. But what’s happening now with catastrophic weather patterns all over the US and the world, is dramatic and immediate. Rachel Maddow had a brilliant show last night on this phenomenon. Climate change is powerfully present now and no longer slow and imperceptible. Everyone reporting on climate change should make this shift to emphasizing the current realities of weather catastrophes.
Hi, Ned. I agree with you in principle. The problem is that any particular storm or event is "the weather," while the trend over time is "the climate." But even then, we can see rapid climate change occurring in our lifetimes. But the biggest threat, rising sea levels, is measured in centimeters over centuries. That is what I was thinking about when I wrote that phrase.
I get your point. But I think “climate weather catastrophe” or some such might be a useful phrase to wake people up. We had drastic smokey air from Canada for the first time in my experience in the N East. And the flooding is more frequent. And these heat domes! People must start connecting “weather disaster” with “climate”. Just as they need to connect “Trump” with “treasonous dictator”.
Thanks as always for your fine work in the newsletter!
Hasn’t Maureen Dowd done enough damage to Dems with her vitriol re Hillary. She never misses a chance to twist the knife. Sure, she is clever, sort of like Peggy Noonan has always been. No excuse for smart people stooping so low.
not to mention her continual referral to President Obama as "Barry" -how dare she. She is like a catty high school bully. NYTimes comment section has many comments disparaging her op-ed but the right wing will be celebrating & most don't read the NYT comments sadly.
Biden is a more effective president. If she said that she's right about it. Biden is amazing. I've been disappointed by every Dem president preceding Biden, from LBJ on.
I don't think Obama had nearly the negotiating skills that Biden has, and I think Obamacare got passed in no small part due to Nancy Pelosi's efforts. She's another amazing politician. Obama was good, but not great.
Obama is Black - that had A LOT to do with his "negotiating skills". It says a lot to me that he was able to use the skills of the ppl at hand (Biden, Pelosi) to benefit Americans in many ways.
I disagree. Pelosi was there, in Congress, more than ready to help her party, and I doubt Obama had to negotiate with her. I think she knew that Obamacare was damn good legislation, and that she was determined to push it.
Maureen Dowd has been a talentless over-educated under-intelligent otherwise-unemployable in desperate need of a free flying lesson for her entire career. And the NYT continues to prove it is nothing more than the nation's finest fishwrap - it's contents and what it gets wrapped around both go bad after three days.
You just don’t like snarky females ! But with that column even I don’t agree with Maureen Dowd. It really is not any of the Dowd’s business what Hunter Biden and the mother of that child have agreed to in their latest settlement. Hunter does whatever Hunter wants to do and I doubt if even the President has much influence on his actions. Being an ex addict does not explain every thing that has gone wrong in one’s life. Hunter should drop the addict /victim schtick.
I do as a matter of fact not only like snarky females but prefer them. With the added verbal modifier of SMART snarky females. Which MoDo never was or will be.
I think a lot has gone wrong in his life because of the crash that killed his mother and a sibling. And he may well have a genetic predisposition to addiction on top of that, as I think a lot of addicts do. I've always considered myself lucky not to have such a predisposition. An addict's life is full of struggle. And I suspect you're right that Hunter's father doesn't have much influence. And I also think his father is dealing with him in the best way--letting him know he'll always love him.
Masterful coverage in this morning's NL. While the content is stomach-turning, the "mainstream media" cannot be relied on to provide accurate and comprehensive info about facts both national & int'l. An MSNBC reporter stated on 7/10 that Americans were unhappy with Biden's economic juggernaut because [paraphrased] -- the middle class has not experienced its benefits. [Sic]. R Reich wrote in 7/10 "The Guardian" that the "unhappiness" results from the continuing vast inequalities of income & wealth. Although a more plausible explanation, this too appeared to overlook Biden's remedying about 25% of this inequality -- that he inherited, in 2 years. What shape would we be in w-i-t-h-o-u-t NLs via Substack and reader-supported media from overseas--?? TY again.
Maureen Dowd thinks she’s a maverick in her family; I hate to tell her that she’s tarred by the same feather only in a different way. With friends like her who needs enemies? Where is her mocking wit and indignation over Trump and his ‘family’ values? His values of women or, for that matter, other human beings? To call down Biden for something out of his control was cruel but that’s her calling card.
It seems the GOP is not only TFG's party, but it has adopted his modus operandi of sowing chaos, fomenting fear, spreading misinformation and disinformation, and attacking the very agencies that maintain law and order. Have they no shame? Have they no decency? The answers are obvious.
Regarding stories about climate change: it is impossible to ignore stories with gloomy outlooks. That IS what we are facing. Should we give up and quit trying? Absolutely not! But pie in the sky won't work either. People do need to be afraid of the consequences of our action or, more appropriately non-action. JMO as a retired Marine Biologist. BTY: sea surface temps around the FL Keys are now up to as high as 96 C.
Hi, Lisa. I understand and respect where you are coming from. I just fundamentally disagree. If we use fear as the primary motivator, we will make people turn away, not engage them. I have not advocated "pie in the sky" solutions, but I think we have to explain why the things we can do today will make a difference, even if that difference will take centuries to manifest itself.
I get what you are saying. I just hate to see people not take it serioously enough because it is very serious. I will email you articles I find that I think aren't too doom and gloom and then you can decide.
President Biden is a member of a sad community of grandparents who don’t get to meet or visit grandchildren due to custody disputes. He only deserves our sympathy on this issue.
Thank you Julie. Sadly, I agree
I am extremely disappointed in Maureen Dowd. I thought she was better than that. I am so proud of the job that Biden is doing, Presidential indeed.
I’m disappointed with Maureen Dowd as well. Hunter Biden seems to have created a kind of hell on earth for himself and those around him which is incredibly sad. Families are complicated and it’s all too easy to call the kettle black.
Which Maureen Dowd are you talking about? Surely not the bimbo moron who works for the Times.
She has won a Pulitzer and is really a Republican in disguise and check out her brother Kevin and what he believes.
She’s not stupid, just a glory seeker
Stopped reading her during the campaign for little bush’s reelection. She was clearly opposed to Al Gore, because he would not provide enough material for her writing style as little bush did!
She also hated Hillary Clinton
She is certainly biased to the max
TC, I read your comments on a regular basis, and like them.
However, this comment today is, I'm sorry to say, is as bad as her article was.
I wouldn't call her a bimbo moron, even though I HATE what she wrote about Biden on Sunday. "Bimbo" is a very derogatory name to call any woman. She also is not a moron. I know, because I have met actual morons! I think you could have made your point more effectively by using other adjectives which do not demean her as an intelligent woman who went astray in this article.
I also blame the Editors of the Opinion section for allowing that article to be published.
Someone should have stopped her, and this, I think, is an issue the New York Times should be ashamed of. Not checking the details of this more thoroughly has given Republicans another handy issue to criticize Biden for.
You don’t have to be misogynistic to make your point.
This is nothing new for Maureen Dowd, nothing new at all.
I have a friend who is not Republican but who liked Dowd’s perspectives. That is not me. It’s not that I loathe her. It’s just that she is in a deep dive to Dante’s Inferno now. I try not to pay attention to her. Jennifer Rubin’s take on things is more my style. With that said, we all must be disgusted by Tubby Tuberville’s stranglehold on our military personnel! How can we knock this schmuck off of his throne? There must be some way! How about a psychiatrist examine him and deem him unfit to carry out his job?
All it would take to rein in Tuberville would be for the Senate to do something it should have done decades ago: repeal the “Senatorial courtesy” rules that give the Tubervilles such unnecessary individual power.
Long ago, the US Senate stopped being a courtly, courteous place.
Selective lightening bolts that come out of now where maybe?
I'd like to see a CT of his liver, if y'all get my drift. And Lordy, a football coach with NO military service?
There is no question that the Biden Administration’s foreign policies have been extremely effective and have to some degree restored faith in our country with with the leading countries of the world. This is just another example of effective government that most Americans have little or no knowledge about and more importantly do not understand what and how these policies indirectly been fit them.
The last eight years with the MAGA bunch has all but eliminated the happy confidence and hope for America I felt during the Obama-Biden Administration. Why have so many people embraced the Stupid Club? I wonder if folks felt like we do during the McCarthy era. I really don’t get it.
As I keep saying, Biden is the best president of my lifetime, which began during the first Eisenhower Administration. He puts the wind at our backs. Yes, too many have embraced the Stupid Club, but when they start to feel the wind at their own backs, some of them will likely change their minds. Biden is just amazing! Feel better, Susan!
Orange idiot global response- F off
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S RESPONSE- COME ON IN, LET’S TALK
As you point out, Robert, family dynamics are complicated and often painful. I like Maureen Dowd's columns but was surprised to read her Sunday piece about how many grandchildren Biden has. The premise that he is a heartless 'grandchild denier' is a specious piece of journalism. My reaction was, "it's none of your ******* business!"
It really isn’t our business. And it’s a sad business. I’m surprised she rubbed more salt into so many open Hunter Biden wounds. That’s pretty low.
The comments section was massively negative over the piece, with very many saying she should not have written at all.
Sometimes I wonder how different the world would be if the fossil fuel industry had accepted the news that fossil fuels were heating up our climate and worked to mitigate the problem with their massive cash instead of fighting it. So much that is evil and wrong in our world has its source in the money that the industry has. I think of the clout and money of Russian oligarchs and Saudi Arabia to the billionaires corrupting our Supreme Court, the dark money in our political campaigns, and the disinformation that spreads through paid propaganda. I'm sure we can all add to the list. I also wonder what if Gore and not Bush had been elected. Oil has been called "black gold" maybe we should call it "black venom."
Gore WAS elected. The Supreme Court stole that election. But yes, if he'd made it to the White House, we'd probably be living in a much more benign world.
David, believe me, I think about this every single day! Had Gore become President, the whole world would be in better shape today. It's hard not to blame Republicans for the mess we are in now!
Good wonderings. Thanks 😊
Powerful newsletter today. So thankful Biden is President. Gotta get solid Dem lock on Congress and White House, for 8+ years to make solid progress re:climate (and other things!). Get busy people.
also voting rights, the Supreme Court...
Perhaps to keep our optimism and hopes up, we can continue listing the MANY achievements of the Biden administration.
So grateful to see PROGRESS being made in areas that matter.
(Unlike the twice impeached, twice indicted, wannabe dictator who focuses on name calling and sowing division IMHO.)
I think focusing and broadcasting the positive is terribly important just now. All these squeaky wheels are getting on my last nerve.
https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/1678738679941013504?s=20
Tuberville must be confused. Blocking and tackling are appropriate in football, not government.
He is not confused, stupid maybe
Too many bonks on the noggin with a football
I have a feeling that he got his bell rung too many times. Although I bet he was always stupid.
I truly believe he has a drinking problem, but that's not an excuse for stupid.
You say that climate change occurs incrementally and over long periods. But what’s happening now with catastrophic weather patterns all over the US and the world, is dramatic and immediate. Rachel Maddow had a brilliant show last night on this phenomenon. Climate change is powerfully present now and no longer slow and imperceptible. Everyone reporting on climate change should make this shift to emphasizing the current realities of weather catastrophes.
Hi, Ned. I agree with you in principle. The problem is that any particular storm or event is "the weather," while the trend over time is "the climate." But even then, we can see rapid climate change occurring in our lifetimes. But the biggest threat, rising sea levels, is measured in centimeters over centuries. That is what I was thinking about when I wrote that phrase.
I get your point. But I think “climate weather catastrophe” or some such might be a useful phrase to wake people up. We had drastic smokey air from Canada for the first time in my experience in the N East. And the flooding is more frequent. And these heat domes! People must start connecting “weather disaster” with “climate”. Just as they need to connect “Trump” with “treasonous dictator”.
Thanks as always for your fine work in the newsletter!
In some ways, it’s like taking slow, imperceptible steps … until the next step starts to pitch you into a ravine.
We are plummeting now.
Hasn’t Maureen Dowd done enough damage to Dems with her vitriol re Hillary. She never misses a chance to twist the knife. Sure, she is clever, sort of like Peggy Noonan has always been. No excuse for smart people stooping so low.
not to mention her continual referral to President Obama as "Barry" -how dare she. She is like a catty high school bully. NYTimes comment section has many comments disparaging her op-ed but the right wing will be celebrating & most don't read the NYT comments sadly.
I don't think the right wing will know about it. They do'nt read the NYT. But it's time for Dowd to retire.
Sort of like chump, very impressed with herself. But she has the brains he lacks. SAD
I used to really like her but got turned off when she blasted Obama and praised Biden as being a more effective president. Now this?
Biden is a more effective president. If she said that she's right about it. Biden is amazing. I've been disappointed by every Dem president preceding Biden, from LBJ on.
I don't think Obama had nearly the negotiating skills that Biden has, and I think Obamacare got passed in no small part due to Nancy Pelosi's efforts. She's another amazing politician. Obama was good, but not great.
Obama is Black - that had A LOT to do with his "negotiating skills". It says a lot to me that he was able to use the skills of the ppl at hand (Biden, Pelosi) to benefit Americans in many ways.
I disagree. Pelosi was there, in Congress, more than ready to help her party, and I doubt Obama had to negotiate with her. I think she knew that Obamacare was damn good legislation, and that she was determined to push it.
Maureen Dowd has been a talentless over-educated under-intelligent otherwise-unemployable in desperate need of a free flying lesson for her entire career. And the NYT continues to prove it is nothing more than the nation's finest fishwrap - it's contents and what it gets wrapped around both go bad after three days.
You just don’t like snarky females ! But with that column even I don’t agree with Maureen Dowd. It really is not any of the Dowd’s business what Hunter Biden and the mother of that child have agreed to in their latest settlement. Hunter does whatever Hunter wants to do and I doubt if even the President has much influence on his actions. Being an ex addict does not explain every thing that has gone wrong in one’s life. Hunter should drop the addict /victim schtick.
I do as a matter of fact not only like snarky females but prefer them. With the added verbal modifier of SMART snarky females. Which MoDo never was or will be.
I think a lot has gone wrong in his life because of the crash that killed his mother and a sibling. And he may well have a genetic predisposition to addiction on top of that, as I think a lot of addicts do. I've always considered myself lucky not to have such a predisposition. An addict's life is full of struggle. And I suspect you're right that Hunter's father doesn't have much influence. And I also think his father is dealing with him in the best way--letting him know he'll always love him.
Masterful coverage in this morning's NL. While the content is stomach-turning, the "mainstream media" cannot be relied on to provide accurate and comprehensive info about facts both national & int'l. An MSNBC reporter stated on 7/10 that Americans were unhappy with Biden's economic juggernaut because [paraphrased] -- the middle class has not experienced its benefits. [Sic]. R Reich wrote in 7/10 "The Guardian" that the "unhappiness" results from the continuing vast inequalities of income & wealth. Although a more plausible explanation, this too appeared to overlook Biden's remedying about 25% of this inequality -- that he inherited, in 2 years. What shape would we be in w-i-t-h-o-u-t NLs via Substack and reader-supported media from overseas--?? TY again.
You might enjoy Mark Jacob's piece if you haven't already read it.
https://open.substack.com/pub/america/p/journalists-need-to-sound-the-alarm?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=3lzb6
Yes, it was an excellent piece.
Hey, T. What or who is "NL"? Thanks!
Newsletter.
Acronyms that are not in common parlance do to prose what a dead cow does to the flow of a stream.
Acronyms in common parlance include mpg, gpa, mph, HIV, DNA, and there are others. NL is not in common parlance.
Maureen Dowd thinks she’s a maverick in her family; I hate to tell her that she’s tarred by the same feather only in a different way. With friends like her who needs enemies? Where is her mocking wit and indignation over Trump and his ‘family’ values? His values of women or, for that matter, other human beings? To call down Biden for something out of his control was cruel but that’s her calling card.
I think a journalist would have to be exceptionally skilled to mock Trump and have it work. She is not that skilled.
It seems the GOP is not only TFG's party, but it has adopted his modus operandi of sowing chaos, fomenting fear, spreading misinformation and disinformation, and attacking the very agencies that maintain law and order. Have they no shame? Have they no decency? The answers are obvious.
Regarding stories about climate change: it is impossible to ignore stories with gloomy outlooks. That IS what we are facing. Should we give up and quit trying? Absolutely not! But pie in the sky won't work either. People do need to be afraid of the consequences of our action or, more appropriately non-action. JMO as a retired Marine Biologist. BTY: sea surface temps around the FL Keys are now up to as high as 96 C.
Hi, Lisa. I understand and respect where you are coming from. I just fundamentally disagree. If we use fear as the primary motivator, we will make people turn away, not engage them. I have not advocated "pie in the sky" solutions, but I think we have to explain why the things we can do today will make a difference, even if that difference will take centuries to manifest itself.
I get what you are saying. I just hate to see people not take it serioously enough because it is very serious. I will email you articles I find that I think aren't too doom and gloom and then you can decide.
What had water temperatures around the Keys been beforehand? The Gulf Stream, a body of warm water, flows past the Keys.
78 to 85 C
I don’t get it. 95 C is 203 F.
Surely that can’t be correct.
Sorry, meant F.