179 Comments

Biden mid pronounces a word (actually quite rarely) and it is all over the news. Trump spews continual hate and authoritarian pronouncements and he is given a pass. The 5th estate is failing democracy. Thanks Robert!

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

It is driving me crazy that so many in media are questioning Biden’s age as if Trump were decades younger. And hadn’t attempted a coup.

Expand full comment
founding

Right on, Betsy. The insanity of the moment continues in so many corners. It is as though the press cannot say the words, “This is a a serious moment for all. There is no equivalency.” Whether it is Biden vs TFG or the pending debt ceiling debacle, the press needs to be offering straight talk about the internal threat to democracy- the Republican Party - particularly the McCarthy led House and State Legislatures offering up the most draconian legislation whether child labor or denying healthcare for women or transgender people, or....

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023·edited Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

John, While your comment hits all the right notes, I would submit, were our Democratic leaders aggressively using their megaphone to instill in the media the “straight Talk” you rightly say is sorely missing, in my view, they could do more than any of us to shape how media delivers its coverage. Accordingly, your comment inspires me promptly to start pressing our public officials to use their positions to subject the pressing issues you so aptly identify to critical scrutiny.

Expand full comment
founding

And that, as Betsy repeats, is the point. We - the citizen voters - must make our voices heard loud and clear. We cannot sit around waiting for others to speak. Remember, WE are democracy when we participate. Thank you Barbara and Betsy.

Expand full comment

You nailed it.

Expand full comment

So well written. Why don’t we all write letters to the editors of our newspapers using this as a base? I will!

Expand full comment

Good idea. Let's do it.

Expand full comment

As Orwell noticed, it is difficult to get a man to recognize the truth when his paycheck dictates he do the opposite.

Expand full comment
founding

I read 1984 about a year to a year and half ago. Every page was, for me, mind blowing. Orwell was writing in on the 40s, with 1984 published in 1949. To read it alongside of today’s news is a startling, shocking and disconcerting to say the least. I encourage everyone to read it in 2023 whether you have previously read it or not. For me, I couldn’t believe I was just now reading it.

Expand full comment

I wouldn't be nice if that weren't the comparator!

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

OMG, Right you are! Biden mispronounces and it’s all over the news. Trump actually uses the wrong words on a regular basis and crickets

Expand full comment
founding

And he has no words to explain anything because he doesn't understand any issue.

Expand full comment

Remember the movie, "Dumb and Dumber?" It was very popular at one point. Perhaps this is the sequel.

Expand full comment

In one of the blog comment sections I follow, someone referred to DT as Yam Face. It creates just the right image in my head and so I am now referring to MAGA and co. as "the Yam People". And they march loudly to Looney Tunes.

Expand full comment

Biden overcame a speech impediment!

Expand full comment

Christopher, While your point is well-taken, I would note it has not gone un-noticed that Biden has held fewer press conferences than most, if not all, other contemporary Presidents. Further, I have observed, when he announces some policy, he typically leaves the stage without answering any questions. Accordingly, I expect Biden’s age would be far less a factor were he regularly and effectively engaging with the press.

Postscript: Presuming you are speaking of the media, do you mean 4th estate?

Expand full comment

I think public speaking is difficult for him. While I respect Robert's always-compassionate responses, most likely unrehearsed comments are very difficult for Pres. Biden. I'm a little HOH, and his speech is often too soft, fast, and garbled for me to "catch."

I suppose it would seem unpresidential for him to have an assistant, however. On the other hand, to have assistance just as if he had a hearing interpretor would be supportive of people with disabilities.

Expand full comment

Hope, While I am sensitive to Biden’s speaking impediment, I would note that the denotative meaning of extemporaneous is “carefully prepared but delivered without notes or text.” In my view, too little attention has been paid to prepping Biden for said invaluable performances to offset the age factor.

Expand full comment

Good point.

Expand full comment

As well as SINO McCarthy's word salads 😈

Expand full comment

McCarthy is not a bright man.

Expand full comment

Understatement

Expand full comment

Don't watch the news. These guys are on the wrong side of history. I think most people are thoroughly fed up with hate and anger.

Expand full comment

Mispronounces a word? In the most important moment of the State of the Union address, Biden said, “Social Security is off the books.”

No, Joe, it’s off the table.

Christopher, with all respect, Mr. Mombles may not be up to the task much more than Orangeman.

Expand full comment

You know the actions mean more than the words, right?

Expand full comment

Let us know when you're perfect, at any age. And "with all respect" is rather passive aggressive, imho.

Expand full comment

Why don’t you let me know? ApoarentlyYOU are. Bye.

Expand full comment
founding

Well said, Christopher.

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023·edited Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Sadly enough some people everywhere are sensationalists and polls and certain news outlets feed on that. Here in Germany we have a coalition of social, green and middle conservative. Every newshour there is at least some instance where someone is gloating over any sign of discord in the coalition. In the meantime they forget that this coalition looked after Germany during a pandemic, a war that is 1700 plus kilometres away and keeps watch over climate change. Critique is easy and cheap.

Expand full comment

I fully agree and we need to watch indictments carefully. And also dismiss the ass.ole Trump get busy registering college students, STANDING UP TO GUN SAFETY AND REGISTERING COLLEGE STUDENTS TO VOTE 🙏

Expand full comment

I stopped watching polls many moons ago.

Expand full comment

There is a movement afoot to restrict the "youth" vote because of the 2022 voting outcomes. See the link below.

Expand full comment

I'm on it.

Expand full comment

Also, as Robert mentioned. VoteRiders.org. Voters will need updated proper IDs in many places.

Expand full comment

My very simple method for avoiding fake news from any source on Twitter is not to go there.

Expand full comment

I admit I’ve never been a Twitter user so I know not what I speak, but after opening the floodgates to authoritarian propaganda I don’t understand why there wouldn’t be a mass abandonment of the platform by all responsible users. Is there nothing to replace it? Might that not get musks attention?

Expand full comment

For me, there's Facebook (dating myself now), email, Substack, telephone and (gasp) in person conversations.

Expand full comment

When I did the Art Walk this weekend, I talked to the vendors on either side of me as well as some of my customers. The sense I get is that ordinary, sane people are fed up with this nonsense.

Expand full comment

Now if we could only get a few such in Congress.

Expand full comment

In-person, Dave? Surely, you jest LOL!

Expand full comment

No, really. Don't tell anyone though. 😂

Expand full comment

Also, Bluesky and Nester are two other alternatives. Bluesky is an odd choice for a name, to me. It is a sales term - promise the customer anything (the sky), just get the sale!

Expand full comment

I so dislike auto correct - it's NOSTR

Expand full comment

Twitter certainly isn't the same as it used to be. Check out the best Twitter alternatives--like Mastodon, Clubhouse, Reddit, and Tumblr--if you're looking to leave the site.4 days ago

The best Twitter alternatives of 2023 - ZDNET

Expand full comment

Actually, I believe the Humanists are creating their own platform. You might see if you can find it. I suspect there are plenty of bright minds out there who don't support authoritarian billionaires.

Expand full comment

No need to turn it off if you don't turn it on to begin with, is there?

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Gee, all Joe should have to do to prove he's still sharp as a tack is recite "Person, woman, man, camera, TV," from memory. Isn't that solid proof? I mean outwitting the entire Republican congregation at the SOTU on live TV, in real time, apparently isn't good enough, so "Person, woman, man, camera, TV" should do it, don't you think?

Expand full comment
founding

Really folks. Although we can be proud of Biden’s State of the Union moment, we would be well served to do more than hang on to that address and move on to writing our congressional delegation, writing letters to the editor and passing along good reports as well as highlighting the threat to our democracy and the global community. See: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/24/opinion/hillary-clinton-debt-ceiling-republican-dollar.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Expand full comment

Absolutely! WE are messengers. The more we look beyond “Democrats should...” and see ourselves as the Democrats, the stronger we’ll be.

Expand full comment

Agreed. We have to get behind the politicians and other leaders we respect and push. We the People need to make it happen. No magic wands here.

Expand full comment

LMAO! (In reply to Mark)

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Every time I panic about the polls I look at the people polled. This time it was 1000 people, that does not represent any true amount of voters. I also have to remember how small the Republican base has shrunk to. I will admit I wish Biden was younger, but I will still vote for him against any Republican candidate. I am 63 and will never vote for the cruel, vile Republican Party again.

Expand full comment

I glory in Biden's age. He's the best president of my lifetime, which began early in the Eisenhower Administration. The only other contender is LBJ and he blew it on Vietnam, although he gave us much of value, such as LBJcare, or Medicare, as it is more commonly known. Biden and Nancy Pelosi have shown that some people, at least, can remain totally competent into their 80s.

Expand full comment

They absolutely can and we should be delighted about that.

Expand full comment

This act, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on July 2, 1964, prohibited discrimination in public places, provided for the integration of schools and other public facilities, and made employment discrimination illegal.Feb 8, 2022

Civil Rights Act (1964) | National Archives

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023·edited Apr 24, 2023

If Biden were younger, would he have the same abilities he has now.? I think Biden is the perfect president for the time we live in. I can't think of any other person who has the experience, knowledge and temperament to get us back to "normal" or as he says..."build back better"... Kind of klunkie, but the sentiment is right.

Expand full comment

And creative implementation of the tools of governance. Omg. Brilliant.

Expand full comment

I agree. Experience matters and Biden has a lot of experience both with policy and with people. That he overcame a stutter and became President regardless is wonderful. We Americans have to overcome our fascination with looks and celebrity.

Expand full comment

This! I've been saying this all along.

Expand full comment
founding

Amen!! Not even at the local level.

Expand full comment

Now that the GQP has added child labor to the list of “parents’ rights” they believe resonate with their voters, let’s urge the Democrats to jump all over this manufactured umbrella title. Parents’ rights to allow children to work in unsafe conditions? But NO parental rights to allow a child to seek healthcare for her right to choose. Parental rights to allow angry mothers and fathers to ban books THEY don’t like? But NO parental rights for those who would WANT their children to read all kinds of books. Parental rights to allow those angry mothers and fathers to discriminate against the humanity of gay and trans people. But NO parental rights to allow the parents of trans children to support their children as they are, and to seek the necessary gender-affirming healthcare. We simply CANNOT let them keep hoodwinking the voters about what they stand for. They have truly crossed a line and have become inhumane. I want to know if the Democrats have think tanks, as the GQP does, who creates issues, writes talking points, and even fashions legislation so that all red states sound like puppets in what they’re doing. Seemingly out of nowhere, Sanders as Governor in one of her first acts loosens the regulations for child labor. WTH??? Then we learn that it’s not out of nowhere. It’s from their Hate Factories. We need to have TRUTH Factories for the Democrats to dispel the culture wars that are killing our people, our democracy, and our very souls. And my comment about Alito is short and sweet: If he’s so ticked off about the fact that he isn’t even sure the government would obey any ruling he made (Oh, how I wish that were true), perhaps he should use his considerable time to understand why the country can hardly tolerate the Extreme Court! 3 words for Sam - “pack the Court.”

Expand full comment
founding

Laura has nailed it. Let’s get these messages out there. Let’s motivate sane voters to vote and make their voices heard. Thank you Laura Stillman.

Expand full comment

Another message we all need to email to the President at

https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

Expand full comment

Republican Party = Cognitive Dissonance, in everything they say and do.

Expand full comment

We need to translate our disgust into action. I've gone through stages of this. Stage One: try to understand them. Stage Two: be outraged and angry. Stage Three: get as far away from these creeps as possible and defeat then soundly.

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Justice Roberts should be reminded that umpires do far more than simply “call balls and strikes” and that even MLB is up to the task of changing the rules when its fans want to see change.

Ray Nord

Naples FL

Expand full comment

And they've just put in time limits between pitches. Welp, Mr Roberts, ya got 1 week. 😈

Expand full comment

He is clearly impotent.

Expand full comment

Forget about Roberts-his fate (and legacy) is sealed

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023·edited Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Thanks for the great advice, Robert! Keep it coming! The only poll that matters is on Election Day. Media polls are tools used by media to generate media.

Chief Justice Roberts has a unique opportunity to restore integrity to the Supreme Court. Instead, he seems to be abrogating that responsibility. My advice, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

Why Biden's age is an issue while Trump's is not is one of the greatest ironies of the day. Biden is only about 3-1/2 years older than Trump. Perhaps the explanation is that Biden acts his age, while Trump behaves like a 3-1/2 year old.

Biden needs a baggage handler among his communications staff. Hunter's troubles, Afghanistan withdrawal, ageism, gaffes, residual stuttering, and other such things should be better handled and not allowed to be weaponized.

"Ignore the polls!" Focus on what's important.

Expand full comment

"...Biden acts his age, while Trump behaves like a 3-1/2 year old." ✅

Expand full comment

None of the 3.5 year olds in my life act like that!

Expand full comment

That's really a good one. Biden acts like a civil adult and Yam Face like the overgrown toddler he is.

Expand full comment

PSA: Yam Face is also known as The Orange Menace:-)

Expand full comment

It's sort of a retread from about 2 years into Trump's occupancy. A commentator referred to his team as a two-year-old administration, and I observed how apropos the term was.

Expand full comment

I love your baggage handler idea.Brilliant!

Expand full comment

We also need a rapid response team that reacts every time the GQP comes up with new culture issues and then lies about them! We should not let them overwhelm us with their lies and their absurdities. Call it out for what it is. There is no rational reason to attack trans: the GQP think tanks manufacture issues and then send out talking points to all the red states. They all say the same thing repeatedly until somebody believes it and Democrats are pulling their hair out!

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

"Next time you speak to a customer service representative for one of the above organizations, tell them how you feel about their efforts to fund an organization that backed the “Stop the Steal” efforts in 2020."

Absolutely do not do this! This is further abuse of the beleaguered customer service people in this Country! I have been on a serious mission to stop the abuse of these people. Taking one's frustrations (political or otherwise) out on the people least likely to have zero input into the matter is cruel. I have heard too many stories of people telling how they were just awful to the Customer Service person.

These are our neighbors. They have families and problems just like you and me.

I recommend going out of our way to have a real person to person interaction. I do this and have had some of the sweetest human moments ever.

Expand full comment
author

I am not saying, "Don't be polite." I am saying, tell them how you feel about their company's positions and ask them to pass it on to their supervisors.

Expand full comment

I understand this Robert. Even the supervisors are powerless in policymaking. It's the CEO's who are making these kinds of decisions. I still say. Let's leave the Customer Service folks out of it.

Expand full comment

More and more service reps are off shore, working from a script and have no mechanism for passing on comments. By design! But it doesn’t hurt to try. Kindly, of course.

Expand full comment

BOYCOTT THE COMPANY and let them each know why!

Expand full comment

As a customer service rep in a recent part-time position, I say that's a sold "don't do it." CSR's put up with enough verbal abuse, an OSHA workplace violation btw, for very little pay. Just boycott the company.

Expand full comment

I do this as well. If a customer service person hasn't genuinely told me that it was a pleasure to speak with me, I consider I haven't done my job well. I know I couldn't handle a job where people made their problem personal with me over something of which I have no control. I am not interested in adding to the misery of their job by entitled people screaming that the customer is always right. No, they are not. My intention is for people to WANT to help me, and that is not accomplished by being a jackass.

Expand full comment

My intention is also to pave the way for a good interaction. I, also, really enjoy the person to person moments.

Expand full comment

Thank you!

Expand full comment

I whole-heartedly agree. The customer service people have ZERO input into the policies of the company whose product or service they are supporting.

They probably work for a different company, one we never hear of, not the maker of the product or service. And, they probably get paid by the number of calls they handle. Taking up their time to complain lowers their pay.

Expand full comment

Good point. I never thought of that.

Expand full comment
founding

Excellent Barbara. Robert should consider pinning you post. We need to do everything we can to get the message to the right people NOW.

Expand full comment
founding

Ah --- the MEDIA once again!!! Every day they do what they did in 2015 -- have multiple headlines and stories about Trump and virtually nothing about Biden's accomplishments. And polls -- breathless and inaccurate. While on the issue of age, I fear that Senator Feinstein is repeating what Justice Ginsberg did. Missing those votes for judicial nominees? FINALLY - on postcard writing - it's something we ALL can do. I wore out my fountain pen writing for the CIVICS CENTER and the increase in some election of the youth vote was 240%

Expand full comment
founding

Derek, we need more people like you writing postcards and more. To good news is that we see this happening more and more. 240% increase! That’s really cool.

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Another coup for Joe Biden-$1.5 billion Inflation Reduction Act thats set aside for the federal Forest Service Urban and Community Forestry Program to fund tree-planting projects over the next decade with a focus on underserved communities which turn concrete jungles into tree lined communities.

Way to go, Joe!!

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

This age thing .... isn’t the youthful Trump around 76 or 77? Anyway, Biden has and will have countless opportunities to exploit Trump’s “youth” by stating his own age and Trump’s and empathetically explaining that, with his own “great” advantage in years AND experience, his “young” opponent is certainly disadvantaged in nearly every challenge facing our country and the world. Their diets and religious practices aside, Biden has a clear physical and spiritual youthfulness it won’t take a lot to showcase!

Expand full comment

Trump turns 77 on June 14th. He was born 6/14/46.

Expand full comment
Apr 24, 2023·edited Apr 24, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell

Once again, the mainstream media is normalizing Trump. We all know there is absolutely nothing normal about this man.The MSM delivered him to us before but we have to make sure it doesn't happen again. A twice impeached, serial lying former POTUS who tried to overturn the results of a fair election is NOT presidential timber and has never been.I will take our intelligent, accomplished "old man" over their criminal, fascist "old man" any day.Bring it on.

Expand full comment

Age does not matter, stuttering does not matter, competence , conviction, experience and understanding the responsibilities of office matter, not just for us but the world.

Biden may be Ren Reed as one of our greatest presidents given the conditions he is facing. Thanks!

Expand full comment
author

Ren Reed = remembered

Expand full comment

Just reported: Tucker Carlson and Fox have decided to part ways. It makes one wonder if there were secret codicils to the Fox-Dominion settlement.

On the bright side, it will enable Tucker to realize his lifelong ambition to apply for a job at Channel One in Moscow. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/04/24/tucker-carlson-leaves-fox-news-in-wake-of-dominion-defamation-settlement.html

Expand full comment