We don't revere age and the wisdom and mastery that can come with it. Joe Biden is wise. His wisdom informs his lifelong deeply good character.. He's also been hard at work in national and international government/politics for so long that he's built a valuable reservoir of experience and connection all over the world.
No one' even talks about how he quietly reestablished order and trust in our own halls of government... our government that had been torn to shreds over four years with the former guy.
We should thank our lucky stars for the wise, experienced & deeply good Joe Biden.
HCR devotes her entire newsletter today to Biden’s speech. Also, check out Peter Baker’s excellent article in the NYT. Please note that Biden spoke at a ceremony honoring John McCain! Smart but also genuine and heartfelt. Instead of focusing on Bidenomics (boring) he gave an uplifting speech about democracy that was full of passion and moral conviction. He has finally returned to one of his lifelong themes that he is so dedicated to. I heard give a similar speech eight years ago. A lesson for all Dems: aim for the heart and not the head. Disregard wonky policy speeches Pleez.
Yes! We need more speeches like this that aim for the heart, that get the emotional juices running. That is the secret weapon that tfg and the MAGA movement have exploited for years. Mobilize people’s passion for democracy and be stark about what is at stake. Use fewer words, repeat them over and over, and skip the geeky stuff.
Agreed. It was one for the ages. But also for the aged. How many younger voters do you think read or heard that speech? If we are going to win next year, Biden needs to be delivering one/two punches on TicTok all day long.
Again, I was deeply moved and impressed with Biden's speech. And his showing up where real union auto workers were striking was also brilliant.
But the Democratic Party is not going to win by classic speechifying. We need to rain some brazen blows to the GQP madness where two whole generations live.
Obama embraced the new technology. Which changes every year! Facebook started as a young person's media - now it's for older folks. I'm not saying Biden should abandon such great presentations - but it is very old school. It's not where millions of younger people live. They live on platforms like TicTok and the messages are seconds long. And they pack a simple punch. Remember that attention spans are now one tenth of what they used to be. We must adapt.
I’m reading “The Kids Are All Left” by David Faris. The younger generations are much more liberal. Repubs have been losing the young vote by huge margins.
Yes, it was an excellent speech, one that should be shouted from the rooftops! Why then, did Biden whisper most of it? Will people be truly inspired when there is no passion in the delivery? If he can’t work up the energy that his speech deserved, how can we expect Americans to be inspired by him?
I watched President Biden's speech last night and was again reminded of how much guts it takes to make speech after speech with a stutter. I couldn't do it without a stutter. I was also impressed by his ability to laugh at himself and with others. But mostly I was heartened to hear a call to common decency, love of country, and love for our fellow human beings voiced out loud.
Because Donald Trump is such a bloviating cesspool of disinformation and chaos, we tend to forget the fact that Joe Biden is our President because the majority of Americans voted for him. Why are we playing defense? We won. President Biden is putting in place policies that We the People wanted him to. We won. Donald Trump lost. Joe Biden is a good president. Donald Trump is a train wreck. President Biden is competent. Donald Trump is a criminal. Joe Biden is supported by the majority of Americans and Donald Trump is supported largely by conspiracy theory-infested wingnuts and nay-sayers who want to tear the country apart. Get behind President Biden and his Administration and help us all out. We won. Let's do it again.
Send the second paragraph to one of the groups making those weak uninspiring campaign ads for Biden (honestly I know the Lincoln group is trying but too often I feel like they could do much better) and tell them you have some script for their next one. Or, make a meme and get it out there!
Thanks for that, Janet. That was the same conclusion I came to the other evening. President Biden is the present. Trump is the past and let's work together to keep it that way.
The only positive take away from watching this "impeachment inquiry" aka clown show was to see Jamie Raskin with hair and without the bandana mercilessly shredding the attempts of the MAGA's to muddy the water with their baseless insinuations.
WOW. And Fox New's version is all about conservatives saying things like "we shouldn't elect dumb people to Congress." Well, duh, folks. Boebert? Jordan? MGT?
Great newsletter tonight! Robert, Biden made a lot of gaffes when he was younger so it isn’t his age. Look, he has a disability just like FDR did and he doesn’t or can’t hide it. I have a tremendous amount of admiration for him. In spite of his “flaws”, he has managed to get his points across. Until we defeat the fire-breathing dragons, Joe will keep hammering home what giving up our democracies mean. I am here for that.
Exactly. It's characteristic of brilliant people to be meta thinking as they speak: They think about the speech, the way they are delivering it (why Biden starts slow until he finds his zone), side issues they could have pulled in, ideas they are opposing, nuances they want to be sure to leave space for or eliminate, etc.
On top of all that, when Biden was young enough to be getting public school attention for his stammer it was received opinion that if you slowed down and concentrated you could eliminate it, followed soon thereafter by the theory that stammerers were paying too much attention to their speech production. He's got a lot to mentally juggle when he's speaking. Some of that inevitably interferes. Gaffes aren't necessarily ignorance or Freudian although his opponents want to pretend they are.
The word salad Trump produces at times is exactly what it appears to be: Fragmented thought processes and short attention span with a weak filter.
Thank you Robert. If readers haven’t yet seen Rep Jasmine Crockett’s speech at yesterday’s sham impeachment hearings, here it is: https://youtu.be/v8zemW5JeUc?feature=shared
I wish more Democratic leaders, and media outlets would learn from her!!! What an inspiring and invigorating intervention!!
Sep 29, 2023·edited Sep 29, 2023Liked by Robert B. Hubbell
"Respected" and journalist is not what I am often thinking when I see the slant and lazy seeming coverage. But I should really be questioning the, "Respected Editor" who is behind the decisions on what is published. Who is to say that journalists are not creating the stories, only to be told they will not be published, at least not unless something negative is dug up. We should be writing to the editors and complaining about their right-wing supportive publishing choices. Fox News may be more extreme, but being benignly complicit is almost worse because it dupes more people into thinking it is objective.
As you say, "career" and "careen" mean the same thing as a result of usage. So long as the media treat Joe Biden walking a picket line as the same thing as Donald Trump giving a speech to a bunch of plants ("plant" in both senses of the word) Americans will accept that usage.
The press, the rest of the media, you and I have to break through the sense of "Trump just being Trump." He means every word that he says, whether he remembers the words or not. If he is in power again, his thoughts will come back regarding, for instance, accusations of treason and the death penalty for those who oppose him. At the same time, you are saying what we cannot be too embarrassed to say -- Joe Biden has been a great president.
In the most important ways conceivable, as they say on Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the others." True for both men. Joe Biden is as good a president as we have seen in our lifetimes. Donald Trump is among the most corrupt and dangerous of men.
Wonderful parallel between the word usage and the usage of coverage tactics. Also: "One of these things is not like the others" ... another great pro Biden ad format!
Robert, are there really people who still send you emails about usage? I, for one, would be grateful to never see another usage note in your newsletter. The newsletter is about preserving democracy in the Trump era, and grammar just ain’t relevant.
What a fine, balanced and helpful way to start the day. I would only add that during the absolute "s#*t show" of the House impeachment hearings, numerous Democratic Congress members (Rep. Jamie Raskin, et al.) spoke forcefully, movingly, even humorously. These men and women, from every background, will help save us. And I totally agree about the Arizona speech. Indeed, I found the invocation of John McCain's words particularly moving. Damnit, I have to get to work writing post cards!
I was glad to be online for the BigTent podcast; you and Simon did a great job! I am interested to hear more about Youngkin and how his possible entry into the race might portend....
Also, I didn't watch the debate, but caught some clips.... Vivek saying the children who are transgender was a sign of a mental illness made me roar in fury!!
Your survey should have listed VIA EMAIL as a choice for how your column is shared. I indicated “Threads” before I realized it was a “social media” form, not an alternative to it. I share your column via email every single day. There is no option to correct my response.
Same here. I share via email, usually writing a sentence or two about why that particular edition is important (in my opinion). Frequently it is difficult to pick out just one thing, but I figure that’s a positive problem to have!
Can’t help but love the name “Aftergut” as well as his quote. Thank you.
“The double standard is so blatant it hurts to watch.” Which is why my news watching has changed 99% since Walter told it like it was. Our free press (which chump called the enemy of the people) has morphed into “the media” which splits ‘that’s the way it is” into facts and alternative facts. Take your pick. The “panels” parse and obfuscate more often than not. Does any “media type” ever go to the window to see if it’s raining?
“What are these “respected” journalists thinking when they treat Trump as a legitimate candidate rather than as a coup-plotting conman, fascist, sexual predator, fraudster, and defense secrets thief? Why did the press give Trump a “pass” on this story?”
Please all, a reminder - its so important to express our outrage and dismay about media/press coverage by writing letters to editors, individual journalists and others responsible for making choices detrimental to our country and our democracy.
I am so glad that you reminded folks about Biden’s speech impediment. And that it is real, on going. While I try not to worry when I listen to him, in some way I always will - precisely because so many who hear him (including media), do not know or think about or care about the effects of a speech impediment . They use “gaffes” to perpetuate the myth of his being too old or incompetent. His actions, beliefs and incredibly successful presidency should belie those myths but so often don’t - in part because of careless, irresponsible and prejudicial journalism.
We don't revere age and the wisdom and mastery that can come with it. Joe Biden is wise. His wisdom informs his lifelong deeply good character.. He's also been hard at work in national and international government/politics for so long that he's built a valuable reservoir of experience and connection all over the world.
No one' even talks about how he quietly reestablished order and trust in our own halls of government... our government that had been torn to shreds over four years with the former guy.
We should thank our lucky stars for the wise, experienced & deeply good Joe Biden.
HCR devotes her entire newsletter today to Biden’s speech. Also, check out Peter Baker’s excellent article in the NYT. Please note that Biden spoke at a ceremony honoring John McCain! Smart but also genuine and heartfelt. Instead of focusing on Bidenomics (boring) he gave an uplifting speech about democracy that was full of passion and moral conviction. He has finally returned to one of his lifelong themes that he is so dedicated to. I heard give a similar speech eight years ago. A lesson for all Dems: aim for the heart and not the head. Disregard wonky policy speeches Pleez.
Yes! We need more speeches like this that aim for the heart, that get the emotional juices running. That is the secret weapon that tfg and the MAGA movement have exploited for years. Mobilize people’s passion for democracy and be stark about what is at stake. Use fewer words, repeat them over and over, and skip the geeky stuff.
Agreed. It was one for the ages. But also for the aged. How many younger voters do you think read or heard that speech? If we are going to win next year, Biden needs to be delivering one/two punches on TicTok all day long.
Again, I was deeply moved and impressed with Biden's speech. And his showing up where real union auto workers were striking was also brilliant.
But the Democratic Party is not going to win by classic speechifying. We need to rain some brazen blows to the GQP madness where two whole generations live.
Obama embraced the new technology. Which changes every year! Facebook started as a young person's media - now it's for older folks. I'm not saying Biden should abandon such great presentations - but it is very old school. It's not where millions of younger people live. They live on platforms like TicTok and the messages are seconds long. And they pack a simple punch. Remember that attention spans are now one tenth of what they used to be. We must adapt.
"Biden needs to be delivering one/two punches on TicTok all day long." -- You're so right!
Kamala is speaking at Black colleges and schools to large and enthusiastic crowds. They treat her like a rock star. The campaign is just beginning.
I like your ideas.
I’m reading “The Kids Are All Left” by David Faris. The younger generations are much more liberal. Repubs have been losing the young vote by huge margins.
Agreed.
Yes, it was an excellent speech, one that should be shouted from the rooftops! Why then, did Biden whisper most of it? Will people be truly inspired when there is no passion in the delivery? If he can’t work up the energy that his speech deserved, how can we expect Americans to be inspired by him?
I love your comment. It's what I say to everyone who brings up Biden's age.
I think the dam is cracking. Little thin finger cracks, growing and spreading. Soon to become bigger cracks...
A respected poll from Economist-YouGov today not considered an outlier due to its size has President Biden up over Trump by 45-40.
Thin little finger cracks...
May the dam burst. 40% MAGAts is cult-sized danger. One bro says he is sick of chump. Another tiny crack.
You mean people aren't impressed with her new plastic "excrescences"??? :-)
LOL!!!
Be kind. She's going to need them for her new fall back position. I mean job. When she loses the seat where she's currently pretending to work.
You mean back to her pre-election job as an "escort"???
Let’s not forget she is someone’s mother and grandmother.
I watched President Biden's speech last night and was again reminded of how much guts it takes to make speech after speech with a stutter. I couldn't do it without a stutter. I was also impressed by his ability to laugh at himself and with others. But mostly I was heartened to hear a call to common decency, love of country, and love for our fellow human beings voiced out loud.
Because Donald Trump is such a bloviating cesspool of disinformation and chaos, we tend to forget the fact that Joe Biden is our President because the majority of Americans voted for him. Why are we playing defense? We won. President Biden is putting in place policies that We the People wanted him to. We won. Donald Trump lost. Joe Biden is a good president. Donald Trump is a train wreck. President Biden is competent. Donald Trump is a criminal. Joe Biden is supported by the majority of Americans and Donald Trump is supported largely by conspiracy theory-infested wingnuts and nay-sayers who want to tear the country apart. Get behind President Biden and his Administration and help us all out. We won. Let's do it again.
This is great! The Biden campaign should use it for their ads!
Exactly! That's the first thing I thought too! Clearly it's good stuff.
🙏
Send the second paragraph to one of the groups making those weak uninspiring campaign ads for Biden (honestly I know the Lincoln group is trying but too often I feel like they could do much better) and tell them you have some script for their next one. Or, make a meme and get it out there!
Thanks for that, Janet. That was the same conclusion I came to the other evening. President Biden is the present. Trump is the past and let's work together to keep it that way.
Absolutely. Our present President is a gift. The past one was the trash, and we took it out.
Will there ever be a day when Trump’s name doesn’t come up?
The only positive take away from watching this "impeachment inquiry" aka clown show was to see Jamie Raskin with hair and without the bandana mercilessly shredding the attempts of the MAGA's to muddy the water with their baseless insinuations.
https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1707464799209070665?t=gkPjIpNiQJU9RRUTelsRJQ&s=19
I got such a kick out of TX Democratic Rep Jasmine Crockett blast the GQP.
That was the best takedown ever! National secrets in the shi**er....which is not funny but I had to laugh.
I could watch this on a repeat loop FOREVER! Had not previously known of Rep. Crockett. I will certainly watch for her in the future.
🤣🤣🤣 loved this!! Just raked the fake impeachment efforts to shreds. Woot!
Thank you for the link, Marsha! I was unfamiliar with Jasmine Crockett but am now a fan! She is not one for Republican foolishness!
WOW. And Fox New's version is all about conservatives saying things like "we shouldn't elect dumb people to Congress." Well, duh, folks. Boebert? Jordan? MGT?
AMAZING. Love her
She hit the nail on the head.
I was thinking the same thing! So happy to see Jamie recovering
I don’t know. I’m going to miss the pirate bandanna.
He wears it with panache! But then he does everything that way including defending our democracy. Glad he is recovering.
Granted. But I am quite sure he won't.
Great newsletter tonight! Robert, Biden made a lot of gaffes when he was younger so it isn’t his age. Look, he has a disability just like FDR did and he doesn’t or can’t hide it. I have a tremendous amount of admiration for him. In spite of his “flaws”, he has managed to get his points across. Until we defeat the fire-breathing dragons, Joe will keep hammering home what giving up our democracies mean. I am here for that.
Exactly. It's characteristic of brilliant people to be meta thinking as they speak: They think about the speech, the way they are delivering it (why Biden starts slow until he finds his zone), side issues they could have pulled in, ideas they are opposing, nuances they want to be sure to leave space for or eliminate, etc.
On top of all that, when Biden was young enough to be getting public school attention for his stammer it was received opinion that if you slowed down and concentrated you could eliminate it, followed soon thereafter by the theory that stammerers were paying too much attention to their speech production. He's got a lot to mentally juggle when he's speaking. Some of that inevitably interferes. Gaffes aren't necessarily ignorance or Freudian although his opponents want to pretend they are.
The word salad Trump produces at times is exactly what it appears to be: Fragmented thought processes and short attention span with a weak filter.
Thank you Robert. If readers haven’t yet seen Rep Jasmine Crockett’s speech at yesterday’s sham impeachment hearings, here it is: https://youtu.be/v8zemW5JeUc?feature=shared
I wish more Democratic leaders, and media outlets would learn from her!!! What an inspiring and invigorating intervention!!
Thanks. Going to share
"Respected" and journalist is not what I am often thinking when I see the slant and lazy seeming coverage. But I should really be questioning the, "Respected Editor" who is behind the decisions on what is published. Who is to say that journalists are not creating the stories, only to be told they will not be published, at least not unless something negative is dug up. We should be writing to the editors and complaining about their right-wing supportive publishing choices. Fox News may be more extreme, but being benignly complicit is almost worse because it dupes more people into thinking it is objective.
https://www.youtube.com/live/YibDwEDzU0k?si=616L5LTA2hTFiIln
This may explain why journalists don't have as much freedom as we wish they did. Another reason we have to stay in the fight.
Get MAD!
https://www.mediaanddemocracyproject.org/
As you say, "career" and "careen" mean the same thing as a result of usage. So long as the media treat Joe Biden walking a picket line as the same thing as Donald Trump giving a speech to a bunch of plants ("plant" in both senses of the word) Americans will accept that usage.
The press, the rest of the media, you and I have to break through the sense of "Trump just being Trump." He means every word that he says, whether he remembers the words or not. If he is in power again, his thoughts will come back regarding, for instance, accusations of treason and the death penalty for those who oppose him. At the same time, you are saying what we cannot be too embarrassed to say -- Joe Biden has been a great president.
In the most important ways conceivable, as they say on Sesame Street, "one of these things is not like the others." True for both men. Joe Biden is as good a president as we have seen in our lifetimes. Donald Trump is among the most corrupt and dangerous of men.
Wonderful parallel between the word usage and the usage of coverage tactics. Also: "One of these things is not like the others" ... another great pro Biden ad format!
Thank you. Consider my free newsletter Len's Political Notes. You can subscribe on my website: https://lenspoliticalnotes.com
I am subscribed and enjoy it very much!
Terrific. Len
Robert, are there really people who still send you emails about usage? I, for one, would be grateful to never see another usage note in your newsletter. The newsletter is about preserving democracy in the Trump era, and grammar just ain’t relevant.
Just yesterday . . .
People SERIOUSLY need to get a life.
There is nothing more discouraaging than having a 'woke' person being chastized by 'elitists'. There ought to be a law...
I know, geesh. But today his usage comment led to a great parallel in Mr. Lubinsky's comment, so even the sand can produce a pearl.
(But yeah... huge eye roll going on here too.)
Jordan, perhaps see my Comment, undoubtedly way below here, about popular misuse of STEM terminology.
To steal a phrase from Yehawes, “huge eye roll.”
No surprise.
Aren’t there grammar sites where you can get your jollies?
No need. I learned grammar and spelling in elementary and junior high school.
And you?
What a fine, balanced and helpful way to start the day. I would only add that during the absolute "s#*t show" of the House impeachment hearings, numerous Democratic Congress members (Rep. Jamie Raskin, et al.) spoke forcefully, movingly, even humorously. These men and women, from every background, will help save us. And I totally agree about the Arizona speech. Indeed, I found the invocation of John McCain's words particularly moving. Damnit, I have to get to work writing post cards!
I was glad to be online for the BigTent podcast; you and Simon did a great job! I am interested to hear more about Youngkin and how his possible entry into the race might portend....
Also, I didn't watch the debate, but caught some clips.... Vivek saying the children who are transgender was a sign of a mental illness made me roar in fury!!
He should see Oprah’s interview with Janet Mock, some years back. Vivek trying to outdo chump
Don't you just want to grab and twist those fingers?!!!
Your survey should have listed VIA EMAIL as a choice for how your column is shared. I indicated “Threads” before I realized it was a “social media” form, not an alternative to it. I share your column via email every single day. There is no option to correct my response.
Same here. I share via email, usually writing a sentence or two about why that particular edition is important (in my opinion). Frequently it is difficult to pick out just one thing, but I figure that’s a positive problem to have!
Thank you for sharing the newsletter, Ingrid, in whichever way you prefer!
Thank you for sharing the newsletter!
Can’t help but love the name “Aftergut” as well as his quote. Thank you.
“The double standard is so blatant it hurts to watch.” Which is why my news watching has changed 99% since Walter told it like it was. Our free press (which chump called the enemy of the people) has morphed into “the media” which splits ‘that’s the way it is” into facts and alternative facts. Take your pick. The “panels” parse and obfuscate more often than not. Does any “media type” ever go to the window to see if it’s raining?
“What are these “respected” journalists thinking when they treat Trump as a legitimate candidate rather than as a coup-plotting conman, fascist, sexual predator, fraudster, and defense secrets thief? Why did the press give Trump a “pass” on this story?”
Please all, a reminder - its so important to express our outrage and dismay about media/press coverage by writing letters to editors, individual journalists and others responsible for making choices detrimental to our country and our democracy.
I am so glad that you reminded folks about Biden’s speech impediment. And that it is real, on going. While I try not to worry when I listen to him, in some way I always will - precisely because so many who hear him (including media), do not know or think about or care about the effects of a speech impediment . They use “gaffes” to perpetuate the myth of his being too old or incompetent. His actions, beliefs and incredibly successful presidency should belie those myths but so often don’t - in part because of careless, irresponsible and prejudicial journalism.
I love today's post!! Especially the last paragraph!! I had the same anxiety!! Like Tom, I feel the dam is cracking!!
In my opinion , Biden’s speech was epic Also, how he handled the hecklers with patience and grace while offering to meet with them afterwards.