Coop Scoop -- Biden: "Statesman and Politician. Hero and Fool"

The somewhat normal press conference not enough in these abnormal times

July 11, 2024

By Marc Cooper

Let’s get right to the point.  Joe Biden’s NATO talk and “big boy” press conference came off as fairly normal, boring, routine presidential stuff and if this took place a year ago there would be no controversy over Joe (not even confusing Putin for Zelensky and Trump for Harris). 

And that means this was another FAIL.  We cannot afford normal and routine when we are 119 days away from the possible election of an authoritarian idiot who is still running somewhat ahead of Biden.  Further, Biden already screwed the pooch during the debate.  It was, indeed, “one bad night” that dramatically confirmed the fears thart millions of Democrats and others have had for years. That memory will not fade in 4 months.

Bitch all you want about the media feeding frenzy.  It’s not going to stop whether u like it or not.  It’s an unfortunate fact of life.  And just as we today are scrutinizing every word, twitch, step and movement of Joe Biden, that is going to continue to election day.  And it is blotting out the disinfectant sunlight that would further expose Trump as the greatest threat to America since World War Two.

“There’s this general sense of just, unbelievable holding your breath every time he does an event, every time he’s with people,” one top Democrat in close touch with Biden’s inner circle of advisers told CNN. This person added that some of those advisers have privately acknowledged: “This is going to get worse.”

Yes, but…. a whole hour into the conference, Biden found about a minute or so of appropriate elevated emotional range to heartily denounce the epidemic gun violence killing children and how Trump will do nothing about it.   And, unfortunately for the first time, Biden finally denounced Project 2025.  We needed 75 minutes of that, not 75 seconds. Actually, we have needed six months of that behind us and four in front of us from Biden.

Instead, much of the presser was Biden fairly comfortably, with some slight hesitations, repeating the same Indispensable America rhetoric he has mouthed for 50 years.  I am not trying to insult Biden, but asking him basic foreign policy questions after being Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee ain’t much of a test.

And, in my case at least, I have no concern whether or not Biden would be “fit” enough for the next four years to govern. I don’t care because if Trump wins there will be no more Democratic presidents in our lifetime.  My only concern is that TRUMP BE DEFEATED IN NOVEMBER and Biden is looking weak against him.  It’s about that simple.

I couldn’t care less if 2026 President Biden, passes out at the resolute desk and goes into a coma.  I care If Trump takes power and uses the SCOTUS ruling to immediately begin construction of a presidential dictatorship.  And sorry to say, I do not believe today that Biden will be re-elected.  That might change but I don’t see any trend lines in that direction.

In this saga we are also seeing some other sides to Biden.  In my opinion, a certain disassociation from at least political reality.  When 80% of the electorate and 52% of your own party says it’s time to leave…guess what? It’s time to leave.

Biden showed real defiance in staying in the race.  He says he would only leave the race if he was shown data from his party comrades that it is impossible to win.

That, by the way, is going to happen on Friday –maybe before you even read this.  The trickle of Dem reps calling upon him to resign slightly increased in volume today to 9.  There are reports that on Friday some 40 Democratic reps will step out and request he step down. 

Behind the curtains there is a whole lot of movement among Democrats.  We learn that George Clooney cleared his Biden-drop-out op-ed with Barack Obama who did not give Biden a heads up.  There are reports that a significant number of Biden staffers are organizing to confront Biden.

And he got rhetorically bombed by some of Obama’s former top aides.  His top speechwriter let loose with a doozie Wednesday that, again sorry, does resonate with some of the self-serving rhetoric of the last few weeks about how only Joe Biden and absolutely nobody else is the Chosen One.

From the Daily Beast:

“Wednesday, Jon Lovett, former Obama speechwriter and a podcast c0-host, wrote that Biden should leave the race now with his dignity and his legacy intact. “Or he can leave a stubborn old man who allowed hubris and insecurity to destroy his legacy and perhaps our democracy with it.”

“There have always been two Joe Bidens,” he continued. “The empathetic, decent, big-hearted leader, forged in loss and grief, finding the good in his friends and opponents, in love with America, arms wide and open with space for everyone. And there’s the blowhard with a chip on his shoulder, stubborn, something to prove, his fellow senators rolling their eyes as the finger wags harder and the stories get longer. Statesman and politician, hero and fool.”

During the press conference he was asked why he abandoned his 2020 pledge to be a one term president and would serve as a “bridge to a future generation of leaders.”  His weak answer is that once he realized that Trump was so dangerous he felt his duty to “stay and finish the job.”

Don’t know about you but that sorta sounds like that Other Biden that Lovett was slamming.

If Biden stays in I will support and vote for him with great trepidation but I will do it.  If he wins, he might inadvertently be a bridge to the future as it is probably a coin flip if has 5 more years of life expectancy.

My bigger fear is that winds up being a different bridge…a bridge to authoritarian rule. I guess that’s ok too if he gave it all as, after all, a bridge is a bridge and bridge is INFRASTRUCTURE! And what’s been more important to Biden than that?+++

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