Biden catch-all

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“… Woodward describes the roller-coaster relationship between Biden and Netanyahu. While Biden supported Israel publicly, he fought with Netanyahu behind the scenes over how Israel was conducting the war in Gaza.

“What’s your strategy, man?” Biden asked Netanyahu during an April phone call, Woodward reports.

“We have to go into Rafah,” Netanyahu said.

“Bibi, you’ve got no strategy.” Biden responded.

…
Biden’s frustration with Netanyahu boiled over as the war continued to escalate.

“He’s a fucking liar,” Biden said privately of Netanyahu, after Israel went into Rafah, Woodward writes.

“Bibi, what the fuck?” Biden yelled at Netanyahu in July after an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hezbollah military commander and three civilians in Beirut, according to Woodward.

“You know the perception of Israel around the world increasingly is that you’re a rogue state, a rogue actor,” Biden said to Netanyahu.

Netanyahu responded that the target was “one of the leading terrorists.”

“We saw an opportunity and took it,” Netanyahu said. “The harder you hit, the more successful you’re going to be in the negotiation.” …”

Fly Snoop GIF by Barbara Pozzi
 
(Continued)

“…
After the disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden received a commiserating phone call from another member of the president’s club.

“Oh boy, I can understand what you’re going through,” Bush said to Biden. “I got fucked by my intel people, too,” Woodward writes.

Ahead of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Biden complained that Obama didn’t do enough to stop Putin in 2014, when the Russian leader invaded Crimea.

“They fucked up in 2014,” Biden said to a friend, according to Woodward. “That’s why we are here. We fucked it up. Barack never took Putin seriously.”

Biden added, “We did nothing. We gave Putin a license to continue!” Biden was angry: “Well, I’m revoking his fucking license!” …”
 
Hunter and Merrick Garland …

“…
Biden has remained hands off with the Justice Department. But privately, Woodward reveals the president’s anger at the prosecution of his son, especially toward his attorney general.

“Should never have picked Garland,” Biden once told an associate, Woodward reports. “This is never going to fucking go away,” Biden complained.

Woodward also describes a scene between father and son at the White House in the spring of 2022. The president was having dinner with a friend, when Hunter Biden came in, sat down and began talking about why he was the person with the most to lose from the midterm elections.

“Hunter rambled on about his personal crisis,” Woodward writes. “President Biden leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes and sighed.” …”
 
Blinken to Biden on July 4th:

“…
Woodward writes that Blinken — who is known for his loyalty and close relationship to Biden — addressed the sensitive issue during a private lunch on July 4.

“I don’t want to see your legacy jeopardized. Anyone who is written about gets one sentence. That’s the legacy,” Blinken said. “If this decision leads you to staying in and winning reelection, great. If it leads to you staying in and losing reelection, that’s the sentence.”

Blinken then asked Biden: “Can you see yourself doing it for another four years? You’ve got to answer that question.” …”
 
Endorsing Harris and not getting that from Obama in 2016 …

“… When Biden dropped out on July 21, he immediately endorsed Harris, allowing her to consolidate Democratic support and avoid messy party infighting.

He also remembered what it was like not to get the president’s endorsement.

“I think it probably harkens back to the way Biden felt he didn’t get that from President Obama back in 2016,” Blinken said, according to Woodward. “He was disappointed. He felt that, you know, as his vice president that’s the normal and natural order.”

…
Woodward writes that at one point she was concerned about Biden’s isolation and called one of his closest associates.

“I’m calling to ask you — to really beg you, actually — could you please talk to the president more than you talk to him?” Harris said to Biden’s friend. “Your president really loves you. You should talk to him more often than you do.”

Woodward writes: “The Biden associate was candid with the vice president. Look, one of the biggest reasons that Biden calls me, the associate said, is I provide him a level of comfort to the point where he can swear freely about ‘what a fucking asshole Joe Manchin is.’”

The vice president laughed. “That might be the only reason that he still really is comfortable with me to a point,” Harris said, according to Woodward, “because he knows that I’m the only person around who knows how to properly pronounce the word motherfucker.” …”
 
That CNN article reads like a pitch for a new TV series that nobody would actually watch because it’s so unbelievable. Every bit of it is fascinating.
 
nycfan said:
www.theguardian.com

Jill Biden admits husband Joe made ‘right call’ by exiting presidential race

First lady says family is excited to ‘start new chapter of our lives’ in Good Morning America interview
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

Jill Biden admits husband Joe made ‘right call’ by exiting presidential race​

First lady says family is excited to ‘start new chapter of our lives’ in Good Morning America interview
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Joe could've made that decision much, much sooner if not for Jill's constant attempts to thwart all challengers and insist he was not in decline.
 
fsclark1 said:
Joe could've made that decision much, much sooner if not for Jill's constant attempts to thwart all challengers and insist he was not in decline.
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Doubt Joe would’ve made the decision that much—if any—sooner. His pride was as much a factor in his reluctance to step aside as any influence she had on the situation.
 
fsclark1 said:
Joe could've made that decision much, much sooner if not for Jill's constant attempts to thwart all challengers and insist he was not in decline.
Click to expand...
It's unclear to me that it would have worked better if he had decided sooner. Arguably, it turned out well. If Biden had pulled out of the race in December, there would have been chaos for quite a while. We would have had to endure primaries on a condensed schedule; there would have been rivalries; we would have ended up with bad blood.
 
Man, all this reminds me absolutely absurd it was than anyone was entertaining Joe as the nominee.
 
Paine said:
Man, all this reminds me absolutely absurd it was than anyone was entertaining Joe as the nominee.
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It wasn't truly absurd until the debate. The writing was on the wall early in the year, but most thought it was in pencil. The debate made clear it was in pen.
 
StrangePackage said:
On paper, his credentials were impeccable.

He just wasn't the right person this time around.

And Garland was a huge mistake.
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Ditto on Garland. Doug Jones should be at the top of Harris’ list should she win. He’s who I thought Biden should’ve chosen to begin with.

Hope she doesn’t have to keep Garland on if a Republican Senate refuses to vote on her cabinet nominees. Though I guess she could just have an acting AG.
 
superrific said:
It's unclear to me that it would have worked better if he had decided sooner. Arguably, it turned out well. If Biden had pulled out of the race in December, there would have been chaos for quite a while. We would have had to endure primaries on a condensed schedule; there would have been rivalries; we would have ended up with bad blood.
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I agree. If this works out for the Democrats and Kamala wins, I think it’ll become much more common to see candidates who are losing in the summer of an election year “voluntarily step down” like Biden did - thus giving the party the power to put a candidate of its choice forward.

Not a very democratic way to choose a candidate but potentially an effective one, for the reasons you stated. It allows the party to have a mulligan of sorts if the democratically chosen candidate in the primary process turns out to be a dud in the general election. Republicans have to be wishing they’d have had time to do something similar with Mark Robinson once he started losing horribly.
 


Joe won’t need Trump to pardon Hunter and wouldn’t trust him to do it.
 
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