Ah, so THIS is why Vladimir Putin wanted Trump in the oval office instead of Biden... because Biden was [checks notes] helping to fuel Putin’s war machine. Well done, chris, you cracked the case!
How Biden’s Inner Circle Protected a Faltering President
“Your biggest issue is the perception of age,” Mike Donilon, the president’s longtime strategist, told him in 2022, according to people who heard him.www.nytimes.com
Six key people protected the president.
Jill Biden, the first lady, and Hunter Biden, his surviving son, fervently believed in his ability to win. Mr. Donilon and Steve Ricchetti, the counselor to Mr. Biden, knew when and how to deliver information, along with Annie Tomasini, the deputy chief of staff. She and Anthony Bernal, the first lady’s most senior aide, took tight control over the president’s public schedule.
Can I ask you a question? I cannot answer this from my constituents in Louisiana,” Johnson recalled telling Biden. “Sir, why did you pause LNG exports to Europe? Liquefied natural gas is in great demand by our allies. Why would you do that? Cause you understand we just talked about Ukraine, you understand you are fueling Vladimir Putin’s war machine, because they gotta get their gas from him.”
Biden, according to Johnson, was stunned. “I didn’t do that,” Biden said. Johnson responded, “Mr. President, yes you did. It was an executive order like three weeks ago.” Biden continued to deny that he paused the LNG exports. At that point, Johnson suggested that the president ask the president’s secretary to print out the executive order, so the two could read it together.
Biden then recalled that he had signed an executive order, but it only called for a study on the effects of LNG. Johnson was firm. “Sir, you paused it, I know. I have the export terminals in my state. I talked to those people in my state, I’ve talked to those people this morning, this is doing massive damage to our economy, national security.”
In this exchange, Johnson said he realized that Biden was not lying to him. “He genuinely did not know what he had signed,” Johnson said. “And I walked out of that meeting with fear and loathing because I thought, “We are in serious trouble—who is running the country?” Like, I don’t know who put the paper in front of him, but he didn’t know.”
On January 26, 2024, the white house — announced “a temporary pause on pending decisions on exports of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to non-FTA countries until the Department of Energy can update the underlying analyses for authorizations.” The White House meeting Johnson described was February 27, 2024.
When his staff rolled out a teleprompter for him to use while making remarks at small fund-raisers in private homes, Biden just nodded and went along with it. It never struck him as peculiar that he, the president of the United States, was expected to stick to prepared remarks at an off-camera Democratic fundraiser with only one print reporter in the room.
He never met with his pollsters from his reelection campaign, and that didn’t seem abnormal to him.
Not sure how any of that really changes what I said. Hillary won a contested primary. Could having a primary have helped? Sure. Could it have made things worse? Sure. Anyone who says they know what would have worked is lying.
None of that means that the US paused LNG exports to Europe or anywhere else. We're the leading importer of LNG worldwide. If Mike Johnson is going to lie to Biden about what he did, he shouldn't be surprised when Biden doesn't understand what he means.
Do you think it's debatable that Trump lacks morals/ethics and spews complete lies? Love him or hate him I think people pretty much agree about all that. The people who love him just happen to think those are positive traits, not negative ones.
"Permitted." "Allowed." These words imply that the people you're talking about somehow had the ability to compel Biden to do something.
Ever tried telling your grandpa he's too old to drive anymore? I don't think anyone ever believes they're too old to do something they've been doing pretty much their entire lives. If I'm disappointed in the Dems, it's not because they didn't take Joe's keys away; it's because they've been letting the right-wing media take their lunch money for so long that, now, over half of Americans can't tell "alternative facts" from the actual truth.
Obviously they can't force him to not run again. There are constitutional methods to remove him from office. Those methods may seem extreme, which I get.
People who don't want to undermine the country wouldn't do that during the best recovery of anyone from Covid. What steps should have been taken to keep him from running again should not include anything that would have negated the programs put into place during his term. If the party knew, then they are at fault for not promoting a primary challenge. I think it would be a disaster for the country for it to come from inside the administration.
Some of those people in the inner circle (especially Jill and Hunter) likely acted out of self-interest. But I suspect others who were part of the "cover up" legitimately believed that having a fading Biden as president was preferable to Trump. I'm not sure I entirely disagree with that analysis.
Yeah. I don't want to imply that it contradicts what you said. I just wanted to note that a primary is a pretty good way of getting a good candidate.
No. I think he lacks morals and ethics and I think he lies more than almost any other politician. But that's my preconceived notion of him.
Well I can't speak for you but my own impression that Trump lacks morals and ethics and lies constantly is not based on any "preconceived notion" but on my direct personal observation of him, his statements, and his actions.
How is that preconceived?
Well I suspect Zen and anyone else's notions of Biden's deteriorating qualifications for running the country and running for re-elections were also based on direct personal observation, Biden's statements and Biden's actions.
The obvious irony is that the decisions of Democrats, including those involving Harris, ended up possibly giving Trump the win.
Primaries gave us: our first old growth candidate, Bob Dole
We're talking about things no one could possibly know or prove here, but I don't necessarily agree that "the decisions of Democrats, including those involving Harris, ended up possibly giving Trump the win." Swing voters' main motivation appeared to be consumer prices and immigration more than anything. They wanted a change from the administration they blamed for those things. Not sure what anything Harris or anyone did had to do with that, though I certainly disagreed with some of the decisions she and her campaign made.
OK - but what does that have to do with anything I've said?
Bigotry. It was mostly bigotry. It is really, really hard to look at what actually happened in that campaign and conclude otherwise. Trump didn't run against Biden or Harris. He ran against trans people, black people, brown people, Venezuelans, MS-13, etc. When they said, "Kamala is for they/them," everyone knows what was meant there. It wasn't only about trans people.