The Peanut Gallery: Democrats Should Hold a Primary for Biden's Vice President.
February 9, 2024
Welcome to the Peanut Gallery! Your daily dose of unfounded speculation.
Please remember that I know nothing.
President Obama awarded outgoing Vice President Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Thursday afternoon.
Calling the former longtime Delaware senator "the best vice president America's ever had" and a "lion of American history," Obama gave his White House partner the surprise award in an emotional ceremony, initially billed as a farewell.
This moment is why I voted for Joe Biden. Those are real tears in his eyes, real emotions. That means something, especially when regarding a man who climbed to the highest democratic office in my country.
Joseph R Biden has my respect because he know that the Medal of Freedom means something.
So when I hear stories of his cognitive decline...I don’t care, not in an existential sort of way. He mixed up two countries. It happens. Just two days ago I mixed up January and February, and several days before that I doubled up on a date. The evidence is there in /r/TheNuttySpectacle if anyone cares to look. We're all human, as is Biden, and even if he’s suffering cognitive decline, it doesn’t matter because his soul is pure. His decisions, even when wrong, spring from a source of value, one which cares about Freedom. And we know this because a mere acknowledgement from such an ephemeral ideal moved him to tears.
No man rules alone. Decline, memory lapses—it doesn’t matter. A soul who cares will surround themselves with others that do the same.
I think the Democrats need to recognize that the age narrative is impossible to dispel. And when something is impossible to eliminate, one must lean into it. Brace yourself for the blow. I urge the Democratic Party to take what time we have left and instead use it as an election for Biden’s Vice President. Do not abdicate the field to Trump’s coterie. Do not play the Two-Party game. Break the rules and do something new.
Give us a real choice.
The Russian online community noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin did not offer any new information in his interview with American media personality Tucker Carlson and simply repeated longstanding Kremlin talking points about Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine for American audiences.
I poke into /r/Conservative from time-to-time to get a feel for what’s going on over on, and I did that the other day when Carlson released his two-hour propaganda extravaganza. The initial reactions were...tepid, to say the least. The jokes bouncing around /r/NonCredibleDefense more or less sum it up: Putin was meandering and nonsensical, also a monster.
It’s amazing! Almost like they’re catching on to the grift. Almost. But I think they've been doing it for a while, we just haven't seen any signs worth noticing. Folks are treating Trump’s ever-cycling crises like the Russo-Ukraine War: that is to say, slowly disconnecting. Political apathy cuts both ways. Those that give a shit tend to be the ones who show up. And when a vote distributes power? It usually pays to give voters a reason to care.
Russian Security Council Deputy Chairperson Dmitry Medvedev noted that Putin told the Western world in the most thorough and detailed way why Ukraine did not exist, does not exist, and will not exist.
Okay...but Ukraine exists though? Yeah? She’s real.
The way ISW frames it, the milibloggers lack a coherent narrative regarding what they need to say to appease the Kremlin regarding this interview. One rumor bouncing around today mentioned the Kremlin demanded Carlson release the interview in full, then repacked it by excising Carlson's minimal pushback. They're pissed that everyone’s takeaway seems to be that Putin is a meandering old gas bag.
Delays in Western aid appear to be exacerbating Ukraine’s current artillery shortages and could impact Ukraine’s long-term war effort.
Yeah they can!
The massive Israel-Ukraine funding package passed a procedural vote in the Senate today with sixty-seven votes, meaning seventeen GOP signatories. This is enormously important, both because it’s bi-partisan, and because it demonstrates the current distribution of power within the GOP. Thirty-four percent, that’s the sane portion of the party. Everyone else? Coo-coo for cocoa puffs.
I feel this is an excellent result. We now know the extent of Trump’s influence.
Ukrainian actors reportedly conducted a successful drone strike against two oil refineries in Krasnodar Krai on February 9.
Another two down, several dozen more to go. I've got to acknowledge that Ukraine's pretty damn consistent.
I do not see how Putin can defend the vast space that is the Russian interior. His refineries are a critical asset, yet the losses continue. Where's the response? It's been two weeks since Ukraine started hitting them and now they've knocked out something like ten refineries. Too many more and the Russian state will start to experience some hard inflation.
Newly appointed Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi identified several of his goals as commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
I like the guy. He gives off a dour, “My wife is a slab of wood named Duty,” sort of vibe. That’s just the kind of thing I like in a commanding officer.
Ukrainian military officials reported that Russian forces are increasing their use of illegal chemical weapons in Ukraine, in an apparent violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), to which Russia is a signatory.
Carlson’s interview yesterday demonstrated that Putin is losing his grip on sanity. Chemical weapons are just one of the nightmares in the old Soviet stockpile.
Please give Ukraine what they need to bring this war to an end.
‘Q’ for the Community: Join the conversation of on /r/TheNuttySpectacle!
How can the Democratic Party effectively address and counteract the narrative of Biden's cognitive decline in the upcoming elections?