Primary Season

[SciFiFisher]

Sanders endorses Biden.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/13/politics ... index.html

Probably necessary, but oof.

I think this time around he is realizing that the last thing he needs is to be seen as being a huge jerk like he was in 2016. He dragged his feet so long in 2016 that he practically drove many of his supporters into choosing Trump or a third party candidate.

[geonuc]

I'm glad Sanders didn't delay.

As long as there aren't too many made-up accounts of sexual misconduct against Biden - probably hoping for too much there given GOP tactics - we should have a shot of ousting the orange shitgibbon in November.

[lady_*nix]

Jesus Christ, geonuc, the guy being our only acceptable choice for Pres doesn't mean he can't also be a disgusting excuse for a person.

[Rommie]

So, I know I'm the only one here who listens to Pod Save America, but would recommend everyone check out the latest episode (from April 13) because they do an, IMO, good and balanced interview with the original reporter about the person in question. Also with more substance because the NY Times and Washington Post released their stories on Sunday, which they had also been clearly working on for some time.

The conclusion I reached was due to a combination about the amount of time that has passed, and the inconsistencies in the story (whatever reason you think they exist), you're never going to know for sure what happened. Too much time has passed, and there is no paper trail, and several people who she says she reached out to discuss this with say they don't remember that happening. BUT, as the reporter said in the interview, if we've noticed anything with men doing shit like this it's that they very incredibly rarely only do it to one person. It seems like an extensive amount of resources have been thrown into this so far, with not much coming up, but that doesn't mean that others won't come forward now that it's in the limelight (and because politicians meet so many people, it's not like all their contacts are easy to find).

Frankly, this last point really speaks to my (minimal, but more than most) experience in all this- I don't think any single one of the stories that took down the creep who harassed me would have been enough to stick (and that was the case for a long time), but added together I think any rational person would have had a hard time thinking it was all made up. (Plus I had a paper trail.) So I think time will definitely tell. I do not however think they're all false allegations out of the gate, geonuc.

[SciFiFisher]

There is that. Usually, once one person comes forward you get others. So far there have not been any other allegations of this nature.

[geonuc]

Sorry, I'm completely jaded with respect to sexual assault allegation against politicians, particularly Democrats running for office. The GOP is just too underhanded for me to believe them.

[SciFiFisher]

No surprise to hear that Obama has endorsed Biden. Warren has also announced she is endorsing Joe. There is an interesting article about Obama working behind the scenes to convince Sanders to endorse Biden sooner rather than later.

[lady_*nix]

@Rommie, @Fisher

Biden's wandering hands have been getting attention for a long time though. I feel like I've said a dozen times, this didn't come out of a vacuum.

@geonuc

IDK what to tell you then. I can lead a horse to evidence but I can't make him think.

[Rommie]

I'm frankly not surprised after four years ago. I did think it was interesting how some Sanders supporters complained that he endorsed Biden, even though Sanders always said he'd support the eventual nominee. The cynic in me wondered if it's because some of those guys care less about defeating Trump because they get a good paycheck rabble-rousing from the minority (or they're all just Russian agents, if one feels extra cynical!).

Well, anyway. Wonder if/when it's time to start a general election thread.

[Rommie]

Biden's wandering hands have been getting attention for a long time though. I feel like I've said a dozen times, this didn't come out of a vacuum.

Yeah, and I've been upfront about how that has made me uncomfortable too. Believe you me, I wish we had someone better too, but we don't.

So, in that case, what do we do about it? Like seriously, if you're shouting to the void I completely accept that. But I can't ultimately lose sight of the point of this entire exercise is to get rid of Donald Trump. So right now from what we know about Biden, versus what we know about Trump, well it's frankly a huge false equivalence to equate one with the other with what we know about their histories (which I can go into if you want, but perhaps you think I'm just rationalizing).

[lady_*nix]

@Rommie

I agree. I'm voting for Biden in November because there's no choice. I don't think you're rationalizing, I'm just exhausted by the denialism I'm seeing from a lot of Dem voters.

[Rommie]

In that case, take a deep breath and think you might be misreading a lot of people- tone in these cases can be hard to read. I suspect a lot of Dems are less unaware of the problem then are thinking like me on this (and no, you won't hear a politician discuss it upfront, becuase it would be replayed by the Republicans until November no matter what Trump has done in that area).

[Sigma_Orionis]

The view from the gallery for greasy furriners from shithole countries like me is that Donald J. Trump is a menace to the entire world. And the sooner that SOB is out of the White House and your Republicans are kicked out as much as possible from your government. The better for the whole world in general.

[geonuc]

IDK what to tell you then. I can lead a horse to evidence but I can't make him think.

Fuck you. You made your lack of reason evident when you accused Biden of being a pedophile.