Frankly, if this is what it takes to get generational turnover in political leadership, then I'm not going to spend too much time griping about it. Perhaps this opens the door to a Vance, or even a Vivek, in the future purely based on age.
Even if Trump opened up necessary breathing room in the Overton Window, neither he nor his cronies (e.g., staffing choices) ever cultivated the discipline to follow through on anything. Probably because he is pretty starkly incapable of doing any sort of tedious administration that brings about results. Though, I'm certainly not underestimating the sheer histrionic resistance he faced upon walking in to the White House from Day 1.
Basically, at worst, Kamala threatens to be as bad as Obama was (who seemed really great at the time, but turned out to be an terrible leader – and who also faced a lot histrionic pushback from the Tea Party, etc.), but way better than Hillary (she terrifies me, thank the Lord she lost in 2016) would have been. She, unlike Queen Wall Street, would not consider blowing up random islands in Asia Pacific over Taiwan to signal geopolitical dominance.
That's still an awful situation to put the country in, which is why I've completely checked out of taking national elections – and mass democracy, more generally – seriously. I'm doing what I can to make sure the wicked hyenas of Washington and their corporate henchmen can't interfere with my life.
And the end of the day, "give up the keys, Grandpa" is a sentiment I will highly endorse even outside of federal government, irrespective of any debate performance.
Thanks Rajeev. I always love your thoughts and don't blame you for checking out this election. Yes, the rw case for taking the keys is that Trump is like this gravitational force preventing younger generations from taking leadership and building the future. I am pro generational overhaul. I just think he sucks at this point and am tired of the stupidity.
I agree with this. Harris is certainly not my first choice, but between her and Trump, especially on a personal level, the choice is obvious.
But it still does sting somehow that she is, technically, a still a Boomer. Unquestionably better than the literal alternative but still; I spend a surprising amount of time thinking about the fact that Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump were all born in the same summer of 1946. And Clinton is the youngest, Trump the oldest!
I think that the meme of "Give up the keys, grandpa" was more properly applied to Biden. Ultimately, crucial Democratic leadership was able to prevail and to convince Biden to, well, give up the keys.
The DNC process leading up to the Harris candidacy was certainly not "small d" democratic, but it has produced a competent candidate as evidenced by last night's debate. I'm not sure that the debate performance will make much of a difference. Polymarket has Trump still maintaining a small lead, although it has tightened a little.
Nevertheless, one key takeaway from last night's debate: When I am walking my dog, she is staying on her leash. Just in case.
Your views are valid and I can see why you would say it. However the the gulf between your view and the other half of America is the gulf leading the irreconcilable differences. The main thrust, I think, is that your half of America is looking at the factual level of the debate while the other half is looking at the facts surrounding the environment of the debate. It's like the final fight in the movie Gladiator - the Emperor thinks it's legit when you stab Maximus in the back to hobble him pre-fight as long as the Emp wins in the real fight. Others are disgusted by such behavior.
"First, let’s acknowledge the obvious: Harris won. She came prepared. She made Trump look stale and old. She projected herself as the adult-in-the-room, a candidate of the future.
Did she get help from the moderators and make a few misleading claims? Sure. But that was expected. The fact is, she was better prepared than Trump and capitalized effectively. Call me an institutionalist, but I appreciated the way she used social proof as part of her persuasion, citing Wharton, Goldman Sachs, Republican economists, and even Trump’s own National Security Adviser and Secretary of Defense."
I, and I assume many others, are tired of the hypocritical institutional control. Tired of Faucis telling people to get a dangerous and profitable injection every year, tired of banks flaunting the law, tired of stock trading institutions being able to outright reset trades they don't like, tired of money printing and inflation, tired of forever wars and agitation for WWIII on behalf of people who are not Americans. "You should have expected us to cheat. I am the scorpion, it's in my nature." only rankles the other half of America both here and during election day.
"You should have expected us to cheat"
"Why should I consider you a legitimate member of this game instead of expelling you from it, punishing you or walking away if you insist on cheating?"
"Because my institutional allies said it's fair and we have all the nepotistic degrees and money"
"Ok, bye, you are incapable of understanding my revulsion towards rigged games."
"Wait, you're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to legitimize us even though we cheat every rule, own every moderator, own every vote counter and control every university and are never punished for it while you are punished maximally for even informal infringements"
"..."
Continuing
"Harris wisely pre-bunked Trump’s worn-out narratives. Immigration? Absolutely, it’s an important issue, but Trump’s tirade about Haitians was not only offensive but factually wrong. “They’re eating the pets!”"
They are eating the cats. It's the only part of the debate anyone will remember since the rest was boilerplate expected positions on both sides. The big tell was Kamala's moment of off/on smile panic and how aggressively the mods stepped in to run cover for Kamala. It was the debate in totality since neither side learned anything new about their own candidate otherwise and Kamala/Trump hardly interacted directly with each other. Trump was disinterested in his typical insults and Kamala was, rightly, focused on getting her lines right.
I completely understand this view. Many friends still share it. I was a big Trump supporter too. I just got fed up by all the stupidity and began to see it as a destructive force. But I do understand the frustration.
As a reluctant Trump supporter, I feared a trainwreck and didn't watch it. Don't need to inject even more stress into my life. Hopefully this experience and the scorched earth that could come truly scares the shit out of Trump into running a more competent and disciplined campaign in these final weeks.
Meanwhile, sending best wishes to the remaining geese of Springfield, Ohio...
And always surprised to see people impressed by her. Her answers were completely canned and frequently not even related to what was being talked about or asked
If Trump wins, he’s a lame duck. If Harris wins, we may be stuck with her for eight years. If for that reason alone, Trump is more desirable even if you hate him.
This is what you get when you look at the debate with rose colored glasses. If she now has all the solutions why didn’t she do them, advocate for the or support them over the 3.5 years she was in office. Does anyone feel better off now then when Trump was in office?
Frankly, if this is what it takes to get generational turnover in political leadership, then I'm not going to spend too much time griping about it. Perhaps this opens the door to a Vance, or even a Vivek, in the future purely based on age.
Even if Trump opened up necessary breathing room in the Overton Window, neither he nor his cronies (e.g., staffing choices) ever cultivated the discipline to follow through on anything. Probably because he is pretty starkly incapable of doing any sort of tedious administration that brings about results. Though, I'm certainly not underestimating the sheer histrionic resistance he faced upon walking in to the White House from Day 1.
Basically, at worst, Kamala threatens to be as bad as Obama was (who seemed really great at the time, but turned out to be an terrible leader – and who also faced a lot histrionic pushback from the Tea Party, etc.), but way better than Hillary (she terrifies me, thank the Lord she lost in 2016) would have been. She, unlike Queen Wall Street, would not consider blowing up random islands in Asia Pacific over Taiwan to signal geopolitical dominance.
That's still an awful situation to put the country in, which is why I've completely checked out of taking national elections – and mass democracy, more generally – seriously. I'm doing what I can to make sure the wicked hyenas of Washington and their corporate henchmen can't interfere with my life.
And the end of the day, "give up the keys, Grandpa" is a sentiment I will highly endorse even outside of federal government, irrespective of any debate performance.
Thanks Rajeev. I always love your thoughts and don't blame you for checking out this election. Yes, the rw case for taking the keys is that Trump is like this gravitational force preventing younger generations from taking leadership and building the future. I am pro generational overhaul. I just think he sucks at this point and am tired of the stupidity.
I agree with this. Harris is certainly not my first choice, but between her and Trump, especially on a personal level, the choice is obvious.
But it still does sting somehow that she is, technically, a still a Boomer. Unquestionably better than the literal alternative but still; I spend a surprising amount of time thinking about the fact that Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump were all born in the same summer of 1946. And Clinton is the youngest, Trump the oldest!
Fully agree! She seems Gen X though, so ... a minor consolation.
I think that the meme of "Give up the keys, grandpa" was more properly applied to Biden. Ultimately, crucial Democratic leadership was able to prevail and to convince Biden to, well, give up the keys.
The DNC process leading up to the Harris candidacy was certainly not "small d" democratic, but it has produced a competent candidate as evidenced by last night's debate. I'm not sure that the debate performance will make much of a difference. Polymarket has Trump still maintaining a small lead, although it has tightened a little.
Nevertheless, one key takeaway from last night's debate: When I am walking my dog, she is staying on her leash. Just in case.
Ha! Better watch out for those terrier-eaters.
Yes, taking the keys definitely applied to Biden. But now that he's left the race, Trump has the 'Biden problem.'
Give up the keys, please, Boomer.
Your views are valid and I can see why you would say it. However the the gulf between your view and the other half of America is the gulf leading the irreconcilable differences. The main thrust, I think, is that your half of America is looking at the factual level of the debate while the other half is looking at the facts surrounding the environment of the debate. It's like the final fight in the movie Gladiator - the Emperor thinks it's legit when you stab Maximus in the back to hobble him pre-fight as long as the Emp wins in the real fight. Others are disgusted by such behavior.
"First, let’s acknowledge the obvious: Harris won. She came prepared. She made Trump look stale and old. She projected herself as the adult-in-the-room, a candidate of the future.
Did she get help from the moderators and make a few misleading claims? Sure. But that was expected. The fact is, she was better prepared than Trump and capitalized effectively. Call me an institutionalist, but I appreciated the way she used social proof as part of her persuasion, citing Wharton, Goldman Sachs, Republican economists, and even Trump’s own National Security Adviser and Secretary of Defense."
I, and I assume many others, are tired of the hypocritical institutional control. Tired of Faucis telling people to get a dangerous and profitable injection every year, tired of banks flaunting the law, tired of stock trading institutions being able to outright reset trades they don't like, tired of money printing and inflation, tired of forever wars and agitation for WWIII on behalf of people who are not Americans. "You should have expected us to cheat. I am the scorpion, it's in my nature." only rankles the other half of America both here and during election day.
"You should have expected us to cheat"
"Why should I consider you a legitimate member of this game instead of expelling you from it, punishing you or walking away if you insist on cheating?"
"Because my institutional allies said it's fair and we have all the nepotistic degrees and money"
"Ok, bye, you are incapable of understanding my revulsion towards rigged games."
"Wait, you're not supposed to do that. You're supposed to legitimize us even though we cheat every rule, own every moderator, own every vote counter and control every university and are never punished for it while you are punished maximally for even informal infringements"
"..."
Continuing
"Harris wisely pre-bunked Trump’s worn-out narratives. Immigration? Absolutely, it’s an important issue, but Trump’s tirade about Haitians was not only offensive but factually wrong. “They’re eating the pets!”"
They are eating the cats. It's the only part of the debate anyone will remember since the rest was boilerplate expected positions on both sides. The big tell was Kamala's moment of off/on smile panic and how aggressively the mods stepped in to run cover for Kamala. It was the debate in totality since neither side learned anything new about their own candidate otherwise and Kamala/Trump hardly interacted directly with each other. Trump was disinterested in his typical insults and Kamala was, rightly, focused on getting her lines right.
I completely understand this view. Many friends still share it. I was a big Trump supporter too. I just got fed up by all the stupidity and began to see it as a destructive force. But I do understand the frustration.
As a reluctant Trump supporter, I feared a trainwreck and didn't watch it. Don't need to inject even more stress into my life. Hopefully this experience and the scorched earth that could come truly scares the shit out of Trump into running a more competent and disciplined campaign in these final weeks.
Meanwhile, sending best wishes to the remaining geese of Springfield, Ohio...
She’s literally an incumbent?
And always surprised to see people impressed by her. Her answers were completely canned and frequently not even related to what was being talked about or asked
If Trump wins, he’s a lame duck. If Harris wins, we may be stuck with her for eight years. If for that reason alone, Trump is more desirable even if you hate him.
This is what you get when you look at the debate with rose colored glasses. If she now has all the solutions why didn’t she do them, advocate for the or support them over the 3.5 years she was in office. Does anyone feel better off now then when Trump was in office?
I don’t think she has all the solutions. I do think she won the debate and is the lesser of two evils in this election.
Yes. Many people do feel better. Even if they’re not.