Biden's failings

I think Merrick Garland is a big bust as AG.  Maddow did a good piece on the DOJ a couple of days ago.

https://news.yahoo.com/trump-corruption-doj-lingers-under-051343265.html?guccounter=1

And now his top priority is investigating the leak to ProPublica of those tax returns. Really?

You can look to the presidency for many things, but reigning in its own institutional prerogatives is not one of them. Bernie Sanders could become president and the DOJ would still be committed to upholding the powers and privileges of the presidency. Realistically, the only really effective way to counter this is a stronger Congress, though I'm not sure how that would happen exactly.

I realize there's a tendency for each incoming administration to want to build on the powers claimed by the previous one, but I thought this might be the time that streak came to an end, at least partially, given the egregious nature of what Trump's DOJ did. I am very disappointed so far.

drummerboy said:

I realize there's a tendency for each incoming administration to want to build on the powers claimed by the previous one, but I thought this might be the time that streak came to an end, at least partially, given the egregious nature of what Trump's DOJ did. I am very disappointed so far.

 It's disappointing, but I'd say it's an expected disappointment -- for me at least. One enormous problem with Trump was his conflation of the interests of the presidency with his own personal interests. Voting him out addressed that. The problems around the presidency and its associated organizations seeking to protect and enhance their power, though, is not something I think can really be solved by simply choosing the "right" person for the office. I suppose one parallel would be how, in the Catholic church, while I greatly respect and admire Pope Francis, I've been both disappointed but not at all surprised to see him do so little to challenge the church's patriarchal (or arguably even further - misogynistic) power structures.

for sure 

mtierney said:

for sure 

I don't know about anyone else, but I need an explainer for that one. 

Some of mtierney’s cartoons are mildly amusing but this one is pretty idiotic. I guess it’s implying that Biden should be home fighting inflation rather than meeting with Putin. 

Y'all bit twice

Smedley said:

Some of mtierney’s cartoons are mildly amusing but this one is pretty idiotic. I guess it’s implying that Biden should be home fighting inflation rather than meeting with Putin. 

 the "point" of the cartoon doesn't depend on what's in the speech bubble.  For all it's worth, it could say "Give me just a large plain pie", or "No soap, radio."  Hell, it could be blank or nonexistent for all it adds to the alleged joke.

ml1 said:

 the "point" of the cartoon doesn't depend on what's in the speech bubble.  For all it's worth, it could say "Give me just a large plain pie", or "No soap, radio."  Hell, it could be blank or nonexistent for all it adds to the alleged joke.

 You guys are in denial.  — In the real world, if you borrow (print) trillions of dollars, you accumulate a whole lot of debt, the assumption is it will be used wisely and ultimately paid back. Aside from the sausage making assumed to be included, and the whole (overinflated tire) possible eruption in sight, this is a grab bag for the unscrupulous. Without bipartisan involvement, Biden and the Dems wind up holding the bag, along with the American taxpayers in a failing economy.

mtierney said:

ml1 said:

 the "point" of the cartoon doesn't depend on what's in the speech bubble.  For all it's worth, it could say "Give me just a large plain pie", or "No soap, radio."  Hell, it could be blank or nonexistent for all it adds to the alleged joke.

 You guys are in denial.  — In the real world, if you borrow (print) trillions of dollars, you accumulate a whole lot of debt, the assumption is it will be used wisely and ultimately paid back. Aside from the sausage making assumed to be included, and the whole (overinflated tire) possible eruption in sight, this is a grab bag for the unscrupulous. Without bipartisan involvement, Biden and the Dems wind up holding the bag, along with the American taxpayers in a failing economy.

 Perhaps you could enlighten us as to when, and under who, the "borrowing(printing)" exactly occurred.

mtierney said:

 You guys are in denial.  — In the real world, if you borrow (print) trillions of dollars, you accumulate a whole lot of debt, the assumption is it will be used wisely and ultimately paid back. Aside from the sausage making assumed to be included, and the whole (overinflated tire) possible eruption in sight, this is a grab bag for the unscrupulous. Without bipartisan involvement, Biden and the Dems wind up holding the bag, along with the American taxpayers in a failing economy.

 Still upset about your guy losing easy access to public funds, huh? I heard he has a birthday scam, er card, you can get your name on if you give him a bunch of your money -- maybe try that and see if it cheers you up?

mtierney said:

 You guys are in denial.  — In the real world, if you borrow (print) trillions of dollars, you accumulate a whole lot of debt, the assumption is it will be used wisely and ultimately paid back. Aside from the sausage making assumed to be included, and the whole (overinflated tire) possible eruption in sight, this is a grab bag for the unscrupulous. Without bipartisan involvement, Biden and the Dems wind up holding the bag, along with the American taxpayers in a failing economy.

My, quite a recap, however off the wall. Stay well, and take care.

mtierney said:

ml1 said:

 the "point" of the cartoon doesn't depend on what's in the speech bubble.  For all it's worth, it could say "Give me just a large plain pie", or "No soap, radio."  Hell, it could be blank or nonexistent for all it adds to the alleged joke.

 You guys are in denial.  — In the real world, if you borrow (print) trillions of dollars, you accumulate a whole lot of debt, the assumption is it will be used wisely and ultimately paid back. Aside from the sausage making assumed to be included, and the whole (overinflated tire) possible eruption in sight, this is a grab bag for the unscrupulous. Without bipartisan involvement, Biden and the Dems wind up holding the bag, along with the American taxpayers in a failing economy.

 Okay, now I need an explainer for the explanation.

mtierney said:

ml1 said:

 the "point" of the cartoon doesn't depend on what's in the speech bubble.  For all it's worth, it could say "Give me just a large plain pie", or "No soap, radio."  Hell, it could be blank or nonexistent for all it adds to the alleged joke.

 You guys are in denial.  — In the real world, if you borrow (print) trillions of dollars, you accumulate a whole lot of debt, the assumption is it will be used wisely and ultimately paid back. Aside from the sausage making assumed to be included, and the whole (overinflated tire) possible eruption in sight, this is a grab bag for the unscrupulous. Without bipartisan involvement, Biden and the Dems wind up holding the bag, along with the American taxpayers in a failing economy.

 now I'm starting to worry about you

I do miss the days of Trump and his tight stewardship of our nation's finances. He was a true deficit hawk and fiscal conservative!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2020/09/27/trump-will-create-more-debt-than-obama/?sh=e30501d12f13

Smedley said:

I do miss the days of Trump and his tight stewardship of our nation's finances. He was a true deficit hawk and fiscal conservative!

https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2020/09/27/trump-will-create-more-debt-than-obama/?sh=e30501d12f13

Audit the assets of any of Trump cabinet member and you could probably recover a decent amount of that money.