The Rose Garden and White House happenings: Listening to voters’ concerns

Smedley said:

ml1 said:

Smedley said:

I stand by my assessment and I'll let your gross misrepresentation of my assessment stand as well.

 dB pretty much nailed your assessment. Maybe you didn't realize the implication of the first part of your comment. 

 Sure, other than db saying I don't think the coverage had an effect on Biden's approval rating when I explicitly acknowledged it did, and him saying I accept the coverage is unfair and inaccurate when I said no such thing, what he said was spot-on.

You guys can continue to blame the media for Biden's recent troubles, and I will continue to say that's lame. The notion that the media is wholly responsible for the drop in Biden's approval rating is ludicrous. 

I certainly hope the WH doesn't take that approach, but rather looks inward and focuses on accountability, learning from its mistakes and being a more effective administration. I for one found it really annoying and tiresome when Trump blamed the media for everything -- guessing maybe you felt that way too, but it seems it's ok for a Democratic president to do.   

 the implication of the first part of your comment is clearly that the coverage was focused on sensationalism and not accuracy.  

I'm pretty sure nobody has said the media is wholly responsible for the drop in Biden's approval rating.  But it's not much of a stretch to consider that a different tone in the Afghanistan coverage might have resulted in higher approval for his handling of the withdrawal.

I also referred to the likely effect of the pandemic on Biden's approval, and I haven't attributed that to the media.  I'm not sure why a lot of people are blaming Biden for the continuation of the pandemic, but they do, whether that's fair or not.

And the last jobs report likely didn't help either.  Presidents get blame and credit there too, whether it's warranted or not.

So to get back to the original question -- IMHO Biden's approval rating today shouldn't in an of itself be a concern for Democrats.  There are going to be a year of events that will require Biden's attention and response that are going to be more important than a number today on Nate Silver's website.

yeah, I didn't mean to imply, with my much earlier comment, that Biden's fall in the polls was solely due to Afghan media coverage. I focused on that, though, because the media's coverage was so egregious. Also, among the several factors, (Afghanistan, economy, handling of the pandemic) it was the one most clearly effected by bad media coverage.

and, you know, simply because Trump criticized the media (for mostly reporting the truth) does not mean criticizing the media for Biden coverage is now off limits. I mean, how simplistic can you get?

According to this post article, Biden’s war on the unvaccinated is aimed at protecting the already vaccinated, oversteps his authority, and gives postal carriers a pass. As someone who just snagged an appointment in November to get  the booster shot, will I still be required to protect myself from the unvaccinated and be required to wear a mask? How are we to know the good guys from the bad guys? Maybe by wearing government- issued badges or colored ribbons to wear?

https://nypost.com/2021/09/09/joe-bidens-incoherent-fear-mongering-covid-vaccine-speech/

mtierney said:

According to this post article, Biden’s war on the unvaccinated is aimed at protecting the already vaccinated, oversteps his authority, and gives postal carriers a pass. As someone who just snagged an appointment in November to get  the booster shot, will I still be required to protect myself from the unvaccinated and be required to wear a mask? How are we to know the good guys from the bad guys? Maybe by wearing government- issued badges or colored ribbons to wear?

https://nypost.com/2021/09/09/joe-bidens-incoherent-fear-mongering-covid-vaccine-speech/

 you really have no b.s. detector, do you.

drummerboy said:

mtierney said:

According to this post article, Biden’s war on the unvaccinated is aimed at protecting the already vaccinated, oversteps his authority, and gives postal carriers a pass. As someone who just snagged an appointment in November to get  the booster shot, will I still be required to protect myself from the unvaccinated and be required to wear a mask? How are we to know the good guys from the bad guys? Maybe by wearing government- issued badges or colored ribbons to wear?

https://nypost.com/2021/09/09/joe-bidens-incoherent-fear-mongering-covid-vaccine-speech/

 you really have no b.s. detector, do you.

 The whole "article" is garbage.

YES, WORKERS AT THE POST OFFICE HAVE TO GET VACCINATED ALSO

Plus, stop asking if you have to wear the fckin' mask. Wear it.

I can't stand this constant denial by vaccine refusers. To argue rationally and with facts with the delusional is wasting time. What they need is professional psychological help. Lots of it.

Good thing Republicans and the constitution wasn't around when General Washington mandated smallpox vaccines for his troops. If they were, Washington would have been tied up in the courts justifying his mandate.

If this bunch of Republicans were around in the 1950's and 60's we would likely not have seen the mass immunization for polio. Neither would we have seen the implementation of school vaccine mandates for enrollment. 

Republican politicians are using phony arguments. They know it. They're predating on the stupid.

Reuters reports there are three other countries which have Biden’s mandate — China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Nuff said.

nohero said:

 The whole "article" is garbage.

YES, WORKERS AT THE POST OFFICE HAVE TO GET VACCINATED ALSO

Plus, stop asking if you have to wear the fckin' mask. Wear it.

But, but masks are so constricting.

They impose on individual freedumb while causing re-inhalation of carbon dioxide from your lungs when you breathe out. Its like putting your mouth and nose near a car's exhaust pipe. Unhealthy.

Surgeons wearing masks often get light headed and faint.

mtierney said:

Reuters reports there are three other countries which have Biden’s mandate — China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Nuff said.

 Not really relevant whether countries have "Biden's mandate" or their own programs.

The issue is, how best to get as many people in the U.S. vaccinated.

By the way, there are many countries where someone from the U.S. has to show proof of vaccination in order to enter.

But, if your point is that it's not good to be on a list that includes China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia, check the list for countries that still have a death penalty.

mtierney said:

Reuters reports there are three other countries which have Biden’s mandate — China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Nuff said.

 Do you have a link to that? I can't find the story on Reuters.

ridski said:

mtierney said:

Reuters reports there are three other countries which have Biden’s mandate — China, Russia, and Saudi Arabia. Nuff said.

 Do you have a link to that? I can't find the story on Reuters.

I can't find that Reuters link either

US News &  World Reports had the Reuters story.

basil said:

I can't find that Reuters link either

 Perhaps in Canada, life is better.

https://www.reuters.com/world/countries-make-covid-19-vaccines-mandatory-2021-07-13/

Never forget…..

drummerboy said:

https://www.reuters.com/world/countries-make-covid-19-vaccines-mandatory-2021-07-13/

 Well, no wonder, it’s 2 months old.

ridski said:

drummerboy said:

https://www.reuters.com/world/countries-make-covid-19-vaccines-mandatory-2021-07-13/

 Well, no wonder, it’s 2 months old.

 actually I don't think this article is what MT was referring to, because this article doesn't even mention China. Maybe there's another one out there.

I posted this link just to show that there are many countries that have mandates of different forms.

drummerboy said:

 actually I don't think this article is what MT was referring to, because this article doesn't even mention China. Maybe there's another one out there.

I posted this link just to show that there are many countries that have mandates of different forms.

 You know what? My bad, they’ve been updating that article as more countries do it.

Back to the future..there is no vaccine to cure evil…

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/nyregion/9-11-new-york-remember.html

mtierney said:

Back to the future..there is no vaccine to cure evil…

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/nyregion/9-11-new-york-remember.html

Once again the comment has nothing to do with the article. 

jimmurphy said:

mtierney said:

Back to the future..there is no vaccine to cure evil…

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/nyregion/9-11-new-york-remember.html

Once again the comment has nothing to do with the article. 

 I'm pretty sure that any mention of 9/11 is synonymous with evil to mt.

mtierney said:

Back to the future..there is no vaccine to cure evil…

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/nyregion/9-11-new-york-remember.html

 it's kind of sad that 20 years later there are still people who believe the simplistic explanation for the attacks was "evil."

Remembering 9/11: The evil we do is the evil we get

drummerboy said

 I'm pretty sure that any mention of 9/11 is synonymous with evil to mt.

 Yup.

Now, as to the new, better, Taliban government, we have this predictable development a couple of weeks in….

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/world/afghanistan-journalists-reporters.html

mtierney said:

 Yup.

Now, as to the new, better, Taliban government, we have this predictable development a couple of weeks in….

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/11/world/afghanistan-journalists-reporters.html

 It certainly does make one wonder what Biden was thinking when he made that deal with the Taliban to leave. 

nohero said:

 It certainly does make one wonder what Biden was thinking when he made that deal with the Taliban to leave. 

 Probably too subtle.

jimmurphy said:

 Probably too subtle.

 subtlety dies on the internet 

jimmurphy said:

nohero said:

 It certainly does make one wonder what Biden was thinking when he made that deal with the Taliban to leave. 

 Probably too subtle.

 Ah, but it made the point,  no?

Speaking of making points…or, not making them…

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/09/13/the_medias_shameless_shielding_of_joe_biden__146390.html

For the never click on a link folks here…

“When they and others publicized their claims about Biden’s callous behavior, USA Today decided to do a “fact check” and concluded that the survivors’ story was “partly false” and “misleading” because Biden had only checked his watch after the ceremony was over.

“That was a blatant lie, as footage shows him glancing at his watch multiple times during the transfer. So how do you account for a major newspaper doing such a totally misleading “fact check” — short of actual malice towards, if not the Gold Star fathers, then the truth? Equally insulting was the fact that USA Today — after receiving vigorous criticism — changed its fake fact check to “missing context” on the grounds that when Biden wasn’t being disrespectful, he was actually doing a pretty good job of looking like he cared about the dead service members.

“Of course, most of the media couldn’t be bothered to cover this incident at all. To do so would raise questions about the character of their beloved president, the healer-in-chief. That would be unacceptable. Let’s face it. To the caretaker media who surround Joe Biden, the president is the equivalent of Harry Potter’s “Lord Voldemort,” with this slight variation: Biden is “He who must not be shamed.”

“Does all this seem trivial? It’s not. Our information-drenched society receives its cues from the raised eyebrows and outraged tones in the voices of Rachel Maddow and Don Lemon. If they and others like them don’t talk about it, then it never happened, or it’s a right-wing conspiracy theory. Whether it’s election fraud, coronavirus cures, or Marxist infiltration of our social institutions, the media elites are the gatekeepers who determine what will be taken seriously and what will be dismissed with a smug laugh.

“One final example from the Afghanistan debacle goes well beyond a mere matter of shaming Joe Biden, and raises questions about his fitness for office. That may explain the mainstream media’s near total lack of interest.

“I am referring, of course, to what we recently learned about Biden’s shocking July 23 phone call with Ashraf Ghani, who was then president of Afghanistan. We knew about that phone call way back when it happened. In fact, when you look at the White House’s official readout of the call, you get almost nostalgic for the good old days when the U.S. and Afghanistan were reaffirming their “enduring bilateral partnership” that lasted another three weeks till Ghani fled his palace and his nation.

“But the official story, not unexpectedly, didn’t tell the whole story. For that, we had to wait until Aug. 31, the day after America’s military withdrawal was completed, when Reuters, the international press agency, released the transcript of the July 23 call. What we learned is that Biden did not really believe his own rosy picture that he was painting for the American people about the future of Afghanistan.

“Hey look, I want to make it clear that I am not a military man any more than you are,” he told Ghani (pictured, above, with Biden). “But I have been meeting with our Pentagon folks, and our national security people, as you have with ours and yours, and as you know and I need not tell you, the perception around the world and in parts of Afghanistan, I believe, is that things aren’t going well in terms of the fight against the Taliban. And there’s a need, whether it is true or not, there is a need to project a different picture.” (Italics added.)

“Not only does this transcript raise questions about Biden’s misleading statements to the American people about the risks involved in getting all Americans out of Afghanistan, but it is followed up by Biden trying to pressure Ghani into accepting a quid pro quo — if you change how the world perceives the battle against the Taliban, we may be coaxed into continuing to provide military air support. Indeed, Biden’s repeated emphasis on “perception around the world” makes him sound more like a PR flack than a commander-in-chief.

“Obviously, someone in the State Department or the White House was concerned about this exchange or they wouldn’t have leaked the transcript, but most of the media just yawned. Do a Google search for “Biden phone call with President Ghani,” as I did, and you will find all the major journalism outfits missing in the top results. Beyond Fox News and USA Today, most of the results are from small conservative websites or international outlets like India Today or the Hindustan Times. You won’t find any stories from major news outlets, including CNN or NBC, in the top 100 results, and I get the feeling you could scroll till doomsday without seeing any interest from the New York Times or Washington Post.

mtierney said:

Speaking of making points…or, not making them…

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/09/13/the_medias_shameless_shielding_of_joe_biden__146390.html

 I'm just going to assume that this article does neither.

ridski said:

 I'm just going to assume that this article does neither.

 I added an excerpt for folks like you! 

Perhaps I should edit a correction to my comment — but, I really think I had it right. Truth, and fabrication —where deemed necessary  — are the media’s MO. This occurred during the Trump administration to destroy him; the current approach is to preserve and protect Biden.

Where in the world is Hunter?  Or, right, he is in his $22M CA mansion.

Why did Trump face impeachment over a phone call with the president of Ukraine, but Biden gets a pass for his call to the Afghan leader before we lost the war?

mtierney said:

For the never click on a link folks here…

If others don’t want to click on a link, how inflated does your sense of self-regard have to be to try to force it on them?