July 5, 2024 • 45 mins
Joe Biden is digging his heels in after his disastrous debate performance and refusing to leave the presidential race. For the good of the country, we have to convince him that he must do it.
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(00:00):
Hey, everybody, it's Michael Steele, host of the Michael Steel Podcast.
Each week I have a discussion aboutthe key political and cultural issues of our
day, joined by America's leading activists, experts, and academics for conversation that
transcends political boundaries. So join meeach week as we work through real solutions,
have honest conversation, and just keepit fresh. Listen to the Michael
(00:20):
Steel Podcast in the Spreaker podcast playerapp, where you can also comment on
individual episodes. New episodes available everyweek on the Spreaker podcast player app.
(00:40):
Face Palm America I'm Beowulf Rockland.Facepalmamerica dot com is as always where you
can get more information about the show. Listen to past episodes, catch up
on all the latest stuff, connectwith us on social media. It's just,
you know, it's a it's avery basic website, but you can
(01:03):
go there and you can get informationabout us, and that's totally fine.
We encourage you to do so.It's it's not elaborate. It's just a
humble, basic website in a vastsea of ones that are designed much better.
(01:26):
But you know, what's the pointof having a website. It's it's
not to to gaze upon lovingly mostof the time. It's supposed to be
functional, I think, and itserves its a purpose. If you want
to give us a call or sendus a message, you can do that
at two zero two six five sixsix two seven to one. And we've
(01:49):
gotten a couple of messages this week, and we'll read them a little bit
later on during the program. SoI told you last week that my guess
was that Joe Biden and the DNC, after his horrendous campaign destroying debate performance,
(02:16):
they were going to dig their heelsin. They were not gonna step
down. That Biden was going tokeep going. He was going to wrap
his cold fingers around the presidency andnot to let them be pried off.
(02:42):
And sure enough, that is kindof what he's been doing. That is
kind of what he's been doing.President Joe Biden said Friday at a campaign
rally in the key battleground state ofWisconsin, where last I saw the poll
aggregates had him dead. Even youknow, I'm gonna check that, because
(03:07):
I'm not sure I've checked that sincethe debate, but I'm going to look
at a poll aggregate. You know, the latest series of polls. Oh,
oh my goodness, No, it'snot dead even like it was before.
Trump is actually up by two pointsin Wisconsin in the latest poll aggregation.
(03:29):
I wonder why that is. Letme tell you why that is.
It's because Joe Biden had a horrificdebate performance. He is old, and
he is not at the level offunctionality that we expect of a president of
(03:52):
the United States. He looked badagainst Donald Trump. And you can see
the results. Okay, he wasat a campaign rally state of Wisconsin,
where he's now down by two pointsto Donald Trump. Since this happened,
(04:15):
that said aggregation of polls as notan individual poll, so that's a bit
more reliable. And he says he'sstaying in the twenty twenty four presidential race
and expressed confidence that he would beatpresident former president Donald Trump, despite concerns
about a disastrous debate performance. Lastweek. Biden said that people are trying
(04:38):
to push him out of the race. Let me say as clear as I
can, I'm staying in the race. Biden said, I'll beat Donald Trump
now. According to this story,Biden initially misspoke and said he would beat
Trump again in twenty twenty that's thekind of air that he is prone to
(05:02):
nowadays, and then seemed to correcthimself and said, we're going to do
it again in twenty twenty four.At the beginning of the speech, Biden
mocked Trump for his own verbal stumbles. Now, he's completely correct to do
this. Yes, we know fromyears of experience. And let me re
(05:26):
emphasize it that Donald Trump says crazythings, and he goes on weird,
meandering tangents, and he says thingsalso that you would not expect and you
would not want of a president ofthe United States, and he should step
(05:48):
down two for the good of thecountry. In fact, I believe it
was the Philadelphia Inquirer sort of asa trolling response to the New York Time
Times when they said that Joe Bidenshould step down for the good of the
country, said that Donald Trump shouldstep down and exit the race for the
(06:12):
good of the country. I agreewith both those things. I agree with
the Philadelphia Inquirer that Donald Trump shouldstep down. He should step down immediately.
He should have stepped out a longtime ago. He should have resigned.
You should, Yes, absolutely,this is let me just emphasize.
If you don't understand this already,that this is not about Trump being good
(06:41):
or sane or anything close to presidentialmaterial. No one should vote for Donald
Trump. That's a bad thing.And the reason, and I will emphasize
this a bunch during my comments today, the reason that I want Joe Biden
(07:05):
to leave the presidential race. Joehas got to go, is that I
desperately do not want Donald Trump tobe president. And if he stays in
the race, damaged as he is, that's exactly what's going to happen.
(07:27):
Donald Trump will become president again.And that's exactly why this has to happen.
I know there are all sorts ofpeople, and I love you dearly,
I truly do. I know thatyour heart is in the right place,
your Democrats. You want this tobe a better country. And I
understand the fear of switching to anothercandidate at this point. I get it,
(07:57):
but things are so bad. Theimage which Joe Biden has created at
this point and the reality of hishis mental state at this point, is
such that the decision to leave therace is the only one that is going
(08:20):
to defeat Donald Trump in November.This is how we do it. This
is not the mistake that is goingto cause defeat. Victory is not assured
in either case. But if wedon't shift candidates at this point, Trump
(08:43):
will almost assuredly win. Trump willalmost assuredly win, and we cannot afford
that. We do not want thatas a nation. So again, at
the beginning of his speech, Bidenmocked Trump for his own verbal stumbles,
of which there have been many.They have been innumerable. And Trump said,
(09:09):
on one fourth of July when hewas president, and this is true,
I remember when this happened, thatGeorge Washington's army won the Revolutionary War
by taking control of the airports fromthe British. Do you remember that he
did say that Trump is nuts andTrump is dangerous, and that is why
(09:31):
we cannot afford to run a candidatelike Joe Biden. And that's where I
am coming from. Now you maywant, Okay, we know Wisconsin he's
down. Biden is two points ina pulling aggregation through real clear politics.
(09:54):
And I know real clear politics.You know they lean slightly to the right,
but they're taking an aggregation of actualpolls. And this is reflected in
other organizations. And I will Iwill read view some of the information around
that the polls are not looking goodfor Joe Biden, not in Wisconsin,
(10:20):
not in other places. And againlet me emphasize to you that really the
only polls that you should be payingattention to, I mean, aggregated polls
are better because they take multiple polesinto account and that tends to minimize polling
(10:41):
errors or biases. So that's good, and you should be particularly paying attention
to state polls because I will remindyou again we do not have national elections
for president in this country. Wehave state by state elections. States decide
(11:05):
how their electoral votes are divvied up, but in the vast majority of cases,
whoever wins the state wins all theelectoral votes in that state. And
so the only polling that matters inorder to be able to predict what is
(11:26):
really going to happen, especially whenyou had Trump win in twenty sixteen,
to begin with losing the popular vote, because the popular vote doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, only the electoral vote matters, and so it's got to be state
by state that you pay the mostattention to. One week, according to
(11:48):
Newsweek, after the CNN presidential debate, polls suggest that former President Donald Trump
has gained ground against President Joe Biden. Both Biden and Trump faced a wave
of scrutiny over the debate in Atlantalast Thursday. Yeah, because I mean
(12:09):
Trump was lying out his butt likehe always yes. Well, Trump faced
criticism for making myriad untrue statements.CNN's fact check found that he made at
least thirty throughout the debate. Bidenhas been the focused focus for much of
the post debate discussions, facing loudcalls to withdraw from the race over his
(12:31):
sluggish performance, which did little toquell concerns about his age. Biden has
resisted those calls to leave the race. His campaign said he had a cold
during the debate. Look, ifyou believe that, If you believe that
he had a cold during the debateand that's the reason, then he's had
(12:52):
a cold for the last couple ofyears. Because if you go back and
you look at the interviews that he'sgiven and the unscripted moments that he's had,
they have all been almost this bad. This is just the longest,
most recent, unscripted version of what'sbeen going on for a long time.
(13:18):
And it's sad. I'm sorry,but people get old and at a certain
point. You have to take thecar keys from Grandpa, and that's what
needs to happen here. We've gotto take the car keys from Grandpa.
It's it's not a fun moment,but it's really really important for some of
(13:43):
the same reasons. According to fivethirty eight Spolling Aggregate, Trump held an
average lead of two point three percentagepoints in recent polls as of Wednesday,
up from point one one percent sincelast Thursday polls which were conducted prior to
(14:05):
the debate. So this has hadan impact, and it's not good for
Biden. And if we don't makeif we don't make a change, then
we really will get Trump and thatwe cannot abide. I'm Bewelfrocklin. This
is Face Palm America. Will beright back. Greetings, Facebam America listener,
(14:31):
Thanks so much for listening today,But did you know you could be
getting even more serious news and commentand some of the just plain silly variety.
Two Once you finished listening here,go to at face paum Usa on
Twitter and download still more face PamAmerica content that's at face paulm Usa on
(14:52):
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(15:13):
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(15:39):
is where you can go for moreinformation. YadA, YadA, YadA.
Two zero two six five six sixtwo seven of one is where you can
give us a call. We canactually get your voice on on this podcast
if you want to. I know, in this modern age of podcasts,
(16:00):
that's not what we're used to,but I sort of have an affection,
an abiding affection for the old daysof talk radio when we actually did that.
So if you want to call,we'll set up a time to chat.
And then we can talk on theair, and we've done that a
(16:21):
couple of times. Most people liketo message, so you can message two
to zero two six five six sixtwo seven to one, and we will
read it on the air if youwould like us to. And again,
hold on with us, because we'regoing to have a couple of messages coming
up. A sort of point counterpoint, if you will. But a very
(16:44):
good point that I thought was madeafter the debate. The debate, isn't
that how we all felt watching it? It's like, oh my god,
I found myself saying that like somany times during that debate, especially like
(17:10):
in the first half hour, butlike throughout it, like the thing with
the golf, the thing with likedefeating defeating medicare. It was just the
debate. Oh, it was sucha it was it was too much.
(17:32):
It was too much, and thatis why we're engaged in this discussion right
now. But I thought there wasone particularly well crafted response from someone who
has been high up in the DemocraticParty. A former Democratic National Committee vice
(17:55):
chair wrote that leading Democrats must bepushed to urge President Joe Biden to withdraw
from the twenty twenty four presidential raceor history will judge them harshly. Our
elected officials, wrote former Minneapolis MayorRtie Ryback on Facebook, are staying shockingly
(18:19):
silent in public, especially considering howmany of them acknowledge privately that this has
to happen. And I would liketo read the entire message that he posted
on Facebook, because I think itsums up the situation pretty well. So
(18:40):
again, here is former Minneapolis MayorArtie Ryeback, former DNC vice chair,
no stranger to Democratic Party politics,and here's what he had to say.
Gretchen Whitmer would mop the floor withDonald Trump in a debate about abortion rights.
(19:07):
Kamala Harris would eviscerate him for killingimmigration reform. Pete Buddhajetge, Gavin
Newsom and Amy Klobashark would make anincredible case about what Democrats have done to
protect the climate in child poverty,improve our schools, and so much more.
(19:32):
Trump would be no match for anyof these or many other Democrats who
could step in right now and winthe election. Compare that to the disastrous
debate you just saw. Those clipswill be with us endlessly through November.
(19:56):
The American people have spoken cl clearlythat they don't want a choice between Trump
and Biden. They don't have tobecause we have a stable of great candidates
who could not only get elected president, but make a compelling case about why
other Democrats should get elected in criticalraces for Senate, the House, and
(20:23):
across the country. President Biden gotus out of COVID and an economic collapse
and passed extraordinary legislation. He deservestremendous praise, But a presidential election is
not the Academy awards, where youare rewarded for what you did. Elections
(20:48):
are about the future, and Democratshave an inspirational message that is not being
told. While a convicted felon whotried to steal the election and in our
democracy, looks like he could win, Not a single thing about that will
change unless all of us, weall of us demand we change our messenger,
(21:18):
taking the tough, immediate action weneed to win. This election is
not about whether people like President Bidenor think he has done a good job.
It's like baseball. The Pittricks shouldget credit for six great innings,
but when they start giving up homeruns and the World Series is on the
(21:40):
line, sometimes you call in areliever. The context has simply changed,
and a lot more than the WorldSeries is on the line. It is
absolutely not too late to pick anew candidate, hold two forums for candidates
(22:03):
who meet a threshold, do astraw poll, and the delegates pick.
A convention that right now almost noone would turn on, would turn into
must see TV with Democrats trying totop each other on making the most compelling
case a four day infomercial on whyto vote for Democrats. Having been a
(22:26):
vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, I can say it is unlikely this
would happen without a huge push fromthe public. You and me. Right
now, our elective officials are stayingshockingly silent in public, especially considering how
many of them acknowledge privately that thishas to happen. They fear political retribution,
(22:55):
but they should really fear that ifwe lose this election because they didn't
have the guts to do what theyknow needs to be done, holy hell
and history will come down on themlike an anvil. They need to be
pushed hard and immediately to act andknow how many people support them if they
(23:18):
do, call their offices, circulatethis or write your own but speak up
now. Worrying about this with eachother in private, won't get this done.
Imagine the Republican Convention if a changewas made, if we had a
(23:38):
new candidate, they would lose theonly talking point they have and instead have
to spend four days trying to actuallysay what they are for Now that would
be must see TV. Those arethe words a former Minneapolis mayor and x
(24:02):
DNC vice chair rt Ryback, AndI don't think I could possibly have phrased
it better than that. That encapsulateswhy it has to be done, why
Joe has to go, and encapsulatesthe urgency with which it must be done.
(24:32):
Biden, he can't linger. Ifhe does, it only benefits Trump.
This has to be done, andwe have to shift to a new
candidate and focus on the message thatneeds to be gotten across one that the
(24:59):
Democrat have a serious and much morepositive plan for America than the Republicans,
and two that Donald Trump poses aclear and present danger to democracy and to
the way we live in the UnitedStates of America. Bravo, rt Ryeback.
(25:26):
And you know he's not alone.He's not alone. Very few office
holders in the Democratic Party have comeforward, but one has. One has
so far as of this recording.Representative Lloyd Doggett, a House Democratic lawmaker,
(25:55):
has become the first in the partyto publicly call for President Joe Biden
to step down as the party's nomineefor president, citing Biden's debate performance against
Donald Trump failing to effectively defend hismany accomplishments. Representative Lloyd dogget of Texas
(26:19):
said in a statement Tuesday that Bidenshould make the painful and difficult decision to
withdraw, which I'll remind you fromthe last segment he's not doing. He's
not doing that yet. My decisionto make these strong reservations public is not
(26:40):
done lightly, nor does it inany way diminish my respect for all that
President Biden has achieved, Doggett said, recognizing that, unlike Trump, President
Biden's first commitment has always been toour country, not to himself. I
am hopeful that he will make thepainful and difficult decision to withdraw. I
(27:06):
respectfully call on him to do so. He is the first sitting lawmaker in
his party to publicly state what manyhave been privately whispering behind closed doors since
last week's debate. Biden's weak performancecaused immediate panic among even his most ardent
supporters, leading many to question whetherthe eighty one year old career politician is
(27:33):
the strongest Democratic candidate to take onTrump, the presumptive Republican nominee. In
November, he says, a couplemore things, and I want to get
into them, but we need totake a quick break. We're going to
do that. We're going to comeback and we're going to discuss this more.
(28:00):
And in the next segment, we'regonna listen to some of your words
that you have sent me and whatyou think about this situation and whether Biden
should step down. If you wanta message, if you want to call,
you can do that at two zerotwo six five six six two seven
(28:22):
to one. Again. You canreach us anytime via facepalmamerica dot com.
Listening past episodes. I'm BeO WolfRockland. We'll say it right, Beowolf.
I'm Beowolf Rockland. That's the familyname. And this is Facebam America.
(28:47):
Greetings, Facebam America listener, Thanksso much for listening today. But
did you know you could be gettingeven more serious news and comment and some
of the just plain silly variety.Two. Once you've fanish listening here,
Go to at face Paul USA onTwitter and download still more Facebam America content
that's at face Paul USA on Twitter. Don't lapse into despondency, Save our
(29:12):
democracy at Facebam USA. Hey everybody, it's Michael Steele, host of the
(29:32):
Michael Steel Podcast. Each week Ihave a discussion about the key political and
cultural issues of our day, joinedby America's leading activists, experts, and
academics for a conversation that transcends politicalboundaries. So join me each week as
we work through real solutions, havehonest conversation, and just keep it fresh.
Listen to the Michael Steel Podcast inthe Spreaker podcast player app, where
(29:55):
you can also comment on individual episodes. New episodes available every week the Speaker
podcast Player. At Face Paul America. I'm Baiblefrocklin, Facepaulamerica dot com.
Lloyd Doggett a profile I believe encouragethe only elected official in the Democratic Party
(30:22):
so far to have stood up andpublicly said that Joe Biden should withdraw from
the presidential race. Doggett, whorepresents an Austin based district in Texas and
is serving his fifteenth term in Congress. I represent the heart of a congressional
(30:44):
district once represented by Lyndon Johnson.Doggett saidho was the number two Democrat on
the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. You notice they always precede Houseways and
Means Committee by powerful. It's alwaysthe powerful Houseways and Means Committee. I
mean, I know it is apowerful committee, but is there no other
(31:07):
way of describing it. Couldn't itbe almighty, couldn't it be valiant?
But it's all of the powerful Housewaysand Committee. I think we should open
up the Houseways and Means Committee toother journalistic adjectives, don't you think anyway?
(31:30):
Lloyd Doggett continues under very different circumstances. He made the decision to withdraw,
and he's talking about Lyndon Johnson,whose former district he represents. President
Biden should do the same. Andyou know he is referring there to nineteen
sixty eight, when Lyndon Johnson sawthe writing on the wall, saw the
(31:53):
challenges that Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy were ringing, and saw how
unpopular the Vietnam War was, andhe decided not to run again for president,
which he could have done. Hewas a far stronger candidate, frankly
than Joe Biden is at this time. But he still made that decision because
(32:17):
he knew it was the right thingto do. And if it hadn't meant
for the fact that RFK was assassinatedin June of that year, there probably
would have been a Democratic president.Kennedy and Nixon would never have gotten to
the White House. Beyond the WhiteHouse, control of both chambers of Congress
(32:38):
is also hanging in the balance inNovember, and that's a really good point.
This is not just about the presidency. It's also about the Senate.
It's also about the House. IfBiden keeps going and does poorly, he's
going to drag those races down.He's going to make other Democrats perform more
(33:02):
poorly. Democrats hold the Senate witha slim fifty one to forty nine majority,
and from as best as I cansee, I don't think there's too
many things that are going to keepthem in power in the Senate. I
think almost certainly the Republicans are goingto take over the Senate unless they do
(33:24):
surpassingly well, which if you picka good, vibrant candidate at the top
of the ticket. There is actuallya chance for Republicans control the House by
only a handful of seats, andI think that the Democrats will probably win
(33:45):
the House of Representatives back. Butagain, if Biden drags candidates down depresses
turnout, then that might not happen, and then there might be absolutely no
bulwark legislatives leave speaking against a Trumppresidency. That would be critical if Trump
(34:06):
did gain the Oval office again.Doggett's explosive statement came minutes after former House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she believes it'sa legitimate question whether Biden's halting performance is
just an episode or whether this isa condition. So even Nancy Pelosi,
who I have a lot of problemswith, as you know, is saying
(34:30):
it's a question. It is aquestion. We cannot just fall in line
and say, well, it's Biden, no matter what, it's Blue,
no matter who. This is importantand it needs to be hashed out and
it's critical that we make this change. And here's something at the end of
this article that really kind of depressedme, and unfortunately it's about Bernie Sanders.
(34:55):
And I've supported Bernie Sanders a coupleof different times president. And I
think this is said Senator de Sanders, Biden's one time Democratic opponent, said
Tuesday that while he's not confident thepresident can win in November. He's not
confident the president can win in November. He doesn't want him to step aside,
(35:20):
considering what the party views as thegreatest threat to democracy in Trump.
And that really depresses me, becauseif you're not confident that the guy can
win, then you must ask himto step aside. I'm afraid that Bernie
has become at this point a littletoo comfortable, and this depresses me.
(35:47):
I think he's wrong. I thinkthat is the reason why you have to
get him to step aside, becausehe's not confident that he can win in
November. Bernie Sanders knows that hedoesn't think that Biden will win, but
he's going to stick with him anyway. That's foolish. That's foolish, especially
(36:09):
now, especially with all this nonsensethat Trump is going to put in place
with Project twenty twenty five. Authoritarianismis taking tangible shape in front of us,
and yet you don't want to makethe change. In order to avoid
it. You must, You haveto. This is the best chance to
(36:34):
stop it all right. I saidthat we were going to read some messages
that you listeners had sent in tous, and we are going to do
that. Now we have opinions onboth sides of the Should President Biden step
down from the presidential race? Notstep down from the presidency he'll leave on
(37:00):
on January twentieth, where he cando that to say, when he's not
elected, which I don't think hewill be, he should step back from
the presidential race. He should leavethe presidential race. Bob in San Jose,
here is what he says on thematter. Please look into that dish
(37:20):
gallop debate tactic, because that waswhat Dictator Don was doing. Now,
Bob makes a good point there.The gish gallup, and I've seen this
referenced numerous times on social media inthe wake of the debate performance is a
tactic whereby the person engaging in adebate quickly throws out an overwhelming number of
(37:45):
quote unquote facts which are actually liesor misleading, and overwhelms the ability of
any debate opponent to respond to them, you know, flooding the zone,
just overwhelming, giving the opponent toomuch to deal with. And that is
(38:10):
certainly what Trump was doing the gishgallop. Something to add to your political
dictionary if you've not seen it alreadyonline. Bob from San Jose continues,
Meanwhile, I am not ready tothrow Joe Biden under the bus. He
was not my first or even mysecond choice back when. But I do
(38:32):
know what Project twenty twenty five is, and what Agenda forty seven is,
and if Trump manages to actually winthe vote in a few battleground states,
that will determine the election. Theelectoral college idea is one of the worst
things that people who actually wrote theConstitution gave us. Couldn't agree more on
(38:52):
that, Bob. I know theydid it to please the slave states and
entice them to be a part ofthe new country. They made several other
mistakes, but that electoral college ideawas one of the worst mistakes we are
still stuck with. Again. That'sBob from San Jose, California. Bobb,
you make some good points. Idon't agree with you on Joe Biden
(39:15):
specifically. I do think he hasto go, but I understand your concerns.
I believe that what you're outlining interms of Project twenty twenty five,
the retribution which Trump will in actif he gets in office. Is the
very reason why we have to switchat this point and go with someone else
(39:38):
aside from Biden. Another message,and this one from Jack in New Jersey.
He says, I have been anavid Biden fan. Although I had
voted for Bernie Sanders. Once itwas Biden, I was all in.
I was pleasantly surprised with all Biden'saccomplishments, from handling of COVID to all
(40:02):
the bills that have gotten past.I believe they were accomplishments, accomplished because
of Biden's decades of experience in Congressand the fact that he is generally a
very good person. I love Obama, but was disappointed with the limited achievements
he had during his presidency. Iblame that on the brick wall he had
(40:22):
in Congress with conservatives and the NewTea Party. That brings me to progressive
Democrats. I consider myself a progressiveDemocrat, but the fact is fear has
driven me closer to the center,not because my ideology has moved, but
because I have been afraid the progressiveideas are unachievable with our current system due
(40:45):
to gerrymandering and the electoral College.You, Jack from New Jersey and Bob
from San Jose, California absolutely agreeon that point, and so do I.
The electoral college jus an albatross aroundour collective. Next, I must
put aside my fears, Jack continues. This year, we are going against
(41:09):
Trump, so many don't even needa candidate they love. They just need
a solid candidate to vote against Trump. The Republican Party is a hot mess,
so this is the time to putup a very progressive ticket, one
that those in fear will learn tolove when they see what progressive policies can
(41:32):
continue to do for this country.The fact is, this country as a
whole has almost always fared better inevery facet when progressive policies are enacted.
I still have great respect for Bidenand his accomplishments, but the debate proved
(41:53):
he cannot continue. We must actnow to replace Biden. We can choose
a very progressive ticket, because anysolid ticket should be able to beat Trump.
That's right. If Bernie Sanders,in spite of my criticism of him
a moment ago, were to jumpin the race, he would be overwhelmingly
(42:15):
supported. There were tons of peoplewho supported who supported Bernie Sanders, and
when the progressive populist alternative was takenaway, they either didn't vote or they
voted for Trump. And we haveto acknowledge that there are such people,
(42:37):
even though we might not agree withtheir choices. We will have the help
of many in the Republican Party thatwill not vote for Trump. And that's
true, that is true. Ifwe could provide a more viable alternative than
Biden to Trump, then moderate Republicanswould also gravitate more strongly to that new
(43:00):
candidate. Courage is our friend,Fear is our enemy. Thank you,
Beowulf Jack in New Jersey. Jack, thank you so much for listening to
the show. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for writing and
I couldn't agree more with your thoughts. I understand where you've come from.
(43:22):
And it is not easy to overcomethat fear because how many times have we
told this to conservatives or thought,yeah, ah, those poor conservatives.
Yeah, I get it. Changeis hard. Well, we've got to
remind ourselves of that now. Changeis hard, and when we step out
(43:46):
into the ether without a net,there's always a chance that we could fall.
But sometimes that's the only thing thatwe can do. And sometimes that's
the best chance that we have isto make that leap of faith. And
so I'm going to say it againfor the second show in a row.
Joe has got to go. It'snot looking any better a week later.
(44:13):
Just because he got mad and seemedenergetic reading some words off of a teleprompter
doesn't mean that he didn't make theimpression that he did during that debate,
and it doesn't mean that the evidenceof our eyes don't betray the true state
(44:35):
of Joe Biden's faculties. Joe hasgot to go. I want to thank
you for listening today again. Ifyou want to contribute anything via message or
via voice, please do so attwo zebra two six five six six'
two seven to one. I'm BeowulfRocklin and until next time, enjoy the day.
Hey, everybody, it's Michael Steele, host of the Michael Steel Podcast.
Each week I have a discussion aboutthe key political and cultural issues of our
day, joined by America's leading activists, experts, and academics for conversation that
transcends political boundaries. So join meeach week as we work through real solutions,
have honest conversation, and just keepit fresh. Listen to the Michael
(00:20):
Steel Podcast in the Spreaker podcast playerapp, where you can also comment on
individual episodes. New episodes available everyweek on the Spreaker podcast player app.
(00:40):
Face Palm America I'm Beowulf Rockland.Facepalmamerica dot com is as always where you
can get more information about the show. Listen to past episodes, catch up
on all the latest stuff, connectwith us on social media. It's just,
you know, it's a it's avery basic website, but you can
(01:03):
go there and you can get informationabout us, and that's totally fine.
We encourage you to do so.It's it's not elaborate. It's just a
humble, basic website in a vastsea of ones that are designed much better.
(01:26):
But you know, what's the pointof having a website. It's it's
not to to gaze upon lovingly mostof the time. It's supposed to be
functional, I think, and itserves its a purpose. If you want
to give us a call or sendus a message, you can do that
at two zero two six five sixsix two seven to one. And we've
(01:49):
gotten a couple of messages this week, and we'll read them a little bit
later on during the program. SoI told you last week that my guess
was that Joe Biden and the DNC, after his horrendous campaign destroying debate performance,
(02:16):
they were going to dig their heelsin. They were not gonna step
down. That Biden was going tokeep going. He was going to wrap
his cold fingers around the presidency andnot to let them be pried off.
(02:42):
And sure enough, that is kindof what he's been doing. That is
kind of what he's been doing.President Joe Biden said Friday at a campaign
rally in the key battleground state ofWisconsin, where last I saw the poll
aggregates had him dead. Even youknow, I'm gonna check that, because
(03:07):
I'm not sure I've checked that sincethe debate, but I'm going to look
at a poll aggregate. You know, the latest series of polls. Oh,
oh my goodness, No, it'snot dead even like it was before.
Trump is actually up by two pointsin Wisconsin in the latest poll aggregation.
(03:29):
I wonder why that is. Letme tell you why that is.
It's because Joe Biden had a horrificdebate performance. He is old, and
he is not at the level offunctionality that we expect of a president of
(03:52):
the United States. He looked badagainst Donald Trump. And you can see
the results. Okay, he wasat a campaign rally state of Wisconsin,
where he's now down by two pointsto Donald Trump. Since this happened,
(04:15):
that said aggregation of polls as notan individual poll, so that's a bit
more reliable. And he says he'sstaying in the twenty twenty four presidential race
and expressed confidence that he would beatpresident former president Donald Trump, despite concerns
about a disastrous debate performance. Lastweek. Biden said that people are trying
(04:38):
to push him out of the race. Let me say as clear as I
can, I'm staying in the race. Biden said, I'll beat Donald Trump
now. According to this story,Biden initially misspoke and said he would beat
Trump again in twenty twenty that's thekind of air that he is prone to
(05:02):
nowadays, and then seemed to correcthimself and said, we're going to do
it again in twenty twenty four.At the beginning of the speech, Biden
mocked Trump for his own verbal stumbles. Now, he's completely correct to do
this. Yes, we know fromyears of experience. And let me re
(05:26):
emphasize it that Donald Trump says crazythings, and he goes on weird,
meandering tangents, and he says thingsalso that you would not expect and you
would not want of a president ofthe United States, and he should step
(05:48):
down two for the good of thecountry. In fact, I believe it
was the Philadelphia Inquirer sort of asa trolling response to the New York Time
Times when they said that Joe Bidenshould step down for the good of the
country, said that Donald Trump shouldstep down and exit the race for the
(06:12):
good of the country. I agreewith both those things. I agree with
the Philadelphia Inquirer that Donald Trump shouldstep down. He should step down immediately.
He should have stepped out a longtime ago. He should have resigned.
You should, Yes, absolutely,this is let me just emphasize.
If you don't understand this already,that this is not about Trump being good
(06:41):
or sane or anything close to presidentialmaterial. No one should vote for Donald
Trump. That's a bad thing.And the reason, and I will emphasize
this a bunch during my comments today, the reason that I want Joe Biden
(07:05):
to leave the presidential race. Joehas got to go, is that I
desperately do not want Donald Trump tobe president. And if he stays in
the race, damaged as he is, that's exactly what's going to happen.
(07:27):
Donald Trump will become president again.And that's exactly why this has to happen.
I know there are all sorts ofpeople, and I love you dearly,
I truly do. I know thatyour heart is in the right place,
your Democrats. You want this tobe a better country. And I
understand the fear of switching to anothercandidate at this point. I get it,
(07:57):
but things are so bad. Theimage which Joe Biden has created at
this point and the reality of hishis mental state at this point, is
such that the decision to leave therace is the only one that is going
(08:20):
to defeat Donald Trump in November.This is how we do it. This
is not the mistake that is goingto cause defeat. Victory is not assured
in either case. But if wedon't shift candidates at this point, Trump
(08:43):
will almost assuredly win. Trump willalmost assuredly win, and we cannot afford
that. We do not want thatas a nation. So again, at
the beginning of his speech, Bidenmocked Trump for his own verbal stumbles,
of which there have been many.They have been innumerable. And Trump said,
(09:09):
on one fourth of July when hewas president, and this is true,
I remember when this happened, thatGeorge Washington's army won the Revolutionary War
by taking control of the airports fromthe British. Do you remember that he
did say that Trump is nuts andTrump is dangerous, and that is why
(09:31):
we cannot afford to run a candidatelike Joe Biden. And that's where I
am coming from. Now you maywant, Okay, we know Wisconsin he's
down. Biden is two points ina pulling aggregation through real clear politics.
(09:54):
And I know real clear politics.You know they lean slightly to the right,
but they're taking an aggregation of actualpolls. And this is reflected in
other organizations. And I will Iwill read view some of the information around
that the polls are not looking goodfor Joe Biden, not in Wisconsin,
(10:20):
not in other places. And againlet me emphasize to you that really the
only polls that you should be payingattention to, I mean, aggregated polls
are better because they take multiple polesinto account and that tends to minimize polling
(10:41):
errors or biases. So that's good, and you should be particularly paying attention
to state polls because I will remindyou again we do not have national elections
for president in this country. Wehave state by state elections. States decide
(11:05):
how their electoral votes are divvied up, but in the vast majority of cases,
whoever wins the state wins all theelectoral votes in that state. And
so the only polling that matters inorder to be able to predict what is
(11:26):
really going to happen, especially whenyou had Trump win in twenty sixteen,
to begin with losing the popular vote, because the popular vote doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, only the electoral vote matters, and so it's got to be state
by state that you pay the mostattention to. One week, according to
(11:48):
Newsweek, after the CNN presidential debate, polls suggest that former President Donald Trump
has gained ground against President Joe Biden. Both Biden and Trump faced a wave
of scrutiny over the debate in Atlantalast Thursday. Yeah, because I mean
(12:09):
Trump was lying out his butt likehe always yes. Well, Trump faced
criticism for making myriad untrue statements.CNN's fact check found that he made at
least thirty throughout the debate. Bidenhas been the focused focus for much of
the post debate discussions, facing loudcalls to withdraw from the race over his
(12:31):
sluggish performance, which did little toquell concerns about his age. Biden has
resisted those calls to leave the race. His campaign said he had a cold
during the debate. Look, ifyou believe that, If you believe that
he had a cold during the debateand that's the reason, then he's had
(12:52):
a cold for the last couple ofyears. Because if you go back and
you look at the interviews that he'sgiven and the unscripted moments that he's had,
they have all been almost this bad. This is just the longest,
most recent, unscripted version of what'sbeen going on for a long time.
(13:18):
And it's sad. I'm sorry,but people get old and at a certain
point. You have to take thecar keys from Grandpa, and that's what
needs to happen here. We've gotto take the car keys from Grandpa.
It's it's not a fun moment,but it's really really important for some of
(13:43):
the same reasons. According to fivethirty eight Spolling Aggregate, Trump held an
average lead of two point three percentagepoints in recent polls as of Wednesday,
up from point one one percent sincelast Thursday polls which were conducted prior to
(14:05):
the debate. So this has hadan impact, and it's not good for
Biden. And if we don't makeif we don't make a change, then
we really will get Trump and thatwe cannot abide. I'm Bewelfrocklin. This
is Face Palm America. Will beright back. Greetings, Facebam America listener,
(14:31):
Thanks so much for listening today,But did you know you could be
getting even more serious news and commentand some of the just plain silly variety.
Two Once you finished listening here,go to at face paum Usa on
Twitter and download still more face PamAmerica content that's at face paulm Usa on
(14:52):
Twitter. Don't lapse into despondency,Save our democracy at facebam USA. The
John People Saying podcast is now availablesix times a week with me John Fugelsang,
I've been murdered on CSI picketed byWestboro Baptist Church and host tell me
Everything. On Serious XM Progress onetwenty seven. You will hear authors,
(15:13):
politicians, actors, filmmakers, rappers, rockstars, journalists, activists, unhinged
callers, and way too many comedians. They all have a place of the
John Fiegel Sang Podcast, and sodo you. The John Fiegel Sing Podcast
Fair and Biased. Find it onApple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher for wherever
you listen to Bobs Face Palm America, I'm Baowulf Rocklin. Facepalmamerica dot com
(15:39):
is where you can go for moreinformation. YadA, YadA, YadA.
Two zero two six five six sixtwo seven of one is where you can
give us a call. We canactually get your voice on on this podcast
if you want to. I know, in this modern age of podcasts,
(16:00):
that's not what we're used to,but I sort of have an affection,
an abiding affection for the old daysof talk radio when we actually did that.
So if you want to call,we'll set up a time to chat.
And then we can talk on theair, and we've done that a
(16:21):
couple of times. Most people liketo message, so you can message two
to zero two six five six sixtwo seven to one, and we will
read it on the air if youwould like us to. And again,
hold on with us, because we'regoing to have a couple of messages coming
up. A sort of point counterpoint, if you will. But a very
(16:44):
good point that I thought was madeafter the debate. The debate, isn't
that how we all felt watching it? It's like, oh my god,
I found myself saying that like somany times during that debate, especially like
(17:10):
in the first half hour, butlike throughout it, like the thing with
the golf, the thing with likedefeating defeating medicare. It was just the
debate. Oh, it was sucha it was it was too much.
(17:32):
It was too much, and thatis why we're engaged in this discussion right
now. But I thought there wasone particularly well crafted response from someone who
has been high up in the DemocraticParty. A former Democratic National Committee vice
(17:55):
chair wrote that leading Democrats must bepushed to urge President Joe Biden to withdraw
from the twenty twenty four presidential raceor history will judge them harshly. Our
elected officials, wrote former Minneapolis MayorRtie Ryback on Facebook, are staying shockingly
(18:19):
silent in public, especially considering howmany of them acknowledge privately that this has
to happen. And I would liketo read the entire message that he posted
on Facebook, because I think itsums up the situation pretty well. So
(18:40):
again, here is former Minneapolis MayorArtie Ryeback, former DNC vice chair,
no stranger to Democratic Party politics,and here's what he had to say.
Gretchen Whitmer would mop the floor withDonald Trump in a debate about abortion rights.
(19:07):
Kamala Harris would eviscerate him for killingimmigration reform. Pete Buddhajetge, Gavin
Newsom and Amy Klobashark would make anincredible case about what Democrats have done to
protect the climate in child poverty,improve our schools, and so much more.
(19:32):
Trump would be no match for anyof these or many other Democrats who
could step in right now and winthe election. Compare that to the disastrous
debate you just saw. Those clipswill be with us endlessly through November.
(19:56):
The American people have spoken cl clearlythat they don't want a choice between Trump
and Biden. They don't have tobecause we have a stable of great candidates
who could not only get elected president, but make a compelling case about why
other Democrats should get elected in criticalraces for Senate, the House, and
(20:23):
across the country. President Biden gotus out of COVID and an economic collapse
and passed extraordinary legislation. He deservestremendous praise, But a presidential election is
not the Academy awards, where youare rewarded for what you did. Elections
(20:48):
are about the future, and Democratshave an inspirational message that is not being
told. While a convicted felon whotried to steal the election and in our
democracy, looks like he could win, Not a single thing about that will
change unless all of us, weall of us demand we change our messenger,
(21:18):
taking the tough, immediate action weneed to win. This election is
not about whether people like President Bidenor think he has done a good job.
It's like baseball. The Pittricks shouldget credit for six great innings,
but when they start giving up homeruns and the World Series is on the
(21:40):
line, sometimes you call in areliever. The context has simply changed,
and a lot more than the WorldSeries is on the line. It is
absolutely not too late to pick anew candidate, hold two forums for candidates
(22:03):
who meet a threshold, do astraw poll, and the delegates pick.
A convention that right now almost noone would turn on, would turn into
must see TV with Democrats trying totop each other on making the most compelling
case a four day infomercial on whyto vote for Democrats. Having been a
(22:26):
vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, I can say it is unlikely this
would happen without a huge push fromthe public. You and me. Right
now, our elective officials are stayingshockingly silent in public, especially considering how
many of them acknowledge privately that thishas to happen. They fear political retribution,
(22:55):
but they should really fear that ifwe lose this election because they didn't
have the guts to do what theyknow needs to be done, holy hell
and history will come down on themlike an anvil. They need to be
pushed hard and immediately to act andknow how many people support them if they
(23:18):
do, call their offices, circulatethis or write your own but speak up
now. Worrying about this with eachother in private, won't get this done.
Imagine the Republican Convention if a changewas made, if we had a
(23:38):
new candidate, they would lose theonly talking point they have and instead have
to spend four days trying to actuallysay what they are for Now that would
be must see TV. Those arethe words a former Minneapolis mayor and x
(24:02):
DNC vice chair rt Ryback, AndI don't think I could possibly have phrased
it better than that. That encapsulateswhy it has to be done, why
Joe has to go, and encapsulatesthe urgency with which it must be done.
(24:32):
Biden, he can't linger. Ifhe does, it only benefits Trump.
This has to be done, andwe have to shift to a new
candidate and focus on the message thatneeds to be gotten across one that the
(24:59):
Democrat have a serious and much morepositive plan for America than the Republicans,
and two that Donald Trump poses aclear and present danger to democracy and to
the way we live in the UnitedStates of America. Bravo, rt Ryeback.
(25:26):
And you know he's not alone.He's not alone. Very few office
holders in the Democratic Party have comeforward, but one has. One has
so far as of this recording.Representative Lloyd Doggett, a House Democratic lawmaker,
(25:55):
has become the first in the partyto publicly call for President Joe Biden
to step down as the party's nomineefor president, citing Biden's debate performance against
Donald Trump failing to effectively defend hismany accomplishments. Representative Lloyd dogget of Texas
(26:19):
said in a statement Tuesday that Bidenshould make the painful and difficult decision to
withdraw, which I'll remind you fromthe last segment he's not doing. He's
not doing that yet. My decisionto make these strong reservations public is not
(26:40):
done lightly, nor does it inany way diminish my respect for all that
President Biden has achieved, Doggett said, recognizing that, unlike Trump, President
Biden's first commitment has always been toour country, not to himself. I
am hopeful that he will make thepainful and difficult decision to withdraw. I
(27:06):
respectfully call on him to do so. He is the first sitting lawmaker in
his party to publicly state what manyhave been privately whispering behind closed doors since
last week's debate. Biden's weak performancecaused immediate panic among even his most ardent
supporters, leading many to question whetherthe eighty one year old career politician is
(27:33):
the strongest Democratic candidate to take onTrump, the presumptive Republican nominee. In
November, he says, a couplemore things, and I want to get
into them, but we need totake a quick break. We're going to
do that. We're going to comeback and we're going to discuss this more.
(28:00):
And in the next segment, we'regonna listen to some of your words
that you have sent me and whatyou think about this situation and whether Biden
should step down. If you wanta message, if you want to call,
you can do that at two zerotwo six five six six two seven
(28:22):
to one. Again. You canreach us anytime via facepalmamerica dot com.
Listening past episodes. I'm BeO WolfRockland. We'll say it right, Beowolf.
I'm Beowolf Rockland. That's the familyname. And this is Facebam America.
(28:47):
Greetings, Facebam America listener, Thanksso much for listening today. But
did you know you could be gettingeven more serious news and comment and some
of the just plain silly variety.Two. Once you've fanish listening here,
Go to at face Paul USA onTwitter and download still more Facebam America content
that's at face Paul USA on Twitter. Don't lapse into despondency, Save our
(29:12):
democracy at Facebam USA. Hey everybody, it's Michael Steele, host of the
(29:32):
Michael Steel Podcast. Each week Ihave a discussion about the key political and
cultural issues of our day, joinedby America's leading activists, experts, and
academics for a conversation that transcends politicalboundaries. So join me each week as
we work through real solutions, havehonest conversation, and just keep it fresh.
Listen to the Michael Steel Podcast inthe Spreaker podcast player app, where
(29:55):
you can also comment on individual episodes. New episodes available every week the Speaker
podcast Player. At Face Paul America. I'm Baiblefrocklin, Facepaulamerica dot com.
Lloyd Doggett a profile I believe encouragethe only elected official in the Democratic Party
(30:22):
so far to have stood up andpublicly said that Joe Biden should withdraw from
the presidential race. Doggett, whorepresents an Austin based district in Texas and
is serving his fifteenth term in Congress. I represent the heart of a congressional
(30:44):
district once represented by Lyndon Johnson.Doggett saidho was the number two Democrat on
the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. You notice they always precede Houseways and
Means Committee by powerful. It's alwaysthe powerful Houseways and Means Committee. I
mean, I know it is apowerful committee, but is there no other
(31:07):
way of describing it. Couldn't itbe almighty, couldn't it be valiant?
But it's all of the powerful Housewaysand Committee. I think we should open
up the Houseways and Means Committee toother journalistic adjectives, don't you think anyway?
(31:30):
Lloyd Doggett continues under very different circumstances. He made the decision to withdraw,
and he's talking about Lyndon Johnson,whose former district he represents. President
Biden should do the same. Andyou know he is referring there to nineteen
sixty eight, when Lyndon Johnson sawthe writing on the wall, saw the
(31:53):
challenges that Eugene McCarthy and Robert F. Kennedy were ringing, and saw how
unpopular the Vietnam War was, andhe decided not to run again for president,
which he could have done. Hewas a far stronger candidate, frankly
than Joe Biden is at this time. But he still made that decision because
(32:17):
he knew it was the right thingto do. And if it hadn't meant
for the fact that RFK was assassinatedin June of that year, there probably
would have been a Democratic president.Kennedy and Nixon would never have gotten to
the White House. Beyond the WhiteHouse, control of both chambers of Congress
(32:38):
is also hanging in the balance inNovember, and that's a really good point.
This is not just about the presidency. It's also about the Senate.
It's also about the House. IfBiden keeps going and does poorly, he's
going to drag those races down.He's going to make other Democrats perform more
(33:02):
poorly. Democrats hold the Senate witha slim fifty one to forty nine majority,
and from as best as I cansee, I don't think there's too
many things that are going to keepthem in power in the Senate. I
think almost certainly the Republicans are goingto take over the Senate unless they do
(33:24):
surpassingly well, which if you picka good, vibrant candidate at the top
of the ticket. There is actuallya chance for Republicans control the House by
only a handful of seats, andI think that the Democrats will probably win
(33:45):
the House of Representatives back. Butagain, if Biden drags candidates down depresses
turnout, then that might not happen, and then there might be absolutely no
bulwark legislatives leave speaking against a Trumppresidency. That would be critical if Trump
(34:06):
did gain the Oval office again.Doggett's explosive statement came minutes after former House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she believes it'sa legitimate question whether Biden's halting performance is
just an episode or whether this isa condition. So even Nancy Pelosi,
who I have a lot of problemswith, as you know, is saying
(34:30):
it's a question. It is aquestion. We cannot just fall in line
and say, well, it's Biden, no matter what, it's Blue,
no matter who. This is importantand it needs to be hashed out and
it's critical that we make this change. And here's something at the end of
this article that really kind of depressedme, and unfortunately it's about Bernie Sanders.
(34:55):
And I've supported Bernie Sanders a coupleof different times president. And I
think this is said Senator de Sanders, Biden's one time Democratic opponent, said
Tuesday that while he's not confident thepresident can win in November. He's not
confident the president can win in November. He doesn't want him to step aside,
(35:20):
considering what the party views as thegreatest threat to democracy in Trump.
And that really depresses me, becauseif you're not confident that the guy can
win, then you must ask himto step aside. I'm afraid that Bernie
has become at this point a littletoo comfortable, and this depresses me.
(35:47):
I think he's wrong. I thinkthat is the reason why you have to
get him to step aside, becausehe's not confident that he can win in
November. Bernie Sanders knows that hedoesn't think that Biden will win, but
he's going to stick with him anyway. That's foolish. That's foolish, especially
(36:09):
now, especially with all this nonsensethat Trump is going to put in place
with Project twenty twenty five. Authoritarianismis taking tangible shape in front of us,
and yet you don't want to makethe change. In order to avoid
it. You must, You haveto. This is the best chance to
(36:34):
stop it all right. I saidthat we were going to read some messages
that you listeners had sent in tous, and we are going to do
that. Now we have opinions onboth sides of the Should President Biden step
down from the presidential race? Notstep down from the presidency he'll leave on
(37:00):
on January twentieth, where he cando that to say, when he's not
elected, which I don't think hewill be, he should step back from
the presidential race. He should leavethe presidential race. Bob in San Jose,
here is what he says on thematter. Please look into that dish
(37:20):
gallop debate tactic, because that waswhat Dictator Don was doing. Now,
Bob makes a good point there.The gish gallup, and I've seen this
referenced numerous times on social media inthe wake of the debate performance is a
tactic whereby the person engaging in adebate quickly throws out an overwhelming number of
(37:45):
quote unquote facts which are actually liesor misleading, and overwhelms the ability of
any debate opponent to respond to them, you know, flooding the zone,
just overwhelming, giving the opponent toomuch to deal with. And that is
(38:10):
certainly what Trump was doing the gishgallop. Something to add to your political
dictionary if you've not seen it alreadyonline. Bob from San Jose continues,
Meanwhile, I am not ready tothrow Joe Biden under the bus. He
was not my first or even mysecond choice back when. But I do
(38:32):
know what Project twenty twenty five is, and what Agenda forty seven is,
and if Trump manages to actually winthe vote in a few battleground states,
that will determine the election. Theelectoral college idea is one of the worst
things that people who actually wrote theConstitution gave us. Couldn't agree more on
(38:52):
that, Bob. I know theydid it to please the slave states and
entice them to be a part ofthe new country. They made several other
mistakes, but that electoral college ideawas one of the worst mistakes we are
still stuck with. Again. That'sBob from San Jose, California. Bobb,
you make some good points. Idon't agree with you on Joe Biden
(39:15):
specifically. I do think he hasto go, but I understand your concerns.
I believe that what you're outlining interms of Project twenty twenty five,
the retribution which Trump will in actif he gets in office. Is the
very reason why we have to switchat this point and go with someone else
(39:38):
aside from Biden. Another message,and this one from Jack in New Jersey.
He says, I have been anavid Biden fan. Although I had
voted for Bernie Sanders. Once itwas Biden, I was all in.
I was pleasantly surprised with all Biden'saccomplishments, from handling of COVID to all
(40:02):
the bills that have gotten past.I believe they were accomplishments, accomplished because
of Biden's decades of experience in Congressand the fact that he is generally a
very good person. I love Obama, but was disappointed with the limited achievements
he had during his presidency. Iblame that on the brick wall he had
(40:22):
in Congress with conservatives and the NewTea Party. That brings me to progressive
Democrats. I consider myself a progressiveDemocrat, but the fact is fear has
driven me closer to the center,not because my ideology has moved, but
because I have been afraid the progressiveideas are unachievable with our current system due
(40:45):
to gerrymandering and the electoral College.You, Jack from New Jersey and Bob
from San Jose, California absolutely agreeon that point, and so do I.
The electoral college jus an albatross aroundour collective. Next, I must
put aside my fears, Jack continues. This year, we are going against
(41:09):
Trump, so many don't even needa candidate they love. They just need
a solid candidate to vote against Trump. The Republican Party is a hot mess,
so this is the time to putup a very progressive ticket, one
that those in fear will learn tolove when they see what progressive policies can
(41:32):
continue to do for this country.The fact is, this country as a
whole has almost always fared better inevery facet when progressive policies are enacted.
I still have great respect for Bidenand his accomplishments, but the debate proved
(41:53):
he cannot continue. We must actnow to replace Biden. We can choose
a very progressive ticket, because anysolid ticket should be able to beat Trump.
That's right. If Bernie Sanders,in spite of my criticism of him
a moment ago, were to jumpin the race, he would be overwhelmingly
(42:15):
supported. There were tons of peoplewho supported who supported Bernie Sanders, and
when the progressive populist alternative was takenaway, they either didn't vote or they
voted for Trump. And we haveto acknowledge that there are such people,
(42:37):
even though we might not agree withtheir choices. We will have the help
of many in the Republican Party thatwill not vote for Trump. And that's
true, that is true. Ifwe could provide a more viable alternative than
Biden to Trump, then moderate Republicanswould also gravitate more strongly to that new
(43:00):
candidate. Courage is our friend,Fear is our enemy. Thank you,
Beowulf Jack in New Jersey. Jack, thank you so much for listening to
the show. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much for writing and
I couldn't agree more with your thoughts. I understand where you've come from.
(43:22):
And it is not easy to overcomethat fear because how many times have we
told this to conservatives or thought,yeah, ah, those poor conservatives.
Yeah, I get it. Changeis hard. Well, we've got to
remind ourselves of that now. Changeis hard, and when we step out
(43:46):
into the ether without a net,there's always a chance that we could fall.
But sometimes that's the only thing thatwe can do. And sometimes that's
the best chance that we have isto make that leap of faith. And
so I'm going to say it againfor the second show in a row.
Joe has got to go. It'snot looking any better a week later.
(44:13):
Just because he got mad and seemedenergetic reading some words off of a teleprompter
doesn't mean that he didn't make theimpression that he did during that debate,
and it doesn't mean that the evidenceof our eyes don't betray the true state
(44:35):
of Joe Biden's faculties. Joe hasgot to go. I want to thank
you for listening today again. Ifyou want to contribute anything via message or
via voice, please do so attwo zebra two six five six six'
two seven to one. I'm BeowulfRocklin and until next time, enjoy the day.
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