I see a lot of people at LinkedIn writing about what a selfless and noble gesture Biden's resignation was...and a lot of other people choosing the response that says "*** thinks this is funny"
On another topic, a Substack post inspired me to put up a post about movies focusing in courage...especially moral and intellectual courage. Thought some of the crew here might have interest / ideas.
It'll be interesting to see if this is a maneuver to avoid a contested convention, or if she is willing to go through with one; her own statement said she planned to 'earn' the nomination, which she certainly hasn't so far. She polled 1% in battleground states in 2020, and left the contest after a disastrous debate performance against Tulsi Gabbard before any votes were cast. She has never earned a single delegate for the presidential nomination, not this year and not ever. Literally everyone knows that she would not be the nominee if Biden had admitted he was not going to have a second term in time for a real primary; she is barely a fourth-tier candidate, and without any of the distinctions that normally mark a Presidential candidate of any sort.
In 2016 she might have said, 'Well, Trump's not qualified to be President either'; but at this point he actually has been President. Vance, whom she would have debated but for this move, served as a Marine as well as a Senator and authored a book of significant political and minor philosophical importance. Reason just last week published a list of seven major intellectual influences on Vance, both individuals and schools, that he has engaged with at length in reasoned debates on policy and philosophy; I don't think that Harris has a single one. Her influences were the rapper P. Diddy, who gave her a start in California politics by showcasing her around on his arm; she parlayed that into an affair with the mayor of San Francisco (a fact no one denies even mildly) which got her the initial political position as a prosecutor. It was not her affair with a married man but her illegal and immoral behavior in that role, and later as Attorney General of California, that was the subject of Tulsi Gabbard's knockout debate performance against Harris.
I think the standard film people appeal to is A Man for All Seasons. However, if you're going to talk about Westerns, High Noon is in a sense an outlier because it portrays the American people as ultimately cowardly rather than courageous. John Wayne hated it, and with Howard Hawks he made three versions of Rio Bravo to showcase what he thought would happen in that situation instead -- to whit that, given even a few men of courage, the rest would come around from their fear and stand up.
Open Range is a great example too, though. The evil Boss Spearman has the town cowed, but when even a few men show up who are willing to be courageous, the town finds its courage too.
her [Harris'] own statement said she planned to 'earn' the nomination
Keep in mind that she said, early in her own primary campaign in the 2020 season, that it was perfectly fine to lie, so long as it was in a debate. And then chuckled about it.
The woman is unable even to spell integrity, much less understand it.
Still, this is the party--not just Harris--that continually bleats about threats to democracy, even as it moves to destroy it.
The leading Democrats believe they are entitled to power, and anything that prevents that is by definition undemocratic. Therefore, when you see the word "democracy" in one of their statements, sub in the phrase "our power" and the statements are at least coherent and consistent, rather than puzzling.
David Foster--I agree completely with Man for All Seasons and Open Range. I'd add Zulu, Master and Commander, To Kill a Mockingbird, Casablanca, True Confessions (De Niro/Duvall), The Winslow Boy, and The Last of the Mohicans (Day-Lewis version).
Glenn Greenwald makes a good point, in view of the mounting uncertainty who really wrote that letter and posted that tweet, and the absence of a photo showing Mr. Biden holding up a current newspaper for the camera, and over who's actually running the country while the president is personally incommunicado but resigning: "If he's well enough to decide, then he's well enough to speak."
Oh, Zulu for sure. I don't always like war movies -- 'too much like work,' I used to joke, but really I don't usually like watching them. Zulu is a great one, though.
10 comments:
I see a lot of people at LinkedIn writing about what a selfless and noble gesture Biden's resignation was...and a lot of other people choosing the response that says "*** thinks this is funny"
On another topic, a Substack post inspired me to put up a post about movies focusing in courage...especially moral and intellectual courage. Thought some of the crew here might have interest / ideas.
https://chicagoboyz.net/archives/71374.html
It'll be interesting to see if this is a maneuver to avoid a contested convention, or if she is willing to go through with one; her own statement said she planned to 'earn' the nomination, which she certainly hasn't so far. She polled 1% in battleground states in 2020, and left the contest after a disastrous debate performance against Tulsi Gabbard before any votes were cast. She has never earned a single delegate for the presidential nomination, not this year and not ever. Literally everyone knows that she would not be the nominee if Biden had admitted he was not going to have a second term in time for a real primary; she is barely a fourth-tier candidate, and without any of the distinctions that normally mark a Presidential candidate of any sort.
In 2016 she might have said, 'Well, Trump's not qualified to be President either'; but at this point he actually has been President. Vance, whom she would have debated but for this move, served as a Marine as well as a Senator and authored a book of significant political and minor philosophical importance. Reason just last week published a list of seven major intellectual influences on Vance, both individuals and schools, that he has engaged with at length in reasoned debates on policy and philosophy; I don't think that Harris has a single one. Her influences were the rapper P. Diddy, who gave her a start in California politics by showcasing her around on his arm; she parlayed that into an affair with the mayor of San Francisco (a fact no one denies even mildly) which got her the initial political position as a prosecutor. It was not her affair with a married man but her illegal and immoral behavior in that role, and later as Attorney General of California, that was the subject of Tulsi Gabbard's knockout debate performance against Harris.
Mr. Foster:
I think the standard film people appeal to is A Man for All Seasons. However, if you're going to talk about Westerns, High Noon is in a sense an outlier because it portrays the American people as ultimately cowardly rather than courageous. John Wayne hated it, and with Howard Hawks he made three versions of Rio Bravo to showcase what he thought would happen in that situation instead -- to whit that, given even a few men of courage, the rest would come around from their fear and stand up.
https://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2024/02/el-dorado.html
I discussed Rio Bravo and a 21st century film Open Range in a pair of posts, the latter of which cites the former.
https://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2005/06/john-wayne-early-years-collection.html
https://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2008/07/heros-in-hollywood.html
Open Range is a great example too, though. The evil Boss Spearman has the town cowed, but when even a few men show up who are willing to be courageous, the town finds its courage too.
Thanks much!
her [Harris'] own statement said she planned to 'earn' the nomination
Keep in mind that she said, early in her own primary campaign in the 2020 season, that it was perfectly fine to lie, so long as it was in a debate. And then chuckled about it.
The woman is unable even to spell integrity, much less understand it.
Still, this is the party--not just Harris--that continually bleats about threats to democracy, even as it moves to destroy it.
Eric Hines
@ E. Hines
The leading Democrats believe they are entitled to power, and anything that prevents that is by definition undemocratic. Therefore, when you see the word "democracy" in one of their statements, sub in the phrase "our power" and the statements are at least coherent and consistent, rather than puzzling.
David Foster--I agree completely with Man for All Seasons and Open Range. I'd add Zulu, Master and Commander, To Kill a Mockingbird, Casablanca, True Confessions (De Niro/Duvall), The Winslow Boy, and The Last of the Mohicans (Day-Lewis version).
Glenn Greenwald makes a good point, in view of the mounting uncertainty who really wrote that letter and posted that tweet, and the absence of a photo showing Mr. Biden holding up a current newspaper for the camera, and over who's actually running the country while the president is personally incommunicado but resigning: "If he's well enough to decide, then he's well enough to speak."
Oh, Zulu for sure. I don't always like war movies -- 'too much like work,' I used to joke, but really I don't usually like watching them. Zulu is a great one, though.
Biden has appeared in public again, on the way back to the White House, where he plans to address the nation tomorrow night (Wednesday).
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