Joe from Scranton understands
With his – and/or his speechwriters’ and handlers’ – uncanny knack for understanding the plight of the little guy, Joe Biden tells America, in a voice oozing with compassion and concern:
Indeed, I remember.
Confession: I was one of those 80s parents frantically searching far and wide for Cabbage Patch Kids. I don’t recall the desperate quest being limited to Christmas, either. Parents would follow rumors and get in line, and that’s how we finally procured a rather hideous Cabbage Patch Kid for our son and another for our niece – quite a score, and a largesse they both appreciated.
Needless to say, Biden’s analogy is as absurd and as insultingly tone-deaf as most of what comes out of his mouth, and especially ironic because of the way he always presented himself as a man of the people.
A dear cousin of mine scored a cabbage-patch doll for her youngest. Her youngest is now 41 years old and has three children of her own (and a long commute to work in Manhattan).
You retain your old memories as your most recent ones evaporate. Sundown Joe is regressing to Ashley’s childhood. Ya figure he’ll strip naked like he’s ready for the shower?
Gotta hand it to him, though—he was able to get through 23 seconds without a hiccup. Entirely focused. Perfect execution.
(Must be something about those dolls, I guess…or maybe they upped his meds.)
In any event this gem of a pep-talk will no doubt go down in history as the “Cabbage-Patch Testament”….
(Or maybe the “Anything-Jimmuh-C’n-Do-I-Can-Do-Better” Routine…)
Meanwhile, back in DC, Deplorable News:
“Former spokesperson for Democratic D.C. mayor becomes a Republican because of Biden leadership.
“The former spokesperson for D.C. Democrat Muriel Bowser says he voted for Glenn Youngkin in last months Virginia gubernatorial race”…
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/former-spokesperson-democratic-dc-mayor-becomes-republican-because-biden-leadership
To which one can only add this remarkable encore:
“Biden legal defeats rapidly piling up across the nation on broad array of policy fronts.
“On issues ranging from vaccine mandates to immigration policy and racial preferences, federal courts across the country have repeatedly found the Biden administration to be pushing policies which violate the Constitution.”
https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/bidens-losing-streak-courts-shows-no-signs-ending
Things are looking a bit grim, but the effervescent, if tone-deaf, Hillary doesn’t skip a beat, gushing—right on cue—about “Biden”‘s extraordinary accomplishments(!)…
“Hillary Clinton says ordinary Americans just don’t understand President Biden’s ‘extraordinary accomplishments'”…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10240219/Clinton-Americans-dont-Bidens-extraordinary-accomplishments.html
Yep, it’s all in the timing!
…which absolutely compels one to toss in this miraculous freebee:
“Dying COVID-19 patient recovers after court orders ivermectin treatment”
https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/health/dying-covid-19-patient-recovers-after-court-orders-ivermectin-treatment
(Funny that the judge seems to know more about saving lives that Il Fauci…but there you have it…though if this keeps up, Hillary’ll just have to step in and sing Fauci’s praises, too!)
I watched a little of Biden’s speech this morning a thought he sounded more lucid than usual. My wife commented on this too, wondering if he has a doppelgänger who can read better and sound more alert than he usually is. My theory is that his handlers have discovered some kind of upper they can inject that cuts through the fog.
Whatever the situation, Biden is doing worse than I expected. His policies are failing, the country is more tribal than it has ever been, and the situation at the southern border will have a lasting impact on our demography and our economy. Not to ignore the disaster that our economy has become under his stewardship, all the while Ron Klain tells us that Covid shutdowns are good for the economy. WTF??? What is that guy smoking?
We all hold out hope that there will be a dramatic realignment in next year’s election (November 2022), but those elected won’t take office until January 2023. Can we continue that long?
Meanwhile, we continue to plunge forward into an economy that is no longer petroleum based, and all without any mention of increased nuclear power production. Wait until your neighbors all plug in their electric vehicle at night and your lights dim. Maybe we can call it the Biden Dimming.
From the Daily Mail article that Barry Meislin links to, Hilary states “But because of the way we are getting our information today, and because of the lack of gatekeepers and people who have a historic perspective, who can help us understand what we are seeing…”. Hilary later went on to yell at some kids on her lawn.
Don Surber says the dementia act is a con: https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2021/11/president-oddfather.html?m=1
“ Biden is a con man, which is short for confidence man, an older term for men who hoodwink people in order to steal.
First they gain your confidence by telling you what you want to hear. In this case, we want to hear that Biden is old and decrepit. He plays into that by whispering, and by alluding to people giving him orders. He also is odd and quirky.
But he is large and in charge at the White House. Everyone told him not to abandon Afghanistan, but by golly he did, just to show them who is boss.”
Don Surber says the dementia act is a con:
I think Surber is deeply confused.
Eva Marie:
I agree partly with Surber. Biden has always been a con man. Biden is at least somewhat in charge – something I’ve written many times before. And Biden is substantially challenged cognitively. All of the above.
And from the “Hell-Joe-We-Won’t-Go” files, we have…PUSHBACK!
The usual suspects are pedaling furiously but more and more are no longer buying whatever it is they’re peddling, according to this excellent and important survey of the current situation and where we stand:
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17984/vaccines-and-power
re Joe’s comments, he, like Psaki, talks about the supply chain crisis as if it’s only about toys or treadmills, when the truth is it’s also and moreso about the lack of parts for heaters, raw materials for manufacturing, medicines, food, and other items necessary for living.
These are not serious people.
Joe is a man of the Biden-family-people, for the most part.
And… they put another straw upon the camel’s back.
Once people lose trust, every little deflection, attempt at obfuscation… every little lie digs the hole they’re in a bit deeper.
“Oh what a tangled web we weave/When first we practice to deceive” Sir Walter Scott
The Biden-as-“man of the people”-NOT nonsense aside, were the cabbage patch kids and beanie babies shortages a question of the supply chain, or were they simple matters of supply and demand imbalance — too many consumers “demand”ing what manufacturers weren’t making enough of?
(I am old enough to remember the shortages, but I never gave a hoot. It never affected me. I tended to shield my children from the prevailing culture.)
I am thankful for many things. I suppose one that I should be thankful for is that my daughters predated the marketing ploys that made it imperative to find such items as ‘cabbage patch dolls’. On the other hand, they discovered horses, and that is another story altogether. For a Navy family to move one or two horses across several states, multiple times is, ahem, a testimony to the ingenuity, love (and foolishness) of a father.
I might add that it was also before the days of the internet. I still don’t know how it was managed. (The story of the night the horses were boarded in a live stock barn with hundreds of young cattle, undoubtedly separated from Mother for the first time, and bawling through the night, is part of family lore. Those horses practically jumped into the trailer the next morning.)
@ Steph > “These are not serious people.”
On the contrary, they are very serious.
But they don’t take us seriously.
Why should they, when the GOP unilaterally disarms itself in nearly every political controversy?
Doc Zero, aka john Hayward
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1465684912711811073.html
I don’t think he is advocating jettisoning the Constitution, because that’s not how he rolls, but perhaps is suggesting that allowing the left to treat every moral issue as one of penumbras and emanations (“quibbling”) is not an effective strategy, especially when the Constitution is actually silent on the question.
So, “Brandon” tells us a cute anecdote. That was perhaps Joe at his best from many years ago.
But, as Neo says it shows how insultingly tone-deaf he is. Sure, there have been the media-hyped “get it before it is sold out” holiday gifts in the past. But, this supply chain problem is not about a kid’s toy – it is about real items that people need.
My work laptop is about to give out. But, to order a new replacement will take too long; so, they have ordered a refurbished one – and that is still taking a few weeks.
My neighbor’s car just died – and the replacement part is on back order for 2 weeks. How on earth is she supposed to get to work with no working car?
Those are just a couple of anecdotes which, I believe, show a more accurate story. There are supply chain problems while all our “leaders” want to do is scream “Get the Shot!” They are now running TV spots in New York telling New Yorkers to make sure their kids get vaccinated so they don’t miss out on being with their friends. New York City is about to (or already has) made it the law that without vaccination school kids cannot join sports, school clubs, etc. – really making the unvaccinated outcasts.
And good ol’ Joe wants to tell a story about kids’ toys! That is absurd and insultingly tone-deaf.
Demented or con man – they look the same from this side of the line.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1466400492553134086.html
In some ways they have boxed themselves in: they need a low number of cases to boost his polling, but they need a high number to keep the authoritarian con game going.
What to do, what to do.
AesopFan, nice link from Doc Zero.
————————————————
Re Cabbage Patch Kids — Robert Cialdini in his book Persuasion said a friend in the toy business told him this was a standard scam. It goes like this: a toy is heavily marketed before Christmas, so every kid wants one and many parents promise to buy it. Next, there is an intentional short supply of the toy, parents hunt for it in vain, and end up buying a a different gift in its place. Then, in January the toy becomes available, the child still wants it, and the parents buy it to keep their promise, so the manufacturer now has two sales instead of one.
“That is absurd…”
Well, OK; though some would use a different word….
Speaking of which, here’s a kinda clever encore:
https://nypost.com/2021/12/02/team-biden-you-cant-blame-looting-gangs-on-covid-and-trump/
Just another of many encores to come featuring, in various formats and disguises, “Biden”‘s unstinting efforts to present an intentionally planned and orchestrated series of train wrecks as cutting-edge performance art.
a toy is heavily marketed before Christmas, so every kid wants one
You’ve stolen a base there.
My daughter was three and we were living in Greece, when I was leafing through the Sears catalogue, looking for a doll for her. I saw the Cabbage Patch dolls, thought they looked cute – and ordered one. I didn’t know anything about them otherwise, and being overseas without a TV or much in the way of American media save that broadcast on AFRTS, was blissfully unaware of any hype about them. Just thought they looked like a cute, soft-bodied doll. Turned out they were unavailable that first year, but I got one the following year, when the craze-induced shortage had passed.
Those inbound freight containers don’t just contain consumer goods; many of them include components destined for assembly in American factories and parts for maintenance & repair of already-deployed products. My Chicago Boyz colleague Dan, who is in the HVAC distribution business, expects a big problem this winter, with repair of new heating systems and repair of existing ones. Some people are going to get awfully cold.
Brandon, as a lifelong consumer but never a producer, doesn’t understand such matters.
Brandon, as a lifelong consumer but never a producer, doesn’t understand such matters.
He doesn’t understand much of anything anymore.
You’ll notice that of the nine people in charge of the minority and majority caucuses in each chamber, none admit to any history of being employed in business. (Steve Scalise’s capsule biographies do not indicate where he worked prior to age 31). Charles Schumer has held elective offices since age 25. Kevin McCarthy has been on the staff or an elected member of legislative bodies since age 22. Bitc* McConnell for a decade bounced between legislative staff, private law firms, and government lawyer positions before being elected to public office, where he has been for 44 years. Richard Durbin hasn’t practiced law in 39 years and had contract and salaried work courtesy the Illinois legislature from the time he was admitted to the bar in 1969. Nancy Pelosi taught school briefly, but otherwise has never had paid employment that wasn’t secured through the political networks she joined. James Clyburn was a government schoolteacher for about six years, a state patronage employee for 20 years, then an elected official; he’s been collecting government salaries since 1965. Steny Hoyer (b. 1939) has held elected office since 1962 and hasn’t practiced law at all since 1981. John Cornyn left private practice in 1984 for a position on the bench; he was 32 years old at the time. Public employment per se is not such a problem, just cannot help but notice that none of these people are naval officers or civil engineers, or accountants.
back when cabbage patch kids were new, an urban hospital (chicago i think) made up some birth certificates for a bunch of dolls, then gave them to poor kids as a surprise gift. well they used real birth certificate forms (“how cute”) and the moms took them down and signed them up for welfare benefits 😛
Although my wife and I were generous with time and attention to our kids, we did not believe in spoiling them with material things. Books, yes. Useful, helpful toys (things that promoted mental or physical development) sure. But frivolous things, no*. I recall a few times at cocktail parties with other parents of small children where a parent would talk about how much they struggled with saying, “no” to their children. When asked I would usually laugh. I honestly didn’t even understand what they were talking about. My wife and I had no problem saying “no” to our kids. Kids often want dumb things. I actually enjoyed saying “no” to my kids in most situations when it came up. It was an educational opportunity.
We did not have a video game console and our kids knew the wife and I were not fans. Hours of kids standing in front of a television screen numbly, robotically clicking buttons… There was much fanfare when Nintendo announced their new console, the Wii, in November of 2006. Our kids were drawn in by the marketing, and fascinated, but none bothered to ask for the console for Christmas. They knew how mom and dad felt about computer game consoles, they also knew the Wii was nearly impossible to obtain and every Christmas they had seen their father laughing at news stories of parents waiting in long lines for hard to get toys.
Well, the lovely Mrs. Firefly took a longer look at the Wii and determined it was actually quite interactive, social and physical and asked my opinion. I did some research and agreed. Mrs. Firefly is an excellent shopper. She loves the search, the hunt, haggling over price… She learned that a store in our Mall was going to get some Wiis (it’s been awhile, but I think it was about 100) and she did some reconnaissance at the store, ingratiating herself with an employee to learn the inside information on how they would manage the line, etc. The units would go on sale just after the stroke of midnight.
So, on the appointed day I awoke early and went to the store. I got there around 6am and was maybe the tenth person in line. It was cold so I had several layers of clothes, a pillow, some good books… When our kids awoke and I wasn’t home my wife told them I had gotten called into work to deal with an emergency. Early in the afternoon the Mall announced that it was going to allow people to wait in line inside the Mall for this special event, so that made the wait more comfortable. Turned out to be rather fun. I got to know some of the people in line. My wife brought me lunch and dinner. It was an impromptu party of sorts. Of course the local news came. I made a point the next day to comment to my kids on the news item in the next day’s paper and the line of foolish parents succumbing to sensationalist marketing.
Our kids were completely surprised! Awestruck! It was probably their most favorite Christmas. Although they were very enamored of the idea of the Wii they never even thought of asking for one, and they never imagined their parents would go to that much trouble to obtain the year’s “unobtainable gift.” (And, my wife enjoyed locating the item and figuring out how to “game” the system to get in line and I had fun waiting with others in the line.)
*I did my best to keep my kids away from electronic toys until they were at least 5 (a hard thing to do in modern society). Not because I have anything against electronics. There are a lot of wonderful electronic toys on the market. It was due to how children’s brains form and cause and effect. Even if one of my kids didn’t want to disassemble his or her toy train or doll to see how the wheels turned or arms rotated, because they were physical, tangible, mechanical things the path was there. When you press a button and circuitry hidden deep inside a toy runs through millions of lines of computer code to produce a result there is minimal opportunity to learn. Not only that, it’s impossible to learn how the button push results in the outcome. One would have to see a circuit diagram and the actual computer code. I didn’t want to stifle the natural curiosity all children come into the world with.
Art Deco,
I think it would help immensely if more STEM folks were in the Senate and House, but that seems rare. For some reason we get the occasional medical doctor, but I can’t recall any Engineers or Scientists.
It’s the “Legislative” branch, so it’s natural there would be a high percentage of attorneys, but I’d like to see more people who are used to managing large scale, tangible projects to strict budgets and timelines. Also people from more “literal” fields, like STEM. The law is all about gray areas and margins, rather than absolutes.
ken bonsen,
From the L.A. Times:
It was a 10% drop!
david foster,
No question this is a goal of the “great reset” or “build back better” or whatever the globalists are calling it.
A responsive, high demand society requires a lot of resources and energy. An Amazon truck making deliveries through your neighborhood is “better” for the environment than you and all your neighbors driving your own cars to independent stores. Fewer vehicles means fewer parts means fewer factories. Smaller dwellings mean less consumption.
Getting people used to things not being immediately available, to less selection, fewer options… has long been a goal of radicals in the green movement. It’s also been a goal of the Marxists. It’s also been a goal of those in favor of command and control.
It is truly astounding how many of the results of the COVID pandemic align with the goals of those movements.
Regarding Biden’s mental acuity, I think there is a lot of exaggeration among the opposition. I think he is generally in command (as much as a middling, corrupt, egoist like Joe Biden has ever been in command). However, there is no question his mental capacity is diminished and he sometimes gets confused. Whether it’s simply age, or the onset of something more progressive… I won’t hazard a guess.
However, I am glad the exaggeration is there. American Presidents should be mocked. They should be closely scrutinized. They should face pressure, especially derision. It bothered me greatly the long held American tradition of making jokes about the President was suspended for eight years under President Barack Obama. The President of the United States is, above all, a U.S. citizen like every other woman and man in this nation. No more. No less. Undue reverence of a leader is a slippery slope that often leads to tyranny.
So lot the Biden is senile memes continue and thrive!