Yeah, Linda, I think that was definitely a well placed foil for the courage and grit Joe Biden has shown in standing with our Allie’s against dictators.
I love all this information so much but I cannot for the life of me, figure out how to share Pres. Biden’s commercials to instagram. I can share the link, but not the video. Hoping someone with better tech skills can help :)
Biden more than anyone in my 60 years paying attention to politics seems like a Happy Warrior and I call him that sometimes on FB and X. Should do so more but keep forgetting. Al Smith and Biden both Catholic but that's probably not the reason.
Love the Shaw comment - may we all be able to carry the torch forward through Joe Biden’s re-election and onward until, finally. Trump-style politics is banished from the Republican party or until a new party, free from Authoritarianism, rises up to take its place and resume the ordinary dialogue and debate that prevailed between the two parties in this country for so long with such success.
Thanks Simon. The commercial for Biden is the best one I’ve seen and every word of it is true. But what moved me was the passage from George Bernard Shaw. The philosophy of life he expressed is what I feel most days. (we all have bad days from time to time) It’s a philosophy my mother and father believed in, they just didn’t express it so eloquently.
My grandfather(my mother’s father) was a firefighter & fire Chief in Phoenix during the depression and pretty much always got paid. My mother told me whenever they left the house as a family they left the door unlocked and left food out on the table for anyone who was hungry to help
themselves.
My father was born to a single mother who was abandoned by her family and left on her own living
in abject poverty through the depression and then dying when she was in her twenties.
Dad worked his way through college after serving in
WW II. (He said that after joining the army he finally had enough food to eat) He became a school principal, a job he held for 16 years. He eventually bought a property that had a few shops on it in a poor part of Phoenix that even the police avoided.
He never made the shop owners sign a lease because he wanted to give them a chance to be successful without having a lease hanging over their heads. He also gave them extra time to pay the rent if business had been slow. The money he made from his renters was put back into the property to improve it.
My mother and father met in high school and married when my mother was 19 and Dad was 21.
They were married for 60 years until Dad passed away. Nobody is perfect, but they were wonderful role models.
I certainly agree about the value of experience, especially in a job that's so far-reaching and a job that requires emotional intelligence and muscle memory--intangibles you can only acquire through experience. That said, media aside, there is legitimate concern about the fitness of someone 86 years old for such a demanding life. Biden may be sharp now, but we've all seen what can happen when that "sharp as a tack" 80-year-old relative turns 85. I think the consensus among D's is something along the lines of, yes, Biden's old--but a greater danger is Dems in Disarray come 2024. We need to be united to defeat fascism. And I really want to see the WH making liberal use of the Administration's top communicators in the campaign. I am encouraged by the Comms work being done!
You are so right, Betsey! We need to be united in 2024.
One small point though. You say there is legitimate concern about the fitness of someone 86 years old for the demands of being President. But Joe Biden will not be 86 until after his successor has already been elected. He will still be 81 on election day 2024.
Also, here's a birthday comparison we all might find useful when considering Mr, Biden's age:
With respect, if the Democratic Party really feels that democracy is at stake, then compromising with the left would be an option. Instead, Biden shut down the railway workers strike. It seems every Presidential election, the Democratic Party plays brinksmanship with the Left: 2016 (abortion rights); 2020 (Trump is fascist). If they really believed what they are saying, then Medicare for All would be on the table. Instead, we have threats of disaster if we don't fall into line. We're just letting you know that won't be enough this time.
Also with respect, Christine , compromising and reaching agreement is Joe Biden's specialty. It sounds more like your presenting an ultimatum not an offer of compromise. If you're being honest, you'd have to recognize that President Biden has implemented more progressive policies than any of his predecessors.
With regard to the railway workers strike, the President did not "shut down" the strike, he worked with all parties to avoid a strike. A nation-wide railway strike is a national emergency. That's why Congress has the power to impose a settlement, and why it's crucial that they do so. (The President can not act unilaterally, but only signs the legislation.)
President Biden's team was involved in negotiations for months before the settlement and has continued to work with all parties involved since then. Long after the media stopped paying attention, an agreement for 7 days paid sick leave was reached.
The IBEW (electrical workers union) railroad director said. “Without making a big show of it, Joe Biden and members of his administration in the Transportation and Labor departments have been working continuously to get guaranteed paid sick days for all railroad workers." A week or so after that, the BLET (Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen) announced an agreement with Union Pacific RR to modify rest/work schedules.
BTW, Medicare for All is on the table, and Mr. Biden would support it if it were even marginally possible that there'd be enough votes to pass. But there simply aren't.
The neo-liberal drumbeat of "you have to support the Democratic candidate OR ELSE" is louder every day. But no meaningful progressive reforms are in place. Children are still being kept in cages at the border, Flint still doesn't have clean water, the sick in Palestine from the train accident are now ignored, payments that drastically reduced child poverty in the America Rescue Plan are gone, and nothing has been done to stabilize housing costs.
"As a proud pro-labor President, I am reluctant to override the ratification procedures and the views of those who voted against the agreement," he said in a statement. "But in this case – where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families – I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal."
Biden further said, “Because the new contract covers a five-year period dating back to 2020, workers will see an average payout of $16,000 in back raises and bonuses within about 60 days, according to the Association of American Railroads. The trade group also says by the end of the contract, total average annual pay and benefits will reach $160,000 a year.” (NPR, Andrea Hsu, 12/2/22)
If you think President Biden sold out railroad workers, wait until you see what Trump does with
a railway worker strike. At least Biden recognized
the compromise was inadequate and said so. Do
you seriously think Trump, or any republican would’ve made a better deal? They wouldn’t have
because as they’ve shown us repeatedly workers don’t matter to them.
For example during the pandemic, while Trump
was still president, he and republicans gave cash
to industries and big business, not families who didn’t have enough to eat. But President Biden
came up with a plan that helped families: $1,400
cash direct deposited to individual bank accounts,
a child tax credit larger than any previous child
tax credits, and it was distributed every month, instead of yearly. Biden established a moratorium
on mortgage & rent payments so families weren’t kicked out of their homes.
Furthermore, Biden established pre-apprenticeships
programs via the American Rescue Plan legislation.
The American Rescue Plan contained significant investments in public health and the care economy that will help provide better pay and career opportunities for care workers and make it easier for workers with child and elder care responsibilities to join and stay in the workforce. The Am.Rescue Plan
also provided pathways into the workforce for
homeless people & people with disabilities.
Do you honestly believe Trump or ANY republican
would have created any similar programs for families? I don’t. Look, Medicare For All wasn’t
going to get anywhere in the middle of the pandemic
or even afterwards. But President Biden did
provide extra subsidies of government money for
the Affordable Care Program. Do you recall during the Trump administration when republicans tried
to get rid of Affordable Care? It was John McCain’s vote that saved it.
As you can read for yourself in the above Biden quotes, he had bigger economic problems to
deal with than railroad workers and rightly so.
Our economy was in shambles due to the
pandemic. Businesses were shut down, millions
of workers had lost their jobs and no one knew
when it would end.
Then Putin invaded Ukraine and gasoline went sky high which created high inflation Pres. Biden had
to deal with. Keep in mind the U.S. economy was
the first to come back from the pandemic. That’s
not nothing! It’s a testament to how Biden handled
it. Railroad workers were a casualty of all of the
economic problems at the time and President
Biden verbally acknowledged it. He said, “the economic impact of a [railroad] shutdown would
hurt millions of other working people and families.”
The truth is, no republican president would have worked nearly as hard as President Biden did to
help families out in a fractured economy. Think about the big picture of all that was going on back then and think long and hard about it before voting.
It’s not a threat. It’s factual info you can look up for yourself to determine if you and the country would be better off with a republican president or Biden.
The fact that you insist on calling factual info a threat tells me you’re a republican here to troll Dems
You have only to look at the over 200 articles I have written on this platform to know that is not true. But a slogan of "the other guys are worse" isn't going to motivate younger voters or the left.
You’ve voiced, with poignant words, my feelings about President Biden and his excellent leadership. Thank you. It’s reassuring and reinforcing to read your post.
Nice pic of Putz-in quaffing champagne and surrounded by gilt and velvet--just like a Russian Tsar, dontcha think?
Yeah, Linda, I think that was definitely a well placed foil for the courage and grit Joe Biden has shown in standing with our Allie’s against dictators.
Did you mean formally young as it is written, or formerly young?
Good catch. Fixed it on line. Thank you!
Thank you! Very good article.
I love all this information so much but I cannot for the life of me, figure out how to share Pres. Biden’s commercials to instagram. I can share the link, but not the video. Hoping someone with better tech skills can help :)
It looks like you would need to have permission to download and repost the video. https://clipchamp.com/en/blog/how-to-post-youtube-video-instagram/#how-to-post-a-youtube-video-on-instagram-as-a-video-post-and-reel
It looks like the Biden team’s already posted it, though. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cw5hxbbO3hP/
Much to my frustration, Instagram doesn’t have a good way to share YouTube videos
Wow, another uplifting, encouraging, and powerful ad. Thank you for sharing and for the reminder of the assets age brings.
Biden more than anyone in my 60 years paying attention to politics seems like a Happy Warrior and I call him that sometimes on FB and X. Should do so more but keep forgetting. Al Smith and Biden both Catholic but that's probably not the reason.
Uplifting, inspiring, motivating! Thank you Simon.
Love the Shaw comment - may we all be able to carry the torch forward through Joe Biden’s re-election and onward until, finally. Trump-style politics is banished from the Republican party or until a new party, free from Authoritarianism, rises up to take its place and resume the ordinary dialogue and debate that prevailed between the two parties in this country for so long with such success.
That is the best ad yet
Great ad!
Thanks Simon. The commercial for Biden is the best one I’ve seen and every word of it is true. But what moved me was the passage from George Bernard Shaw. The philosophy of life he expressed is what I feel most days. (we all have bad days from time to time) It’s a philosophy my mother and father believed in, they just didn’t express it so eloquently.
My grandfather(my mother’s father) was a firefighter & fire Chief in Phoenix during the depression and pretty much always got paid. My mother told me whenever they left the house as a family they left the door unlocked and left food out on the table for anyone who was hungry to help
themselves.
My father was born to a single mother who was abandoned by her family and left on her own living
in abject poverty through the depression and then dying when she was in her twenties.
Dad worked his way through college after serving in
WW II. (He said that after joining the army he finally had enough food to eat) He became a school principal, a job he held for 16 years. He eventually bought a property that had a few shops on it in a poor part of Phoenix that even the police avoided.
He never made the shop owners sign a lease because he wanted to give them a chance to be successful without having a lease hanging over their heads. He also gave them extra time to pay the rent if business had been slow. The money he made from his renters was put back into the property to improve it.
My mother and father met in high school and married when my mother was 19 and Dad was 21.
They were married for 60 years until Dad passed away. Nobody is perfect, but they were wonderful role models.
Shaw Quote: My sentiment exactly. Keeps me going even at my age in these stressful times!
I certainly agree about the value of experience, especially in a job that's so far-reaching and a job that requires emotional intelligence and muscle memory--intangibles you can only acquire through experience. That said, media aside, there is legitimate concern about the fitness of someone 86 years old for such a demanding life. Biden may be sharp now, but we've all seen what can happen when that "sharp as a tack" 80-year-old relative turns 85. I think the consensus among D's is something along the lines of, yes, Biden's old--but a greater danger is Dems in Disarray come 2024. We need to be united to defeat fascism. And I really want to see the WH making liberal use of the Administration's top communicators in the campaign. I am encouraged by the Comms work being done!
You are so right, Betsey! We need to be united in 2024.
One small point though. You say there is legitimate concern about the fitness of someone 86 years old for the demands of being President. But Joe Biden will not be 86 until after his successor has already been elected. He will still be 81 on election day 2024.
Also, here's a birthday comparison we all might find useful when considering Mr, Biden's age:
June 22, 1933 - Dianne Feinstein
September 17, 1933 - Chuck Grassley
December 21, 1937 - Jane Fonda
March 26, 1940 - Nancy Pelosi
September 8, 1941 - Bernie Sanders
February 20, 1942 - Mitch McConnell
June 18, 1942 - Paul McCartney
November 20, 1942 - Joe Biden -
July 4, 1943 - Geraldo Rivera
July 16, 1943 - Mick Jagger
March 31, 1944 - Angus King
November 21, 1944 - Dick Durbin
.
With respect, if the Democratic Party really feels that democracy is at stake, then compromising with the left would be an option. Instead, Biden shut down the railway workers strike. It seems every Presidential election, the Democratic Party plays brinksmanship with the Left: 2016 (abortion rights); 2020 (Trump is fascist). If they really believed what they are saying, then Medicare for All would be on the table. Instead, we have threats of disaster if we don't fall into line. We're just letting you know that won't be enough this time.
Christine, what does this mean?
We're just letting you know that won't be enough this time.
We aren't voting for Biden this time unless mainstream Democrats start compromising with us.
Whose "we"?
The ones likely to vote for Cornel West in the Left.
Also with respect, Christine , compromising and reaching agreement is Joe Biden's specialty. It sounds more like your presenting an ultimatum not an offer of compromise. If you're being honest, you'd have to recognize that President Biden has implemented more progressive policies than any of his predecessors.
With regard to the railway workers strike, the President did not "shut down" the strike, he worked with all parties to avoid a strike. A nation-wide railway strike is a national emergency. That's why Congress has the power to impose a settlement, and why it's crucial that they do so. (The President can not act unilaterally, but only signs the legislation.)
President Biden's team was involved in negotiations for months before the settlement and has continued to work with all parties involved since then. Long after the media stopped paying attention, an agreement for 7 days paid sick leave was reached.
The IBEW (electrical workers union) railroad director said. “Without making a big show of it, Joe Biden and members of his administration in the Transportation and Labor departments have been working continuously to get guaranteed paid sick days for all railroad workers." A week or so after that, the BLET (Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen) announced an agreement with Union Pacific RR to modify rest/work schedules.
BTW, Medicare for All is on the table, and Mr. Biden would support it if it were even marginally possible that there'd be enough votes to pass. But there simply aren't.
.
The neo-liberal drumbeat of "you have to support the Democratic candidate OR ELSE" is louder every day. But no meaningful progressive reforms are in place. Children are still being kept in cages at the border, Flint still doesn't have clean water, the sick in Palestine from the train accident are now ignored, payments that drastically reduced child poverty in the America Rescue Plan are gone, and nothing has been done to stabilize housing costs.
"As a proud pro-labor President, I am reluctant to override the ratification procedures and the views of those who voted against the agreement," he said in a statement. "But in this case – where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families – I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal."
Biden further said, “Because the new contract covers a five-year period dating back to 2020, workers will see an average payout of $16,000 in back raises and bonuses within about 60 days, according to the Association of American Railroads. The trade group also says by the end of the contract, total average annual pay and benefits will reach $160,000 a year.” (NPR, Andrea Hsu, 12/2/22)
If you think President Biden sold out railroad workers, wait until you see what Trump does with
a railway worker strike. At least Biden recognized
the compromise was inadequate and said so. Do
you seriously think Trump, or any republican would’ve made a better deal? They wouldn’t have
because as they’ve shown us repeatedly workers don’t matter to them.
For example during the pandemic, while Trump
was still president, he and republicans gave cash
to industries and big business, not families who didn’t have enough to eat. But President Biden
came up with a plan that helped families: $1,400
cash direct deposited to individual bank accounts,
a child tax credit larger than any previous child
tax credits, and it was distributed every month, instead of yearly. Biden established a moratorium
on mortgage & rent payments so families weren’t kicked out of their homes.
Furthermore, Biden established pre-apprenticeships
programs via the American Rescue Plan legislation.
The American Rescue Plan contained significant investments in public health and the care economy that will help provide better pay and career opportunities for care workers and make it easier for workers with child and elder care responsibilities to join and stay in the workforce. The Am.Rescue Plan
also provided pathways into the workforce for
homeless people & people with disabilities.
Do you honestly believe Trump or ANY republican
would have created any similar programs for families? I don’t. Look, Medicare For All wasn’t
going to get anywhere in the middle of the pandemic
or even afterwards. But President Biden did
provide extra subsidies of government money for
the Affordable Care Program. Do you recall during the Trump administration when republicans tried
to get rid of Affordable Care? It was John McCain’s vote that saved it.
As you can read for yourself in the above Biden quotes, he had bigger economic problems to
deal with than railroad workers and rightly so.
Our economy was in shambles due to the
pandemic. Businesses were shut down, millions
of workers had lost their jobs and no one knew
when it would end.
Then Putin invaded Ukraine and gasoline went sky high which created high inflation Pres. Biden had
to deal with. Keep in mind the U.S. economy was
the first to come back from the pandemic. That’s
not nothing! It’s a testament to how Biden handled
it. Railroad workers were a casualty of all of the
economic problems at the time and President
Biden verbally acknowledged it. He said, “the economic impact of a [railroad] shutdown would
hurt millions of other working people and families.”
The truth is, no republican president would have worked nearly as hard as President Biden did to
help families out in a fractured economy. Think about the big picture of all that was going on back then and think long and hard about it before voting.
Again, the threat of Republicanism if we don't play along.
It’s not a threat. It’s factual info you can look up for yourself to determine if you and the country would be better off with a republican president or Biden.
The fact that you insist on calling factual info a threat tells me you’re a republican here to troll Dems
and checking out how we respond.
You have only to look at the over 200 articles I have written on this platform to know that is not true. But a slogan of "the other guys are worse" isn't going to motivate younger voters or the left.
Age brings wisdom to some, not all. Joe Biden is wise enough to know not to color his hair or wear orange makeup to hide reality. That's Wisdom.
You’ve voiced, with poignant words, my feelings about President Biden and his excellent leadership. Thank you. It’s reassuring and reinforcing to read your post.
Please consider nominating Joe Biden for the JFK Library's Profile in Courage award for his trip to Ukraine. It only takes a couple of minutes.
https://www.jfklibrary.org/events-and-awards/profile-in-courage-award/submit-a-nomination