One of the Biden White House’s greatest achievements, from the perspective of its staffers, if not necessarily the country, has been to deny the press the kind of juicy leaks that were constant under Donald Trump and frequent under his predecessors. Save for a very narrow period of time, that is, when there was a push to force an aging president toward the exits: Then and only then we got a drip-drip-drip of fascinating inside information.

For instance, we learned that Biden hadn’t held a full cabinet meeting since last October and that his handlers expected scripted questions from his cabinet officials. We learned that his capacities peak between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. and diminish outside that six-hour window. We learned that congressional Democrats, liberal donors and some journalists all had exposure to Biden’s decline that they didn’t discuss publicly until the debacle of the June debate. We learned that none other than Hunter Biden was acting as a close adviser to his father in the crucial days after that debate.

We even learned that from early in his presidency, the first lady’s closest aides worked to shield her husband from the staff that serves the first family in its living quarters, even as the aides themselves were given unusual access to the residence — as though it were essential to create a cocoon of loyalty and silence around the nation’s chief executive even when he isn’t on the job.

These are all interesting and pertinent facts about the man who officially leads the United States in a time of global danger — and they have not ceased to be pertinent because that president is no longer running for re-election.

(…)

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/10/opinion/joe-biden-president.html?unlocked_article_code=1.CE4.0hyL.9CNFJAmhWmk2&smid=url-share

https://archive.is/u2JyP

  • mad_asshatter@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Are you new here?

    Lemmy dogpiles by default. It’s worse than reddit, by far.

    That would make your definition of cult apply to every single person with a pulse.

    The most eloquent post ever written would get dogpiled if its first vote was down because the floodgates have been opened.

    It could also be that the opinion piece is devoid of a single citation!

    You claim it’s ‘on the record’! I found an Axios ‘report’, also devoid of ‘sources’.

    Perhaps you can provide a citation!

    eta - is it irony that my reply is immediately downvoted? I wonder who, since a downvote symptomizes a cult…?

    • 14th_cylon@lemm.eeOP
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      3 months ago

      You claim it’s ‘on the record’! I found an Axios ‘report’, also devoid of ‘sources’.

      when i said on record, i meant the first debate, where his condition came out.

      you can imagine that getting direct quotes with names from these events is not easy for obvious reasons.

      that doesn’t change the big picture - that people around him worked hard to hide his condition from the public and just the fact he dropped out of the race should not be the end of the story.

      That would make your definition of cult apply to every single person with a pulse.

      there was article about harris not having much about her policy out yesterday and the downvote brigade was similarly angry.

      it is not about first vote, it is the sad state of affairs that people just assume only two extreme positions of opposite sides of the scale are possibly and nothing in between.

      people are not only unable to read text about the position of the other side, they throw a tantrum when that text aligns with their own position only from ninety percent, not one hundred.

      it is possible not want the other side and still ask questions about your own. it is in fact how it should be, otherwise… you are in a cult 🤷‍♂️

      • mad_asshatter@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        To be honest, all I really got from the debate was that Trump said the Dems were doing abortions after birth, and that was the mildest of the dozens of lies he told at that single debate.

        Not a single challenge by moderators or media, never mind that vessel called President.

        But Biden had a raspy voice!

        You know that 90 minute campaign speech broadcast for free last week? How could you possibly cringe that and not think Trump’s condition is at least on par with my cult leader?

        Sorry, got sidetracked. Guess how many lies in that 90 minutes!

        162!!

        Anyway, if you believe I’ve just deflected, it’s actually just some Tai Chi.

        Obsessing over Biden is the actual deflection, since it’s moot.

        • 14th_cylon@lemm.eeOP
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          3 months ago

          Obsessing over Biden is the actual deflection, since it’s moot.

          asking whether an office of the president is actually ran by group of non-elected advisors is valid question.

          trump’s lies have nothing to do with that, that is just a deflection. i am glad you at least realize that.

            • 14th_cylon@lemm.eeOP
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              3 months ago

              Keep cherry-picking

              is that a complain that your whataboutism did not work?

              • mad_asshatter@lemmy.world
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                3 months ago

                No.

                I elaborated my position.
                You ducked every question, cherry-picked, then carried on with your fiction.

                How’s about responding to a SINGLE one of my FACTS, since all I’ve done so far is entertain your proven fantasies?