* How Dense are the Self-Defeating, Biden-Denying, Democrats?

Why aren't Democrats Promoting the 'Biden Team' Accomplishments, instead of Undermining the Top of their Ticket?

Updated July 19, 2024 vs 7.18.24 / National Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz.

Democratic Leadership Deeply Disappoints - Schumer & Jeffries et al

I am very disappointed in the behavior of the Democratic Leadership, including U.S. Senate Majority Leader (D-NY) Chuck Schumer, U.S. Congressional Minority Leader (D-NY) Hakeem Jeffries, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) for making public their calling for Biden to step down, right in the middle of the presidential race.  Note that these Democrats are - like the corporate mass media - urban and bicoastal - not from the Midwest / heartland / swing states.

A day after first posting this, a friend sent along a political cartoon published in The Week [shown at right]. It seems to capture the sentiment expressed above pretty well and shows all of the above named Democrats seated in the train, mentioned in order, from right to left.

Lincoln Said "It's Foolish to Change Horses in the Middle of a Race"

There's an old adage that goes something like this, "never change horses in the middle of the race".  That quote is attributed to President Abraham Lincoln, who is said to have used it to persuade voters to re-elect him, rationalizing that, "... it would be foolish to change leaders in such a turbulent time ...". It seems the same wise advice has some relevance to today.

Since both Biden and Trump became their parties' presumptive presidential nominees on 'Super' Tuesday, March 12, 2024, the presidential race began that day.  And since election day is approximately eight months later, on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, we have already passed the midway mark for this presidential race, which ends only three and a half months from now.

• CLICK here to read the rest of our report on How Dense are the Self-Defeating, Biden-Denying Democrats.

* How Dense are the Self-Defeating, Biden-Denying, Democrats?

Why aren't Democrats Promoting the 'Biden Team' Accomplishments, instead of Undermining the Top of their Ticket?

Updated July 19, 2024 vs 7.18.24 / National Politics / News Analysis & Opinion / Gotham Buzz. Continued.

The Same Urban, Bicoastal Corporate Mass Media and Democrats, who Pushed Hillary Clinton's Candidacy in 2016, are in the Midst of a Media-Ignited & Media-Prolonged Coup d'etat, over One Flubbed Debate by a Candidate Known for Flubbing Debates his Entire Life because of his Speech Impediment

The CNN debate was an ambush attack and hatchet job on Biden.  Scroll down to our June 27th, 2024 report for details. 

That debate, with significantly changed rules [no fact checking and bumbling moderators], is what started all the brouhaha about Biden stepping down. 

The new CNN CEO, Mark Thompson, is British - not American - and he's the one who pushed the format of no live fact checking on a show billed as news, that was put in front of an audience of 51 million.  And since the debate CNN has been bending over backwards fact checking Biden - seeming to do even more so than Trump.

The CNN hosted debate was a Jerry Springer style ratings revenue grab - that ignored the collateral damage to our democracy.  It was a Rupert Murdoch [Fox News & NY Post] propaganda 'news' style presidential debate, where truth didn't matter - only money. And it ended 64 plus years of live fact checking during American presidential TV debates. Personally, I don't think TV debates add anything of value anymore. They've become a distracting sensation. And as Donald Trump proved during the Republican primaries by boycotting them, they're not necessary to win.

Thompson was also formerly the CEO at the NYT.  Unfortunately, after the controversy over this incredible journalistic failure came to light, some of his former staff at his previous company [the NYT] came to his aid. Thus, 30 Trump lies were broadcast to 51 million viewers, without CNN making any corrections, and in part aided and abetted by the NYT, which has been trying to hype Biden's age with negative stories all year long.

After CNN failed to convince anyone, that letting lies go unchecked in a live nationally televised presidential debate, they then made a concerted effort to change the conversation. The new conversation was to focus the debate failure on President Biden, for CNN's failure to fact check, by calling on Biden to step down for a bad debate night.

CNN CEO Thompson & Nancy Pelosi Political Machinations?

Then Mark Thompson's CNN and Mark Thompson's allies at the NYT began trolling the universe to find ANY DEMOCRAT who would go on record to ask President Biden to step aside.  In the three weeks since the debate, they found one senator, and 20 congresspeople who qualified for that slice of CNN and NYT media attention. 

From afar, it looks as though Nancy Pelosi is involved in orchestrating the effort to oust Biden, possibly because she wants to see a woman become president before she retires, so she can lay a partial claim to making that happen. I believe Pelosi was instrumental in having the Democratic party choose Hillary Clinton as their candidate in 2016, too. The problem is that Nancy Pelosi's favored choices for the first female president, don't fit with swing state voters preferences for the first female president, as was proven in 2016. This is a fact that neither Pelosi, nor her urban, bicoastal, corporate, media TV allies appear to appreciate.

Beware Corporate & Billionaire Mass Media Manipulations for More TV $$$

But that doesn't really change anything, because that's not how it works. Maybe the new British CNN CEO doesn't know that. Maybe he thinks that the U.S. functions like Britain. In Britain, Rupert Murdoch's mass media manipulate and push the British pols and people around like children.

Tens of millions of American primary voters have already elected Biden as the Democratic nominee.  According to the laws and rules, only Joe Biden can decide whether to step down or not.  The urban, bicoastal, corporate, mass media who - as in 2016 - seem so out-of-touch with the heartland, as do the pliant politicians who suckle to them. To be sure, they're very influential - but they are not empowered ignore the will of the voters and arbitrarily select a new Democratic nominee. 

Sadly, their efforts to do so, are not only very divisive and embarassing for the Democratic Party, but they are making it increasingly difficult for any Democrat at the top of the ticket [and beyond] to win. But it's possible that that's what the corporate mass media really wants - to undermine Biden's and the Democrats' re-election bid - so that the former shock jock president is returned to office because his theatrics were good for TV ratings, revenue and profit. It's worth mentioning that several national corporate mass media entities have changed ownership since the last election, primarily ending up in the hands of billionaires and private investment firms. To them it seems that money isn't everything, it's the only thing.

Why Keeping Biden as the Democratic Nominee Makes the Most Sense

• Biden's Assets - A strong legislative & executive record, a strong fundraising operation, a strong campaign organization, he's likeable, he understands the voters in the swing states because he's from one of them, & he has previously defeated Donald Trump.

• Biden's Weaknesses - He has a speech impairment that has plagued him all of his life [he stutters and has trouble finding the right words which is why he continually flubs], he's 81 years old & he's not controversial enough to generate ratings / revenue for corporate TV / mass media.

• Other Possibilities at this Late Stage - VP Kamala Harris has all of the likeability appeal of a Hillary Clinton (but none of the baggage), and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, is likeable, but the nation probably needs more time to get to know her before trusting her with the reigns of the Oval Office.

• Corporate Media & Democratic Party Weaknesses - they are incestous group who only talk to each other through their TV screens, they never leave the NYC / Washington, D.C. corridor to interact with the real people who live outside of that corridor, they are urban only, they are bicoastal only, they are wealthy and detached from the struggles of everyday Americans, they don't seem to give a crap about what tens of millions of Democratic primary voters think, they think that stage presence is more important than real accomplishments, they are incredibly unaware of their own ignorance and blind spots, they supported Hillary Clinton in 2016 and thought she was going to win big, and they are now pushing to replace Biden with Kamala Harris and think that she can win big, because they're clueless about the concerns of the people in the swing states, as well as how people outside of the NYC - D.C. corridor see the world and see them.
  • According to Pew Research as of 2022, 27% of Americans had a fair amount of trust in the mass media, 28% did not have much trust in the mass media, and 38% had no trust at all in the mass media.

• Democrats Should be Promoting the Biden 'Team' Concept. Since Biden's weakness is his speaking ability, let others pick up the mantle and do the majority of talking for Biden, promote the Biden team record, remind them that come-what-may voters will still get a strong Democratic team. Focus folks attention on Biden's speech impairment, because in contrast to his opponent, it makes him a very good listener. And because he's a good listener, he's able to work with people on both sides of the aisle, which is why he has such a strong legislative / executive record, why he and his team were able to get so much done with the narrowest of majorities in Congress. Also, will somebody in the Biden campaign please put together a reel of Biden speech / debate flubs which have plagued him all his life, to show that what happened in the late June debate has at least as much to do with Biden's handicap as his age. And don't let the TV mass media persist in ignoring and omitting this key fact, by challenging them on their sins of omission.

• A Word to the Reporters of the Corporate Mass Media. Why don't you start doing your job, which is to report the news - not manipulate it. As you can see by the statistics above, you're the ones who are failing, not Biden. And please start including that Biden has a speech impediment in your reporting. That is a highly relevant fact, and that TV newspeople are so completely omitting it, proves they are either very dishonest or utterly incompetent as a reliable news source.

You're Not Mistaken if You Think Something is Wrong with TV News [& it's not your TV set]

And please pardon my frustrated tone. It's just that I am so sick and tired of corporate TV's nightly news sins of omission, which constitutes either incredibly slipshod or very dishonest reporting.

Keep this in mind as you're watching the election unfold. The problem for these mass media TV companies is that if Biden wins, the TV corporations won't get their 'Trump bump' in TV ratings / revenue / profits. Leslie Moonves, who was CBS Chairman during the 2016 campaign said,

" ... [Trump] may not be good for America, but [he's] damn good for CBS ...".

And the urban, bicoastal, corporate mass media TV executives wonder why America's trust in them is at an all-time low?

Based on the Youtube and TV video segments of Biden I have watched since the debate, Biden still appears to have most of his faculties intact - allowing for his speech impediment flubs (which he's done all of his life and which the corporate mass media TV reporters go out of their way not to mention). Assuming that's the case, he would have to muster the will and energy to force all of these lily-livered Democrats to either fall in line and grow a spine, or prove that they're just as big as hypocrites as the Republicans, regarding their respect for voters and our democracy.

This would not be unlike what we just witnessed this week at the Republican National Convention, wherein many of the Republican speakers, who once dissed Trump, showed their true colors by doing a complete 180 degree turn, wherein they kissed his ring [or was it his derriere?], while bestowing insincere praises upon him. How can anyone trust people like this, who talk out of both sides of their mouths?