State of the Union thoughts: Genocide Joe, Ill Eagles, vaxxes

First, the steak: 

Wallbuilder Joe claims he regrets calling an Ill Eagle an illegal. No he doesn't, but at least some #BlueAnon will drink that Kool-Aid. Good fucking doorknob, folks; his speech was fed into a teleprompter, and didn't involve slapdash writing before that. Something like a SOTU has a whole team of speechwriters workshopping multiple drafts, and getting feedback from the president after each draft. 

Biden totally meant to say that. Its use was not quite a "dogwhistle," but it was in the same neighborhood as a political figure of speech. His only regret is how much pushback he's getting; I'm sure he expects his faux regret to tamp that down. 

Also going up later this week at the Texas Progressives Roundup? Stace gave a few thoughts on Biden's "illegal" flub. Stace appears to take at face value Wallbuilder Joe's "regret." I was going to comment there, but passed. Especially with Brains out of the TPA, I know I'm the only non-duopoly leftist there.

But that's not the worst, as far as follow-up to the speech.

From that same interview with Jonathan Capehart linked above:

Asked on Saturday about whether he has a “red line” with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid Israel’s actions in the Israel-Hamas war, Biden suggested that some steps Netanyahu could take would be going too far. 

“What is your red line with Prime Minister Netanyahu? Do you have a red line? For instance, would invasion of Rafah, which you have urged him not to do, would that be a red line?” Capehart asked. 

“It is a red line," Biden said, adding, “but I’m never gonna leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical.”

Dude, it's not a red line precisely because you just told Bibi that crossing it doesn't matter.

The lies become more tissue-thin by the day. And, once again, they're most tissue-thin on Gaza. I know BlueAnon wants to believe these lies because they're scared and desperate.

After the SOTU, per NY Mag, Biden claimed he had a plan to decouple himself from Bibi. Let's put that in the context of the Capehart interview. He may indeed play to decouple from Bibi, but that problem isn't "Bibi." It's the majority of Israel. It's the totality of Bibi's government, and, any more, a large chunk of Labor and its allies as well. This is like claiming to decouple from Trump while doing business as usual with the rest of the Republican party. Or take the sanctions on settlers mentioned later in the story. This would be like imposing sanctions on a small group of Russians but not the Russian government. And, if the Biden White House is actively pushing Benny Gantz as an alternative to Bibi, it's pretty morally vacuous. As for the idea that Biden really will recognize Palestine? If Bibi, OR Gantz, calls his bluff, we'll see just how true that is. Once again, see "BlueAnon and lies."

Beyond that? Yeah, Marjorie Taylor Greene heckled Biden, despite Mini-Me Speaker Mike Johnson's imploration not to do that. But, was there anything related to Gaza? Did Rashida Tlaib do an #AbandonBiden and not show up at the SOTU? No. Tlaib walked out on Trump in 2020, but not now. And, folks, that tells you what will likely happen with the movement in October and November. They'll scuttle back to Genocide Joe. Most will try to avoid active sheepdogging for him, as polls show that folks like Democratic senator and governor candidates are running ahead of Biden himself in many states.

Next, the side dishes.

Dan Rather and some assistant try to spin the SOTU. Yeah, it was great, if you're in the left hand of the duopoly, a Cold Warrior 2.0 or a Nat-Sec Nutsack. Not so great if you're someone who questions American exceptionalism. Not good at all if you're a Palestinian who wishes Genocide Joe's love for freedom and promoting it extended to them.

Rather wasn't alone. The usual suspects, like Joyce Alene, who was even worse on that point by directly saluting Biden for being Genocide Joe comes first. Second is Chuckling Charlie Pierce, who deals with the Genocide in Gaza and the SOTU slant by ... simply ignoring it. (Rather did that, too.)

From the GOP-tilted side, tho not actually talking primarily about the SOTU, at the New York Slimes, Ross Douthat ponders the issue of how Biden's unpopularity is mystifying. And, he has not a word about Gaza, either, or how Biden's popularity has fallen more since he became, or made himself into, Genocide Joe. (On Twitter Saturday, I told him to do the 2+2 math.)

Kuff posts a piece from a Kos staffer (not just a momma's basement contributor) claiming there is no constitutional requirement for a State of the Union response.

I had to do two comments, because I misread, and because I'm naturally suspicious of the duopoly-based Kos, and I thought the guy was first talking about SOTU itself.

Yes, there's no constitutional requirement for a response. But, SOTU itself has become ever more politicized, especially since the start of live broadcasting it on teevee. Let future presidents go back to the Jefferson-Taft idea of submitting a written report, and then call out anybody in media who gives a live video response time. Besides that, no REAL opposition — Greens, Libertarians, PSL, etc. — ever is given a live response time at all, so fuck off Kos.

And, everything from the start down of this post is why America's talking heads are idiots and why I'm glad I did my duopoly exit on presidential voting at the start of this century.

And now the digestif:

Although he overblows his personal involvement, and "Operation Warp Speed" was a dumb name but unsurprising from the man who created "Space Force" as another part of militarized America, nonetheless, former president Donald Trump did have some hand in getting COVID vaccines to the general public so quickly. And, the mRNA vaxxes are indeed being used for other things. And, he's boasting about all that again after being told by his advisors to drop it because the MAGAts are highly anti-vax. As far as one respondent claiming Trump was lied to? No, you, and most the others, are probably lying in the first place, and personally know not a soul who was adversely affected by the vaccine, and almost certainly don't know a single person who was severely affected. This won't help Biden but will help Bob Jr.

Finally, the after-dinner entertainment:

Katie Britt, class clown and liar. Make that self-admitted liar.