Alan Johnson

Doug Gordon @brooklynspoke.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:17 UTC

FWIW, this reminds me a lot of when de Blasio and Bratton discussed getting rid of the Times Square plazas because of what they perceived as general chaos. Returning the area to cars, they believed, would restore order. It's a cop's view of the world where order is more important than safety.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 14:52 UTC

I get the *idea* that maybe it's best to stick with Biden, ride or die. But it makes me angry when people minimize what happened at the debate or patronize people who were alarmed by it as "freaking out".

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 12:44 UTC

...then she withdrew from the team competition

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 12:01 UTC

I wouldn't underrated the racism and misogyny of the left

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 11:59 UTC

FWIW, they didn't conclude that Trump was an improvement, if we're talking about the Editorial Board piece. They said that Trump must be defeated and that Biden's debate performance created major concerns for his ability to do so.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 11:51 UTC

Ah, yeah, I haven't used custom feeds so I wasn't thinking about getting picked up by a feed.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 05:23 UTC

Plus, his name was phenomenal

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 05:20 UTC

🫠

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 05:16 UTC

Has he tried asking his court for immunity?

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 05:11 UTC

You don't have to write "timeline cleanse" to post something enjoyable

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 22:21 UTC

For sure. Trump has no ideological commitments, just a desire to regain the privileges of the presidency. If he gets in trouble, he will simply go full populist. That's hard to defend against. I do think that his liabilities put a heavy ceiling on his appeal, though.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 19:57 UTC

To be fair, FDR was in no shape to be President at the end. But it's an interesting comparison, as he only ran for a 3rd and 4th term because he saw the existential threat of WWII and felt the US needed continuity of (his) leadership. (screenshot from Wikipedia)

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 19:51 UTC

We could simply read the press in his time for a clue 😜

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 16:46 UTC

I'm about 10 mins in, and he sounds great so far. Putting my skeptic hat on tho, I think people need to *see* him looking sharp and in control. But yes, we need more of this 100% of the time, if he's going to stay in.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 16:33 UTC

I was thinking of things with national audiences, but that's a start, and I'll check it out

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 15:56 UTC

A lotta folks are trying to shut down the conversation about a replacement nominee. I've got news for ya, the conversation is not shut downable. That thinking is even more wishful than him stepping aside.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 15:52 UTC

Yeaaah, but we basically only have circumstantial evidence of that. Don't you think we'd have seen Biden in some interviews or talk shows if they really thought he represent well?

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 15:50 UTC

I don't think that's the problem. Had it been a Democratic primary debate, do you think it would have gone any better? I don't. In fact, I think it would have been even worse. There'd have been no one to use his alleycat line on.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 15:45 UTC

1/6 probably should have been one of those moments. Dobbs may have been, when you look at how red coalitions fractured in Kansas and Ohio.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 15:42 UTC

I think that people really do change their alignment over time...but not very much in response to information or persuation. It's a long term social process of shifting the vibes. Perhaps accelerated occasionally by major shocks (9/11, GFC, pandemic, etc).

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 14:08 UTC

This is the way

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 13:46 UTC

100%. Great time for a redemption moment, like Bill Clinton after the 1988 convention speech. But I think the absence of the full court press says all we really need to know.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 12:23 UTC

From that perspective, one might say there's never been a better time to run a Black woman. I wouldn't say that, though, because it's also the most dangerous election in modern history.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 12:21 UTC

I think it would be safer at this time to pick a candidate who has more charisma and isn't both Black and a woman, but I also think that people vastly overestimate Trump. I think Trump 2024 is the most vulnerable candidate in modern electoral history.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 12:18 UTC

Harris polls similarly to Biden right now. I think she'd run an effective campaign, making the race a referendum on democracy and parrying Trump's shots on immigration and the economy.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 12:14 UTC

I disagree that Kamala loses, but I think it serves no one to ignore the fact that her race and gender are an electoral liability... because we live in a bigoted country. We might not be able to defeat Trumpism, racism, and sexism in a single stroke.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 04:51 UTC

I get that. It's weird, because I'm not an optimist, but I think that Biden steps aside if and only if it seems like people are aligned on something with a semblance of order. Maybe the lack of consensus is why his still in the race.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 03:13 UTC

There's a couple things - I think almost no Dem is demanding Biden's resignation. A withdrawal from the reelection campaign, somewhat similar to LBJ, would still be complicated, but not as problematic.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 03:10 UTC

Why the hell not. We're already deep in surreality!

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 03:02 UTC

I, for one, wanna see that golf swing he was alluding to.

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 02:53 UTC

This thread is brought to you in part by Ableism. Ableism: the -ism that's still cool

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Alan Johnson @acjay.com [ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 02:45 UTC

And to think, I just read a post on horseshoe theory that I thought was ridiculous. Then, lo and behold, a horseshoe in the wild!

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