Robert Black

Bernie Lomax @bernielomax.littlebuffalo.online [ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 03:19 UTC

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 23:09 UTC

It's not even very difficult!!

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:55 UTC

How does "no disagreement on tactics, that's Undermining Morale!" typically work out.....

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:47 UTC

Fire his entire campaign staff and also Jeff Zients

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:45 UTC

Oh yeah I mean I will vote for him come hell or high water if he's the nominee I don't even know that I think he shouldn't be the nominee!

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:41 UTC

Okay but like You can understand that people might be concerned, as an electoral matter, if that's the best claim we can make for our guy?

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:34 UTC

Yeah I mean I think I agree with that conditional claim The question is just whether it's true that he's unfit It all boils down to that, in both directions

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:24 UTC

That's not my argument. People are citing 1968 to say that having Biden drop out nowwould be a guaranteed disastrous loss; I'm disputing that

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:23 UTC

If the best election strategy is for him to resign as president then not doing it because of this vice presidential vacancy thing would be a terrible mistake That's my only claim here

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:21 UTC

Compromise proposal Biden has Trump drone striked and then resigns on the spot 😅

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:20 UTC

I really really really don't think this particular point should control the decision, I think that would be terrible folly

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:19 UTC

Oh yeah absolutely If Biden really has to be scratched then the ENTIRE PARTY needs to rally around Harris like their very lives depend on it (Which y'know, they might!)

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:17 UTC

That presumes that his advisors are wrong to be terrified of putting him in front of the cameras, though In which case, yes absolutely, clean fucking house and go from there But if they're *not* wrong...

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:10 UTC

I mean, Nixon won the tipping point state by 3%, that's still not a landslide, not even by diminished 21st century standards

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:06 UTC

Wow, I thought you were just confusing 68 and 72, but no, you were actually calling 1968 a landslide election Humphrey got 1% less of the vote than Nixon did!

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:04 UTC

I am going to Sleep No More lol I seem to do that on all the Momentous News Days now!

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:02 UTC

Huh?? It was razor thin

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:02 UTC

Oh yeah, I don't disagree with that at all (and I didn't take you to be attacking me, no worries)

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 22:01 UTC

🤷‍♂️ If Biden if unfit to serve then he's going to lose and we might as well try something else (I agree it would have been massively preferable if he just hadn't ever run for reelection in the first place)

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:57 UTC

I think the question was more, what would satisfy you that he is still fit to serve/fit to run

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:57 UTC

This is literally a vice president's job

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:56 UTC

I mean No, that's not what I mean by it, and frankly (while yes of course lots of the stuff the media is obsessing about is just speech trouble, who cares) I do not think there's no suggestion of actual cognitive decline in the reporting Of course I don't know if that's true! That's my point!

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:55 UTC

Maybe! Depends I think on whether he's right to do so, i.e. on the underlying merits of the thing

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:54 UTC

I never said otherwise

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:54 UTC

It's not really comparable, imo? Also like Lyndon Johnson could not have won that election

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:50 UTC

Oh yeah it's not the debate at all. It's whether he really has suffered cognitive decline in the last few months such that he's not fit to serve and can't run an effective campaign

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:46 UTC

When has it ever been attempted?

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:46 UTC

You don't have to impute good faith to the New York Times to be pretty concerned at this point, I think

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:45 UTC

I didn't say it would

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:44 UTC

I mean, same, but if the underlying truth is that he's not fit to serve as president right now then he is going to lose the election Should he? Of course not! But that also doesn't matter

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:42 UTC

Everybody be losing their goddamn minds waiting for this interview to drop huh

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:41 UTC

Yes, for sure I mean for me it just comes down to What is the underlying truth of the matter??

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:39 UTC

Yeah like Agree or disagree with him (I honestly don't know which camp I'm in yet!), I'm pretty sure that what's motivating Mark Warner of all people is genuine, honest panic that Biden isn't up to winning this election He's not someone who like, has axes to grind with Biden

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:37 UTC

Ooooh, really?

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:31 UTC

I mean it's really hard for those of us on the outside to assess the underlying reality, but Nothing in the "Biden really did decline noticeably in the last couple of months" story strikes me as especially implausible?

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 21:04 UTC

Isn't that basically the reporting, that he's declined meaningfully just in the last month or so

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 20:25 UTC

100% of what the office of the Vice Presidency *is* is the succession You can't just handwave that part

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 20:10 UTC

Not viable I don't think If he's not fit to serve (which is the premise of his stepping down as the candidate) then he's also not fit to be the understudy Also you can't just make him be vice president now, that would have to go through the 25A just like anything else

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 20:08 UTC

Note that for present purposes I'm being agnostic about what optimal strategy actually is

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 20:07 UTC

"But if someone shoots her then Mike Johnson will be president" Okay but if suboptimal strategy makes Trump win the election then Trump is president?

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 20:05 UTC

Letting this VP vacancy thing determine our strategy in this moment would be sheer folly imo

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 19:54 UTC

💯 on that

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 19:50 UTC

I think that what the concept of "doing law" means is just very contested The conservative Justices think they're doing X, and they think that X counts as "doing law" I disagree with them that X counts as "doing law" What result?

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social [ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 19:48 UTC

Well sure, but I don't see any reason we all can't form our own views about whether the decision he makes is a good one, much as we do for every other decision a president might make

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