I think the take away from this piece is that influence peddling among friends and family of powerful US politicians is commonplace. While the Bidens may be particularly aggressive in trying to profit on the "the big guy's" coattails, they are not a one off. Inside the beltway, the political game would be unfamiliar to most Americans. Money, power, and career are the priorities. The American people are just a minor annoyance to be dealt with each election cycle.
"Giuliani ended up in his post-mayoral life supporting himself by doing what many American ex-politicians stoop to: whoring himself out to wealthy foreigners with legal problems or lobbying needs." NICE!
Who wouldn't be corrupted by a social system that worships wealth and celebrity. The Bidens not unlike Trump and his brood are a product of never paying consequences for his/her actions. This comes down to accountability and a manufacture belief within the hearts and mind of people of position and privilege that they are above everything - especially, basic human decency and the law that the rank and file are held to account. When you and yours keep getting anyway with things over and over again without even a hint of pay a real consequence, the message starts to come clear that you are untouchable and for some it's as cynical as believing it's providence - God must've cleared me to be a piece of shit just like King David in the bible.
We have Joe Biden to thank for Clarence Thomas, the War in Iraq, and the various compromises he has managed, or participated in, with the dis-functional GOP since since the Reagan Administration. Only the emergence of the "far worse Trump" can allow Biden and his ilk to be considered an acceptable political leader. Compromises to Extinction: coming to your neighborhood soon -- The Joe Manchin Show is next on the bill.
Thank you. In a probably inaccurate paraphrase of Jane Goodall, "We are not passengers on this earth, we are the crew." I guess if we want to change this mess, we had better take up our tasks.
Did you know that Biden lied about the manner of his wife's death when he blamed a drunk driver who was not drunk at all? Biden's lies brought a great deal of pain to the man's family as he repeatedly used the lie for his own political gain. His lie's also took the speeches of others and claimed them as his own, and of course more then anything his lies killed and displaced millions as he lied us into the Iraq war using his position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to rally his fellow democrats support. I feel no empathy for this man or the many others who abuse their position of power. Biden's character is deeply flawed, but has not evolved from the tragedies in his life, if anything he opportunistically used them to empower himself.
This is a very insightful comment and touches on something I've been thinking about too. That being: the kind of people who desire to be in these positions of power and are willing to sacrifice everything for even the chance to get there are not the kind of people who society would want to be in leadership positions. I don't know of a realistic, good solution though.
Side-note: I also think it would be helpful if we re-instated the Constitution's policy of the person who got second place in the presidential election become the vice-president. One last change to the Constitution that was for the worse: putting a max on the number of representatives. Originally, the number of people in the House of Representatives was proportional to the population. We'd have thousands of reps instead of 435--and that'd be for the better.
Are you kidding? Trump was a f-ing disaster of a president, and such a tyrant that he wouldn't even step down from the post. Trump wasn't a "career politician" but that didn't make him an honest and competent president.
Love these audio formats. Listen to them on my daily walks. Thanks. -dc
I think the take away from this piece is that influence peddling among friends and family of powerful US politicians is commonplace. While the Bidens may be particularly aggressive in trying to profit on the "the big guy's" coattails, they are not a one off. Inside the beltway, the political game would be unfamiliar to most Americans. Money, power, and career are the priorities. The American people are just a minor annoyance to be dealt with each election cycle.
"Giuliani ended up in his post-mayoral life supporting himself by doing what many American ex-politicians stoop to: whoring himself out to wealthy foreigners with legal problems or lobbying needs." NICE!
Where can we get a TK news cap that Matt wears during the UI pod?
Who wouldn't be corrupted by a social system that worships wealth and celebrity. The Bidens not unlike Trump and his brood are a product of never paying consequences for his/her actions. This comes down to accountability and a manufacture belief within the hearts and mind of people of position and privilege that they are above everything - especially, basic human decency and the law that the rank and file are held to account. When you and yours keep getting anyway with things over and over again without even a hint of pay a real consequence, the message starts to come clear that you are untouchable and for some it's as cynical as believing it's providence - God must've cleared me to be a piece of shit just like King David in the bible.
This is the funniest thing I've listened to in a long time :))
We have Joe Biden to thank for Clarence Thomas, the War in Iraq, and the various compromises he has managed, or participated in, with the dis-functional GOP since since the Reagan Administration. Only the emergence of the "far worse Trump" can allow Biden and his ilk to be considered an acceptable political leader. Compromises to Extinction: coming to your neighborhood soon -- The Joe Manchin Show is next on the bill.
Is there any plan to expand the podcasts version to services other than apple?
nvm found it!
Thank you. In a probably inaccurate paraphrase of Jane Goodall, "We are not passengers on this earth, we are the crew." I guess if we want to change this mess, we had better take up our tasks.
Love the format, thank you!!!!
Did you know that Biden lied about the manner of his wife's death when he blamed a drunk driver who was not drunk at all? Biden's lies brought a great deal of pain to the man's family as he repeatedly used the lie for his own political gain. His lie's also took the speeches of others and claimed them as his own, and of course more then anything his lies killed and displaced millions as he lied us into the Iraq war using his position as chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to rally his fellow democrats support. I feel no empathy for this man or the many others who abuse their position of power. Biden's character is deeply flawed, but has not evolved from the tragedies in his life, if anything he opportunistically used them to empower himself.
This is a very insightful comment and touches on something I've been thinking about too. That being: the kind of people who desire to be in these positions of power and are willing to sacrifice everything for even the chance to get there are not the kind of people who society would want to be in leadership positions. I don't know of a realistic, good solution though.
Side-note: I also think it would be helpful if we re-instated the Constitution's policy of the person who got second place in the presidential election become the vice-president. One last change to the Constitution that was for the worse: putting a max on the number of representatives. Originally, the number of people in the House of Representatives was proportional to the population. We'd have thousands of reps instead of 435--and that'd be for the better.
Are you kidding? Trump was a f-ing disaster of a president, and such a tyrant that he wouldn't even step down from the post. Trump wasn't a "career politician" but that didn't make him an honest and competent president.