Bizarre, Congress, Politics

Biden Under Fire For Excessive Civility

Joe Biden is under fire from leading Democrats for the sin of civility. Biden made the simple observation that the Senate actually “got things done” when he was a member by maintaining “civility.” He noted that he was even able to work with such opposing figures as segregationist senators James Eastland of Mississippi and Herman Talmadge of Georgia. That led to a torrent of outrage that he was ever civil with such individuals. To his credit, Biden correctly refused to apologize. He was making the point that you can oppose others without grinding the government to a standstill or just engaging in shrill and personal attacks.

Biden noted that “I was in a caucus with James O. Eastland.” He added “He never called me ‘boy,’ he always called me ‘son.'” He then referred to his wok with Talmadge and added “[He was] one of the meanest guys I ever knew, you go down the list of all these guys. Well, guess what? At least there was some civility. We got things done. We didn’t agree on much of anything. We got things done. We got it finished. But today, you look at the other side and you’re the enemy. Not the opposition, the enemy. We don’t talk to each other anymore.”

The thing about not being called “boy” was another gaffe by Biden but his point was an honest and legitimate one. Biden did indeed have a good reputation in the Senate. I was in meetings with him and he had an effective and affable approach that built coalitions across party lines. It is a record that is relevant and positive for his quest to be the next president.

This point was made later by Biden in noting that

“I could not have disagreed with Jim Eastland more. He was a segregationist. I ran for the United States Senate because I disagreed with the views of the segregationist — many of them in the Senate at the time. The point I’m making is you don’t have to agree. You don’t have to like the people in terms of their views. But you just have to simply make the case you beat them, you beat them without changing the system.”

Biden’s initial comments drew criticism from some of his 2020 rivals, including Booker.

Fellow presidential candidate New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio slammed Biden for his comments, tweeting that Eastland believed his interracial family should be illegal.

“It’s 2019 & @JoeBiden is longing for the good old days of ‘civility’ typified by James Eastland. Eastland thought my multiracial family should be illegal & that whites were entitled to “the pursuit of dead n******. It’s past time for apologies or evolution from @JoeBiden. He repeatedly demonstrates that he is out of step with the values of the modern Democratic Party,” de Blasio tweeted Wednesday.View image on Twitter

View image on Twitter

Bill de Blasio✔@BilldeBlasio

It’s 2019 & @JoeBiden is longing for the good old days of “civility” typified by James Eastland. Eastland thought my multiracial family should be illegal & that whites were entitled to “the pursuit of dead n*ggers.” (1/2)5,23811:47 AM – Jun 19, 20192,241 people are talking about thisTwitter Ads info and privacy

Sen. Cory Booker, also a presidential candidate, demanded an apology and said

“You don’t joke about calling black men ‘boys.’ Men like James O. Eastland used words like that, and the racist policies that accompanied them, to perpetuate white supremacy and strip black Americans of our very humanity. Vice President Biden’s relationships with proud segregationists are not the model for how we make America a safer and more inclusive place for black people, and for everyone. I have to tell Vice President Biden, as someone I respect, that he is wrong for using his relationships with Eastland and Talmadge as examples of how to bring our country together. And frankly, I’m disappointed that he hasn’t issued an immediate apology for the pain his words are dredging up for many Americans. He should.”

Likewise, Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said Biden’s comments on Eastland and Talmadge were “misinformed and wrong.” She added “Let’s be very clear that the senators that he is speaking of with such adoration are individuals who made and built their reputation on segregation.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass added “I’m not here to criticize other Democrats, but it’s never ok to celebrate segregationists. Never.”

It truly captures our age of rage that simply saying that you can work with people on the far extremes of politics is considered grossly inappropriate. Civility is now a weakness. It is rage not results that is now the measure for politicians on both sides.

___

176 thoughts on “Biden Under Fire For Excessive Civility”

  1. Pingback: Biden Under Fire For Improper Civility — JONATHAN TURLEY – Bluesenes.com

  2. This blowbag is nothing but a weathervane. He goes with the wind.

  3. Biden was just reflecting on the “good ol’ days” before the likes of George Soros pulling strings behind the scenes and ruining American. Now we are divided so much it is almost impossible to get a bill passed. Now if we could get the Dems and GOP to agree that Soros needs to go, then we can run a country again: free of scandals, border crisis, and election corruption. It’s amazing what Trump has been able to get accomplished with all the Resist winds and “incoming sniper fire” against him. Amazing.

    1. I’m sorry, George Soros just texted me to ask you what exactly has Trump accomplished.

    2. Soros latest gambit has been to arrange for financing district attorney candidates in certain jurisdictions (the ones who promise to not enforce the law) while financing rent-a-crowd in others to attack police departments. The man really is a Loki-like figure who just likes to wreck stuff.

  5. OT:Hundreds of migrant caravan members found to have US criminal histories: DHS files
    Brooke Singman1 day ago
    Yuma, Arizona shelters are overrun with migrants crossing the southern borderVideo
    Yuma, Arizona shelters are overrun with migrants crossing the southern border

    Mayor Douglas Nicholls says migrants do not have the right to work and have nothing to do until they can move out of the town.
    Hundreds of illegal immigrants attempting to cross the southern border as part of massive migrant caravans were found to have criminal histories in the U.S., according to newly obtained Department of Homeland Security documents.

    The DHS files were provided to House Oversight Committee Republicans in May and included internal data showing more than 1,000 migrants traveling as part of caravans to the border within the past nine months had “U.S. criminal histories” and hundreds had “U.S. criminal convictions.” …

  6. The real problem with this situation is that reporters identified the segregationist senators as Republicans. Either they knew that was a lie or they were clueless. Either way, it doesn’t say much for their journalism degrees.

    2. Find out the names of their high school history teachers and publish them.

  7. It truly captures our age of rage that….

    It isn’t rage and you know it isnt considering your long exposure to politicians. Cory Booker, Elizabeth “1/1064” Warren, Kamala Harris, Feinstein, Schumer, …each and every one them….pure theatrics. The Kavanaugh hearings were a disgrace: full libido on steroids and crystal meth combined like slot machine junkies

    Nothing the MSM nor Democrats say is honest. Bill Clinton was, as Senator Bob Kerrey from Nebraska once said, “a very good liar”. Pelosi and her nucken futz caucus…all attention seeking hoes who have chauffeurs to take them to their mansions behind walls and armored guards while Americans suffer the crime and hysteria they foment

  10. This is a nothing burger just wait till people start bringing up his sons dealings in the Ukraine and China.

    Biden bragged about having the Ukraine prosecutor fired who was investigating Hunters deals

    Should be good fun

    1. Emma, they just started yesterday to go after Biden for his son Hunter. The attack looks like Biden’s bid will be destroyed because they are going after him in a way they go after conservatives for lesser things. Of course this has been known to conservatives for years and conservative news outlets have been talking about this problem again recently.

      Take note how far behind the MSM is with regard to bad news on the left, so far behind that sometimes that bad news never gets published. That is what the debate between Kurtz and Anon is all about. Was the NYtimes timely about when they produced their story about Hong Kong which may have been a bit delayed? That is too finer point for Anon to understand.

      1. Biden is a corrupt corporate democrat just like Hillary

        They obviously like Trump or would not be pushing these obvious kleptocratic candidates

        Sanders would have won and easily and democrats cheated the country

        Trump is Obama’s legacy because he was a fraud and Hillary Clinton was worse

      2. oh i think he she anon understood my point exactly well, which is why heshe had such a fit over it. it really touched a nerve! I mean the idea that the vaunted journalists and their editors and media bosses might actually be corrupt and self serving, the nerve to suggest such a thing, especially of the NYT which is the liberal Sanhedrin! the audacity of such a contention!

        i just looked and they have 5 articles about how trump is mucking up the iran thing, maybe more; a picture of a giant squid, an article on authur ashe (he’s a saint because he was black AND gay AND had aids) and another article about transgender whatever. that’s the leaderboard count, unless you are a dues paying sycophant like anon who gets a different feed I suspect.

        In Chicago the communists used to have a tabloid newspaper called “The Daily Worker” which read better than the NYT which is really just so much used toilet paper.

          1. ok, sorry, I didn’t read the NYT piece, as i scanned their leaderboard of offerings for the day, and didn’t remember that

            I usually save my 5 pieces of free NYT garbage for the few interesting things that they habitually bury in their back pages, about China; if they pop up in a search, since I never see them on the front leaderboard where others might actually find them in a timely way

            1. Kurtz, you can get more than 5 articles for free. I would pay them if they weren’t such trash.

          2. There is a real rift coming with transgender and biological women

            Martina Navratilova criticised over ‘cheating’ trans women comments
            Former tennis player says trans athletes competing in women’s tournaments is ‘insane’

            https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/sport/2019/feb/17/martina-navratilova-criticised-over-cheating-trans-women-comments

            Prominent transgender advocate harassed by anti-trans feminists, video shows
            The infamous U.K. activists misgendered Sarah McBride of the Human Rights Campaign and accused her of hating lesbians.

            During the broadcast, which appears to have been deleted from Facebook, Keen-Minshull and her associate, Julia Long, can be heard accusing McBride of “championing the rights of men to access women in women’s prison,” not caring “about lesbian girls” and hating lesbians.

            As the live broadcast finished, Keen-Minshull said, “Everyone, this is Sarah McBride ignoring women and girls’ concerns as usual — so typically male!”

            https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna966061

            1. I’d say a bit like the Iran-Iraq War, but the unappealing Ms. Navratilova has the better of the argument by a country mile. The trannie stuff is nuckingfutz.

      3. Isn’t that funny. The book with all the information was released (pause to go to Amazon and look it up) a few minutes later September 18th 2018 by Jason Chaffetz that laid out the whole story in detail and with references . About nine or ten months ago. Nothing new but i suspect a lot covered up as checking resources was a no brainer even for the NY Times.

        1. Michael, we all know that the NYTimes only researches to confirm the news they wish they could print. I wouldn’t be surprised if anonymous, the Brainless Wonder, was the anonymous source the NYTImes used to sniff things out.

      4. How long does it take? The information was released in book from ten months ago today in detail with references. There is a reason for being slow and it’s called participating in a ‘we hope it works’ cover up.

  11. I sort through all the Democrat candidates to run against Trump and Biden is the only one who can beat him. Ask him the Question: Will you campaign in Michigan? If he says yes then vote for him.

    1. If Amy Klobuchar can get the nomination, she’ll kick his a.s in a landslide. She’s tough, smart, likeable, pragmatic, rated the most effective legislator in the Senate, is experienced running a large office, and won every congressional district in Minnesota last year, including Michelle Bachman’s old seat. Her hair holds up in a blizzard.

      1. if Amy Klobuchar can get the nomination, she’ll kick his a.s in a landslide.

        You will have to create her staff of workers and recruit the other trolls to be the other workers given her long history of abusing her her employees.

        Suggestion: get a concealed weapon permit when you move to MN to respond to her flogging you.
        😜

        https://www.huffpost.com/entry/amy-klobuchar-abuse-staff-2020_n_5c5a1cb1e4b0871047588649

        Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s Mistreatment Of Staff Scared Off Candidates To Manage Her Presidential Bid

        At least three people withdrew from consideration to lead the senator’s nascent campaign — in part because of Klobuchar’s history of mistreating her staff.

        But some former Klobuchar staffers, all of whom spoke to HuffPost on condition of anonymity, describe Klobuchar as habitually demeaning and prone to bursts of cruelty that make it difficult to work in her office for long.

        It is common for staff to wake up to multiple emails from Klobuchar characterizing one’s work as “the worst” briefing or press release she’d seen in her decades of public service, according to two former aides and emails seen by HuffPost.

        Although some staffers grew inured to her constant put-downs (“It’s always ‘the worst,’” one said sarcastically, “‘It was ‘the worst’ one two weeks ago”), others found it grinding and demoralizing. Adding to the humiliation, Klobuchar often cc’d large groups of staffers who weren’t working on the topic at hand, giving the emails the effect of a public flogging.

      2. Who? Oh yeah her. I havent heard anything about here since the last time you brought her up. Why don’t you write your idols in the NYT and tell them to at least mention her name? She could use some help.

        The idea that she would win in a landslide? ha, ha. That’s like saying, If I could just start at quarterback for the Cleveland Browns then they would finally win the Super Bowl.

        Sorry, but I am not fit for pro football, Amy Gobstoppar is not ready for the nomination.

        However, it would be great if Trump could run against whatsername. That would be a solid win for Trump. However, at this point, with the Dems rallying behind Biden, it’s clear they’re interested in winning. If they nominate Joe, then there’s going to be a fight and the outcome is unclear.

      3. if she was that good why would her supporters hide their name. Assuming they were human beings that could claim ad hominem. But no.. Just another machine part of The Collective so Ad Machina to you.

        1. Michael doofus, Klobuchar’s ex-employees who supported her in that letter SIGNED the letter. Her accusers did so anonymously. I noted that in my post.

    2. Sanders would have won and easily

      You might think democrats would learn something from their epic embarrassment and failure in 2016

      But no

      Trump is Obama’s legacy and Hillary Clinton was worse

      Biden is Hillary 2.0

      The polling is completely bogus again

      How do you have polls that only count people over 50?

      Or only count people who gave more than $200 dollars?

      Oh yeah only if you want to rig them

      1. “Sanders would have won and easily”

        Emma, how can you draw that conclusion? Sanders like Trump has a strong base of followers but depends on a lot of additional support. His message, though seemingly good for millenials that know very little, I don’t believe is strong enough to sustain itself through an entire campaign. I am not saying Trump would win or lose rather predicting an *easy* victory is stretching credulity.

        1. Sanders had a wider lead over Trump than did Hellary at just about every point ‘ere the conventions were complete. The thing is, stated preference is not revealed preference.

            1. Better off,
              No, Sanders played John Brown in “Seven Angry Men”.
              And he brings that same joyful, “Happy Warrior” style of politics as the lead character he played in that movie.🙄

                1. I’ll start watching SNL again if Larry David returns to do his great Bernie impression.
                  They’ve been short on impressionists talent, long removed from the days when Darrell Hammond, Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, etc. were actually skilled impressionists, not just washed- up actors trying to do impressions.
                  Sanders probably has as good a shot as anyone else at winning the nomination…..with c. two dozen declared candidates and a long way to go, it’s anybody’s guess who’ll up it with the nomination.

                  1. Not sure I’ve seen an episode all the way through in shy of 40 years. There are some routines on Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xv2VIEY9-A8). The surviving original cast members are now between the ages of 66 and 83. (The only one I’ve seen in a film in the last 30-odd years was Bill Murray).

      2. I’ve corrected Emma on her false Bernie Bros BS before here, but I’m not taking that job full time.

        Be aware she has no more clue than the Trumpsters who think his pulling a royal flush on election day means he’ll do it again in 2020, Well yeah, it’s possible, but I’ll take the under on it.

  12. TRUMP THINKS BASE ALONE CAN REELECT

    NUMBERS SAY OTHERWISE

    Donald Trump is confident his core coalition of die-hard supporters can propel him to a second term in the White House, asserting in a new interview that he may not even bother reaching out to swing voters in his reelection campaign.

    “I think my base is so strong, I’m not sure that I have to do that,” Trump told Time magazine for a cover story published Thursday.

    Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, echoed that sentiment, telling Time that the president’s 2020 bid would prioritize turning out the already converted.

    “People all think you have to change people’s minds. You have to get people to show up that believe in you,” Parscale said.

    Ahead of the upcoming election, pollsters and political commentators have cast doubt on whether Trump’s bloc of devoted followers will be able to secure him another four years in the Oval Office. And it remains unclear whether the president can maintain his tenuous grasp on some historically blue-leaning battleground states he captured in 2016.

    The president showed little inclination to appeal to still-undecided Americans when he formally launched his reelection run with a rally Tuesday in Orlando, Fla. — where he revived red-meat attack lines against former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and his previous general election opponent, Hillary Clinton.

    Edited from: “Trump Says He May Not Reach Out To 2020 Swing Voters”

    Politico, 6/20/19

    1. Regarding Above:

      I am heartened to hear that Trump plans to only pander to his base. The Trumpers on this blog will no doubt support him. But Trump’s approval ratings have rarely risen above the low 40’s. That’s not sufficient for a reelection bid. And if, God forbid, a recession develops,Trump’s reelection chances get even slimmer.

      1. Hey, drawing a royal flush on election day the first time surely means it will happen again!

      2. You sound pretty sure, Peter. If you think that Oddssharks and other oddsmakers/ betting sites are way off the mark in rating Trump’s chances of re-election at c.50%, there’s probably a way to put your money where your mouth is.
        I don’t know if there are betting sites anywhere in the U.S. that allow betting on elections, but there should be a way of “betting offshore” to capitalize on your confidence that Trump us unlikely to win in 2020.
        Let us know how much of a bet you put down.😎

        2. Tom, those numbers leaked last week from Republican pollsters showed Trump getting beat by 5 different Democrats including Elizabeth Warren. Fox News actually reported the leaked numbers on their website.

          Trump dismissed the polls as ‘fake news’. Then he demanded the pollsters be fired. Trump also tweeted that “Fox is getting weird”.

          Does that sound like a president to bet on? Trump only wins if the Democratic nominee stumbles from gaffe to gaffe. And that happens too; so it’s not impossible. But if that’s what you’re betting on it’s very cynical.

          1. Sounds like you’ve got a sure thing going for you, so enjoy your winnings!
            I would note that the election is about 17 months away, and also that Trump’s chances of winning in 2016 were given as slim and none…..right up until election night.
            Those predictions did factor in and predict Trump’s chances of winning THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE, so spar me the flimsy bit about the the seers being right on the popular vote results.
            Some were on target on the popular vote predictions, some were not.
            And the prognosticators all knew it took 270 ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES to win.

        3. Tom should know that odds makers set odds so that they get equal bets for both sides. The published odds then are a summation of the opinion of bettors on who will win and should not be confused with a smart prediction.

          1. That’s why we have people in the know😉😄😂🤣 like “JanF/ anon1 ” to give us the “real scoop”.
            The oddsmakers attempt to realistically evaluate probabilities based on known factors at a given point in time.
            That method is probably superior to wishful thinking.

        2. Mespo, a recession could develop through no fault of Trump’s. We’re 10 years into expansion. That’s a long recovery! The rules of gravity say a recession could develop in the next year. I hope it’s not bad. But it wouldn’t bode well for a president polling in the 40’s.

          1. The odds of a recession before the 2020 election were getting more and more remote over the past c.6-12 months.
            I’d bump those odds up somewhat due to recent developments; there is a risk of a trade/ tariff war blowing up in Trump’s face, rather than getting a favorable resolution.
            This could spark a U.S./ global recession.

    2. A 42% BASE IS NOT THE SAME AS A 42% CEILING.
      ( I went with the screaming, all-powerful cap headline to bolster my argument).
      Trump’s base of c.42% is solid, and has stayed pretty stable. That does not neatly translate into getting only 42% of the vote.
      If a candidate is starting with ” lock” on an unusually loyal 42% base, it’s then a matter of picking up a relatively small (but critical) amount of support from independents/ undecideds.
      Anyone emphasizing poll numbers, especially at this point, must have a very short memory.
      They were hardly that instructive even on the day of the election, and they were even less of predictor months before the election.
      We’re nearly a year and a half away from the 2020 election at this point, and the overemphasis on the polling de jour at this stage is even more ridiculous.

    3. Biden can peel voters off his base. In spite of the dumb crap that Biden often says, he has a certain feeling about him which can appeal to Trump voters. For my part, I have never really disliked him. I had a strong hate for Hillary, but old Slick Willy I kind of liked most days, and even Obama didn’t really bother me that much, once the election was over. Biden’s same, doesnt really annoy me too much. He won’t inspire the same kind of fear and loathing that Hillary did. Trump does need to appeal to a broader audience now than last time.

      1. Mr. Kurtz,
        It’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top in the battle between the “Old Guard”, like Biden, and the more extreme segments of the Democratic Party.
        Rep. Hyphen- Cortez has received an extraordinary (and sometime fawning) amount of media coverage for a Congresswoman with all of 5 months experience under her belt.
        This also seemed to be true when she had all of 5 minutes experience after being sworn in.
        The c. 25 Democratic presidential candidates will either gravitate towards the extremist positions of a Bernie Sanders or the media darling Hyphen-Cortez, or the more conventional candidates’ positions like Biden’s.
        Once things get rolling in early 2020, the herd will get thinned out pretty fast.
        I think it’s anybody’s guess as to which 3-4-or 5 will remain in the race after Iowa and New Hampshire, or how well any of those would do in the general election against Trump.
        The question of who will emerge as the dominant candidate, and whether the Democratic Party is pulled far to the left, is at least as interesting to me as the ultimate outcome of the general election.

        1. And just like 2016 will take more than just enough away from the top Socialist Candidate who … don’t wait go ahead and laugh… still hillary clinton. She is the only one that can withstand another loss while the rest get some experience .

          The largest voting group was the Constitutional Centrists and supporters at 40% of the votes cast. Zero campaign budget. The two parties in the multi gazillions split sixty and one candidate, an 0utsider took home the gold star to Mommy leaving the electoral results at 55% to 45%.

          The goals were stop Clinton destroy the DNC and get as many RINOs as possible 1, 2, 3.

          Do you really think that largest group voting is going to Not get 51% plus given that they have no competition … at all?

          Constitutional Centrists vs Socialist extremists?

          Put you Bwa Haws here.

          When the ex Governor of Arizona the one that got caught up in the California University system money prroblem, called we of the military the greatest danger her parties administration faced she didn’t stop to think about paybacks are a …. expletive deleted.

          It ain’t over until it’s over Commie and Comrade Biden isn’t going to save your butts and neither is Comrade Ocasio.

          1. Hoping you won’t have to comment is so Bidenesque but playing the fool is down right Obamanible. They deserve to have to go find some place else to recreate the USSR.

      2. You don’t even know who make up the largest voting block of Trump voters. But stupid is as stupid does in the Stupid party. And Trumps base has broadened every time he fulfills his base mission of exposing and then destroying more of the Socialists.

        Consitutionalism versus Socialism and you fools will lose again using worn out hack phrases that don’t mean a thing in Our Constitutional Republic.

  13. This is civility in action! Granny got a gun, Woo hoo
    We need more heroes like this Alabama Grandmother.

    1. I thought it was cool when I read how she felt calm and in control of the situation, since she was armed. She was able to protect her grandmother.

      Had this occurred in CA, she would have been arrested for brandishing a weapon outside her home, and for firing a couple of warning shots. Based on policy, they prefer California women to be murderd, and for felons to serve on juries (see text of bill SB-310).

      https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB310

      1. …she would have been arrested for brandishing a weapon outside her home

        but but but…..the womyn who wear pink puzzy hats tell us Upitty Womyn fight back!

      2. Hard to imagine that you get dumber with each post. When people suggest brevity in your posts, what they are really saying is STFU.

Comments are closed.