Biden Thread

[Idaho]

Hopeful? Doubtful?

I am not convinced that most Americans will be better off in 4 years time. But I think the US global position will be better.

I think he's lucky in his timing. It really is the darkest moment for the US with covid.

[Furunculus]

I'm hopeful:
Trump was useful to expose lots of (US) domestic and foriegn policy issues that we were pretending didn't exist.
He made them public debate, and Biden is hopefully thoughtful/principled enough to continue the debate on these issues.
We'll all benefit from a better president, but also from a president better oriented to the things that matter.

[ReluctantSamurai]

First, it will be a welcome change to have a president that doesn't conduct government from Twitter. Second, there is no returning to "normal" as many like to put it. While Trump wasn't the cause of many of our problems here, he certainly was an enabler for many of the darker things that have happened in the last four years.

I don't hold out much hope for Biden/Harris to make good on the "coming together" theme they've espoused since the campaign. There's just too much of a gulf between Americans these days to think that 80's and 90's politics will be enough to bridge that divide. Having said that, he has to try. To not make any effort at all would be a dereliction of duty to the American people.

If Biden/Harris can get this pandemic firestorm under some semblance of control, that's a win. If they can get the US economy at least headed in the right direction, that's also a win (which, of neccesity means the pandemic is under control). If massive damage control can be conducted on America's standing in the world, that's a win (although I fear some of the damage wrought in the last four years is permanent).

I think some of those actions are entirely possible within the first two years. There are certainly many other actions that can be undertaken, like addressing economic inequities, police brutality, climate change, [fill in the blank here], and hopefully at least some headway can be made, though it will take more than a single president's term (and more likely many such terms) to make the kinds of lasting changes that need to be made. I don't hold out for FDR-like things to happen under the Biden Administration. The man isn't strong enough, or charismatic enough to accomplish such things. But if Biden and Kamala Harris can at least right the ship, and put out the fires, we might might have a shot at a continuation come the mid-terms in 2022, and the next presidential election in 2024.

[Crandar]

Today is a black day for Internet communities. If the pessimist forecasts about a dramatic decline in twitter and diplomatic gaffes in the coming months are confirmed, then we should expect a respective contraction of the available topics for discussion, which will then affect rather negatively our traffic.

In the less important subject of American politics, I expect an improvement, but nothing radical. I don't think that Biden will manage to reverse his predecessor's policies in the most pressing matters, like the nuclear deal or fiscal reforms. The majority of the Democrats in the Senate is very slim and vulnerable to Manchin's conservative tendencies.

As for Biden, I personally like him more than Obama, but he lacks the charisma of his predecessor. However, charisma plays a role in politics, not administration. My biggest gripe is with Harris, whose alleged skills I find them very overestimated and who I consider as a particularly sleazy opportunist.

[Hooahguy]

As others have said, Biden's legacy will rest on whether or not he can get Covid under control, a daunting task on its own without also having to deal with a large majority of Republicans thinking the election was stolen and trying to repair the damage from the past four years and all the other crises like climate change, economic issues, racial issues, etc. I will say though that I am most relieved that Trump will no longer have nuclear launch authority.

Here are his planned Day 1 executive orders, seems to be a solid start:


Edit: on a side note, Capitol Police officer Eugene Goodman, who was filmed leading rioters away from the Senate chambers, apparently got promoted to Acting Deputy House Sergeant at Arms. Good for him.

[spmetla]

I'm cautiously optimistic, he's got political experience, the Capitol attack two weeks ago has shocked the more moderate Republicans into seeing the danger of extremism. He's certainly got no shortage of problems to overcome, besides the pandemic and the economic problems there's the ever present foreign policy problems of China, NK, Iran, and Russia. What does one do with the Iran situation, I see no way in hell they'd agree to re-entering the same nuclear deal, even if made law by Congress. As I would usually pose the question to my Republican friends "see we've pulled out of the nuclear deal, no what? how do we stop Iran from going nuclear short of war?" How does one confront Chinese assertiveness in their near-abroad and they're increased corruption and meddling in allied nations politics (Australia, NZ, EU, NATO).

I'm with drone on this, I want some boring competence. I don't want to see every day what horrible thing the President or his cronies have tweeted. He's put a lot of technocrats into key positions, hopefully they get confirmed.

It is crazy seeing the 180 shift in the news coverage, all praises of course from CNN and MSNBC while Fox is worried about the incoming immigrant horde of caravans and increased taxes ruining "Trump's stock market boom."

[drone]

I just want boring competence from the new administration.

[Greyblades]

I'm hopeful:
Trump was useful to expose lots of (US) domestic and foriegn policy issues that we were pretending didn't exist.
He made them public debate, and Biden is hopefully thoughtful/principled enough to continue the debate on these issues.
We'll all benefit from a better president, but also from a president better oriented to the things that matter.

A forlorn hope. The man is a 40 year veteran of a corrupt status quo and the status quo he will maintain. Even were his faculties in order, which now the election is over fewer people will pretend, he will do his utmost to be seen to address issues while actually solving nothing, for his stock were architect to those issues in the first place.

Antifa marched against him today. The country needed a Teddy, instead they imposed a Buchanan, the pressure cooker that birthed trump will resume.