In honor of Joe Biden and his prime time speech Monday instead of Thursday.

He's putting the right ambitions as a priority, and at his current age, I don't blame him.
- Jon Stewart showed video of this beach scene after showing Trump's claims that Biden is going to come back and take over. "He's not coming back, Donald! Get over it!"
  
  Donald could have done this same thing if he'd stayed the fuck out of politics. Biggest self-own ever.
  
  Yup, exactly how I know of it...
  
  Idk what kind of state my mental health would be in this election season if he'd not come back... he is a international treasure

I’m a bigger fan of him now than I ever was before. Selfishness is easy. Giving up a shot at power is hard. I don’t agree with all his choices, but I respect him for this one.
- I don't know that Biden even really wanted the job when he ran in 2020. The impression that I got was that he was done seeking the presidency after 2016, it seemed like maybe the party convinced him he was the best chance to beat Trump.
  I could be wrong, but it's hard for me to believe he wanted to do anything besides retire and enjoy his remaining time with his remaining family.
  Once it became clear that he was NOT the best option to beat Trump, he dropped out. It might be as simple as that.
  Still major kudos for dropping out either way.
  
  I honestly think the same. Dudes old as shit, has money and a family. He doesn't need the stress and obligations that come with the presidency. Maybe he gets a kick out of being in power, but from everything I saw about him I'd wager he would much rather just retire and live the easy life.
- I’m a bigger fan of him now
  I'm a very big fan.
- I'm curious what makes you a fan of someone who supported a genocide where 40k people died so far?
  
  I don’t agree with all his choices

Tbh I often felt as if the guy was still going because he felt he had to. This somewhat reflects his indecision and even final statements before stepping down. I sincerely believe he felt he was doing the right thing. People who believe they are doing the right thing are often stubborn in their belief and I'm glad he found the strength to step aside. That can't have been easy.
- I agree with your assessment. Politicians also live a life where somewhere around half of all people think they are making the wrong decision at all times, so unless they have conviction they flop around way too much to succeed.
  Also, for all people who are getting old, it's their first time, and they have no idea what they might seem like to anybody else. It's like you have been getting back up after being knocked down your whole life and suddenly you can't get back up again.
  
  We do bash on older people in politics, and they shouldn't be there past a point. Though like...they remember when things were better. Distanced as they are, the good ones likely see the differences, though from a different perspective to us. How they care is different from what we need and some politicians are becoming aware of that, AOC the modern example.
  Stepping aside for Harris was scary for us and probably terrifying for Biden. He stepped up because of Trump, DNC bs aside, it was still his choice. So of course he would struggle to step down. Could you imagine giving a treasonous moron the boot and for the entirety of your time in any big chair you're just watching them gain a larger and larger following, all the while half of the people you're supposed to work with are backing that person blindly? Man, I'd be so fucking anxious and frustrated. Like it or not, that's Biden imho.
  I don't think the man ever wanted the job. Despite the naysayers, rabble-rousers, and people whose entire argument centers on hiding behind and screaming about one specific thing over and over, Biden HAS been a good President. Possibly even great in so many ways. I'm not a particular fan of him, the only leader that ever got my full attention has been Bernie, Biden though? He's done good.
  Right now though? We need someone strong and clever enough to push past bipartismanship and play hardball. We also need unity. I'm not sure Harris has the natural charisma to pull the Nation together. However, she seems smart and willing to build a powerful team. There is leadership in that wisdom.

Attaboy Joe

Love how we went from "if you're calling Biden to drop out you're a russian agent" to "he's so great for dropping out since it's the obviously correct choice, what a great sacrifice he did for his country".
- You were a Russian agent for implying that you wouldn't still vote Dem in the event that he didn't quit. Also the enthusiasm over Kamala, and now Walz as well, is great but absolutely unprecedented. While people certainly believed we could and would figure things out if Biden stepped down promptly, I don't think anyone honestly believed things would come together anywhere near "this" well. Which makes it all feel extra satisfying in the aftermath.
  
  Nah, i had people call me a Russian bot for saying it'd be a good thing if Biden dropped out. There's just a lot of stupid people about.
  Though while i was expecting a Biden dropout to be successful, i certainly was not expecting it to be this successful.
  
  You were a Russian agent for implying that you wouldn’t still vote Dem in the event that he didn’t quit.
  You sound brainwashed. Are you aware that the US government spend more money than russia in propaganda? Do you realize that you are calling russian agents people not willing to vote for a genocide supporter?
  
  Well, I still haven't been personally thanked for saving democracy after saying Biden's brain is mostly 2-week old potato salad at this point
- I love how people went from "if you vote for a Democrat you love genocide" to "damn with Biden gone, what other ways can we shit on anything resembling a Democrat?"
  
  It’s the tired song and dance, capital will propagandize all the same. So many little froggies that simply sat under Daddies’ Fox News broadcast while playing with their toys. No one really cares what reason anyone has — if you make Republican arguments, you’re a Republican. Wrap yourselves up in “genociiiiiide” all you want, you trash bags. Literal inhuman. Republicans at least vote consistently to destroy themselves. These fake leftists are disgusting, only exist to destroy the cause they say they support. MAGA is just plainly treasonous. Gaza-leftists are insidiously so.

American Cincinnatus!
- Thanks for your comment. I looked up the story of Cincinnatus and was not disappointed!

Only after it got too far into his own party having to show to him that he had no real support path to victory.
Don't praise people too much when they EVENTUALLY do the right thing. It's good he finally did, but this is the guy who ran in 2020 suggesting he'd be a one-term president in the first place.
The power got to him like it does everyone.
Good for you, you eventually did the right thing. Would have been better if you had done so a hell of a lot sooner.
- I'm in 100% agreement, to the point where I was preparing for a Toupee victory until Biden stepped aside. But with how hilariously Vance is shitting himself in the foot (typo intentional), I have to at least briefly wonder if Biden waited to step aside until after the Toupee Party picked their VP. It's blindingly obvious that the Republicans were only planning on campaigning against Biden. If he had stepped aside before Vance was picked, the Toupee might have picked a less unlikable VP candidate.
  
  IIRC he stepped aside immediately after the republican convention that had had been aimed entirely at him leaving them scrambling, and endorsed Harris who was immediately read to run. The timing was impeccable!
- I'm not so sure bowing out earlier would have been better. Dragging it out as long as he did let Trump lean more heavily into the age issue than he otherwise would have, which is now coming back to bite him.
  Of course, I don't think that was a tactical decision, I think you're right on the money when it comes to Biden's motivations, but I do think the last minute about-face may have actually helped the Democrats here
- I'll say only that temptation is ever present. He took action and passed the torch. I don't want to take any credit away from the people that convinced him that was the correct course of action, but it ultimately came down to him actually doing it, something I can't say I believe anyone on the right (and a hell of a lot of people on the left) would have done.
- I don't think he wanted another term. I really think he felt like he was the only one that could beat Trump.
- I don't judge him negatively for that. He has a lot of programs that are helping people, and he wanted to do a lot more of that.
  I judge him negatively for supporting Israel.

I guess it wasn't coerced but "voluntarily" is quite the stretch, call this shi reed richards
- I guess it wasn’t coerced
  It was coerced in the sense that the biggest party donors had refused to put any more money into his campaign. Biden fundraising after the debate absolutely tanked. That's one reason why Harris got crazy post-dropout fundraising numbers. She caught a windfall of money that had been earmarked for Biden.
  Did anyone have a gun to his head? Probably not. But they might as well have. You can't run a national campaign full of high dollar media markets without billions in donor dollars.

Sounds like gaslighting to me. He was very reluctant.
- Everybody in his shoes would be at least reluctant. Specially in Biden’s case who is known to overthink big decisions. What matters is that he made the right decision in the end.
  
  What matters is that he made the right decision in the end.
  “I may have been [late], but I’m not wrong”
  btw I’m kidding, I’m on the fence about how to feel - you make a good point
- Perfect and good? Sworn enemies I always say
  
  Oh dear... I don't like the implications that Trump is perfect...
  ;-)
- What’s the gaslight? What purpose would it serve to manipulate the populace into believing the narrative that he had good “feefees”?
  You’re just spewing your favourite little reddit word. You’d get a gold star if you use it right! Too bad you’re too much of a froggie to do that. Sad. Womp.

With how much everybody's expressing their love for Biden, I'm half expecting him to reenter the race and be praised for it.
(Joke. Just a joke.)

While I don’t think I’ll ever like or fully respect Biden, I seriously respect the fact he stepped down. While I get that he was being pressured to do so, he is still the leader of the Democratic party and could have just said “fuck you”
- There might be something I am missing because I am not American, but isn't the leader of leader of Democratic Party the chairperson? Isn't it Chuck Schumer?
  
  If the party holds the Presidency, the President leads the party in every way that matters.
  
  There are many leaders in each American political party, the leader of their representatives in the house, the leader of their senators, the leader of the party committee, the leader of the governor's association, etc. But when a party controls the White House, the president is generally considered the head honcho. Part of that is respect for the office, part of it is practicality (the president has the biggest ability of any one person to message a party's platform), and part of it is mechanics (every four years at the national convention, the party adopts the platform of their presidential candidate, essentially signing up to work for that person if and when they become president to support enacting that platform. Chuck Schumer is the Majority leader of the Democratic Senate caucus, which makes him very high ranking in the party, but Biden would still "outrank" him, so to speak. Jaime Harrison is the DNC chair, which is largely a fundraising and campaign strategy position vs. a position of power.
- "Leader" is only a title. Money rules and they told him "no more, now GTFO." He was forced out. With no support he really had no choice.
  
  Money rules is a shallow and incomplete view of power, and I’m saying that as an anarchocommunist

Hopefully Harris will win over the American people. A second Trump term is probably the biggest threat to world peace that we could have.

So PBS Frontline has this new documentary that I watched a few weeks ago, "Biden's Decision". As a leftist that voted against Trump, not FOR Biden, I figured I would learn more about his history.
But it was honestly shocking to me that the entire crux of the piece was "Get back up" and "Determination" for all the times Biden ran for president, he himself never really gave a good reason why. Biden decided he wanted to be president, and therefore he spent his whole life running for president, not because he felt he was the most qualified or best for the country. But because he wanted it. Biden wanted to be the one in charge, but historically, he never had many who actually wanted him? Dude only got to the White House when Obama balanced his ticket and then again when his best qualification was "Literally Not Trump".
So while I am glad he dropped out, and somewhat happy for Biden for achieving a life goal, I guess? Still don't see a compelling reason to be enthusiastic for the man, yet it was eye opening that no one has ever been enthusiastic for him. Biden stepping down was the right thing to do, just not the thing he wanted to do. Not really sure that is deserving of praise?
Humility isn't exactly a noble virtue, it's a standard. Not this lifetime running for the sake of running. Glad he is finally out, but that's hardly going above and beyond, it's less than the bare minimum.
- Gen-X here, and likely to be downvoted to hell in this thread, but I remember Biden from the 90's. He was...not a good guy. He had what you might call MAGA energy back then. Constantly fear mongering about crime. Yes, both he and Clinton recently admitted that the "tough on crime" thing was a mistake, but that doesn't really help the situation we find ourselves in now where a significant portion of the population is incarcerated and facing near impossible odds if they ever get out. Their families and society as a whole have paid the price for a few men's political ambitions.
  So, yeah, old man Joe ended up being a fairly decent president (after getting old as fuck, having one son die and the other become a total.loser piece of shit), but he was never "good guy Joe".
  
  ... I remember Biden from the 90’s. He was…not a good guy. He had what you might call MAGA energy back then. ...
  that's the biden i know and i wish i could see him like op does; but it's clear biden hasn't changed his his ways when you take into account all of the lip service he's paid for things like green energy and progressive justice while simultaneously permitting drilling to the highest levels ever in recorded history; using the inflation act to create tariffs to block truly affordable green energy products; and giving nearly unfettered access to weaponry to bomb a defenseless group of people into non-existence.
  he's done this so many times before like when he said that gays deserve compassion and then supported dont ask dont tell and voted for doma; also when he suggested that young people need help and then created the student loan act of 2005 that is currently fucking a lot of us over and for life; plus many MANY more examples.
  i get that it's election season and we want to be nice; but this guy doesn't deserve it for doing the bare minimum.
  
  He had what you might call MAGA energy back then. Constantly fear mongering about crime.
  Here, I'll take some of your downvotes - if being "tough on crime" gives you MAGA energy (and I agree, it does), then what energy does that mean ex-prosecutor, "top cop" Harris has?
  The answer is, it doesn't matter, she is a liberal icon - a Black girl boss (so that's racism and sexism solved! /s)(E: representation is really important, but if she doesn't represent the interests of those like her, is it really a good representation?), a democrat (making her the antifasciest of antifascists, don't you know), and maintainer of the status quo (all libs really care about, they find comfort in the system and want it to continue as it is).
  Sure, She's-Not-Trump™, but that doesn't make her (or anyone the right leaning democratic party would put up) actually good for you, it just means that those in charge get one of their own in, whoever wins.
  And that is the point of the two party system. Shame people are so desperate for a feeling of belonging and community (a feature, not a bug) that they substitute that with uncritical support of team red or team blue, when in reality they should be for "team citizen", which neither party is.
- I disagree that humility is a standard. Yes, it should be, but sadly it is a virtue that isn't found in too many people nowadays. Most people don't really think critically enough about themselves to truly be humble imo.
  
  It actually does sound like you agree with me? If we can both say that it's not found in enough people and that's dissapointing then it is a standard we hold just one not enough meet. Humility isn't common, but since it is such a low bar of understanding yourself it doesn't deserve praise.

Thanks, Brandon.

Ok Joe. Now legalize it.
- I wonder if Harris is still pro-legalization.

You can say a lot about Biden, but he's a fucking class act.

We can stop jerking this guy off now, he's no longer the candidate. I think he was a shit candidate from the beginning, despite being worlds better than Trump.
What could have been if we had Bernie...
- He did a commendable thing his opponent could never do. That is deserving of a meme. Stop being a stick in the mud lol
  
  Fuck genocide Joe. Dudes selfish as fuck and only backed out when he realized he was gonna lose.
  
  Stop living in fantasy. He was forced out, under threat of the 25th amendment. This wasn't some selfless act...he lost his faculties and had to be booted by his own party under threat.

I don't understand the title.

He would have stuck it out stubbornly had he not been pressured. No cookies for Biden.
- So you're saying that a politician listened to members of his party and the voters, sidelining his own ambitions. And you have a problem with that?
  
  I have no doubt that he was presented the near certain possibility of being humiliated (some more) and handing over the remains of American democracy to a group of literal Nazis, just to safeguard his own ego.
  I would have voted for his administration no matter what (I was relatively pleased with it), but I have no fantasies about who Joe is and why he really stepped down. Once Obama started campaigning for him stepping down, it was all over.
  He quit to save his own ego and his "legacy".
  
  It's not just a matter of if, but also when.
  Biden waited until damn near the last possible minute, and probably wouldn't have stepped down if it wasn't for the Trump shooting.

Never should have run in the first place

still a genocide supporter
- Enabler even.
- Useful link for the ones downvoting
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_support_for_Israel_in_the_Israel%E2%80%93Hamas_war

Looks like scumbag steve to me
- Wait until you see genocider-in-chief Xinny