I Picked a Helluva Week to Go on Vacation

The (various) stages of Democratic grief

Greetings from the lake, where life is good, the sunsets are gorgeous, and the grandkids are having a wonderful summer.

So, how’s the rest of the world doing? Okay, I know. I mean, Sweet Jeebus, folks, I leave you alone for a few days and look what you’ve done.

Actually, though, this was a pretty good week to step back and watch the various catastrophes play themselves out. As I told my cousin yesterday, there are times when nothing you say makes much of a difference, nobody really wants to hear it anyway, and it is for these moments that God gave us beer.

Nevertheless, as we slouch toward next week’s Trumpfest in Milwaukee, I wanted to share some random thoughts, along with the obligatory dog pictures.

Plus, this sunset. (And yes, it looked like Godzilla to me, too.)

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You need dog pictures

Auggie is watching.

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His view.

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Flashback. he’s grown a bit since his first visits to the lake.

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But he had a good mentor in his big brother, Moses.

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BONUS: A story about Eli and our laundry room, by J. F. Riordan. (Hilarious and true.)

The Stages of Democratic Grief

For a brief moment, I thought that post-debate Democrats would go through the standard Kübler-Ross stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But it has turned out to be a bit more complicated — and far messier — than that, hasn’t it?

More like:

• Shock

• Panic

• Sadness

• Depression

• Denial

• Anger

• Bargaining

• Stephanopoulos interview

• Depression

• More Denial

• Acceptance

• Fuck acceptance

• Morning Joe appearance

• Damn that iceberg! Full speed ahead!

• Depression

• More Anger

• Blame the media

• Blame the elites

• Blame the Never Trumpers

• Even More Denial

• Depression

• Bargaining

• Panic

• ?

  (Check back with us after tonight’s massively high stakes live press conference.)

“I wish I was more brave”

The quote is from this grim NBC report: “'There's no way out': Democrats feel powerless as 'elites' fall in line behind Biden.”

“I wish I was more brave,” said one Democratic state party chair who thinks Biden should step aside. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because they fear retaliation from the president’s camp. 

“I would be crucified by them if I spoke out of line,” the chair continued.

Where have we heard that before? And where have we seen the yawning chasm between what folks are saying in private vs. what they are willing to say publicly?

Listen to John Heileman’s report from last weekend:

An A+ Democratic Senate source of mine reckons that, of the 51 sitting Ds and independents aligned with the party in the upper chamber, no more than half a dozen… believe he still has a plausible chance in November and want him to stay in the race. The ratio on the House side, as best as I can tell, is roughly the same. 

By Monday, though, it looked like they were all folding. And Democrats found themselves stuck in a gruesome limbo: “Unbendable Biden vs. breaking-point Dems.”

Democrats now find themselves engaging in an elaborate kabuki dance of pressure and persuasion. The strategies take several forms:

Love language: George Clooney: I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee.

I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced.

But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe “big F-ing deal” Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.

Tougher love language: Sen. Peter Welch: Biden should withdraw from the 2024 race

Welch writes: I have great respect for President Biden. He saved our country from a tyrant. He is a man of uncommon decency. He cares deeply about our democracy. He has been one of the best presidents of our time.

But I, like folks across the country, am worried about November’s election. The stakes could not be higher. We cannot unsee President Biden’s disastrous debate performance. We cannot ignore or dismiss the valid questions raised since that night.

Subtle nudges: Pelosi Opens the Door

On the surface, the words she chose sounded innocuous enough. “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” Pelosi told Jonathan Lemire. “We’re all encouraging him to make that decision. Because time is running short.” But for the Democratic political class, her words may as well have been a thunderclap. Biden, of course, has been adamant, over and over again, that he’s already made his decision. Here was Pelosi, the elder stateswoman of the Democratic Party, blowing right past her president’s public statements and firmly and unequivocally resetting the table.  

Several Democrats I’ve spoken with since her appearance—operatives, members, former members, leadership aides—interpreted her remarks as providing permission for members to speak their minds about whether Biden should end his campaign. “Some people saw it as cover, I saw it as her releasing the floodgates,” a Democratic consultant told me. “I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.” 

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And then there were the (much) more pointed critiques:

Mark Leibovich: “Never underestimate the destructive power of a stubborn old narcissist with something to prove.”

It is now obvious that Biden has in no way internalized the disaster toward which he is defiantly ambling—or, more to the point, toward which he is leading his party and his country (and, for that matter, NATO, Ukraine, thousands of as-yet-not-deported immigrants, and unprosecuted Trump “enemies”). He seems fully indifferent to any consideration beyond his own withered pride and raging ego.

“I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all and did the good as job as I know I could do,” Biden said in what was probably the most quoted line—and not favorably—from his Friday-night interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “That’s what it’s all about” is how Biden ended that thought, which seemed to unleash a furious internal cry from so many viewers: No, that’s not what this is all about.

Mona Charen: “It’s Time for Biden to Put Country First”

It’s worth dwelling for a moment on the fundamentals here. When it comes to a president’s mental and physical health, voters are unforgiving. At a primitive level, they are choosing someone to be able to respond to a natural disaster or military attack. A potential president must clear this bar. It’s the primate part of our brains. No doubt millions of Americans would vote for a comatose Biden over Trump, but there aren’t enough voters like us to be certain of victory. As Bill Clinton is reported to have said, “Strong and wrong beats weak and right every time.”

Vanity Fair: “Joe Biden Is Putting His Legacy on the Line: “Everything Will Be Seen as His Fault”

Before the debate, Biden had seemed fated—even with all his first-term accomplishments, and even if he pulled off a second presidential campaign win—to be remembered as a solid supporting actor to more compelling leading men, Barack Obama and Trump. Now, though, he is risking a large, unhappy legacy. “If he continues running and loses, everything will be seen as his fault,” a second Democratic strategist says. “Every Senate seat lost, every House seat lost, every right that Trump takes away. You own everything.”

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Finally, there are the apocalyptic warnings, via The Atlantic:

You can read the whole thing here (gift link):

Standing up for the rule of law

Very proud to add my name to this: 600+ Lawyers and Public Officials Sign Statement of Principles in Support of the Rule of Law - Society for the Rule of Law

From the press release: “Signatories include George Conway, J. Michael Luttig, former Reps. Barbara Comstock, Mickey Edwards, and Tom Malinowski, gold star parent Khizr Khan, political commentator Charlie Sykes, and six current and former judges and justices.”

The Society is a nationwide membership organization of legal conservatives and others of all political leanings who are alarmed at the current threats to American democracy. The “Statement of Principles to Preserve, Protect, and Defend the Constitution, the Rule of Law, and American Democracy” affirms that all American citizens — especially public officials charged with enacting and enforcing America’s laws — have a constitutional duty to:

• Accept the legitimacy, respect the authority, and abide by the decisions and judgments of the federal courts interpreting the Constitution and laws of the United States

• Respect the rule of law by honoring the truth and speaking against untruths that undermine respect for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the courts 

• Oppose efforts to undermine respect for the federal courts and the individual justices and judges who serve in the judiciary

• Support and defend the fundamental American principle that no person is above, beneath, or beyond the law

• Defend the constitutional rights of all Americans, respect the results of elections, and insist upon the peaceful transfer of power

You can add your name here.

Meanwhile, in Milwaukee:

The Heritage Foundation wants folks to know that this is *their*convention—-> The first thing RNC attendees will see when they arrive in Milwaukee: