In case anyone wants to be more informed or is simply interested in reading some of the details related to the Hunter Biden/Joe Biden/China hullabaloo, Politico spells it out — in no uncertain terms.
Some of it isn’t particularly uplifting for those of us who support Biden, but one point made in the writeup that’s reassuring is this: there is no evidence that Joe Biden was orchestrating these activities, or benefiting from them.
Here’s the link: https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/oct/19/fact-checking-claims-about-hunter-biden-joe-biden-/
Nan's Notebook 
Thanks, Nan. Our illustrious swamp-creature friends are still trying to pedal debunked Russian tales from Putin. We have had interference and propaganda in the past, but Trump and minions are the first to wallow in it.
At this point, they will grab any straw they can find. They are drowning in a cesspool of their own making.
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But it’s already ”out there” as they say.
You know when the knives are out there’s going to be trouble? And it looks more and more ominous.
From an outsider’s perspective, Biden has no real ” Star Peronality”.
I did reckon Donald T was going to win another term and I am going to stand by that.
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What, exactly, is “out there”?
As to your last sentence, I truly hope you’re wrong. Contrary to the beliefs of his supporters, he has done NOTHING except UNDO and REMOVE anything Obama put into place. That’s been his goal from the start and every action he’s taken has been with that goal in mind.
-IF- he should win another term, I’ve no doubt he’ll finish the job. And then what? He essentially has no clue on how to run a government.
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The negative press Biden and his son seem to have been getting via the Trump circus.
It is the same when any such story is shown to be nonsense when those supporters of the opposing team are interviewed there are always those who will state that there must have something to the story in the first place.
I was glancing at headlines from several articles on the Stream and also part of a video I came across by David Wood on Biden’s supposed Islamic sympathies.
Wood is a raving headcase but based on comments Republicans live him.
Hey, I hear you, and I think Trump has no place in office, or pretty muchg anywhere for that matter, but what do I know? I’m a ”foreigner”.
You know more about your political system than I ever will, so what do you think is the answer to booting Trump out?
Can Biden really oust him?
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That last question is a toss-up, IMO. Naturally, I’m hoping YES! He’ll send him packing! But we can’t forget the 2016 “surprise” — so anyone counting the chickens before they’re hatched is a lot more confident than me.
Yea, you’re right. Dirt is dirt and the more the better when it comes to politics!
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Ark, when it was unequivocally proven that our 2016 elections were interfered with, distorted, effed-up from foreign powers/enemies, THAT time was at the very end of Obama’s Administration. Since Jan. 2017 not a damn thing has been done to go after the culprits and not a damn thing has been done to protect our 2020 elections. If anything, the culprit nation(s) has been helped by this Administration.
This begs the question, Will it make any difference what the majority of Americans want in our White House? The Popular vote does not decide who wins. Unfortunately it is the Electoral College that decides:
* – Source: https://www.usa.gov/election
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Sorry, I didn’t remove the hyper-links “tooltip.” 😬
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All the bills produced by the house, some bi-partisan, have yet to be brought to the flor by McConnell. McConnell ended the sanctions against Russia. McConnell (and others) received rubles from Deripaska. Oleg Deripaska is a Russian oligarch who until 2018 headed United Company Rusal, the second-largest aluminum company in the world.
He has invested millions in the Kentucky aluminum company. Two or three million $ were donated to McConnell’s senate re-election war chest. Deripaska is banned from the U.S., but he has connections. The bill for money the House wanted to go to election security still sits on McConnell’s desk. McConnell and Trump will take no action to secure the election machinery from foreign meddling. They need the help.
Check it out. I may be a big bs’er.
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“Negative press via the Trump circus” does not qualify as press. The only way Trump will ‘win’ reelection is if the GOP and some judges are able to suppress the vote and challenge every vote that is not for Trump. He said himself that he nor any GOP candidate could ever again be elected if there was a fair election. He is yet to win a legitimate election.
It is not up to Biden, but the voters to ‘oust’ him. We should pay attention to the number of prominent Republicans and conservatives to either abandon the party or vote against Trump.
However, no guarantees. Simply knowing they are crooks doesn’t defeat them. But We have a democratically governed Republic which many of us see as worth saving. Donald Trump has never exemplified America and the GOP is now in that status. We will do our best and hope for the best.
I don’t know what planet you hail from, but we appreciate your interest in our affairs.
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I live in South Africa. I think you’ll find it is on the same planet you live on.
I know it’s not ”up to Biden” – I do have a smattering of knowledge how an election works, or more importantly how an election campaign works. and it is up to Biden to ensure he and his party carry the day.
I just don’t think he has that je ne sais quoi if you like to beat Trump – even as revolting as he is.
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I recognized the image of Akhenaten as an earthling. I had checked your profile and found a blank. You seem to be excitable. I did not mean anything offensive in that comment about another planet.
It is perfectly O. K. if you doubt Biden can win. The pollsters seem to think he has what t takes. I have high hopes. But as I said, there are no guarantees in these things. Even winning does not mean a clear victory.
Negative press is what Trump gets, and he likes it that way. I would like to see the journalists, just once, turn off cameras and mics when he starts lying. Well. That would be every time he speaks, huh?
We will probably never know how much damage Trump has done to our image around the world. Another four years of this and we will have U. N. peacekeepers in our streets. We are effectively reduced to a ‘Banana Republic.’ He has insulted our friends and pushed the boundaries of diplomacy and foreign relations.
I appreciate your comments and interest in our civil affairs.
Well, the debate is about to begin. I’ve got to pop some corn.
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Well, my blog should give a fair indication of who/what I am etc.
Comes from having a hot wife I suppose.
Or maybe it’s in the genes. Or would that be jeans?
I don’t reckon there is as much damage as you believe.
People are fairly resiliant and tend to bounce back to normality easily enough.
Anyway, I read somewhere that a country gets the government it deserves – SA included – and you at least have some power to effect change.
X marks the spot and all that, right?
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I, too, have the same feeling that DT is likely to carry the day & the question is what does that mean for the US and maybe the rest of the world?
Will he escalate his trade war with China to a real war?
What will be the relationship with the Middle East?
And many such questions?
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Greetings ”Number 30”, my ”third world” compatriot! 😉
Mak, I wonder if outsiders in general believe the US is in for another 4 years of Donny T?
Perhaps the locals have a better handle on the issue at hand or do they tend to see things more through rose tinted glasses?
Either way, we will all find out quite soon
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If their last election is anything to go by, polls don’t matter. And two, it does seem from an outsider view that Trump’ s support doesn’t seem to have been affected by his misdemeanours
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My reading of the situation too.
People do like a show!
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I have little doubt that yours and Mak’s “outside” observations have merit. Being mired in the mud, it’s sometimes difficult for one to see clearly. Nevertheless, I do hope there are enough sane-thinking U.S. citizens that will boot this guy back to where he came from. The antics of a carnival clown are only fun to watch for a limited time. 🤡
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When one considers how narrow the margin of such ‘sane thinking Americans’ was last time around I’m not going to hold my breath.
But I can always pray if you think it will help?
Let me know.
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At this point, it may be worth trying! ACK!!!
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We’re all sitting on the edge of everything, waiting for the end of all of this.
What Biden has is grace, and intelligence, and the ability to out think and possibly out manuever Trump. You gotta remember, Trump is still campaigning against Obama, who has since moved on, and Ms. Clinton, who has since moved on, and now and then he brings up McCain (who has REALLY moved on) as well as Hunter Biden, and probably Jimmy Carter. Little sparks in the sky of his campaign.
He has also tried to sabotage the Postal Service (we won’t know how well that works until further down the road) and then urged everyone to get out there and mail in your votes. Think about that one carefully.
People who voted early may never see their votes counted. Most folks who did use absentee ballots, whenever possible personally deposited them in drop boxes. The rest of us are going to vote on the big day.
Sometimes the winner is the one who never threw a punch. I think of it as the Bugs Bunny defense. He always won, but he let the bad guys do all the hard work, and beat themselves up. They make themselves look bad in the process.
Ark, we have to keep hoping. It’s all we have.
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Spot-on analysis, Judy! And yes, at this point, hope (plus voting) is all we have. And maybe for those who believe in “greater powers,” maybe a few prayers as well. 😛
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I just sat through the debate. We got a good look at ‘what is already out there.’ Trump simply replayed all his tweets. The false accusations, the messages he picks up from Fox, OANN, Limbaugh, Proud Boys, Boogaloo Boys, Christian Nationalists. For each question, since he had no answers, he simply attacked Biden’s family, rehashed all the long-ago disproven Russian vacuum-cleaner dirt.
Trump has nothing to point to as his achievements of the past four years and he offers nothing to encourage voters to give him another four years. He has against him his failure to address the pandemic and the resulting economic upheaval. He has against him the past four years which he has achieved nothing. All he has to point to is his executive orders over-turning Obama administration laws and regulations.
” He’s a real nowhere man. Sitting in his nowhere land. Making all his nowhere plans for nobody.”
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Consider who the Attorney General is, and his open wish to please Dear Leader in any way possible. If there was any truth to any criminal activity that could be tied to Joe Biden, he would be defending himself in court right now. And they do not have dirt on Hunter Biden or the same action would apply.
Julie Annie fumbled the ‘copied laptop hard drive.’ Now they want to bring up suspect dealings with China? I don’t think that is wise on their part, but let them go for it. They are in panic mode and it shows.
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Politifact.com and other fact-checking sites come in very handy in this high rhetoric, yell-don’t-listen, highly propagandized political climate we Americans are drowning in, do they not? 😉
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It is a wonderful thing to be able to search for answers to verify political pontifications. I prefer apolitical sites.
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Agreed cagjr.
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I am also a rank outsider looking in from outside the USA. I am looking past this current election to what comes next and IF by chance DT wins this election or stays in power by whatever devious means necessary, I am seeing him pushing for a third term. Yes, a third term. It’s his dream to remain in power for life and if it takes an amendment to the Constitution, and he has the votes in the Senate, and he already has the backing of the Supreme Court, Watch out.
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I am reasonably sure that if Trump stays in the White House for another four years, there will not be another election. Think about that as we watch the debate.
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that occurred to me quite some time ago, too. However, his health is so precarious right now I doubt if he could make it all the way through a next term. That would leave us with President Pence.
Im amazed that no one has tried to put this guy out of our misery, truly.
My husband thinks Trump is just swell. We don’t discuss poliltics in this house. =)
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Good morning. A house divided and all that. I don’t have that problem but with the rest of the family, there is disagreement. My wife and two of her sisters cannot speak. We live in a red zone, complete with a red militia. Life just gets better, year by year.
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My other-half detests Trump, BUT … he’s a Republican and that takes precedence over whoever is running the party. And unfortunately, I think there are a LOT of others that see it the same way.
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It’s obvious it isn’t who is running, but the party he’s running FOR. That is no way to elect anyone, with blind belief in a system. It’s the same thing with “my country, right or wrong”, which seems to give some people the sense that they can do what they want, without retribution.
No. Just no.
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Thanks Nan!!!
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So what. I say, to the Hunter Biden gibberish, so what. This is a bad play on tRump’s part. It is the proverbial pot calling the kettle black. Trump has desensitized Americans to almost every awful thing a president can be accused of by being accused of them all himself and teaching a country, or half of it, not to care. If Trump manages to win this, and without voter suppression and cheating I don’t now think he will as I’ve never in my 40 years of voting seen this kind of voter turnout, it won’t be because of this. Who effing cares?! Truly, beside the trumpanzees and Qanon idiots who already think Biden is eating children in the basements of pizza parlors with with Hillary Clinton, who effing cares at this point about effing Hunter Biden? We already have a rapist president who has been conspiring with Putin to ruin America for the past four years and half the damned country simply doesn’t care. So, yes, Trump can win. He has the power of the executive branch to suppress the vote and keep people’s votes from counting, and he surely is capable of doing that, but it ain’t gonna be because of Hunter Biden. And you know what, if he does that and wins, half the country will cheer and the other half probably will shrug their damned shoulders and say, “Hmmm..go figure. Oh, well, back to my life.” Ya gits da government ya deserves, I always say.
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IOW, as delightful Doris used to sing (before your time?), “What will be will be. The future’s not ours to see.”
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True. And, I must say, I’ve never experienced an election with this kind of a voter turn out. Thor knows what will happen. Let’s just hope, as you’ve said, enough of us vote to toss this idjit to the curb. Man, am I sick of it.
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I don’t know what to think about some of these comments.
On the one hand, an argument is made that we are about to have our election stolen. On the other hand, “we get the government we deserve.” “Que sera sera.” Et tu, Nan?
What I have seen is people working to get our citizens out to register and to vote. I see record-breaking donations to candidates and organizations with volunteers working to get out the vote. As a matter of fact, the GOP is trying to sue or investigate ActBlue because it has handled a majority of those financial transactions. I see the voters doing what is in their power to do.
Republicans have lawsuits in several states in an attempt to stifle the vote. Trump has declared publicly that he wants Barrett on the SC bench before the election because he needs the SC to hand him a second term, whether or not he has a winning campaign. Some of the GOP controlled states are making it nearly impossible for people to cast a legal ballot.
The 2016 election was stolen from the populace. They/we did not deserve Donald J. Trump.
President Obama placed sanctions on Russia to punish them for their interference. Obama expelled several Russian agents because of their spying activities. As soon as Trump was in office, McConnell with the power of the Senate and the approval of Trump removed those sanctions. This is certainly not what the good people of Kentucky had in mind when they returned Moscow Mitch to the Senate. But they probably did not know how much money Russia had invested in McConnell. Millions. And he doesn’t deny it.
In response to the knowledge that Russia had interfered with our election, there were bipartisan bills passed in the House to provide the money necessary for the states to make the changes necessary to prevent future elections from suffering the same problems. The bills have never been brought to the floor of the Senate nor passed to committees.
The past three years and nine months have been a busy time for the GOP, the Christian Nationalists, and the Federalist Society. They have installed judges whom the American Bar declared to be unfit for Federal judgeships. Every administrative cabinet in the government has been rendered useless by the administration. Every Inspector General who could and would expose the illegal activities of the administration has been fired. This is not the fault of the voters. Businesses do not hire CPA knowing that they will bankrupt them.
So, everything has been put in place by this blathering idiot* to make it near impossible to unseat him. This is not what the citizens of America deserve. Not even those Republicans who vote in good faith. Not those Christians who follow their church leader’s encouragement to vote to their own detriment. Maybe they wear rose-colored glasses. Maybe they wear blinders. Intentional ignorance.
*We are fond of describing Trump as all manners of stupid, incompetent, disconnected, etcetera, ad infinitum. But look at what he has engineered. The conservative Republican party no longer exists. He owns the GOP Senate. He owns the Supreme Court. He owns the Christian Nationalists.
I doubt that we will know the outcome on 11/04. Whatever the result. don’t blame the victims. Don’t blame the people who still believe in their democratically governed republic. They/we still believe in the constitution and all that it offers us if we will just maintain it. We still believe we can elect honorable men and women to lead us toward a more perfect union. Many of us still believe in our religious leaders to guide us in the way we should go.
I remember when I first began to question my pastors. Ar first I had simply ‘fallen through the cracks.’ My brother suggested I find a good ——— pastor and just listen. Finally, I was a braying jackass with too many books, a headstrong miscreant in danger of church discipline. I find it a little odd that I have more confidence in my politicians than the church.
“I speak to these pastors” across the country, he said. “This is the one thing they say: ‘Politics is dirty.’ My response to them is, ‘So is the church. So what’s your point?’ ”
Stewart, Katherine. The Power Worshippers (p. 100). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition.
If not for the church, I probably wouldn’t be an atheist. :->
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Cagjr, feel like I want to jump in and address your comments. I did follow your link and attempted to respond, but my comment to you was not published. Thank you for the book recommendation also.
To me, any church that attempts to censor or condemn people based in their political views has crossed a line. For instance, I didn’t agree with Elijah Cummings politics, but I know God loves Him. God is not in the business of killing people because they happen to disagree with Donald Trump. I have not known any of these Christian nationalists since I really don’t attend a conservative denomination. Their views sound positively blasphemous to me.
I personally think that regardless of who wins this election, in the long term we will be ok. Above all my opinion is that we need to hold on to each other and not reject one another based in our differences. It’s heartbreaking to me to hear about families and friendships being fractured. What’s really important?
Hey, we’re in this together. Pax.
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… regardless of who wins this election, in the long term we will be ok.
You really think we’ll be ok, do you? Are you even the slightest bit concerned that Trump has made subtle and not-so-subtle comments that should he win this round, he’s going for the gold? To anyone paying attention, it’s more than apparent that he sees himself as the King, the Emperor, the American-style Putin. In fact, as regards that last individual, it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s getting pointers from the man himself on how to accomplish this goal.
You may pooh-pooh this scenario, but I’m far from being the only one that see this. It’s just ONE of the reasons why some of us are so very, very concerned about this election.
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You are very right in that, Nan. Trump already has the blessing of the church and the GOP. He will probably fail in the popular vote as well as the electoral college and he knows it, but he is prepared to call in his markers with the SCOTUS.
I saw a cartoon a couple of weeks ago. RBG and Scalia meet inside the Pearly Gates. They share warm greetings. Then a text bubble has Scalia saying under his breath, “6/3 Ruth. 6/3. 6/3”, with one of his acid smiles. I don’t recall the artist.
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Nan, take a person with a reputation for being untruthful and corrupt. Make him president. Have a campaign manager who made money help Russian proxies get elected in Ukraine and who has daily contact with a Russian agent (per the GOP led Senate Intelligence Committee), fire everyone who does not genuflect to said president and put on place an AG who is favorably disposed, and engage a shadow diplomacy (and unvetted by Senate) through the president’s attorney whose reputation had tanked after being America’s mayor and take counsel from people who went to jail for lying to officials. These are the folks making accusations.
Did Hunter Biden parlay his father’s name? Probably. Did he doing anything illegal? That seems not to be the case. But, let’s flip it? Does Hunter work in the White House like the president’s daughter and son-in-law do? Did Trump really divorce himself from his business dealings and does he expect people to use his hotels or be frowned on? All it takes is “where did you stay last night?” How did the son-in-law get a $1.2 balloon loan payment paid off, especially after the CIA said he was shopping for help and was a security risk.
Just a few observations. Oh, and how about those tax returns? Keith
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If Biden has chosen to do so, he had enough ammunition to blow Trump off the stage last night, but he’s far too much of a gentleman. Plus he’s smart. He knows that criticizing/contradicting/castigating Trump simply endears him even more to his (Trump) supporters.
I did find it interesting, however, that Trump didn’t lambast him on the Hunter China thing. I think many fully expected it to be a prime topic.
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Maybe you know Baratunde Thurston. Maybe not. It doesn’t matter. In my previous post to Inspired, I got a little rushed. I wanted to thank our out-of-town guests for their concern and input concerning our ‘delicate condition.’ (Who remembers “Papa’s Delicate Condition” with The Great One?) Arkenaten, Makagutu, and Gus. I don’t think I’m alone in appreciating your comments. Having lived through this Trumpmare for three-plus years, I wonder about the damage done to our friends and allies abroad. If Biden is elected, I wonder how long it will take to restore our relationships and regain their confidence. Where would our young Republic be today without France and the other nations who financed our war for independence? We might be just another colony serving the Crown and the Church.
I was watching Lawrence O’Donnell and he had Baratunde Thurston as a guest. I was reminded that I needed to share this video. Win, lose, or draw, the story does not end here.
https://news.yahoo.com/baratunde-thurston-gets-soap-box-215300909.html
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Nan, that was what I was talking about earlier, the Bugs Bunny defense. you let the other guy beat himself up, and try to avoid those round house punches. I think Biden also realizes that any kind of comeback he could make would pull the debate into a shouting match and he’d lose points very quickly.
We’re dealing with a mentally damaged president. You can’t show emotion, if you do, you’re in trouble, because he plays off of that emotion, big time.
And dont think we aren’t terrified. We so do NOT deserve the government we have, and by the harry most of us voted for Hillary anyway, by 3 million votes. I think that, right there, says it.
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