President Biden

[horsefly 4,287]

3 hours ago, Herman said:

 

That's brilliant

[The Raptor 1,199]

Poor Joe getting impeached in his first week!

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jan/21/marjorie-taylor-greene-files-articles-impeachment-/

 

She sounds sane...

[horsefly 4,287]

5 hours ago, The Raptor said:

Poor Joe getting impeached in his first week!

 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/jan/21/marjorie-taylor-greene-files-articles-impeachment-/

 

She sounds sane...

All she needs to do is replace Biden's name with Trump and she has a cast-iron case

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

Portland police arrest 15 alleged Antifa rioters after Democrat HQ attacked

The crowd also attacked a federal immigration control office and were reportedly armed with knives and batons

ByDaniel Capurro22 January 2021 • 10:23am

Police released mugshots of eight of the arrested suspects CREDIT: Portland Police

Police in Portland, Oregon have arrested fifteen suspects after a mob of around 200 alleged Antifa members smashed up the Democrat headquarters and federal immigration offices in the city on Wednesday, while three people were arrested after a crowd in Seattle attacked buildings and burnt a US flag.

The two Pacific Northwest cities have been hotspots for protests and violence since the Black Lives Matter demonstrations began last year in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd.

There were also protests in Denver, Colorado; Columbus, Ohio and Sacramento in California.

Portland Police released photographs of eight of the 15 arrested suspects as well as images of confiscated items including knives, batons and bullet-proof vests.

Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd 

"Some of the crowd had pepperball guns, electronic control weapons, large fireworks, shields and rocks," said Portland police spokesman Kevin Allen.

Federal police, who were initially deployed to the city during the Black Lives Matter protests, were reported to have used tear gas, stun grenades and other non-lethal munitions to disperse the crowd.

The Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement building that the rioters attacked had been a target during previous bouts of violence last year. Demonstrators have demanded that ICE, which enforces immigration law, be abolished. 

Police did not comment on the political nature of the crowd, but the violence came on a day when several far-left demonstrations were planned to put pressure on the new Biden administration to swiftly introduce immigration, racial justice and policing reforms.

Seven of the 15 suspects detained in Portland had been arrested at previous Antifa protests, while The New York Times reported that one flier handed out at the Seattle demonstration attacked Biden over "his stupid" crime bill passed in 1994, which was blamed for leading to mass incarcerations.

The Portland group was also reported to be carrying a banner reading: “We don’t want Biden – we want revenge!” and to have chanted “f--k Biden”

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

On 21/01/2021 at 06:48, horsefly said:

There is great hope when this young woman speaks for the nation:

The pernicious 4 years of Trump hatred exposed and shamed in 5 minutes of eloquence and grace

Congratulations to Amanda Gorman, who is, at 22, the youngest ever poet for the inauguration of a US president. She stole the show with her style and poise – fabulous look, tremendous assurance. The pundits are united in their view that a Star Is Born; Michelle Obama has given her imprimatur; ditto Oprah.

Trouble is the actual poem.

Amanda was given the theme of America United. The Hill We Climb is the result. Without pretending to be in the FR and Queenie Leavis league when it comes to literary sensibility, I couldn’t make sense of it. I mean, I got bits of it, I got the sentiment, I got the stream of consciousness, the emotion, I got the sub-Martin Luther King flow. But trying to make the whole thing cohere, structurally and grammatically – and in terms of sense – was another matter. 

I may be wrong, of course, and wilfully dim. God knows I get things wrong myself. Maybe this is how poetry works now. But let me show you a little of what I mean. Here’s the text, with a few comments interspersed:

'When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry. A sea we must wade.

(How does 'The loss we carry. A sea we must wade' follow from the first line about finding light, unless it’s simply to make 'wade' rhyme with 'shade'?)

We braved the belly of the beast.

(Eh?)

We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace, and the norms and notions of what 'just' is isn’t always justice.

And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it.

Somehow we do it.

Somehow we weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken, but simply unfinished.

(Alliteration – 'weathered and witnessed' – doesn’t mean the two verbs make sense or work together)

We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny Black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president, only to find herself reciting for one.

(This is a weird sentence. You get the gist, of course. But where does the 'We' that begins the line go in search of a verb? If the sentence began with 'a skinny black girl…can dream of becoming president, only to find herself…' it could sort of work. But following on from the 'We, the successors…' it doesn’t. Sorry.)

And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect.

(What’s with the 'but' here? Maybe 'for we are not striving'? Dunno.)

We are striving to forge our union with purpose.

(Shouldn’t it be a comma, to make sense of the next infinitive, 'to compose…'?)

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.

And so we lift our gaze, not to what stands between us, but what stands before us.

We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside.

We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another.

We seek harm to none and harmony for all.

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true.

(The globe? The world, surely? And let’s lose the full stop so the next line follows.)

That even as we grieved, we grew.

That even as we hurt, we hoped.

That even as we tired, we tried.

That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.

Not because we will never again know defeat, but because we will never again sow division.

Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid.

If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made.

That is the promised glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare.

It’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit.

It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.

We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation, rather than share it.

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.

And this effort very nearly succeeded.

But while democracy can be periodically delayed, it can never be permanently defeated.

(This refers to the incursion of extremists into Congress, which took place while our poet was at work. But while the lines from 'We’ve seen a force…' try for grandiosity, they collapse with the mundane 'this effort very nearly succeeded.' The lines don’t hang together.)

In this truth, in this faith we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us.

This is the era of just redemption.

We feared at its inception.

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour.

But within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves.

So, while once we asked, how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert, how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was, but move to what shall be: a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free.

We will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, become the future.

(You could just about get away with declaiming all this at a rally…but as poetry?)

Our blunders become their burdens.

But one thing is certain.

If we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.

('changes', no?…is the subject 'we' or 'love'?)

So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left.

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one.

(Stop it right there. Does this sentence hang together? If it went from 'every breath…' to 'will raise this wounded world' it might make sense. If it started with 'we will raise this wounded world' it might make sense. But can our poet make her mind up about what’s doing the raising of this wounded world?)

We will rise from the golden hills of the West.

We will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realised revolution.

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states.

We will rise from the sun-baked South.

We will rebuild, reconcile, and recover.

And every known nook of our nation and every corner called our country, our people diverse and beautiful, will emerge battered and beautiful.

When day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid.

The new dawn blooms as we free it.

For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it.

If only we’re brave enough to be it.'

This kind of poetry and this kind of emotional declamation and all the intermittently dramatic diction are very much the stuff of contemporary poetry recitals. But once you stop being uplifted by the authenticity of the emotion and the beauty of the speaker and actually try to get your head round the syntax and the sense, you just have to give up. 

The thing about Martin Luther King’s diction – and he was an orator, not poet – was that it was sonorous, beautiful and rousing but it also made grammatical sense. His sentences hung together. This poem falls down on both counts. 

Take the poem away from the moment of delivery and look at the actual text, and The Hill We Climb turns out, I think, to be just a bit rubbish.

Melanie McDonagh

Or what happens when you give a job based on identity rather than competence. RTB.

Edited January 22, 2021 by Rock The Boat

[Bill 1,788]

33 minutes ago, Rock The Boat said:

Or what happens when you give a job based on being black rather than being white

there, fixed it for you

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 hour ago, Rock The Boat said:

Portland police arrest 15 alleged Antifa rioters after Democrat HQ attacked

The crowd also attacked a federal immigration control office and were reportedly armed with knives and batons

ByDaniel Capurro22 January 2021 • 10:23am

Police released mugshots of eight of the arrested suspects CREDIT: Portland Police

Police in Portland, Oregon have arrested fifteen suspects after a mob of around 200 alleged Antifa members smashed up the Democrat headquarters and federal immigration offices in the city on Wednesday, while three people were arrested after a crowd in Seattle attacked buildings and burnt a US flag.

The two Pacific Northwest cities have been hotspots for protests and violence since the Black Lives Matter demonstrations began last year in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd.

There were also protests in Denver, Colorado; Columbus, Ohio and Sacramento in California.

Portland Police released photographs of eight of the 15 arrested suspects as well as images of confiscated items including knives, batons and bullet-proof vests.

Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd 

"Some of the crowd had pepperball guns, electronic control weapons, large fireworks, shields and rocks," said Portland police spokesman Kevin Allen.

Federal police, who were initially deployed to the city during the Black Lives Matter protests, were reported to have used tear gas, stun grenades and other non-lethal munitions to disperse the crowd.

The Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement building that the rioters attacked had been a target during previous bouts of violence last year. Demonstrators have demanded that ICE, which enforces immigration law, be abolished. 

Police did not comment on the political nature of the crowd, but the violence came on a day when several far-left demonstrations were planned to put pressure on the new Biden administration to swiftly introduce immigration, racial justice and policing reforms.

Seven of the 15 suspects detained in Portland had been arrested at previous Antifa protests, while The New York Times reported that one flier handed out at the Seattle demonstration attacked Biden over "his stupid" crime bill passed in 1994, which was blamed for leading to mass incarcerations.

The Portland group was also reported to be carrying a banner reading: “We don’t want Biden – we want revenge!” and to have chanted “f--k Biden”

I don't see your point here. This isn't Black Lives Matter. This is just anarchy. I despise it as much as you do.

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

Biden proving he can't organise a p!ss up in a brewery

Thousands of national guardsmen were turfed out of the Capitol building on Thursday and sent to sleep in car parks, before being allowed back in late at night after complaints from lawmakers. Despite the quick reversal, two Republican governors commanded their troops home in protest.

US Capitol police had ordered the reservists to vacate the building and set up camp outdoors with thousands ending up stationed outside or in car parks.

“Yesterday dozens of senators and congressmen walked down our lines taking photos, shaking our hands and thanking us for our service. Within 24 hours, they had no further use for us and banished us to the corner of a parking garage. We feel incredibly betrayed,” one of the guardsmen told Politico.

The guardsman told the news site that they had been forced to rest in a car park with just a single electrical socket, no internet reception and just one lavatory for 5,000 troops. 

All National Guard troops had been told to vacate the Capitol and nearby buildings on Thursday, although it was unclear why.

Initial reports of the move caused outrage among Democratic and Republican Senators and members of Congress alike.

[Herman 9,715]

Probably MAGA types infiltrating Antifa. You know what they're like.😉

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

1 minute ago, keelansgrandad said:

I don't see your point here. This isn't Black Lives Matter. This is just anarchy. I despise it as much as you do.

Nobody mentioned BLM. It's Antifa. They control downtown Portland and are going to cause trouble for the next four years.

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

2 minutes ago, Herman said:

Probably MAGA types infiltrating Antifa. You know what they're like.😉

Probably not.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

1 minute ago, Rock The Boat said:

Biden proving he can't organise a p!ss up in a brewery

Thousands of national guardsmen were turfed out of the Capitol building on Thursday and sent to sleep in car parks, before being allowed back in late at night after complaints from lawmakers. Despite the quick reversal, two Republican governors commanded their troops home in protest.

US Capitol police had ordered the reservists to vacate the building and set up camp outdoors with thousands ending up stationed outside or in car parks.

“Yesterday dozens of senators and congressmen walked down our lines taking photos, shaking our hands and thanking us for our service. Within 24 hours, they had no further use for us and banished us to the corner of a parking garage. We feel incredibly betrayed,” one of the guardsmen told Politico.

The guardsman told the news site that they had been forced to rest in a car park with just a single electrical socket, no internet reception and just one lavatory for 5,000 troops. 

All National Guard troops had been told to vacate the Capitol and nearby buildings on Thursday, although it was unclear why.

Initial reports of the move caused outrage among Democratic and Republican Senators and members of Congress alike.

I don't see Bidens name mentioned in that report. It says US Capitol Police.

 

1 minute ago, Rock The Boat said:

Nobody mentioned BLM. It's Antifa. They control downtown Portland and are going to cause trouble for the next four years.

But they could well be Trump supporters as much as Biden so why post it on the Biden thread?

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

1 minute ago, keelansgrandad said:

I don't see Bidens name mentioned in that report. It says US Capitol Police.

 

But they could well be Trump supporters as much as Biden so why post it on the Biden thread?

Not including you in this but there have been plenty of cheerleaders for Antifa on this messageboard because they saw Antifa as a direct threat to President Trump. Those idiots on here now can take a look that just one day into the new President's term and the anarchists are continuing their agenda to pull down the State, regardless of whether that is a Democrat or Republican government. It's on the Biden thread because it's his problem now and he needs to deal with it.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

2 minutes ago, Rock The Boat said:

Not including you in this but there have been plenty of cheerleaders for Antifa on this messageboard because they saw Antifa as a direct threat to President Trump. Those idiots on here now can take a look that just one day into the new President's term and the anarchists are continuing their agenda to pull down the State, regardless of whether that is a Democrat or Republican government. It's on the Biden thread because it's his problem now and he needs to deal with it.

I am sure he will. 

[Herman 9,715]

Antifa is Anti-Fascist shortened so I am Antifa.

[Thirsty Lizard 3,155]

11 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

I am sure he will. 

Yes, unlike Trump who had four years to fix it and failed in this just as he failed in everything else. (Except playing golf which he managed to do an awful lot of).

[Herman 9,715]

6 minutes ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

Yes, unlike Trump who had four years to fix it and failed in this just as he failed in everything else. (Except playing golf which he managed to do an awful lot of).

Donald "Mulligan" Trump.😀

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

5 minutes ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

Yes, unlike Trump who had four years to fix it and failed in this just as he failed in everything else. (Except playing golf which he managed to do an awful lot of).

Little Trump could do when the city administrators of Portland are Democrat and supporters of Antifa. The administrators even drove out the African-American Chief of Police Danielle Outlaw from Portland because she backed tough measures to deal with Antifa. 

Biden's just found out he won't be able to do a lot either, but you won't find any on the right cheerleading Antifa. And now Antifa have just smashed up the Democrat HQ.

What did Biden say about Antifa before the election? Antifa was not an actual thing, just an idea.

Well an idea just trashed one of his offices. 

[Thirsty Lizard 3,155]

9 minutes ago, Rock The Boat said:

Little Trump could do when the city administrators of Portland are Democrat and supporters of Antifa. The administrators even drove out the African-American Chief of Police Danielle Outlaw from Portland because she backed tough measures to deal with Antifa. 

Biden's just found out he won't be able to do a lot either, but you won't find any on the right cheerleading Antifa. And now Antifa have just smashed up the Democrat HQ.

What did Biden say about Antifa before the election? Antifa was not an actual thing, just an idea.

Well an idea just trashed one of his offices. 

Was it an idea that trashed the Capitol a couple of weeks back? 

[Thirsty Lizard 3,155]

16 hours ago, Rock The Boat said:

Congratulations to Amanda Gorman, who is, at 22, the youngest ever poet for the inauguration of a US president. She stole the show with her style and poise – fabulous look, tremendous assurance. The pundits are united in their view that a Star Is Born; Michelle Obama has given her imprimatur; ditto Oprah.

 

Okay RTB I admit it. Us lefties have got MAGA, QAnon, Trump supporters etc all wrong.

We thought that they were a bunch of vile, swivel eyed, conspiracy theory spouting racists. 

Turns out that all they want to do is indulge in rambling critiques of poetry. 🤣 🤣

[A Load of Squit 5,128]

This is good, Kamala Harris announces her resignation as a senator. 😀

 

 

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

Now trending on Twitter

 

 #bidenerasedwomen

 

Oh dear, Day 3 and it's not going very well, is it?

[A Load of Squit 5,128]

1 hour ago, Rock The Boat said:

Now trending on Twitter

 

 #bidenerasedwomen

 

Oh dear, Day 3 and it's not going very well, is it?

Stick to doing poetry reviews, they're much funnier. 🤣

[Herman 9,715]

1 hour ago, Rock The Boat said:

Now trending on Twitter

 

 #bidenerasedwomen

 

Oh dear, Day 3 and it's not going very well, is it?

#putinprotests

[Bill 1,788]

18 hours ago, horsefly said:

Just to remind everyone, RTB is the guy who described Epstein's child rape victims as "well paid prostitutes". I blocked him for that disgraceful statement and think others should consider doing the same. Obviously it's each person's choice, but I don't think he has even offered an apology for saying such an horrendous thing. Such vile hatred should disbar him from any right to engage in normal discourse.

He is also the person who posts as van wink (hand crank), who previously stated that he was here to 'have a bit if sport' which in his rather weird world he is having.

Be assured this is not some unfounded allegation as he has been caught out numerous times, in numerous ways

By replying to his intended and originative comments you are merely encouraging him further. Block this log in and you will see he will return with Barbie boy, yellopee120 or some other

Stop wasting your time

Edited January 23, 2021 by Bill

[horsefly 4,287]

9 minutes ago, Bill said:

He is also the person who posts as van wink (hand crank), who previously stated that he was here to 'have a bit if sport' which in his rather weird world he is having.

Be assured this is not some unfounded allegation as he has been caught out numerous times, in numerous ways

By replying to his intended and originative comments you are merely encouraging him further. Block this log in and you will see he will return with Barbie boy, yellopee120 or some other

Stop wasting your time

I blocked Van Wink and BB months ago. 

[kick it off 1,948]

2 hours ago, Rock The Boat said:

Now trending on Twitter

 

 #bidenerasedwomen

 

Oh dear, Day 3 and it's not going very well, is it?

Why is it trending? do you know?

I do, it's a bunch of transphobes complaining that he put trans rights in place. That's it. That's the whole issue.

So I would say that pissing off a lot of people who don't believe in human rights for trans people is actually "it" going very well indeed.

Appeasing the terminally dim and bigoted is not a criteria for succes in my book.

[Creative Midfielder 1,985]

5 minutes ago, kick it off said:

Appeasing the terminally dim and bigoted is not a criteria for succes in my book.

Agree 100%, although sadly it worked quite well for Trump.

Clearly it is going to take many people some time to re-adjust to the notion that we now have a sane POTUS again.

Strange times 🙄

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

3 hours ago, Rock The Boat said:

Now trending on Twitter

 

 #bidenerasedwomen

 

Oh dear, Day 3 and it's not going very well, is it?

Now you know that is just another lie. You, Moy and Swindon just cannot help yourselves. But I guess you don't recognise equality as something vital.

[Rock The Boat 1,325]

4 hours ago, kick it off said:

Why is it trending? do you know?

I do, it's a bunch of transphobes complaining that he put trans rights in place. That's it. That's the whole issue.

So I would say that pissing off a lot of people who don't believe in human rights for trans people is actually "it" going very well indeed.

Appeasing the terminally dim and bigoted is not a criteria for succes in my book.

Oh dear. I think you've just made a lot of hardcore feminists very unhappy to be described as 'terminally dim and bigoted'.

Here's what Suzanne Moore, leftie, feminist, and former Guardian columnist before that paper cancelled her, has to say about the kind of views you hold:

In the real world this issue is so divisive that few want to go near it. We are to accept that gender identity is a feeling and though the Democrats declare themselves “a party of science” we are now to believe that this feeling is as valid as biological sex.

Again, this debate centres on transwomen never transmen and it is women who have to make accommodation with this.

Anyone who questions this is banished to the hellfires of Terfdom, the naughty step of woke. One is also subject to venomous abuse online. Most of the tweets done in the name of those who believe themselves Left-wing, morally superior and protective of trans people talk of destroying and mutilating women. I cannot repeat them here. Much of it I imagine does not comes from trans people at all. Who does it benefit? This toxic debate is one in which displaying visceral hatred of women is now a permissible way to bully us.

This is the trap that Biden has walked into. For many Americans, and particularly the kind he needs to win back, this debate is meaningless. Being told that biological sex has nothing to do with gender will come as a surprise as it plays out on the ground. Both for working class kids and the upper echelons of Ivy League colleges, sports scholarships are important.

How will soccer moms feel about teenage girls playing against and sharing locker rooms with male-bodied people? This is an immensely complicated area and shouting at each other on Twitter is not the answer.

Here in Britain, the lack of health care for young people has been highlighted by criticism of our own Gender Identity Development Service. The waiting lists are too long, the data collection poor and the links between autism and gender dysphoria under-researched. Here though at least treatment is free and trans people have protections against discrimination that don’t exist in America.

To say that British feminists who question this new belief system are aligned with Trump’s malicious polices is completely false. We are concerned with women’s rights and safety and we recognise America is a vastly different country. However, if Biden wants to unite progressives then he has to recognise the fractures this debate causes and bring along American women outside of his circle. Otherwise it’s just gesture politics.

Then again I don’t much feel like being lectured on women’s rights and told to butt out by those who live in a country with no maternity leave (one in four women go back to work within 2 weeks of giving birth). Discrimination is discrimination and conflicts of rights occur. A wave of vile misogyny has engulfed us, even though Trump is finally gone.