Quote (IceMage @ Sep 11 2023 08:45pm)
Yeah, I'm really not sure how people can conclude that Biden's presidency has been a disaster.
For instance, Bogie's list is filled with a ton of right-wing, delusional talking points. Those aren't measured, serious criticisms. It's a summary of Fox News segments. The law hasn't been weaponized by Biden... actually it was Trump's former DOJ officials involved in his coup attempt. Holding Trump and his conspirators accountable is the American rule of law in action. I seem to recall the border being a story with Trump in office... seems like his fake wall and policies didn't solve the issue. The left criticizes Biden for not abandoning Trump's policies. Crime rose under Trump, it's a consequence of something beyond the politics of Trump vs Biden. I guess wasted spending matters to Bogie now... and I'm not going to defend the spending of any recent administration. Though Biden chose to get infrastructure done with enough Republicans supporting that, and it seems to me something a right-winger who has embraced populism/nationalism, and abandoned fiscal conservatism, could support.
The point is... all of these criticisms of Biden, some legitimate, some not, some somewhere in between, are not a legitimate reason to pretend the guy who attempted a coup(and has explicitly called for terminating the constitution) is not substantially worse. And that's basically Bill Maher's point. There's no both-sidesism here that makes any sense.
It seems like your Libya example you keep putting the emphasis on these policies somehow being the "right idea" even if we know with hindsight how they imploded catastrophically- and predictably. Is Obama a good leader for his support of the Arab Spring, despite the outcomes? The same vein is followed with Biden. He talked a big talk on Covid, then he dropped our protective measures at the most self serving of moments, and we've already had far more deaths on his watch and we're completely vulnerable to the next wave. He let Afghanistan collapse while asleep at the wheel. He waffled when Putin threatened Ukraine and failed to make a show of force when it could avert conflict, then escalated force for years now only when its leading to our failure and compromising our national interests. Should I care about his intentions or your perception? What matters is results.
It didn't take hindsight to see Bidens policies being bad. Its unfathomable to me that after Afghanistan 1/2, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, etc etc that nobody could see the danger in a protracted proxy war with no feasible win condition, let alone all the geopolitical harm it could (and is) doing to us.