The Beginning of the End: The Lame Duck Period of Joe Biden’s Presidency

[CMRivdogs]

2 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

Was not pointed at you. CMR loves to tell me I never give him a straight answer so I was hoping he could give me one. Guess not... 

Why do you think I should give you a straight answer when you don't have the decency to do the same.

I don't pretend to know the minds of other me, so pretending to know Biden's reasoning. It is a morally reprehensible answer to a morally repressible question.  

[ewsieg]

I prefer not to side with Tigerholic, but not sure if I can accept answers like "Well, he commuted most of them so that's a plus" or "i'm not going to lose sleep about these few" work for me when you want to congratulate Biden for this move. 

I'm on the fence with the Death Penalty.  I listen to podcasts that work to overturn convictions and i'm confident innocent people have been put to death by the State.  Even with that, the death penalty is not completely abhorrent to me and the biggest reason i've been against it for years now is that it costs too much to put someone to death. 

But back to Biden, if you are commuting these sentences because you don't believe the State should put someone to death, but you leave 3 out because, IMO, you're afraid of the political fallout, well, you never really had any scruples to begin with.

[mtutiger]

1 hour ago, ewsieg said:

I prefer not to side with Tigerholic, but not sure if I can accept answers like "Well, he commuted most of them so that's a plus"...

If someone is anti-death penalty, are you suggesting that they would/should have been happier with Biden in a hypothetical scenario where he had he taken no action at all versus 37/40 being commuted?

People can be unhappy with Biden's weakness and wishy-washyness on this (as I am) while still seeing progress in 37/40 being commuted, particularly given the historical stance of the federal government as it comes to capital punishment. 

Edited December 26, 2024 by mtutiger

[ewsieg]

I see the argument a bit, but it's not like Biden needed to negotiate an outcome.  If he feels that "more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted." like he stated, then there is only one choice, commute all. 

To me, this type of decision shouldn't be political and yet is clearly was.  He deserves to be called out for this crap.

[VegasTiger]

Or he views terrorism with many casualties as a bridge too far.

[ewsieg]

48 minutes ago, VegasTiger said:

Or he views terrorism with many casualties as a bridge too far.

So I can kill a mother in front of a 14 year old, kidnap the girl and eventually torture her until she dies and expect compassion from the federal government because I only terrorized a family versus a specific type of people?

If you believe there are things people can do in which the death penalty should be carried out, then you should leave it to the people to decide which ones deserve the death penalty.  If you don't believe in the death penalty, then you should fight to stop all death penalty convictions.

And as an aside, there is a part of me that thinks life in prison is worse for some people.  For the Boston bomber, I hope he lives a long life with a daily reminder that he ran over his brother. 

 

[VegasTiger]

Don't put it on me. I'm just speculating on Biden's position.

[oblong]

I don’t know all the crimes of the commuted sentences but the line he is probably using, as Vegas pointed out, is that the federal death penalty is justified in acts of terrorism both against a nation and against a category of people. I don’t have a strong opinion on it.  I personally don’t care what happens to these people. I am against the death penalty but unless I see some kind of unfairness in the death prosecution I don’t shed any tears.  

[Tigermojo]

As usual, the left must have standards while the right does whatever they want. Lie, cheat, steal or worse as long as you get away with it. You can also pay your way out of it if you get caught. The hypocrisy of calling out Biden on everything while completely ignoring Trump's crimes is ridiculous.

[ewsieg]

5 minutes ago, Tigermojo said:

As usual, the left must have standards while the right does whatever they want. Lie, cheat, steal or worse as long as you get away with it. You can also pay your way out of it if you get caught. The hypocrisy of calling out Biden on everything while completely ignoring Trump's crimes is ridiculous.

Not sure where this came from.  I call Biden out on things i see an issue with, just as I have with Trump. 

[Tigermojo]

23 minutes ago, ewsieg said:

Not sure where this came from.  I call Biden out on things i see an issue with, just as I have with Trump. 

I'm referring to Maga, not you. Trump has turned politics into the Wild West. Say and do whatever you want, no consequences, we'll draw the white hat on the last person standing.

Of course, history has always been this way. As long as the "law" gets their cut, the rich do whatever they want. I just hoped we could advance as a human race but one look at the supreme court proves we are far from advancing anywhere.

[mtutiger]

5 hours ago, ewsieg said:

I see the argument a bit, but it's not like Biden needed to negotiate an outcome.  If he feels that "more convinced than ever that we must stop the use of the death penalty at the federal level. In good conscience, I cannot stand back and let a new administration resume executions that I halted." like he stated, then there is only one choice, commute all. 

To me, this type of decision shouldn't be political and yet is clearly was.  He deserves to be called out for this crap.

And I think you can call him out for his crap, as I and others have done in this thread, while thinking that 37/40 is better than 0/40.

[ewsieg]

8 hours ago, mtutiger said:

And I think you can call him out for his crap, as I and others have done in this thread, while thinking that 37/40 is better than 0/40.

I guess I would like to hear Biden's explanation for his reasoning, but in the end, Oblong's response above, which has similarities to everyone else, ultimately captures the same feelings I have.

[mtutiger]

16 minutes ago, ewsieg said:

I guess I would like to hear Biden's explanation for his reasoning, but in the end, Oblong's response above, which has similarities to everyone else, ultimately captures the same feelings I have.

Agreed

[Archie]

9 hours ago, Tigermojo said:

I'm referring to Maga, not you. Trump has turned politics into the Wild West. Say and do whatever you want, no consequences, we'll draw the white hat on the last person standing.

Of course, history has always been this way. As long as the "law" gets their cut, the rich do whatever they want. I just hoped we could advance as a human race but one look at the supreme court proves we are far from advancing anywhere.

Saying Trump has turned politics into the wild west is a big stretch.  Don't forget what party came up with all the false accusations against Trump during his Presidential campaigns and after he was in office. Also don't forget the false accusations against his SCOTUS nominees and presented them like they were some kind of truth.  Both sides have had their part in the deteriation of American politics but the dems have led the way.

[Tigerbomb13]

Riiiiiiiiight

[pfife]

17 hours ago, ewsieg said:

I prefer not to side with Tigerholic, but not sure if I can accept answers like "Well, he commuted most of them so that's a plus" or "i'm not going to lose sleep about these few" work for me when you want to congratulate Biden for this move. 

I'm on the fence with the Death Penalty.  I listen to podcasts that work to overturn convictions and i'm confident innocent people have been put to death by the State.  Even with that, the death penalty is not completely abhorrent to me and the biggest reason i've been against it for years now is that it costs too much to put someone to death. 

But back to Biden, if you are commuting these sentences because you don't believe the State should put someone to death, but you leave 3 out because, IMO, you're afraid of the political fallout, well, you never really had any scruples to begin with.

I dont agree.   Even marginal improvements in issues of mortality are very important.   Bidens scruples are not important

[pfife]

18 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

Why do you think I should give you a straight answer when you don't have the decency to do the same.

I don't pretend to know the minds of other me, so pretending to know Biden's reasoning. It is a morally reprehensible answer to a morally repressible question.  

Typical maga and magalolic, enforce a standard upon everyone else they have no intention of honoring themselves.

[Archie]

6 minutes ago, pfife said:

I dont agree.   Even marginal improvements in issues of mortality are very important.   Bidens scruples are not important

But his marbles are and most people are convinced he's lost his.

[pfife]

31 minutes ago, Archie said:

But his marbles are and most people are convinced he's lost his.

Yeah but you brag about voting for trump so your concern about presidential marbles is.... inconsistent... at best.

[Archie]

10 minutes ago, pfife said:

Yeah but you brag about voting for trump so your concern about presidential marbles is.... inconsistent... at best.

I voted for the best candidate. Next election your party will have to nominate a good candidate in the primaries instead of forcing a terrible candidate and an even worse VP pick on the country. The results of the election were not a surprise to eIther side.

[pfife]

4 minutes ago, Archie said:

I voted for the best candidate. Next election your party will have to nominate a good candidate in the primaries instead of forcing a terrible candidate and an even worse VP pick on the country. The results of the election were not a surprise to eIther side.

You voted for the person with substantially less marbles.  And scruples.

Not a good flex lol

Edited December 27, 2024 by pfife

[Tigeraholic1]

7 minutes ago, Archie said:

I voted for the best candidate. Next election your party will have to nominate a good candidate in the primaries instead of forcing a terrible candidate and an even worse VP pick on the country. The results of the election were not a surprise to eIther side.

They will never see it this way, fyi.

[Archie]

3 minutes ago, Tigeraholic1 said:

They will never see it this way, fyi.

I know. No matter how big a disaster was created or how many times you explain it they can't see the light. I never understood how anyone can be so married to a political party. It happens on the right too.

[Tigermojo]

The disaster is four more years of Trump which will further divide the country and your allies. You'll be best buds with puppet master Putin.