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But just like with Obama, who so often seemed like a lone voice in the wilderness, where are the loyal Democrats furiously or eloquently or in any other manner fighting back and calling out the craven Republicans who are doing everything they can to undermine Biden and our democracy? Why can’t or won’t Dems stand-up and fight??

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A good topic for a future piece.

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And did you see this piece in Daily Kos yesterday? Really astounding. https://m.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/26/2149382/-A-Media-Ceiling-is-about-to-Fall-In-On-Democrats

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I didn’t. Thx.

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A round table discussion group on TV today, asked WHY the Democrats are not being more vocal about the positive achievements of the Biden government. They need to sell themselves to the public, as reinforcing the positives would be to their benefit.

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Your words are so true. We, all of us, need to speak truth and support our true champions in office, and that, quite clearly, is NOT Republicans!

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Perhaps my favorite part of the saber rattling and stupidity, coming from the right was the number of paid politicians, who suggested people take out their personal guns and try to shoot it down! Yep- they did!

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The GOP response is telling, and reveals the trigger-switch mentality deficit which prevails fsr TOO often in America. Can you imagine if a private individual had been able to bring down the Chinese surveillance balloon, which was the size of 3 school buses? There would have been a bevy of selfies, posing like a trophy hunter with their prey. The fact that the balloon was soaring at an altitude of 60,000+ feet, rules out the option of shooting it down from ground level. with a personal gun. It is bizarre that Republicans would suggest that someone other than themselves, try to resolve the issue. The GOP are ever willing to incentivize and manipulate people, in order to fulfil their own self-serving agenda and desire for notoriety.

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Will it devolve into actual heckling like it did with Obama earlier & Biden last year?

The GOP whine about a loss of civility, but they called it "political correctness" & mocked it - Emma Hart.

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Why are democrats not calling Republicans what they are: radical extremists. The last thing anyone should call them is conservative.

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Perhaps Magans - from MAGA is another moniker? Revolutionaries comes to mind when I recall the GOP members who seemed to have forgotten the danger, damage and death caused by the January 6th insurrection. In my mind, Trumpians seems to fit the Republicans who veered way off course, and attached themselves to TFG now playing golf @ Mar-A-Lago.

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The GOP response is disconcerting, Steven, but their holier-than-thou pontification is emblematic of their 'shoot-their mouths-off-first-and ascertain-the-details-later tendency. Once the retrieved materials from the massive Chinese balloon are analysed, more details will be released. If only we could establish that opposition political parties don't have to OPPOSE everything the other side says or does. Some collaboration would be welcomed by the voting public. Of note, when this balloon skirted over Canada, our government engaged in consultation with the American administration. Canadian officials also summoned a Chinese envoy, to face questioning. I truly hope that people will be able to see through the posturing in the GOP political sideshows. You noted that Mitch McConnell has not commented. He seems to be out of the limelight, and is in his denouement stage. The new claim of sexual harassment sustained by a former staffer of George Anthony Devolder Santos (did I include all his names?) is not helping the Republicans. I really think they should invest some time and energy in cleaning up their own questionable back yard.

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To my knowledge, only Pete Buttigieg was out on the Sunday talk shows thoroughly explaining and defending President Biden’s decision, following advice from the Department of Defense, to wait until the Chinese surveillance balloon was over our territorial waters in the Atlantic. The technology in the balloon was reportedly disabled. The debris field was 7 miles, per Pete Buttigieg. But the illiterates in the gop do not read credible information. They just react harshly and with anger to something they know absolutely nothing about! I don’t watch the talk shows but saw Pete’s patient and deliberate analysis via links from the only social media I use, Post.News.

I wonder if Pence and Pompeo, who are considering presidential runs, knew about the 3 Chinese surveillance balloons over our sky’s during the previous administration. Someone needs to seriously ask both of them that question.

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Given the dictatorial control that Trump held over America's military and the people who surrounded him, I expect he would NOT have wanted information released about any questionable activity by China. TFG allied himself with America's adversaries such as Russia, Saudi Arabia and Zhongguo. That should tell us all we need to know about where Trump's loyalties lie. (I couldn't resist the Freudian slip in using the word 'lie').

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We need Democrats who will hammer GOP incessantly. All day every day. It's a psychological fact, it hurts a lot more to lose $100 than it feels good to win $100. Voters hear about a good economy and think that's nice. They hear about Republicans trying to steal their Social Security and tank their 401ks and they will crawl over broken glass to vote them out. Can't anybody here play this game?

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Joe is steady calm honest decent hardworking wise and productive- GOP - zeros!

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Please, Mr. President, just blow by these traitors and keep the strong, sensible messages streaming to the mostly silent, unseen majority that will bring America through these troublesome times.

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The more they spew, the weaker they seem, and more irrelevant they will become. Go Joe!

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An addendum to above is that the disinformation from the GOP does have an effect of obscuring the real accomplishments in the eyes of many.

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The GOP had nothing to offer before and have nothing to offer now except opposition to everything the Democrats have to offer. Just like Obama - they will probably boo and sit there while the rest of us applaud. They have a lot of nerve to cavil while their idiot president did nothing while the same balloons were here during his administration and he did nothing. But then hypocrisy is their calling card.. why don’t we see dems on the Sunday shows calling out the GOP in their lies?

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"It seems like happiness is just a thing called Joe; he's got a smile that makes the lilacs want to grow".

His state of the union speech touting his accomplishments should make America smile. But he can't do it alone. Democrat policy is to concentrate on things that will make America better, not to lower themselves to the revengeful, name calling of trump and his followers. However, there comes a time when more people than Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell should speak up and speak loudly. Katie Porter should be writing on and showing her white board every day. We rarely hear from Chuck Schumer and only from Nancy Pelosi a few sentences as she walks down a hall.

The only Don song I find is one written by Don Henley called" I will not go quietly". How fitting.

And lately, we have mini Don ranting, waving his hands, trying to be like dad who never praises him no matter what he says.

It's not like the balloon thing is China's first salvo against the US. Her Belt & Road policy began in 2013, trying thru economic aid , building infrastructure, etc. to beat out the US. It connects and influences China power with 61% of the world's population. What have Republicans done about that? trump says China respects trump. They don't. They think he has and will add to the decline of US power and influence.And the world's by his actions towards NATO. trump pumps up China by making America weaker. So no, the GOP and the media should be worried about more than a balloon.

The Huckabees hail from Hope, Arkansas. Sarah and father born there. But looking up info on Hope, only two things stand out, birth of Bill Clinton and grower of world's largest watermelons. Not a word about the Huckabees. Father H ran for president twice, got one delegate in 2016 election, dropped out and supported trump, even refusing to discount trump's racist proclivity toward David Duke and the KKK. So Sarah chosen to be his mouthpiece. She, like Sean Spicer, spit out trump lies. Once considered a Democrat state, in 2020, the Republican state party chairman called Arkansas the reddest of all states. Thus, Sarah, an evangelical, chosen to counter Biden's speech. The "base" will believe her.

Speaking of evangelicals, note the recent suicide of the mother, father and daughter in PA because trump lost. Absolutely brainwashed like those on Jan.6th. And you can bet that the 26 year old plain looking daughter would never have her picture taken at trump thumb up Mar a Lago like the "babes" that do. (You can bet they use contraceptives, Mr. Justice Thomas.)

Our national anthem is America the Beautiful. A sample of its words: And crown thy good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea. I shall pause while you mull that over.

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Good points, Rita. There are many contradictions in America, where belief in 'alternative facts' gained traction, along with far out conspiracy theories. The alternate Universe which Trump fabricated, has become a virtual shadowland haven for his followers, where truth is what they want it to be.

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I'm so glad Joe Biden has thick skin. No matter what despicable lies the right throw out, he remains optimistic and undeterred by these vile idiots. What's discouraging, however, is a recent poll reporting that over 60% of those queried don't think he has done much. They're not paying attention!

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