Continuation The Biden Presidency (3)

[theprestige]

Originally Posted by Bob001

The administration isn't "endorsing" anything. In a direct response to things like the crazy Texas laws, it is simply affirming that standard science-based medical care is not child abuse.

Please show the scientific basis for prescribing trans-affirming hormone treatment and surgery to prepubescent children. Please show the scientific basis for diagnosing prepubescent children with a condition that requires such treatment.

Such scientific reasoning has been requested repeatedly in The Other Thread, with no good answer. If the Biden administration is using such reasoning on this issue, I would very much like to see it, either here or there.

[Bob001]

Originally Posted by theprestige

Please show the scientific basis for prescribing trans-affirming hormone treatment and surgery to prepubescent children. Please show the scientific basis for diagnosing prepubescent children with a condition that requires such treatment.

Such scientific reasoning has been requested repeatedly in The Other Thread, with no good answer. If the Biden administration is using such reasoning on this issue, I would very much like to see it, either here or there.

I'm not the person to answer that question. The point is that it is a complex medical issue, to be resolved by physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists, parents and the children themselves. What's utterly wrong is making it a crime for parents to seek competent medical advice and treatment for their children.

And who is giving surgery to pre-pubescent children? Has that ever happened? The NIH says this:

Quote:

Some transgender individuals might also wish to access gender-affirming surgeries during adolescence;

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30528161/

And there's this:

Quote:

Genital surgery, the last phase of the process, is generally restricted to adults. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health guidelines state that genital surgery shouldn't be performed until the patient reaches the age of majority, which is at least 18 across the U.S. — and there are many other factors besides age that should also be considered.

https://www.politifact.com/factcheck...-confirmation/

[theprestige]

Originally Posted by theprestige

Please show the scientific basis for prescribing trans-affirming hormone treatment and surgery to prepubescent children. Please show the scientific basis for diagnosing prepubescent children with a condition that requires such treatment.

Such scientific reasoning has been requested repeatedly in The Other Thread, with no good answer. If the Biden administration is using such reasoning on this issue, I would very much like to see it, either here or there.

Originally Posted by Bob001

I'm not the person to answer that question.

Of course you are:

Originally Posted by Bob001

The administration isn't "endorsing" anything. In a direct response to things like the crazy Texas laws, it is simply affirming that standard science-based medical care is not child abuse.

That's you saying the administration is affirming that trans-affirming treatments for prepubescent children is "standard science-based medical care".

If you're not the person that knows the scientific basis, and doesn't know if the administration actually has a scientific basis, then why are you the person saying that's what the administration is doing?

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Bob001

I'm not the person to answer that question. The point is that it is a complex medical issue, to be resolved by physicians, psychiatrists and psychologists, parents and the children themselves. What's utterly wrong is making it a crime for parents to seek competent medical advice and treatment for their children.

Good answer. Isn't it the Republicans who are having a crap fit over "parents' rights" when it comes to what's being taught in the classroom or a mask mandate in schools? Yet, they don't seem to have that same concern when it comes to parents' rights over their children's medical/psychological concerns.

What is really so stupid about this whole thing is that these idiots think a parent would put their child through this kind of treatment unless it was absolutely necessary. What do think they'll do? "Oh, I wanted a girl so let's turn Joey into Joanna!"? Make their little boy wear dresses against his will? It's just more of their constant fear mongering and making a problem where none exists because they have problems regarding anyone who's not "straight".

[Bob001]

Originally Posted by theprestige

Of course you are:That's you saying the administration is affirming that trans-affirming treatments for prepubescent children is "standard science-based medical care".

If you're not the person that knows the scientific basis, and doesn't know if the administration actually has a scientific basis, then why are you the person saying that's what the administration is doing?

Here's what the administration says for itself:

Quote:

The Biden administration is commemorating International Transgender Day of Visibility with new policy actions to support trans communities facing a wave of discriminative legislation at the state level.

The newly announced measures will include policies aimed at improving mental health among trans children, helping trans people gain easier access to government services, and providing additional gender identification options at the airport.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/...sgender-people

The goal is to prevent discrimination and abuse, not prescribe treatment. Do you claim that standard medical care is not science-based?

And here's what the Mayo Clinic says:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-l...s/art-20266812
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-...s/art-20459075

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by Crazy Chainsaw

Putin was going to try to get Trump to arrange a peace deal in the Donbass Region, so that putin would gain access to Crimea via a land bridge, in return Ukraine would be granted Natural gas and other cookies from Russia, as long as they didn't enter NATO.
When Biden Won that was now Impossible, so Putin Invaded Trying to take by Force what his Puppet could no longer do.

I think I see where you're coming from, given that IIRC, Trump was one small step away from that with his stance that Ukraine should make a deal with Russia on Russia's terms. I think where we disagree might have more to do with how much we think Putin had faith in Trump's chances of success. I think that virtually anyone being even remotely objective would have no faith in Trump's ability on that front and that includes Putin. With no faith in Trump's chances, using a peace deal ploy with Trump would only delay any timetable slightly, if even that, given that it would be little more than a propaganda ploy. Trump's ability to get the US out of NATO, which Trump was practically promising to do, on the other hand, would be much more likely to be worth a delay.

[bruto]

Originally Posted by Aridas

I think I see where you're coming from, given that IIRC, Trump was one small step away from that with his stance that Ukraine should make a deal with Russia on Russia's terms. I think where we disagree might have more to do with how much we think Putin had faith in Trump's chances of success. I think that virtually anyone being even remotely objective would have no faith in Trump's ability on that front and that includes Putin. With no faith in Trump's chances, using a peace deal ploy with Trump would only delay any timetable slightly, if even that, given that it would be little more than a propaganda ploy. Trump's ability to get the US out of NATO, which Trump was practically promising to do, on the other hand, would be much more likely to be worth a delay.

Maybe a win win, though. Get what you want if the deal succeeds, or point to Ukraine's obstinate refusal to take a deal if it fails as an excuse for war.

[Aridas]

To poke at another Biden Scandal of the moment, the Daily Show had a bit of fun.

Trump erased seven hours of phone logs on Jan. 6, but Joe Biden almost choked on spicy pizza — the worst scandal in presidential history.

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Aridas

To poke at another Biden Scandal of the moment, the Daily Show had a bit of fun.

Trump erased seven hours of phone logs on Jan. 6, but Joe Biden almost choked on spicy pizza — the worst scandal in presidential history.

MY GOD! This is worse than the Tan Suit Scandal of 2014! Just when we thought Biden couldn't get any weaker, he goes and shows he can't even handle a jalapeño! What next? Needing two hands to drink from a glass? Help to walk down a ramp? I'm stockpiling MREs, water, and toilet paper. The End is Near.

[Warp12]

I guess there is something to all this. The real question is, how much will it impact the President?

Investigations turn up the heat on Hunter Biden
https://news.yahoo.com/investigation...181446449.html

Quote:

No clear-cut evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden has emerged. But this week Republicans resurrected questions they have raised for years: whether Hunter Biden’s dealings with CEFC China Energy, the Chinese company that paid him and his uncle around $5 million in 2017, may have exposed the president to potential conflicts of interest with regard to the Chinese government.

Hmmm...

Quote:

Further proof emerged this week of a financial relationship between President Biden’s son Hunter, the president’s brother James and a Chinese company with reportedly close ties to that country’s ruling Communist Party.


In addition, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that the Justice Department’s probe into Hunter Biden is gaining momentum.

This is good news for Republicans, I'd say. Even in the remote chance that President Biden isn't actually a typically corrupt politician (what are the odds after so many years in the game?), hopefully they will be able to spin this into something damaging. Combine a bad economy with some corruption and you've struck political gold.

[The Great Zaganza]

Originally Posted by Warp12

I guess there is something to all this. The real question is, how much will it impact the President?

Investigations turn up the heat on Hunter Biden
https://news.yahoo.com/investigation...181446449.html




Hmmm...




This is good news for Republicans, I'd say. Even in the remote chance that President Biden isn't actually a typically corrupt politician (what are the odds after so many years in the game?), hopefully they will be able to spin this into something damaging. Combine a bad economy with some corruption and you've struck political gold.

Why would that be a good thing?
Do you believe that any likely GOP candidate would be better for the job?

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

Why would that be a good thing?
Do you believe that any likely GOP candidate would be better for the job?

Why wouldn't he think that it's OK to spin it into something damaging even if Biden isn't guilty? After all, he thinks KBJ "deserves this political persecution", "painful" and "smearing" experience.

[Warp12]

Originally Posted by Warp12

This is good news for Republicans, I'd say. Even in the remote chance that President Biden isn't actually a typically corrupt politician (what are the odds after so many years in the game?), hopefully they will be able to spin this into something damaging. Combine a bad economy with some corruption and you've struck political gold.

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

Why would that be a good thing?
Do you believe that any likely GOP candidate would be better for the job?

Why wouldn't it be great for Republicans?

If you mean "who is more qualified for the job", since when does that matter? That isn't why Biden selected Levine, Buttigiege, and Jackson. Unless you count being trans, gay, or a black woman as "qualifications".

It's politics, baby. This is all about votes. And I believe the Republicans should weaponize everything they can in order to sink Biden. They would be foolish not to. If that means distorting the facts, so be it. Dems are in no position to complain about that.

[The Great Zaganza]

Originally Posted by Warp12

Why wouldn't it be great for Republicans?

If you mean "who is more qualified for the job", since when does that matter? That isn't why Biden selected Levine, Buttigiege, and Jackson. Unless you count being trans, gay, or a black woman as "qualifications".

It's politics, baby. This is all about votes. And I believe the Republicans should weaponize everything they can in order to sink Biden. They would be foolish not to. If that means distorting the facts, so be it. Dems are in no position to complain about that.

Yes, they are, but that's beside the point.

I'm just curious that, at best, you treat politics like a football game, taking for granted that it will never have any positive impact on our lives.

[Stacyhs]

I find it rather odd that someone who claims to dislike Trump and who claims he isn't a "Trump supporter" thinks it's necessary for Republicans to do everything they can to "sink" Biden when Trump will likely be the GOP candidate. I guess it's better to have mentally ill, malignant narcissist, pathological liar, and sociopath as POTUS than a Democrat in the 'conservative' mind. That's rather warped thinking imo.

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

Yes, they are, but that's beside the point.

I'm just curious that, at best, you treat politics like a football game, taking for granted that it will never have any positive impact on our lives.

On that note, if one feels spurred to action by Warp12's callous disregard for a better future... one can feel free to donate to the eight most important (and winnable) Senate races for Democrats to win in 2020.

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Aridas

On that note, if one feels spurred to action by Warp12's callous disregard for a better future... one can feel free to donate to the eight most important (and winnable) Senate races for Democrats to win in 2020.

Um........

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by Stacyhs

Um........

Yeah. That's an oopsies, I think.

[Segnosaur]

Originally Posted by Stacyhs

On that note, if one feels spurred to action by Warp12's callous disregard for a better future... one can feel free to donate to the eight most important (and winnable) Senate races for Democrats to win in 2020.
Um........

Hey, if Trump is going to fight future elections based on his false "stop the steal" of the 2020 election, at the very least the Democrats should fight past elections too.

[Bob001]

Originally Posted by Stacyhs

I find it rather odd that someone who claims to dislike Trump and who claims he isn't a "Trump supporter" thinks it's necessary for Republicans to do everything they can to "sink" Biden when Trump will likely be the GOP candidate. I guess it's better to have mentally ill, malignant narcissist, pathological liar, and sociopath as POTUS than a Democrat in the 'conservative' mind. That's rather warped thinking imo.

The Republican governor of New Hampshire had something to say about Trump:

Quote:

Sununu set up his joke at the Gridiron dinner by citing the possibility that Trump would return to the presidency after the 2024 election. He cited the “experience,” “passion” and “sense of integrity” Trump demonstrated in his tweets.

“Nah, I’m just kidding,” Sununu said. “He’s [expletive] crazy.”

Sununu added: “The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is crazy. And I’ll say it this way: I don’t think he’s so crazy that you could put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain’t getting out.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...unu-gop-trump/

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by Bob001

The Republican governor of New Hampshire had something to say about Trump:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...unu-gop-trump/

Wow. I'm going to guess he can't run for governor again and he certainly can't have any aspirations of running for Congress.

[Bob001]

Originally Posted by Stacyhs

Wow. I'm going to guess he can't run for governor again and he certainly can't have any aspirations of running for Congress.

Actually, he was encouraged to run for the Senate and didn't want to. He's already running for his fourth two-year term as Governor. He's proof that you can be conservative without being crazy.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/polit...ate/ar-AAQvgTL
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Sununu

[TheGoldcountry]

[quote=Sununu added: “The press often will ask me if I think Donald Trump is crazy. And I’ll say it this way: I don’t think he’s so crazy that you could put him in a mental institution. But I think if he were in one, he ain’t getting out.”[/QUOTE]

I have to remember that line, it's a keeper.

[Delvo]

A new poll is out with an interesting type of question: instead of treating the classification of people as "likely voters" or not as fixed and immutable, it asked people what would make them more likely or less likely to vote.

45% said they'd be more likely to vote if $10000 of student debt were cancelled for everybody. So that's what Biden throws away, not just for himself but for his party, if he continues to not do so. I think he knows that, based on the fact that he's had something like four or five rounds of grabbing his "Biden Cancelled Student Debt" headlines for cancelling it for left-handed color-blind Capricorns and freckled dwarves whose names contain a letter "o" (while pretending not to think he can), but he might not have known before how big the number was. It's roughly like the numbers of people that would normally be expected to vote for either major party.

A second interesting detail in the poll is that going up to $50000 only picks up one more percentage point (to 46%). So even when potential Democrat voters are getting fed up enough with their party's politicians to just give up on voting if it delivers nothing at all, even a rather minimal token of finally doing any good at all is all it takes to bring them back. They know that doing more would be better, but they aren't demanding it; they're still willing to settle for a shadow of a crumb, but just not for nothing at all anymore.

[Venom]

Biden admin likely to extend student loan repayment pause to August 31.

Part of me kind of wants him to outright forgive $50,000 as many Dems want him to, if only to shake up the way the country does educational business. And remember he's tacitly approved at least $10,000.

[The Great Zaganza]

This administration has done a number of groundbreaking things that no voter will remember by election day.
I don't fault Biden for being cynical and wait for a big, flashy student loan forgiveness until we are much closer to the midterms.

[Venom]

It would help if this administration made an effort to communicate their achievements a bit better. Be a little louder and prouder for goodness sake. The Radical Right is winning the propaganda war.

[Aridas]

Originally Posted by Venom

It would help if this administration made an effort to communicate their achievements a bit better. Be a little louder and prouder for goodness sake. The Radical Right is winning the propaganda war.

The MSM would likely need to be much more cooperative, then. The Left doesn't have anything remotely comparable to the Radical Right, propaganda-wise, of course, and the MSM's profit motivations end up intrinsically favoring the Radical Right anyways. The Biden Administration fairly certainly could do a better job of communicating their achievements, sure, but it's probably worth pointing out that the Trump Administration made dramatically less effort, perhaps with the exception of Trump's constant tweeting.

[Stacyhs]

Originally Posted by The Great Zaganza

This administration has done a number of groundbreaking things that no voter will remember by election day.
I don't fault Biden for being cynical and wait for a big, flashy student loan forgiveness until we are much closer to the midterms.

Although I agree with you, we can expect there to be hysterical pearl clutching claims that "Biden's trying to buy votes" from the very people now condemning him for not cancelling some amount of student loans.

[Warp12]

Poor Joe Biden.

Obama tweets to save face after embarrassing Biden video surfaces
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/oba...video-surfaces

I do feel a little bad for the guy, though. He just isn't charismatic like Obama.

[SuburbanTurkey]

It's really frustrating how comically bad the Democrats are at politics.

Quote:

Congressional Republicans Now Lead Generic Ballot Among Child Tax Credit Recipients
46% of voters who received the expired pandemic-era benefit say they’ll back a Republican in the midterms

Among parents or guardians with at least one child under 18 in the household who received the expanded child tax credit payments, 46% said they are most likely to vote for a Republican congressional candidate this year while 43% said they’re inclined to back the Democratic candidate.

The narrow GOP advantage among this group stands in contrast with Democrats’ lead of 12 percentage points in late December, before the benefit expired. It also continues a trend first captured in a survey conducted in February.

https://morningconsult.com/2022/04/0...tions-polling/

[Bob001]

Originally Posted by Warp12

Poor Joe Biden.

Obama tweets to save face after embarrassing Biden video surfaces
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/oba...video-surfaces

I do feel a little bad for the guy, though. He just isn't charismatic like Obama.

This is just another example of how unhinged Fox is. How could it be a surprise that people who work with Biden every day would seize an opportunity to meet Obama, who hadn't been back to the White House in five years?

[xjx388]

Let's not drag the larger trans/queer/etc discussion here. There are other threads for that general discussion. Restrict your comments to the Biden Admin's actions on this issue, not the broader issue or views about The Other Thread. Thanks.

Responding to this modbox in thread will be off topic Posted By:xjx388

[Bob001]

Originally Posted by SuburbanTurkey

It's really frustrating how comically bad the Democrats are at politics.

https://morningconsult.com/2022/04/0...tions-polling/

Note that the benefit has expired. If the Dems had been able to extend it over Repub opposition, the recipients might have felt differently. Now they see it as something they lost under the Democrats.

[SuburbanTurkey]

Originally Posted by Bob001

Note that the benefit has expired. If the Dems had been able to extend it over Repub opposition, the recipients might have felt differently. Now they see it as something they lost under the Democrats.

Republican opposition and, more importantly, opposition from within the their own ranks. Namely Manchin, but likely others too, who are austerity hawks.

[Warp12]

This reminds of an earlier debate where I pointed out that nearly everyone here was ignoring the deeds of Hunter Biden, while casting stones at Trump Jr.. Seems that the issues surrounding Biden and his family are becoming harder to ignore.

The Washington Post: If Clarence Thomas has to recuse himself, what about Joe Biden?

Quote:

Here’s a question: If Justice Clarence Thomas has to recuse himself on cases relating to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot because of his wife, does that mean President Biden has to recuse himself on China and Ukraine because of his son and brother?

Of course, presidents never recuse themselves. But the fact that Democrats are crying foul over the Thomases while ignoring the Bidens shows that their concern about ethics is just cover for another attempted takedown of a respected conservative jurist.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...out-joe-biden/

[pgwenthold]

I'm not going to quote it because it is too stupid to even consider.

Seriously, this is the level of GOP thinking?

[Stacyhs]

I would not be surprised one iota that the video the right wing is passing around currently
supposedly showing Biden as being "lost" and "out of it" is deceptively edited. It's not like they haven't done exactly that before:

Biden Video Deceptively Edited to Make Him Appear ‘Lost’

ETA: Well, well, well....color me shocked. Not:

Quote:

Fox News Doctored Clips of Obama’s Visit to the White House to Make It Seem Like Biden Was Lost

Conservative media couldn’t resist deceptively editing video of the former president to make it seem like the current president is unfit for office

Quote:

The Republican National Committee shared two clips of the visit that quickly went viral. The first shows an ostensibly confused Biden ambling around the stage as Obama holds court behind him. The second is similar, with Biden standing on the periphery as Obama greets well wishers.

The clips even made it onto the Fox News primetime slate. “Biden doesn’t know what on earth he’s doing or, at times, where he even is,” Lauran Ingraham said as she played the first clip. Tucker Carlson played the second, along with a “King Obama” graphic depicting the former president wearing a crown and a menacing scowl. “Make it stop,” Carlson said. “It’s awful.”

The only problem is that both clips were taken out of context. Biden does look a little confused in the first clip, but it’s only because he’s looking for someone, perhaps Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, whom he brings up onstage to applause shortly after the conservative media cut ends. The second clip ends right before Biden gets Obama’s attention and introduces him to someone. Twitter user @acyn helpfully attached the full clips to the end of the Fox News segments lambasting the edited versions.

Talk about Fake News.

[Bob001]

Originally Posted by Warp12

This reminds of an earlier debate where I pointed out that nearly everyone here was ignoring the deeds of Hunter Biden, while casting stones at Trump Jr.. Seems that the issues surrounding Biden and his family are becoming harder to ignore.

The Washington Post: If Clarence Thomas has to recuse himself, what about Joe Biden?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...out-joe-biden/

What exactly is Hunter Biden accused of? He is a private attorney who was paid to represent clients. Yeah, his name no doubt opened doors. But there is no evidence that he ever influenced any action or decision by the President, or attempted to. Mrs. Thomas, on the other hand, attempted to overthrow the lawful government of the U.S., and urged some of the highest officials in the White House to help. Not much of a comparison.

And the columnist you quote is a notorious right-wing loon. Among other things, he was a speechwriter and apologist for Donald Rumsfeld. He has insisted that waterboarding is not torture. The Post keeps him for "balance."

[Warp12]

Originally Posted by Bob001

And the columnist you quote is a notorious right-wing loon.
Among other things, he was a speechwriter and apologist for Donald Rumsfeld. He has insisted that waterboarding is not torture. The Post keeps him for "balance."

Don't shoot the messenger, bro.

I'm sure he must have done something worse than write speeches for/support Rumsfeld and defend waterboarding, in order to earn the title of "loon". No matter, these Biden family dealings kind of reek, imo. Let's see what the GOP can do with it.