1/ Events in Amsterdam and their aftermath are important because they present the world with a glimpse at mainstream Israeli discourse, what in the eyes of most Israelis is the bonding agent between various Israeli factions. We are these marauding, beaten fans. --->
Alright, I watched the thing cuz y'all were seeing different Biden press conferences from each other.
I thought Biden was lucid and coherent (far more so than Trump is), but he also seemed very old (more so than Trump). Every topic he spoke on made sense, from his assistants wrongly moving the documents (and details on the documents) to the need to get more aid in Gaza to the fact that Hamas probably attacked on Oct 7 to torpedo a Saudi deal with Israel and alluding to how that deal was helped along by American promise of military aid to the Saudis to help them against Iran. He seemed in command of the subject.
Yes, he had one verbal slip (saying "Mexico" instead of "Egypt"), which made his staff wince blood, but that was a standard screwup. I'm 60, and I sometimes do those word substitutions while teaching. It seemed clear to me from everything else he said that he knew exactly where he was talking about (as he went on to talk about opening the barriers on the border of Gaza). But while it wasn't him being confused, it's not the sign of a razor-sharp brain. Well, he's old.
Generally, his enunciation often lacked crispness and he seemed worn. He's 81 and he looks 81. He occasionally brought some spark to his words, but he doesn't have the manic vibrancy of Trump (never mind that Trump's stream of consciousness is making less and less sense every day). Or of Bernie Sanders. That's going to hurt on the campaign trail.
In terms of "is he senile," I saw no signs of that. But is a great candidate? Obviously not. Replacing him with a Gavin Newsom (or somebody young) seems awfully tricky, and I have no clue how it would be done. I'm just a guy in Brooklyn, that's above my pay grade!
It's gonna be a long stressful campaign year!
8) Worse, the FBI called in a so-called "FBI FOIA Negotiation Team,” which “suggested" that we radically change the scope of our request. When we demurred, this team informed us that we should expect a response in August 2029. We are still waiting….
1) How the FBI Uses Sunshine Laws to Stifle Public Review - A generation ago, Congress passed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FOIA allows anyone to seek government records, and requires the government to disclose the documents within 30 days with certain exceptions
7) Without explanation the EOUSA Attorney Advisor who was handling the case informed us that our request had been closed and was now being handled by the FBI. We had come full circle, and yet we still lacked the public records requested nearly two years earlier.
Pretty much all the 10 films in How Democracy Works Now @hdwn tell the story of a previous @immigration reform effort, but #11 The Senate Speaks and #12 Last Best Chance are especially relevant right this moment. See the whole series @KANOPY.