“480 Minutes” - Joe Knows
Trump & his running mate to be JD Vance claim to know nuthink anything about Project 2025 yet there is video of each of them talking about it glowingly. The fact that one of the two parties is demonstrably lying about it’s platform -- what it truly plans to do if given power -- is somehow not much of a story of this election. I know, I know, Trump lying is old news. And there are also multiple trials of the already convicted felon running on the Republican ticket, which is unprecedented & therefore requires coverage even if said trials are kinda stalled thanks to the single most dangerous Supreme Court ruling in the history of the republic. And that candidate’s wife hasn’t been seen with him in public in years (literally)…oh, wait, the press isn’t covering that one, either. Anyway, one of my university journalism professors shared the axiom, “If someone says it's raining and another person says it's dry, it's not your job to quote them both. Your job is to look out of the fucking window and find out which is true.” It always stuck with me. I wish it had stuck with more who work in the profession these days.
Somehow seemingly everyone at the New York Times, Washington Post, George Clooney, MSNBC, CNN, et al is not up to the job. It’s almost like they were waiting for that moment when they could let it out. The Times had been throwing kindling on the fire under that narrative for months before that, so it would make sense.
To be honest, when I was watching the debate live I was devastated. I couldn’t believe how terrible Biden performed & my heart sank. Then I did something the mainstream media failed to do (& people on social media never seem to do): I took a fucking breath. I realized it was two bad debate performances, one expected (Trump avoided answering most questions & lied the entire time) & one unexpected (Biden looked bad).
I took another breath & thought about it a bit more which allowed me to realize that there is no potential replacement with anything near his experience, credentials, or record. Next I realized that more than half the states (27/50) are lead by Republican governors & state attorneys general who, at this late date, might choose to cause chaos over this late change in the ticket & battle it out in court so that by the time some states begin early voting, they will be doing so on ballots featuring a candidate who is not running. Then I came back around to: it was one bad very bad terrible night on a night where he really couldn’t afford to have a bad night. I decided for myself that he should (& must) remain in the race if we are to have a chance to kick Trump to the curb one last time.
I had dinner with three old friends from high school, all 3 of which are on George Clooney’s side. I shared information & perspectives (including some of what’s mentioned above) that they had not considered & which gave them pause, & by the end of the evening one said he was coming around to my way of thinking. Not that it matters: some will keep hounding Biden to drop out of the race, & the President will not care.
New playlist additions today will include 🎵 by Bibi Club (Montreal, Quebec, Candada, @BibiClubMusic), Redd Kross (Los Angeles, CA, @ReddKross),Storefront Church (Los Angeles, CA, @StorefrontChurch), Meg Elsier (Nashville, TN, @MegElsier), & Wilco (Chicago, IL, @Wilco).
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Videos
480 Minutes / Episode 883
