Biden v Trump (and one or two others) The US Presidential election 2024. Read OP before posting

One major benefit of the parliamentary system is that if a leader's position becomes untenable, they're quickly ousted.

I don't follow US politics too closely. Does Kamala Harris deserve the amount of flak that's directed at her? Anthony Scaramucci on the "Rest is Politics" podcast said her unpopularity is mainly down to the perception that she was selected to check boxes rather than on merit, which is unfair on her and she's a lot better off camera than on.

Not inconceivable that both Biden and Trump will fail to make it to polling day.

She's known over here in the US as "Simon's even more useless cousin"

No chance. The Obamas have no interest. She has made sure that there isn't even a "team" behind her. If Biden steps aside he will have to back Kamala Harris, but it is likely Newsome would win a run-off

There is no evidence Trump can bring the Ukraine-Russia war to a close, other than by Ukraine or Russia making huge concessions which neither will do.

Trump asking Ukraine to give up even more of its territory will not in the long run appease Putin, who will in future continue to bite off more and more of Ukraine, as Hitler did in Czechoslovakia in the 1930s.

Pulling funding from Ukraine would be a monumental mistake in the long run for the US.

Scaramucci also said that knowing Trump, he would go out of his way not to have a "box-checking" VP. His reasoning being that everything always has to be about him and if he's to win, it is because of him and nobody else.

The Taliban walked through Afghanistan because the American backed govt only had nominal control of Kabul.

If the Afghani people wanted to they could have torn the Taliban apart, they didn't, the popularity of the Taliban should not be down played and much if the opposition to the Taliban were near enough to their thinking as to be the same.

The withdrawal was a mess and by the nature of messes the people on the ground and the man at the top are held to account.

How’d that one work out for ya ?

I wish he could give a speech like that about Netenyahu.

supposedly…and how are “they”?

A problem is that apart from ethical etc , there will always be numerous groups competing so they will never agree.

wonder will the dems invoke 25th amendment to remove biden from office?

totally - I think overall he’s a “good person”- but seriously, let’s call it a day now- you’ve more than done your duty.

As for Trump, much as I hate to say it, whilst we knew he’d spew a bunch of lies and half truths (what president doesn’t in election year) , he was well advised and remained calm overall - that then put some much more pressure on Bidens behaviour - Trump will be back out doing 3 hour rally’s talking his usual nonsense but it’s last night people will remember - he’s clever and he’s learning how to manipulate the circumstance and the forum he’s in - on that aspect I can’t fault him (I’m afraid 🤪)

In other news the Supreme Court continued its destruction of the American Republic by declaring Federal Agencies can't create rules to oversee their respective jurisdictions. Declaring themselves, the SC, the ultimate authority on any complex issue.

They also made it legal for cities to arrest and charge homeless people for being homeless .

The fault for the deal will always lie with Trump. Here's what a Trump advisor said about the deal:

“The Doha agreement was a very weak agreement, and the U.S. should have gained more concessions from the Taliban,” said Lisa Curtis, an Afghanistan expert who served during the Trump administration as the National Security Council’s senior director for South and Central Asia.

She called it “wishful thinking” to believe that the Taliban might be interested in lasting peace. The resulting agreement, she said, was heavily weighted toward the Taliban, contributed to undermining Afghan President Ashraf Ghani — he fled the country Sunday and is now in the United Arab Emirates — and facilitated the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners without a commensurate concession from the Taliban.

“They wanted U.S. forces out, and they wanted to take over the country militarily, and they believed that they could do that,” Curtis said of the Taliban. “That was just crystal clear.”

It didnt matter who was in The Whitehouse, as soon as it became clear the US was leaving, hundreds of thousands of Afghans would be forced to also leave.

The US under the terms of the agreement were committed not to attack the Taliban.

Interested to hear the alternative, given that once the US said they were leaving and the Taliban launched an offensive, a quick collapse of the Afghan government was inevitable. Unless you think the US should have remained?

i suppose the threat of it (presume it would be considered very embarrassing) may be enough for him to step down and have kamala sworn in.

as an aside, when reading about the 25th amendment it turns out kamala is the 1st female president of the US.

2021: Kamala Harris
On November 19, 2021, President Joe Biden temporarily transferred his powers and duties to Vice President Kamala Harris before undergoing a colonoscopy, making her acting president from 10:10 a.m. until 11:35 a.m. Harris is the first woman to hold the powers and duties of the U.S. presidency.