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Joe Biden’s problem with the truth

May 25, 2020

OPINION by T. KEITH GURNEE

I usually like what Stewart Jenkins writes, but his recent piece about Trump as “The Denier in Chief” was over-the-top pointed. While President Donald Trump is often guilty of acting nonpresidential and exaggerating his accomplishments, he’s gotten a lot of things done, including his timely response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The question is: would Stew’s candidate–Joe “Gaffeman” Biden–do any better? It’s hard to believe how Biden has gotten to where he is today. Despite a sputtering campaign, his exaggerating his record, his penchant for plagiarism, his mental misfires, and his propensity for a constant stream of gaffes– the latest a televised response to a black correspondent wherein Biden spat out “if you don’t support me you ain’t black! ”– Joe somehow finds himself not only as the de facto nominee of the Democratic Party but even holding a comfortable lead over President Trump in national polls.

Having been a Democrat most of my life, today’s Democratic Party is unrecognizable from that which attracted me to it during John F. Kennedy’s presidency. As a No Party Preference voter today, the Democratic Party left me during the Clinton years. Still, when Joe Biden announced his candidacy for president back in 2019, I had hoped that if any Democrat were to be elected to the presidency, please let it be Joe Biden.

Biden seemed the only choice among legitimate contenders that centrist Democrats, Independents, and disaffected Republicans could get behind. As the most experienced candidate, it looked like it was Joe’s race to lose. But after reflecting upon his past and during this past year, he not only doesn’t appear to be up to the task, but it looks like Biden’s having a real problem with the truth. Indeed, this may be Biden’s Achilles’ Heel that too few understand and that could prove to be his undoing.

For example, in April 2019, Biden appeared on “The View” TV show, looked into the eyes of its viewers, and said “We didn’t have one single whisper of a scandal under the Obama administration,” a statement that he repeated two months later. That statement, in and of itself, was an absolute falsehood. Here are but a few of the scandals that occurred during his term as VP under the Obama administration:

1.  The “Fast and Furious” firearms operation/gunrunning sting of Atty. Gen. Eric Holder that flopped in 2010, allowing 1,400 guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, two of which were used to murder a U.S. border agent, only to be followed by a cover-up and stonewalling by the Obama administration.

2.  The Obama/Biden administration’s failure to act on its proclaimed “Syrian Red Line” of 2012 when Syria used chemical weapons to kill its own people. That failure directly led to the genesis of ISIS and its murderous activities in beheading Americans and the taking of thousands of innocent civilian lives.

3.  The terrorist swap scandal of 2012 when the administration traded five known Islamic terrorists detained in Guantanamo for the deserter Beau Bergdahl, whose desertion led to the deaths of six American soldiers who searched for him.

4.  Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s Benghazi scandal that resulted in the deaths of four Americans in 2012 followed by another coverup in 2013.

5.  The IRS targeting scandal when the IRS was weaponized to harass political groups in 2013, followed by another cover-up.

6.  The NSA mass surveillance scandal discovered in 2013 by the leaks of Edwards Snowden.

7.  The Russian/Ukrainian invasion scandal of 2014 that the Obama/Biden administration tolerated by sending blankets to the Ukrainians while refusing to send them what they needed to help them resist the Russian invasion and their seizure of Crimea.

8.  The Biden Ukrainian scandal that funneled millions of dollars to Joe’s son Hunter from foreign governments in Ukraine and China while Joe Biden himself openly and successfully urged the Ukraine to fire a high-level official investigating the Biden’s connections.

9.  The Iran nuclear deal of 2015 which sent millions of U.S. dollars to Iran, which were used to export terrorism by bankrolling Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen while continuing its quest for nuclear weapons.

10. In what could be the biggest scandal of them all, the Obama/Biden administration’s FISA abuse scandal of 2016 that weaponized the FBI, the intelligence agencies, and the Justice Department to set up a takedown of an often unpopular but duly elected president. The other shoe has yet to drop on this one.

Then came the Democrat’s Impeachment disaster earlier this year that Biden openly supported. Showcasing the shamefully poor performances of Adam Schiff, Jerome Nadler, Nancy Pelosi, and Fritz Schumer who put on the weakest of cases, the impeachment trial ended up little more than a popcorn fart. And now comes the revelation that Sen. Biden groped a legislative aide in 1993 who once lived right here in Morro Bay.

“Not a trace” of scandals Joe? This bundle of snafus under Biden’s watch have featured a veritable legacy of scandals. Joe would do better to own up them and apologize for them rather than conveniently forgetting them or sweeping them under the rug.

Today, Biden is still considered as having the best chance to beat Donald Trump. Will democratic and independent voters be willing to overlook the scandals of such a flawed candidate out of their abject hatred of Donald Trump? With Bernie Sanders out of the race, will the Dems lose the enthusiasm of the Progressives who just might stay home instead of voting come election day?

Only time will tell.


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Joe the finger needs to be more in touch with the truth…


1

Well Keith, you lost me at the first paragraph. “he’s gotten a lot of things done, including his timely response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” Really. Where can a get a N 95 mask, how about some cheap hand sanitizer, the 22 million tests needed daily, contact tracing? I just don’t have the energy or the time to go through each point. You’ve described things as scandals. Those are judgements not observations. Almost all your points are nearly identical to those found on discredited right-wing conspiracy sites. “Mazin” went through them. There was a great article in the L.A. Times that went through the time line of the Fast and Furious debacle. It came down to an ATF supervisor that wouldn’t give up and was hell bent on trying to get the result he hoped for even though he was being advised that the program wasn’t working.


-5

Your objections are easily refuted. N95 masks are available, soap is an adequate substitute for hand sanitizer, the # of tests done is a red herring due to the unreliableness of the results, and CONTRACT TRACING? 1984 isn’t supposed to be a how-to manual in a representative democracy.


The described scandals are in fact scandals, not judgements. You mention discredited right-wing sites but provide no information to refute the allegations.


If the Fast and Furious scandal is nothing, then why did Obama use executive privilege to stop the investigation? You do know that Eric Holder was found in contempt of Congress for refusing to provide requested documents? That two different whistleblowers at two different locations provided collaborating information? That the Mexican government last month is restarting their investigation into the Fast & Furious scandal and wants to subpoena Eric Holder? Did the L.A. Times article mention that piece of information?


Critical thinking and considering other viewpoints is sorely needed here.


2

You’re absolutely right, Gurnee. And, nobody tells the truth like Trump. Big, beautiful truth.


1

Scandal is defined “as an action or event regarded as morally or legally wrong and causing general public outrage”, not a mistake, or a poor decision, or incompetence, but an action that is MORALLY or LEGALLY wrong. Your examples:

1. Fast and Furious firearms program suffered from agent incompetence.

2. Syrian Red Line of 2012 is a policy decision in a civil war.

3. Terrorist swap of 2012 is another policy decision.

4. Benghazi raid, a bad decision, a mistake in a civil war.

5. IRS harassing political groups’ tax exempt status in 2013. This one, I agree, was a scandal. IRS apologized and paid damages.

6. NSA mass surveillance discovered through the leaks of Edwards Snowden is a policy decision given the risks of domestic and international terrorism.

7. U.S. stance in the Russian/Ukrainian invasion of 2014 is a policy decision in a war.

8. Biden/Ukrainian scandal has been widely debunked. No malfeasance by the Administration including Joe Biden.

9. Iran nuclear deal of 2015 is a policy decision.

10. FISA abuse scandal of 2016 is conjecture at this point.

Questionable decisions, interestingly, most were war or foreign policy decisions. So, with the exception of item 5, I would say Biden’s claim that “We didn’t have one single whisper of a scandal under the Obama administration” is not a lie, based on your examples and the definition.

Your other points: 1) Trump’s accomplishments? All powerfully offset by the COVID-19 disastrous response from Trump. 2) As for impeachment, ask the GOP’s 2012 candidate for President Senator Mitt Romney, or then GOP Representative Justin Amash, who voted for impeachment. 3) Tara Reade’s accusations vary too much to be creditable. 4) Yes, Biden has a stuttering speech impediment as do many Americans. I think it adds to his character.

Keith, in calling Biden a liar, you have fully displayed who and what you are. I am glad you did not become mayor.


-32

Agreed with your facts, thank you for articulating and contradicting Keith’s feeling based political statements. And thank goodness we didnt get another aggrigate pit in Margarita even though Keith wanted it and LIED about our need for it. And Dick Nixon made the EPA, who would of thought. How far down the gutter conservatives have gone by not conserving their backyard, Keith.


-23

“Facts?” More like misdirections…


7

Not feeling based. If you look at the whole of each case, he is generally correct.


0

Your points are laughable to anyone who has been paying attention.


1. Fast and Furious firearms program suffered from agent incompetence. That was run from the White House per released testimony. Executive privilege, contempt of Congress, and fifty-six dead Mexican citizens challenge so called ‘agent incompetence’.


2. Syrian Red Line of 2012 is a policy decision in a civil war. Not even Obama’s National Security Advisors knew he was going to say that when he did. So yeah, Obama embarrassed himself again and showed a weak hand to the enemy.


3. Terrorist swap of 2012 is another policy decision. Give the masterminds back to the enemy for a deserter. If a double-agent was running the country, what would s/he do any different?


4. Benghazi raid, a bad decision, a mistake in a civil war. Ambassador Stevens had been asking for increased security for the last four months before this attack. Tell his surviving family that. Some mistake.


5. IRS harassing political groups’ tax exempt status in 2013. This one, I agree, was a scandal. IRS apologized and paid damages. This had been going on for a number of years so you just minimized the damage. Also, NO damages were ever paid. If you have a REAL news source for that, show it.


6. NSA mass surveillance discovered through the leaks of Edwards Snowden is a policy decision given the risks of domestic and international terrorism. This is on Bush and Obama due to the Patriot Act. Don’t minimize this.


7. U.S. stance in the Russian/Ukrainian invasion of 2014 is a policy decision in a war. Trump sent anti-tank weapons. Obama sent blankets. If that don’t show the difference of philosophy between the two presidents, nothing will.


8. Biden/Ukrainian scandal has been widely debunked. No malfeasance by the Administration including Joe Biden. Has not been debunked in any way shape or form. Keep dreaming. Remember the current Durham investigation? This is directly part of it and IF you remember, he asked Barr for more people due to the magnitude of what he found after an initial investigation.


9. Iran nuclear deal of 2015 is a policy decision. $160 million that the Shah brought in, not the mullahs. But yeah, give it to them to help fund Hezbollah & IRG that attack American servicemen.


10. FISA abuse scandal of 2016 is conjecture at this point. Again, the Durham investigation leads to the exact opposite conclusion.


You seem to pick out certain facts but leave others out. How unfortunate.


-1

Joe Biden has always had honesty issues……he lies even when he doesn’t need to….I think there is a word for that….


31

Nobody supports Biden not even Obama, those who vote for him just hate Trump. You will see very few Biden yard signs and bumper stickers this fall.


27

Most of President Trumps criticisms stem from the fact that he is not, nor has he ever been, a politician. He is a doer. Joe Biden on the other hand is the consummate politician, telling everyone he talks to what they want to hear, rather than what he actually believes. Or at least that’s what Joe used to do. For the past year or so his bizarre ramblings have cast strong doubt as to whether his brain is all that it should be. You better hope he picks a good VP, because I have no doubt that person will be the President if Joe gets elected. You guys really should have backed Tulsi Gabbard!


23

Trump is going to win by a landslide, period.


30

Well, Mr. Gurnee, you certainly fit the demographic that supports Trump. In recent polls, Trump leads Biden by 10 points with older white men +65 such as yourself. The problem, however, is that with older white women, Biden leads by 22 points. Combine that with suburban women of all ages where Biden has a whopping 30 point lead and I smell an electoral landslide in November. Of course, things could change—maybe Trump will shut his mouth for a week or two which would help. Nah, he’s not doing that. He is, to paraphrase Shakespeare, a man who loves to hear the sound of this own voice.


-33

Your ageism, racism and sexism are quite unbecoming. You cannot speak to the actual article, yet you have to inject… interesting.


12

As a 72 year old white man, I definitely resemble those ‘isms. Not surprisingly, though, I have never felt any sort of discrimination (as your suffix suggests) because of those characteristics. In fact, I have only been blessed with opportunity in my life and the subsequent wealth which that opportunity has provided (I would suggest that Mr. Gurnee has experienced the same blessings).


But, to respond to Mr. Gurnee’s opinion, as you requested, I would simply posit that if these Obama-Biden era so-called “scandals” were so scandalous I wonder why there have been exactly ZERO indictments of anyone from that administration. NOT ONE. And that is even after nearly four years of Congressional Republicans and the Trump Justice Department investigating them.


Why is it that, despite Trump’s constant rhetoric about a “deep state” and malfeasance by Obama, that no credible prosecution has ever been levied against Obama, Clinton, Biden, Brennan, Comey, Holder, et al? What we ultimately get, as with the Clinton e-mail situation, are quietly released reports which indicate they could find ZERO wrongdoing.


I would suggest that all of this is simply projection, for once history finally has all the information, Mr. Trump’s administration will rank with those of Grant, Harding and Nixon as the most corrupt in American history.


And, sorry Mr. Gurnee. I saw your photo and surmised that you were about my age. No offense intended.


-13

I truly hope you keep wondering why there have been zero indictments. Please keep asking why there hasn’t been. The answer just might frighten you, if it’s not too late.


4

As for your comment about demographics, Joe Biden is significantly older than me and he’s showing it.


20

And so are you Keith. Like this is back when you served council with antiquated Academics, its 2020, with Ideology next to Al the crazy man Fonzi. Quit reading the comments as the author, its tacky, extremely. Theres other ways to get validation.


-24

“While President Donald Trump is often guilty of acting nonpresidential and exaggerating his accomplishments, he’s gotten a lot of things done, including his timely response to the COVID-19 pandemic.” WTF? Trump is a pathological lying coward.


Timely response? Damn California legalizing pot.


The doctors ALL asked me

“How do you know so much about this virus?”

________________________________________


“This is a pandemic”


Trump told reporters on Tuesday, “I felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic …

I’ve always viewed it as very serious.”


This is a lie. For weeks, the president brushed off the threat of COVID-19, which in turn led Fox

News and Republican lawmakers

to downplay its severity, which in turn emboldened countless Americans to disregard prescriptions

from public health officials to slow the spread of the virus. In the end, the president’s decision

to treat the outbreak like a typical piece of news-cycle fodder could cost an untold number of

Americans their lives and cast millions more into economic ruin. It’s true that there’s only so much

the administration could have done. The problem is that it didn’t even do that.


In an effort to counter Trump’s attempts to rewrite history, we’ve put together a timeline of his

repeated dismissals of the threat of the virus, all of which came as the domestic and international

health community were calling for action.


January 22nd:


Trump is asked about the coronavirus at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Days earlier

the first case of the coronavirus was detected in the U.S., in a man who had returned to Seattle from

a trip to China earlier in January.


“No, not at all. We have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have

it under control” Trump told CNBC. “It’s going to be just fine.”


Trump asked in January about whether or not he’s worried about a pandemic: “No. Not at all. And we’re –

we have it totally under control”.

It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s, uh, gonna be just fine.”


pic.twitter.com/LTxpV4tdF0

Robert Maguire (@RobertMaguire_) March 16, 2020


January 30th:

Trump addresses the coronavirus during a speech on trade in Michigan. The same day, the World Health

Organization classified COVID-19 as an international health emergency.


“We think we have it very well under control” Trump said. “We have very little problem in this

country at this moment – five – and those people are all recuperating successfully. But we’re working

very closely with China and other countries, and we think it’s going to have a very good ending for us”


“Hopefully it won’t be as bad as some people think it could be” he added.


February 10th:

Trump says the coronavirus will be gone by the end of the spring while speaking with reporters

in the White House.


“Now, the virus that we’re talking about having to do – you know, a lot of people think that goes away

in April with the heat, as the heat comes in. Typically, that will go away in April. We’re in great shape,

though. We have 12 cases, 11 cases, and many of them are in good shape now”


Days later, Centers for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield estimates the “virus is probably with us

beyond this season and beyond this year.”


February 14th:

Despite Redfield saying the coronavirus will be in the U.S. beyond 2020, Trump continues to push

the idea that it will be gone in a matter of weeks.


“There’s a theory that, in April, when it gets warm, historically, that has been able to kill the virus,”

he said while speaking to the National Border Patrol Council. “So we don’t know yet. We’re not sure yet.

But that’s around the corner.”


February 23rd:

Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn: “We have it very much under control in this country.”


February 24th:

Trump reveals where the bulk of his concern lies: how the coronavirus could impact the stock market.


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1232058127740174339


February 26th:

During a press briefing at the White House, Trump claims that positive cases will soon begin to decrease.


“We’re going to be pretty soon at only five people, he said. “And we could be at just one or two people over

the next short period of time. So we’ve had very good luck.”


“I think every aspect of our society should be prepared” he added later. “I don’t think it’s going to come

to that, especially with the fact that we’re going down, not up. We’re going very substantially down, not up.”


February 27th:

“It’s going to disappear” Trump said at the White House.

“One day – it’s like a miracle – it will disappear.”


https://twitter.com/TimOBrien/status/1235580579632033793


February 28th:

During a rally in South Carolina, Trump alleges Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus, calling it

“their new hoax.”


February 29th:

While speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Trump again claims his administration

has the coronavirus under control.


“I’ve gotten to know these professionals. They’re incredible,” Trump said. “And everything is under control.

I mean, they’re very, very cool. They’ve done it, and they’ve done it well. Everything is really under control.”


It would be revealed later that a CPAC attendee tested positive for COVID-19, leading multiple Republican lawmakers

who came into contact with him to self-quarantine.


March 4th:

: In an interview with Sean Hannity, Trump calls the WHO’s estimate of the global death rate “false”,

describes the coronavirus as “very mild”, and suggests that those infected can get better by “sitting around”

and “going to work”


https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1235409660104015873


March 7th:

“No, I’m not concerned at all”, Trump said from Mar-a-Lago. “No, I’m not. No, we’ve done a great job.”


March 9th:

Trump bashes Democrats for sounding the alarm “far beyond what the facts would warrant” before implying that the common flu is

far worse, an argument he’s made on several occasions and which has been parroted by Fox News.


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1236975196642390022


https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/123702735631486976


As the number of Americans infected climbs toward 10,000, Trump is now attempting to recast the effort to

mitigate the impact of the coronavirus as a “war” against an “unseen enemy” unleashed on the nation by China.

This doesn’t mean he isn’t still instilling unrealistic expectations in his Twitter followers. “We are going to WIN,”

he wrote Thursday morning, “sooner rather than later!”


1. The “Fast and Furious” firearms operation/gunrunning sting of Atty. Gen. Eric Holder that flopped in 2010, allowing 1,400 guns to fall into the hands of Mexican drug cartels, two of which were used to murder a U.S. border agent, only to be followed by a cover-up and stonewalling by the Obama administration.

ANSWER: The intent was to track guns being sold over the border. Ya know, the one that needs a wall.

2. The Obama/Biden administration’s failure to act on its proclaimed “Syrian Red Line” of 2012 when Syria used chemical weapons to kill its own people. That failure directly led to the genesis of ISIS and its murderous activities in beheading Americans and the taking of thousands of innocent civilian lives.

ANSWER: We were telling him NO MORE WAR!!!

3. The terrorist swap scandal of 2012 when the administration traded five known Islamic terrorists detained in Guantanamo for the deserter Beau Bergdahl, whose desertion led to the deaths of six American soldiers who searched for him.

ANSWER: 4,000 Dead Americans and you cherry picked THIS? Where is the Hearing on the failed Yemen raid, or the niger slaughter which was almost a play by play of Benghazi. Soldiers begged for help. Trump said “They knew what they signed up for”


4. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s Benghazi scandal that resulted in the deaths of four Americans in 2012 followed by another coverup in 2013.

Answer: The Republicans held MANY hearings and REPUBLICANS concluded they did not act improperly; Where are the hearings on 911 and the invasion of Iraq?

5. The IRS targeting scandal when the IRS was weaponized to harass political groups in 2013, followed by another cover-up.

ANSWER: The IRS is mandated to investigate the absolute flood of non profits springing up. There was no malice and the person in charge was relieved of her duty to show no favoritism

6. The NSA mass surveillance scandal discovered in 2013 by the leaks of Edwards Snowden

ANSWER: That was a continuation of the patriot act signed by little bush.

7. The Russian/Ukrainian invasion scandal of 2014 that the Obama/Biden administration tolerated by sending blankets to the Ukrainians while refusing to send them what they needed to help them resist the Russian invasion and their seizure of Crimea.

ANSWER: We were already exhausted from the invasion of countries that never harmed us.

8. The Biden Ukrainian scandal that funneled millions of dollars to Joe’s son Hunter from foreign governments in Ukraine and China while Joe Biden himself openly and successfully urged the Ukraine to fire a high-level official investigating the Biden’s connections.

ANSWER: Biden was sent as a representative of MANY COUNTRIES because of Americas strength. There is no hunter Biden scandal.

9. The Iran nuclear deal of 2015 which sent millions of U.S. dollars to Iran, which were used to export terrorism by bankrolling Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthi rebels in Yemen while continuing its quest for nuclear weapons.

ANSWER: The Iranians received THEIR money that WE froze for many years and it wasn’t Obama and Biden. It was the leading powers of planet earth coordinating together.


10. In what could be the biggest scandal of them all, the Obama/Biden administration’s FISA abuse scandal of 2016 that weaponized the FBI, the intelligence agencies, and the Justice Department to set up a takedown of an often unpopular but duly elected president. The other shoe has yet to drop on this one.

ANSWER: Trump himself said the president can order investigations and although ZERO CRIME WAS COMMITED, Dershowitz said “If the president believed he was acting to help America, it’s allowed”


The Impeachment was based on absolute, presented facts. It was congresses responsibility to act. If they didn’t, they would not have honored their oath to the constitution.


-30

Get a grip!!!!!!


3

I guess you didn’t like his answers.


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