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Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for July 8, 2024

hot takes

MSNBC talking head, Lawrence O’Donnell, thinks all the questions about Joe Biden’s health have been answered. Not even close, Lawrence.

I’m not a Joe Biden fan. I’ve never been a fan. He wasn’t my first, second, or third choice in the primaries, and the only reason I voted for him in 2020 was the fact he wasn’t Donald Trump. I used the same approach when voting for Hillary Clinton in 2016.

Some of my friends and acquaintances want me to ignore what I see with my own eyes: Joe Biden’s health is declining, and even if he wins reelection, he has a one in three chance of dying in office.

I continue to be amazed by Democrats who think that no one else but Joe Biden can beat Trump in November. Really? With a 37 percent approval rating?

We currently have at least twelve feral/stray cats we are feeding, including a mother with four kittens, and a female with one kitten. We have three inside cats of our own — all rescues. It infuriates me that people are not held accountable for abandoning their cats or allowing them to roam unspayed.

Google made drastic changes to its search algorithm earlier this year. Result? Sites losing thousands and millions of visitors and page views. Traffic for this site is down 30-40 percent.

Several weeks ago, I worried that we wouldn’t have any young raccoons in our backyard this summer. Good news! They finally showed up: three adults and five young raccoons are in our yard as I write.

Our newest cat, Charley, is about nine months old. He’s quite clumsy. Last night, Charley tried to jump in the window above our couch — where I’m presently sitting. He missed, clobbering me in the head as he fell, scratching my left ear. Boy, did it bleed, and, boy, did I cuss. 🙂

I have major back surgery scheduled for August 19, at ProMedica Hospital in Toledo. A routine pre-op chest x-ray revealed a spot on the lower lobe of my left lung. This will require a CT scan on Friday to make sure nothing is amiss. My physician said, “Better to air on the side of caution.”

The Reds sweep the New York Yankees, and then turn around and get swept by the Detroit Tigers. Arg! Baseball. ⚾️

Bonus: Busy week ahead: medical tests, Band of Horses concert, Reds game vs. Colorado Rockies, dinner (Mancy’s Steakhouse), and overnight stay (Hancock Hotel) in Findlay with my partner of 46 years. I’m pushing it physically, but my present mantra is “I only die once.” If not today — when?

Double Bonus: Recent election results in Britain and France give me a glimmer of hope. I fear, however, that the United States will face a lot more upheaval and turmoil before we finally uproot MAGA extremism from our midst. We will likely have to have a “Brexit” moment before people see the bankruptcy of right-wing extremism. That’s the optimistic side of me speaking. My pessimistic side thinks our democracy is in decline and will not survive another Trump presidency, and may not do all that well with a Biden win. Our “rot” is there for all to see. “Hey, did you see who won American Idol?”

Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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19 Comments

  1. Avatar
    velovixen

    Bruce, I am no fan of Biden. Call me petty, but I never could forgive him for how he (and the Senate committee he headed) treated Anita Hill during the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas.

    Still, like you I voted for him because of the alternative. I’ll probably do the same this year, for the same reason. (RFK Jr as an alternative to him or Trump? Jill Stein? Seriously?) I wish someone else were running in his place. But I think the reason why the Democratic Party establishment doesn’t want him to abdicate is that if he does, all of his campaign donations and apparatus would transfer to Kamala Harris (of whom I’m not a fan). A new nominee—whether chosen through a new series of primaries, a popular vote or by the party itself—would have to start a campaign “from scratch ,” eliciting new donations and volunteers. The party leaders probably think it’s too late for another candidate—whether Bernie Sanders. Elizabeth Warren or someone else—to mount an effective campaign.

    • Avatar
      Troy

      @velovixen Re:”I never could forgive him for how he (and the Senate committee he headed) treated Anita Hill during the confirmation hearings for Clarence Thomas”

      You do know Biden voted against confirming Clarence Thomas? (A few Democrats voted to confirm him.) Biden did indeed give a robust cross examination of Miss Hill’s testimony. Which is to say he treated her as an adult. If she did not receive a robust cross examination it would have been an easier out for Senators to disregard her testimony. (Sadly Thomas squeaked in on a 48-52 vote, I suspect he would have had more votes for without Hill’s testimony)

  2. Avatar
    ObstacleChick

    The rot of the US is indeed there for all to see. I have quite a few friends and colleagues in Europe – some are US expats living there, others are European or Asian people who work for our company’s European entity. It’s embarrassing AF to understand how they see USA compared to their countries. I want to leave the US and live somewhere else, but no one else in my family wants to yet, so here I am. I haven’t settled on a final destination yet, but I am exploring options. If Trump is elected, and even part of Project 2025 is activated, we are SCREWED. I’m not sure I can live here. 😕

    I hope your scan and surgery go well! Enjoy your adventures to games and concerts! They sound fun!

  3. Avatar
    Troy

    I’d just point out that Ronald Reagan had about a dismal approval rating in the 30s 1983, just before he won every state except Minnesota (and D.C.). People will always complain, and they’ll always blame the guy in the hot seat. After the convention and in the voting booth people come back around to re-elect the incumbent. (Democrats have cleaned house in every election since the Dobbs decision)
    It makes intuitive sense just get a younger candidate. Easy peasy right? Not so fast. A newby will always get more scrutiny. It takes time for the public to accept a new leader.
    Biden IS old, but if you look closely Trump actually has early dementia and Biden does not. If he dies in office Kamala can take over no problem.. (unlikely yes about a 60% for a typical 81 man to live to be 86, but a typical man can not commandeer a wing of Walter Reed)
    What I find odd is that Biden’s health is the big issue and not Trump’s convictions and indictments. Shouldn’t Trump step down?

    • Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      The question is whether Biden up to the task, not Trump. Neither are, in my opinion, but I’ve noticed liberals love to deflect from Biden’s problems by pointing to Trump —classic whataboutism — instead of answering the question at hand: is Biden a suitable candidate?Lawrence O’Donnell spent most of his show last night playing this game. He even brought on Rep.Maxine Waters, who is older than Biden. “See, I’m older, and can still do the job.” This was deflection, ignoring the question: is Biden a suitable candidate?

      The long term answer is age and term limits.

      • Avatar
        Troy

        I’m pretty sure a “Weekend at Bernie” President could actually work. How much did Trump actually do? (hint watch Fox news, tweet, with a bit of golf) In a lot of ways the “empty suit” Trump made things worse. Leonard Leo could fill the Supreme Court, Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon could do their right wing crap. His cabinet was to do the opposite of their post : ex. Betsy DeVos as head of Education. He’s mostly a figurehead and communicator who signs things and is the face of a whole administration. He’s not flying a plane or train.
        The most important thing to me is defeating Trump. I’m sorry about the whataboutism. I’m trying to illustrate how Republicans overlook Trump’s warts, but Democrats demand a perfect candidate. The best person is the person who can win. My concern is the loss of incumbency and a possible party squabble to replace him, in a close race this would cause the undoing.

      • Avatar
        Revival “I Lie for Jesus” Fires

        Disgusting comment deleted. You are a vile man; not a Christian; not a decent human being.

        • Avatar
          GeoffT

          The sad fact is that if by some chance there were a God and it stands at the gates of heaven checking entry passes, Revival Fires would be rejected (far too hate filled for heaven), whilst Bruce would gain admittance.

          • Avatar
            Revival “I Lie for Jesus” Fires

            No Geoff he wouldn’t. He is not trusting in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation the ONLY WAY to heaven. And from reading his writings he wasn’t when he was a pastor either.

            He was and is trusting his good works. And that cannot save anyone as we are all unclean with sin until trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ through faith in his death and resurrection

          • Avatar
            Bruce Gerencser

            Please provide evidence for your claim that I was “not trusting in Jesus Christ for eternal salvation.” I’m confident no evidence will be forthcoming. You are a liar for Jesus. The Bible says that no liar will inherit the kingdom of God. I may end up in Hell, but you will be right there with me.

            Works may not save — a debatable theological position — but true faith is evidenced by good works. Based on your nasty, vile, violent comments, you are not saved.

            Repent, Revival Fires, 🔥 before you end up in Hell.

  4. Avatar
    Jen

    I was beginning my deconstruction period just before the 2016 fiasco so I didn’t vote. I was still in the “Democrats are evil and Trump is a joke” phase, never realizing where we were coming from or where we were going. Heck, I still believed a family member who said Palin claimed someone prophesied she would become president. Agh.

    As I watched, listened, learned and screamed over the last few years, I learned a few things. The first one is, many voters are rarely truly informed. Meaning they don’t actually know how their candidates vote, research everything they say, or check if they ever check how they vote. Many voters rely on tiny sound bites. And headlines are increasingly bought and paid for by bigger corporations every year. Which means they order around the lowest paid entry level writers who can’t afford to spend time on research.

    The other thing is my ideals will never match up with the majority of other voters. Even more important is that I realized us Democrats are complacent. Which has been the bane of our existence. We eat our own. I thought that when I became a Democrat I was finally helping the underprivileged. Helping democracy. But we actually suck at getting our act together! We talk about it, but always have more lofty opinions than everyone else. We eat our own. I thought it was only the ultra conservative and religious who did that. Silly me.

    I’m not saying we can’t do better than Biden. We can. I didn’t want to vote for him, but I did because he was a solid choice. And as it turned out, he was an excellent candidate. He brought back stability and decency to our White House. I thought those years were gone forever under Trump. Do I agree with everything Biden does? No. Heck no. But he has done excellent work in his short time as president. I’m cautiously hopeful for the future.

    This is all the twists and turns I’m coming from. Most Americans don’t have the benefit of years of knowledge to understand what we are witnessing today. I sure don’t. Some of us are only waking up now. Our entire democracy is at stake. So where do we go from here? Families are being torn apart because of the extreme polarization (the irony of Evangelical Trumpsterism is not lost on me, since evangelicalism literally tore my family apart before I was born). And we all know Trump literally tore families apart after caging them like animals. He is the epitome of Evangelicalism.

    So what are our choices? Rely on a complacent Democratic majority of our population and encourage them to do the right thing? Because we absolutely will if prodded enough to get off our butts and vote. At this point, it means Biden. Not because he’s weak, because he isn’t. Not because we are weak, because we are not. It’s because this is what we need as a country right now. We need a bit of breathing room so the majority of Americans can sit back and take a look around. Let the justice system have time to hold insurrectionists accountable. Let us rebuild as a country, literally and metaphorically.

    If Biden dies in office, which I seriously doubt he will, Kamala would do an excellent job as president. Has she gotten ANY positive coverage? No. Why? We know why. She’s a woman, and an American born Indian-Jamaican woman at that. Republicans still haven’t recovered from the fact that a Black man was our most important and most influential president in modern history.

    Do we need waaaaay more progressive voices prodding us along? Absolutely. We wouldn’t have gotten anywhere at all without them. Those voices are my inspiration every day. People like Bruce have been my inspiration since the first time I had the courage to explore outside my tiny world. People like him know more about how the world works than I ever will. Because I haven’t lived through those times. Experience is key.

    I’m obviously not a speech writer, but I have very strong opinions based on my own tiny experiences. I only hope to be able to gain wisdom from people I trust, plus be able to incorporate it into my little world. But the truth is, I’m not ashamed of voting for Biden again. And I will.

  5. Avatar
    Heidi in Montana

    The question here is not about those of us reading blogs like this! It is about the lower-information voters in the swing states who won’t vote for someone who is aging like Biden and may never grasp the potential dystopia of another Trump term. A new candidate could make a sharp, cogent case against Trump, which is the easiest thing in the world yet Biden has failed at it miserably. The low-information voter might learn a few things if we get a new candidate who hammers on the dangers of Project 2025 or Trump’s horrific plans to round up millions of people into deportation camps instead of Biden’s weak old-man lines about how Trump has the morals of an alley cat. A new candidate could point out how, with all these hard workers gone and no citizens willing to take their low-paying jobs (not fair but it is reality), the costs of our food, construction, health care and child care are going to skyrocket. I’ve never heard Joe make any of these points, which seem so obvious to me (as well as many Nobel Prize-winning economists). Anyway, thanks Bruce for your level-headed thoughts on this matter but sadly we are all captive to Biden’s ego right now.

    • Avatar
      Troy

      @Heidi, I think you’re over analyzing how the “low information voter” makes his decision. The contemplation of the vote isn’t cerebral–it is visceral and very self centered. “How am I doing?” Good? stick with what we know, Bad? kick the bums out.
      This is why debates, polls, and pundits don’t matter. The election is based on how well the party in party governed. The cake is already baked.

  6. Avatar
    Yulya Sevelova

    Hello, Troy. have you seen where Trump has been denying lately any involvement in project 2025, claiming “he has nothing to do with them/” I saw it on Raw Story, it was from a few days ago. Just logged on now, though. His “Secretary of Retribution,” Kevin Roberts, has a list of 350 people that he wants to have ARRESTED. Oh, shades of the Nazis and Commies, just like Putin’s court issuing an arrest warrant for Yulia Navalnaya, Navalny’s widow. She can’t go back to Russia now. More people need to give the clarion call on the dangers of this 2025 travesty. Too many people don’t know of it, or heard of it. Especially the churches. Another “Spanish Inquisition” could be staring them in the face-they aren’t immune ! There’s a dramedy out on video, “The Oath.” It’s about a similar situation, and one family’s way of dealing with it.

    • Avatar
      Troy

      @Yulya
      Yes, I’ve seen Trump deny project 2025. True to their Orwellian roots they are renaming it “Agenda 47”. Keep in mind Trump is an empty suit and a tool for Bannon and Miller’s Christian fascism. That said Trump’s modus operandi is clear : replace all posts and bureaucratic positions with loyalists. With the right wing/MAGA supreme court a lot of nasty things can happen, possibly even attempting to make Trump “President for Life”. ::shudders::

  7. Avatar
    Karen the rock whisperer

    Jumping in on something not necessarily political, I agree with Bruce about people who dump cats and/or let their unspayed/unneutered cats roam. One of my cats came to us by showing up in my parents’ yard one day, a small kitten, every rib sticking out. My parents lived next to a levee that separated them from a riparian area that flooded in the winter, and we suspect Rocky and his littermates were dumped there. Rocky escaped Mama Coyote somehow (her den was on the other side of the levee), and since I knew how to raise a kitten and Dad didn’t, he ended up in my household. What a wonderful cat! But who knows how many of his siblings fed the coyote pups in the levee.

    Then there were my across the street neighbors of many years. They acquired cats and spayed their females, but refused to neuter their males. We had a parade of male cats through our back yard for years, none of whom tended to live to be older than 5 or 6. Can’t tell you how many times I was awakened in the night by the yowling associated with cat sex, out in my back yard. Those neighbors finally sold their house and moved away a couple of years ago, which has since been undergoing the world’s longest-running remodel, but the parade of unneutered cats is gone!

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