I did not stay up for the State of the Union, mostly because I need my rest and I continue to be pretty relaxed during the Biden administration. I’m sure there are many pressing concerns and I could spend a lot of time worrying about a lot of different stuff, but I definitely feel like Dark Brandon and his sidekick Kamala Harris have got everything covered. Dark Brandon used the first post-Roe SOTU to talk about abortion:
Would I have appreciated a more concrete national plan to ensure abortion rights? For sure. But y’all decided to give a slim House majority to the Republicans, so here we are. All President Biden can do is use the federal government to ensure every person’s access to abortion medications, and ensure every person’s access to out-of-state abortion. Which he’s already doing.
One of the best moments came when Dark Brandon outwitted the Republican caucus by allowing them to heckle him on Medicare and Social Security, then – like an evangelical con man – he used their heckles as a trap for a verbal confirmation that none of them would defund Medicare or end Social Security.
Meanwhile, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden special guests were Paul Pelosi (Nancy’s husband), Tyre Nichols’ parents, Bono, Brandon Tsay (the Monterey Park hero), Ukraine’s ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova and Holocaust survivor Ruth Cohen. I can’t find an ID on Dr. Biden’s pretty purple dress, but she also made headlines for kissing Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff on the lips. I… don’t have a problem with it? It was a warm greeting between two people who get along. Maybe a cheek kiss would have been more appropriate, but we always hear that the Bidens are a huggy and kissy family.
First Lady Jill Biden and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff share a moment ahead of President Biden’s State of the Union. pic.twitter.com/0qsLzWTf0Q
— The Recount (@therecount) February 8, 2023
Photos courtesy of Getty, Backgrid.
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- Washington, DC – President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington, as Vice President Kamala Harris and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy of Calif., watch. Credit: Jacqueline Martin / Pool via CNP /MediaPunch Pictured: Biden BACKGRID USA 7 FEBRUARY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Washington, DC – President Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023, in Washington. Credit: Jacqueline Martin / Pool via CNP /MediaPunch Pictured: Biden BACKGRID USA 7 FEBRUARY 2023 BYLINE MUST READ: MediaPunch / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
Kaiser, I’m with you. I feel like the country is in safe hands with Biden. I don’t have to fear every political headline or tweet. Additionally, I feel like Uncle Joe has gotten a lot done, but many people don’t pay attention because he’s doing it efficiently and moving on to the next task.
Agree with you Roo and Kaiser. It’s been a relief to feel like I can trust the president to do his job, not tweet inflammatory lies all day. I’m not worried about what Biden is up to, and I feel like he somehow pulled us out of some scary times, while just keeping his head down and getting the work done.
I find the House Republicans to be a constant reminder that the scary times are far from over.
I do love me some Dark Brandon meme’s – there are all over SM. Its also a great title for a movies about him – wonder who could play him??
Its not going to be hard to outwit the Reps, esp when Marge has managed to blackmail herself into deputising for the Speaker.
@Digital Unicorn, kindly tell me what this Dark Brandon nick name is about, I must have missed that thread I,Lol. It can be brief or a link?
This is a “Know Your Meme” article about it: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dark-brandon
I think (!) it’s something to do with a nascar (?) driver who thought the crowd was chanting ‘lets go Brandon’ but it was actually ‘f-you Biden’ and it became a thing. I’m less clear on the ‘dark’ bit. Maybe someone else can help with that?
It’s kind of a play on the Brandon bit. Like you all thought Uncle Joe was such an easy going, laid back guy that you could mock him openly at a NASCAR event and he was just going to slink off quietly into the night? Not a chance mother effers. He’s Dark Brandon, here to get justice and pass laws and tell the republicans to STFU.
Dark Brandon rises and says “ No Malarkey!”
I think the ‘dark’ part was all Twitter trolling republicans – also didn’t the WH official twitter account use/retweet some of those meme’s?
Dark Brandon is the superhero side of Biden. Like Clark Kent dodging his glasses and clothes to become Superman, Joe ditches his doddering grandpop persona to become Dark Brandon. The Republicans had adopted “let’s go Brandon” as code for ditching Biden so it was used to turn their dis into a sleek superhero, signing 300 bipartisan bills, lowering employment, etc.
I laughed my ass off at how dumb the House GOP is.
Same. I was also laughing so hard at Qevin’s apparent crush on Dark Brandon.
I 100% understand your feeling of relief at going about day to day life with a low-key, above-board government. It’s the best, and certainly not taken for granted.
We had a slightly less extreme parallel version in Australia and it’s struck me a couple of times on occasion “huh, wonder what the PM is up to at the moment”, without also experiencing the associated pit of dread that it was something dishonest, divisive, underhanded, corrupt or downright illegal.
The kiss LOL! Somehow they make the weirdest stuff seem wholesome.
“Look little whippersnappers…lemme show you how it’s done”.
Damn Biden – that was so beautiful.
The way the Dark Brandon memes freak out the conservatives is hilarious. They started that Brandon shit and now try to say it’s cultish and demonic. They have nothing but hate, bigotry and their gun humping.
I love that they started it but that we’ve co-opted it.
People of the “greatest generation” and many boomers kiss on the lips. My grandfather, grandmother, father and uncle all did. There was no sexuality to it. It is how older people kissed you.
Younger people do not do this and find it strange. So do I , but I’m use to it.
Also, you go Dark Brandon!!!!
agreed on the older people do it thing. My dad did and it pisses me off that sh!tty people want to make a thing out of it
Yes, my grandpa was the least affectionate person on earth, but when he did give us kisses, it was always on the lips and very, very innocent. My parents did this too when we were little until I got uncomfortable with it and stopped.
If you look at larger images/video you can see it’s a very lip adjacent side kiss. Not directly on the lips.
Not a boomer thing. We were raised by puritanical parents who believed in no sex before marriage. They were not lip kissers either. That said, I don’t care what other people do,
Being a Gen Xer who has been laid off 9xs over the decades due to Republican POTUS’ inhumane economic policies (starting with Reagan) and whose health was DECIMATED due to Republicans BLOCKING affordable & accessible Healthcare for decades…who is now on Disability due to that…I cried TEARS OF JOY listening to POTUS speech last night. Every vote I have cast for the last 32 years & I NEVA missed ANY election…was to get what I got last night…I look forward to the future and the present 🩵
YAAAAAS DARK BRANDON!!!
That was a thing of beauty. He had them going for several minutes, booing him, MTG yelling “liar” etc, and then you can just feel the sense of “oh shit” when he’s like “so it seems we all agree!” Kevin McCarthy’s face was……not happy, hahahahhaha.
I will say that SS disability is my area and its really really disheartening to read some of the stories of people who want disability. a lot don’t even want disability per se, they just want to be able to LIVE and to afford rent and groceries and disability is really the best avenue to that IF they qualify. Rs rant and rave about people abusing the system and the reality is twofold – there is actually very little abuse, but to the extent there is, its usually because people have no other options because our social safety nets suck.
So if RRs want to gut SS and Medicare, they better have something better to offer, and they just don’t.
It’s fascinating to me how every ten years or so the right wing tries to go after Social Security and Medicare seemingly oblivious to the fact that it was a suicide mission the last time they tried it. During W’s regime, they thought they could pull the wool over everyone’s eyes by claiming privatizing the programs would make them so much better. Americans were not buying that 💩. They should be expanded, not cut!
The Republicans show such lack of class when they heckle our President. But it’s okay because it’s just more fuel for Dark Brandon.
Hopefully the Rethugs horrible behavior last night opened more people’s eyes to how unfit and crazy they are and should be voted out of office.
Maybe. But they (MTG and Boebert) heckled him last year when he was talking about his dead son. 🤬They have no shame.
OK, not an American so I didn’t watch, but that clip of him outmaneuvering them on social security and Medicare? That is art! ART! Someone put that in a museum!!!
And seriously what is with bargain bin Cruella deVil in her cheap-looking white fur? People voted for…that? Does her district have a lot of lead in their water?
I’m not certain, but I think she essentially ran unopposed.
She ran against Army Veteran Marcus Flowers. She beat him by quite a bit but her district is deep red. At least people had an alternative. I’d like to say her behavior would hurt her but I’m afraid it only helps. She’s running for trumps VP spot.
MTG was a complete idiotic trash heap caricature of an ignorant villan last night, including her outfit. She doesn’t care though. She loves it, she wants to be called classless. She thinks it means she’s “down to earth” and “not playing their game” when it really means she lacks basic human decency and double digit IQ.
Yeay Joe! It’s time to call these idiot hypocrites to the carpet PUBLICLY!
Don’t mess with Scranton Joe. MTG should star in a female lead remake of Encino Man because she straight up has a proto-human look/vibe. And Bono? Random but not unwelcome.
Biden paid tribute to the 20th anniversary of Bush announcing (at the SOTU) the creation of PEPFAR which has been amazing in reducing aids deaths, infections and developing treatments. Because of Bono’s aids work, including with bush, he was there.
Joe is a sly old fox and I am here for it!
It truly worries me that anyone could look at republicans over the last 7 yeahs and still continue to vote for them. I am putting so much faith in gen z and their voting power as boomers…well, die, to help save this country from the uneducated white cesspool that’s grown out of control.
It’s been a lot longer than seven years for me. I remember the “Reagan Revolution”.
Technology and the access to information has helped each generation become more progressive. It’s not Boomers driving this far-right mindset though. Gen X is the worst
I’m curious- why do you opine that GX is “the worst?”
Yes, I’m curious as to Gen X being the worst as well. Yappity Yaps in the press going on about voters 45-64 supporting the orange menace overlooked the fact that that age bracket include quite a number of Boomers. Oh, and it also leaves out a few years of Gen Xers. Polls that actually look at Gen Xers only (i.e., born between 1965 and 1980) show they’re mostly independent with slightly more outside of that being liberal than conservative. And they haven’t gotten more conservative as they’ve aged, as their right wing numbers fell from older polls taken in the 90s compared to today.
I am trying to figure out how Gen X are the worst. Most Gen X I know are Independent or Democrats. I live in a huge Red State & college town. I remember the night of the Biden/Trump I saw a group of Gen Z sorority girls wearing pink sweatshirts that said “Make America Great Again vote Trump.”
You can’t blame generations for ignorance and stupidity. All generations have ignorant and stupid in them.
The one thing I will say about Gen Z is that they will become the new Gen X. The Gen Z have had to become the new latch key kids, wear many hats, take on parental roles for their siblings, take care of the parents, work several jobs, pay for their education out of their pockets.
They will become the new Sandwich Generation.
Putting all boomers in the same category is wrong. Not all are uneducated and and in the cesspool you speak of. Just as there are some Gen z’ers that are uneducated and part of the cesspool. We need to make sure voters who aren’t part of the cesspool (and some are educated in said pool) get out and vote.
I caution everyone about being to comfy right now. Yes we have Joe and the Senate, but many state senates and the house are run by Christian nationalists.
I think when Kaiser and others say they’re comfortable, they don’t mean they aren’t worried about what’s happening at the state level or what McCarthy had to give away to get the Speakership etc. It’s more – I’m not worried when I go to sleep that we’re going to declare war on North Korea via twitter, you know? (or with Trump, I was worried we would declare war on an ally bc North Korea told him to.) It’s a very baseline level of comfort but its there.
Yeah, I agree, like I don’t even consider this a dunk. I need actual proof in the pudding and tangible results before I get excited and call something a dunk, respectfully.
The Dems picked up state houses and governorships. We’d still have the house is Dems in NY hadn’t decided to mess around with redistricting.
Agree with @Becks1. I mean it has been nice for the last few years to not live in existential dread that our president is going to drag us into war with his crazy tweets or collapse our government with his incompetence. I fully realize there’s a lot going on, and we don’t know what’s going to happen in the next election. But is has felt good to AT LEAST have a calm, sane person in the highest office, just getting the job done.
It is true that I am confident that Biden is competent and sane and I don’t worry about the job he’s doing as president. I worry that he’s just one man and that 2024 is hurtling towards us.
The Bidens and Harris/Emhoff households are the ones ready with a hug for someone, so that kiss is whole big nothing considering how close they have become over the last 4 years.
Ahahaha I love god McCarthy starts scratching his twitchy eye when President Biden says “So we agree!”
Just need to state that I see zero reason for Bono to be at the SOTU address.
Is he now a US citizen?
Good singer, but man he grates on my nerves.
I know it makes no sense, he just does.
Both parties have got to stop F’ing with Social Security as a power move.
Social Security is barely enough to keep some folks alive, and still in poverty.
I think he was there for the shoutout to PEPFAR.
Because Biden is trying to show bipartisan cooperation which is something we badly need to get out of this mess we’re in. Here’s from an article:
Bono was tapped for his advocacy and philanthropic support for global health and AIDS relief initiatives.
Working with other activists, Bono played a pivotal role in building public and bipartisan political support for the creation of PEPFAR (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), a program announced by President George W. Bush in his State of the Union 20 years ago.
source: https://www.kcra.com/article/bono-us-state-of-the-union-address/42795400#
Any respect I had for Bono evaporated when U2 moved their office to Switzerland to save on paying tax in Ireland.
He traipses around the world urging countries to put big money towards (worthy) projects, but skips on his taxes that would help Ireland meet their obligations.
I know his and U2’s tax bills won’t fund Ireland, it’s the hypocracy of the 1 per cent playing by different rules. I’d love to be wrong, so please let me know if I am.
💕 🔥
I watched it last night and also watched the Republican response from Sanders. She was horrible. Lied the whole time.
Ain’t no party like a Scranton party, cause a Scranton party won’t stop. GO JOE!!!!! What a great speech. Even Kevin McC was looking at him with some respect (I think).
I agree with Tacky’s comment [“I find the House Republicans to be a constant reminder that the scary times are far from over.”] about this. GOPs like McCarthy, MTG, Gaetz, and now SANTOS (what debacle joke!) have proven that their presiding over the country caused a great deal of anger, frustration plus anxiety.
Mitt Romney put a smack down on santos last night 😂
https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/07/politics/sotu-santos-romney/index.html
MTG, that awful PoS. Calling out Liar! at the sitting POTUS.
Show respect to the office. I don’t give one hot damn who is in office.
POTUS is commander in chief of the Armed Forces. Americans who serve this country, who are put in harms way, deployed far from their loved ones. Respect that. The Secret Service swears to protect the POTUS with their lives if needed. Respect that level of professionalism.
I thought Trump was beyond horrible when he sh*t talked John McCain, a former POW.
And this BS keeps going on. Adult, take some classes if you must.
MTG was just imitating some other idiot Republican who yelled exactly the same thing to Barack Obama during his State of the Union address (maybe his first one? Not sure). So she’s not even an original heckler.
At the time; when the idiot called Obama a “liar” in the middle of his address, it was considered shocking. Opposition Party members didn’t have to clap but they were expected to be respectful of the office. Today, it just seems normal. We knew some Republican was going to do it, because that’s what they do now.
Well, McCarthy reaps what he sows. He is beholden to so many of the nut jobs that they have the power. He’s just a figurehead. I hope what we saw last night continues. I keep thinking that at some point the Republicans (as opposed to the political extremists) will break off to get them out of their party. We will get more of the same from MTG, et al, and I hope it embarrasses and enrages party members.
I know my blood pressure has dropped by several points with Biden in the White House. I don’t live in a constant state of either fight-or-flight or existential dread now, either. I don’t feel awesome, but I do feel much less miserable. THANK YOU, JOE.
Hi everybody here! Haven’t been commenting for a while, but just wanted to say that is it so nice to be back and yes, President Biden and this admin are just an incredible upgrade from that horrific former guy. We can never let a Trump Kushner situation happen again. And wow, that Marjorie Taylor Greene and her cohorts? Wow, just wow… and NOT in the good way. What a disgrace. So all good that we are feeling better but we can’t let our guard down darlins. Wretched MAGA holdovers are going hard in on Hunter now, yeah. Unbelievable, with what Jared and Ivanka did which is worse. Anyway, hey Kaiser and CB and all here, xoxo.