Popular Comments

PVW said:

mjc said:

1. Our grandmothers were right about what to bring up in social settings?

This is why I like the politics section -- it's an outlet to talk about topics I usually feel the need to avoid most other times.

At least there you know what you're getting into

[i really think this thread needs a ‘tears’ button rather  than ‘like’]

mtierney said:

I agree that Kamala was selected as a running mate because she checked off so many required boxes. So, what actually happened. Biden did not use her in a collaborative way right from the get-go. I am not saying women are naturally  gifted with more empathy on issues such as the crisis at the border or the invasion of Ukraine, but I do think she could have been more effective but Biden didn’t want to share the spotlight on the world stage.

Harris needs — desperately — right now — as Biden appears more impaired by the day, to learn how not to burst into raucous laughter and giggles on camera. It is off-putting to many viewers, especially in these grave times. Gravitas in these times of threats of war on multiple fronts would be valuable.Surely, there are “people” who could help her — as she is just a heart beat away from sitting behind that Oval Office desk. Also, mumbles that Joe would prefer someone else on the ticket in November are heard on the stump. A seat on the SCOTUS when expected retirements come to pass might be a good fit.

I've posted a few times, videos of VP Harris when she was in Congress and she was intense. As for her laughter, I haven't watched it but I would remind everyone that we seem to focus more on the demeanor and dress of female politicians in a more critical way than males. Recall the criticism of Hillary Clinton. I believe you have felt put off by Pelosi's speech patterns. Manner and dress were discussed about Warren, another favorite of mine. Klobuchar, Gillibrand, the list goes on. I'm not turned off by any of these things, just give me wicked smart and strong.

But I realize that people do respond to delivery so if that's the case, you may have a point that some coaching would work for certain audiences. If I were an advisor, I'd put her in front of metropolitan women, big business, wall street, entertainment, and design and use her as a fundraiser. Get her in an editorial piece in Women's Wear, Vogue, Marie Claire, (they published an article on four of the female candidates 4 years ago.) Get her together with Taylor Swift. She was in the 50 Over 50, Mika Bryzinski's successful picks. Let the female power brokers figure out the way to make her appealing to the Independents. Perhaps among the aforementioned crowd there are Independents, I've never met one, they are like Unicorns.

Like you, I don't like to generalize that women are more gifted with empathy but many women have a different perspective on certain issues and can come at a topic with a different approach.  We'll see.

Morganna said:

Smedley said:

I appreciate you posting but unless I'm missing something, neither of these show any evidence of video manipulation which is what I was looking for. The video is just an expanded video of the clip that was in the news and the AP interview is just the reporter talking about the stage walk-off. Of course both instances are open for individual interpretation but these are hardly evidence of video manipulation / cheapfakes at work, like the WaPo article was for the G7 video. 

At any rate, I'm done here. If I'm holy-cow gullible for believing certain videos show Biden looking too old to be running for president, then just call me holy-cow gullible.   

Smedley, one thing to keep your eye on is the lighting on the person and their outline. Studying in art school, we were warned about combining reference. The lighting on the subject might be different than the shadows on the background or the horse he rode in on.  We were also warned about hard outlines which made the subject appear cut out and pasted on the background. On a video, similar rules apply. 

Can't say I can always spot manipulation but it's helpful to watch for those things. Not saying it removes the age factor but It may help to put some of these videos in perspective.  Hope that helps.

these misleading videos aren't even manipulated to that extent. They are zoomed in and cropped or they are edited to leave out relevant information that preceded or followed the clip. And then it's given a misleading narrative frame. 

And people who want to believe the lie get suckered 

whatever anyone wants to say about Joe Biden, the fact that Donald Trump has any chance of being elected president is a symptom of a very, very sick country.

even if Trump is defeated in November our country still has a lot of work to do to push back on the MAGA philosophy, and push back on the war on truth and reality. It's going to take decades if we can ever accomplish it at all.

Sadly, we lost Donald Sutherland. 

another QB for me today. Five days in a row. I am on a jimmurphyesque run :-) 

mjc said:

1. Our grandmothers were right about what to bring up in social settings?

This is why I like the politics section -- it's an outlet to talk about topics I usually feel the need to avoid most other times.