Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

Neither article disputes the facts Ive stated

They say theres no proof that Bidens actions were to help his son but so what

Well it's not a scandal if he wasn't helping his son

I think it just leaves me puzzled in a different way.
I agree with you on the Left never giving him a chance.  The "Resistance" formed about the day after the election and it hasn't let up.  There was the pre-planned riot on Inauguration Day, the Million Vaginas March, etc.  I attended a seminar given be the Society of Early Americanists (or something like that) at the U. of Tulsa right after that, and the panelists didn't have one thing to say about early America.  It was all about how to inoculate students against Trump.  It was disgusting, and I wrote to the administration at TU to tell them so.
But--at the same time--he made his own bed.  He never made any effort to conciliate the opposition the way that George W. Bush did after he won despite losing the popular vote (the first time it had happened since the 1876 election).  Bush was not the smartest president we have ever had, but he was smart enough to know that he had to legitimize his election by seeking (and getting) some buy-in from the Democrats.  And he did it, with both style and substance.  He renamed the DoJ building after Bobby Kennedy.  He launched "No Child Left Behind," Ted Kennedy's brainchild, and he both praised the program and gave the credit to its author.  It all fell apart over Iraq, but for awhile there, especially after 9/11, we had some national unity.
Donald J. Trump has done none of that.  He was abrasive and divisive on the campaign trail in 2016, he was the same on Inauguration Day, and he has been the same every day of his presidency.
It could have been so much better.  He could have made it so much better.  I was hoping he would make it so much better.
But he didn't, and I think he's got to go.
I was planning on voting for the Libertarian, as I did in 2016.  But one of my stepsons, who supported Trump in 2016 and is now living in London, told me that that was a cop-out.  And I think that he was right.  So I'll hold my nose and vote for Joe Biden, the "wise old head" of the Democratic Party who I believe is really the Village Idiot in disguise.

I can’t say I disagree with a word of this.

maybe the now failed hopes we ( you, I and others)had of a non politician taking a swing ( like 847 reminds us, it should be people from the private sector, come in, serve, get back out) are weighing heavier in my mind than the career politicians, the “ swamp”, acting like whiny little brats and trying to bring the outsider down even when it is clearly at the expense of the greater good.

Maybe his complete lack of polish is easier for me to excuse than the left’s complete lack of polish, being that,  that whole crew is career politicians. 

Maybe it is because I strongly disagree with the positions the left takes while my dislike of him is more around style and personality.

Maybe because 5 of the 6 MSM outlets have spent 4 years spinning a false narrative about his policies ( he gave them plenty of ammo on his communication fuck ups and personal lack of appeal)

either way, my dislike for him is usually outweighed by my disgust of them.

But like 2016, and 2012, I can not, in good conscience, mark a ballot for either candidate.

To give you some additional flavor, I voted for Obama in 08.  Even though I was not a fan of his policies- I just felt it was time for some change. And I was excited by the prospect of electing a black president.  He excited me with his communication style and ability to reach young voters. I went against my personal safety net of substance over style, and chose style. He was, and still is an extremely effective communicator.

Well it did not take me long to regret that. I became vehemently opposed to his approach to nearly everything, and the way the MSM babied him. By the way, touching on something you said ( and I find this a recurring theme- things Trump gets clipped for that his opponents or Dems are just as guilty of) my disdain for Obama started and grew from his now famous quip to McCain and the Republicans Who were trying to compromise on the new healthcare, “you lost the election and you don’t get a say in this“.  I specifically remember how the media cheered that line. Just think about that in the context of our current situation.

what it made me realize is that in this modern era of proliferated social media and online communication, politics is driven by 3 to 5 second soundbites and narratives and severely altered by media outlets and not by the candidates for the policies themselves. Obama was great at it.  Trump is not only bad at it, he is a sitting duck for the media.  He can make a 30 minute speech and say eight great things but all I see or hear or read about the next day is his 2 stupid or inappropriate things.


I guess I’m hoping that in my lifetime we will find a candidate that’s good at communication side that also gets me excited about their ability to compromise, reach many many different factions which we have in this country, and knows how to leverage social media for good versus bad.  Probably a pipe dream

HB:

I didn't vote for Obama, but I really thought that the silver lining of his presidency could be that black Americans would have an example that a smart, hard-working non-athlete black man with a good education and good family values could overcome all obstacles and become President of the United States of America.

But he didn't really play that up.  Instead, every time something that could be seen as racially unjust, whether the facts warranted it or not, he played the grievance card.

And instead of great progress, it seems like we've gone backward in race relations.  Maybe not.  Maybe, somehow, despite what seems to be all evidence to the contrary, we're turning a corner in the right direction now.

Or maybe what it's going to take is 300 million examples of one black person and one white person developing trust in each other.

Maybe.

I decided a while back to stop voting for the LOTE.  I personally see that as a cop out.  I also know my single vote doesn't matter anyway, my preference is to not vote, but the wife wants to vote so I go with her.

As I've said before, I view voting as the "opiate of the masses".

Give me someone to vote FOR and maybe I'll show some enthusiasm.

Man, people do see things differently.  I thought Obama went way out of his way to not make things about race.  Farther than he should have.

Whenever their was a cop shooting, like the guy who shot the 5 cops in Dallas, Obama fanned the flames.  He said something like “ I mderstand it- back people are angry”. 

I will NEVER forget that.  

And in a nod to the heated issue of gun control, he said, "We also know when people are armed with powerful weapons, unfortunately it makes attacks like these more deadly and more tragic. And in the days ahead we are going to have to consider those realities as well.”

Classic Obama, "in the days ahead" ... and then ... nothing, nada, not a peep.