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Is Joe Biden really the guy who’s going to take down Trump? Really?!

Joe Biden concluded last night’s debate by telling everyone to “go to Joe 3-0-3-3-0,” giving people a phone number rather than a website.

Watching that final moment, I wondered: is he glitching? Does this 76-year old dude think it’s 3030? (Mayor Pete’s fans seized on the moment: Joe3030.com now takes you to his website, Pete for America).

But more generally, as I watched the current front-runner, I was cringing, and wondered: This is the guy we want? This is who’s going to take on Trump?

Throughout the night, he seemed to stumble over his words, and I started counting how many times he said “in fact,” “the fact” and “single solitary.” Here’s an example with all three, where he’s criticizing Kamala Harris’ record as the Attorney General of California:

“I didn’t see a single solitary time she brought a case against them to desegregate [California school districts]. Secondly, she also was in a situation where she had a police department when she was there that in fact was abusing people’s right. And the fact was that she in fact was told by her own people that her own staff that she should do something about and disclose to defense attorney’s like me that you in fact have been…”

Oftentimes, when he was launching his own critiques against opponents, I could barely follow what he was saying, such as when he told people to Google “Kamala Harris 1,000 freed.” The subject of attacks from all sides himself, he failed to take down any of his opponents or win significant applause.

His critique of Booker, bringing up the former Newark mayor’s stop-and-frisk policy, was something I even saw coming from a mile away. Booker was ready, landing the viral line of the night: “There’s a saying in my community: you’re dipping into the Kool-Aid when you don’t even know the flavor.”

And this was an improved performance from the last debate. In June, Sen. Kamala Harris absolutely owned him on the issues of desegregation and busing, sending her poll numbers soaring and his plummeting. But this time, she was put on the defense too many times to land a solid blow against the former VP.

Especially when Rep. Tulsi Gabbard did a much more effective job than the VP at criticizing Harris’ criminal justice record, earning huge cheers from the audience. Harris even accidentally sabotaged herself, saying, “I’ve seen people in prison for a lot less,” which immediately made me (and a bunch of other people) think, yeah… you’ve PUT people in prison for much less.

But it was far from a great showing for the VP– starting from the very beginning when he greeted Harris with a, “Go easy on me, kid.”

And watching Biden, I didn’t really get a sense of his vision for the country. His platform seems to be “I can beat Trump” and “I was good enough for Obama.” As former HUD Secretary Castro noted during the debate, Biden leans on Obama– who has a 95% approval rating among Democrats– a lot.

As Booker argued, you can’t rely on Obama when it’s convenient and avoid him when the more unappealing aspects of his presidency are brought up. Mayor Bill de Blasio’s line of questioning, when he brought up Obama’s record of deportations in office and asked the VP if he had done anything to stop them, served to underline that.

But maybe electability is the strongest argument anyone can make in this cycle, faced with the possibility of another four years of Trump. And Biden does have a lot of chances to build on his performances, easily reaching the threshold for qualifying for the September debates.

Several CNN analysts pointed out that Obama struggled in debates at the beginning of his run, so there still could be hope for Biden. Or maybe being a skilled debater — in this case, having 10 candidates on stage, delivering 30-second sound bytes — isn’t even a good indicator of how someone can run the country.

But right now, I don’t see how these performances will transform Joe Biden into an inspiring figure who can the masses to vote, should he become the party’s nominee. So far, his candidacy has not been a “Yes We Can.” To me, this is an “I guess this is our best shot..?”

Emphasis on the “I guess.”

BIG FACTS: Arts and culture poured $763.6 billion into U.S. economy

On Tuesday, the National Endowment for the Arts published a report measuring the economic impact of the arts in 2015, revealing the arts funneled $763.6 billion into the U.S. economy in 2015, which accounts for 4.2 percent of the country’s GDP.

Here’s a breakdown of a couple notable numbers from the report:

– 4.9 million workers, who earned $372 billion in total compensation.

– The arts added four times more to the U.S. economy than the agricultural sector and $200 billion more than transportation or warehousing.

– The arts saw a $20 billion trade surplus, leading with movies and TV programs and jewelry.

– The arts trended positively between 2012 and 2015 with an average growth rate of 2.6 percent, slightly higher than 2.4 percent for the nation’s overall economy. Between 2014 and 2015, the growth rate was 4.9 percent in inflation-adjusted dollars.

– Among the fastest-growing industries within the ACPSA are web streaming and web publishing, performing arts presenting, design, and architectural services.

– Tax-exempt performing arts organizations (those producing art and those presenting the art of others) contributed $9 billion to the U.S. economy and employed 90,000 workers, who earned $5.6 billion in total compensation.

– Consumers spent $31.6 billion on admissions to performing arts events, $1 billion more than projected.

NEA Chairman Jane Chu said in a statement about the economic data of the arts:

“The robust data present in the Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account show through hard evidence how and where arts and culture contribute value to the economies of communities throughout the nation. The data confirm that the arts play a meaningful role in our daily lives, including through the jobs we have, the products we purchase, and the experiences we share.”

This report comes roughly a month after President Trump’s proposed 2019 budget, which would cut federal funding for the NEA.

It’s pretty awesome to see the arts thriving economically like this. Any sort of cut to the NEA would result in a pretty disastrous situation for independent artists who receive crucial grants and funding from the endowment.

Keep America weird. Fund the arts.

New ‘Get Me Roger Stone’ doc shows the fuckboy behind President Trump

Roger Stone might as well be the father of Satan. On May 12, Netflix premiered a documentary about the republican political consultant, lobbyist, and strategist.

Get Me Roger Stone, written and directed by Dylan Bank, Daniel DiMauro, and Morgan Pehmegives us a look into the dark and demented mind of a man described as someone “who has no soul.”

Stone has his mentor, Richard Nixon, tatted on his back. He idolizes a political criminal.

The Republican peacock is known for persuading his clients to use the most poisonous possible talking points, being a master manipulator, and creating the modern day sleaze ball lobbyist.

Peep his ink

https://www.instagram.com/p/mqp7nSFWSF/?taken-by=rogerjstonejr&hl=en

The documentary maps the road to his biggest political accomplishment – getting Trump in the White House. Even though the Trump presidency shocked the world, Stone had been plotting it for years. He created Donald Trump as a political figure.

He even published a book back in January, The Making of the President 2016: How Donald Trump Orchestrated a Revolution.

According to Tucker Carlson, commentator on Fox News,

“Whereas the rest of us looked at Trump and saw someone who was impossibly vulgar an impolite, Roger looked at him and said, ‘You know this is someone who voter’s might like.'”


He’s been fuckin’ with Trumpito from the very beginning

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOHz6bXlw1w/?taken-by=rogerjstonejr&hl=en

Stone has had 40-year career as a strategist. How did the agent provocateur manage to stay in the game for this long?

Let’s peep his legacy.


Stone dropped out of college to work for Richard Nixon’s Campaign to re-elect the President

https://www.instagram.com/p/q4yY9HlWXX/?taken-by=rogerjstonejr&hl=en


After Nixon resigned, Stone was hired to work for the Bob Dole Campaign where he was fired for being a “Dirty Trickster.” Ronald Reagan then hired him to work for his campaign in 76′.

https://www.instagram.com/p/x_-TBGFWT-/


At the age of 25 Stone became national chairman of the Young Republicans.

https://www.instagram.com/p/xVvOP-lWdO/?taken-by=rogerjstonejr&hl=en


In 1980, Stone paired up with Charlie Black and Paul Manafort, to form Black, Manafort, and Stone, a political consulting firm, said to be responsible for the instrumental success of Ronald Reagan’s 1984 campaign

https://www.instagram.com/p/BS3fsGplS5N/


Skipping ahead to 2000, Stone served as campaign manager of Donald Trump’s aborted campaign for president in the Reform Party primary

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNxAEHQFhqF/?taken-by=rogerjstonejr&hl=en

Roger Stone has also been accused of working with Al Sharpton during the 2004 presidential campaign just to undermine the Democratic Party’s chances of winning the election.

This guy literally gives zero fucks!

According to a New York Times article back in 2007, Stone was forced to resign by Joseph Bruno, the Majority Leader of the New York State Senate, after allegations that Stone had left a nasty voicemail threatening Bernard Spitzer, the father of Eliot Spitzer.

The expletive laced message was left on the elder Spitzer’s answering machine in which Stone threatened to prosecute the elderly man if he did not implicate his son in wrongdoing.

Bernard Spitzer hired a private detective agency that traced the call to Roger Stone’s wife’s phone. Roger Stone denied leaving the message, despite the fact that his voice was recognized, claiming he was at a movie that was not even screened that night.

One of Roger’s rules:

“Admit nothing, deny everything, launch counterattack.”

Stone is the definition of a political pit bull and will stop at nothing to undermine his rivals. In January 2008, Stone founded Citizens United Not Timid, an anti-Hillary Clinton 527 group.


Seven years down the line Stone co-authored The Clintons’ War on Women, focusing on Bill Clinton’s sexual misconduct allegations

https://www.instagram.com/p/9AIhqMFWSz/

In Get Me Roger Stone, Jeffrey Toobin, writer for the New Yorker , described Stone as,

“The sinister Forrest Gump of American politics. He’s not just this simple minded guy but this Machiavellian almost crazy guy…”


After watching the doc I can completely agree that Roger Stone is undeniably on one…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDFS8AIFWae/


He’s straight out the GOP, son!

https://www.instagram.com/p/6NxjBrlWfM/


Want to find out who the real Roger Stone is? Stream his documentary on Netflix and stay woke. Peep the evil person responsible for creating President Donald Trump.