Joe Biden's Problem Isn't Bad Messaging. It's Bad Policy.
Will bipartisanship fix Joe Biden's presidency?

This Monday, Peter Suderman hosts Katherine Mangu-Ward, Nick Gillespie, and special guest Reason Senior Editor Elizabeth Nolan Brown! The Reason Roundtable discusses Joe Biden's first year as president and National School Choice Week.
Discussed in the show:
1:56: One year of Joe Biden's presidency.
16:47: Congress' antitrust push.
34:34: Weekly Listener Question: So in a perfect world where the quality and safety of most schools available to a specific parent were commensurate, what criteria would they default to when choosing one? Specialty classes and opportunities would certainly be one of them but would many not desire for their children to be in an environment where people shared the same values or with other children "like them"? Whether this be based on race, class, political affiliation, or some other trait, in our hyper-polarized environment, could you imagine a world where parents and students self-segregate? While I firmly believe in the merits of individual choice, I also want to see a world where children of all backgrounds interact and learn from each other's experiences. Diversity of class, race, and thought are essential for this to take place and to stop this worrying trend of polarization. While they've proven inordinately bad at providing equal opportunities to all students, public schools do in many cases force students of different backgrounds into the same building, which has its benefits. Am I being misanthropic here? Is there reason to believe that changing the system would also change the choice-making dynamic among parents for the better?
46:05: Joe Biden is thinking about moving warships to Eastern Europe.
50:55: Media recommendations for the week. (And click here for all of the Roundtable's media recommendations, ever.)
This week's links:
- "Biden's Boring First Year," by Katherine Mangu-Ward
- "Anti-Tech Antitrust Bill Draws Criticism From All Sides," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
- "Biden Weighs Deploying Thousands of Troops to Eastern Europe and Baltics," by Helene Cooper and Eric Schmitt
- "The Biggest Education Innovation Is Growing Use of School Choice," by J.D. Tuccille
Send your questions to roundtable@reason.com. Be sure to include your social media handle and the correct pronunciation of your name.
Today's sponsors:
- This episode is supported by The Long Time Academy, a new podcast about how to be a good ancestor. It's a show about time, and how we think about time. The Long Time Academy is an audio documentary, but it also includes with practical exercises designed to expand your sense of time and help you be a good ancestor. Search for The Long Time Academy anywhere you listen to podcasts. Life is short. Time is long. The Long Time Academy.
- If you feel something interfering with your happiness or holding you back from your goals, BetterHelp is an accessible and affordable source for professional counseling. BetterHelp assesses your needs and matches you with a licensed therapist you can start talking to in under 24 hours, all online.
Audio production by Ian Keyser
Assistant production by Regan Taylor
Music: "Angeline," by The Brothers Steve
What are we consuming this week?
Nick Gillespie
Peter Suderman
Katherine Mangu-Ward
Elizabeth Nolan Brown
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Joe Biden's problem is that his responsibilities extend beyond feeding himself.
Maybe he should consider switching diaper brands.
You think he can feed himself?
Only ice cream and Metamucil.
Screw the "weekly question". Stop forcing people to live the way you want them to live. "I want my children to go to schools with children in a diverse..blah blah blah virtue signaling bullcrap." No one wants their kids to sit on a bus for an hour very morning to get to school. And finally, it's not your business to decide who kids have to go to school with or be friends with. I grew up in a working-class part of a small town outside a large city. The States "Urban Development" corp bought the land across the street and built low-income housing. Broken families, thug kids and adults, assaults, drugs and so on were now part of the neighborhood. Sorry but you move to get away from that and you don't want your kids to have to deal with thugs in the school so you can feel progressive.
Did you grow up in the south suburbs of Chicago?
Our kids go to school with kids from all different races because that's who lives in our neighborhood. I couldn't really care about the racial makeup of our schools, but probably agree it is good to grow up as friends with people from different backgrounds (skin color is the least important part of that.)
Of course, this could also backfire and create biases. I grew up in a mixed neighborhood. There were gangs of a certain race who harassed and tried jumping me multiple times. Many others of that same race were no kinder or more neighborly. Experiences like that can also create prejudices that are somewhat justified. If every blonde you dated gave you an std I think it'd be justifiable to be wary of blondes in the future even if that anecdote doesn't pan out for the entire population
Hey all of ye Reasonoid readers! Do NOT bother to read this article about Joe Biden (or his policies)! Do NOT bother to read (or read about) ANY links, facts, or logic contained in this article and-or video! Do NOT bother to trouble your pretty little heads about silly factual details gathered by useless Reason-writer eggheads!
Because I, the SMARTEST ONE, can “summarize” it ALL for you! Here it is, above article summarized: “Senile Mackerel Snapper Bad”!
(/Sarc, revenge for moronic “summaries” about “Orange Man Bad”)
You realize this article and talk are a summary of the other articles that we've all been reading all week, right SQRLY?
Maybe stick to your sonnets of space lasers and reptilian leaders ordering late night pizza at the local pedo-zzeria.
The above, summariZZTopped: Squirrell still nuts.
I don't mean to confuse anyone, even though, myself, I will readily admit, am Dazed and Confused! (And hazed and abused ass well, butt I will NOT whine about THAT!)
It's all about "balance"... To "balance" the hazy-daisy picture concerning “Senile Mackerel Snapper Bad”, I give you THIS:
Senile Mackerel Snapper Bad?!? He BAD, all right! He SOOO BAD, He be GOOD! He be GREAT! He “Make America Woke”! MAW! All who are against Senile Mackerel Snapper Bad, are into MAWlessness, chaos, badness, and MAW-breaking! They are out-MAWs! MAKE AMERICA WOKE, I say!!!
We KNOW He can Make America Woke again, because, as a bad-ass politician, He PUNISHED all of the MAW-breakers! He Hair Smeller-Feller in Chief!
BACK from Beyond the Beyond, Beyond the Grave, it is the MAGA that Wouldn’t Die! MAGA Part II; Make America GREEN Again! The USA flag will now be… Red, White, and GREEN!
See https://reason.com/2020/10/16/biden-tries-to-gloss-over-his-long-history-of-supporting-the-drug-war-and-draconian-criminal-penalties/
All Hail to THE Hair Smeller in Chief!!! His Punishment Boner is BIGGER than ALL the rest of ours, put together!
Most of all, HAIL to the Chief, for having revoked karma! What comes around, will no longer go around!!! We CAN smell ALL of THEIR hair, and they will NEVER think of smelling OUR hair, right back!
Senile Mackerel Snapper Bad-Ass Hair-Smeller all right!
Yes, we can! We CAN smell all the hair, all the time, and NONE will be smart enough to EVER smell our hair right back!
These voters simply cannot or will not recognize the central illusion of politics… You can hair-smell all of the people some of the time, and you can hair-smell some of the people all of the time, but you cannot hair-smell all of the people all of the time! Sooner or later, karma catches up, and the others will hair-smell you right back!
Fuck off, ᛋᛋqrlsy.
you are supposed to be relatively knowledgeable people, but insist on a regular basis Brandon can be worthwhile as president if only ...
...If only Morlon-Brando-Brandon would COME DOWN HARD on those law-breaking butt-wipes who WILLINGLY VIOLATE THE SACRED LAWS and CRIPPLE themselves, through the UNAUTHORIZED (and unsupervised) use of DEADLY weapons of MASS medical death and destruction! They needlessly and heedlessly drive up ALL of our costs for medical care and medical insurance! I speak of users of DEADLY, un-prescribed cheap plastic "Lung Flutes"!
To find precise details on what NOT to do, to avoid the flute police, please see http://www.churchofsqrls.com/DONT_DO_THIS/ … This has been a pubic service, courtesy of the Church of SQRLS!
there *should* be Flute Police the noise those things make is godawful
Yes, this! They sound like people blowing raspberries!! Which is UTTERLY disrespectful to MY Authoritah!!!
Why do you assume they are knowledgeable people? ENB and suderman only know what they read on Twitter, kmw only says robots are cool, and nick, the only one who had a semblance of talent and skill, stopped trying about a decade ago.
heard Nick on Megyn Kelly yesterday it was a breath of fresh air
Fuck Joe Biden.
https://media.makeameme.org/created/These-animals-say.jpg
If Gary Larson was still doing The Far Side he might draw you with a MAGA hat with "Fuck Joe Biden" as the mating call.
You sure are passionate about defending Joe Biden.
It is his matong call to dee and Jeff.
Sarc's probably down at the beach right now with a box of condoms, a box of White Zinfandel and a sealion mating whistle.
Bideford Pool or Old Orchard Beach?
Joe Biden’s problem is Joe Biden.
Policies poll well. But the politicians get elected regardless of how they vote. I mean, just look at all the Republicans who voted against infrastructure now touting the benefits to their constituents. Their dumb, moronic constituents who are too fucking stupid to realize the person they vote for is going against their interests.
But hey- we get the government we deserve.
"Noooooooooooooooo! Don't look at Joe Biden! Look over there! It's Republicans and they're probably doing something" - t. Raspberries
"Joe Biden is thinking about moving warships to Eastern Europe"
Sure Mr. Meantweets had rapproachment with the DPRK and got peace deals between the Arabs and Israelis and the Serbs and Kosovars, but he was rude to Don Lemon. Thank goodness the grownups are back in charge.
Joe Biden is thinking about pudding. His handlers are thinking about moving warships to Belarus because they haven't looked at a map.
Cap'n Buttigieg reporting for duty.
Eastern Ukraine = Serbia
Kiev = Austria
Russia = Russia
NATO = Germany/Wilhelm
This is bad.
100 years ago, nobody had nukes - and it was still an utter disaster.
Amd nobody as stupid and senile as Biden was in charge of anything.
You may want to read about Conrad von Hötzendorf.
"Joe Biden is thinking about moving warships to Eastern
Europeend of the bathtub."Then pauses, remembers to breathe....
Is it bad if it's achieving exactly what they want?
I registered for an account just so I could comment: "Baba Fett? C'mon, man!" :>P
Reason's Problem Isn't Bad Messaging. It's Been Supporing the Worst President Ever Because of TDS
It should be a big "tell" that the conclusion that the problem is in the "messaging" comes from the architects of the policy. These are the same party insiders who also think the Dems' real problem isn't poor leadership, it's "bad followers".
Not to mention the "progressive" wing of that party who seem to genuinely think that inflationary policies are a good solution to inequality, and that the fact that inflation drives inequality like gravity drives avalanches is a failure of reality to accommodate their dogmatic ideas (since expecting their dogma to address objective reality is apparently part of "the patriarchy"). The narcissism inherent in their world-view is of a magnitude that it's amazing they didn't flock to follow trump.
Keep in mind Reason supported Biden and his bad policy during the election, and spend the first year blaming Trump for Biden's bad outcomes. Is Reason finally waking up? I will believe it when I see them admit their support of Biden was a huge mistake.
Waiting...crickets....crickets....crickets....crickets....crickets
Problem is the division that was enhanced
http://steerbobcat.com