Summary

President Biden expressed regret over appointing Merrick Garland as Attorney General, criticizing Garland’s slow action in prosecuting Donald Trump for the January 6 insurrection while aggressively pursuing cases against Hunter Biden.

Biden reportedly blamed former Chief of Staff Ron Klain for persuading him to choose Garland over other candidates, such as Doug Jones, who was seen as more politically assertive.

Many Democrats share Biden’s frustration, believing Garland’s cautious approach harmed efforts to hold Trump accountable.

    • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      You don’t need it The summary was damning. Didn’t make a shred of difference

  • Porto881@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    Uh yeah. Biden appointed a pretty nonpartisan AG in good faith that the 4 years of his term could be spent simmering down the hyperdivisionalism of the previous admin and return to status quo. Didn’t read the room and let Trump build 4 years of momentum without so much as a speed bump along the way

    • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      Garland actively helped Trump. Slow walking an investigation for fear of being political is itself political. In treating Trump with kid gloves unlike any other perp was political.

      Garland fucked over Biden- and America- pure and simple, because he was scared of an angry toddler.

      And the worst of it was; that the reason behind selecting Garland wasn’t because he was particularly qualified… but because republicans fucked his nomination to SCOTUS over and people (read: biden) felt bad.

      • 4am@lemm.ee
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        18 days ago

        Garland wasn’t scared, he was on his side.

        EDIT: this is why Kamala lost the libs when she was like “I’ll put republicans in my cabinet!”

        • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          this is why Kamala lost the libs when she was like “I’ll put republicans in my cabinet!”

          That was one of the most infuriating things about her campaign. Even if she was saying that just somehow troll the hard right or the die-hard magabrainz, it was still just so fucking stupid. Not one Democrat wanted to hear shit like that, they wanted someone that would fight the hell back against these assholes, not swing the door open and invite the vampires into your household, FFS.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          It was amazing watching centrists on lemmy who didn’t want the support for their pet genocide to end bein’ like “She’s the vice president! She can’t differ from Biden in any way at all ever!” fall silent when she decided that she needed to run to Biden’s right.

      • winterayars@sh.itjust.works
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        18 days ago

        Let’s not forget, on that note: Biden picking him was bad but so was Obama nominating him to the SCOTUS to begin with. Replacement for Scalia or not, we see what that led to. Garland getting on the Court wouldn’t really be making a difference there either.

    • Orbituary@lemmy.world
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      19 days ago

      Once again, our side plays by the rules and does “ethical” stuff while the GOP continues to fuck around while we all find out. These next four years are going to be insane.

      • winterayars@sh.itjust.works
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        18 days ago

        The Dems don’t even play by the rules. They play by some made up rules that exist only in their heads and boil down to “you’re not allowed to oppose the Republicans in any way that matters”. There’s tons of legal and ethical stuff Biden could have done in the last four years and here we are, sitting on our asses in the sinking ship, waiting for the water to rush in and drown us all.

        • Orbituary@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          I’m with you there. I am still haunted by the idiotic things we’ve done to shoot ourselves in the foot, though. Time and time again, we listen to people wanting to do bipartisanship from the Dem side, and only be met by betrayal. Anybody remember Al Franken and what a self-own it was for him to be forced out?

          I can go on and on, but we don’t learn and our own don’t want to do honest reflection.

          Fuck it.

          • winterayars@sh.itjust.works
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            18 days ago

            I mean, getting rid of Franken was reasonable. Refusing to challenge the Republican creeps has… well… resulted in a government of mostly creeps and that’s not where i want to be. (Admittedly that specific piece is not specifically the Democratic Party’s fault, though they could have done more. Not using the moral leverage they got by booting Franken was an unforced error.)

            • Orbituary@lemmy.world
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              18 days ago

              Franken was ousted for a harmless joke in which all parties were privy. In the grand scheme of things, he would have done more good in office than out.

              • svtdragon@lemmy.world
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                17 days ago

                Franken should have been running for President. Smart, incisive, charismatic. Everything we needed.

                Fuck.

                • Orbituary@lemmy.world
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                  17 days ago

                  Yet, here we are. Tangerine Gorilla is the next president in line and a hoard of supplicant chimpanzees with the complacent centrist democrats incapable of critical reflection propping it up.

                  Fuck.

                  Wake up, assholes. Wake the fuck up.

      • Goodmorningsunshine@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        These next however many years America has left are going to be insane. This won’t end in 4 years. Garland and the Democrats made sure a dictator was elected and the Republicans will never give up power again.

      • BMTea@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        Been that way since Obama. Turns out they aren’t “our side”, they’re the party of conservativism, neoconservativism and just happy to rely on minority votes and therefore focus on minority rights.

        • Orbituary@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          I use the term loosely, but as you can see with the reactions I get from others, you’re either all on board or apparently they think you’re a Trumper. Which takes me back to the “nuance” argument I had. Which is probably synonymous with critical thinking in this case.

          • BMTea@lemmy.world
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            18 days ago

            Americans are terrified of Trump, which is understandable, but they then demand that a free pass be given to his opponents, up to and including their acts of genocide.

      • kreskin@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        Biden should be in prison for breaking US laws saying he cant aid any regime thats plausibly accused of genocide. Our party doesnt always play by the rules and do ethical stuff.

        • Orbituary@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          No shit. But look how people reacted when I criticized them elsewhere in this conversation.

          • kreskin@lemmy.world
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            17 days ago

            Yea, I hear ya. Just ignore them. I always say dont take any criticism or feedback from people you dont respect. I dont respect centrists or people who let the DNC box them in so they can vote for an AIPAC genocide (also dont respect republicans). It didnt thave to be this way but Harris/Biden and the DNC made it this way with their hostage taking and ignoring their base on almost every key issue polled. So they deserve whats coming to them, and Harris/Biden/centrist leaders all deserve to leave politics for good. Unfortunately progressives and youth cant win unless we form a coalition with the centrists, and neither can they win without us, but they pretend we owe them votes even when they sell out and make absurd choices. Thats not the way a coalition works. Dumb centrists need to learn and their childishly refusing to acknowledge this reality doesnt change the reality. Let them swim in the sewage with the rest of us until they learn they arent emperors.

      • CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        It’s weird how this “centrist” was rejected by the qons just to give a middle finger to the Black guy.

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      Biden appointed a Republican to slow walk the trump investigation so that Biden could run as second worst to trump again.

      Garland did what he was hired to do.

      • WildPalmTree@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        Not sure if true, but a very interesting thought. Wheels within wheels, sort of. I’m not sure people are that “good” at planning though.

  • kreskin@lemmy.world
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    17 days ago

    AG serves at the will of the president. This whole “woopsie” I regret it! 4 years in is a little silly. How dumb does Biden think we are?

    • wolfpack86@lemmy.world
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      17 days ago

      And how does it look when he fires the guy investigating his son? That’s the same shit we derided trump for doing… tinkering with the Justice Department which has long operated with a high degree of independence for exactly these reasons.

      No win situation for Biden, who assumed he would get another term in office. Don’t pretend it isn’t anything but.

      • kreskin@lemmy.world
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        16 days ago

        The minute he nominated a rightwing AG it became a no win sitaution of his own making. So you are just assuming Bidens a straight up idiot rather than him appointing Garland out of a desire to get Trump out of trouble. Hrm, well, I accept your logic that he may just be an epic moron instead of corrupt and playing the dems for fools.

        Still-- He sure does have a lot of pride in “negotiating” with the right-- where he golly-gee-shucks tends to give them more than they even are bargaining for: https://theintercept.com/2023/05/23/biden-debt-ceiling-harry-reid-mitch-mcconnell/

        He also generally takes rightwing positions, has decades of racist statements and decades of anti abortion and anti gay rights, so I think him faking being a blue player is not out of the question.

  • 800XL@lemmy.world
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    18 days ago

    He was a Trump pick originally. The fact Biden kept him was so stupid. Fuck Garland, fuck Trump, and fuck Biden.

  • ClassStruggle@lemmy.ml
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    19 days ago

    It would have been the same outcome regardless of who Biden appointed. The oligarchy will never charge one of their own.