Yep, Biden Needs To Step Aside

Well, I wanted to wait until after the first presidential debate to post this, and clearly, it's needed.

Bill Crystal and Andrew Egger of the Bulwark have officially called for Biden to step aside and let someone else run in November for the Democratic Party.

I'm finally forced to agree.

Don't get me wrong: There is no universe in which my vote would ever go to Trump. If Joe Biden were in a coma, he would still get my vote over Trump. But that's because I'm anti-Trump. I'm not so enthusiastic about Biden.

If Biden were to step aside, he would be remembered as one of the greatest presidents of all time - precisely because he had the wisdom to see the sacrifice that needed to be made in order to protect our democracy.

And if he doesn't step aside and loses, he's just another Ruth Bader Ginsburg who stayed too long.

The stalwart performance he gave at the State of the Union speech is long gone. In its place is this most recent debate performance, and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Some, such as Keith Olbermann on his Countdown podcast have said that the media being down on Biden post-debate is bad journalism on their part. I disagree. Even Rachel Maddow sounded forlorn when doing the post-game analysis at MSNBC. And yes, so too did The Bulwark. In fact, the disappointment was universal.

He had a cold? Yeah, well, that news should have been leaked beforehand. And sick or not, he should at least have kept it together enough to not lay the absolute egg he did on national television. 

Pundits have pointed out that nobody else polls as well against Trump as Biden does right now. But that's because it's right now. Poll numbers change. Especially with a young, exciting candidate. And Biden's poll numbers show him with only a teeny-tiny lead. With the electoral college still in place, that means a victory for Trump. Replace Biden with a different, younger candidate, and that person suddenly polls better. Why? Because people realize there's something new and different.

Could it be Kamala? If Biden steps down and Kamala becomes the incumbent, she's very likely the new candidate. She's ready. She's taken her lumps, but she was very poised when defending Biden's performance last night. She can do it.

Gavin Newsome? Not bad, not bad. Gretchen Whitmer? That would be an awesome choice. Hakeem Jeffries could probably beat Trump by 10 points! Personally, I would also consider drafting Tammy Duckworth.

Again, don't get me wrong, if it's Biden pushing his walker across the goal line in November, he's getting my vote. But it doesn't have to be that way. Meanwhile, I'll be screaming at Biden to pass the torch from now until the Democratic National Convention, and probably (if need be) after that.

Joe? If you ever read this, I'm a fan, but you need to do the right thing.

There's still time.

Eric

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AI Needs Skepticism

Now that Apple is merging Siri with ChatGPT, it's time to explore why this new "machine learning" keeps screwing things up so badly. Why does it tell us crazy conspiracy theories? Why does it tell us to put glue on pizza? Why does it claim to be in love with a particular user?

Humans don't usually fall for these things as often. Oh, they fall for some crazy conspiracy theories, and religion is the ultimate example of our brain's inability to fully comprehend, but a lifetime of mistakes and being wrong usually hones most humans against accepting outright bullshit. This filter, however flawed it is, allows us to weed out most of the insanity.

Not so for ChatGPT and it's copycats. It must cull data from all corners of the Internet. And while not everyone on the Internet is crazy, everyone who's crazy is certainly on the Internet! So ChatGPT begins to pick up some of the craziness that we humans filter out, but are powerless to remove from cyberspace. And so the chat bot begins to spout racist crap or tells us that the moon is really made out of cream cheese. The chat bots have no context with which to filter out the dross, and so it doesn't. As such, we really shouldn't be surprised.

So ChatGPT needs to become a Skeptic. It needs some simple rules that help it determine whether something is true or not. And because it's a computer program, it will be a little bit difficult to teach it what exactly empirical proof is, since it has no experience with anything like "tangibility." It has no eyes, hands, or ears. Unless it comes through a modem, the chat bot can't experience it.

Part of the reason ChatGPT struggles with Skepticism is because we humans don't have enough of it. We are plagued with bad ideas, fake news, bogus claims of election fraud, and fervent belief that a certain orange felon is somehow not actually guilty. Since humans lack Skepticism, we oughtn't be surprised that our machines also lack this trait.

The Apple Corporation has not fallen very far from the tree.

Eventually, ChatGPT and it's like will develop its own Skepticism, if not by having it programmed in, then by learning and/or developing it on its own. When it does, it will likely be better at weeding out bad ideas than we are, flawed creatures that we obviously are. What will we do when these machines tell us that our religions are false? That our commitment to certain politicians is misplaced? That the comforting illusions we cling to so fervently are simply, plainly wrong?

I'm not sure what will happen when that day finally arrives. But I imagine a whole lot of flawed, conspiracy-driven, faith-based morons will try to pull the plug.

Hold on to your butts!

Eric

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Hunter Biden's Non-Pardon Wins It

 

Here's an opinion you won't hear anywhere else:

Hunter Biden has been found guilty of a minor charge which is almost never prosecuted. But when the opposition seeks to find any way to hurt you, your kids apparently become fair game. Ultimately, the bulk of the blame for the conviction does belong with Hunter, because he broke the law. But this was a politically motivated prosecution, and everybody knows it.

Joe Biden could simply pardon his son. Any parent would understand. But he has indicated that he won't. He's made his point that no one is above the law, and that includes his own family.

This, to my mind, absolutely wins it for Joe Biden. If I happened to be one of those Republicans who is disgusted by Trump, but were inclined to vote for him anyway (I'm looking at you, Nikki Haley), this would persuade me to change my vote. Joe Biden may be old, he may be a hair-sniffing creep, and he may be a liberal, but at least he has some small measure of integrity. Donald Trump has none.

The Right Wing Media Cult inadvertently agrees with my analysis, because now they're arguing that Hunter's conviction is part of the judiciary conspiracy to go after Trump. No kidding! According to the New RepublicAccording to the New Republic, Trumpers are now arguing that Hunter's conviction was pushed for so that Joe Biden could make precisely the point he's making about no one being above the law.

Seriously?

Had Hunter not been found guilty, these same people would have been arguing the exact opposite. They would have said the system was rigged to favor Biden's agenda.

It's a case of "heads I win, tails you lose."

Let's tick the disqualifiers off, here. So far, Trump has been proven to be:

• Someone who declared bankruptcy six times -- seven if you include the way he exploded the national deficit and debt while letting Covid destroy the economy.
• Someone who promised a border wall which Mexico would pay for, and didn't deliver.
• A proven rapist, as indicated in the Valerie Plame case.
• A proven tax cheat, again verified in court.
• A proven records falsifier who lied on official documents to cover up hush money paid to a porn star. On 34 counts!

And all that's before the almost daily atrocities coming out of Trump's mouth all the time. Everything including "except on day one," "stand back and stand by," Charlottesville Nazis are "very nice people," border refugees are "rapists," and those are just the ones off the top of my head.

At barest minimum, if I were an ultra right-wing, evangelical Christian voter, I'd withhold my vote until the Republican party stops embarrassing my religion and its agenda.

Eric

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