Obama and John McCain, or Obama and Mitt Romney, I think were all considered pretty respectable by most Americans, especially compared to our current options.

It's about responding to somewhat opposing public safety concerns. As someone else pointed out in this thread, when protestors are allowed to wear masks they are more likely to commit illegal acts, even violent ones. SARS-CoV-2 is no longer a novel virus. There is now significant immunity in the population and our COVID treatments are much improved, meaning the virus no longer constitutes a public health emergency.

Trying to demonize one option because you don’t think it’s perfect is just muddying the waters and subjecting us to decades of more of the shit sandwich we have now while we debate which alternative is flawless (hint: none of them are).

I really have been quite surprised over the past eight years or so by how opposed so many people are to any kind of change. I suppose it's because the status quo is working well enough for them, and, I mean, good for them, but I hope they can recognize that not all of us are so lucky.

I really don't think it would work at this point, but if I were to pick someone to replace Biden it wouldn't be Gavin Newsom, it would be Andy Beshear. But that's just it, this country is so divided we can't find a consensus candidate.

Float a candidate under 60 and they win riotous support from Democrats and undecideds.

But who would that be? Do you remember the 2020 primaries? They started out with 29 candidates, the most since the modern primaries began back in 1972, and several of them were under 60, including Pete Buttigieg, Beto O'Rourke, Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, and Kamala Harris. Only Pete Buttigieg won any delegates (29 out of a possible 3,979). The Democrats have had many years to find a younger candidate who could unify the party. No such candidate has emerged, that I'm aware of, and so Biden, at 81 years old and showing signs of rapid cognitive decline, ran essentially unopposed in this year's primaries.

The Constitution mandates a maximum of two terms for a President. If he wins, he can't run again.

I know, I didn't mean to imply that the Democrats would try to run Biden again, only that they might try to run a similarly "weak" candidate in 2028, believing that the American people will vote for the candidate simply because they are Democrat and not Republican. I think that would be a mistake.

Is it really feasible to replace Biden at this point? I didn't watch the debate last night but from what I've heard it was not good for Biden. Nonetheless, I think Biden remains the Democrats' best option. They're just going to have to rely on the electorate recognizing that Biden is still the better of the two choices, as pathetic as that reality may be. However, even if that strategy is somehow successful, again, and Biden does manage to get reelected, the Democrats MUST nominate a better candidate in 2028. I don't think the Democrats can continue with their strategy of just being better than terrible, indefinitely.

Most Americans plan to watch the Biden-Trump debate

Why?

Why did anyone watch this debate? Were you expecting to learn something new? Are you on the fence and hoping this would help you make up your mind? I mean, the Trump people are going to vote for Trump, and the Biden people are going to vote for Biden, regardless, so it seems like a complete waste of time.

That's true, "just fine" can mean different things to different people. What I consider "fine" might not be for someone else. I also think it's entirely possible what many of us consider to be fine might change with the climate. There might not be the same abundance in the future, meaning some people might not be able to consume as much as they do today. Of course, that's not necessarily a bad thing as many people over consume today, to their detriment, so it might be good for them if they are forced to consume less. Unfortunately, in such a scenario the poorest and most vulnerable will probably be quite desperate and destitute.

I never claimed that any poll authoritatively proved "how everyone in the U.S. felt before Pearl Harbor."

I don't know, it's not specified, nor do I know what every single respondent interpreted 'help' to mean.

I compared those two polls because they asked specifically about declaring war on Germany. The other polls you're referring to ask less direct questions, such as:

Which of these two things do you think is the more important for the United States to try to do–to keep out of war ourselves or to help England win, even at the risk of getting into the war?

This question, which was asked multiple times between May of 1940 and December of 1941, specifically asks if we should help England even if it risks war, which is different than asking a yes or no question about declaring war on Germany. I acknowledge that responses shifted from 61% saying 'keep out' and 35% saying 'help' in June 1940, to 68% saying 'help' and 28% saying 'keep out" by November 1941, but 'help' is not necessarily the same thing as 'declare war and send troops.' Also, Germany had already invaded Poland, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and France by the time that June 1940 poll was conducted in which 61% of respondents said 'keep out.'

Before anyone can answer the question: "Are we doomed?," we must determine who "we" is, and what "doomed" means. If we take it to mean the near-term extinction of our species, there's no reason to believe that will happen, even if the worst of the projected climate scenarios occurs between now and the end of the century. That being said, some people are doomed. Even under the most optimistic climate scenarios, sea levels will continue to rise, heat waves will become more severe and more frequent, as will wild fires, floods, droughts, etc. Some people will die as a result of these natural disasters. Which people? It's more likely to be people who live in relatively poor, unstable countries, and less likely to be people who live in relatively wealthy, stable countries.

The long and short of it is: some people are doomed, but many, if not most people, will probably be just fine.

Trump does still lead in our national average — however narrowly. But the bigger problem for Biden though is that elections in the United States aren’t determined by the popular vote.

That's a problem for all of us. If the president were elected by popular vote, Trump would never have been president.

Couldn't be any worse than the real Al Michaels these days.

I think that's great. I agree with the majority consensus. However, I don't know enough about how the UN GA operates to know if that institution has any meaningful way of enforcing their demands, or if any means of enforcement apply to all nations equally. The US, for instance, doesn't recognize the authority of the international criminal court, even though president Biden praised the ICC for talking about prosecuting Putin for war crimes. Biden condemned the ICC when it talked about Benjamin Netanyahu being prosecuted for war crimes. The rule of law can't only apply to some, it must apply to all, equally.

Guess that would be a good reason for the rest of the world to get involved, right?

Yes, I think the international community should get involved when a nation invades another without justification, like the US invasion of Iraq, for instance. However, NATO is not "the rest of the world." NATO consists of 32 nations (out of 195), all of which are located in Europe and North America, and more than 2/3 of its funding comes from just one country: the United States.

I'm sure someone has already tried. I'm equally certain Putin told that person to go fuck themselves. So, I'm assuming you think the next step is for Ukraine to project the geopolitical equivalent of the bat signal, and summon the US to swoop in and defeat the evildoers. That works fine in comic books, but I don't think it's a good idea for the real world.

I don't think there's such a thing as a moral or ethical hegemony. They're all immoral, even if some are less immoral than others. But that doesn't mean that I want to end all hegemony in favor of international lawlessness. I believe in democracy and the rule of law, but that is not the same as a single nation achieving military supremacy to such a degree as to allow them to declare themselves the globe's judge, jury, and executioner. If we believe in democracy based on consent of the governed and the rule of law, we must support it not only within nations but between nations, as well.