Democrats have long blamed 'culture' for black poverty. Joe Biden is no exception.

But that misses the point and what Biden was saying.

How the fck do you know what he was saying? How does *anyone know?? Why should Biden's rambling, incoherent remark require any deciphering at all? And why is it that a guy who cannot clearly articulate his thoughts and platforms is the Democratic party front-runner? Do you seriously think we can defend Biden's meandering, word-salad answers and malaprops until next November?

I'll forgive your ad hominem attack on the source... but it should be pointed out out that it's not just Bhaskar Sunkara and Jacobin that sees the outmoded racism that underpins Biden's policies and worldview. The Washington Post, Rolling Stone, the Intercept and many others have pointed it out.

But let's set that aside for a second. First, you should own the fact that Biden was asked about his thoughts on Reparations and completely botched the answer.

Remember, this is not some guy who's never been in a debate. It's absolutely stunning that he is unable to answer the question with any type of coherence. Let's deconstruct his rambling, shambling non-answer:

1) In a question about Reparations, he completely avoided the topic of Slavery.
2) Note that he doesn't bring up his anti-segregation track record... after all, he was just praising segregationists six weeks ago.
3) His immediate, panicked pivot to education makes no sense in context... all of a sudden we're talking about urban poverty, and he places the burden for fixing this problem on the schools (because we don't have enough school psychologists!!!)... then he doubles down on the crazy by lurching full-on into Daniel Moynihan territory by basically blaming the poor people for their inability to raise their children. 4) Evidently the solution is to bring social workers into homes to raise people's children for them by "putting on the record player." SMH.

Again, the question was about REPARATIONS... so it's not stretching credulity to say that Biden was talking about "black" people when he used the word "poor." And it wouldn't be the first time he's done that in recent weeks. If you can't see the inherent racism in saying that black people don't know how to raise their kids, well, not sure I can convince you of anything. By the way, even if you actually believe he was just talking about "poor" people regardless of color, the remark is still stunningly dumb.

Look, the topic of "vocabulary deficit" (what the 'record players' are supposed to solve) is a very controversial one. I will grant that children from poor families are disadvantaged by it. But the reason for vocabulary deficit isn't that the "parents aren't playing records for them." The reason is because the parents are constantly dealing with poverty, i.e., "I have to work multiple jobs" or "I can't afford to send my kid to the universal pre-K," etc.

Finally... I think most Democrats can agree that we need an all encompassing approach to tackling institutionalized racism. But do we really want Joe Biden leading it?

Your whole post is a gigantic dodge away from the Elephant in the Room. Biden 2019 is not mentally equipped to beat Trump or be the leader that can move us forward. It's doubtful that Biden 2016 or Biden 2008 were, either... but today, he's a denture-dropping, bloody eyeballed shadow of his former self, and should just do us a favor and retire.

/r/politics Thread Parent Link - theguardian.com