▪️This is a hilarious attempt to craft a narrative. Commander wasn’t “untrainable,” German shepherds are highly trainable dogs. The reason Commander left the White House is he bit Secret Service personnel in at least 24 incidents! Which doesn’t include the bites to other staffers, of which there were many.
▪️These 24 biting incidents took place in just an 8 month span, from Oct ‘22 to July ‘23. A FOIA document reported members of the Secret Service being bitten on the wrist, forearm, elbow, waist, chest, thigh & shoulder. The report doesn’t include other bites to White House staff.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68366306
▪️The problem was so pervasive and known that an email was sent to SS agents saying, “The recent dog bites have challenged us to adjust our operational tactics when Commander is present – please give lots of room.” And, that agents “must be creative to ensure our own personal safety.”
▪️ The bites took place inside and outside of the White House residence, but also at Biden family homes in Wilmington & Rehoboth Beach, at Camp David and in Nantucket.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/21/politics/commander-biden-secret-service-bites-white-house/index.html
▪️One incident happened at Biden’s beach home, where an agent walked to a backyard security post and heard Commander start to bark, but did not realize Commander was “loose and off leash.”
🔹 “In the background SA [redacted] heard the voice of what believes to be FLOTUS Dr. Jill Biden [redacted] yelling [redacted quote]. Commander ran toward the direction of post [redacted] booth and bit SA [redacted] in the left forearm. Causing a severe deep open wound. As result of the attack SA [redacted] started to loose (sic) a significant amount of blood from [redacted] arm”
▪️In another, an agent was bitten on the forearm while holding the door open in the area between the West Wing & the residence:
🔹”Commander and POTUS were entering the Palm Room through the West Colonnade. Commander came in first circled back and grabbed my arm left arm. He then stood up and back down. He is literally my height standing. POTUS entered shortly after since he was trailing behind him. POTUS entered the Palm Room and said [redacted],” the agent said in a description of the event, saying that they were “in shock that this incident occurred.”
▪️ Another involved a “deep bite" on the forearm of an agent, who needed stitches. Blood on the floor in an area of the White House caused tours of the East Wing of the building to be suspended for 20 minutes. There are many other harrowing stories of similar nature.
▪️This, understandably, caused significant tension between the Bidens and Secret Service. Plus, the press was already on the story (remember his prior dog Major ALSO bit SS agents). Unless they wanted a major scandal, the only solution was to remove the dog.
▪️To pretend like this is “decent human” behavior is absurd. Most owners would be mortified if their dog bit someone, let alone their security. Now imagine your dog biting DOZENS of your staff and still expecting them to work in the vicinity of your huge dog. It’s narcissism on a level most can’t attain, and reveals a certain kind of dog owner.
I first critiqued this terrible take by looking at how food has actually improved substantially. Even though I said the same could be done in every category, people said “you’re only doing food.” So let’s do air travel and see why it’s not gotten better, not worse.
▪️Aircraft have greatly improved. Just 15-20 years ago, many domestic routes (~15%) were flown by turboprops like the Brasilia, Dash 8 or Saab. Now, almost everything is in jets, and most aircraft have WiFi. Some even have Starlink, where you probably have faster WiFi than your home. Most major airlines offer dozens or hundreds of movies and shows to watch.
▪️Newer designs like the 787 have lower cabin altitudes and improved humidity, which make a huge difference in passenger comfort on long haul flights. The first/business class international market has gotten very competitive globally, with many carriers offering excellent service and amenities. Pods, suites, showers, etc. Coach still sucks but is dramatically cheaper ...
This is the complete opposite of an empirical fact. The right has now joined the left in being pessimistic about the modern world and completely unappreciative of the amazing abundance we now have. I’ll just focus on food here, but you could do it for almost every category.
▪️Fresh produce used to be available only in season. In the winter it was canned or frozen. People used to send fruit for Christmas gifts, it was that much of a luxury good. Now, you can get giant, sweet berries year around in every grocery store. Corn on the cob in February. Not to mention once rare items like dragon fruit, heirloom tomatoes or baby bok choy.
▪️If you didn’t live on the coast, seafood was either not available, frozen, or extremely expensive. If you lived in the Midwest and traveled to coastal locales you would quite literally be able to eat food you had never seen. Salmon has become much more abundant and accessible. You can get fresh ahi at Walmart today. Sushi and oyster bars exist everywhere ...
▪️This is a proposal that pertains only to graduate level nursing degrees, not undergraduate ones (which were never considered professional degrees). The proposal will have a 30-60 day public comment period next year, where groups can object, before the DoE will decide on it.
▪️This is about how much federal student loans someone can take out for a particular degree. The cap on graduate degrees is $100k ($20,500/yr), while a “professional degree” limit is $200k ($50k/yr).
▪️Under the new rule proposal, professional degrees include:
🔹Pharmacy
🔹Dentistry
🔹Veterinary medicine
🔹Chiropractic
🔹Law
🔹Medicine (including osteopathic medicine & podiatry)
🔹Optometry
🔹Theology
▪️The nursing degrees excluded are ones like master of science in nursing (MSN), doctor of nursing practice (DNP) and PhD in nursing. These degrees would be limited to $100k in federal student loans, like all other graduate degrees.
▪️These changes came from the One Big Beautiful Bill’s...
