This is Part 2 of my acceptance of/reply to, a “challenge to any Democrat” to explain “how any of this makes sense without TDS tendencies.” [FN1] What followed were 18 unnumbered points. I’ve addressed 1-3. Before I continue, I need to address a couple of things. 1/13

A) The challenge is “to any Democrat.” I requested a Democratic Party ballot in the most recent 2 primaries & worked at the polls in the 3/17/24, primary election as a Democrat.
B) In my replies to #1-3, I made no mention of trump, thus there is no “TDS.” [FN2] 2/13

4/28: “4) It was cool for Joe Biden to "blackmail" the President of Ukraine.”
Biden didn’t blackmail Ukraine. His demand that a prosecutor be fired was the will of the U.S. government and other Western leaders. [FN3] Politifact’s summary is comprehensive. 3/13

Then-VP Biden threatened to withhold $1 billion in aid to Ukraine if the prosecutor gen’l (“PG”) was not fired. The U.S., several Western leaders, & others thought investigation of corruption of leadership before Zelensky was not pursued aggressively enough.” [FN4] 4/13

“There’s no evidence that Hunter Biden was under investigation at the time Biden made his request.” [FN5] Also, Biden’s demand was not “an unlawful demand” as required to constitute blackmail. [FN6] 5/13

4/28: “5) Twenty is too young to drink a beer, but eighteen is old enough to vote?”
You’re damn right. We should go back to States setting their drinking age. Reagan threatened to withhold highway funds of States that refused to raise the age to 21. [FN7] 6/13

Whether raising the drinking age to 21 has saved lives has been disputed. [FN8]
4/28: “6) People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves?” Reparations can be a bummer & they’ve been paid. 7/13

One group got paid. On 4/16/1862, under the Distr of Columbia Emancipation Act, slaveholders, loyal to the Union, received up to $300 for each enslaved person freed. [FN9] Courts have dismissed lawsuits seeking reparations for slaves’ descendants. [FN10] 8/13

When I saw the “challenge,” I thought it was a copy-and-paste making its way around maga web pages. I tried to find it. Iof someone else locates it, please send a cite. Otherwise it would mean 4/28 came up w/something “original.” .... Nah. Can’t be. 9/13

Footnotes:
FN1. Until I receive an acknowledgment or reply from 4/28, I’ll refer to him by abbreviation. I don’t want to give him the cheap thrill of recognition. Over a couple of decades, I’ve accepted similar challenges, but they chicken out when I accept. 10/13

FN2. “TDS” is “trump Derangement Syndrome.”
FN3. Daniel Funke, “Social posts falsely connect Trump’s impeachment to Biden’s dealings in Ukraine,” Politifact, 12/10/19, accessed 4/29/26.
FN4. Id.
FN5. Id.
FN6. Id. 11/13

FN7. Jeffrey Miron and Elina Tetelbaum, “Did the Federal Drinking Age Law Save Lives?” Regulation, Spring 2009, accessed 4/29/26.
FN8. Id. 12/13

FN9. Tera W Hunter, “When Slaveowners Got Reparations,” Department of African Studies, Princeton University, 4/17/19, accessed 4/29/26.
FN10. Brown University, “Confronting Slavery’s Legacy: The Reparations Question,” Slavery and Justice Report,” accessed 4/29/28. 13/13