"After all, Biden’s cognitive decline isn’t exactly news—even if the extent of it only became clear during the debate."
It was *very* clear *long* before that! I've been seeing footage just as bad or worse for months, and it has never been hard to find. Yet just two weeks ago you had the Times running a big story trying to claim it was all just Republican spin and Fox News manipulation. And then they wonder why their credibility is in tatters, and whine for more censorship of their competitors. The arrogance and contempt for the public is just breathtaking.
But Trump, but democracy!!!, I'm so sick of this bullshit. Our democracy is in such danger we're going to run a vegetable with a VP who's an even less popular airhead. Just cut the crap.
On both sides of the Atlantic we have a ruling class loudly insisting that nothing is more dangerous to democracy than giving the public a real say in who their leaders are.
Really guys? They have known for 4 years that Biden is unfit, so we are being managed by some type of committee, which is not the way of our republic or democracy or whatever you want to call it is set up. They've had 4 years to reach out and try to groom a younger more vibrant and potentially more moderate replacement for this administration, yet they haven't done it, all the while shouting about Trump putting democracy at stake? Meanwhile they have a VP diversity hire who is even more unpopular than Biden? What a load of bullshit. And by the way, about 70% of Americans still think the country is going in the wrong direction. While many may not think Trump is the answer, it most certainly isn't Biden, again or Kamala.
Interesting problem whose lies are worse: Trump's lies are obvious and flagrant and he never pretends to be telling the truth; Bidens lies are more seditious. Biden's team lies about lying. Trump just lies. The democrats have fallen for the idea that a lie is justified if it serves the greater social justice cause. The Republican just say any damn thing. I will not vote for Biden, because his team is telling me what I see so obviously is not so. They are pissing on my back and telling me its raining as the expression goes.
Everyone lies. The politicians, the media, the handlers. I am resigned to it. So I vote for the person whose policies I like regardless of their supposed character ( Biden is most certainly no angel, either- look up some of his past whoppers) and let the chips fall.
Thank you both so much for this balm of truth. Yesterday, a very liberal friend told me she now considers the NYT and WAPO-- "right-wing" because they have called for Biden to step down. She believes deep in her heart that "Biden had a bad night" and Trump will literally destroy the U.S. She hasn't slept since Thursday and I am very worried.
If the mainstream media had truthfully spoken about Biden's decline, my friend would not have been shocked. More importantly, as Toro notes, those same institutions wouldn't have squandered their fading credibility in the service of a total lie. I used to be a true-blue Democrat, but I cannot in good conscience vote for either Trump or Biden.
The heading on this piece is "Biden Is No Longer Fit For Office." And he is not, as we have all seen. We can dispute exactly when he became unfit for office. But that is not the point. If he is unfit for office, it is not enough to conclude, as Yascha does, that he "should drop out of the race." If Biden is no longer fit for office, he should resign.
Harris would become president. Inevitably she would then become the Democratic candidate for president in the November election. There are lots of reasons to feel queasy about this outcome. It doesn't matter. The United States can'f afford a president who is unfit for office, be it Trump or Biden.
People are overthinking this situation. What has to be done is simple and straightforward.
These are exactly the the thoughts I was having: I'm not sure which thoughts he will finish and which thoughts he'll lose to the haze in his brain. I struggle to see how he could maintain the facts, clarity, and self-possession to hold accountable the people he assigns to carry out his authority. How does he fair in conversations with the leaders of foreign governments? November is too far away.
If Biden were to resign or otherwise be incapacitated, why would Harris automatically become the Democratic candidate? No delegates are officially pledged to Harris. Between now and the convention there is still enough time for alternate candidates to step forward and make their case for nomination. Further, the Democratic committees of each state still have time to decide how they will approach the convention.
You're right, I shouldn't have said Harris would "inevitably" become the Democratic nominee. But that's what I think would happen. I think that once she was President, the Democratic establishment would coalesce in support of her, and prominent Democrats would not want to run agains her. Which is what happened when Biden won the SC primary in 2020, and when Biden announced he would run in 2024.
And consider this my fine friends. These people are willing to lie and cover up the mental capacity of the leader of the free world. What else are they lying about or covering up? Russiagate, Ukrainegate, Covid, Jan 6?
Many of us knew that Joe Biden was not fit for office before the 2020 election. Democrats have been banking on control of the media to shape what the electorate believes since the 2016 election. It worked so well at first that they became drunk on the strategy. But it was never really successful as the pandemic and the Dodd decision were abnormalities that should have been considered. The voters really do not like Democrat dog food, and Joe's terrible, but expected, performance on that debate stage just helped snap millions of voters out of their media brainwashing to believe that the Democrat platform is worthy.
All perfectly reasonable. However it appears Biden, his family, and senior Democrats don’t care what anyone thinks, he won’t step down. And when the catastrophe hits in November, they will blame it all on the rest of us who criticized him and his enablers. It will all be our fault… just wait. Everyone can see Biden cannot articulate a cogent discourse for the campaign. Cheerleading from a prompter and hiding from journalists is not good enough. And not one Democratic elected official is willing to admit it? They’re just giving up and hoping for a miracle. I may not have a viable alternative to vote for (sorry, the raving fantasies of the bizarre cult that used to be the Republican party are even worse), but I’m very resentful.
What about the 25th amendment? It seems fitting... but forget it. It is practically impossible -
Section 4: Vice Presidential and Cabinet Declaration of Presidential Inability
Scenario: If the President is unable or unwilling to declare their inability.
Procedure:
The Vice President and a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments (the Cabinet) transmit a written declaration to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, stating that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.
The Vice President immediately assumes the role of Acting President.
If the President disputes this declaration, they can send a written declaration to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives stating that no inability exists and that they are able to resume their duties.
If the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet still believe the President is unable to discharge the duties of the office, they have four days to transmit another declaration to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Congress must assemble within 48 hours if not in session and decide the issue within 21 days. If two-thirds of both Houses vote that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the Vice President continues as Acting President. If not, the President resumes their duties.
Some belated clarity of thought here but, as honestly horrified as the authors are, I am not so sure they do justice to the the thousands of honest observers who noted the decline in Biden and the broad conspiracy of silence dating back many months and were ridiculed. In fact, I am equally astonished by the sudden change in the climate after last Thursday night. This is seriously a form of hysterical social behavior matched only by the widespread conviction that it is OK to fast track adolescents into life-changing surgery that makes them infertile without extensive consultation, counselling and parental authorization.
Someone here needs to make a nod to political realities that are being missed in these essays.
FIrst, as NBC news has noted, the Democratic party would have more control under its rules over naming a replacement for Biden after Biden has been nominated. Prior to that, if Biden were to withdraw, his delegates might do what Biden asks of them, but aren't obligated to, which could easily lead to chaos at the convention. In the words of a senior Democratic official quoted, "We need to have as much discipline as emotion. It's not politically smart for Biden to step down." The ability for party leaders to manage the nomination of a replacement strikes me as particularly important in this scenario where circumnavigating around the iceberg that is the Vice President needs to be the top priority.
Second, following that practical advice for party leaders, it is probable that many of the public statements both authors here find objectionable are simply necessary maintenance of the status quo to get the party through the convention. Having worked in and around politics for most of my adult life, I can attest that this is done all the time, in good faith, and is a time tested strategy for dealing with crisis situations while avoiding an actual crisis.
I do not know whether this is actually what is happening, or if it is, whether it is wise. But I do know that people at the top level of national parties are far more attuned to the longer game of dealing with these situations and the rules that govern them than those of us on the sidelines who only see and hear what has been made public.
While Biden, alone, must make the final decisions about his future, he seems more like Richard Nixon than anyone right now: stubborn, isolated within a small team of close advisors, proud, and privately aware of his situation. It took great courage for Nixon's party elders to tell him that his intransigence was harming his nation, his party and what was left of his reputation. I think it will ultimately be up to Obama, Bill Clinton, and other leading Democrats to serve in that role for Biden, and work to do the clean-up afterward.
Thank you so much, Yascha and Quico, every single word you wrote is true.
The Biden Family’s strategy going forward will be to “encourage” other news stories to rise to dominate the news cycle, and by next Saturday they’ll be telling us that the Debate story is so”Last Week’s News”?
Has anybody noticed that Democratic men are mostly emphatically in the anti-Biden camp, while ardent support for the Bidens is coming disproportionately from 40+ White Democratic females? I have. I’m sure they’re the same people who will be demonstrating in the streets wearing their “Pussy Hats” after Trump has resumed the Presidency in 2025.
Sadly, Trump lies all the time, as do his handlers, yet his supporters trust him massively. So "when you lie to people, they stop trusting you" is not a universal political truth.
I do agree that Bien should step aside. But why not hold Trump to the same standards?
If Biden steps aside, then it becomes possible to focus strongly on Trump's dwindling mental capacities which had a much lower starting level to begin with.
The question is whether to believe in the prophetic nature of dreams.
In a dream dreamt after the presidential debate, a passenger on an ocean liner finds a friend savoring a cigar in the saloon and says,
"We've struck an iceberg. We've got to abandon ship."
"Well, well. We may have run into a patch of ice, but that happens in the North Atlantic. Notoriously nasty sea. Not for the faint-hearted."
"I tell you, the ship--"
"Best ship we've ever had. The builder deserves our admiration and confidence."
"Admiration, maybe. But--"
"Lots of watertight compartments, like a honeycomb. It can suffer a hole in one -- which reminds me, we haven't had that little talk about your golf game."
"Listen, it's a long gash. No ship can sideswipe an iceberg and stay seaworthy."
"One bad night. Before long, no one will remember it. Meanwhile, don't go wetting -- wetting -- our shoes. I say, is that water?"
The essay here is the topic and rather than deal with it, we've gotten a group of comments which include some pushing agendas. Some of them barely concealed MAGA propaganda, and/or non-American views. Yes, all voices should be heard but let's get back to the essay,
The decline of Pres. Biden as our essayists have fairly noted cannot be unseen, explained away or dishonestly dismissed by the election campaign. But there are complications unmentioned by our Persuasion team: campaign funds. Can anyone but Joe or arguably KH control them under the law?
"After all, Biden’s cognitive decline isn’t exactly news—even if the extent of it only became clear during the debate."
It was *very* clear *long* before that! I've been seeing footage just as bad or worse for months, and it has never been hard to find. Yet just two weeks ago you had the Times running a big story trying to claim it was all just Republican spin and Fox News manipulation. And then they wonder why their credibility is in tatters, and whine for more censorship of their competitors. The arrogance and contempt for the public is just breathtaking.
But Trump, but democracy!!!, I'm so sick of this bullshit. Our democracy is in such danger we're going to run a vegetable with a VP who's an even less popular airhead. Just cut the crap.
On both sides of the Atlantic we have a ruling class loudly insisting that nothing is more dangerous to democracy than giving the public a real say in who their leaders are.
Really guys? They have known for 4 years that Biden is unfit, so we are being managed by some type of committee, which is not the way of our republic or democracy or whatever you want to call it is set up. They've had 4 years to reach out and try to groom a younger more vibrant and potentially more moderate replacement for this administration, yet they haven't done it, all the while shouting about Trump putting democracy at stake? Meanwhile they have a VP diversity hire who is even more unpopular than Biden? What a load of bullshit. And by the way, about 70% of Americans still think the country is going in the wrong direction. While many may not think Trump is the answer, it most certainly isn't Biden, again or Kamala.
And by the way, our enemies see this clearly. Democracy at stake---yeah.
Interesting problem whose lies are worse: Trump's lies are obvious and flagrant and he never pretends to be telling the truth; Bidens lies are more seditious. Biden's team lies about lying. Trump just lies. The democrats have fallen for the idea that a lie is justified if it serves the greater social justice cause. The Republican just say any damn thing. I will not vote for Biden, because his team is telling me what I see so obviously is not so. They are pissing on my back and telling me its raining as the expression goes.
Very true. And the leading newspapers no longer ask, "is this true," they ask, "does this help our enemies?" And "report" accordingly.
Everyone lies. The politicians, the media, the handlers. I am resigned to it. So I vote for the person whose policies I like regardless of their supposed character ( Biden is most certainly no angel, either- look up some of his past whoppers) and let the chips fall.
Thank you both so much for this balm of truth. Yesterday, a very liberal friend told me she now considers the NYT and WAPO-- "right-wing" because they have called for Biden to step down. She believes deep in her heart that "Biden had a bad night" and Trump will literally destroy the U.S. She hasn't slept since Thursday and I am very worried.
If the mainstream media had truthfully spoken about Biden's decline, my friend would not have been shocked. More importantly, as Toro notes, those same institutions wouldn't have squandered their fading credibility in the service of a total lie. I used to be a true-blue Democrat, but I cannot in good conscience vote for either Trump or Biden.
The heading on this piece is "Biden Is No Longer Fit For Office." And he is not, as we have all seen. We can dispute exactly when he became unfit for office. But that is not the point. If he is unfit for office, it is not enough to conclude, as Yascha does, that he "should drop out of the race." If Biden is no longer fit for office, he should resign.
Harris would become president. Inevitably she would then become the Democratic candidate for president in the November election. There are lots of reasons to feel queasy about this outcome. It doesn't matter. The United States can'f afford a president who is unfit for office, be it Trump or Biden.
People are overthinking this situation. What has to be done is simple and straightforward.
These are exactly the the thoughts I was having: I'm not sure which thoughts he will finish and which thoughts he'll lose to the haze in his brain. I struggle to see how he could maintain the facts, clarity, and self-possession to hold accountable the people he assigns to carry out his authority. How does he fair in conversations with the leaders of foreign governments? November is too far away.
If Biden were to resign or otherwise be incapacitated, why would Harris automatically become the Democratic candidate? No delegates are officially pledged to Harris. Between now and the convention there is still enough time for alternate candidates to step forward and make their case for nomination. Further, the Democratic committees of each state still have time to decide how they will approach the convention.
You're right, I shouldn't have said Harris would "inevitably" become the Democratic nominee. But that's what I think would happen. I think that once she was President, the Democratic establishment would coalesce in support of her, and prominent Democrats would not want to run agains her. Which is what happened when Biden won the SC primary in 2020, and when Biden announced he would run in 2024.
And consider this my fine friends. These people are willing to lie and cover up the mental capacity of the leader of the free world. What else are they lying about or covering up? Russiagate, Ukrainegate, Covid, Jan 6?
Many of us knew that Joe Biden was not fit for office before the 2020 election. Democrats have been banking on control of the media to shape what the electorate believes since the 2016 election. It worked so well at first that they became drunk on the strategy. But it was never really successful as the pandemic and the Dodd decision were abnormalities that should have been considered. The voters really do not like Democrat dog food, and Joe's terrible, but expected, performance on that debate stage just helped snap millions of voters out of their media brainwashing to believe that the Democrat platform is worthy.
All perfectly reasonable. However it appears Biden, his family, and senior Democrats don’t care what anyone thinks, he won’t step down. And when the catastrophe hits in November, they will blame it all on the rest of us who criticized him and his enablers. It will all be our fault… just wait. Everyone can see Biden cannot articulate a cogent discourse for the campaign. Cheerleading from a prompter and hiding from journalists is not good enough. And not one Democratic elected official is willing to admit it? They’re just giving up and hoping for a miracle. I may not have a viable alternative to vote for (sorry, the raving fantasies of the bizarre cult that used to be the Republican party are even worse), but I’m very resentful.
What about the 25th amendment? It seems fitting... but forget it. It is practically impossible -
Section 4: Vice Presidential and Cabinet Declaration of Presidential Inability
Scenario: If the President is unable or unwilling to declare their inability.
Procedure:
The Vice President and a majority of the principal officers of the executive departments (the Cabinet) transmit a written declaration to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, stating that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.
The Vice President immediately assumes the role of Acting President.
If the President disputes this declaration, they can send a written declaration to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives stating that no inability exists and that they are able to resume their duties.
If the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet still believe the President is unable to discharge the duties of the office, they have four days to transmit another declaration to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Congress must assemble within 48 hours if not in session and decide the issue within 21 days. If two-thirds of both Houses vote that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the Vice President continues as Acting President. If not, the President resumes their duties.
Some belated clarity of thought here but, as honestly horrified as the authors are, I am not so sure they do justice to the the thousands of honest observers who noted the decline in Biden and the broad conspiracy of silence dating back many months and were ridiculed. In fact, I am equally astonished by the sudden change in the climate after last Thursday night. This is seriously a form of hysterical social behavior matched only by the widespread conviction that it is OK to fast track adolescents into life-changing surgery that makes them infertile without extensive consultation, counselling and parental authorization.
Someone here needs to make a nod to political realities that are being missed in these essays.
FIrst, as NBC news has noted, the Democratic party would have more control under its rules over naming a replacement for Biden after Biden has been nominated. Prior to that, if Biden were to withdraw, his delegates might do what Biden asks of them, but aren't obligated to, which could easily lead to chaos at the convention. In the words of a senior Democratic official quoted, "We need to have as much discipline as emotion. It's not politically smart for Biden to step down." The ability for party leaders to manage the nomination of a replacement strikes me as particularly important in this scenario where circumnavigating around the iceberg that is the Vice President needs to be the top priority.
Second, following that practical advice for party leaders, it is probable that many of the public statements both authors here find objectionable are simply necessary maintenance of the status quo to get the party through the convention. Having worked in and around politics for most of my adult life, I can attest that this is done all the time, in good faith, and is a time tested strategy for dealing with crisis situations while avoiding an actual crisis.
I do not know whether this is actually what is happening, or if it is, whether it is wise. But I do know that people at the top level of national parties are far more attuned to the longer game of dealing with these situations and the rules that govern them than those of us on the sidelines who only see and hear what has been made public.
While Biden, alone, must make the final decisions about his future, he seems more like Richard Nixon than anyone right now: stubborn, isolated within a small team of close advisors, proud, and privately aware of his situation. It took great courage for Nixon's party elders to tell him that his intransigence was harming his nation, his party and what was left of his reputation. I think it will ultimately be up to Obama, Bill Clinton, and other leading Democrats to serve in that role for Biden, and work to do the clean-up afterward.
Thank you so much, Yascha and Quico, every single word you wrote is true.
The Biden Family’s strategy going forward will be to “encourage” other news stories to rise to dominate the news cycle, and by next Saturday they’ll be telling us that the Debate story is so”Last Week’s News”?
Has anybody noticed that Democratic men are mostly emphatically in the anti-Biden camp, while ardent support for the Bidens is coming disproportionately from 40+ White Democratic females? I have. I’m sure they’re the same people who will be demonstrating in the streets wearing their “Pussy Hats” after Trump has resumed the Presidency in 2025.
Sadly, Trump lies all the time, as do his handlers, yet his supporters trust him massively. So "when you lie to people, they stop trusting you" is not a universal political truth.
I do agree that Bien should step aside. But why not hold Trump to the same standards?
If Biden steps aside, then it becomes possible to focus strongly on Trump's dwindling mental capacities which had a much lower starting level to begin with.
The question is whether to believe in the prophetic nature of dreams.
In a dream dreamt after the presidential debate, a passenger on an ocean liner finds a friend savoring a cigar in the saloon and says,
"We've struck an iceberg. We've got to abandon ship."
"Well, well. We may have run into a patch of ice, but that happens in the North Atlantic. Notoriously nasty sea. Not for the faint-hearted."
"I tell you, the ship--"
"Best ship we've ever had. The builder deserves our admiration and confidence."
"Admiration, maybe. But--"
"Lots of watertight compartments, like a honeycomb. It can suffer a hole in one -- which reminds me, we haven't had that little talk about your golf game."
"Listen, it's a long gash. No ship can sideswipe an iceberg and stay seaworthy."
"One bad night. Before long, no one will remember it. Meanwhile, don't go wetting -- wetting -- our shoes. I say, is that water?"
https://thefamilyproperty.blogspot.com/2024/06/quite-contrarian.html
This is what other countries think of our president. And this is from 4 months ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wso4sTKT6jw
The essay here is the topic and rather than deal with it, we've gotten a group of comments which include some pushing agendas. Some of them barely concealed MAGA propaganda, and/or non-American views. Yes, all voices should be heard but let's get back to the essay,
The decline of Pres. Biden as our essayists have fairly noted cannot be unseen, explained away or dishonestly dismissed by the election campaign. But there are complications unmentioned by our Persuasion team: campaign funds. Can anyone but Joe or arguably KH control them under the law?