But a Defiant Speech is beside the point
Ugh. Speaking of that whole issue of competence versus politics…defiance and “grit” and determination aren’t always or necessarily virtues.
US President Joe Biden vowed to stay the course in his re-election bid and defeat Donald Trump in a defiant speech on Friday, as questions continue to swirl over whether he will drop out of the race.
At a rally in Madison, Wisconsin, the 81-year-old acknowledged his disastrous performance in last week’s CNN debate. “Ever since then, there’s been a lot of speculation. What’s Joe going to do?” he told the crowd. “Here’s my answer. I am running and going to win again,” Mr Biden said, as supporters in the crucial battleground state cheered his name. It marked his latest commitment to staying in the race as he seeks to defuse a political crisis that has snowballed in recent days.
Blah blah blah. And then he put on a surge of speed and crossed the finishing line, and then she took a deep breath and danced en pointe despite her broken ankle, and then they wiped away their tears and told their mother they had no idea where the baby had gone.
We get it. It’s a Frank Capra movie. It’s every Frank Capra movie. It’s a feel-good story. It’s not, however, a guide to what’s the right thing to do in every situation. Biden can be defiant all he likes but if he’s not in fact physically or mentally up to the job, if he’s neither physically nor mentally up to the job, all the Hollywoody defiance in the world isn’t going to change that.
The 17-minute speech, which was more energetic than his widely-panned performance on the debate stage, comes at a critical moment for his campaign, with donors and Democratic allies considering whether to stick with him.
I hate to break it to us but one 17-minute speech isn’t going to be the most he ever has to do in a second term.
“I see all these stories that say I’m too old,” Mr Biden said at the rally, before triumphing his record in the White House. “Was I too old to create 15 million jobs?” he said. “Was I too old to erase student debt for five million Americans?”
That’s a stupid question. It evades the point. Is he too old to stop evading the point? I don’t know, but he’s determined to keep doing it.
“Do you think I’m too old to beat Donald Trump?” he asked, as the crowd responded “no”.
Yes, I do. I don’t want to think that, I sure as hell don’t want it to be the case, but I can’t determine realities with the power of thought. I think this whole thing is a huge disaster.
But, look on the bright side. Sleepy Joe could make history by becoming the first POTUS in history to have a brain transplant.
I agree that Biden v. Trump is way riskier than I’d want it to be. I’m still not sure who we could sub in for Biden at this point and have a better chance of winning with, though–and if there’s not really anyone primed for the job, then we may be stuck with defiant speeches as a rallying point. (Note: I also concur that the fact that we have no bullpen at this point is utterly ridiculous, but it’s the world we have, not the one we want, that we have to deal with.)
And of course it doesn’t help that all he can talk about now is his age. The more he tries to reassure people he’s not too old for the job, the more he’s reinforcing in everyone’s minds that he’s too old for the job. He hasn’t succeeded in bypassing the age narrative. He hasn’t gripped the masses with a better topic of conversation. That’s why I’m starting to think he ultimately will be forced to step aside: the he’s-too-old story just isn’t dying.
Hang in there Joe, at least you’re not a twice impeached convicted felon, a pathological liar, an egomaniacal idiot, and an abusive racist and misogynist, who’s also suffering from age related cognitive issues.
There is a minimum age requirement for the presidency, but no maximum? Neither one of these guys should even have a drivers license at this point. Of all the possible choices, we are stuck (again) with these two doddering old bastards. This situation would be hard to make up if it wasn’t actually happening.
Can we count on Vice President (She/Her) to save the day? I doubt it. Our choices are Dumb and Dumber.
twiliter: that’s what bothers me so much. Even OUR side is relentlessly focusing on Biden’s decline while ignoring the obvious pathology or even dementia of Trump. Even with the fake tan and the head Tribble.
Gah. I’m not ignoring the obvious pathology of Trump – you can’t claim I haven’t said enough about it over the past 8 or 9 years! And I did ignore the Biden’s age issue all this time, until the reporting on the debate made it too much for me to keep ignoring. And for the umpteenth time it’s not that I think Trump is better, it’s that I fear Biden WILL LOSE.
No disagreement Ophelia. By “our side” I was more focusing on the overall media atmosphere. Which exacerbates the likelihood of Biden’s loss.
It’s just relentless. But understandable. Who OWNS the media? The parasitic class of often inherited wealth and corporate oligopolies who want another Trump presidency.
@#7:
Trouble is, IMHO, that outfits like the Murdochracy are too inclined to think in the short term. Trump would like to become the first US dictator (for the good of all, of course.) But dictators do not like a free press or any criticism such an institution brings, and toadying to Trump would likely be not good for expansion of readership etc; that is, assuming that Trump’s supporters are literate and have an attention-span greater than, say, 10 seconds. (Some would no doubt say I’m being a tad generous there.)
A dictatorship along traditional South American lines, emerging from the historical background of Spain and Portugal missing out on the bourgeois revolutions that took place in the 1640s (UK) France 1789, most of Europe 1848 and onward, Russia 1905, is likely what Trump would prefer. Maybe Stormy Daniels would be offered a gig as, say, Head of the Ministry of Information.
‘Be careful what you wish for’ is advice good to go for press barons as well.
Back in the day, when everyone started calling Trump the next Hitler, I expressed concerns that he would actually be the next Francisco Franco, who stayed in power for decades, and still has Spaniards who remember his brutal, oppressive, fascist reign with nostalgia.
Well (fortunately) Trump doesn’t have the option of staying in power for decades. He doesn’t have an infinite lifespan.