It’s clearly not ideal to have a president who is not young enough to think on his/ her feet. To be clear, I don’t think that Biden had cognitive problems for most of his presidency. I saw plenty of interviews where he was quite astute. But the job of president is exhausting, particularly for someone who does the job the right way, which means bringing together information from multiple sources and making hundreds of decisions. The presidency ages people, which is clearly more acute in later stages of life.
However the difference between the Biden administration and the Trump administration is that Biden had surrounded himself with the best, highly educated and deeply-experienced career public servants who knew the job of government and understood the Constitution and the laws, whereas Trump has broadly surrounded himself with inexperienced people with no knowledge of government, who have no problem breaking laws, defying the constitution, and weaving a web of perception that actually doesn’t exist in reality.
We should not forget that this current Cabinet, as well as the unelected officials actually making decisions (like Elon Musk or Stephen Miller) have been and are continuing to be sanctioned by our majority GOP House and Senate, who know better but refuse to do their jobs to protect the rule of law and reign in this Executive Branch, which is abusing its power.
Because of the differences in their appointees and staff, when Biden‘s health declined, the policies and astute decisions he had made before were carried out to the benefit of the American people. In Trump‘s case, it is being handed to people who are ignoring the rule of law and have no idea what they are doing. We are all living the consequences of that right now.
Just one thing: I don’t totally buy the Trump dementia narrative
To be sure, he has experienced cognitive decline but I think a lot of what we see is age related. We’ve been saying since 2015 he has dementia and if that was true he’d either be in a memory ward or dead by now
His problems are
1) an overpowering clinical case of malignant narcissism. Hitler/Mussolini esque
2) If you look up “psychopath” in the DSM or any serious pub, he checks every box for a psychopath. Psychopaths aren’t just serial killers like Bundy. Do t take my word for it. Look it up. Trump is psychopathic
3) Low IQ. Anyone who’s been in his orbit and didn’t drink the koolaid describes him as slow on the uptake, barely able to read, shallow in his thinking and in general, disinterested in learning anything. Unless it’s a grift oppty
4) A massively insecure person. Dad and mom were cold and unloving. All his bravado is a facade to cover up how wounded and self loathing he is.
I "Yes and" is the appropriate response here. I don't dispute the four points you raise. I also believe the cognitive decline we are all observing is more than just age-related.
It's getting harder and harder to make that 'not dementia' argument.
That speech he gave at Quantico - wow. The content was weird, he appeared extremely low energy, he rambled and made little sense.
I'd say it's less than 50/50 he makes it through 4 years. However ... what's next?
The MAGA movement is wider and deeper than many realize and exists at every level of gov't. I'm involved politically here in Scottsdale and in the last election, a bunch of MAGA won seats on the city council. City councils are about potholes, public safety, schools, etc. School boards, state legislatures, Governors and of course Congress. MAGA has nothing to offer cities, but here we are.
So while the next guy might not have Trump's fetid charisma, he'll have a hell of a base throughout the country. And he could be worse, if that's possible
I agree. MAGA is indeed wider and deeper than many realize. It’s important to recognize that there is a legitimate argument for post liberalism but it doesn’t need to be made with such misinformation, injustice, and downright cruelty.
Thanks, Sarah! I agree with you on the differences in appointees and staff between Biden and Trump. We are definitely living the consequences now of both those willing to defy the Constitution and the complacency of the GOP House and Senate...
Stephen, please run for something!
It’s clearly not ideal to have a president who is not young enough to think on his/ her feet. To be clear, I don’t think that Biden had cognitive problems for most of his presidency. I saw plenty of interviews where he was quite astute. But the job of president is exhausting, particularly for someone who does the job the right way, which means bringing together information from multiple sources and making hundreds of decisions. The presidency ages people, which is clearly more acute in later stages of life.
However the difference between the Biden administration and the Trump administration is that Biden had surrounded himself with the best, highly educated and deeply-experienced career public servants who knew the job of government and understood the Constitution and the laws, whereas Trump has broadly surrounded himself with inexperienced people with no knowledge of government, who have no problem breaking laws, defying the constitution, and weaving a web of perception that actually doesn’t exist in reality.
We should not forget that this current Cabinet, as well as the unelected officials actually making decisions (like Elon Musk or Stephen Miller) have been and are continuing to be sanctioned by our majority GOP House and Senate, who know better but refuse to do their jobs to protect the rule of law and reign in this Executive Branch, which is abusing its power.
Because of the differences in their appointees and staff, when Biden‘s health declined, the policies and astute decisions he had made before were carried out to the benefit of the American people. In Trump‘s case, it is being handed to people who are ignoring the rule of law and have no idea what they are doing. We are all living the consequences of that right now.
Just one thing: I don’t totally buy the Trump dementia narrative
To be sure, he has experienced cognitive decline but I think a lot of what we see is age related. We’ve been saying since 2015 he has dementia and if that was true he’d either be in a memory ward or dead by now
His problems are
1) an overpowering clinical case of malignant narcissism. Hitler/Mussolini esque
2) If you look up “psychopath” in the DSM or any serious pub, he checks every box for a psychopath. Psychopaths aren’t just serial killers like Bundy. Do t take my word for it. Look it up. Trump is psychopathic
3) Low IQ. Anyone who’s been in his orbit and didn’t drink the koolaid describes him as slow on the uptake, barely able to read, shallow in his thinking and in general, disinterested in learning anything. Unless it’s a grift oppty
4) A massively insecure person. Dad and mom were cold and unloving. All his bravado is a facade to cover up how wounded and self loathing he is.
I "Yes and" is the appropriate response here. I don't dispute the four points you raise. I also believe the cognitive decline we are all observing is more than just age-related.
It's getting harder and harder to make that 'not dementia' argument.
That speech he gave at Quantico - wow. The content was weird, he appeared extremely low energy, he rambled and made little sense.
I'd say it's less than 50/50 he makes it through 4 years. However ... what's next?
The MAGA movement is wider and deeper than many realize and exists at every level of gov't. I'm involved politically here in Scottsdale and in the last election, a bunch of MAGA won seats on the city council. City councils are about potholes, public safety, schools, etc. School boards, state legislatures, Governors and of course Congress. MAGA has nothing to offer cities, but here we are.
So while the next guy might not have Trump's fetid charisma, he'll have a hell of a base throughout the country. And he could be worse, if that's possible
I agree. MAGA is indeed wider and deeper than many realize. It’s important to recognize that there is a legitimate argument for post liberalism but it doesn’t need to be made with such misinformation, injustice, and downright cruelty.
Thanks, Sarah! I agree with you on the differences in appointees and staff between Biden and Trump. We are definitely living the consequences now of both those willing to defy the Constitution and the complacency of the GOP House and Senate...