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Stephani Franklin's avatar

When the press went on ad nauseam about Biden's age and cognitive decline while totally ignoring the same faults in Trump, I thought to myself, "Yes, but only one of them will surround themselves with competent people," and unfortunately, I was right.

If we had elected Biden he would still be old but...

Kristi Noem would not be head of Homeland Security

Pete Kegsteth would not be in charge of the DOD

Ka$h Patel would not be head of the FBI and Dan Bongo Boy would not be his right hand man

The head of a wrestling empire would not be shutting down the Dept. of Education

Liddle Marco would not be doing "all the other jobs" that Trump can't be bothered to find a candidate for

Elmo and his "lil' DOGE big ball boys" wouldn't have gotten within 1000 miles of our personal information

The J6 insurrectionists would still be in jail where they belong (after they received due process, btw)

The whole world wouldn't hate us (Russia would still hate us because they really do hate us--they're happy as pigs in shit to see us in this mess)

The dollar would still be strong

The stock market would be stable

Inflation would still be trending the right way

Flying would still be safe

Our National Parks wouldn't be under attack

Our Social Security checks wouldn't be under attack

Medicare wouldn't be under attack

Medicaid wouldn't be under attack

Students wouldn't be snatched off the street by masked (who the hell are these people?)

and Kilmar Albrego Garcia would be home with his family.

But yes, Biden would still be old and Hunter Biden might still have a laptop and sell his paintings on the street corner but on the other hand we wouldn't have a crypto-racket being run out of the White House and a big military parade to look forward to in June.

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Gerald Fnord's avatar

A confusing factor:

As a Rich Kid chronically out of his depth, shielded from negative consequences, and dedicated to the B.S. version of Positive Thinking, Mr Trump has _always_ been happily uncaring about the facts: 'true' means 'What I want to be so.' and 'false'/'fake' means 'What I donʼt want to hear.'. With his decline he's less artful about it, but he is not that different to how he's always been.

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Kent's avatar

I have often found that the emperor had no clothes, but never have I seen such a disgusting corpus. You can smell the purification through the video if you just watch it, uninterrupted, for a few minutes. Not just of the head of state, but the limbs of the state. Once you see it, you can't unsee it. Once you see it, you notice it every day, and it is the narrative.

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Edward Hackett's avatar

That the Grifter in Chief has mental problems is evident to anyone who has listened to his ramblings or looked at his interviews from years ago. The question is, "Who is behind him and what is their end game?" The mainstream press was all over Mr. Biden after his disastrous appearance with Trump, but they are silent as Trump and his minions tear apart our government. He and his cult followers have destroyed the Republican Party and sullied the term conservative. His cult is NOT conservative, they are nihilist and want to destroy everything they think could stand in their way. They have attacked education, science, and women in general. Yet, the big names in the world of newspapers are silent. Congress has no backbone, and its complicity in this farce makes it complicit in the destruction of our country. We all know the Republicans stand for billionaires and have no empathy for those who need help, but where are the Democratic voices that should be crying out in defense of our country? Other than Mr. Sanders and AOC, there has been little pushback against this wannabe King or maybe a Pope. What will it take for the average American to stand up against this destruction of our country?

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Mark Paul's avatar

In the mental foreground of the development of the presidential disability amendment was Eisenhower’s heart attacks. After Wilson and FDR, it was time to clarify the ambiguities, especially in the nuclear age.

It was designed to deal with physical disability; Trump presents with a series of mental deficits, each by itself sufficient grounds for removal.

The Walter Reed physicians who examined him have a lot to answer for. If they were lawyers they would be forced to defend their licenses. I have no idea if there is a similar process for doctors, but they have shirked their responsibilities just as surely as Leader Thune and Speaker Johnson.

And if the process succeeds, against the odds, say hello to President J.D. Vance. Feel better?

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Gerald Fnord's avatar

Some on my side's not being clear and honest about Biden's decline is enough to invalidate, ¿up to a point?, _anything_ we say about Trump's, because back on the Serengeti argument ad hominem was a great time-saver.

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Michael Dawson's avatar

I subscribe to the view that he's never been either mentally competent or decently educated. Clues are everywhere. Look at the way he holds that stupid marker with which he draws out the juvenile up-down-up-downs that pass for his signature. Nobody who's ever written anything longer than a check holds a pen that far up the pike. But his fans are cucks -- they love to watch ignorance prevail, because it validates their snowflake egos.

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Craig Collier's avatar

There are legends of Mamas and PaPas completely capable of battle with the king. Eighty plus who could roll your intellectual socks off and present them back washed and folded. They didn't get that way on diet coke spiked with narcissistic greed. Perhaps incompetence isn't a prerequisite of age -

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Jeff Luth's avatar

Makes me think of when I didn’t do the reading or the homework and then tried to bullshit my way around it.

But a President that has no idea what the declaration of independence was about is insane.

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Alex Tolley's avatar

"This isn’t politics—it’s eldercare with nuclear codes." - great line.

It has taken 250 years to turn full circle. Now the USA has its mad king George III. He makes stupid decisions and is barely compos mentis, even some of the time.

What I don't understand is why, with his polls falling so badly, with even MAGA Republicans starting to disapprove of him, why are Republican congresscritturs still afraid of the MAGAts?

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Alan Goldhammer's avatar

Yes, this is all true. Unfortunately, it is also irrelevant. As long as the President is stil breathing, the MAGA movement will continue and normally 'sane' Republicans will continue to tremble in fear of the next primary. This is just a fact that we are confronted with daily as much as it pains us.

On a more serious note, I finished listening to Ezra Klein's talk with Representative Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) at https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-marie-gluesenkamp-perez.html Klein is just tone deaf on this one. He tries to advance some of the liberal tropes that absolutely will not resonate in the Congresswoman's district. This is exactly what is WRONG with the MSM. I gave up on Klein when he was VOX news and this is exactly the reason why. If he cannot understand 'right to repair' and that not everyone buys new cars, he should not be in journalism. This is just awful.

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Joel's Journeys in Jazz's avatar

Thanks for the sanity. It's getting weird out there.

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