Even more staggering than the determination of the centrist Democrats to deny the Democratic nomination to Bernie Sanders is their willingness to support Joe Biden despite his obvious dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
Joe Biden: Our First First-Term Dementia President?
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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All the remaining presidential contenders are ancient Boomers marked by the 1960s. At the risk of making light on a dark matter – at least dementia means so much less hard work:
Sanders in many ways wants to go all the way back to LBJ if not FDR and forge a path not taken by doubling down on the New Deal.
Trump advertised (falsely) that he would restore US dominance somehow by sheer force of
willbluster.Only Biden can effortlessly conjure confabulations of this elusive Golden Era when he graduated first in his class by saving Nelson Mandela from drowning in a pool.
He’s not only pretending to have been at the mountaintop – but has actually returned there to watch the sunset.
Note to Sanders: Do not concede. By the time of the convention, even if you’re still in second, it may be so obvious that Biden can’t win against Trump that they’ll have to give you the go-ahead.
What if there are no major party candidates left by the fall?
DT, the unworried is taken by the C19 virus
The newly minted president, Pence, locks himself in a room with thousand crosses to avoid the virus and is unable to muster enough courage to come out and try to delay the election, so his name can be placed on the ballot. Nobody is buying the line he has the power to delay the vote anyway.
Biden, clear one day and off into his own world the next has everyone worried.
Bernie ends up in intensive care for his heart.
Can a third party sneak in or will the major parties come up with something at the last minute to put new faces on the ballot.
I remember the stunning announcement that Reagan had Alzheimer’s not long after he left office. I thought, well, duh. Has anyone noticed how the poor guy floundered in his later press conferences? He could still read a prompter like a pro but his cognition was obviously deteriorating fast. Come to think of it, an incoherent leader may be the perfect fit for this wreck of a nation.
I just watched Trump’s CoViD-19 speech, surrounded by the likes of Walmart and Target and Walgreens and CVS, all of whom promised to do their best to help. The Chinese channel said it was a terrible speech, since Trump got his first warning in late December (a warning issued by and ignored by China), and the big warning on 20 January when China said it was a severe epidemic, and Trump is just now starting to do something about it. I didn’t watch CNN, but I’m sure they condemned the speech (since they always condemn everything Trump says).
I know it played extremely well to the Trumpeters, who would cheer wildly if Trump shot someone on Fifth Avenue, but I’m not sure how it played to the swingers.
I know Bernie is a lot better than Trump. I was not convinced Secretary Clinton was better, and I am not convinced Biden would be better.
(Bernie is my 2nd choice, after Tulsi.)
A choice between a TV reality show host and a politician increasingly exhibiting symptoms of senile dementia – what a TV programme that’s going to make ! No wonder the corporate media love the spectacle ! What was it Mr Franklin is reported to have said : «A republic, if you can keep it» ?…
Henri
With all due respect, Trump’s cognitive failings seem even greater to me. I hope you can post some stuff on that. It would be fairer. Biden was my least favorite Democrat, but if he gets the Dem nomination, then I’m voting for him.
This is just another sign of the implosion of American “democracy”. If Biden is the nominee, the people who still vote are going to be faced with a “choice” between two old white men, both mentally and morally unfit to be President. On the bright side, our political system is so sclerotic that neither is likely to get much done that will make things worse, as both intend (more wars, privatizing Social Security, cutting social programs). And every day, more and more money gets funneled to the 0.1% and more of us realize how much the system is screwing them and that radical action is necessary, massed non-violent resistance to bring the economy to a halt until our demands of a liveable world are met. Bernie represented the easy way to change the system, now the hard way is going to be the only option. I think we’ll look back on Sanders the way Conservatives look on Barry Goldwater- someone who created the basis for a movement that ultimately triumphs.