He’s Waiting on God to Tell Him

Good morning from my office perched betwixt the two stadiums here in Seattle. It is 0600 on a Saturday morning and we are in the middle of a ‘heat advisory’ that I like to refer to as “normal summer weather”, but I guess that doesn’t sound all that exciting for the weather people. So “heat advisory” it is…

Did you have a good 4th of July? A good 5th of July? Are you planning on having a good 7th and 8th of July? Well, good on you! Aren’t you glad we freed ourselves from a monarchy?

Oh wait…

Well, let’s get to the news, shall we? I had hoped to have a bit of variety in the news today, but no, somebody is being selfishly truculent and is hogging all the headlines.

They say we start life in the fetal position and we often end life in the fetal position. The “cycle” of life. We started in diapers, we are likely to end in them. We may be watching that start to unfold in real time.

I spent about two years while in college working as a janitor in the geriatric wards of the Western State Hospital in Steilacoom, Washington. I’ve also had to guide my father through the final four years of his life as he suffered through Alzheimer’s at 105 years of age, and my mother through six years of senility before her death at 99. So I kinda know what I’m looking at when I see Joe Biden these days.

Is Joe Biden senile or demented?

I don’t know. I can’t honestly tell you, and neither can you — and that’s kind of the point here: WE don’t know, and we CAN’T know unless we have more information. Like a battery of clinical tests, not some quick reference test where you can identify a lion and recite five words over a short period of time.

We ALL tend to slow down mentally as we age. Every one of us. The rate of decline varies with the individual — some appear to be sharp all the way to the very end, while others start showing a decline twenty, maybe even thirty years prior to their death. There is no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to mental acuity. We are all age differently.

To be honest, I don’t believe Joe Biden is senile or demented. I do believe that he has pretty much most of the mental faculties he’s had all along, it’s just that the connection between the mind and the mouth has always been an issue for Joe. I suspect that his speech impediment is showing more because of his age. I’m pretty sure that if Biden were to write out his thoughts, they’d be coherent and solid — for an octogenarian.

But we are talking about the Leader of the Free World™ here. We expect infallibility, and nothing less. Joe Biden appears fallible and weak-minded, and he’s never going to overcome that. Not now, going forward. Joe Biden is “toast”.

But don’t listen to me, here are today’s headlines:

• “He’s toast”: Biden’s ABC interview flops with Hill Democrats

This was NOT a live interview. It was conducted the day after the debate and has had a week to go through editing and pre-spin before it was broadcast.

• Joe Biden’s ABC interview will not quell doubts about his future

I’d venture to say that there won’t be much to quell the doubts. The damage has been done, and unless the man can show up on several dozen unscripted, live events without a teleprompter, with the looks and energy of the lead singer of a boy band, a few donor events with a telepromter and a softball interview with George Stephanopoulos ain’t going to cut it.

• 6 takeaways from Biden’s high-stakes interview

1. He was better than in the debate, but Biden’s age is clearly showing.
   
   He was privy to the questions, and it was edited prior to airing. But there is only so much that lipstick can do on a pig…
   
2. Biden showed his stubbornness, for good or ill.
   
   Being stubborn is not the same as ‘standing firm’ on something. ‘Stubborn’ tends to indicate that the person KNOWS what the right thing to do is, but is refusing to do it for personal reasons.
   
3. Only the “Lord Almighty” could force Biden from the race – or maybe his closest allies in Democratic leadership.
   
   • “If the Lord Almighty came down and said, ‘Joe, get out of the race,’ I’d get out of the race,” Biden said. “The Lord Almighty’s not coming down.”
     
4. There’s a question of whether Biden thinks Vice President Harris can win or do the job as well.
   
   “Only I can do the job.” Gee, where did we hear that before?
   
5. This is a critical week for polls.
   
   I would posit that every day between now and November is ‘critical’. Contrary to common thought, most voters don’t really know who they are going to vote for — until they make that mark on the ballot. Oh, you might have a 99% “for-sure” thought of who you are voting for, but until you actually step up and vote, then you, like everyone else is subject to change your mind at the last minute.
   
6. This whole episode shows the stark difference between the Democratic and Republican parties
   
   
   If you need any proof of that, consider what I am doing right now, this very moment.
   
   I am certainly not the only Left-leaning person who is coming out against Joe Biden right now. From what I understand, roughly 3 out of 4 Democrats are wanting someone completely different on the ballot. You will notice that Republicans won’t ever do that…
   
   • That Democrats have raised as many questions as they have about Biden’s viability shows a huge difference between the major parties.
     
     One party, the GOP, doesn’t seem to care if two dozen women have accused their nominee of sexual assault, don’t care if he ran a fraudulent foundation and a sham “university,” don’t care if he paid off a porn star, don’t care if he lies repeatedly, and don’t care if he was impeached twice or was convicted on almost three dozen felony counts.

• Biden downplays debate performance; But can’t remember if he watched replay
  
  Surely, he would remember watching the debate afterwards.
  
• ‘Not only am I campaigning, but I’m running the world’
  
  That’s kinda scary…
  
• Biden staff “miserable,” alarmed as pressure builds
  
  Well, nobody likes to be on the losing side…
  
• Dr. Sanjay Gupta: It’s time for President Biden to undergo detailed cognitive and neurological testing and share his results
  
  I think that BOTH Trump and Biden need to take these tests.
  
• Biden Allies Abroad Think It’s Untenable for Him to Stay On
  
  They are also freaking out over the idea of Donald Trump coming back.
  
• NATE SILVER: Odds only 28% he can win re-election
  
  A lot can happen in four months. Four months is almost an eternity in political terms.
  
• Joe Biden calls himself a ‘black woman’ in painful interview as he imposes 8pm curfew on himself
  
  So he now has the bed time of a six-year-old?
  
  At least I get to stay up until 9 PM on a work night… LOL
  
• Biden’s aging is seen as accelerating; lapses described as more common
  
  That’s kind of how this whole thing progresses. It’s not slow over time, it’s an exponential thing.
  
• Jill Biden’s Dilemma: Is Pressing Ahead Still the Loving Thing to Do?
  
  I get it: She’s trying to be the loving wife.
  
• Kamala Harris team considers ‘white man’ VP for presidential run
  
  So they are already making plans?

That was brutal. How about some Memes?