We Love You, Mr President, But… (updated)

We Really Hate to Do This….

Author’s Note- written before Biden dropped out. Updated at the bottom- CB

Pre-conventions 2024, we see a concerted publicity effort to remove President Joe Biden from the Democratic ticket. Calls for a younger, more vibrant person, and worries the he’s declining and has dementia were already going on in little pockets, and MAGA has always accused Biden of it, but they went on steroids after what many call a ‘disastrous’ debate performance.

This is all hooey, of course.

It’s like when people tell you how bad a tv show is, how bad the actors or stories are, and you watch and they’re completely wrong. So it is with both candidates, but in bizarrely surreal opposite ways.

First, Trump. His speeches have always been a manic combination of recriminations, petty grievances, outrageous lies and word salads. It’s not just a matter of vitality or enunciation. Trump’s content is insane, incoherent babbling mixed with outright lies made up at the time, like, oh, “South Carolina requires all boats to be electric”, which they, of course, don’t, and “windmills kill whales”, which they, of course, don’t, or, here’s an oldie but goody- Washington’s Continental Army “took control of the airports”.

The MAGA base thinks he’s the cleverest man f-ing ever. Right wing media just ignores the babbling and pretends he made sense.

This is all indicative of Trump’s insanity on it’s own. Pathological lying, malignant narcissism and manic performance are all traits we call ‘crazy’. In the vernacular, of course, not as an amateur medical diagnosis. Well, ok, yes, as an amateur medical diagnosis, actually, by anyone who knows when airplanes were invented.

He’s crackers.

All of these traits were on full display during the debate, where he lied over 30 times- in literally every answer, and never once actually answered the question.

And then, there’s the trials, because he is just as criminally toxic as he is batshit crazy.

But, all of that is getting a pass because Biden sounded too low volume and low key during a debate. Trump was convicted and has three more felony trials to go and that’s not disqualifying for the GOP.

Now, if you’ve actually watched Biden speak at all, you know him to be as lucid and eloquent as any president has, Trump excluded. Even with his stutter and the occasional slowness of age, he’s still cognizant and in command, mentally. Even on the debate night, he was soft but well-spoken. This, despite the barrage of carnival barker lies coming from Trump.

If you know dementia and you study Joe’s speeches and interviews, you don’t see it. You see some typical behavior for his age, a slowed gait, and occasional slurred word, a paraphrase that may exaggerate.

But Trump has these as just an appetizer. Then come the whoppers, and the whining about being persecuted, and the bloviating about his own greatness, and the profane vilification of his enemies all tied together with astonishingly ridiculous non sequitur anecdotes about everything from boats to forests to solar power to dishwashers to you name it.

So, an objective analysis of Biden backs up what his Feb medical reports says. No signs of cognitive impairment, no conditions that would cause it. That means the debate nite was an aberration, not a sign of decline.

Not so for Trump. It was just outright advertising that he is still a lying criminal narcissist lunatic. I mean, whether he has dementia or not- which he likely does- he is already a batshit crazy criminal and that really ought to be considered far worse.

But, the entire media is ignoring that, and completely ignoring more evidence of Trump’s pedophilic actions with Jeffrey Epstein, and going after Biden with the eternal question- why won’t you step aside?

The internet is exploding with commenters saying he should drop out ‘for the good of the nation’, ‘because he’s too old to serve four more years’, ‘because he has dementia’, ‘because he doesn’t know where he is’, and the king- ‘because he shits his pants’.

This nonsense is driving the narrative. And mass media is falling for it. But, there are two reasons why it’s dangerous, unfeasible, and too important to screw with.

First, we are too late in the game to change, as more than enough states have laws that can prevent a new candidate that it could swing the electoral college Trump’s way on its own. And the GOP will fight tooth and nail to keep a new candidate off the ballot.

Second, the risk of continuing with an aging president with a good record and an intact administration, is markedly lower than risking electing Trump, whose Project 2025 has been pre-enabled by the SCOTUS, meaning, if he wins, we go fascist, baby.

But, you say, Joe’s so old- what if he dies in office?

So what?

I mean, I’d love to see Joe live to 100. Or, anybody, for that matter. But, shit happens. It seems to be the main fear of the ‘I love him but can he serve’ crowd.

Don’t worry.

The Constitution has a remedy for that. After all, it’s happened eight times;

• 1 1841: William Henry Harrison (68) - pneumonia

• 2 1850: Zachary Taylor (66) - bilious cholera

• 3 1865: Abraham Lincoln (56) - assassinated

• 4 1881: James A. Garfield (50) - assassinated

• 5 1901: William McKinley (58) - assassinated

• 6 1923: Warren G. Harding (58) - heart attack

• 7 1945: Franklin D. Roosevelt (63)- stroke

• 8 1963: John F. Kennedy (43) - assassinated

And, one has resigned the office, Nixon, to avoid impeachment and criminal charges for crimes that make him look like a jaywalker compared to Trump.

And, none have been removed for having ‘dementia’. Advanced age was not a factor in any of the deaths.

So, nine times, the VP has taken the mantle and we’re still here. If Biden wins and, God forbid, passes away in office, Kamala Harris will do just fine. Truman and LBJ did fine. And, Ford, well, um, LBJ did fine.

Joe is not worried about it, and neither am I. He shows no real sign of the dementia and decline he’s accused of, and in contrast, Trump displays them like a comic book character.

Logistically, morally, strategically, politically and philosophically, it’s clear that Democrats and independents need to unite behind Biden. No other candidate can enter in time to win, and if he has to leave office or dies, a competent administration will continue. It’s the only logical bet.

That’s what it’s come down to. Voting for this administration and its programs to continue, or for Trump’s Project 2025 to turn us Christo-fascist.

Both candidates have the possibility of dying in office, but one leaves behind a continuing government and the other leaves an autocratic free-for-all.

And, lest we forget, one is simply the incumbent running again and the other is a former president up on criminal charges for trying to stay in office and for stealing state secrets.

The risk of losing our Constitutional democratic republic is of far more importance. We can’t allow ourselves to become a Christo-fascist state with a madman at the wheel. If Trump wins, we will.

Let’s avoid that.

Give the nod to Joe. Like it or not, he’s the way around the mess.

~~~~~~~~~~

Update- 07/21/2024

Well, it’s worked. Weeks of hand-wringing over the debate, hundreds of articles about his health, thousands of pundits and press questioning his abilities, thousands of bots on the left and the entire right wing amplifying it for weeks, they’ve forced Joe Biden to drop out of the race, and he’s recommending Kamala Harris.

But, the general point I made here still applies. Had we stayed with Biden and he beat Trump, we’d still have a mechanism for him to retire, but we’d have a fluid administration and campaign through the election. Our only obstacle was dissent in the ranks over the candidate, which was the strategy employed against Hillary in 2016.

Trump has now accomplished this and the prepared onslaught against Harris will begin immediately. Her place on the ballot will be contested in every state possible, such as, Ohio, as the DNC Convention falls after their ballot deadline, and is usually extended as a courtesy. This time, the Ohio GOP is holding the ballot hostage in return for banning public initiatives, like the one that passed the abortion law.

This was ongoing before Harris, and will expand with her nomination. GOP lawyers, such as the ‘Alliance Defending Freedom’ (hehehe), formerly headed by Speaker Mike Johnson, will inevitably launch suits against Harris’s candidacy. Johnson himself threatens this.

As I warned above, this was the greatest risk in changing candidates mid-race. We’re gonna see a whole lot of those shenanigans.

Even if Harris has a smooth nomination because the critics are getting their way, it remains an uphill battle against a party that is focused on winning the election in the courts, regardless of and even ahead of the vote.

And, as to my second warning, it’s still less risky backing Harris, who will ostensibly continue Biden’s administration, for the most part, than having Trump anywhere near any power.

Let’s try not to forget she’s running against the most criminal, lying, self-centered, cruel, patronizing, lying, conniving, petty, ignorant, lying, narcissistic lunatic ever to hold an office. (Once you get going, it’s hard to stop.)

So, I’ll admit, I must re-apply my little rant- “Logistically, morally, strategically, politically and philosophically, it’s clear that Democrats and independents need to unite behind”……..Harris.

Considering the consequences, that must be the attitude towards any Democratic candidate, even if it isn’t Harris. But these same problems multiply with other candidates, and then financing and campaign staff comes into play. Harris is the only one that can take Joe’s place in all of that with no losses.

This is still going to be just as challenging as fighting against the dementia charges for Joe. The first black woman to be VP or run for president, having Indian heritage- whatever they can dig up and spin is going to flood the web.

So, yes, I’m disappointed it went this way for Joe. But, I’m not going to wallow. I’ll back Kamala.

It has never been more important to just pull the blue lever across the board. Even if you have to hold your nose. Trump and Republicans in office means Trump’s Agenda 47 and Project 2025- pseudo-christian autocracy.

Any Democratic administration means we keep democracy and the Constitution.

Democrats aren’t saints. But, they’ aren’t devils either. We’ve got them on a track of working for people, let’s keep them there.

The GOP has published their plan, and Trump has blurted it out loud. They’re goddam fascists.

Inhale, blue. Exhale, red.

C.2024 Cousin B