Yves here. Biden, whether or not he and his claque are willing to face up to it, is in the blood-in-the-water phase of a fight for survival. There is no way to come out of this alive, in the political sense. The press and pundits are keeping up the drumbeat of demands that Biden must not run in 2024. The criticism, expressed as concern, has hit the level of a legitimacy crisis.
A big element of the campaign to stick the knife in and twist is making it irrefutable that Biden did not merely have a bad night, but has been deteriorating for some time. Tom Neuburger provides some examples from the historically Biden-friendly CNN and influential Politico
To that we can add even more pointed warnings, from the spooks, who were in a position to have close tabs on Biden. CIA whisperer Sy Hersh wrote earlier this week (emphasis mine):
The real disgrace is not only Biden’s, but those of the men and women around him who have kept him more and more under wraps. He is a captive, and as he rapidly diminished over the past six months. I have been hearing for months about the increasing isolation of the president, from his one-time pals in the Senate, who find that he is unable to return their calls. Another old family friend, whose help has been sought by Biden on key issues since his days as vice president, told me of a plaintive call from the president many months ago. Biden said the White House was in chaos and he needed his friend’s help. The friend said he begged off and then told me, with a laugh: “I would rather have a root canal procedure every day than go to work there.” A long retired Senate colleague was invited by Biden to join him on a foreign trip, and the two played cards and shared a drink or two on the Air Force One flight going out. The senator was barred by Biden’s staff from joining the return flight home.
And another data point. Tucker’s giddiness when discussing Biden’s decline is unseemly. But don’t let noise crowd out his signal. Readers in comments and via e-mail have said that the press in Europe and China have been unsparing about Biden’s condition, and thus his debate performance was not as much of a surprise abroad as at home:
MUST SEE: Tucker Carlson discusses the Democrats’ purported surprise following the debate, despite widespread assertions in 2019 that Joe Biden was experiencing dementia, yet no action was taken. #tuckercarlson #biden pic.twitter.com/aWKmSjix3p
— Prince Carlton 🇺🇸 (@_PrinceCarlton_) June 30, 2024
And while on the topic of the foreign press being less circumspect, even allowing for Sky News being part of the Murdoch empire, this fresh clip is pretty pointed:
Now to the main event.
By Thomas Neuburger. Originally published at God’s Spies
This will be fairly short for the holiday weekend. I’m staying with one of the week’s two big stories, the press explosion of concern over Biden’s condition after years lockstep denial.
The week’s other big story — what’s going on in the Court and how that relates to the Project 2025 plan — that we’ll reserve for more thoughtful coverage. We touched on it briefly here, but the topic is massive.
Hint: I’m going to veer away from most people’s analysis — in that I’ll be much more specific. This country is not a republic at the moment. But what are we?
Coupling Project 2025 with decisions from Dobbs through Trump gives a strikingly clear picture of where we’re headed, even absent a change of Occupant.
After literally years of close study, I think I finally see how all the Right Wing pieces fit together. It’s different, though just as bad, as what you’ve been hearing. And we’ve been on this path for longer than most of you have been alive.
But that’s for later. Stay tuned.
Links
These links are all of a piece. They add to this earlier piece.
• Carl Bernstein: Sources say concerns about Biden have been growing for a year(CNN)
This matters since it speaks to the White House cover-up. He doesn’t make clear who knew and who didn’t, exactly, but awareness of Biden’s diminished condition went beyond a knowledgeable few.
Well, these are people, several of them, who are very close to President Biden, who love him, have supported and been among … among them are some people who have raised a lot of money for him.
And they are adamant that what we saw the other night, the Joe Biden we saw, is not a one off, that there have been 15, 20 occasions in the last year and a half when the president has appeared somewhat as he did in that horror show that we witnessed.
And what’s so significant is the people that this is coming from, and also how many people around the president, are aware of such incidents, including some reporters, incidentally, who who have witnessed some of them.
But here we see tonight [when the president gave prepared remarks], as these people say, President Biden at his absolute best.
And yet these people who have supported him, loved him, campaigned for him, see him often, say that in the last six months particularly there has been a marked incidence of cognitive decline and physical infirmity.
There’s more to the interview than this. It’s worth a watch if you haven’t seen it already. Note “including some reporters.” This confirms lies.
File under “Gods, what a mess.”
• ‘We’ve all enabled the situation’: Dems turn on Biden’s inner sanctum post debate (Politico)
For those who wonder who’s acting as gate-keepers — colloquially, “who’s running the show” — when Biden is indisposed, this Politico piece names several key names. It walks on eggshells to get there, but do read it through.
Over the course of his presidency, Joe Biden’s small clutch of advisers have built an increasingly protective circle around him, limiting his exposure to the media and outside advice — an effort to manage public perceptions of the oldest person to ever hold the office and tightly control his political operation.
But inside the White House, Biden’s growing limitations were becoming apparent long before his meltdown in last week’s debate, with the senior team’s management of the president growing more strictly controlled as his term has gone on. During meetings with aides who are putting together formal briefings they’ll deliver to Biden, some senior officials have at times gone to great lengths to curate the information being presented in an effort to avoid provoking a negative reaction.
“It’s like, ‘You can’t include that, that will set him off,’ or ‘Put that in, he likes that,’” said one senior administration official. “It’s a Rorschach test, not a briefing. Because he is not a pleasant person to be around when he’s being briefed. It’s very difficult, and people are scared shitless of him.”
That’s the opening. Notice the switch in the second paragraph, from the focus on the “senior team’s management of the president” to, inexplicable, the president’s temper: “people are scared shitless of him.”
Clearly, Politico wanted to drop this second idea into the opening paragraphs, and do it without saying why. They’re not the first, by the way, to comment on Biden’s temper.
As to who might be running interference and, perhaps, acting as occasional Biden regents, Politico spreads the answer through the second half of the piece (emphasis mine):
No one has done more to keep the president isolated — and shielded from tough conversations — than his wife, first lady Jill Biden, and sister, Valerie Biden Owens.
[…]
A Democratic operative in frequent communication with the White House and the campaign said suggestions can be quickly dismissed. “If I’m talking to Anita [Dunn], and I say, ‘what about X?’ She’s quick to say, ‘The president’s not going to do that. No chance.’ It shuts off options, yes, but it also [lets] you move more quickly because they know him so well.”
[…]
From the earliest months of his term, Biden was carefully managed by senior adviser to the first lady Anthony Bernal, deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini, [Ron] Klain and others. After a campaign spent largely inside his Delaware home, the president remained in a protective bubble at the behest of senior staff and family, who believed it was the best way to manage the president’s health given the ongoing Covid-19 risk and his reelection chances, according to five people familiar but not authorized to publicly discuss internal decisions.
Bernal and Tomasini, in particular, have grown particularly close to the president and first lady. […]
In my research, the names that come up the most as the curating crew are Jill Biden, Anthony Bernal and Annie Tomasini. But as Politico and Bernstein point out, a great many others knew what was going on.
File under “The public should also be told. Right? Right?”
The Fall of Athens and Rome
Two points before we conclude:
• When the Roman Republic fell, it wasn’t a one-day job. It took place over time, several generations, starting with the Gracchi reforms and murders in the late second century BC, through Marius, Sulla and Caesar. Over time, the institutions themselves were changed, both by the people and leaders in deadly contention.
We’ve walked more than half of that path already ourselves. We were a republic. We’re now in transition from that. Bush v Gore is not the original Original Sin, but it’s one of them, and that has been embraced. Bush, you recall, was the author of our modern Surveillance State, which was never rolled back.
We’re not a republic, though many are denying that fact. What are we today? Stay tuned.
Those who have access to the Great Courses “History of Ancient Rome” by the excellent Garrett Fagan should listen to the story of the transformation. Start with Lesson 20. You’ll see what I mean about changing institutions from with no path to return.
• The lesson the Athenian Empire learned in its (literally) ill-advised war with Sparta was simple: You can’t be have an empire abroad and democracy at home. Just can’t be done. Plato despaired of democracy, having witnessed its fall, one reason he wrote the Republic.
Music
Some soothing Dave Brubeck. This piece grows from a delight tune he wrote called “Brandenburg Gate.” (YouTube can serve up a few live versions of that.)
This version is “Brandenburg Gate Revisited”, played by quartet with full orchestration. Did you know Brubeck was classically trained? He studied under Darius Milhaud. It shows in this piece.
Click the image to play, or use the link above. Enjoy.
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https://www.justice.gov/elderjustice/prosecutors/statutes/
“The federal government, states, commonwealths, territories and the District of Columbia all have laws designed to protect older adults from elder abuse and guide the practice of adult protective services agencies, law enforcement agencies, and others. These laws vary considerably from state to state.”
I care not about abuse of Joe but I agree it’s elder abuse all right – abuse of all the older people who believed in Genocide Joe and voted for him. It’s also abuse of the office of the President where unelected persons manipulate policy. I wonder how many of the advisors and others who shield GJ have security clearance?
All of these appointed apparatchiks hanging out in DC need to be held accountable.
For something…
It was obvious that his decline was at least starting in 2019 when there were even leaks that Obama had tried to talk him out of running.
Seeing him speak live in Manchester, NH at the state Democratic Convention that year the contrast with all the other candidates was shocking. He kept coughing from the effort of speaking, and even though he was reading off a paper copy, he seemed to lose his place at times–this was an extremely important speech, they had all rehearsed extensively for it and the other candidates seemed like Broadway actors and barely looked at their notes. But watching the video of it now, it is shocking how much worse Biden has gotten: https://youtu.be/K7toXXGBJ4w
Contrast with Bernie’s speech at the same convention, not his best work but still the contrast is obvious: https://youtu.be/PuVV6ue2qrU
Julian Castro was probably the best speaker: https://youtu.be/FOWWPW4z8KQ?feature=shared
Joe, I saw him do a town hall up here in Hanover. It was August 2019. I was in the 2nd row on the aisle, about 6′ from him most of the time, and he brushed by my leg at one point. I think NC pulled my comment/report for a post. I had noticed the symptoms, too, and had walked out horrified and scared of what the next years would bring.
I remember your posting on that and it was really disturbing to me. This site has kept it real on the Biden situation over the past years. I’ve never, ever appreciated the guy. He was a nasty pol when he was a senator and frankly has no redeeming qualities that I’ve noticed, and I remember watching him in the Thomas confirmation hearings while I was a young photo lab worker, on a TV in the break room. All of us were appalled but this was still the Bush père years and I guess we held out hope.
Frankly, I am so over with tolerance. We need to do something.
Mandatory retirement at 70 years old for all politicians would fix the problem – and at 71 years old having done the Annapurna trek last year I am not being ageist, just practical.
The physical, emotional and mental endurance necessary to effectively serve the electors, keep up with the zeitgeist and efficiently run Government is simply beyond most septagenarians.
Unfortunately the combination of gravy train graft and aversion to relevence deprivation syndrome means that this solution is unlikely to be ever implemented.
Perfectly said!
I said for awhile that Biden was going to be in trouble in 2024 because he couldn’t campaign from a basement. Some of that was based on the historical evidence that Biden’s charms are and were limited and that he was a terrible campaigner. But it was also because he was clearly dropping screws left and right, even before the basement. I was amazed that they were able to use “misinformation” to undermine the almost exponentially growing evidence of that deterioration from his appearances.
Finding out that Jill and her team were able to establish a virtual basement and thought it would be enough to keep Joe functioning and viable would be amusing if it weren’t so delusional. More shocking and scarier, is that people who are supposed to be a check on that clear abuse of the system were so scared or disgusted by Trump they went enabled it.
While I sincerely believe that Biden should have lost the primary in 2020, that isn’t what happened. OTOH I not only fervently believe that Joe Biden should have been removed from office years ago, I am appalled that we are discussing an election four months away rather than starting the process for his removal immediately. And heads rolling at every level, including the press, for covering it up. The kick to the stomach is that won’t happen.
The people currently running the Democratic Party are time-serving careerists who only know how to maneuver their way to the top of the greasy pole. They have no moral courage, nor any guts. Plain and simple. The only reason they are critical of Biden now is because their deception has been exposed and they’re gradually realizing the mental capacity issue could cost them the election.
They really thought they could pull Weekend at Bernie’s on the American electorate. They deliberately hoodwinked the voters. They covered up Biden’s condition by limiting his public exposure and deliberately shouted down any critics who questioned his mental capacity and ensured there would be no contested primary. They did everything to eliminate all possibility of an alternative to Biden, even forced themselves to not imagine such a possibility, and now that there’s a real need for such an alternative, they find themselves at a complete loss.
Having assiduously sawed off the very branch they were perched on, they now are in free-fall and have no idea what to do next.
When faced with an existential crisis (and make no mistake, if Biden remains in the race, the Democratic Party is headed for a historical wipeout at the hands of Trump’s MAGA cult) all these people can do is scramble around mindlessly and call meeting after meeting and “consulting” with each other, dithering without ever acting. They are constitutionally incapable of taking responsibility for making risky decisions under pressure, because they have risen to their present positions by dodging all responsibility for such decisions. They may not have the basic self-preservation instinct needed to respond to this challenge. It’s a deer-in-headlights reaction, they’re paralyzed and can only stare helplessly as the car rushes towards them.
Either s**t or get off the pot: announce you’re going stick with Biden come hell or high water, or move quickly to replace him. The way it’s going, this “debate” over what to do about Biden’s cognitive state will consume the Democratic Party in constant agonizing and handwringing for the next four months, leading to a worse defeat than would happen if they simply made a decisive choice to keep Biden or swap him out for someone else.
Leadership…if you look like a person that would even remotely demonstrate a bit of it, and heaven forbid combined it with any find of heterodoxy, you can find another political party. A couple of the multitude of reasons why they so despise RFK Jr.’s apostasy. Perhaps that’s the wrong word…it implies a sort of deep belief or tenant. Anyway, I’m sure the dems are heart-felt about the solid rock of a $7.36 national minimum wage…character defining.
***lots*** of unflattering B-roll footing in the C-SPAN archives that goes well beyond gaffes and harmless brain hiccups.
I’m curious when the first observation of Biden’s cognitive status showed up in the NC comments….the Commentariat wasn’t fooled!
People are gaslighting themselves because “I’m too smart to be conned….look at all my degrees! (never mind that I wired Elizabeth Holmes lots of money).
For sure there were multiple comments about old Joe being unfit for office back in 2019 and I think that Lambert yesterday saying that he said so too. But old Joe wandering off to ga-ga land is only half the problem. The more serious one is that it is now possible to cocoon a sitting President, who is unfit for office, in a sort of bubble and not only will the political establishment cover for him, the media in particular will cover for them as well and will harass anybody that says different. This time it is a President with dementia but what about next time? A President that is paranoid? One that is verging on being certifiably insane? One who loves actually being physically cruel to people? All sorts of possibilities. So down the track it may be that people will be saying of old Joe that it was only dementia that was the problem. By then it may even sound quaint.
Woodrow Wilson all over again. (Btw interesting parallel between the -Spanish Influenza and Biden’s pandemic.)
Oh well, at least that time it didn’t have any long-term world-historical repercussions.
“I’m curious when the first observation of Biden’s cognitive status showed up in the NC comments…”
Well, I was well aware late in 2019 or very early in 2020 and have been talking about it ever since*, so I’m sure others here were, as well.
*There’s a cost to this. It has made me unpopular with friends and family.
Same here, Carla. I lost a few friends over my observations in an ugly way, and my own mother called me a liar.
I was talking to my own mother the other day, and she didn’t call me a liar, but repeated all the White House talking points. No, she had no interest in watching clips from the debate. She simply did not want to know.
I’m curious when the first observation of Biden’s cognitive status showed up in the NC comments
Petal was onto it in 2019
Yes, I was going to bring this up. Hopefully petal will chime in with more details, but she attended a talk Biden gave back then sometime and wrote up a report for the NC community a day later.
The account by petal is, of course, this one, from a Biden rally at Dartmouth College, August, 2019. A key quote:
It seems unlikely that, close to five years later, President Biden’s condition, physical or cognitive, has considerably improved.
I remember his thin skin creeping me out then. You could see it in still photos. It to me was a sign that he was actually physically older than his biological age, despite his thin body (usually =ing at least somewhat active in the elderly) and his plastic surgery creating the opposite impression.
Here are some Getty Images from that event (wowsers, it looks bad in HD, all I can think is melanoma, melanoma)….
https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/former-u-s-vice-president-and-current-presidential-news-photo/1164211415?
https://www.gettyimages.com/search/2/image?family=editorial&phrase=biden%20dartmouth%20august%202019
If he looked like that today, the ruse would easily hold given the scale of the effort to suppress his condition. He’s simply deteriorated well beyond the point where it can be concealed for any length of time now.
Yeah Yves, he had this crepe-y, translucent-y skin. It was kind of gross up close. It made him look like he was pushing 100. The skin was a bit of a shock at first sight. And he had some red marks on his face, maybe wounds from removals or something.
Thanks, guys. Late August 2019.
Hey, sorry, was at the emergency vet with my elderly dog.
Yeah he would stop and freeze, lose his train of thought, wander off topic in a big way, mumble, or stop and 1000 yard stare. He was shuffling even back then. Everything people are finally talking about now as if it is something new. When the freezes would happen, you could hear a pin drop in Alumni Hall(a big place that was full, not to mention I think there were like 9 video cameras set up in the back for various tv stations, etc). He was very frail physically but I was more shocked by the mental thing, like shocked this candidacy was being allowed to happen and go forward. It was that obvious, at least to me. He did very poorly in the NH primary, I think he came in 5th? Then the Night of the Long Knives happened, and I knew something was going on behind the scenes. It was all a setup. I haven’t been the same since. It has colored everything.
And, I think that town hall was at like 3:30 or 4pm EST. It wasn’t even at night. Full August afternoon daylight. I recognised what I thought was sundowning.
All this time since I’ve been wondering who has really been running the show down there in DC. It was very unsettling.
Hope that your dog pulls through!
I love-hate the sunset years of dog life.
Thank you so much! Looks like he’ll make it. Gave me another scare. It’s been a very bittersweet couple of years. We’ve been having a lovely time but I know it will be drawing to a close and that every day with him is a gift.
I am glad your pupper is okay. The senior years are a bittersweet season.
Thank you, Jen. Difficult time.
>>I haven’t been the same since. It has colored everything.
For me the Night of the Long Knives was worse than the pandemic, but of course all that stress and then lockdown cutting us off from everyone made it much worse. I’m only realizing now I needed to grieve. A lot of people in deferred mourning in this country.
It has been a long traumatic 7 or 8 years… I truly believe that with Trump, covid, watching modern European people who look like me, in their beautiful cities, getting attacked by Russia in the first days of the Ukrainian war, George Floyd, Portland OR… I can’t even remember all of it! PTSD!!
But I never, ever will forget the media complicity during the Bernie Long Knives rub-out, when Bernie apparently gave the speech of his life in Nevada, June 2020? and every news media outlet had their cameras focused on Trump’s empty podium, for the entirety of Bernie’s speech.
Was Trump watching Bernie, and did that cause Trumps delay to stage? Was Trump in on the mis-direction and blatant abuse by the Fourth Estate?
Was he clever in shivving with his own dagger?
Matters not, but NO media I know of covered Bernie’s speech. Camera’s on an empty Trump podium.
Water well under the bridge and gone to cool AI and Bitcoin chips, but I am still pissed and resentful.
Can’t vote for Trump, can’t vote for Biden.
Very suspicious of anyone coming along in Biden’s Wake (sorry)
Sheezus!
Me too!
I found this Caitlin Johnstone article from September 2019 “Biden’s Brain Is Swiss Cheese And It’s Creepy That We’re Not Talking About It”. I’m sure it’s not the first, just a quick one to find. Not technically in the NC comments but she is frequently linked to and in line with a lot of the NC commentariat.
https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2019/09/16/bidens-brain-is-swiss-cheese-and-its-creepy-that-were-not-talking-about-it/
We’re going to get to watch, again, in real time, the MSM erasing and un-person-ing the independent media and even the major conservative media, pretending this all started in 2024.
Wow! There’s an independent media???
A similar type article was written by Michael Tracey at The Spectator World in 2019 titled, “Joe Biden isn’t ‘gaffe-prone’, he’s losing his mind”
https://thespectator.com/topic/joe-biden-gaffe-prone-losing-mind/
Many people, including myself recognized a major problem years ago. I lost respect for those who claimed otherwise.
When his eye busted open during a townhall with CNN.
You could literally see his eyeball filling with blood 🩸
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6083889321001
Unless one just awoke from a coma 20 minutes ago, there’s no reason to act surprised.
CBC News · Posted: Feb 08, 2024
‘Diminished faculties,’ ‘faulty memory,’ ‘significant limitations’: A damning report on Biden’s mental state
Special counsel report exonerates president legally — and ravages him politically
“The special counsel report released Thursday paints the 81-year-old president as suffering from mental decline. And it points to several examples from Biden’s hours-long interviews with investigators.
They include Biden struggling to remember what years he was vice-president and being way off when discussing the year of his son’s death.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/special-counsel-faculties-biden-analysis-1.7109811
For the proles, willful blindness was required. For the media, it was less innocent than that.
Many have proposed that the US has evolved from a republic to a corrupt oligarchy*, but the question remains – to where is it evolving? And will it reach a new stabile structure or fragment first?
*“The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” – https://www.globalresearch.ca/study-congress-literally-doesnt-care-what-you-think/5466723
Historically, a new Ceasar/strongman is most likely, but he/she are likely to fail to contain the centrifugal forces that fragment empires – the US empire is based on its military strength, which is based on a dwindling industrial base (Rome never outsourced its industrial base).
I don’t see it going in the direction of Caeserism. I see collective leadership along the lines we see now. Biden is not in charge, obviously–still his staff, along with a network of alliances, is able to rule the country. In the future we are going to see an AI mediated power-system at all levels. At the same time, counter-measures to the oligarchical moment will emerge as people begin to want to control their own lives rather than having the State determining what they can and cannot do. Centralization will be aided by AI but, also, diversity will be aided by AI as well since the tool will be generally available.
P.K. Dick. The Simulacra.
And the US is a corrupt oligarchy. Sheesh, why all the “tune in next week” teasing from Mr. Neuburger over this?
What’s most infuriating would be all those reporters who say they kept mum because they didn’t want to give Fox the satisfaction. All those so saying should be fired immediately.
In my dreams of course. The media are the problem along with their attitude post Watergate that they are somehow running the political show. Arguably this was the worst outcome of Watergate.
Indeed, this is not just TDS. The rot is much deeper.
Biden needs to go. Not just withdraw from the election but resign from the presidency.
Kamala Harris has many flaws, some of which I know fairly well through having had mutual colleagues with her over the years, but she’s more fit to lead the federal government than either Biden or Trump. As part of the ticket, she is already on the ballot, already has the commitment of the DNC delegates, and has her name on the war chest.
However those around Biden, in particular his sick co-dependent wife and son, will do everything they can to block this eventuality. The Bidens are apparently in a morass of debt, for example the $4.2M in loans on a $350K house reported by the Daily Mail. Hunter still seems to delusionally think that he can avoid prison while keeping his influence-peddling gravy-train. The other so-called advisers — really enablers — must realize that they’ll wind-up stocking shelves at Walmart if the ship goes down.
They’d all rather blow-up the republic, just like they’ve blown-up “Ukraine” and Palestine. Joe Biden has always been an awful person and a bully and he’s surrounded himself with other awful people. TDS has covered this up for too long.
I remember when Herself threw in the towel in ’20. Within two months the Clinton Foundation staffing plummeted form around 70 to the single digits. They prolly all went into crypto.
In Sonoma County, CA we had a similar case involving dementia in an elected official.
From August 24, 2009
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/senators-decision-acknowledges-concerns-about-her-health/
“Concerns about her ability to focus and her grasp of complicated issues were heard prior to the 2006 election, and they have increased as constituents, journalists and others witnessed bizarre behavior. At times, she doesn’t appear to recognize people – even shortly after they introduce themselves.”
“In the Capitol, Wiggins is accompanied almost everywhere by loyal aides, who serve as both legislative assistants and bodyguards, guiding her away from encounters with reporters.”
Pat Wiggins was slated to run again, but locals pushed hard for her to step aside.
Her staff pushed for her re-election.
About four years later Pat Wiggins died:
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/late-state-senator-pat-wiggins-memorialized/
“Wiggins died after a long illness on Aug. 15 (2013) at an assisted living facility in Forestville. She was 73.”
When one looks for the beneficiaries of promoting election of a diminished candidate, the obvious candidates are the unelected staff and family members who enjoy the trappings, power and possible wealth enhancement of more time in office.
What I’d like to know is which of the grifters knew and took advantage…there has to be a lot…
slava griftopia!
They say ukraine is the most corrupt country in europe, we’ve (the usa) probably got a lock on the rest of the world…
Anyone who has watched Veep knows exactly what the scene is right now in DC.
The USA used to have a ‘lock’ on the rest of the world. Unfortunately for those in power today, the world is picking that ‘lock.’
Looks like the administration’s Covid policy is having an unexpected payoff. And now we’re moving to a Russian-style presidential system.
I’m figuring you mean Soviet-style archeocracy…our chances in a chess game with V. Putin, who appears to have his oligarchy pretty much corralled, are probably pretty low.
I meant to point out the similarity between the current Russian presidential powers, and the now criminally immunized presidency in the US using Cold War and Terror War authorities. Both are the type of “strong man” with limited representation systems similar to what the US used to establish after coup-ing other nations during the Cold War. “The chickens have come home to roost.”
It’s been amazing to watch. Even more amazing is all the reactions. There are still plenty of people who are having a tough time coming to grips with this. I have PMC friends who still don’t believe anything is wrong with him. They want him to run and think it was just one bad night. They blame the press, they blame Fox news, they blame the voters for not being on train Biden, they blame every thing and everybody.
One of the current excuses I hear is the media wants Trump to win so they are abusing Biden to get him to drop out because Biden would beat Trump. That’s pretty out there – even for these people.
Of course, even a few months ago, if you said Biden isn’t what he used to be they would lose their mind, and then of course, end the conversation with something something Trump.
I’m guessing the rest of the world is laughing at us, and they should be. This place is seriously F’ed up.
I have some friends equally determined there’s nothing wrong and will go nuts if I suggest anything outside of their fixed world view. I finally decided that this is like a religion in their thinking, and I never criticize someone’s religion. So when they get going on politics I nod and smile and try to change the subject.
Same here, but it’s like walking on eggshells at times. Between this and the Supreme court decisions, they have had a bad week.
I was really shocked to see people posting on FB & Twitter that the SC says the executive branch can have someone murdered. I’m trying to tread lightly here, but I read posts of people calling for Biden to…let’s say, get rid of Trump in more obvious ways.
One was my X partner. She has stage 10 TDS but jeez Louise, do you really want to post that on FB? Somewhere I read about someone who did the same and got a visit from the law.
This is where we are, running a near cadaver against someone people wish were one.
We have redefined exceptional I guess.
Makes me wonder of the spook adjacent ‘mods’ at x-twtr are letting these kinds of comments through for ‘reasons.’
(Makes me wonder if the spooks are running the country in the service of…? )
Between the “just one bad night” denial and the faux-suspenseful, absurd headlines that President Biden might prove he’s okay (e.g., “Struggling Biden faces test with ABC interview, vows to fight on,” Reuters; “Biden faces critical day to push back against calls to withdraw,” Washington Post)—sure, he manages to give one flawless, coruscating interview to George Stephanopoulos (highly unlikely, of course) and, hey, he’s fine, let’s just ignore all the evidence of the past five years—it’s hard to say which is worse.
Arguably this isn’t without precedent given Reagan’s 2nd term. And similar to that siruation it’s a matter of how well one can maintain appearances. It was fascinating to me how far gone Reagan was at that point but somehow they managed to keep it in large part under wraps until he left office.
I am not confident that Biden will go – the more recent episode with Dianne Feinstein the element that did stand out that it not simply the individual stubbornly holding on but the people surrounding them refusing to give up whatever power/privleges they obtained via their proximity to the person. That dynamic seems to be in play.
Reagan had far more competent aides in the foreign policy realm by comparison, despite how we may have disliked the politics and mindset of figures like Schultz and Weinberger.
41 was in the wings and likely running foreign policy since mid-86.
Screwball and flora:
Maybe it is time to find friends who can at least acknowledge reality.
Thanks for including the Carl Bernstein CNN clip in the post.
If the MSM wonders why people stopped watching them it’s because the MSM editors and managers decided pushing a narrative was more important than straight reporting the story, imo.
I think someone referred to narrative pushing by reporters as courtier-ism instead of reporting.
Speaking of MSM, we thought CNN did a great job with 4th of July fireworks coverage, going around the country looking at those spectacular fireworks displays and listening to sometimes good music without a hint of presidential politics that we noticed. Maybe CNN has found its calling now that, according to Glenn Greenwald, they are down to 110,000 prime time young people viewers a night. CNN cut off the show, at least where we live, before Hawaii, Guam and Alaska had their spotlight though.
I’m not alarmed or worried about Biden’s mental state. He’s obviously suffering from some form of dementia as can be seen from his body language and reactions (or non-reactions) to things. He’s adrift on ocean of some kind and I’m sure he’s in and out of rationality. I have friend with dementia and some days he’s pretty good and his memory is not horrible–at other times he’s adrift somewhere as with Biden.
My point here is that it doesn’t matter. Presidential power comes from the ability to make deals with various factions within the power-elite. Biden is no longer doing that but, rather, his staff is doing that on their own and seem to be more or less competent at the job. The powers-that-be have their agendas (mainly war and putting vast parts of the population to sleep with lies and artificial myths) and the Biden folks are doing their jobs. We should have understood, by now, that as you mention we are no longer really a republic–we are, obviously, living in an Empire and the needs of that Empire always come first. That is why most of the power-elites are upset with Trump’s nationalism even if he is not able to really pursue that agenda. Since pull of the powers-that-be is what it is.
As those of us who know how Washington actually works it’s all about networks and “gangs” of people who come together to do whatever they choose to do. We, the people, have almost nothing to do with all of this other than to be manipulated by experts and that is unlikely to change.
But Biden made the mistake of exposing his incapacity to the world via the glare of TV studio lights. Why he did that we’ll never know but the press and fat wallet donors are mad because he is making them look like fools or outright liars. If we live in a world of appearances then appearances matter.To what degree did Obama coast on being Joe Cool? Even FDR had to ask a cooperative press to conceal his wheelchairs.
And even concealment–stroke victim Woodrow Wilson–doesn’t work if you are running for president. Why Biden decided to do that again we’ll never know either.
Chris Cosmos: Biden is no longer doing that but, rather, his staff is doing that on their own and seem to be more or less competent at the job.
Strongly disagree. US foreign policy re. Ukraine and Gaza has been utter idiocy.
He’s got dementia and he is probably really ornery. Apparently his staff hate to piss him off because he goes off at them…feed him the good news. And if he demands to “debate” Donny well, let ’em do it.
The people around Biden had to know that exposing him was a mistake. Some believe it was a deliberate mistake. I’ve heard the argument that this was the reason for an “early” debate–to get him out of there early so a new candidate could come in. This is why Jill Biden is so angry–she’s now lost her purchase on power. I’d argue that this was a palace coup if this was deliberate and I’m inclined to believe that.
I prefer not to think that people in power are stupid–they are not. What seem to be mistakes for “the people” are really just palace intrigue.
Biden’s dementia was evident during the 2019 campaign, the fact that it has accelerated to the point it can no longer be disguised is no surprise.
I have had to deal with people like Genocide Joe, the lack of impulse control and the near constant tantrums are familiar signs of declining mental and physical health.
I concluded early this year that the best we could hope for is avoiding Nuclear Armageddon and I am still of that opinion because “You can not overestimate Joe’s ability to fuck things up”.
The Due Dissidence guys observed that Reagan was a game changer in this regard. At the time of Reagan’s run for re-election in 1984 his mental decline was understood by everyone, yet he was not denied the top of the ticket. Before Reagan, someone with B’s obvious mental decline in the 2019 race would not have been considered for the presidency.
We don’t really need a POTUS that is anything other than a symbol. The power of the President is way over-estimated. He has very little power unless he’s managed to align himself with powerful forces–at best he is a power-broker, at worst largely irrelevant.
In that case people shouldn’t be freaking out about T. / ;)
Ooh, but it hurts so good to freak out over him… like scratching an itch bloody!
Yes.
The Democrats raise money by freaking out and that’s how GJ won in 2020.
At best he has veto power over a divided Congress. That’s pretty good,
except all the law-making is heavily concentrated in the Supreme Court.
America has set the record for becoming the world unipower, and then collapsing in the shortest period of time. (At least this President has medical reason for his poor decisions, what about all the other ding-a-lings that have run the country since the collapse of the USSR? Oh yeah, they’re all rich now.)
We’re number 1!
The only way Jill Biden gives up the presidency is to take it from her cold dead hands!
Perhaps this was reported here already but I’d never seen it:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/bbc-presenter-david-aaronovitch-calls-on-biden-to-have-trump-murdered/ar-BB1ph3gz
“A leftist BBC presenter is under fire after he suggested that President Biden should have Donald Trump “murdered” in the wake of his Supreme Court immunity ruling.
“If I was Biden I’d hurry up and have Trump murdered on the basis that he is a threat to America’s security,” Radio 4 host David Aaronovitch, 69, wrote on X.
His comment was in response to the Supreme Court’s 6-3 ruling Monday that Trump has immunity for any “official acts” he made during his presidency.”
A “leftist” at the BBC? Cheers for the laughs
One thing about the boy; he was good for at least one big guffaw-a-day. Hey, maybe he’ll invent some new nonsense words
Well, that’s certainly one way of testing the implications of the recent Supreme Court decision, I suppose.
David Aaronovitch is by no means a leftist.
And his capacity for talking nonsense is considerable.
As much as I esteem Thomas Neuberger’s contributions here, I remain skeptical. This isn’t an isolated incident. Further, I do understand his thinking that the republican form of government is in crisis, but comparisons to Rome and Greece don’t cut it. Augustus ushered in some forty years of reforms and stability, ironically. Sparta didn’t glow for long–Epaminondas of Thebes defeated the Spartans disastrously and famously freed their slaves.
Yet: This isn’t an isolated incident. So Joe hasn’t had two firing synapsis since 2019. How many people stood to gain and are now, suddenly, shocked shocked shocked? Blinken and Sullivan. Hillary Clinton. Mayor Pete, who was frontrunner after his pseudo-victory in Iowa but somehow, somehow, fell on his sword a few days after…
Yet: The war in Ukraine started in 2013 or 2014 with U.S. planning for the coup. For how many years has the war been run on “auto-pilot”? By Victoria Nuland out of her cookie shop in the lobby of the State Department? By Blinken? By Sullivan?
Yet: The Israeli occupation and terrorizing of the Palestinians have been going on for how many years? And Joe has been, what?, keeping the invincible aircraft carrier of the Middle East on auto-pilot? Or has the U.S. government just been shoveling money into Israel the way it shovels money into Ukraine?
Yet: An Italian commentator pointed out that the Italian parliament may have its load of poltroons (Matteo e Matteo, ahinoi), but the U.S. congress and cabinet are inhabited by people of a level even Silvio Berlusconi didn’t quite bottom out at. Many sub-bunga-bunga types. I’m thinking of slithery U.S. politicians like Nancy “Stock Options” Pelosi, Ted Cruz, Tom Cotton, Tammy “Loves Me Some Wars” Duckworth, Lindsey Graham, Steny The Nonexistent Hoyer (yes, he’s still there). Recall, if you can, the oleaginous Eric Cantor.
Joe Biden is just one inguinal bubo that has burst.
Watch for others, imminently.
Is it the end of the republic?
Ironically, it may not be the end of the republic if you withhold your consent from the MonoParty of Property and let them collapse. There are other parties out there. Neither Trump, nor Biden. Get creative. As Lambert Strether has written, power is lying in the street for the taking.
Yes indeed
Republic? Even Jimmy Carter called the US an oligarchy back in 2015
“Joe Biden is just one inguinal bubo that has burst.” is almost poetical, DJG! Thank you! ;^)
Good to remember that there are precedents. Reagan’s second term was a dementia-paloosa.
You could say Nancy was the first woman President, except she was ‘guided’ by her astrologer.
Then there was Woodrow Wilson with his stroke. Mrs Wilson guarded his bedroom door
and ‘consulted’ him when policy decisions needed to be made. She would then announce ‘his’
decisions. But America has come (or gone) a long way since Reagan in terms of the oligarchy
controlling our discourse. And they know it. Money is protected speech thanks to Roberts.
Indeed the Supreme Court is a large part of the problem. Italy had a fully functioning democracy
when the Duce took over, having won the support of the Rich, the Judiciary, and the Army.
The leader of the legislature protested. His body was found in a drainage culvert 2 weeks later.
Trump doesn’t have the Military. But under the new Supreme Court ruling, he can reduce the rank
of members of the Joint Chiefs of staff, I guess back to buck private if he wanted to. Also under
an obscure law back in the day the President controls the National Guard.
As JonnyJames noted w.r.t. Carter, the Republic is long gone.
Joe Biden himself is pretty good metaphor for the “American Republic”.
Same “lights are on but nobody’s home”. Same massive denial from media and chattering classes.
FACTS
Biden saga is indictment of presidential system. UK ability to kick out prime minister looks better. Term limits must be brought in for politicians
Fat lot of good that does you. The UK is just as bad as the US, just look at the cartoon-character freaks: May, BoJo, Sunak, Starmer… The Washington Consensus prevails no matter, Starmer will be no different.
BTW, there are term limits for US pres.
The problem isn’t term limits but the quality of the citizenry: Biden’s 2020 pitch was everyone could go back to sleep because Mumbly Joe was in charge. Sanders asked citizens to get off the butts and act. Who does the MSDNC crowd vote for? The person who said go to sleep. It was the same with HIllary.
Hardly fair to indict all American voters on the basis of a handful of nominal Democrats in South Carolina, the most Republican state in America.
The Puppet Emperor has no…
It seems that the sycophant-stenographers of the MassMediaCartel have been covering for JB for years, his so-called gaffes have been infamous. A good friend of mine called the DNC’s running JB as “elder abuse” back in 2019.
The DT’s cognitive state has also declined, just not as obvious as JB.
Two serially mendacious, geriatric, cognitively-challenged freaks are the best our kakistocrat-oligarchy can do, in the late imperial decline. While very disturbing, it should not come as a surprise. The US is not a democracy, nor a republic – it’s textbook empire run by oligarchy.
After all these years of the DT/JB contrived drama, I still can’t believe that so many otherwise intelligent people get caught up in the freak show. I’m no psychologist, but it looks like emotion is more powerful than reason.
Makes me wonder about DJT who keeps repeating his own stream of nonsense and has no grasp of the issues.
Free-associational bull-shitting might be very hard to use to classify the cognitive status of a speaker.
I was wondering to what extent DJT has a “theory of mind” concerning his audience. The reliance on the same explanation (“immigration”) for practically every problem might imply that he, himself, isn’t too bright, but it also might simply indicate his theory of the sympathetic part of the audience — their thinking is simplistic enough that they will “buy” it. The unsympathetic part of the audience side won’t, but they are opposed to him whatever comes out of his mouth.
Regardless, it’s going to be rather unbecoming for the whole world to be speculating and opining on his mental acuity. When it got to the point where the Star inquiry was about to subpoena penis pics from Bill Clinton, that was where he gave in and admitted to sex with Lewinsky. I think along the same lines, this is where Biden has to get out or it’s going to get ugly, fast.
On the other hand, he could go out with integrity intact if he acknowledges it’s something like Parkinsons or long covid and he needs help, perhaps the help of the nation, because what he’s going through is what many others are, of all ages, and it’s an issue that needs addressing somewhere, somehow. This might even be his election strategy?
Last night, because it was hot and humid here in Chautauqua County, NY, and I foolishly had a cold beer after working in the sun weeding the onions, I collapsed on the couch and indulged in some MSM YouTube surfing on Biden and, then, Kamala Harris.
Lots of nasty stuff from Sky News Australia, going back two years, highlighting Biden gaffs, stumbles, falls. (And a skit from Italian TV mocking Biden’s senility.) But it could have been interpreted as right wing propaganda, taking clips out of context, etc. But the really interesting clips were of Harris, her ‘famous cackle’ and her word salad remarks when she went off scrip. Plus some truly bizarre bouts of laughter when she was speaking with the Polish president on the Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Comments on the videos hinted at a definite change in public personality from when was Attorney General in California, and even when she served as US Senator. Commenters offered hints, and some outright suggestions, as to the cause of the personality change.
But, I don’t get out much. And, after three hours of surfing and watching these bizarre video clips, I realized why I have avoided the MSM for the past five years.
I had already decided that I could not vote for Biden, due to the whole genocide thing. And I certainly can’t vote for Trump, because, well, don’t get me started! So, I am trying to sit back and view this entire sorry mess as a Netflix-produced, long-running political sitcom. Or, tragedy.
Harris’ cackle, cruelty, and narcissism has essentially not changed, but her inability to speak coherently only appeared in the last four years with Covid, to me, being the likely reason.
We need diagnostic tests for neurological sequelae of COVID, stat. This could get very ugly, with neurologically impaired people in important posts throughout government, business, education, healthcare.
> This could get very ugly, with neurologically impaired people in important posts
” A sociopathic elite is one thing, that we’re used to; but a sociopathic elite with brain damage is quite another” (2022).
Biden could have agreed to be tested for neurological damage, “as long as a ‘whole of government’ approach is taken” (and yes, Kamala has had Covid, once (that we know of)).
Or is it possible she is an alcoholic?
That was scuttlebutt I heard in 2020, which may have been pure slander. Character assassination is one thing Democrats truly excel at.
SaturdayNight Live is the beacon of straight-arrow comedy here. Curious how they will treat this very large elephant in the room.
The US is a Republic, no way around that. The question is, what kind of a republic?
Attributes:
1. Plutocratic
2. Demagogic
3. Elective – uses FPTP (most retarded) for representatives and indirect election of the President, with an enforced (via state laws) of a two party system.
It claims to be the flag bearer of Democracy.
Not that it matters, but: It’s not a monarchy but it is not a republic either, this is a matter of interpretation but it is clear to me.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/republic-government
res publica, “public thing” should be res privatae “private thing”
On second thought, after the latest round of SCOTUS decisions, the US can be seen in formal terms as a type of elective monarchy where, like my man Richard Nixon said; “when the President does it, that means it’s not illegal”.
Since unlimited political bribery is now legal, I propose we make if formal and choose the puppet emperor by how much money he/she raises.
As bad as that sounds, and for all his faults, I would much prefer Nixon than any of the current crop of kakistocrats. That’s how low the standards have become
“We’ve walked more than half of that path already ourselves. We were a republic. We’re now in transition from that.”
While I said US is a Republic and indeed, for the majority of its population it has this appearance, many and for long time have claimed that the US is an Empire. Gore Vidal even has a novel with this title on his series dedicated to the US Republic, starting to the novel “Burr” (as in “Not-Hamilton”!)
I was also thinking of Vidal. He has a cameo in Fellini’s Roma (1972), enjoying a casual dinner on crowded streets, late in the film. I revisited this to see what he says, for what he adds to why he, a USian writer, chose to live in Rome. Above all, he says, because it is the city of illusions.
“The church, the government, the movies — they’re all makers of illusion.”
And here we are.
Speaking of Gore Vidal, want to thank the Commentariat member who recommended the film “The Best Man” (GV screenplay) Picked up DVD at library and thoroughly enjoyed it.
As Heather Cox Richardson said this week, for her its basically Joe vs anarchy. I wonder if she’s right pointing out that, to drop Biden at this point would be suicide. So the question would remain what is worse, having a demented president deal with multiple highest stakes international crises or Trump and Project 25.
Interestingly Jill Stein never gets mentioned anywhere (TINA?).
RFKjr is also never mentioned. I wonder what those poll results would look like if RFKjr and J. Stein were included as options? / ;)
Barnes: Speaking of another “intelligence community” whisperer, there’s Heath Cox Richardson. I’ve read one or two of her columns that seemed to be pure re-vomiting of what she was told by some source in the FBI or CIA.
I wouldn’t give her the benefit of the doubt or any weight in your thinking, if I were you. I’m not at all concerned about her well-coordinated anxiety attacks.
DJG, Reality Czar, I think I disagree with you here. Having heard her lay out “her” arguments she seems to genuinely want the GOP to loose, whatever the cost. I believe she is smarter than just shilling for the intelligence community but simply doesn’t see a viable alternative.
It probably doesn’t matter all that much anyway because, even if the democrats win, there is only a tiny chance for meaningful change, change that wouldn’t result in the same powers pitted against one another in the next election.
Stein must not be named, no.
She forms a political collection point for voters that want real left policy. That’s why I am voting for her, and encouraging other people to do it, too.
She won’t win, but the idea is that if enough votes for her accumulate behind social democratic policies like Medicare For All, then they will be both a political management problem for the Dems, and an exploitable reservoir of votes for a talented political opportunist make a deal for. Roosevelt saw it when socialist Sinclair ran for California Governor in 1934 and almost took it (Dems launched a spoiler candidate to sink Sinclair) — but FDR realized there was a constituency out there to win with the New Deal.
Since I am not a citizen of the USofA, I cannot vote for her but she would be my only choice hands down. Let’s hope she gets to be as uncomfortable as possible to any of big parties.
Not that it matters in my scarlet red flyover bumphuc state of 1 millions, but Stein gets my vote.
Trump will win in a landlside here, and, based on Biden and the Dem’s inexorable circling the flushed 7.1 gallon per flush institutional commode, Trumps landslide will be nation-wide.
Too bad Stein didn’t court RFK Jr for her Veep. I’m still more than frustrated by Junior’s steadfast blind eye toward Israel and its ongoing transgressions.
Something is really bugging me about the way Neuburger frames this issue. For one thing, he rehashes the obvious. *Of course* insiders have been aware of Biden’s condition for a long time. *Of course* there has been a cover-up. We all knew that already. What is the larger story? Well, we get two broad hints from this discussion. First, the culprits in this deception are above all Biden’s family and “clutch of advisors” who served as his gate-keepers and protectors. While there are some references to the media and others who knew the truth and remained silent, there is no attempt to extend this analysis of the deception any further to the larger political and national security context. Instead, Neuburger signals where his larger analysis is going to go by his references to the Supreme Court, Project 2025, and his realization about “how all the Right Wing pieces fit together,” a topic on which he promises to elaborate in the near future.
I can’t emphasize enough that both of these positions – that the “Biden deception” was primarily an effect of his own immediate circle, and that the Larger Danger to the “Republic” is the *partisan* threat from right wing Republicans — are seriously misleading examples of misdirection. If Neuburger can’t deepen his analysis, then he is just sheep-herding for the Blue Team.
What I’m finding interesting is on the Twitter, people I don’t follow, their posts that Trump is apparently neck deep in Epstein files and is a confirmed Russian agent from a trip prior to assuming the presidency are making the rounds, I assume as flak.
Interesting times. I guess the four felony trials aren’t having an impact, what with Biden imploding and all.
Ah, Russiagate, the delusional psy-op that keeps on giving.
25th Amendment is duty!
Each of the cabinet level officers of the executive branch swear to support the constitution.
Orange man bad does not excuse duties to the constitution which serves we the people.
Who subverted the U.S. government because Orange man bad is scary?
Treachery worse than they fear from Orange Man
I think, seeing recent photos of Joseph Robinette Biden, we need to start making the distinction of precisely which orange man we are discussing.
What is with the orange face paint for the two presumed candidates? Trying to match the color of prison jumpsuits?
Abigail Disney: Joe Biden Campaign, DNC Not Getting ‘Another Dime’ Until He Is Replaced
Abigail Disney, an heir to the Disney fortune and a major Democratic donor, said she would not donate any more money to Biden or the DNC until he steps aside.
The president and groups supporting him “will not receive another dime from me until they bite the bullet and replace Biden at the top of the ticket,” she said in an email to The New York Times.
—-
Finally speaking out…
Herger Cox Richardson anarchy is top cabinet members derelict in duty to the people.
Ignoring 25th Amendment is rebellion.
Who said dumping the deep state that urges Palestine genocide and Kievan WW III for neocons is anarchy!
So tired of their gaslighting imposing their warped reality.
“Heather Cox Richardson – anarchy is top cabinet members derelict in duty to the people…”
Please explain this comment further when possible.
If they do not live up to their oath that is perform their duty to the constitution they serve no legal purpose maybe treason better than anarchy
1) “Heather Cox Richardson – anarchy is top cabinet members derelict in duty to the people…”
2) “If they do not live up to their oath…”
Thank you for explaining, but I find no reason to think any cabinet officer was derelict in duty for failing to publicly “speculate” on this matter. Also, as a repeated observer of and writer on Presidential matters, Ms. Richardson did not speculate on the matter to my knowledge.
Likely, I do not understand, but I am grateful for the explanation.
Ilsm,
Thank you, again. With help from IM Doc, I understand your comments.
I’m going to stop calling him President and start referring to him as Commander-In-Chief. Highlight the absurdity even more.
Genocide Joe works for me.
Sundowner-in-Chief?
With respect to the question of “who’s running the show”, I’m surprised no one has mentioned the opinion of Seymour Hersh, who writes, “he has been told” that:
Tom Donilon is described by Wikipedia as “Chairman of the BlackRock Investment Institute” (which specializes in passive Index investing, as opposed to BlackStone, of which it was formerly a part, which specializes in private equity). Donilon’s wife formerly worked for Jill Biden. Officially (?) it is Tom’s brother Michael Donilon who is advising the Biden team. Another brother, Terrence, works as a communications director for Cardinal O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston. There is an article in the Washington Post about the Donilon brothers, which is behind a paywall so I wasn’t able to read it.
Actually that post has been cited in Links, and Yves cites a different passage from it in her introduction above.
Thanks for the correction! I‘d like to learn more about these people , whom I‘d never heard of before.
‘Blackrock Investment Institute’, coming soon the UK now that Keir Starmer has his hands on the greasy till. Y’know, cause the UK now has a ‘center left’ government (christ on a crutch, spare me that idiotic headline).
We can’t allow the same people who have kept Biden’s condition hidden from the public to be the ones who choose his replacement.
IMO, Elizabeth Warren would destroy Trump in a debate but it won’t happen.
Obama and Clinton are heavily invested in their legacy. Biden is a symbol that the new democrat, neoliberal nonsense has run its course but the DP insiders are not ready to give up the cause.
Start throwing some names into the ring before the they take control of the Biden replacement committee.
Who do you want warming up in the bullpen? Dennis Kucinich, Roger Waters, John Mearsheimer, RFK Jr.?
End of August, 2023. A dinner with about a dozen friends and neighbors at which I announced that “Biden will not be the nominee of the Democratic Party for President next year”. $10 bet for those who want to take it. Received with disdain and even sorrow (at my mental state), Well, it ain’t a done deal as of today, but I am going to gloat. As Gore Vidal once said, “There are no four words sweeter than ‘I told you so'”.
Thanks to NC and several other trusted sources for providing me with a reality that seems to be unavailable to most of the populace.
Bizarre; 1) the ‘people’ (Democratic) voted Biden enough delegates to get nominated to run for POTUS even though they were duly in formed of potential age related issues. 2) With the cat out of the bag, the ‘powers’ to be’ are now deciding to over rule the people and encourage Biden to drop out of the race (even though they knew of Biden’s deficiencies in the first place), 3) The conundrum is that Biden is unaware of the apparent , may be incapable of making sound decisions, and is being enabled by family and associates to avoid confronting reality. 4) This leaves one wondering: A) How many of Biden’s decisions were made with a ‘sound mind’ (Ukraine & Gaz come to mind) and B) if Biden didn’t ‘actually’ ,make those decisions on his own merits, then who were those responsible for providing the guidance. The only conclusion one can reach is that those powers to be want a POTUS who is compliant to their desires (not a Trump) and one who is not visibly defective (a warm body may do). Happy Birthday USA.
No Making Shit Up.
No one was allowed to primary Biden. So it’s misleading to depict him as the voters’ choice when there was no choice.
I can’t readily find it, but on a recent System Update, Glenn Greenwald had clips from multiple DNC figures saying Biden was the choice of the party and he would not be primaried.
See also:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/democrats-allies-sue-to-keep-rfk-jr-off-ballot/
https://archive.ph/Faqao
I didn’t think Biden “won” the 2020 dem primary as much as being the last one seated when the music stopped. The Dems were desperately swapping candidates in and out trying to stop Bernie Sanders. They went with Harris, Buttgieg, Bloomberg, Biden, maybe others. The spinner ended up pointing to Biden. His saying “I beat the socialist” at the time indicated that even then, he had no idea what had actually happened.
The delusion over at daily kos is extreme. “Ignore the noise” and the problem will go away. Biden will be fine.
They’re not rearranging the chairs on the Titanic, they’re planning the orchestra play list for the next day.
and here is a calling out for media who clearly – admittedly – are complicit or failed in their duties:
https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/what-did-reporters-who-cover-the
You can’t be have an empire abroad and democracy at home.
should probably
You can’t have an empire abroad and democracy at home.
Thanks.
Terrific discussion, btw.
Thomas
Is the nation secure now that poor ole Lloyd’s in charge of JSOC? Apparently the grifter spooks and spooky grifters find the situation rewarding. Can’t imagine that these are not international tactical opportunities.
Everybody knew that Joe Biden is demented for 4+ years. Whatever passes for brains in the democratic party decided to deal with this obvious problem by
1) Gaslighting anyone who brought it up as a deranged conspiracy theorist.
2) Allowing the truth to come out in a debate 5 months before the election, after they have already locked in from a quarter to half a billion in campain finances for his campaign.
3) Collectively filled there underpants (Family Blog).
The complete lack of strategic thinking is astounding.These people had years to deal with this. They could have just had the bloody primary. If this was a plotline in a movie, you would think, no way would serious people do something this stupid. The kind of short term, wishful thinking on display is why, I think the US will only workout that China’s ability to produce military material is far in excess of thiers, after they commit themselves to a catastrophic war.
Ok, I’m pulling up the rear, but Biden has just stated that he is staying in the race.
NYT
Election Live Updates: ‘I’ll Beat Trump’ Says a Defiant Biden, Pledging to Stay in Race
I also received an email from the D’rats saying the same. Like every other one of their emails I replied STOP.
I didn’t need to know Biden was gone in 2020 (I do remember someone then in the media saying he had wanted to be Prez his entire life, but that now that he had it, he wouldn’t be there).
I remembered too much of his grim long career to entertain even the slightest thought of voting for him.
Does anyone remember that Woody Wilson had a stroke.
Electronic vote counting machines are a blight. Hand marked paper ballots counted in public by people, please. Yes, ballot stuffing can still happen, but it takes more people and more work. As someone said, it’s good to have pre-election polls look close with only 1 or 2 percentage difference for candidate choice in a tight race. It makes shifting the counting easier to hide. And they stopped doing exit polls as electronic voting became more popular. The MSM had always done exit polls. It was a kind of 3rd party audit, sort of, of the final count’s general results./ ;)
How many people knew about Biden? Turns out we all did.
It’s the surprise that’s so surprising.
On reflection, joey genocjde was installed to anchor the left side of the overton window…no ratchet to the left, and he wasn’t primaried for the same reason. Heritage is delivering now just as it did with o care. For all know they wrote the patriot act as well.
New American Century indeed.
“Biden” is gone. Only an empty shell of anger and reflex remains. People have been calling him “the husk” for a while now, and the debates and latest “everybody knew” news only confirms this.
Going forward, a vote for “Biden” would just be a vote for Harris, i.e., a vote out of fear, TDS, etc.
Trump has probably already won the election, ergo there’s no better time to vote for a third party. ;)
Biden appears to be at a stage where he would have difficulty managing the activities of everyday life without assistance. And at his age, things get worse, not better.
The notion that he could successful perform an extremely difficult job until 2028 is ludicrous .
“Instrumental activities of daily living are activities related to independent living and include preparing meals, managing money, shopping, doing housework, and using a telephone.”
Do they really want to answer questions regarding his ability to dress himself and use the toilet?
I’m not sure many of our Presidents ever had such skills whether with dementia or not
Sry if this is banal but I assume Mrs. Biden simply fears her husband will die once he is out of office. As happens with many such cases. Once the heat is off they decay like poor little plants in the shadow.
Just like my basil dies every year when the cold comes and the rain.
May be I should call it “Joe”, “Basil Joe”.
This feels to me more than a little like how I felt about John Edwards in 2008, after I gave him $100 and found out that he’d had this stupid affair and that his mistress had had their child, while he was campaigning for president. Of course there was not a word about this to any of his supporters.
It made me feel like the political equivalent of a plastic sex doll.
That was mainly Edwards’s fault. Here we have a Democratic establishment that could screw up a two car funeral gaslighting us about what seemed obvious from a brief look at any number of news clips. None of them will suffer any career consequences for any of this.
I almost hope Trump has all of them arrested and interned when he declares a state of emergency.
Douglas Macgregor tweeting:
“Unconfirmed reports now indicate Joe Bidən may have had a medical emergency on Air Force One…”
> Joe Bidən may have had a medical emergency on Air Force One
Source: Laura Loomer.
No time to get the food taster on board, I suppose….
Wizard: “will no one rid me of this troublesome dementia patient”
Leftover chicken from those Delta flights? Independence Day Chicken cordon blues?
Where is Steve Goodman when you need him!?!
A president who doesn’t know where he is is a fitting leader for an empire that doesn’t know it has ended.
Biden must bow out in a dignified way. The fact is that even a sedated, oxygen fed Biden is far superior to the sociopath Trump and his deranged Heritage Foundation handlers who are dead set in destroying the country with their 2025 cluster bombs
The main worry is: who’s running the disastrous foreign policy? Who’s running the government? Right now, it seems AIPAC.
The fact is that even a sedated, oxygen fed Biden is far superior
What about AI biden?
I am over 80 and my advice would be a cut off of 65 to run in a US Presidential election. The USA with a population over 300 million and nuclear weapons to match Russia and China enough to wipe out the human species worldwide. The head of Gov’t in Ireland can be over 90 because their destructive power is minimal. It is well known that human beings deteriorate mentally and physically with age. Life expectancy in the US for males was about 73 in 2021, in Ireland and Canada it was 81. I am Irish living in Canada.
Amidst all of this shitstorm, is anyone doing anything to find out why and how the Democrats, and others, ‘conspired’ to cover it up, deceive the American public, and rule behind a genuine dummy / figurehead?
It isn’t just the fact that the man with the nuclear codes is out of his mind, or that other people in his administration have been making the decisions for a long time, it is the fact that the establishment knew about it from the day he ran for office – that he was not compos mentis, and therefore unfit for office.
It is a real live, genuine conspiracy on a grand scale, up there with some of the nasty things the WEF and globalists seem to have in mind for the world. The American public has been duped!
As scandals go, this is the monster one – a deception on a mind-boggling huge scale!