(Part I is here.)
The poll above was offered to her blog’s readers by Ann Althouse this morning. Those were the early results, but they haven’t changed significantly. The fact that she felt the need to have the poll is significant, as is the fact that only 1% (its doubled, to 2%) would say that Joe Biden definitely didn’t have dementia. This isn’t a right wing rumor or organized slander, like so many of the “resistance” big lies. People have eyes and ears. They notice.
The hypocrisy demonstrated by the Democrats, who have been claiming that Trump is mentally unfit to be President, now apparently determined to nominate a man who is clinically unfit or soon will be is astounding. The only historical analogue that comes close is in 1944, hen the Democrats went through with nominating Franklin Roosevelt, though he was deathly ill and nobody who saw him or spent any time with him could fail to know it. FDR had already been President for twelve years, though, and there was still a war on. That’s some excuse, though not much.
Today’s Democrats have none. Here’s left-wing cartoonist Ted Rall:
Now Democrats are conspiring to gaslight the American people by engineering the presidential election of a man clearly suffering from dementia, Joe Biden. This is no time to be “polite.” We are talking about the presidency. As always, we need a frank, intelligent discussion and debate about the issues and the candidates….Contrary to current ridiculous Democratic talking points, it is not ageist to point this out. One out of seven Americans over the age of 70 suffers from dementia. (Biden is 77.) If it’s ageist to talk about dementia among the elderly, it’s ageist to talk about immaturity among the young. It is neither necessary nor possible to scientifically determine whether the former vice president has dementia. On the other hand, you don’t need an astronomer to know that the sun rises in the east. If you have encountered dementia, you know Joe Biden has it.
This may be the only time I have agreed with Ted Rall about anything.
Rall also makes the point, which I have made elsewhere, that Democrats have been trapped into supporting Biden because they believe defeating Trump is so important that they are willing to use a disabled man on the verge of incoherence to do it. That–I would say “if true” except that its truth seems undeniable—is so wrong and irresponsible that it almost defies belief. The party’s duty, any party’s duty, is to give the American people a candidate who will, in their view, be an effective President. Choosing Biden, in contrast, is like the Moors mounting the corpse of El Cid on his horse to “lead” the army during the siege of Valencia.
If the party was preparing to open the convention and take extraordinary measures to stop Bernie Sanders from leading the party to defeat on a platform of socialism, a responsible party should deem it equally urgent to block the nomination of candidate in Biden’s condition. That the party, and so many of its Trump-Deranged members and supporters, can’t or won’t see that is yet another indication of how completely hatred and anger over the 2016 election has corrupted it.
Much of the February 19 Ethics Alarms post about how hatred had driven Democrats into the hypocritical position of embracing Michael Bloomberg is applicable to the resurgence of Biden with just the substitution of names. This paragraph, however, needs no changes:
The perversion of the Democratic Party’s mission, purpose and principles was apparent as soon as it initially installed Joe Biden as the favorite to be its candidate in November. The alleged party of women, #MeToo and enlightened respect for non-males in the workplace absurdly encouraged the return of an unapologetic sexist and workplace sexual harasser. The party of the young attempted to anoint a 77 year old relic of old-style politics, not because he embodied the party’s supposed goals and ideals, but because he seemed to represent the best chance of removing the hated Donald Trump.
Once Bloomberg was exposed and the party faced the disaster that Sanders would bring, it defaulted to Biden again. Imagine: the party that has condemned Donald Trump for defying “democratic norms” is now choosing to reject one of the the most basic democratic norms of all: selecting a candidate for the American Presidency who is mentally healthy enough to fulfill the duties of the position.
So counter to every political and patriotic calculation is this, that Democrats and progressives are in desperate, pathetic denial. Here’s a reply to me on Facebook today from a stranger:
“Biden isn’t mentally declining, he is just not as charismatic on stage and when speaking. Part of that is probably the stutter issue he overcame. I mean technically a lot of us are “declining” as early as our 40s. But Biden is pretty sharp and still has his faculties just fine. And he is very experienced. I think being VP previously gives you an huge boost, you’ve seen the job first hand, and unlike our current leader, are very aware of what it requires. It’s not a game show. And no one knows that better than him. Experience counts for a lot.”
How terribly sad. Biden’s battles with stammering are well known, but never before has that been used as an explanation for repeated stumbles, and nobody ever suggested before 2019 he was in cognitive decline.
The rest of the discussion surrounding this comment was, if anything, sadder still. All these Trump-hating progressives were fanning each other’s hopes by claiming that a young, impressive Vice-President on the ticket would spur Biden’s election, and soon take over for the doddering old man. They have all been betrayed by their party, and it has come to this.
Back to Ted Rall:
None of the media seem interested in the truth about Biden. Democratic media allies like CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post are running interference for the Democratic establishment and Biden by failing to ask any questions about the candidate’s mental fitness. … And finally there are the voters. As a citizen, you have no business casting a vote thoughtlessly or less than fully informed. Deliberately casting a vote for someone clearly suffering from dementia, or turning a blind eye to it, or being simply unaware of Biden’s mental state are inexcusable.
I spent the last few years watching my mother’s decline due to dementia caused by Alzheimer’s. She had been brilliant. Years before her death, however, she was having a tough time keeping it together. I would have voted for her as president in 2012 but not 2016. It would have been wrong. No one who has been close to someone deteriorating from that disease could fail to see the same signs in Joe Biden. It doesn’t matter how crappy Donald Trump is. It’s anti-American and unpatriotic to vote for someone suffering from dementia for a position with exclusive control over nuclear launch codes.
But it’s not too late for the Democrats. Joe Biden doesn’t have to be the nominee.
He can and should withdraw.
Rall is wrong: it is too late for Democrats. It was too late the minute they decided that destroying the Trump Presidency was more important than behaving responsibly, and allowed hate rather than rationality dictate their objectives and tactics. It has led them to this point of no return.
Ethics Alarms 
Maybe the dems will suddenly remember Tulsi is still there, and declare a recount of the primary votes show her in the lead.
A Yale psychiatrist (Brandy X. Lee…no, not her stripper name) who has prominently “diagnosed” Trump from afar, now decides it’s unethical to comment on Biden’s mental state:
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/03/yale-psychiatrist-who-has-repeatedly-called-trump-mentally-unfit-refuses-to-diagnose-biden/#more
Thanks for that link, Wim. And let’s hear it for Bill Jacobson, a Hamilton College alum who I wish the trustees would hire to be president of Hamilton College (fat chance, unfortunately).
Rats. That was supposed to be in Part 1, then Part II, then it fell out completely. Bandy Lee (no r)is almost too big a fool to waste any more time on…her tag is here.
“Bandy”, huh? Well, that’ll work I guess, but “Brandy” would have been better. 😦
But boy, her hypocrisy is incredibly symmetrical.
It is more likely that they would call back one of their ‘dismissed’ candidates like Kamalah Harris. She is a the type of amoral opportunist that the Democrat establishment prefers. She will say whatever you want her to say and do whatever you want her to do. As such, she fills the same role as Biden, but it isn’t as obvious to the Democratic voter that she is just a puppet. I think they will stick with Biden, though, because the Democratic voters seem more eager to vote for a septuagenarian suffering from Dementia than any actual Democratic candidate. I still think they would be better served by running ‘the Establishment’ as their candidate.
Au contraire, Jack. Wait until Sleepy Joe self-immolates on the debate stage in, of all places, Phoenix! As Paulie Schlect would say, “Hillarity [will] ensue.”
“As Paulie Schlect would say, ‘Hillarity [will] ensue.’ ”
Bandy sans the R…SchlecHt with the H.
Despite the DNC changing the rules to allowing him to sit, an unvarnished Jabberin’ Joe will emerge.
Paulie predicts it will be cringe-inducing, but nowhere near as much so as the frantic spinning that will immediately ensue.
And ooooooooh to be a fly on the wall of his handlers!
“Gimme an H!”
“H”
“Gimme another H!”
“Really? Why?”
If Joe’s advisors had any sense, they would immediately urge him to withdraw his name as a candidate: https://www.alz.org/alzheimers-dementia/stages
18 years in the trenches (in-laws getting dementia back-to-back, one with AD and one with LBD) tells me that Mr. Biden is ‘off’. To what degree, I have no idea. He could be overwhelmed and overtired just because of his age, although it looks like more than that to me. I really hope he’s not being manipulated into this, that would be cruel. If he does have dementia, stress will exacerbate it and speed his decline. It would be an awful thing to do to him, to encourage him to stay in the race even if he’s not able. I hope his family and staff have his best interests at heart.
Well put and on the mark.
I don’t think Joe’s family has had his best interests at heart for quite a while. His son and siblings have been unethically cashing in on his status as a Senator and VP for years, throwing around the Biden name and their implied influence with Joe to enrich themselves. I see no reason to believe such scumbags would resist taking a last bite at that apple just because, in the colorful way my father would have put it, Joe “doesn’t know where he shit last”. Likewise, his staff have hitched their wagon to a crippled horse and have all sorts of reasons to keep the charade going, regardless of what’s good for Joe Biden.
The fact that he’s still in the race is prima facie evidence that nobody around him cares one whit for Biden’s welfare.
Polls, cartoonists, distant psychologists…none address the core factual issue. Does he or doesn’t he medically suffer from dementia?
The media covering for him rather than asking persistently about his mental state resulting in an actual mental evaluation is what is missing and required. As has been all too frequently the case, it is the media, more than any other player exhibiting truly unethical behavior…obfuscating rather than clarifying as it suits their agenda.
Is the media acting as directed by the DNC? More proof is required to make that assertion.
“Choosing Biden, in contrast, is like the Moors mounting the corpse of El Cid on his horse to “lead” the army during the siege of Valencia.”
You mean the Spanish, right?
I think he meant “the Moops”
That’s the second EA allusion to the Moops in less than a week!
Oh, hell, who knows? I originally wrote Spanish, decided to check, and became thoroughly confused: “After being rejected by Ramon Berenguer II, El Cid journeyed to the Taifa of Zaragoza, where he received a warmer welcome. In 1081, El Cid went on to offer his services to the Moorish king of the northeast al-Andalus city of Zaragoza, Yusuf al-Mu’taman ibn Hud, and served both him and his successor, al-Musta’in II. He was given the title El Cid (The Master) and served as a leading figure in a diverse Moorish force consisting of Muladis, Berbers, Arabs and Malians within the respective Taifa… El Cid, with a combined Christian and Moorish army, began maneuvering in order to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia. Several obstacles lay in his way. First was Berenguer Ramon II, who ruled nearby Barcelona. In May 1090, El Cid defeated and captured Berenguer in the Battle of Tébar (nowadays Pinar de Tévar, near Monroyo, Teruel). Berenguer was later released and his nephew Ramon Berenguer III married El Cid’s youngest daughter Maria to ward against future conflicts.
Along the way to Valencia, El Cid also conquered other towns, many of which were near Valencia, such as El Puig and Quart de Poblet…After his demise, but still during the siege of Valencia, legend holds that Jimena ordered that the corpse of El Cid be fitted with his armour and set on his horse Babieca, to bolster the morale of his troops….”
He led Christian, Moorish and Spanish troops, but the metaphor is the same. The hell with it.
Don’t prefer to link to Breitbart, but I couldn’t find this on Slate, Rolling Stone, MSLSD, CNN, etc., etc., etc.
Forbes Removes Article Calling for Biden to Take Cognitive Assessment
Your compatriarch (one of my favorite malaprops) Madison Ann noted this as well.
The distance between me and the inimitable Ms. Althouse is a mere ~3.1 miles/~4.99 kms…and a substantial $450 large in assessed value.
Next time you’re up WESconsin way, stop by & we’ll cold call her.
Deal. Lemme know when you’re in Arizona with all the other migratory Packers fans wintering on golf courses along with the Canadian geese.
She won’t even give me a link, with all the traffic I try to send her way. Luckily, I’m not vindictive.
Shoot Jack; OB makes an appearance here, we’ll mosey on down and make her an offer she can’t refuse…
A very brief perusal of Ted Rall’s blog makes it look like he a pretty big Bernie Bro – so his motives may not be exactly pure.
For example, he also said this: “More to the point, you can’t trust corporate media outlets that describe Sanders’ policy agenda as radical or extreme. I wish he were! He’s a classic liberal Democrat, not as ambitious as FDR or LBJ, more like Humphrey or Mondale.’
Sooooo……yeah.
The message, not the messenger. As my observations about the desperate anti-Trump deranged on Facebook, those who begin from a position of not caring much for Biden may be more clear-eyed than most on this matter. Obviously Rall has strong political views, and perhaps simplistic ones: that’s what political cartoonists are like (and why I think they are generally useless.) I didn’t pick him as an appeal to authority, just because his post was nicely unequivocal. This is a res ipsa loquitur situation, or should be.
The major media will have to go even deeper into Biden Protection Mode. ABC, NBC, CBS, and others edited out the four seconds of Biden threatening to assault the auto worker he yelled at and insulted for questioning him on gun control.
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2020/03/10/nbc-manipulates-video-cuts-around-biden-threatening-assault
And some didn’t cover it at all, or show any of the video.
Have to add here that Joe’s pandering and free everything for everyone speech while trashing Trump came off pretty presidential on Thursday afternoon. He made sure to use the opportunity to try to out-free Bernie in the speech as well.
By the end of the speech though, he was slurring the words given him and nearly floated off course to something else.
To his credit, he sounded like someone who was not mentally unfit.