I’ll make his is short and sweet:
Your Ethics Alarms Ethics Quiz of the Day is…
Is that video something or nothing?
Greg Price is a conservative gadfly; if I could have found a version of the clip that was without commentary, I would have used that. naturally, none of the Left-biased mainstream media feel that the video is noteworthy. Fox News, however, does.
Biden’s treatment of women, and little girls has nothing to do with dementia, but it a long-time proclivity that has troubled me, and that render his fervent feminist supporters as hypocritical in my eyes. This example may seem ambiguous or innocent to some. Where I was brought up, Boston, a stranger who presumed to treat a child like this would be at risk of getting punched. Of course, Biden has security around him, and is abusing his privilege and power by placing the mother in an awkward position. But if the President did not have the well-established record as a sniffer and harasser, would this episode bother anyone, even Greg Price? Is this just Ick, not ethics?
Ethics Alarms 
No, this is unethical on a variety of levels. The tweet is unethical. Biden is unethical, in that the baby is clearly frightened (which would be the case even if Biden wasn’t a wierdo). And the woman holding the baby is perhaps most unethical of all, because she’s obviously more interested in the selfie than in the scared baby.
Bingo.
“But if the President did not have the well-established record as a sniffer and harasser, would this episode bother anyone,”
The thing is, we cannot just ignore our Prez’s disturbing history with children and therefore this latest transgression must be seen within that context. Biden really likes children, and not in a wholesome way.
The guy immediately to the left of the mom and little girl was visibly upset/angry.
I watched the clip several times, and each time I get the same, “What the bloody Hell!” reaction.
You can play goochy-goo by make hand gestures, even some hand contact, or by making funny faces, but by putting your mouth against the baby?!? If you don’t want to follow the creepy aspect of that, then what about the dignity of the President in public?
Certainly more context would help. Certainly I would feel less outraged if 400+ people didn’t have their cellphones out capturing the moment.
But seriously. What the bloody Hell is Biden doing?!?
I think the man has no idea what he’s doing. He’s every bit as diminished as the Left used to proclaim Reagan was. For that, he deserves our pity. But only so much.
His wife should be prosecuted for elder abuse. The entire family is simply and shamelessly greedy.
Biden previously stated the he failed to understand the need to give people their personal space and would not violate people’s space going forward. Obviously it was not something he was committed to. The prior promise was unethical and this event is just creepy (ick).
I can’t assess the others
Licking the baby is probably just a secret greeting to a fellow member of the Soiled Nappy Club.
What is more disturbing is what follows next. He then sniffs her deeply, clearly displaying the “Flehmen Response”. (look it up)
Am I going on a watch list for googling that?
How bout the headline Biden sharks at Finnish child.
“Snarls” not sharks. The flehman response is basically a snarl.
Why it changed the spelling of a correctly spelled word is why predictive text is worthless. If you have to spend time rereading everything you wrote to check that program did not change a word it saves no time.
“shaking hands and kissing babies” used to be politik speak for schmoozing with the normies. I’m not sure when kissing babies fell by the wayside, but Joe probably remembers it well enough. In any other situation I don’t think “old guy makes weird mouth noises by baby” is any kind of headline, and I think we’re all a little over our skis on this, but I’m just… annoyed, maybe, that he just couldn’t help himself and went in for the sniff afterwards. God that’s weird.
Yes, kissing babies was accepted, is now old fashioned, and even approaches “creepy.”
Biden’s behavior here would be perfectly fine playfulness, if this child were a grandchild (even a disavowed grandchild).
In other words, there are contexts in which his behavior could be okay. Sadly, this is not one of those occasions.
Even more sadly, his “handlers” (can you even deny that he has handlers at this point?) are allowing this. As much as I dislike Biden, I place no blame on him. He is not competent to know what is proper here.
(Without comment, I will allude to your observations about Bush Sr.’s inappropriate conduct that was brushed off.)
Now I have to comment: Old people like Biden and Bush Sr. Get a pass for bad behavior. They get a pass, not because the behavior is okay, but because they may not know better.
When an adult demonstrates that they are disabled about social conduct in the same way a child might be, they should be accorded the indulgence a child would receive.
Of course, this indulgence should not be granted willy-nilly, but Biden deserves this more than anyone since Wilson (it still pisses me off when leftists complain about Reagan’s dementia; after Biden, they should make no jokes about Reagan’s memory or Ford’s falling down.)
Biden should not be subjected to this.
-Jut
But Jut, being an old person myself, aren’t even old people expected to change their behaviors in light of changing mores? Kissing babies in rope lines when out what, twenty, thirty years ago? When Joe was fifty? Come on, man. Where’s the line? He’s a professional politician and has been for sixty years. He can’t behave properly while campaigning? Incompetence is unethical. He should not be given a pass.
I agree. This isn’t your grandfather. Biden is the President. He is, or at least, should be expected to act like it.
jvb
> Flehmen Response
Thanks, now I’m going to think of Hopkins doing this as Hannibal Lector every time I see Biden.