Is Biden playing with a full deck?

[hurtinbuckaroo]

Latest claim, by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla., of course), is that Biden is being given some top secret drug that makes him lucid. “Dr.” Donalds has a degree in finance and marketing.

Tim Scott also said that Biden will be “jacked up” on something for the debates.

Every accusation …

 

[Ford]

Latest claim, by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla., of course), is that Biden is being given some top secret drug that makes him lucid. “Dr.” Donalds has a degree in finance and marketing.

Tim Scott also said that Biden will be “jacked up” on something for the debates.

Every accusation …

So for no particular reason, I typed the word "Adderall" into the Google machine, and am just skimming the results.

Side effects? The first two listed are loss of appetite and weight loss, so that's interesting. Others may included diarrhea (!) nervousness, and trouble sleeping. Also, the drug is not recommended for long-term use as it may cause changes in the brain, and the maximum age for drugs of this type is between 55 and 65. Definitely not recommended for older adults.

Now where were we? Ah yes, the debates. It'll be interesting, to say the least. If Biden is "on" whatever he was "on" during the SOTU (my guess is it was a heavy dose of advice from his campaign to have more energy), then that would be a good thing. He has to know that these will be a liability for Trump. Why? Well debates are usually held in the evening, and that's not David Dennison's best time of the day. Most of the "what the hell, is his brain melting?" moments from his rallies seem to have happened in the evening, and if he's been up since 3am rage-posting, 8pm is gonna be sleepy-by time.

Also, he's most energetic when he's delivering a speech, like his post court little press conferences or his rallies. He doesn't do well without a loving audience, and IIRC the first one (at least) won't have a crowd for him to play to. He feeds off the crowd. So between the time of day and that simple fact, it may be "Low Energy John Barron" at the podium a month from now. Also, there won't be teleprompters except maybe for opening and closing statements. Biden will no doubt be writing down responses as Cheeto speaks, but Don the Con isn't so good at writing words and stuff.

The key will be the moderation. They absolutely have to cut the mike when the time is up. Do it for both so Don Pornleone can't claim it was "rigged" against him (though he will anyway).

 

[Elixir]

Trump will find reason to cancel.
I wonder if there’s a Vegas line on that.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Latest claim, by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla., of course), is that Biden is being given some top secret drug that makes him lucid. “Dr.” Donalds has a degree in finance and marketing.

Tim Scott also said that Biden will be “jacked up” on something for the debates.

Every accusation …

It is incredible how the decorum has collapsed. GOP and Democrats weren't feeding each other grapes 25 years ago, but the GOP these days aren't even saying what the Limbaughs and Hannitys were saying on the radio. They sound more like Michael "Savage" Weiner 25 years ago.

 

[Politesse]

Latest claim, by Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla., of course), is that Biden is being given some top secret drug that makes him lucid.

Given that a lot of Trump supporters already believe that powerful liberal elites have access to age extending youth serums made from the corpses of panicked children, that isn't too hard to believe.

 

[Toni]

I’m pretty certain that everyone with actual power in the GOP is well aware of Trump’s mental decline and see it as a feature and not a bug. It debases the general expectation of meaningful political discourse, for one thing. But also, it will make him that much easier to manipulate —and to depose when he is no longer useful. Previously Trump was mostly Putin’s useful idiot but plenty of right wingers have wrested control and plan to wrap up and seal the package of ‘religious’ dogma. The push back on abortion rights is only a tiny first step. They are going after birth control, and installing women as servants to their husbands, normalizing child labor, bringing back actual slavery, White is Right and all of that other evil nonsense. What they want is to destroy democracy and replace it with feudalism.

 

[Swammerdami]

My own opinion is that BOTH Biden and Trump are more-or-less as fit mentally as they were a decade ago. Biden has minor lapses, but we all do, especially when old.

There are YouTubes where a psychologist claims that Trump suffers from dementia, but when he's speaking off-the-cuff he seems like his old stupid self. Some of his slurring might be due to minor brain damage. But the inane rambling was his symptom a decade ago. The drifting-off gibberish seen on anti-Trump videos is, I think, caused by his attempts to read from a teleprompter -- He's only semi-literate.

 

[Toni]

My own opinion is that BOTH Biden and Trump are more-or-less as fit mentally as they were a decade ago. Biden has minor lapses, but we all do, especially when old.

There are YouTubes where a psychologist claims that Trump suffers from dementia, but when he's speaking off-the-cuff he seems like his old stupid self. Some of his slurring might be due to minor brain damage. But the inane rambling was his symptom a decade ago. The drifting-off gibberish seen on anti-Trump videos is, I think, caused by his attempts to read from a teleprompter -- He's only semi-literate.

I disagree in that I heard recordings of Trump speaking in public, perhaps the Johnny Carson show?? And while he was and always has been a vile, self aggrandizing blowhard. If you squinted you might be able to hear him as somewhat of a charming blowhard if self aggrandizement and being a blow hard was attractive to you. Now, frequently he does not make sense, even with generous latitude granted for the inevitable mis-speaking and confusion of names and places and even facts that are seen in most tours even of younger people. Yes, sometimes they seem to get his meds right and he is semi-articulate.

Both men are pribably past their intellectual primes. There are two major differences: Biden is basically a good, if flawed person. His defense cation to public service seems genuine and he seems to have grown over time in his understanding. He values collaboration and is good at working across the aisle. Trump is morally corrupt and morally bankrupt and at best, of medium intellectual capacity in his prime. Trump seems much older than his age. Biden seems pretty good for his age and in fact reminds me of the handful of relatives I knew who were pretty sharp well past his age. If he remains healthy, I think he’ll make it to 100, mentally sharp.

 

[Ford]

My own opinion is that BOTH Biden and Trump are more-or-less as fit mentally as they were a decade ago. Biden has minor lapses, but we all do, especially when old.

There are YouTubes where a psychologist claims that Trump suffers from dementia, but when he's speaking off-the-cuff he seems like his old stupid self. Some of his slurring might be due to minor brain damage. But the inane rambling was his symptom a decade ago. The drifting-off gibberish seen on anti-Trump videos is, I think, caused by his attempts to read from a teleprompter -- He's only semi-literate.

I disagree in that I heard recordings of Trump speaking in public, perhaps the Johnny Carson show?? And while he was and always has been a vile, self aggrandizing blowhard. If you squinted you might be able to hear him as somewhat of a charming blowhard if self aggrandizement and being a blow hard was attractive to you. Now, frequently he does not make sense, even with generous latitude granted for the inevitable mis-speaking and confusion of names and places and even facts that are seen in most tours even of younger people. Yes, sometimes they seem to get his meds right and he is semi-articulate.

Both men are pribably past their intellectual primes. There are two major differences: Biden is bad call a good, if flawed person. Trump is morally corrupt and morally bankrupt and of at best, medium intellectual capacity in his prime. Trump seems much older than his age. Biden seems pretty good for his age and in fact reminds me of the handful of relatives I knew who were pretty sharp well past his age. If he remains healthy, I think he’ll make it to 100, mentally sharp.

You mentioned Carson, and it reminded me of the time a few years ago now (2018) when I got to spend an hour or so with one of Johnny's favorite guests, Bob Uecker. He was 84 at the time. Older than both Trump and Biden are now. Sharp as a tack, funny as hell, and every bit as engaged as he was when I'd worked with him in 2009. He had to do some ADR for an episode of "Teen Titans Go!"

Biden reminds me of Bob. Older, but still on his game. Bob drove to the studio and showed up on his own. No entourage, no publicist. Just Bob.

I was trying to find an analogue for Trump, and it just hit me right now. A year before I'd first worked with Bob, I had a session with our infamous "World's Toughest Sheriff" Joe Arpaio. He'd come by to record one line for a PSA (public service announcement) and he had an entourage leading him around. Telling him where to go. Handing him the script. At one point he looked around and asked his people "is this Clear Channel?" That was a moment.

See, Sheriff Joe used to have a talk show on a Clear Channel station in town. He was there every weekend. That's not where he was that day. One of our sales people who escorted him into the room had been his phone screener when he was doing the show. Not only did he not seem to know where he was, he had no idea who she was.

But when I keyed the mic and he was "on?" The doddering old man was gone and he suddenly became the public figure everyone knew. The "tough guy" delivered his one line. And then they patted him on the shoulder and escorted him out of the room.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

My own opinion is that BOTH Biden and Trump are more-or-less as fit mentally as they were a decade ago. Biden has minor lapses, but we all do, especially when old.

There are YouTubes where a psychologist claims that Trump suffers from dementia, but when he's speaking off-the-cuff he seems like his old stupid self. Some of his slurring might be due to minor brain damage. But the inane rambling was his symptom a decade ago. The drifting-off gibberish seen on anti-Trump videos is, I think, caused by his attempts to read from a teleprompter -- He's only semi-literate.

Biden always gaffed.

I think the problem with Trump is his behavior has become Federally normalized. I think of Trump, I think of OJ Simpson, who had gotten away with murder and then really started acting like a man who thought he was above the law. Imagine a Trump in the White House who literally is above the law and no longer has the shackles of professionals around him to say no.

Personally, a Dementia Trump would be safer for our democracy.... (well safer from him).

 

[Ford]

Imagine a Trump in the White House who literally is above the law and no longer has the shackles of professionals around him to say no.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating.

Biden has surrounded himself with career public servants who believe in the "continuity of government." People who have thought "okay, if Air Force One goes down, we need to focus on doing our jobs and keeping the country running no matter what."

Trump had some of those people in his administration, but they either quit or he fired them, and if he gets into office again, he will surround himself with fawning sycophants who have thought "my god, if Air Force One goes down, I can make so much money off of the aftermath."

Mike Pence was the proverbial canary in the coal mine. He was a Christofascist piece of shit, but when it came to the Constitution vs Trump, he went with the Constitution. Trump will not make that mistake again.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Imagine a Trump in the White House who literally is above the law and no longer has the shackles of professionals around him to say no.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating.

Biden has surrounded himself with career public servants who believe in the "continuity of government." People who have thought "okay, if Air Force One goes down, we need to focus on doing our jobs and keeping the country running no matter what."

A good way of putting it.

Trump had some of those people in his administration, but they either quit or he fired them, and if he gets into office again, he will surround himself with fawning sycophants who have thought "my god, if Air Force One goes down, I can make so much money off of the aftermath."

Mike Pence was the proverbial canary in the coal mine. He was a Christofascist piece of shit, but when it came to the Constitution vs Trump, he went with the Constitution.

Barely. He asked around first... and he read from the modified VP script that was supposed to continue on to the asterisk of the election.

Trump will not make that mistake again.

I've been wondering just how many Secretaries he'd actually have. Is he even going to care? He views his ascendency as the mere purpose of his Presidency. That and abusing his privileges and powers. The fucker could go scorched Earth with our allies (and this is already concluding Ukraine is fucked... Trump might send Putin weapons), just because he can.

 

[Swammerdami]

A good way of putting it.

T. . . Mike Pence was the proverbial canary in the coal mine. He was a Christofascist piece of shit, but when it came to the Constitution vs Trump, he went with the Constitution.

Barely. He asked around first... and he read from the modified VP script that was supposed to continue on to the asterisk of the election.

Trump will not make that mistake again.

I've been wondering just how many Secretaries he'd actually have. Is he even going to care? He views his ascendency as the mere purpose of his Presidency. That and abusing his privileges and powers. The fucker could go scorched Earth with our allies (and this is already concluding Ukraine is fucked... Trump might send Putin weapons), just because he can.

These are all good points. I tend to play the role of Cassandra Little crying that the sky is falling, but I see just now that Polymarket shows Trump 55% over 39% to win in November: A 16% margin compared with just 10% a few days ago, and 2% less than two weeks ago. Perhaps I should step in and Lay thousands against Trump. Life might hardly be worth living anyway if that bet loses. (Betfair also looks bad, 52% vs 37%. I can't report predictit.org. It's blocked where I live, and I use no VPN.)

 

[Elixir]

Predictit has Trump 51 to Biden 46.

 

[Patooka]

"The problem with polls is that the data is comprised of people too fucking stupid to avoid pollsters" -Rich Hall.

 

[Toni]

Imagine a Trump in the White House who literally is above the law and no longer has the shackles of professionals around him to say no.

I've said it before, but it bears repeating.

Biden has surrounded himself with career public servants who believe in the "continuity of government." People who have thought "okay, if Air Force One goes down, we need to focus on doing our jobs and keeping the country running no matter what."

A good way of putting it.

Trump had some of those people in his administration, but they either quit or he fired them, and if he gets into office again, he will surround himself with fawning sycophants who have thought "my god, if Air Force One goes down, I can make so much money off of the aftermath."

Mike Pence was the proverbial canary in the coal mine. He was a Christofascist piece of shit, but when it came to the Constitution vs Trump, he went with the Constitution.

Barely. He asked around first... and he read from the modified VP script that was supposed to continue on to the asterisk of the election.

Trump will not make that mistake again.

I've been wondering just how many Secretaries he'd actually have. Is he even going to care? He views his ascendency as the mere purpose of his Presidency. That and abusing his privileges and powers. The fucker could go scorched Earth with our allies (and this is already concluding Ukraine is fucked... Trump might send Putin weapons), just because he can.

I've said before and I will say it again: To understand Mike Pence, see his handling of the HIV outbreak in one county in Indiana while he was governor. Eventually, he did the right thing but only after he exhausted all other options.

As for his religious fevor: My considered belief is that was also a politically motivated change of heart. The part of Indiana where he got his political start is not exactly strongly Catholic, unlike northern parts of Indiana where Notre Dame and even Chicago have significant influence.