USA Politics

The armchair diagnoses of Trump and Biden (and Hillary in 2016) are ridiculous. I also have to question the credibility of doctors who go on TV and try to diagnose someone who they haven’t actually given a medical evaluation. These people are all old and susceptible to mental decline, but we don’t have the evidence to make a call one way or the other. There’s enough to criticize Trump for without going there anyway.

And yes, Biden has a stutter which is probably less controllable as he gets older. The claims of him being confused or senile seem super exaggerated.

I do think it’s valid to talk about the age of presidents though and I’m not sure electing someone who is going to be in his 80s by the time his term is up is the best idea (same goes for judges). Considering both the 2020 dem field and the 2016 Republican field were both filled with plenty of talented younger individuals, that we still ended up with the oldest folks ever to hold the office is a problem that I’m not sure how to explain. I don’t think people should be excluded from the job based on age necessarily, but health and cognitive declines are real.

Btw who predicted Trump trying to pull out of Afghanistan?
www.politico.com

Republicans livid over Trump’s plan to reduce troops in Afghanistan

McConnell says Trump’s move will “delight” U.S. enemies.
www.politico.com www.politico.com
 
Mosh said:
Btw who predicted Trump trying to pull out of Afghanistan?
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Jer said:
And maybe a complete pullout from Afghanistan for his buddy Vladimir.
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LooseCannon said:
Biden has a stutter. That can make someone seem or sound slow or confused.
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Yeah, but you can tell when he’s stammering or stuttering vs. when he’s just not fully there. And the constant word substitutions and forgetfulness are kind of their own thing, too. His stutter and related affectations don’t concern me, but the other stuff is a little worrying.
 
Jer said:
Yeah, but you can tell when he’s stammering or stuttering vs. when he’s just not fully there. And the constant word substitutions and forgetfulness are kind of their own thing, too. His stutter and related affectations don’t concern me, but the other stuff is a little worrying.
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Nothing he has ever said, to me, sounded like anything other than stumbling for a word when in a time of stress or difficulty. Stutters are not just the whole t-t-t-t-t-t-t-tick, they are also characterized by people who change words mid-word and who have difficulty searching for a word.
 
LooseCannon said:
Nothing he has ever said, to me, sounded like anything other than stumbling for a word when in a time of stress or difficulty. Stutters are not just the whole t-t-t-t-t-t-t-tick, they are also characterized by people who change words mid-word and who have difficulty searching for a word.
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It's in cases like these where the arm chair diagnosis are baseless, we don't know the whole story and are far from qualifed. HOWEVER, one doesn't require a PhD to identify fullblown unhinged behavior like staying up all night tweeting nonesense...
 
I think the problem is that there are too many variables for anyone to make an informed diagnosis. Yea there’s something wrong with Trump, but it could be anything from extreme narcissism to dementia or something else entirely. There could be substances involved. It could all be an act (I’m less convinced of this after the flood of closed doors stories that have leaked over the past few years). It’s just not worth speculating on.

With everything we know about Biden’s character, I can’t imagine him getting into the race if he was really suffering from cognitive decline. I also don’t think his family would have allowed it.
 
Could the firing of the Secretary of Defense be caused by a desire to rush the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan?

Wonder who Trump will blame if Taliban choose to exploit the uncertainty the day after he leaves office ...
 
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Mosh said:
I think the problem is that there are too many variables for anyone to make an informed diagnosis. Yea there’s something wrong with Trump, but it could be anything from extreme narcissism to dementia or something else entirely. There could be substances involved. It could all be an act (I’m less convinced of this after the flood of closed doors stories that have leaked over the past few years). It’s just not worth speculating on.

With everything we know about Biden’s character, I can’t imagine him getting into the race if he was really suffering from cognitive decline. I also don’t think his family would have allowed it.
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Agreed, however, it wasn't an accident he chose Harris as VP, she's 56, "young" in politian years. He's going to be 81 at the end of the 4 years.... it is a VERY real possibility he could die, for a number of reasons, regardless of modern medicine and treatment. IF, and a fairly realistic what if, he doies in office, Harris, her age alone, could be seen a stabilizing factor.
 
Absolutely, Biden had no choice but to nominate a young (preferably nonwhite) woman. There had to be some contrast.

I’m very curious about how the Kamala thing plays out. She’s already taking a more prominent role than Pence or Biden (as VP). She speaks ahead of Biden often and I wouldn’t be surprised to see more joint type speeches. She’ll also probably be put in charge of a major aspect of the Biden agenda (maybe immigration or police reform).

She’s an interesting choice to be groomed as a successor to Biden. She has more experience than Obama did in 2008, but she’s still never held executive office. She also obviously doesn’t have the charisma of Obama, but then again Obama was a once in a lifetime figure. She’s very unpopular with the right and is surely going to get dragged through the mud for the next four years. She doesn’t seem very popular among minority groups either. A lot can change in 4 years, but

I have no doubt that she has the ability to step into the presidential role as soon as necessary, but I wonder how she’ll navigate the tough political waters. Will she be a Truman like figure and lead a competent administration that is distinct but also a continuation of the previous one, or an ineffective Ford type?
 
Onhell said:
one doesn't require a PhD to identify fullblown unhinged behavior like staying up all night tweeting nonesense...
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It looks like we've found something else to be certain of, to go with death and taxes: while Trump has access to social media, fact checkers and myth debunkers will never be short of work ...
 
Yax said:
Unless he wins in 2024 and sends them all to jail.
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I don't think his party will let him stand again - he's an unmitigated liability on just about every front. No-one will go to prison unless they are actually convicted of a crime and Trump doesn't control the courts, whatever he may think and however he may desperately (and futilely) wish to change this ;)
 
Because the US system of primaries is really, really fucking stupid, Trump could run and win the primaries again. Fairly easily, I think.
 
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You can already pretty much guarantee these folks will run: Nikki Haley, Mike Pompeo, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, Larry Hogan, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz. With four years to go, it’s expected that more apparent contenders will crop up, there will be some dark horses, some outsiders (Tucker Carlson seems likely), and random no-name reps looking to build a national profile. You’re going to end up with another historically crowded field, which will give Trump an immediate advantage if he decides to run. He’s definitely a favorite to win the nomination and he got enough votes to justify it. That said, it’s hard to see him bringing out 70 million again. He is a one term president and a loser. This is also going to be an entirely different conversation if Dems win the senate races in Georgia and/or control both chambers by 2022.

As I’ve said before, the Republican establishment needs to figure out who their guy (or gal) is now so there isn’t a repeat of 2016.
 
I think you might take on a too optimstic view here. If Trump runs, he will likely win the nomination and could win the presidency. It's far from unlikely. Just because he lost here doesn't mean he will in 2024. You have to go back to Reagan to find somebody who brought as much enthusiasm to the Reps as Trump, and I'm not sure even he reaches the level of devotion Trump does with his zealots.

This is also why Trump is running the narrative he is, because if you spin that you were robbed of the win, and actually didn't lose, then you aren't running as a loser. And it's working. Half of the republicans believes he actually won and Biden cheated.
 
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Mosh said:
He is a one term president and a loser.
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You said it ...
Yax said:
This is also why Trump is running the narrative he is, because if you spin that you were robbed of the win, and actually didn't lose, then you aren't running as a loser. And it's working. Half of the republicans believes he actually won and Biden cheated.
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This was my original assumption too. But when he started threatening to have judges impeached for throwing out his baseless cases I have to consider that (assuming he's technically sane) his narcissistic tendencies must have reached such levels that he really considers the simple fact he lost to be incontravertible proof of fraud, and that anyone to whom this is not obvious must be complicit in said "fraud".
 
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Yax said:
I think you might take on a too optimstic view here. If Trump runs, he will likely win the nomination and could win the presidency. It's far from unlikely. Just because he lost here doesn't mean he will in 2024. You have to go back to Reagan to find somebody who brought as much enthusiasm to the Reps as Trump, and I'm not sure even he reaches the level of devotion Trump does with his zealots.

This is also why Trump is running the narrative he is, because if you spin that you were robbed of the win, and actually didn't lose, then you aren't running as a loser. And it's working. Half of the republicans believes he actually won and Biden cheated.
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I said it would be hard for him to drive the same turnout, not that he can’t win again.
 
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