Biden, the blank screen candidate
Commenter “Barry Meislin” writes of Joe Biden:
Biden, in his current, quasi-vegetative state is merely the next logical step up from Obama’s description of himself as a “blank screen on which people…project their own views”…
And it is precisely his blankness that so many fervently hope and pray will “catch the conscience of the king”.
On the other hand it may be going to far to even refer to Biden as “Blankness Visible”.
It seems far more likely that he’s trending more in the direction of a speech-impaired, not-even vague Chance the Gardener appearing in a highly touted but hugely underwhelming sequel called “Being (Not All) There”.
I think all of that is true. In some ways it’s a brilliant move on the part of the left – because I doubt it’s a strategy of Biden himself. More likely Obama and others have come up with it.
Initially they were faced with a large group of candidates from which to draw, as well as an opposing candidate (Trump) whom they had successfully demonized with a huge swath of the American public. Not a bad position for the left.
But it didn’t go as planned. None of the interest-group darlings of the left caught on with enough people to become a leader. Biden was nowhere, bringing up if not the rear then close to the rear. But the left didn’t care about that because he didn’t fit the bill in the least; they thought he was a loser, an old white guy, and he certainly hadn’t historically been on the left anyway.
Over time, though, a leader finally emerged, and it was Bernie Sanders. Oh, no! Another old white guy, this time a Jewish one – not the demographic they had in mind. What’s worse, he was unashamedly on the left and always had been. They were afraid that, because of Sanders’ up-front leftism, if he was their nominee he would lose to Trump, and that could not be borne.
Who was left by that time who had any chance of beating Trump? The only one turned out to be Biden, because of his history as Obama the Great’s vice president. It was actually Obama, you may remember, who then issued a warning that Sanders was too extreme to be the party’s candidate. Biden remained, and although he was not one of the original candidates of choice, he was now the candidate by default.
And yet, over time, as his slide into dementia became more clear, and as COVID and the resultant lockdown reared their ugly heads, the strategy emerged: expose Biden as little as possible, protect him at all costs, lean on the Obama legacy and the idea of returning to better days, and send messages to the voters on the left that people other than Biden himself would actually be in charge of policy and those people would be of the far left.
Quite brilliant, actually. It might even win. Biden’s fading mental capacity has been turned into a feature of sorts, rather than a bug.
However, the very odd thing about Biden’s current stance as a blank screen is that, unlike Obama in 2008 (who initially projected himself as a blank screen), Biden’s been in the public eye for over 40 years as a very prominent politician. And people (outside of Delaware) have consistently rejected him on the basis of the lengthy record of mediocrity coupled with mendacity and just plain ickiness that he’s amassed.
Now in his dotage, as his mind fades, Biden is being recast by his helpers as a newly-blank screen. It’s surpassingly odd and it might even work. It’s like the plot of a bad movie, and yet it’s real.
And when the world starts a crumblin, he wont know what to do…
Or scarier, he will know what to do, but it isn’t from the playbook called freedom
Yet, I can count at least 20 people who will vote for him just because he’s not Trump. Sort of the inversion of 2016 when people voted Trump because he wasn’t Hillary……a scary thought. TDS is the real virus that will destroy the country.
physicsguy”
Yes, but who did those 20 people vote for in 2016? Hillary, or Trump? If they were Hillary voters, it doesn’t mean much. If they voted for Trump, then it’s a change and it means a lot.
Again, the Democrats had some well-prepared candidates from which to choose, among them a state governor who had prospered in the business world, a governor with a history of appealing to red state electorates, and three accomplished businessmen (two of whom were exceptionally accomplished and one of whom had performed well as a public executive). They weren’t interested in these people. They were interested (to one degree or another) in Klobberherworkers, Booty-gag the Resume, Princess Spreading Bull, Larry Sanders’ n’er-do-well brother, and Sundown Joe. The culture of the Democratic Party is rotten, and the issue of that culture is acceptable to the Democratic electorate (as well as to the vacuous sorts we call ‘swing voters’). What does that tell you? That tells you that, collectively, accomplishment is not valued by people in choosing their politicians.
Recall that between 1910 and 1998, Democratic presidential nominees were generally experienced public executives. (Exceptions were George McGovern, Lyndon Johnson, John Kennedy, and John W. Davis – and of these, all but Kennedy had at least gotten their feet wet as an executive before proposing to sit in the President’s chair). A number of them had had engaging careers outside the world of politics. We haven’t lived in that world for a while. The nonagenarian Jimmy Carter, who spent < 12 years of his life as a f/t politician, is a reminder of that.
So, unless the Dems manage to excuse Biden from debating Trump, it will be interesting to see how the debates affect voters. I’m guessing, not well.
I wouldn’t expect many Dem voters to switch their votes to Trump, but I imagine some will refrain from voting — rather like NeverTrumpers in 2016.
Maybe this will be the election of the swing non-voters.
It all holds together pretty well until one starts to think, “Wait a minute. If Joe isn’t doing the things the President does, then who is doing it?” An unelected and undesired (by most) Board of Trustees. Look what that visionary model has done for our University system.
And also recall that Obama’s second term was government by edict, Executive Order, effectively bypassing legislative process for many contentious issues. Yes, let’s do lot more of that, only let’s have it managed more anonymously by a bunch of unaccountable party hacks. Solyndra anyone? DACA anyone? Uggh.
They may be secretly thinking that his dementia is a plus, as they can put in someone they like better, and are trying to figure out who that should be. But that is a terrible idea on many fronts. It won’t go smoothly, unless something dramatic like a stroke happens to Biden. A gradual deterioration will polarise the powerful people, and the everyday person, left or right, does not want that sort of uncertainty running the country. It would be an opportunity for bad actors across the country and the world to dare to try things they would otherwise not risk. It cannot go well, and might be catastrophic.
I should likely at least mention this on my own site briefly. Thank you for bringing it up.
Excuse Biden from debate…
Anyone see Tom Friedman’s column in NYT suggesting that DNC should insist on two conditions before debates?
– Release of Trumps tax returns
– A mutually agreed Truth Committee to issue report on candidate remarks immediately after the debate
I think the first is a red herring. If there were notable questionable items in the returns, I believe they would have been leaked by now, around impeachment time.
The second is a non-starter, and pointless anyway. Would such a report prevent media from chumming the water with their own spins? Of course not.
Such a proposal would be a bluff. I’ve seen Biden live, off-prompter, recently enough. He reminds me of my own father at age 80 after multiple TIA strokes. Dad had been a career NASA test pilot and Marine fighter CO, but could end up in tears just dealing with the stress of ordering lunch.
My Wife just talked with your sister (70 yr old) who lives in Sacramento area. She is a Lefty. My Wife asked her about the political situation. Her response was (parashased) “Oh Biden and the left pols don’t really mean any of the things they are advocating. Not going to happen.”
Delusional!!
Biden won’t be allowed to debate Trump, it would be far too revealing. Yet there’s an Achilles heel to Biden avoiding debate.
Regardless of how the dems try to spin it, Biden’s avoidance of debate would lessen the credibility of his attempts to rebut Trump’s political attacks.
Political ads of Biden’s many instances of severe mental ‘confusion’, the riots in democrat controlled cities, calls to defund and disband the police, rising crime, the predictable consequences of the policies Biden is advocating…
A credible GOP campaign can easily paint the dems in a very bad light. So much so that the dems should not just fail to elect Biden but lose the House as well.
Don Surber thinks Trump will take 37 states:
https://donsurber.blogspot.com/2020/07/37-states.html#more
He may be off by at least one since the federal response to Minnesota’s request for disaster aid has been “Drop Dead.”
It’s early. We shall see.
Nowhere man, please listen, you dont know what your missin
nowhere man, the world is at your command
he’s as blind as blind can be
just see’s what he wants to see
Nowhere man can you see me at all?
Let’s get beyond Biden. He’s non compos mentis and probably doesn’t even remember how to brush his teeth.
But that brings up a fascinating question: who in the Democratic establishment is willing to continue this election farce? Do they really believe they want to hoodwink the American voters by running a candidate who will never take the office, with the plan that they will replace him at some early point? How cynical can they be? I mean, I know they’re Democrats, but they have to be enormously cynical to contemplate doing what they are now contemplating.
“…enormously cynical…”
They’re far more than that.
They’re far worse than that.
They will stoop to everything and stop at nothing. (They will chuckle at your “hoodwink”.)
It’s akin to describing Joe Biden as “[having] a lengthy record of mediocrity coupled with mendacity and just plain ickiness…” (which is all certainly true, to be sure) when what he really is—short and sweet, concise and to the point—is “a corrupt thug”. (With a “wandering hands” issue that I suppose some might prefer to describe as “charming” or even “chivalrous” or perhaps “old school”.)
Having said that, he is, to his “credit”—and one must always strive to be fair—a “family man” who has gone out of his way time and time again to help out those closest to him throughout all these many years…. (And, to be fairer still, not just family.)
“Having said that, he is, to his “credit”—and one must always strive to be fair—a “family man” who has gone out of his way time and time again to help out those closest to him throughout all these many years” – Barry
https://twitchy.com/dougp-3137/2020/07/10/50000-per-month-doing-nothing-joe-bidens-pledge-to-take-care-of-your-family-just-like-he-would-his-own-is-an-epic-backfire/
When you lose WaPo’s Fact Checkers —
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/biden-ad-fact-checked-campaign-gets-four-pinocchios-over-trump-video-trickery
“An online campaign ad from former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign earned four Pinocchios in a Washington Post fact-check, which said the ad engaged in “video trickery” to omit parts of quotes and leave out context in an effort to make President Trump look bad.”
Why is Biden the “I have the delgates” Democrat Party nominee?
1) Because he took the SC primary, based almost entirely on black votes. If it’s racist to say that blacks are dumb, see The Bell Curve.
That provided momentum going into Super Tuesday: Biden won 10 states, Bernie three, and Bloomberg one.
2) Angry Bernie is hard to like. He is always angry, while Biden in bland. Drones prefer bland; they are reassured.
3) Impossible to prove, but Dems in power of influence and money (like Bloomberg) likely persuaded Bernie that Biden the elected totem would empower subordinates to enact Bernie’s programs anyway. The Party will see to that.
A few things about Biden…
1. I’ve been seeing stories dug up from the 70’s and 80’s about Biden’s questionable racial remarks during his earlier career. I would be genuinely interested in seeing more older newspaper articles from that era in which Biden is mentioned; I don’t think there would be much in the way of a smoking gun, since he’s been so largely mediocre, but in 50 years of politics there have to be SOME interesting tidbits.
2. Biden’s very strange, creepy behavior toward children (and women) is never going to become a focal point in this campaign because the left won’t let it be, but that is the primary reason I despise the man, all politics aside. It is documented, and it is unexplainable as anything other than creepy and boundary-crossing–and that’s what he’s willing to do IN FRONT OF CAMERAS. That should be the #1 reason for people to refuse to vote for him.
3. If he does win, I don’t think he’s going to live long. His VP pick will end up being President, so I think that’s who the Dem nominee really will be.
“Biden’s very strange, creepy behavior toward children (and women) is never going to become a focal point in this campaign because the left won’t let it be”
Democrats can try to keep it quiet, but that wild and creepy horse already left the barn a long time ago. My daughter asked me about Biden and what he was made of, since she heard all kinds of things about “Creepy Joe” on TikTok. I told her to Google for pictures of him, and she would understand.
A few minutes later, she returned to me, clearly horrified. She was grossed out by his “handsy” and “hair-smell” tendencies, and said she would never choose him as President, even if she could vote.
She’s 11.
Remember when Biden was “anti-impeachment insurance” for Obama? Ever wonder why? Do you know? Do you remember?
Democrats have known him for DECADES. They know he never received anything above single digits in presidential primary polls in the previous two times he ran. They know he ended 5th in New Hampshire last winter – fifth! The guy inspires NO ONE. He never filled stadiums the way Obama did. Heck, he clearly doesn’t fill a high school gym court, or gets millions of online rally viewers the way Trump did in Tulsa. (About 15 million – remember?) He doesn’t have the “boss behavior” Presidents usually have.
And now, they found themselves choosing a man who is Clearly Not There. They could have chosen someone with full use of his/her mental and cognitive faculties. There was no lack of candidates in that field with a healthy and functional brain attached to a still-young body. But for some reason, they chose none of them – just to kick Bernie Sanders out of the race.
They KNOW what they did and why they did it, and they have to continue their show for as long as possible. They have to convince people Biden wears the highly expensive silk and golden clothes that only the “highly intelligent” can see, and if you don’t want to be called a “Nazi”, “Deplorable”, or a stupid, gun-toting, redneck RACIST… YOU MUST VOTE FOR HIM! He already told a national African-America audience that if you are having doubts about voting for him, you’re not black.
Those who dare to say “Emperor Biden has no clothes!” are clearly to be exterminated.
The Democrats are doing the National Gaslight Campaign to End All National Campaigns. No, he doesn’t have dementia, YOU do. He’s not “creepy”, YOU are. Who are YOU going to believe, RACIST? Us, or your lying, racist, sexist, bigot, white-supremacist eyes?
Yer Ladyship, a very fair assessment. (Wise daughter, to boot….)
To be sure they’re keeping Biden where he can do—they believe—the least harm.
In the basement. Under wraps. Out of the light. Away from “the best disinfectant”.
(According to the once-well-known dictum, children should be “seen but not heard”. Biden, however, should be NEITHER seen NOR heard.)
And for very good reason.
Just want to add what should be obvious to most: that this is an additional reason (not that they need one) why the MSCM has gone full-throttle, no-holds-barred, porno-Pravda TOTALITARIAN: anti-Trump, anti-Truth, anti-decency, anti-country; pro-arson, pro-destruction, pro-violence, pro-death, pro-racism—i.e., the “right” kind of racism, which in their glorious judgment is referred to as “social justice”, as “virtue”.
Some may prefer to refer to it by its other name: FULL PANIC MODE. Others will call it “severe displacement syndrome”. Still others will proclaim, “meltdown” (throughout the land?). But by any other name, “terrified, deranged hysteria” is what it is.
(In case anyone WAS wondering why the MSCM is currently in hyper-overdrive.)
Time for the help to restock the basement fridge/freezer (might even be time to buy a bigger one):
https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/new-john-solomon-book-fbi-recorded-russians-make-bribe
https://justthenews.com/accountability/russia-and-ukraine-scandals/joe-bidens-ukraine-adviser-secretly-aided-kremlin
None of this matters of course.
Consider: what if an American President just happened to topple over in the forest and there was NO ONE around to see it?
And consider: what if an American President happened to whisper to the Russian President that the former would have “more flexibility” vis-à-vis the latter in the upcoming years (after his re-election), and there was NO ONE around to hear it (or report it)?
And then consider: what if an American President happened to whisper to the Russian President that the former would have “more flexibility” vis-a-vis the latter in the upcoming years (after his re-election), and THE WHOLE THING WAS BROADCAST ON AN OPEN MIC?
And the answer isssssss!
….not much….