Joe Biden-
Is he in cognitive decline? Or is he laughing behind the backs of those who believe that?
Let's talk about this for a second-
So many have reached the conclusion that Joe is having cognitive issues & that is affecting his ability to serve as President.
Well, I have a really different take on this, & whether you agree or not, I think it should at least be taken into consideration.
In order to do this right, we have to walk back through history a little. I hope that you will stay & hang out while we do.
Joe was ambitious right from his early days in Washington. He was willing to lie - about his accomplishments in college, for example. He was willing to steal - catchy quotes & speeches from others (yes, plagiarism is theft, & it matters because it points to a flaw in a person's character)- this was easier to do in the 80's, those pre-internet, pre-cell phone prehistoric days, yet he still wasn't clever enough to do it without being caught on multiple occasions (which he still does to this very day),
Biden was an ambitious man. Elected to the Senate in 1972, he declared his first candidacy for President in June of 1987- but by the end of September he had withdrawn from the race, after at least 6 instances of his intellectual theft (plagiarism) had been publicized, & multiple lies about his owm upbringing & accomplishments had been proven to be false. In spite of the fact that his tendency to "borrow", "exaggerate", & lie started long before his bid for the Presidency, he blamed his staff & the "exaggerated shadow of his past mistakes" for his failure.
He took no responsibility & assumed no accountability for his behavior. This is something consistent through Biden's entire political career.
While he explored the possibility of another shot at the big seat over the years, it wasn't until January of 2007 that he committed to another run for President, but never rose above single-digits in the polls, & after placing 5th in the Iowa caucuses on January 3, 2008 he once again bowed out of the race.
After his withdrawal, Obama (who of course had been in the running against him) approached him, suggesting he had an "important place" to fill in an Obama administration. Proud Joe at first declined the opportunity to fill the slot of VP. He felt that would be a "loss in status (aka "power")" from his Senate seat. By early August, he had changed his mind, & he became Obama's running mate. The Republican opposition (McCain/Palin) very likely made it easier for Biden to escape much scrutiny for his "exaggerated past" mistakes. Palin, being a female nominee & very outspoken, drew so much attention that he was able to remain under-the-radar & focused on campaigning in the less-populated & lower income areas of the nation as well as the areas that were predominantly Catholic (as is he).
During this campaign, it has been publicly acknowledged that Biden had received instructions from the campaign managers to keep his speeches to-the-point & avoid off-hand remarks due to the negative attention he consistently attracted. It reached a point to where a frustrated Barack Obama was heard to say "How many times is Biden gonna say something stupid?" and he (Biden) found himself uninformed about strategy discussions out of fear of how he might mess things up for the campaign.
Ever the ambitious one, Biden continued to run for Senate re-election in Delaware while running for VP. (Permitted by said state) & successfully won that Senate seat in addition to an Obama/Biden victory, & held that seat until his inauguration on January 6, 2009.
This was not only a clever way to make sure he would still be in office regardless of the outcome of the Presidential race, but a way to earn another political "first" - his Senate victory made him the youngest senator in history to start a 7th term. To a career politician, these "firsts" matter - they provide bragging rights in terms of "success".
During his first term as VP, Biden earned all the gold stars he could - those "achievements" are easily available by anyone who cares to look them up. At any rate, the success or failure of his efforts added more notches to his political belt.
As the first term drew to a close, it has been leaked that there was some consideration about replacing Biden with Hilary Clinton in the VP spot (which is a pretty strong indicator on just how successful Biden was (or wasn't) in the eyes of the Obama administration), however, after polls showed no significant improvement with Clinton replacing Biden, the campaign chose not to make that change.
The second campaign run saw Biden making some unsanctioned moves that drew some disapproval from the campaign & the President.
He got out ahead of Obama proclaiming himself "absolutely comfortable" with same-sex marriage, which was a hot topic at the time. Obama, who had taken the position that it was an issue that he was "evolving" toward accepting, was understandably upset, having already carefully put together the scenario where he would shift position to acceptance later in the campaign with a high-profile flourish just before the DNC. This was no "oops" or typical Biden gaffe - this was a deliberate nudge to step in front of Obama's shadow & get a potential advantage in a future run for President after the Obama/Biden admin had completed their final term. It should come as no surprise that "Catholic" Biden had previously advised Obama NOT to come out in favor of this issue too soon as so "not to offend Catholic voters". Due to moves like this & the noticed appearance that Biden was working behind the scenes to develop contacts who would be committed to supporting a future Biden run for President, Biden once again found himself excluded from Obama campaign strategy meetings.
Just a point of interest, in terms of the popular vote, the Obama/Biden administration won the 2 elections by very slim margins (53% in 2008 & a mere 51% in 2012).
As the 2016 election drew closer, Biden was contemplating a possible bid for the Democrat nomination against Clinton, but decided against it in October of 2015, citing the recent death of his son Beau & his grief over the loss as a main cause. While I do not doubt the grief, I've lost a son of my own, I know the reality of coming to grips with that, I still wonder how deliberately calculated his decision was in cementing a feeling of sympathy for his loss in the minds of the American people. After all, when I lost my son, I lost a huge piece of my heart & my life, but I still had to get up and go to work every day - I still had to consider the future, & I know Biden had to do the same. With his hunger for political success, I think even the loss of his son was a tool used for political advantage. Call my cynical if you like, my observation of American politics is the reason I have become such a cynic.
After Trump won in 2016, Biden found himself without a seat in politics for the first time in decades. He spent that time teaching as a professor at the U of PA, writing a memoir, and going on a book tour, which earned him a cool 15.6 million from 2017-2018. Even while outside the Washington inner-circle, he remained in the public eye as much as possible, endorsing campaigns, speaking out on climate change, politics, & LGBT rights, & at every opportunity, against the Trump administration.
As the 2020 election grew closer, he gave ambivalent "maybes" when asked if he might run, finally publicly committing to do so in April of 2019. This time around, Biden didn't let his low standing in the caucuses discourage him. He placed 4th in Iowa & just over a week later dropped to 5th in Nevada, but stayed in the race- in spite of being 21.6 percent behind Bernie Sanders at the time. He focused on winning the black vote (a pretty astounding achievement, actually, considering his past in regards to race relations, which if you don't know anything about, I will cover later, or maybe in another video)
In spite of Sander's popularity with Progressives young & old, Biden won the nomination & then the Presidency.
After almost half a century of coveting that top spot, his ambition was finally realized.
So let's take a look over the years. Those remarks & behaviors that are now being referred to as evidence of cognitive decline are not new. They are trademark Biden from even his early days in politics.
And here we are, Joe Biden is (finally, he exclaims) President of the United States. But he looks around, & he's angry. He's President, all right, but while the 'Rona, and George Floyd, & Donald Trump are getting so much focus, he's feeling like he got robbed again.
All the years of working towards the top spot, only to attain it so late in life & to be overshadowed by the events of the day- not what he expected it to be like, I'm sure.
He's bitter & he is angry. He knows he won't be able to save our country from the virus, he knows he's slowing down because of his age, he knows his mark will not be the brightest in our history & he resents us for not letting him get his coveted prize sooner, when he was still on top of his game.
Bitter angry old people are a lot like petulant children. They tend to lash out at those around them, throw temper-tantrums & break things on purpose. Ol' Joe says - "I'll show you" and sets his sights on turmoil & division. Not to fix or stop them but to rip them wide open.
Through his relationships with racist politicians like James Eastland & Strom Thurmond, he has craftily learned how to use race as a wedge and an advantage, & he does it like a pro.
In 1978, Eastland was a mentor to a young Joe Biden. Biden, fearing he might lose his very first re-election bid, told Eastland of his worry, Eastland, who was fond of Biden, asked what he could do to help. Joe, knowing that a backing from Eastland could potentially harm him in his liberal northeast state, voiced that "in some places, Eastman could help, but in others might hurt" his re-election campaign. Eastman then replied he would "come to Delaware and campaign for him or against him (Biden) - whichever would help the most" - when Biden would recount this story in later years, he would cite it as an example of how politics used to work & how they should still work today. That opposing sides might argue in chambers, but once the day was done & work was over, they would sit down to dinner together as friends. Remember though, this was not just some democratic opposition member. this was John Eastland, one of the most outspoken racists in the history of politics, and Biden bragged publicly about the fact that Eastland never called him "senator" or by his given name, but rather "son". Eastland's racist rhetoric was less important to Biden than his support for Biden's political career.
In defense of his relationship with Eastland & Thurmond, Biden implies that both had changed their racist views before they died. Whether this is true, or just a way for career-politician Joe to "white-wash" his relationships with them remains under speculation, but is met with skepticism by many.
Joe Biden even gave a eulogy at Eastland's funeral. This is significant, something done for someone who one truly loves or admires. Joe was wily enough to know Thurmond's support in politics could hurt him, it stands to reason he would also know that his eulogy could do the same.
Looking through the years of policies and commentary, you can find evidence that Joe and Thurmond may have shared views regarding race. Biden fought actively to stop busing laws in the early 70's. In Biden's own memoir (2007), he recollects how, in 1975, he (Biden) thought of busing as a "liberal train wreck," and found himself huddled with a group of Dixiecrats, planning how they might introduce anti-busing legislation that could pass in the Senate.
This quote from Biden was made in 1977 - "Unless we do something about this, my children are going to grow up in a jungle, the jungle being a racial jungle with tensions having built so high that it is going to explode at some point. We have got to make some move on this."
It appears he has been sowing the seed of division regarding race in America for longer than most people are aware of. In 1976, he said this to a group of 5th graders in Newark, DE "Kids had no choice in this," he told the white children. "You shouldn't hate black kids. They had nothing to do with it. Black kids don't want to come to your school any more than you want to go to their school."
An explosive thought to put in the mind of a 5th grader who is not yet mature enough to understand the idea that it is a fear of something unknown that drives their feelings, not a hate or dislike of one another. But instead of addressing the fear, chose to insinuate feelings of mutual dislike. And he was young then. This was not some gaffe or "mistake" about poor kids being as smart as white kids by some doddering old fool. And that infamous statement he I just referred to was no mistake either. It was just a slip where he showed his true feelings.
I only mention this as evidence of Biden's ability to play the political game. Attitudes and Actions in his career that obviously point to some racist leanings, yet he was able to turn the tables during his campaign & deliberately edit and misquote Trump to make it appear that Trump was racist.
He did this over and over & it worked to his advantage.
In politics, it's not about truth, it's about winning. And damn the consequences to opponent, to country, to people.
So, here we have this man, Joe Biden - who has persevered through his life and career choice to end up with the top spot - the crowning achievement to his life, a victory that will be part of history forever. WOW! That sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it?
But for ol' Joe, not so much.
He's a bitter & angry man who feels robbed by the world. He knows he is old, and he resents the fact that he got the big prize so late after so many failed tries. He inherited that top spot amid a pandemic that is dominating news all over the world, events like the death of George Floyd which are dominating news headlines & he knows that no matter how well he does his job, he won't ever be able dominate this part of history. And he's pissed off.
He knows full well that he is creating division in our nation of epic proportions, not only in race, but in sexual preference, in gender preference, in income classes, if there's division, Joe is right there making the cuts deeper while trying to make the world believe he's doing just the opposite.
Because he is determined we are all gonna PAY for waiting so long to make him our President. He's gonna punish America & her people to the fullest extent imaginable for waiting 'til he was practically too old for the job to give it to him.
And he's played the game long enough to know that when he finally breaks the very last thing he can find, no one will ever blame him outright. They'll blame his age, his mental state due to his advanced years, and never once realize that he knew what he was doing the entire time.
But I know. I see his eyes when he speaks, when they go from the normal faded-out old man blue to that black empty soul-less glare.
I know when I hear him tell outright lies because I've been listening & I've been researching for quite a while now. I don't think he is the devil himself, but I do think he sold his soul to that devil for his position. And I think, like most who sell their souls to the devil, that the reward is not quite what he thought it would be. But what else would one expect from the devil?
Sell your soul for money, watch the tax man come take his share,
Sell your soul for love, watch that love either be so strong it makes you run away, or instead of being passionate, be platonic.
Wish for fame, get infamy
Wish for power, watch that power be not for good, but for evil
After all, it is the devil you deal with.
