Caitlin Johnstone lines up video clips to show how narrative managers are applying the wrong word to the former vice president’s problem.
By Caitlin Johnstone
CaitlinJohnstone.com
It’s very bizarre and dissonant how there are currently two separate and non-overlapping lines of criticism going on against the campaign of establishment-anointed Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. There are the perfectly accurate criticisms regarding the right-wing, militaristic policy positions of the politician Joe Biden used to be, and then there are the equally accurate criticisms of Biden’s handlers and Democratic Party leadership for wheeling out the dementia-addled husk of a man he currently is to run for the world’s most powerful elected office.
These two debates do not interweave, because they are not relevant to one another. It doesn’t matter what political positions a dementia victim once had; what matters is taking care of him and keeping him away from hazards, like sharp objects and nuclear launch codes. It’s impossible to know what actual political convictions still remain held within a mind that can no longer lucidly string thoughts together anyway.
I hate doing this. I hate repeatedly writing about the obvious and undeniable fact that an old man is exhibiting obvious and undeniable symptoms of incipient dementia. It isn’t fun, and it doesn’t feel good. But the alternative is lying down and allowing the Democratic party and its allied media to gaslight people into believing it’s not a thing, as they are doing currently.
At a certain point there needs to be a serious and empathetic conversation about Biden's relatively frequent, confused, irritable inability to complete coherent thoughts. It's not about a stutter. Watching him speak a mere four years ago makes that clear. Hope this happens soon!
— Cody Johnston (@drmistercody) March 5, 2020
If you do a live Twitter search for the word “stutter,” you will as of this writing see that word being tweeted multiple times per minute on the social media platform as Democrats scramble to defend Biden from people who are accurately highlighting the indisputable fact that the former vice president is showing signs of cognitive decline. In my interactions with Biden supporters over the last 24 hours I’ve had this irrelevant word suddenly start getting thrown at me, because narrative managers in the mainstream media and the Biden campaign have been aggressively promoting the talking point that Biden’s increasingly frequent neurological misfirings on the campaign trail are actually the result of a longstanding speech impediment.
This is false. While it is true that Biden has periodically exhibited signs of a stutter, the inability to hold on to his own train of thought, forgetting where he is and who he’s with, grossly incorrect use of language, and inappropriate behavior are not symptoms of a stutter.
Here is the Mayo Clinic’s list of symptoms for a stutter, also known as a stammer:
- Difficulty starting a word, phrase or sentence
- Prolonging a word or sounds within a word
- Repetition of a sound, syllable or word
- Brief silence for certain syllables or words, or pauses within a word (broken word)
- Addition of extra words such as “um” if difficulty moving to the next word is anticipated
- Excess tension, tightness, or movement of the face or upper body to produce a word
- Anxiety about talking
- Limited ability to effectively communicate
Here is the Mayo Clinic’s list of dementia symptoms:
- Memory loss, which is usually noticed by a spouse or someone else
- Difficulty communicating or finding words
- Difficulty with visual and spatial abilities, such as getting lost while driving
- Difficulty reasoning or problem-solving
- Difficulty handling complex tasks
- Difficulty with planning and organizing
- Difficulty with coordination and motor functions
- Confusion and disorientation
Clearly, the symptoms of the speech impediment are very distinct from the symptoms of a degenerative neurological disorder. What follows are dozens of examples suggesting the latter, most of which were compiled by the Twitter user @KoenSwinkels. You may be absolutely certain that Trump will not hesitate to highlight this growing mountain of evidence should Democratic Party leadership successfully install Biden as the nominee; in fact both Trump and his Fox News cheerleaders are doing so already.
Joe Biden is Jeb Bush plus dementia. Trump will be far less charitable with his symptoms than I am here, and if he’s nominated the president will make certain this story dominates news headlines from the convention until November. Anyone who wants Trump out of office should fiercely oppose Biden’s nomination.
1. “Make sure you have the record player on at night… make sure the kids hear words.”
Everyone talked about Biden’s bizarre call for families to make use of an archaic audio technology in response to a debate question about slavery, and some criticized his paternalistic suggestion that black Americans need to be taught how to raise their children correctly, but hardly anyone made a fuss about the fact that his entire answer was also a rambling, incoherent word salad.
It’s easy to overlook linguistic peculiarities when they’re spoken, so I made a verbatim transcript of Biden’s complete answer, exactly as he spoke it. There are no typos. Read it carefully, resisting the urge to mentally re-word it in order to make it make sense:
“Well they have to deal with the — Look, there is institutional segregation in this country. And from the time I got involved I started dealing with that. Redlining. Banks. Making sure that we’re in a position where — Look, talk about education. I propose that what we take is those very poor schools, the Title 1 schools, triple the amount of money we spend from 15 to 45 billion a year. Give every single teacher a raise that equal raise to getting out — the sixty-thousand dollar level.
“Number two: make sure that we bring into the help the — the student, the, the teachers deal with the problems that come from home. The problems that come from home. We need — We have one school psychologist for every fifteen hundred kids in America today. It’s crazy. The teachers are reca — Now, I’m married to a teacher. My deceased wife is a teacher. They have every problem coming to them. We have make sure that every single child does in fact have three, four, and five year-olds go to school — school, not daycare. School. We bring social workers into homes of parents to help them deal with how to raise their children. It’s not that they don’t wanna help, they don’t want — they don’t know quite what to do. Play the radio, make sure the television, the — ‘scuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, the-the-the-the phone, make sure the kids hear words. A kid coming from a very poor school, a very poor background, will hear four million words fewer spoken by the time they get there.”
Compare this muddle-headed mess, and all the following subsequent examples, to the crisp, forceful way Biden used to speak:
Or even just a few years ago:
Joe Biden explains why Bernie Sanders is the best to beat Trump.
(Yes, this is Joe 4 years ago.. I know it's strange watching him talk in full sentences.) pic.twitter.com/5zhs1eYvFu
— Aisha Sharna (@SharnaAisha) March 4, 2020
3. “Super Thursday”
4. “I’m a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate. Look me over, if you like what you see help out, if not vote for the other Bi- gimme a look though okay?”
This is so sad.
Here @JoeBiden says to the crowd in South Carolina that he is "running for the United States Senate" and that if they don't like him they can "vote for the other Biden."
I honestly wish he would've retired & not subjected himself to the rigors of this campaign. pic.twitter.com/mygFnsrdjC
— Shaun King (@shaunking) February 25, 2020
Fact check: Biden has not been a candidate for the United States Senate in a great many years, and is in fact running for the presidency.
5. “Alright Chuck!”
BIDEN: “Alright Chuck”
WALLACE: “It’s Chris but anyway..”
How many Biden Gaffes have there been this week?
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) March 1, 2020
Fact check: Chris. Chris Wallace.
6. “Right here in the state of North South Carolina.”
Fact check: Not a state.
7. Randomly biting his wife’s finger.
Fact check: Don’t do that, Joe.
8. Worked with Deng Xiaoping, who died 23 years ago, on the Paris Climate Accord during the Obama administration.
9. “Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.”
10. Whatever the hell this is.
11. We’ll increase healthcare premiums and make sure care is not quality, only affordable.
12. “Look, fat, look, here’s the deal.”
13. “My deceased son was the Attorney General of the United States.”
?? THREAD – BIDEN’S LIES ??#BidenLies: Joe Biden falsely says his son was Attorney General of the United States. #FactCheckBiden pic.twitter.com/Y3ijV2khuX
— ?Becca ???? (@Becca4Bernie) March 1, 2020
Beau Biden was only the Attorney General of Delaware.
14. Being aggressive and inappropriate with Iraq war veterans, wrongly insinuating that his son died in the war.
U.S. veterans recently confronted Biden over his support for the Iraq invasion, one saying “My friends are dead because of your policies.”
“So’s my son,” Biden replied. “He was in Iraq, okay? For a year. Not that it matters, right?”
“I’m not going after your son,” the veteran said.
“You better not,” Biden replied.
Biden’s son was in Iraq from 2008 to 2009. He died in 2015, of cancer.
15. This incoherent word salad.
Anyway, good time to remind everyone that Joe Biden has dementia. pic.twitter.com/xETlMd46Qc
— 29 U.S.C. § 157 (@OrganizingPower) March 1, 2020
Here’s a transcript of an answer Biden gave to a question at a town hall. Read through it, resisting the urge to mentally revise it into something more coherent:
“And so I was saying that, and what they turned around and said, Joe Biden said, in effect, they said, that Joe Biden said that what he was told, that what, that what the white supremacists argue, that we have no problem, that our, our, our basic English jurisprudential system is not the problem. The problem is those countries like Africa and Asia and those places, they’re the reason why we have all these problems. So they turn it around to make it sound like that, and by the way, the title of the article is, was, is the Washington Post ‘The Deceptively (indecipherable) of Joe Biden Singles, Signals What Is Coming’ and that is that’s a whole bunch of lies. The generic point I’m making here is that, what has happened is that, I know we’re going to get in to, whomever the nominee is of the Democratic Party, is going to have a plethora of lies told about him or her, and misrepresentations and this went on the internet, this edited article, it got retweeted by some press people and then they realized it was edited to make it look like something not… white supremacists, see, Biden’s acknowledging that the problem here is that that all those folks, all those minority folks are the problem. And so, in essence. And so they corrected, they corrected. You’re going to see a lot more of it. You’re going to see a lot more of not only my statements being taken out of context, and lied about, or altered, you’re going to see whomever the Democratic nominee is because that’s how this guy operates. Now. Whether or not I can win?”
16. “We choose truth over facts.”
17. “150 million people have been killed since 2007 when Bernie voted to exempt the gun manufacturers from liability.”
This would be about half the population of the United States. Pretty sure that would’ve made bigger headlines.
18. Confusing Theresa May with Margaret Thatcher.
He only missed by 29 years!! ?
Biden mixes up British PM Theresa May with Margaret Thatcher, who left office in 1990 https://t.co/H1wiDRY47A— David Wohl (@DavidWohl) May 5, 2019
19. Confusing Angela Merkel with Margaret Thatcher.
20. “You’re a lying dog-faced pony soldier.”
21. Rambling confused gibberish, including saying Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated in the late 1970s.
Both men were assassinated in 1968.
22. Fix the problem of violence against women by “punching at it and punching at it and punching at it.”
23. Implementing a childcare tax credit would “put 720 million women back in the workforce.”
This would be more than double the entire U.S. population.
24. Thought he was in Vermont when he was in New Hampshire.
25. Confused New Hampshire and Nevada.
#Biden mistakes New Hampshire for Nevada pic.twitter.com/v8kiLjElq0
— CaseStudyQB (@CaseStudyQB) February 12, 2020
26. Said he was vice president during the Parkland shooting.
Biden left the office of the vice presidency in January 2017. The Parkland shooting was February 2018.
27. Said 1976 when he meant 2014.
28. Said he’s looking forward to “appointing the first African American woman to the United States Senate.”
Joe Biden is looking forward to ‘appointing’ the first African American woman to the Senate.
First, since when are senators appointed?
Second, Carol Braun was the first African American woman senator in 1993.
Third, Joe Biden’s repeated gaffes make him unfit for the office! pic.twitter.com/YCThCORGQM
— Andrew Pollack (@AndrewPollackFL) February 28, 2020
Nobody “appoints” senators; they’re elected. The first African American woman in the U.S. Senate took office in 1993.
29. “Go to Joe 30330 and help me in this fight.”
I beg your pardon? pic.twitter.com/sO6FU3QW4X
— Axios (@axios) August 1, 2019
Biden apparently received instructions from his team to tell debate viewers to text “Joe” to 30330, but these directions were too complicated for him. He wound up sending viewers to a random empty URL which was subsequently bought up by a Buttigieg supporter.
30. Made, then dropped, claim that he was arrested in South Africa while trying to visit Nelson Mandela in prison.
Biden's fake Mandela story would have been a week-long news disaster for him back when anyone still had bandwidth and standards https://t.co/ESdcjChPsQ
— Tom Scocca (@tomscocca) February 27, 2020
31. “Clipping coupons at the stock market.”
That’s not a thing, Joe.
32. Confused his wife and his sister.
33. Jill Biden’s face revealing a flash freakout when he starts forgetting what he’s saying.
Joe Biden FORGOT what he was saying AGAIN.
Jill Biden’s REACTION to it! #SuperTuesdayResults #SuperTuesday pic.twitter.com/7pDroKqLOm
— Andrew Jerell Jones (@sluggahjells) March 4, 2020
34. Claimed he had the support of the “only” African American woman that had ever been elected to the senate, while the other one was standing on the stage with him.
35. “Why why why why why why why!”
36. Referred to Bernie Sanders as “the president,” then, still unable to remember his name, called him “my friend Vermont.”
37. Also called Cory Booker “the president.”
38. Repeatedly forgot Obama’s name, called him “President… My Boss.”
That’s it for now. Let me know if I missed any good ones; I’ll probably keep this updated with all the latest neurological misfirings until this discussion goes mainstream like it should already be.
Caitlin Johnstone is a rogue journalist, poet, and utopia prepper who publishes regularly at Medium. Follow her work on Facebook, Twitter, or her website. She has a podcast and a book, “Woke: A Field Guide for Utopia Preppers.”
This article was re-published with permission.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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A true sock puppet Presidency is a dream come true for the MIC; the worms at the DNC have outdone themselves.
The question we should be asking is who or what will be running our government under Biden.
Watching Joe Biden’s deterioration over the last many months, and being a conservative, fears that Biden could be a real threat to Trump were more and more alleviated. Over time though, I began to pity Joe as I realized the untenable situation Democrats had placed him in.
There was no way Democrats were going to allow Bernie Sanders to face President Trump and as the rest of the extremely large field of contenders vying for the White House were whittled down it became evident Joe was the man and the stress was taking its toll on the man. He is trapped. There is no fall-back, no reserve who can be thrown into the fray to replace an injured player and while Joe demonstrates more and more indications of debilitating dementia I came to realize that what should be a private matter between himself and his family members is going to be played out to all the world.
It’s difficult to imagine the frustration, anxiety, desperation, his campaign members are suffering if they have any compassion at all and aren’t totally consumed with a win at any cost attitude. There is no where for them to go, no one to turn too. Had they known their golden boy was going to pull up lame heading for the home stretch they would most definitely have backed another horse but it’s too late now.
Everyone who accepts the reality of the situation knows Sanders can’t win so Democrats have to force, cajole, threaten, poor Joe to try to man-up but everyone, except those that believe in unicorns and garden fairies, knows that ain’t going to happen. It’s not a stutter and it’s only going to get worse. I don’t wish the Democrats will find a savior but the longer Joe is thrust forward to perform seven-minute rallies with the media recording his more frequent gaffs the more I pity him and resent his campaign for making him embarrass himself.
I am open-minded enough that I can usually see both sides of a political issue even when the most obvious solution doesn’t benefit the party I support but honestly, I see no out for Democrats and if they continue to push Joe Biden for the next eight months as he displays more and more symptoms people will resent them for abusing an old man who deserves better. There is no out.
I never cared for Biden and the things he has done however, this is absolutely ridiculous. The man is obviously sick yet someone or probably many people want him to run despite knowing he cannot win. If he continues he will be remembered for this, his last political fray. He has already become the butt of jokes. This the party that claims to be compassionate. Why then are they using this man simply to retain some power?
That is what it is as any clear thinking person knows it. They do not want Sanders who will take many down with him. Neither Biden or Sanders can win but with Biden they have a chance of holding the House and a small chance of flipping the Senate. So they are going to put this sick man up.
I guess at the debates I hope Trump doesn’t go too hard on the guy. However, Trump is Trump and for the last three years he has been called everything by various Democrats including Biden as a Russian asset, a traitor, and an orange orangutan not to mention mentally deranged. I am not sure how I would react to all of that but when I was faced to debate their leading candidate I would be tempted, very tempted to show the world who is demented.
This is absolutely sad. What is wrong with his family, allowing him to be humiliated on a daily basis? Some think he is being “set up” and when it becomes just SO bad the dems will then throw Hillary in at the last minute.
Judging the current conditions around this globe anyone might be intimidated by the reality. Maybe that is what eating him. Beside if he don’t satrt stuttering before he is elected he will soon after, get that gurney ready.
Seriously think about the last six presidents we have had. The only one that seemed to have anything like an “A” game when speaking in public was Obama. All the others espoused party line, deep state B.S. Obama was out of his league thinking he could take on the Deep State, a country at least one third full of racists and a congress that looks to be half full of racists.
No, no, no Reagan was an actor who I dopmn’t think ever knew what was going on.
Part of that reality may be the pace on modern communications a but only one of these last six presidents had their act together, regardless of the outcome of their terms. The youngest one.
Raygun, 41, Clinton, who was impeached, 43 who should have been impeached and Trump , who were it not for a following of misguided, ill mannered fascist acting numb skulls would surely have been impeached, are five who didn’t.
If Joe gets elected the only thing that might save him is the CIA. It worked for five of the last six and you can count Obama if you consider him following orders if CIA, as them watching out for him. I figure if Obama had held the democrats feet to the fire and tried to initiate change he might not have made it through his two terms.
So it isn’t like Joe doesn’t have a lot on his mind, that is whats left of it The democrats are the perfect example of what Churchill is said to have said about Americans, to quote, “You can always depend on the Americans to do the right thing, after they have tried everything else.”
No word on when the democrats might get another chance to do the right thing
That said I am going to personally enjoy watching the guys in the white suits haul Donny out of the White House strapped to a gurney.
If all Americans who are as sick of the bullshit as I am were to get into their overpowered SUV’s and start driving toward DC I figure these bull shit problems might get resolved rather quickly.
It is past time for a voter’s rebellion. The two parties and their billions have hijacked American politics and became one team who intend at all costs not to let voters have any real choice.
The Dems should have learned something last time around but I guess the money was just too damned good, now they have proven beyond a doubt that they are as worthless as teets on a boar hog.
Reagan was clearly senile, and that was no hindrance to him becoming President — so why should it be any different in the case of Biden?
There’s no question that Obama was slick, polished and well-spoken. However, as to this idea of holding his feet to the fire, it doesn’t explain why he got so cozy with Goldman Sachs figures; went after Edward Snowden and did little to stem the dark tide of the war on terror. I think he was a sell-out from the get-go.
And while this article makes a compelling case for Biden’s loss of mental acuity, if Donald Trump throws those barbs, there are
plenty of filmed segments of his own loss of words, his word salads, his nasal breathing, possible use of inhaled drugs, and overall cognitive decline. Add in that many psychiatrists have gone on record to discuss his malignant narcissism and clinical (dangerous) mental illness.
One might think about the possibility that dementia could oblige the VP choice to become President. So who do you think she may be? Is the choice of Joe a setup? Because, of course, Hillary maintains the illusion that he could win.
Read this excellent article and then had the experience this evening of getting to see about two accidental minutes of MSNBC’s pre-recorded and undoubtedly heavily edited ‘in depth interview’ with dear old uncle joe himself. All I saw was his denial of the existence of a ‘Democratic Party establishment’ except for its voters. This, while a smug and utterly contemptible Lawrence O’Donnell smiled benignly. One absolutely sinister piece of Nazi-like performance art. MSNBC has caught up with its mentor, Fox News, and possibly surpassed it.
Ha!I like it! Vote Biden get Killary. Thing is Warren is the consummate political opportunist and she still hasn’t come down on anyones side yet, maybe Warren is negotiating behind the scenes for VP. She’s another one who will be so overwhelmed by the the deep state that she will just end up doing as she’s told which is all they want. Interesting times.
Demented Trump…and then demented Biden? Something to look forward to, eh?
Only a neuropsychological evaluation will settle this debate. Until then all is speculation and hearsay evidence.
There is speculation by experts and speculation by people who don’t know anything about the subject. So you are correct that no one knows for sure, but I think we should look to people who know a lot about the conditions for guidance.
I’m not saying anything negative about your comment hough.
Hearsay? But the evidence is right before your eyes. That’s not hearsay by any definition of the word.
given the intellectual meatballs often occupying the subsidized housing at 1600 pennsylvania avenue, biden can sound pretty much average, and some of this involves much less than the near idiotic patter of a reagan, the bumbling of a gerald ford or perhaps the biggest schmuck of all, george bush the second..if he’d worked for the post office mail for honolulu might have wound up in anchorage..trump will eat biden alive in a debate and bernie is the only one who can defeat trump, probably soundly in that he would get easily a quarter of the trump vote from 2016 while bringing in a host of new voters..what’s most important is that with all his possible and real faults, bernie’s positives far outweigh any alleged strength in a biden candidacy, currently being shoved down the throats and between the ears of the same unfortunates who believed trump couldn’t win in 2016..and if bernie runs with tulsi his margin might be biggest of all, despite any of her negatives…she’s not only the best on foreign policy – not saying much given the competition – but has all the knee jerk positives to compensate for weaknesses; female, of color, military status, etc
But allowing the ample precedent (check “We are mediocre presidents” on YouTube), meatballs have full right to aspire to the highest office like everyone else. Some meatballs are compatible with socialist democracy (say, Swedish). But, to cite Walter Mondale, “where is the beef”?
Too much importance is given to the present contrived situation (by the DNC, which would rather lose to Trump than have a “progressive” candidate for POTUS). Biden was only given the VP job by Obama to ensure they got the votes of people otherwise unlikely to support Obama. This also occurred with JFK choosing Lyndon Johnson for VP to help him in the South, as it did. Biden has almost every fault possible except for being a “nice guy”, like Dubya Bush being someone you like to share a beer with!(even with a teetotaller!)
The US system is not designed to choose good candidates, and is not a system copied by other nations ,perhaps for this reason. Biden is terrible, Trump and all his GOP competitors in 2016 were terrible, Hillary deserved to lose and Sanders did not fight to win. Sanders is apparently now changing his emphasis away from what makes people want him!!! Biden cannot win, would be no better than Trump and will we all survive till 2024???
JFK did not choose Lyndon Johnson as his running mate.
He chose Senator Stuart Symington. However, before the announcement could be made, he got a visit from LBJ who was armed with a blackmail dossier provided by his friend J.Edgar Hoover.
Inga Arvad was suspected of being a Nazi spy and JFK had had a relationship with her during the war.
The fact that JFK changed his mind after a visit from LBJ is confirmed by Clark Clifford in his memoirs ‘Counsel to the President’. He describes how JFK called him up to his room and told him he now felt he had a better chance with LBJ as his running mate. He was asked to pass on the message to Symington.
Sadly, this later proved to be a fatal decision for Kennedy.
I have been a stutterer for my whole life. I consider myself an expert.
The person who wrote this article should research stuttering more.
Many of the things he is doing with his speech are things that stutters do: word substitution accounts for many of his gaffes. For instance—he didn’t forget Obama’s name, he realized he couldn’t say it so he quickly said “the president”
And word avoidance accounts for many other mistakes “you know the rest” was an avoidance of having to recite part of the constitution.
Part of stuttering is also becoming consumed with avoiding stuttering and having to try extra hard to keep on track. This gets much harder with age. It’s mentally tiring.
All this is not to say that every gaffe is caused by his stutter or that he is a strong or week candidate.
This post is not politically motivated.
I guess the thing that bothers me is that the author obviously didn’t talk to a stutterer or a speech therapist before writing the article. If she had she wouldn’t have left out the mitigating factors that I mentioned. She could have still written about gaffs that he made that are clearly not related to his stuttering.
The fact that she didn’t reach out to an expert and instead chose to merely list Mayo Clinic’s list of mayo clinics basic symptoms was remiss and actually despicable.
It is true that a large percentage of the clips are simple word substitutions, like Senator for Supreme Court Justice. A smaller percentage is babbling, like the story about his leg hairs, or vinyl records emerging from some deep recess of his mind. Then you have thoughts that he says loudly, “you dog-faced pony soldiers”, that resemble Turette syndrome.
Vinyl records gaffe deserves a serious discussion. Said intelligently, children may be provided with well designed educational aids to alleviate poor knowledge and vocabulary of their family background. But I seriously doubt if listening to a random “four million words” is beneficial. More likely, Biden remembered some simplistic explanation of the concept 40-50 years ago and in the meantime HE NEVER GAVE IT A THOUGHT. Biden never was a deep thinker (my impressions of him go back a while), and now, with age, he pulls out those half-baked ideas from the past out of context, and with some babbling.
To paraphrase probable candidates for this Fall, “Our nuclear was tired, but now it will pat my hairy legs and it will be as good as new”.
—–
A random non-serious idea. [serious problem] The ratio of retired people over working people is increasing, making it more and more difficult to provide the seniors with a decent standard of living and health care. We may consider increasing the retirement age. But how should we decided it? [non-serious solution] We can leave it to all voters. Any time they elect someone older than the current retirement age plus 10, the retirement age will increase by one year. Citizens can collectively decide when folks can still work, even at the position of the highest responsibility.
Did Biden sound like this his first few decades in politics? Did he stutter during that timeframe? Not that I recall. The fact that he is doing this now, in his late seventies, and that he did not sound like this when he was younger, strongly suggests cognitive issues.
watch old videos of Biden, even 4 years ago. His speech is remarkably clearer and more precise then. Stutterer or not, word substitution or not, he’s clearly lost it and it’s getting worse weekly.
Today, NPR has been playing clips from Biden’s terrifyingly incoherent St. Louis speech. He sounds like he’s falling down drunk. Here’s my transliteration of 31:10 on C-SPAN: “You’re all part ma movemen a moob men that has a backbone the backbone of the Democratic Party a mooin’s gun defeat Donald Trump.” Hearing the clip this morning put tears in my eyes because it so acutely reminded me of the final speech patterns of my grandfather, a brilliant nuclear physicist who died of Alzheimers at age 78. I also cried at clip #33 because the pain in Jill Biden’s eyes projected me right back into the helplessness of witnessing Granddad’s cognitive decline. It’s tragically time to take away Biden’s car keys, and yet these endorsements are trying to buy him a Maserati. How can this nightmare be happening. Thank you, Caitlin Johnstone, for maintaining this much-needed reality check.
Yes, please, Dear God, remove this man from the election theater. How? How is it possible that he has come this far?? We are all doomed. From the earliest debates it was crystal clear to me that he is in a state of decline and no match for Trump. It’s true, the Democratic establishment is corrupt, so afraid of a Sanders presidency that they have to prop up a man in such a state of serious decline that we’ll ensure another four years of Trump. Any of the other candidates would have been great – any of them – Biden was my LAST choice, not because I dislike the man, but my God, Trump, the narcissistic personality disordered wunderkind will utterly destroy Biden in a debate. Just in the past 24 hours Biden was caught in a disastrous nearly incomprehensible debate with an attendee in Michigan over gun control – he was belligerent, incoherent, and unable to even have a simple exchange of ideas with any clarity. Trump will annihilate him; all those with NPD are masters of winning debates.
A 1-minute read about Biden’s mental decline. “My Mom and Joe Biden”, published at Medium dot com. I wrote it.
My concluding words, on the result if the Dems nominate an addled Biden: “Come November, there could be one of two terrible outcomes. The first is Biden could lose. The other is that he could win.”
?Before his dementia onset, Biden blazed a decades-long trail of destruction across American life — from Social Security and healthcare to disastrous wars and mass incarceration (read: Jim Crow 2.0).
So with Wall Street Joe as the Dem nominee it would be heads we lose, tails we lose. ?
Q: Which would be worse: a mentally sharp President Biden or an addled one?
A: Let’s not find out.
I agree with all those who commented (more or less) – do an article on Trump’s speech and twitter rants.
……and Her Highness of Party High Command, Hillary was on Sunday morn talkshow (Fareed Zakaria) blaming RUSSIA for the dangers we face!! Fiona (CIA) Hill did a serious segment on 60 minutes, blaming Russia. This country is SUCH a crock! There are 32 members of the “Freedom Caucus” in FULL support of Trumfuhrer. Not Russia. Prior to Freedom Caucus’ grip on GOP, there was Koch Brothers funding of Tea Party racism run rampant. Not a Russia Issue. There is at least one supreme court judge having suspect compromised finances, not investigated by judiciary committee. AGain, Not a Russia Issue. There are three other supreme court judges in FULL support of Trumpfuhrere. NOt a Russia issue. Mitch McConell…NOT a Russia issue. This country is OVER. Full of cads w No upbringing other than swagger and getting paid for it.
P.S. Fox news is the Trumpfuhrer official propaganda outlet (even CNN/MSNBC normalize him)…..NOT a Russia issue.
Thank you for your work, Ms. Johnstone. Dr. David Scheiner, who was Obama’s doctor, lends support to your hypothesis. About Biden, Scheiner told the Washington Examiner, “He’s not a healthy guy.”
“Scheiner previously told the Examiner that Biden “looked frail” during the first Democratic primary debate. “I sort of got the feeling he wasn’t very strong. It was similar to the feeling I got when Republicans started attacking Mueller so fiercely,” he said.” (New York Post, Dec. 20) [That comparison suggests Scheiner is including cognitive ability in his use of the word “frail.”]
Scheiner had concerns, also, about Trump’s mental health. “[H]e wants to see MRI results for Trump to check for strokes, as well as a neurocognitive assessment. He raised concerns about the president’s speech pattern and behavior, saying it may be a sign of neurological damage,” reports the Examiner, and suggested “Something happened,” with regard to Trump’s visit to Walter Reed.
In summary, there are questions about the cognitive ability of three people who have had or could have extremely important government roles. That gives weight to Scheiner’s recommendation “that all candidates for the presidency should disclose far more medical information than they do now and that it should be collected and disclosed by an independent medical panel.” (Examiner)
“The stakes are too high,” Scheiner said. “If they make a mistake because their cognitive skills are diminished, we pay the price.” (Examiner)
see: washingtonexaminer.com/news/lot-of-issues-former-obama-doctor-says-biden-is-not-a-healthy-guy
NY Post link: see: nypost.com/2019/12/20/obamas-former-doctor-says-joe-biden-is-not-a-healthy-guy-report/
Clearly it’s well beyond simply: “Hey, Joe, where are you going with those feet in you mouth.”
However, to the extent there ARE “narrative managers,” they have clearly used the
optimal (if totally false) word!
I was flagged by Facebook for talking about the pro-Trump comment Joe made.
“Bernie Sanders has done his best to cover up: the Democratic Party is a party of the capitalist class. It can no more be converted to socialism than the CIA can become an instrument of the struggle against American imperialism.”
The duplicitousness of exploiting misery is especially vile if a candidate knows from the start millions of his enthusiastic supporters comprised of minorities, the young, and the marginalized will ultimately be hoodwinked into supporting, Biden, a demented warmongering crook who is medically propped up to execute a seven minute campaign speech.
Large campaign rallies might not be a concern for much longer, inasmuch, as the security state will probably end rallies saying they fear large crowds will spread the coronavirus. Once rallies are no longer a consideration the intelligence agencies will only need to prop up “drooling Joe” in front of a gold curtain flanked by numerous American flags. Drooling Joe, will read a short speech rehearsed numerous times and then he’ll be quickly ushered off the stage before the public can detect Joe is mentally more dead than alive.
And there you have it– democracy in action. This is the kind of democracy the US is promoting throughout the planet. This is the reason behind every regime change war. To put it simply–the US intelligence agencies want to control the sovereign leaders of every government. They wish every leader was as brain dead as Biden–their job would be a lot easier.
Trillions of working-class tax dollars are absconded by the military/security/surveillance corporate state to fight endless NEEDLESS wars to fatten the pockets of war profiteers and every other ancillary grifter. Genocide is committed throughout the Middle East and Africa to spread US democracy. A democracy where the will of the people is crushed.
I am afraid you’ve hit upon the crux of the matter. One would think after Bernie playing the role of sheepdog in 2016 rather than challenging the DNC and Hillary at the convention over the leaked emails exposing the utter corruption of the process that people would be less than trusting of Bernie in 2020. Yet here we are again.
Tulsi is the only one who dares speak the truth regarding the war machine, thus she has been excluded. The only way I would ever vote for Bernie would be if he picked Tulsi for his running mate. That would likely involve both of them leaving the democratic party and running as Independents. In the end, only a revolution has any hope for bringing meaningful change. The evil that controls both parties, the MIC, and the MSM will not be brought under control willingly.
I agree with everything you just said.
we may now adapt this old Chernenko joke: “Today, due to bad health and without regaining consciousness, Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko took up the duties of Secretary General”.
Thanks, that’s a brilliant intensive lot of work.
However, you are looking a Very Important Point, the Democrats Establishment does not care. Biden was put up to defeat Sanders, not Trump. Hillary, with Tom Perez as her vocal cords, still controls the DNC. At all and any cost she wants Sanders out of the race. She could have put up Mickey Mouse, makes no difference, because whoever she backs is guaranteed to do exactly what she says once he is the party candidate. So he stutters. Her choice of Biden’s VP will also do exactly as she says.
But there is a more important question at the core of the Democrats. We understand clearly that as the New York Times floundered its way to bankruptcy in 2014 it was saved by people never really named. They were a threesome, Hillary brought in 2 billionaire friends: Diller and Getty. Obviously there conditions required by the threesome – and it wasn’t money, they didn’t need that, they needed print space. They had a cause. They got what they wanted from the Sulzberger family, because there was no one else.
From 2015 the NYT was no longer what it had been, proud, objective, independant, investigative in all the badness they could find. It was no longer one of the 5 best news sources in the world. They changed their editorial and journalistic personnel to match the required causes. They improved their financial position, because one of the 3 was a past master at running big corporations that he pulled up out of the dust.
When the NYT dust settled, they often began agreeing with the Generals in Afghanistan and Iraq. They not infrequently published articles that resembled State Dept. and CIA press releases. And politically they began the fight to promote the 2016 Loser and defeat Senator Sanders. Unexpectedly, they are at it again and Hillary, the 3, and the NYT are again willing to promote a loser, win or not in the Presidency vote, they will maintain control of the Democrats establishment!
And through all of that, I never see anyone, but me asking who are the backers of Hillary Clinton? Who chose her? Who put her up? For whom is she really the voice?
Thanks for that great info on the NYT. As for who is behind Hillary, she fits easily into the story of war profiteers here
war * profiteerstory. * blogspot. * com
[Remove all 3 asterisks and their flanking spaces after copying to browser’s URL address field. Links to that website are routinely sabotaged.]
A stutter or dementia ?
That will be trivial as soon as the Ukraine documentary of O.Berruyer ( promoted last month by CN ) will go viral in the US. The DNC will be ashamed of their preferred presidential candidate.
This morning (March 9) Biden has surged to a 16-point national lead in the primaries over Sanders. What incredible fools are the Americans.
What is an obvious sign that Biden has vascular dementia is his slurring of his speech. If you listen to most of his speeches, rallies, or even debates he slurs his speech. It is not a stutter, but it is an easily discernible slurring of his speech and one of the major signs of vascular dementia.
Super Thursday proved that Biden is the best candidate for the Senate,
Joe Biden is a Christian Zionist himself and has unwavering love for Israel. He said so himself.
It is not true. I disparage attitude to opponents “They are all the same”. In the case of Joe, the balance of evidence points to “shameless panderer”, like promising to [probably] nominate the first Black women to the Supreme Court (not “judges who will uphold spirit of the Constitution and have no bias for the big money interests” or something like that).
In the same vein, Joe going to AIPAC conference is basically senile oldsters getting together. I admit, senile Zionist oldsters getting together. Many of them actually detest Christian Zionists.
Going to use the ‘arguments’ made by those in support of the Biden Presidency.
“Me too. I used to stutter and I can tell you I am the 50th President of the United Schises of American. I also sat next to Julius Caesar when we both won the Civil War against Thanos. And then we got arrested trying to sign the Constitution”.
It is just a stutter folks – I am making claims because some words are easier to use than others. Truth over facts people.
Jill stop the madness and intervene.
Joe Biden many decades ago, Joe Biden already had a problem with saying what he should only be thinking.
Joe Biden: I Tried to ‘Prostitute Myself’
see: youtube.com/watch?v=oysFCNPg0DA
To me, he is joking and repeating phrases tossed at politicians. Young Biden was glib but verbally agile.
DRAFT HILLARY AT THE CONVENTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yeah, draft Hillary for the Russian army!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In 2016 I found of interest a Wikileaks email from a State Dpt. Staffer to HRC concerning the uses of Provigel(?), a Parkinsons drug also used by military pilots to maintain focus on 20 hour shifts. Might be of use for debates as well.
Tulsi who works out, does yoga, National Guard training, and surfs would seem the healthiest candidate.
Tulsi is so healthy that she is unelectable. Collect people as healthy as Tulsi, this is a paltry minority! What we want is someone capable of riding a bike and tripping from time to time, capable of hunting with firing into faces of his friends only infrequently etc. Those are people that the average citizen can relate to. [morose owner of two Tulsi shirts]
As a physician I would recommend a full neurological work up at Mayo, Johns Hopkins or UCSF with release of the results. Only then can we determine if this a speech problem or developing dementia.
This would not be a bad idea for all candidates over 70 including the President
OK, what if he deemed fine? Then why does he say such things? I guess he is just a normal nutcase then. Seriously, if there is nothing wrong with him do we need someone like him in the White House? He’ll start calling world leaders lying dog faced pony soldiers before long. Sorry, but this is not normal behavior. Yet the Democrats say that Trump is unpresidential! Biden is?
My point is whether he has early stage alzheimer’s or not he is acting very, very strange. Something is wrong with him, at least I hope so. If this is normal behavior I have never seen it before.
Great piece of journalism Ms Johnstone. After reading it, Bernie Sanders is right. Trump is going tear Joe Biden to shreds in any debate. However with Trump’s capacity for BS, any debate between these two presidential candidates is going to be an extreme exercise in sado-masochism. Only in the US of A.
Aside from the evidence of dementia, word salads etc., cognitive lapses, I find his aggressiveness toward members of the audience who confronted him very disturbing, especially at the young woman whom he threw a John Wayne misquote at. Can you imagine how someone in their early 20’s felt when a powerful US Senator insulted her on national media. All she did was ask a difficult question. Then there is the guy he called “fat”.
He shows disrespect for his audience. In that respect he is almost as bad as Trump.
Excessive irritability and paranoia is also a symptom.
Here’s the thing, regardless of if Biden has a speech impediment, dementia, problems post brain surgery or what have you, his lengthy and dismal record as a politician should preclude him from being voted for by any person claiming to be even remotely progressive. That being said, I can see how he could be viewed as the perfect Democratic candidate for POTUS… Even so, worse than that, as Bob mentioned earlier, it is the process, the system writ large which is so blatantly criminally corrupt to its core which makes such pontificating about this or that candidate virtually meaningless…
Frankly, dementia or not (and Biden clearly has some brain functioning problem) Biden is an abominable person and definitely no one who should even be considered presidential material. As indeed he wasn’t until Bernie looked to be stronger than ever, which really bothers the DNC and all establishment (basically all DC Demrats). Heaven forfend the hoi polloi should actually get a real say.
What amazed me on on Tuesday night was the fact that so many African Americans chose to vote for him – given his racist track record: support for the anti-Bussing movement on the east coast (anti desegregation of schools) in the 1970s; Anita Hill; the Clinton anti-crime bill (and not unrelated severe cut backs in welfare assistance which impacted the African American poor – and paleskin poor, numerically more but proportionally?). His eagerness to support any and all US invasions, bombing, killing campaigns against peoples far, far from these shores. His efforts on behalf of the bankruptcy business – making it all but impossible for ordinary folks to declare bankruptcy (as a means to clear the debt decks) while businesses can do continue to do so, no matter how many it hurts.
One of a couple of questions that dogged throughout Tuesday night also concerned: all of these southern states – haven’t they enacted, over the past few years, a variety anti-electoral registration measures, aimed at African Americans? So I wondered: are those African Americans, swayed apparently by Mr Cliburn, who voted so decidedly for Biden, of the middling classes? Of the well-educated? Possibly well health insured. What might have been the results had the poorer, unable to register for a whole host of Jim Crow reminiscent reasons, been able to have their say? Would they have gone for the Obama VP? Or Bernie and his M4A?
The other question hovering in the air: what part is Obama playing in this? He would definitely *not* be a Bernie fan.
Black primary voters also preferred Hillary Clinton to Sanders in 2016, so this isn’t too surprising.
Re: Anita Hill and Biden’s role in the Thomas hearings: Polls showed that blacks were more favorable to Thomas, both before and after the hearings, than whites. They were also less likely than whites to believe Anita Hill. So I don’t think that on balance that history hurts Biden among black voters.
I think some of the other things you mention tend similarly to be of greater concern to left-liberal whites than to blacks.
So true.
Suspected dementia won’t stop the Democratic Party establishment from backing Joe.
Kamala Harris just added her unimpressive voice.
I don’t think there is any doubt that the fix is in.
But they are putting themselves in a ridiculous position.
Even without the apparent dementia, Joe Biden is simply not an attractive candidate.
He has a seriously shabby side, and he has some embarrassing quirks – all besides standing for almost nothing.
I believe he would be Trump’s own choice as an opponent.
Meanwhile brave Tulsi Gabbard is getting shut out yet again with rule changes.
Some democracy.
I wrote an interesting speculation about an alternate scenario.
You can find it here:
chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2020/03/06/john-chuckman-comment-we-know-the-democratic-establishment-has-plotted-against-bernie-but-it-does-no-good-to-run-a-candidate-like-biden-who-is-likely-to-lose-is-there-a-secret-plan-concerning-a-d/
I would still vote for Biden over Trump as I also think that Trump also has signs of early dementia. I do see symptoms of early onset dementia, and as his wife is a physician, I am sure she sees this as well. I do think that it is a mistake to suddenly thrust Biden into the nomination. If one watches Biden work back in the 1980’s when he was questioning Baker in Congress about South Africa, and Reagans position, you would see a Biden who did not stutter, did not forget things, and every time he could not complete a sentence, he did not say “look” and then change his thought. On a good day he may be okay. But on many days he does not complete the sentences that he starts.
Biden’s wife is not a physician. She has an Ed.D. – a doctorate in education which she got from the University of Delaware when she was 55 – about 13 years ago. Why she runs around and feels she has to be referred to as “doctor” is not clear but it certainly is misleading.
Jill Biden is a physician? Sorry that is absolutely not true however, ignorance seems to be a trait of the Democrats these days. Maybe you can tell us and such an informed person that you are what the early signs of dementia you see in Trump.
Thank you for publishing the comprehensive evidence. Now this article needs to be distributed nationwide to all the ignorant masses out there.
It is rather sad to watch these clips.
Obviously, his wife Jill Biden must be aware of his mental status, which brings me back to the thought…perhaps the plan is for him to somehow capture the nomination and win in the General.
He will then after a short order, resign due to health reasons and his VP will take over.
Let us pay close attention to the VP choice.
I agree with Mike from Jersey: Biden has dementia AND he’s demented. Every time I see an image of the creep my toes curl up. Those toes never lie. What blows my mind is that others cannot see that. They would actually vote for him. That’s scary!
I read Ms. Johnstone’s article and the variety of comments with much sadness and compassion. Whether I support Joe Biden or not, I believe his family and the DNC are well aware of this disaster waiting to happen.
Have the results of the 2016 election really brought the Dems to the brink that the Party will sacrifice a long serving public figure like Biden. This article is a drop in the bucket as to what is ahead of us in the next several months. And, there will be tit for tat. Imagine stories on Trump will be resurrected and expanded upon. We have sunk to new lows in America and the World is watching in disgust.
So you don’t like him using the term ‘record player.’ I teach high school and have often heard my students call a refrigerator an ‘ice box.’ The term they are used to saying.
I agree Yvonne. To be perfectly honest, someone should incite them for elder abuse!
Thank you for this sad, but important, article documenting Biden’s clear mental decline in recent years. I have already run across some of Biden’s minions on social media that are pushing the speech impediment explanation, including one claiming to be a psychologist (we even have one here in the comments attempted to float this ludicrous idea).
I admit I’ve never been a fan of Biden’s, but at least in past years he was mentally fit for office, he is not now. The U.S. is facing many challenges right now and the demands of the U.S. presidency have never been greater, so we cannot afford to have the occupant of the WH disabled in any way. I would think the example of the current resident has made that painfully clear.
I will be spreading a link to this fine article far and wide, in the hopes that some Biden supporters will understand the reality of the situation and react with reason.
Finally, I think it very unkind of Biden’s family members, who are surely aware of his condition, to allow him to parade his worsening mental health for this sake of crass party politics. They are not doing right by him and he is in no condition to make that decision for himself. The stress of a campaign will only make his condition worse.
No stutter there! Watch and listen to each video of Biden going off the rails….it is very sad …BUT he and his aides (who know what is going on!)uld get him off the campaign trail. He would be a danger to the country as is Trump who also has serious mental problems.
The American people do not want other people in the White House or cabinet running the country…they want a lucid president and
Biden cannot become one …impossible to come back from dementia. Let him go.
The Democratic Party rigged the game by denying Tulsi Gabbard (Congresswoman Hawaii) a chance she earned to be in the next debate. She would demolish Joe in the debate. To learn this week the Democratic National Committee changed the rules going forward to the next debate, meant the DNC went out of their way to deny a woman of color what she legitimately earned, a chance to debate Joe and Bernie, whom she would defeat. The DNC knows Joe is going lose, yet its corruption is for all to see and few people seem to notice. I expect more hi-jinx from the DNC, they are not done marginalizing Bernie. The facts are clear, Joe is not well and the Democratic Party is dead. Thank you for the thoughtful article about the importance of good health for a potential leader of the nation.
Hillary hated Tulsi. When Tulsi saw how the interior of the DNC was exclusively a machine for Hillary in 2015 she resigned and backed Sanders. This is the revenge of the Threesome I mention above.
Joe Biden had brain surgery for an aneurysm in 1988. These gaffes are definitely not just a stutter or stammer. Whatever is going on is neurological, a sign of cell death (called apoptosis), and Dems for sure were going to cut Bernie out. Politics has degenerated to this ludicrous level!
The ways of movers and shakers of Democratic Party are incomprehensible. There was some experimentation with candidates that were youthful and coherent, but they could not decide which one, so they dropped them all, leaving Biden who will be ridiculed and humiliated. Trump has a few skills, but none exceeds his talent to mock and ridicule. This is how he cleared well funded GOP field of candidates. I am afraid that this will be a disaster.
Concerning Sanders and Trump, they do show their age, I guess one problem is what happens when you loose part of your intellect. Biden did not have a good start with that, his policy proposals were mediocre, his understanding poor, “gaffes” merit a section in his Wikipedia entry. And when you loose a part of that, very little remains.
Unfortunately, it is a part of a widespread problem, institutional dementia when the entire milieu enters denial and inability to discern idiocy from common sense.
“Most assuredly a stutter.” Like “Have you ever been to a caucus? It was confusing!” (number 20). Take Joe at his word that he is not stuttering, he is confused. Countries get mix with continents, poor with non-white, Delaware with United States (I would pass on mixing New Hampshire with Vermont, a single wrong turn on an interstate can do it too), combining Carolinas into South North Carolina, and making world salad so scrambled that I got a headache after going through the paragraph.
Babbling about his blonde leg hair is not stutter.
Trump is semi-coherent at times, “Our nuclear was tired”, but now Democrats forced all candidates other contenders except Sanders and Gabbard to drop. Campaign slogans write themselves: why vote for a semi-coherent old man if you can choose fully incoherent old man!
The one during the debate claiming that people shouldn’t have a choice in his health care plan. for right after excusing himself and saying that they should have a choice. That’s was my favorite. Though I agree that he doesn’t seem to have dementia but just another senile deranged from the WH.
Excellent article, well researched and presented.
President Trump thanks you.
Geriatric Joe is clearly in decline. Obviously the Democratic party, president Obama, and the rest of his supporters can see this. Which of course goes to show that the DNC would rather install a defective candidate who would go on to lose to president Trump than to hand the reins of the party over to a Democratic Socialist/New Deal Democrat. How pathetic.
hi, Caitlin. stammer is to speak with involuntary breaks and pauses or with spasmodic repetitions of syllables or sounds; pause, hesitate, falter. stutter is to speak or utter with a spasmodic repetition or prolongation of sounds.
Sorry Pal, there’s a difference. Unfortunately, Trump will revel in exposing the obvious, not only his followers but also independents that will probably not vote at all.
The three viable candidates for President beyond 2020, which includes the President, must by the oldest group in history.
I have a problem with noting someone’s infirmities in a biting manner, but Ms. Johnstone, maybe in a too harsh a way, makes a necessary point.
This comment makes her point: “It doesn’t matter what political positions a dementia victim once had; what matters is taking care of him and keeping him away from hazards, like sharp objects and nuclear launch codes.”
I note the first commenter says it is a stutter. Maybe its both.
One characteristic of Biden which bothers me: He often comes through as nasty and arrogant. His attack on the student Ms. Johnstone notes cannot be excused but is characteristic of his manner in many instances. His remark about the Ukraine attorney investigating Burisma is another example.
The many money folks may decide Sanders is the better choice, since the Trump opposition seems to care more about beating Trump than Sander’s “socialism”. They can handle that after he is elected.
Hi Ms. Johnstone. Due to time I had to stop at 25. You had made your point. Only a few had ambiguity present.
.
But this:
16. “We choose truth over facts.”
That is profound. It is a core philosophical question. It is a way to live even.
.
The purely aeithist or scientific don’t entirely grasp the idea.
It is interesting that in both cases the source doesn’t matter but you best consider the source.
.
What a strange world we live in miss.
One should draw a distinction between demented and dementia.
Joe Biden has been demented for a long time. His dementia is something new.
Either condition should disqualify him from the Presidency.
But, for decades now, those characteristics seem to have become job requirements.
People are too caught up in the process. To paraphrase Chris Hedges, the real problem is that the system is broken.
While I would agree with the first sentence, my sense is that Hedges would posit that the system isn’t so much broken, rather that it is working perfectly as designed, which reinforces the first sentence. It’s the system writ large which perpetuates the illusion of choice, the illusion of democracy where there is none. But you’re correct, under the current process/system, who is elected/appointed POTUS matters little, the rest is just theater of the absurd…
Suspecting Mr. Biden was showing some early signs of Alzheimer’s, I went out and looked for supporting evidence on the web and found this. I am considering how hard it must be for Bernie to watch his good friend, not only as he goes down hill cognitively, but as he is being exploited by the democratic party. This disease will only get worse. But one thing is for sure, he will never beat Trump this way. I’m guessing that’s the plan?
On the viability of Biden as a candidate and the shenanigans of the Democratic establishment, readers might enjoy this just posted:
chuckmanwordsincomments.wordpress.com/2020/03/06/john-chuckman-comment-we-know-the-democratic-establishment-has-plotted-against-bernie-but-it-does-no-good-to-run-a-candidate-like-biden-who-is-likely-to-lose-is-there-a-secret-plan-concerning-a-d/
I agree that Biden may be starting to lose it.
One thing, though: The author is wrong in taking the following approach: “It’s easy to overlook linguistic peculiarities when they’re spoken, so I made a verbatim transcript of Biden’s complete answer, exactly as he spoke it. There are no typos. Read it carefully, resisting the urge to mentally re-word it in order to make it make sense.”
This is backwards. Perfectly coherent speech can seem like disjointed rambling when transcribed. The appropriate way to judge is by listening to the spoken words (as well as watching the body language).
Caitlin,
Again I will comment with facts: see: nytimes.com/1988/05/04/us/biden-resting-after-surgery-for-second-brain-aneurysm.html
I was expecting you to research the long term affects of an aneurysm rather than do your own diagnostics. I expected better of you.
I’m a speech pathologist with specialized training in working with patients who experience mild cognitive decline and progressive dementia. I’m seeing signs of stuttered speech and of paraphasic errors. Mr. Biden had two brain surgeries in 1988 due to aneurysms, which a residual effect could result in speech or language disorders. I suspect that he is a high risk candidate for progressive neurogenic communication disorders.
Mr. Biden still speaks with intention and passion. He is trying to compete in a fast paced race that demands automatic expression regarding today’s technological lexicon. It’s obvious that his automatic language is centered around his years in the Senate and his early years in the White House. His brain is defaulting to his past and his memory of those details seem greater. He most likely tires easily and doesn’t appear to be able to automatically recall his previous “go to” campaign speech rhetoric. The last few videos he reacted as if he is aware of his faux pas, even surprised or embarrassed by them. I predict that he will be sticking to a teleprompter and rehearsed, shorter passages with a slower rate. Trump has many of the same symptoms. However, he is mastering the use of shorter statements and vague, shallow repetitive vocabulary. That way, he doesn’t stumble over what he is saying and doesn’t have to rely on his memory.
I’m glad you are bringing awareness to this. It’s concerning and we need to take notice. Vetting the cognitive competency of our elected officials is of paramount importance.
In reply to LH’s comment: thank you for a thoughtful analysis based on your area of expertise. As a voter, I’d be interested to hear your opinion on the following: do you think the speech and memory problems you observe impede his judgment and decision making? Because that’s what it boils down to. I’ve read that mild cognitive decline doesn’t usually affect life functioning. And though it increases the risk of alzheimers or other dementias, it doesn’t necessarily lead to them. What is your view of this in Biden’s case?
L H: “Vetting the cognitive competency of our elected officials is of paramount importance.”
Oh boy but you got that right.
Not being from the US, I fail to see much difference between Reagan, GW Bush and Trump when it comes to “cognitive competency” and it’s effects on foreign policy.
From an outside perspective, adding another brain-damaged president to the list would be just business as usual.
No. It’s very clearly dementia.
L H – thank you for explaining this so coherently.
Thank you for also saying Trump exhibits these things. Our system has led to an almost untenable set of choices…. Trump, Biden, Sanders. Here is one Trump quote for anyone who doubts your statement:
“Well, I just don’t think — I just don’t think that somebody is going to — without seeing something, like we saw something happening in China. As soon as they saw that happening, they essentially — not from the White House. I mean, you know, we don’t need a lab in the White House. But they saw something happening.”
thank you so much
Biden has no speech impediment. The difficulty in starting some sentences is obviously that he has lost the thread. He has a cognitive “impediment” which goes beyond the occasional nominal aphasia. The author notes some interesting examples of filling in memory gaps with false recollections, which poses a dilemma for Biden’s campaign managers. He makes false statements and we are left with two logical alternatives: He is deliberately lying or he simply can’t remember and invents. Either way he does not sound like presidential material.
I agree with Caitlin.
Joe Biden is displaying the symptoms of dementia which will continue to progress.
Were Biden anyone but the Democratic Establishment’s chosen sacrifice to “pragmatic” defeat, his family would be striving to come up with the most gentle
and compassionate method they could find of taking away his car keys and lessening the obvious stress of his continued effort to avoid coming to grips with his failing mental health.
Anyone who has witnessed a family member, or of friend’s families, who has developed Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia will readily recognize, in Joe Biden, certain patterns of disorientation, confusion, word loss, an inability to complete thoughts and sentences, a quick readiness to anger in response to social frustration, and compensatory behaviors used by the person suffering from the dementia to reassure themselves that they are the “same” as ever, even as they increasingly worry and recognize that they are not.
Dementia is, most definitely, a very hard thing to come to grips with, as denial is usually the first response of the person experiencing its onset and, as well, for family members and acquaintances who are initially horrified when contemplating the implications attendant.
As I mentioned earlier today, in the comment section of the article dealing with lying and cheating, the graver and more disturbing aspect of what is happening to Joe Biden is the apparent failure of his family, friends, and those urging him onto the field of political battle to recognize his condition for what it is.
This failure of honest recognition is rapidly turning into nothing less than an exhibition of unfeeling cruelty, taking careless and ruthless advantage of a human being whose faculties, intellectually and emotionally, are likely to become more precariously diminished the greater the stresses placed upon them.
It is a sorry spectacle.
The longer it continues, the worse and more appalling it will, very likely, become.
As Caitlin points out, it little matters what Biden’s political behavior in the past has been, what we now witness is a human being in decline and disintegration.
Even as we see the Democratic Party honchos opt, not for the systemic changes so very desperately needed, at this time, in this place, for humanity and by the planet (not that Sanders would or could actually deliver those things), but rather that the elite and party “leaders”, the selfish few, intend, using whatever means “necessary”, to retain their lucrative control and privilege, despite the massive destruction and great harm that privilege and control have already wrought.
Biden’s public humiliation and the continued betrayal of the many is a small price, easily “worth it”, in the eyes and calculations of oligarchic sycophants.
It’s not just the stuttering. it’s also the memory loss, incoherent sentences and rambling statements. The man should retire and enjoy the time he has left with his wife. He is not fit to hold any office, never mind the Presidency.
Any of us with a parent or loved one suffering dementia can recognize that’s afflicting Joe Biden.
Will the mainstream media continue to conceal? It should be talked about honestly. It’s not shameful. It’s reality.
What will the establishment DNC/Dems do?
They will need to, in partnership with hosts such as CNN, micromanage, stage manage, the debates to cover up this condition. That does not serve anyone well.
I am against Joe Biden becoming president but I feel sad listening to these video clips. He definitely seems confused and it is time for him to retire and relax. Great article to help us get the information we need.
This is heartbreaking. Even those opposed to Biden’s campaign must see that this is a problem and extend a bit of empathy his way. That being said, for the country’s sake as well as his own, he really needs to retire and get help. Presidential duties will only contribute to his cognitive decline.
It is undeniable! He gets my vote fore sympathy and compassion.
Take a break Joe you earned it!
Some of those are reaching a bit. Now do one on Trump if you can get them to give you enough space. A much longer list. Sanders has done quite a few as well. Put those up.
It would be interesting to see if/when Trump was coherent and logical.
I dunno Dave, people aren’t talking about Sanders and Trump the way they’re talking about Biden. People recognize his bizarre gaffs, his inappropriate aggressiveness, his defensiveness, losing his train of thought, and his rambling incomprehensible answers. Bernie stays pretty much on point. Trump lies and redirects the answers to suit his needs, but those things demand mental acuity which Biden no longer has. Something’s wrong there, and Trump is going to tear him to pieces in a debate. The real question for me is why did the DNC back him? Either they simply left themselves with no one else after Bloomberg got emasculated by Warren, or they’d prefer Trump to Bernie and so knowingly picked someone that would lose to Trump. Either way, it seems like they’re choosing Trump as their candidate. I think I’d rather have Bernie.
Hey, is this Dave from SF?
Children love to play with his leg hair that turns blond in the sun.
The DNC honchos and the parasitic elite who are embedded within it know fully well the degree of Biden’s cognitive decline. They’d rather lose with Biden than possibly win with Bernie for obvious self-interest of course.
As a person who had TBI 20 years ago I’m not calling bullshit, I clearly see Joe more and more exhibiting the same problems I have had speaking and thinking since my injury. I see the same in Trump to a lesser degree. Oh brave new world, that has such people in it!
Unless you have a degree in speech pathology and/or neurology, I am calling bullshit. Speaking from the point of view of someone who is a mostly reformed stutterer, I can assure you that Biden’s speech impediment is most assuredly a stutter.
C’mon John, while making a public speech Biden starts to babble about ” kids rubbing my hairy legs”. “I learned about roaches, I learned about kids jumping on my lap. I love kids jumping on my lap”. That’s Grandpa Simpson levels of incoherent, inappropriate rambling
John – With respect, I think your comment would fit on the Lawrence Davidson comment section. It fits the content of Davidson’s issue. I am familiar with speech impediments that one close individual conquered. This issue contained in Johnstone’s piece regards the DNC’s “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” approach to their candidate to hide their contempt of the American people. Plagiarist Joe is a disaster waiting to happen upon the USA and other countries.
Right, he’s got a speech impediment AND dementia.
He didn’t use to do it; now he does. What’s your explanation?
her point is not that he doesn’t stutter, it’s that he can’t speak in sentences and remember basic facts
People are far too eager to condemn on the basis of the most vain and often inaccurate things. Confirmation bias is a real thing, guys…
Hey John,
This article is largely focusing on how Joe Biden is suffering from dementia, and the occasional stuttering aside, has shown difficulty forming coherent sentences, which is very worrying when it’s a US President, if Trump is any indication. Like that video above where he talked about turning on the television, then corrects himself and says to turn on a record player, an even older device than TV’s, to get poor kids to learn more words.
Or how about Super Thursday? Or North South Carolina? Or how he said he’s running for the United States Senate, while on a US Presidential campaign?
This article even links to older videos of when Joe Biden spoke very well, and with some authority behind it. Contrast that to recent videos of him within the past year, and notice how his words aren’t nearly as eloquent as they were even just a few years ago.
That’s not stuttering, that’s a guy who’s brain is slowly wasting away, and should not be running for one of the most difficult and stressful jobs in the world.
It’s funny, long before I saw this article which apparently I believe was just posted today, I had come to the same conclusion about Joe Biden and interjected my thoughts on some Facebook posts only to be attacked as someone who is insensitive to a stuttering person. I tried to explain that stuttering is very different than dementia and does not account for the dazed, confused and disoriented Candidate repeatedly forgetting where he was, who he was with etc. I didn’t realize that this was a pre-determined deceptive talking point promoted by the DNC in the corporate media. It makes perfect sense to me now, it’s unsettling how many democratic sheep cannot make basic cognitive decisions on their own and have to rely on being told how to think about the one candidate That will definitely lose toTrump being anointed as the democratic front runner. It’s clear that the DNC care much more about lining their pockets and continuing the corrupt charade That they care about anything other than increasing their wealth through nefarious means. Rank-and-file democrats have learned to assume the talking points of their corporate masters as truth, and have thrown out the concept of critical thought and replaced it with thinking in lockstep the way they have always accused the Republicans of doing. I have friends who have voted for Trump, and although I do not agree with them, it is far easier to have a substantive discussion with them and they are much more upfront about trumps Weaknesses and problems then Democrats are about their candidates. Being a rank-and-file Democrat in this day and age requires adopting the suspension of disbelief that is necessary to support A candidate who is clearly having cognitive disabilities. Get ready for four more years of Trump Democrats, you’ve paved the way for it!
Nice attempt at diversion John, No one is talking about his speech impediment. The article correctly identifies the symptoms of dementia exhibited by Joe Biden. I strongly believe the critical thinkers that frequent this site will see through your transparent attempt to redirect the narrative away from the truth.
I think the only way to fix this dementia-slander campaign is by “punching at it and punching at it and punching at it.” And if you ask me why I think so, I’ll answer “Why why why why why why why!”
Routinely forgetting names, and not remembering where you are or what you are actually doing is more than stuttering
You may very well be right. But then, we should all be skeptical of people who claim to be experts in such and such “field”.
You didn’t watch the videos did you?
“Unless you have a degree in speech pathology and/or neurology……”
It is not unknown that holders of such degrees are prone to bullshit by design and/or default.
Pursuing rigorous practices in areas framed within present divisions of labour represented as speech pathology and/or neurology can be a pathway to increased perception but not omniscience, since in some assay such practices are influenced by previous perceptions in regard to framing and method.
The catalyst of science tends to be doubt which also conditions the practices and outputs.
Scientific method seeks to minimise doubt in the understanding that omniscience is not an option given that in some assay the data is subject to choice and interpretation.
The author of the initial article offers some data which she deems to be relevant, whilst excepting the phrase quoted above, you do not.
In regard to the author of the initial article’s dataset, the author fails to outline the design protocols and methods of her choice of dataset to test her hypothesis including those not being chosen to be included in the dataset, and the evaluation protocols and methods that were used on her dataset in testing her hypothesis.
Thank you for your joint illustration of components within the petri dish of the opponents’ culture including, but not limited to, the know/think/believe conflation spectrum.
What concerns me is, not his speech impediment, but his lapses of memory; not knowing where he is; confusing where he was or what he did in a historical context. I have known people with early onset Alzheimers and dementia, and though I am in no position to diagnose, Joe Biden is exhibiting very similar behavior. It is both very sad and very frightening, and his family, friends, colleagues, handlers, and supporters are doing him and this country a grave injustice by allowing him to continue.
Just because you stutter does not make you any kind of authority. I was horrified by these clips. People with a stutter do not bite their wife’s finger; mistake Cory Booker for the President; mistake his wife for his sister; and make many other errors of meaning not of vocalisation. Surely, you cannot be serious.
It seems that capitalism has so many Americans so tightly in its godlike grip that they would rather have a man obviously in dementia than a passionate, trustworthy democratic socialist who wants, among other dreaded innovations, to make health care available to all of them. Is that radical to you? It’s not to me here in the UK, where we’ve had it since 1948.
That doesn’t mean he doesn’t also have a very obvious BRAIN impediment, namely DEMENTIA. As a caregiver for eight years for three dementia sufferers, I know it when I see it. We don’t need no stinkin’ degrees (badges)!
Me too. I have struggled with a lifelong speech impediment as well. I can tell that Biden’s gaffes are mostly due to trying not to stutter and searching for an easier word to say. It’s also compounded by the rigors of the campaign.
You left out two of the most important that came during the Iowa campaign.to
Remember the Democratic establishment claims Sanders will cost Democrats down ballot, something they never complained about Obama / Biden in the elections of 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016 when nationwide Democrats lost 1,000 seats from the US Senate, US House, State Governors, State executive offices, State Legislatures, and in my County in Iowa a County Supervisor.
First Joe Biden told Republicans to vote for Joe Biden for President but to vote Republican down ballot so Democrats don’t get too much power.
Can you imagine the outrage by the Main Stream Media and the DNC had Bernie Sanders told Republicans to vote for him but to vote Republican down ballot?
But when Joe Biden said this to steal from Clinton’s Secretary of Labor, “the silence was deaftening.”
Biden said this and it was reported in Buzz Fed News and repeated in The New York Intelligencer.
Second Joe Biden said he would consider a Republican as his running mate.
On hearing that my response on twitter was “Sarah Palin?”
Again the DNC silence was deaftening.
Third, if you go to Karmala Harris confronting Joe Biden over his opposition to the use of school bussing to desegregate the public schools Joe Biden said that decision should be a local decision.
“Local decusion,” I would venture the George Wallace of 1968 would have favored local decisions.
As for Joe Biden sucking his wife’s finger and Biden calling his sister his wife and his wife his sister (sister wife) I don’t recall anyone inquiring whether Biden sucks his sister’s finger.
Biden wrote the bankruptcy bill and Sears executives whose management put Sears into bankruptcy received from a judge bonuses while the workers got screwed, apparently not by a Craftsman screwdriver as Craftsman had been sold.I
You are wrong about Senators always being elected. In the event of a vacancy, as occurred in 2009 when Barack Obama left the Senate to become President the Governor of the State (not the President) appoints a new Senator.
The name Rod Blagojevich comes up here as doe the term “pay for play.”
In my opinion Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O’Rourke, Joe Biden, the DNC, likly Barack Obama prior to Super Tuesday all engaged in Rod Blagojevich “pay to play” and I wish insiders with access to those communications would leak them to Wikileaks (Pravda on the Hudson has a history of sitting on politically relevant stories to protect the high and mighty as it sat on James Riessen’s story of the George W Bush administration’s illegal wiretapping of all Americans).
I know of no one else who asks why (other than pay for play) Pete a gay male married to another gay male would support someone who opposed gay marriage.
Pete claimed he would be the most Progressive President in his lifetime yet ignored both Bernie Sanders AND Elizabeth Warren.
Pete also did not endorse fellow soldier Tulsi Gabbard.
And if Pete announced his withdrawl before Amy Klobuchar announced her withdrawl Pete could have supported a fellow Midwesterner.
Pete could have also endorsed no one.
Now for Amy Klobuchar, during the debates Amy stood proudly on her box (Amy is the person who brought up that she stood on a box so don’t blame for telling the truth from the facts) and Amy repeatedly promised to protect the Roe v Wade Supreme Court decision that Abortion in the first two trimesters is the the choice of a woman and her physician.
However, when Amy got off her box to withdraw from the race she does not endorse either of the two women still in the race and she does not endorse Bernie Sanders whose “pro choice”stance on abortion rights goes back before Roe was decided in 1973, Amy instead endorses a man who has repeatedly supported and voted to restrict abortion rights.
I hope Amy got a good Rod Blagojevich “pay to play” for abandoning what she claimed to believe back when she was up on her box.
What occurred just before Super Tuesday was not coincidence, it was a conspiracy and the question is whether any whistleblowers will come forward with the truth
I also believe that the conspirators also contacted Elizabeth Warren about dropping out before Super Tuesday and endorsing Joe Biden.
Any whistleblowers in the Warren campaign willing to come forward with the truth?I
As a final note isn’t it just quaint that with Pete and Amy dropping out and Beto near simultaneously all endorsing Joe Biden to breathe life into the Biden campaign that no one has asked the recently pardoned Rod Blagojevich his opinion of what occurred and perhaps inquired of former Illiniois legislator Barack Obama’s involvement in Illinois “pay to play” in th day?
You think someone would need a doctorate to tell that the brain farts we’re seeing aren’t classic markers of dementia?!
Failing to pronounce your wife’s name with the right amount of syllables can be put down to a stutter. When you start to confuse who your wife is, or what day of the week “Super Tuesday” falls on, or lose your train of thought in the middle of a sentence, you’ve got a completely different disorder.
It’s only reasonable to think Joe is showing the damage from the aneurysm he suffered some years back. It’s blatantly obvious, and I don’t know how anyone could even think of putting him in office.
You need a big, gigantic, enormous, huge, Reality Check, sir.
Uncle Joe is about to need placement on a locked ward for his own safety. And it won’t be long.
What about those blonde haired legs the kids love to touch? That didn’t sound like a stutter.
He is not stuttering or stammering his words. He is actually slurring his words. Democratic strategists are trying to deflect and define what is wrong with Biden. They are trying to set the rules and parameter by coming out and claiming Biden has a stutter. Now the MSM are referring to his stutter and now democrats and a majority of people are falling for it by discussing Biden’s mental issues in the context of a stuttering problem.
Dem strategists are setting the terms regarding Biden’s obvious mental decline by calling it a stuttering issue. But anyone who can think for themselves can see he is slurring his speech and it is not a stutter. His slurring of his speech is a major sign of vascular dementia.
One major hole in claiming Biden’s problems result from a stutter is how can a stutter account for him forgetting Obama’s name on a consistent basis? How does a stutter explain that Biden thinks his son was the AG of the United States? How does a stutter explain that he thought he was running for the senate and not the presidency? How does a stutter explain how he confused his sister for his wife? How does a stutter explain that he claims in 2016 he met with a man, who has been dead since 1997, to discuss climate change? There are numerous more examples of Biden’s mental decline that a stutter just cannot explain.