If a large chunk of the public can be persuaded that a man who is incapable of finding the door is “sharp as a tack,” they can be made to believe a lot of other things too, writes Jonathan Cook.
President Joe Biden in August 2022. (White House, Erin Scott)
By Jonathan Cook
Jonathan-Cook.net
Only in the world of political make-believe we inhabit in the West would The Wall Street Journal’s account of Biden’s years-long cognitive decline, and its concealment by his officials, count as a scoop.
And only in a world in which the billionaire-owned media alone constructs and polices what counts as reality would the WSJ be able to run this story without also being expected to consider what it signifies about America’s professed democracy.
The emperor, we are now told, was naked all along. How did it take more than four years for the fearless, tenacious billionaire-owned media to notice?
The WSJ reports that even back in 2021 Biden had what his officials described as “bad days” when his mind worked so poorly he had to be kept away from senior Congresspeople and his own cabinet colleagues.
So insulated was he that he rarely met even with key figures directing White House policy, such as the secretaries of State, Defence and the Treasury.
He was able to hold only two or three cabinet meetings a year during his four-year term — a total of nine, compared to 19 by Barack Obama and 25 by Donald Trump.
His aides barely strayed from his side because they needed to whisper instructions for him to carry out the simplest of public tasks, such as where to enter and exit a room.
Concern only went mainstream when he performed catastrophically in an unscripted TV debate against Donald Trump in June, eventually having to pull out of his re-election bid and let his vice-president, Kamala Harris, take over.
Shortly afterwards, it emerged that he had been receiving regular visits to the White House from a leading neurologist and Parkinson’s expert.
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Many observers — myself included — pointed out Biden’s mental infirmity from the get-go. Matt Orfalea has been compiling video clips of the president’s stunning gaffes and verbal confusions for years. None of us were geniuses. We didn’t need access to the 50 White House insiders interviewed by the WSJ. It was blindingly obvious.
Biden wanders offstage or walks like a geriatric robot. Yet we are meant to believe he’s carefully navigating us through the nuclear tripwires of the West’s serial wars.
My latest article can be read here: https://t.co/V3J2zCxmRb pic.twitter.com/4EaGcKon0x
— Jonathan Cook (@Jonathan_K_Cook) June 15, 2024
You had to be lying, or hypnotised, to deny what was so visible.
And yet every time we pointed out Biden’s clear cognitive impairment, we were accused of promoting conspiracy theories, engaging in elder abuse, or supporting Trump.
The emperor, so we were told, was fully clothed.
The truth about Biden hasn’t suddenly leaked out from his officials. Senior politicians on both sides of the aisle knew. White House correspondents knew. Editors knew. And they all lied to protect the system of power to which they belong, the system that keeps them gainfully employed, the system that maintains their status. No one was going to rock the boat.
[See: Stop Calling It A ‘Stutter:’ Dozens of Examples Show Biden’s Dementia Symptoms and Caitlin Johnstone: Biden Not Running the Show]
The WSJ hasn’t suddenly found out things it didn’t know before. The reason it is coming clean now – as are White House staffers – is that President Biden is almost out the door. The truth is no longer a serious threat to the Washington power system.
There will be more revelations about Biden’s incapacity – maybe contained in a future book by Bob Woodward – after his presidency has become a distant memory. When it is safe for the full story to be told. When the lies are no longer important.
But more significant than the media deceptions are the fact that much of the public fell for them, not once but over and over again: day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year.
Why? Because far too many of us are in the grip of the West’s propaganda system. We believe that the billionaire-owned media is to be trusted, that it serves the public good, not private wealth.
If a large chunk of the public can be persuaded that a man who is incapable of finding the door through which he’s supposed to leave is “sharp as a tack”, then why would they not also believe that the United States is promoting democracy as it has laid waste to the Middle East over the past two decades to control the region’s oil?
Or that Washington is seeking peace for the world and Ukraine by arming it with ever-more offensive weapons against a nuclear-armed Russia so that the U.S. can place ballistic missiles on Moscow’s doorstep?
Or that the U.S. wants a ceasefire in Gaza even as it supplies the munitions, intelligence and diplomatic cover for Israel to carry out a genocide there?
The problem is that, subjected to a lifetime of elite propaganda, many are readier to believe that very propaganda than the evidence of their own own eyes. They are truly hypnotised.
Even now, many are listening to the “revelations” of Biden’s long decline and, just like the WSJ, not wondering how the U.S. has been functioning for the past four years with a president barely able to read a teleprompter, one whose mind is so vacant he can wander off in the middle of a conversation.
Does the U.S. run by itself? Does it need a president? Or is the president nothing more than a figurehead for a permanent bureaucracy that expects to wield power from the shadows, unobserved by voters and unaccountable to them? Is the U.S. a democracy, or is the democracy just a facade behind which a wealth elite maintains its power?
Biden has given us the answer. Were you listening?
Jonathan Cook is an award-winning British journalist. He was based in Nazareth, Israel, for 20 years. He returned to the U.K. in 2021.He is the author of three books on the Israel-Palestine conflict: Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish State (2006), Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East (2008) and Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair (2008). If you appreciate his articles, please consider offering your financial support.
This article is from the author’s blog, Jonathan Cook.net.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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Next stop- civil war among the oligarchs, each presenting a political figurehead to “lead” their forces. I know. It sounds like what we’ve been seeing for years. Well, as a certain song and dance man used to say- “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”. The model for this shambles will be the late Roman republic, Marius vs Sulla, then Caesar vs Pompey, backed by cabals of investors. The government fragments, private armies league together against one another, regional governors revolt, public finances are looted, and the country is awash in its own blood. Ah yes- the indispensable nation.
hxxps://medium.com/@idember/my-mom-and-joe-biden-869d4f301596
(MARCH 2020:)
My elderly mom is suffering a degree of cognitive decline. So is Joe Biden. Her condition is progressive, and not in the political sense. So, it appears, is Joe Biden’s.
I love my mom. In some respects she needs to be protected from her own decline. Many people love Joe Biden, but We the People need to be protected from his increasing cognitive deficits.
There are differences. Joe Biden’s only 77; my mom just turned 100. Until well into her 90s she was as sharp as you and me. Mentally she never stumbled.
Biden’s decline at 77 is an especially cruel personal tragedy. As we all know, he has suffered other personal tragedies. Now this.
Regardless of our compassion and sympathy for Joe Biden, every voter bears personal responsibility to ensure someone in his condition isn’t nominated as President of the United States.
Come November, there could be one of two terrible outcomes. The first is Biden could lose.
The other is that he could win.
I wonder if Dr. Jill consulted with an astrologer for which days would be good for Joe to be seen in public? For those of us who were awake in the 80’s, this is nothing new.
* “Joe Biden owns this. Every despicable aspect of the calamity unfolding in Gaza, perpetrated by America’s ever reliable and obedient proxy, Israel.” Raouf Halaby, 10.19.23.
IMO, Biden’s-Harris’ “calamity,” is not exclusive from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea; BUT, from sea to shining sea, Biden’s-Harris’ 3-D $trategy, deception, destruction, death, “lives” large!!!
… Exhibit A-Z: Biden-Harris are back, in the WH, posing as POTUS, masquerading as human handing out pardons, medals, money, munitions, lies, accolades & praise.
The miserably aged Biden, once, again, yappin’ & yellin’ about the “fiery” $tate of the “Medal” heads. No doubt, the $election is by design, to offend, insult, demoralize the Divided $tates of Corporate America. IMO, fugg’em, all!!! Not one, had the guts (wherewithal) to politely decline the faux recognition in light of the fakery & phuckery of the Biden-Harris WH’s Board of Executioners, M.I.C., Treasury, & Congress. IMO, “We, the People,” tolerate this b/c “We, the People,” have NO f/power to Stop the Killers in high places!!!”
……. * “So, Dear Joe Biden, the next time you kneel for confession, ask the Good Lord, that Rock of Ages, to engrave justice, human rights, decency, and peace, in your hardened mind and callous heart; And Jesus wept.” Raouf Halaby 7.9.21
(Raouf J. Halaby is a Professor Emeritus of English & Art. He is a writer, photographer, sculptor, an avid gardener; &, a peace activist).
* hxxps://www.counterpunch.org/2021/07/09/biden-kneels-before-israeli-presidents-chief-of-staff/
* hxxps://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/10/19/joe-biden-owns-this
The owl asks, “Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men & women? The bird tweets, “The Shadow knows;” and “MONDOWEISS” the News about Palestine, Israel, the United States, got this @ hxxps://mondoweiss.net/news/
1.4.25: “Israeli lawmakers demand military destroy all food and energy resources in Gaza”
1.3.25: “Where is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, and what is Israel doing to him?”
12.28.24: “Mapping the genocide in Gaza”
12.27.24: “ All contact lost with Kamal Adwan Hospital staff and patients as Israel raids north Gaza hospital
12.27.24: “ Children are freezing to death in Gaza”
TY, Jonathan Cook, Matt Orfalea, CN. “Keep It Lit!”
Let’s leave Yesterday, move on 2 TOMORROW.
(Tnx CN, Jonathan BTW)…
Meaning: can we draw some conclusion from Rite Wing Joe & Barack holding, on average, 2 Cabinet Meets / year…
As opposed by reseated (thus Track Recorded)
NUPOTUS: appx 6 / yr.
This commenter Didn’t Attend ANY, so… Speculatively… Confidence? Arrogance?
Agree consultation positive, given ……….. Who?
Time will tell if dude advised: “Hey bro FDR lasted near 16 Kingly Years… B4 heading 2 dat Great Beyond… How ’bout YOU!”!!!!?
There is strange disconnect between fact and belief in western European countries.
There are those who will tell you reality is whatever you make it to be. The truth is reality is whatever you are told to believe.
Ukraine is beating Russia. Israel is just defending itself. Assad was a sadistic tyrant. Putin is evil. Biden is a sharp as tack. Trump is a Russian plant. The Chinese only copy western inventions (even when they do it first).
How many more realities can you think of.
Spot on my friend. As for the Chinese, they invented so many things over the centuries too numerous to count and yet none attributed to them. This is how the white west operates by coopting everything some darker or different humans create. The same with African art! The Europeans could not believe that the art and carvings were of African origin, so they copied them as their own and many artists used their stile in their art and were praised as geniuses when it was not theirs to claim. The ancients were creating science while Europeans were still living in caves and even the Greeks carried off Egyptian ideas and made them their own so nothing new here. Modern Archeologist will not even look at the mountains of evidence for much older civilizations that existed and the one lone searcher has been vilified as a crank for showing the truth of these ancients, Jack.
The United States is an “exceptional” nation. Israel has the most “moral” military. “January 6th” was an “insurrection. ” ….
Right on.
Here is a thought:
If Biden can’t think rightly, why cannot the recent executive orders, citizen medals of honor, his pardon of Hunter and others, all be retracted on the basis of mental incompetence?
Here’s one. Capitalism is the only system that works and just needs to be reformed.
“If a large chunk of the public can be persuaded that a man who is incapable of finding the door is “sharp as a tack,” they can be made to believe a lot of other things too, writes Jonathan Cook. ”
A point proven by one Herr Goebbels just under 100 years ago.
And in reply to MikeH, the same man with the same crowd also proved that those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities. Although, I would point out that some people are harder to deceive than others, so the easily deceived person is still responsible for their actions. A group that was commonly found in the crowd around Herr Goebbels.
As just one example, but one relevant to the consumers of MSM, in Sept 1939, Herr Goebbels had his media machine telling the German people that Poland had attacked Germany. If Germany had won the war, that is what one would read in all the official histories today. The technique lives on, as America now always claims “they hit me first.”
While I can’t say it’s synonymous with Poland attacking Germany, I have heard claims that some Germans were being attacked in parts of Poland that Germany ceded after WWI. Not to excuse Goebbels’ actions.
Democracy? Generally, any reference to the word indicates that the article is unworthy of my time. I only scanned the piece due to the reference that this organization of states is democracy. Ref. Article 4 Section 4 of ‘The Law of the Land’ which states that ‘The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government’. Not will… shall. Any claim that this is a ‘democracy’ is evidence that the one making such a claim has been co-opted into the mindless herd. Some would say there is little difference but were one to ponder the difference, it would prove to be distinct. Proof that the organization of states is other than a Republic is proof that the Law has been broken. Actually… observation is proof enough, so what now? Gird your loins.
And the truly frightening thing is that Biden is still occupying the WH, we still don’t know who’s calling the shots (literally), and someone in this administration is busy “Trump-proofing” the next four years.
I am not sure why anyone refers to the U.S. as a “democracy” anymore. There is no such thing as a genocidal democracy. There is no such thing as a genocidal Christian democracy either.
It is hard for me to really believe in the whole “just a figurehead” thing when there is one man who’s stubborn loyalty has prevented efforts to halt the slaughter from doing so. There is also one man who could put a stop to it pretty quickly with a phone call or two. I only wish the current admin were nothing but a figurehead. Unfortunately we can see his grim determination.
Any partisanship is a dog and pony show. If there were such a thing as two sides, one of those sides would make the case that this entire genocide is the doing of a man who is not in full use of his faculties, and as such it should be stopped. Immediately if not sooner.
There is no mention of any such possibility for the same reason there is no mention of the mental impact of the ongoing genocide on US children. The chill they refer to that comes over anyone who would dare to write one word is in fact a deep freeze. So now all the child psychologists and everyone else who wrote pages and pages about the impact of the pandemic upon American children, now cannot even write one single article.
I did find two articles about the nightmares of children-from Canada. As for America, I found pages of parents wondering why their children are having nightmares, and all kinds of theories, no mention of genocide. So there are lots of new prisons being built and they will have open arms for the kids they knowingly are screwing up. So will the military.
We still have two more weeks to get through without a nuclear war. I for one will not stop holding my breath until then, and probably not even then. Hell, I may well turn blue.
“Is the U.S. a democracy, or is the democracy just a facade behind which a wealth(y) elite maintains its power?”
Well, that question has certainly been answered the past four years. And it also indicates why they same elite hated (and got rid of) Kennedy and Nixon, as they had a notion that they actually were president, and hates (and has tried to get rid of) Trump despite his being part of the elite itself for the very same reason.
“Pity the Nation
Pity the nation whose people are sheep
And whose shepherds mislead them…
Pity the nation oh pity the people
Who allow their rights to erode
and their freedoms to be washed away”
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
With due respect to Ferlinghetti, I’m all out of pity on that score.
A companion piece might be the media and the political class’s collusion in gaslighting the public about the Hunter laptop.
Part 1: Sharp as a tack
Part 2: Clean as a whistle
Biden’s treatment of Anita Hill and dismissal of the 11 other women when he was chair of the Senate’s judiciary committee, should have taken him out.
Big question: Why did the corporate Democrat Party push so so hard to get aging, mentally-hindered Joe Biden into office as president when so many others were far better qualified? Who should really be blamed?
The other mainstream Democratic candidates were splitting the vote in the primaries leaving Sanders ahead. They had to choose one of them to unify behind while dropping out and Biden was chosen. They only left Warren because she took some votes from Sanders. That’s how Biden got in despite early signs of dementia.
Interesting that you put Sen. Warren in the ‘mainstream Dem’ camp, and not in the Progressive camp which she tries to call home. Very interesting.
Consider, if you will, a different path. One where Sanders makes his announcement of his run with Sen. Warren standing by his side as an ally. With a pledge that upon a united Progressive victory, Sen. Warren gets her choice of jobs from VP to Sec of Treasury as well as the heir apparent role in a growing Progressive movement. For the announcement of the united Progressive campaign, try to get as many other Progressive politicians as possible to join the two big Senators as they announce a strong campaign to win the nomination. A united progressive movement waging the best chance for ‘the left’ to win the Democrat nomination since FDR.
If you think of Sen. Warren as a Progressive, then choosing to compete against Sanders in the primaries is an own-goal. But, if you think of Warren as a ‘mainstream Democrat’, then moving into that race to split the Progressive vote into hopeless defeat makes a lot more sense.
The answer is because Bernie Sanders was percieved as a potential albeit minor threat to the oligarchy whereas Biden never met a bribe he didn’t like.
A: Very shallow bench.
Its an oligarch controlled party, with the oligarchs being the mega-donors who eventually stepped in and forced Biden from the race. But, such a party is a party where success depends on the favor of a small handful of billionaire donors. This in turn leads to a very short bench. They had just lost with Hillary, so she was out. In 2024, Kamala Harris and Gavin Newsome were the only options. The 2020 debates were embarrassing for a lack of talent and ideas from the right wing of the party. Wooden puppets on strings instead. A very short bench. To go beyond Biden, the oligarchs would have needed to take a chance on someone who had not proven that they dropped quickly to their knees upon command. A Biden who had noticeably declined from videos dated even 2016 and 2017 must have seemed like a ‘safer’ choice.’ A bigger mystery is why they were not already planning in 2019 for Biden to be a 1 term President?
Besides, the Democratic Party is now a Party where “Its my turn!” is apparently the only winning argument. Hillary 2016. Biden 2020, and 2024, followed by Harris 2024, and presumably Newsome 2028. Unless the mega-donors decide to go with an unknown right-wing Democrat ala Bill Clinton 1992 or Barrack Obama 2008.
‘Make believe democracy’ has existed long before Biden came to Washington. It has been more like a kakistocracy!
How long has it been since an election really changed things? 1932? FDR & the New Deal replacing Hoover-nomics?
Democracies are supposed to zig-zag and change directions. Its why the authoritarians always viewed democracies as an inefficient form of government. A democracy can not keep to a relatively straight course over decades despite many elections.
At heart, the US is simply irresponsible. Democracy was supposed to do away with mad kings. The irresponsibility is great considering all the levers that nation states now possess to literally destroy the world, not to mention creating unbearable suffering for millions of people. The US is certainly the world’s leader in this.
The West has tried to rule the world for the last 30+ years with the US as its uni-polar leader. And failed. I don’t know if the rising East can do any better but they are at least talking sensibly about nations being peers and uniting under international law for peace and mutual security. This, as opposed to the imaginary “rules based order” which is just a snatch and grab by Western powers and has led to incessant conflict and misery around the world. In any case, whether the East can succeed in building a new and peaceful world order or not, for example with BRICS, is yet to be seen. But one thing is for sure, the West can’t. It has no power left to create. It only only knows how to ravish and destroy. That is what happens when a person or a country gives up the struggle to contain their own worst impulses.
Considering the absolute nadir of Western leadership throughout the world, Biden, “genocide Joe,” is truly their spiritual leader and inspiration.
I would dispute the assertion that the public couldn’t see Biden’s lack of mental acuity. Many of us have had to deal with elder family members and friends and we know exactly what we are seeing. Our family and friends in decline, however, do not enjoy the power of the institutional media reassuring them that it’s “them” not “you” when the decline is obvious. More than that, the media in lock step with the government will use their full weight to cast aspersions on anyone questioning what they know to be true should it run contrary to the State’s position. As individuals, the only recourse we have is at the polls – and that barely matters. But one might assert that the 2024 election results showed at least enough people disbelieved the State Narrative to make a change. Now we’ll have to deal with the media telling us what fools we were to believe what we see and not what they tell us.
If a large chunk of the public can be persuaded that a man who is incapable of finding the door through which he’s supposed to leave is “sharp as a tack”, then why would they not also believe that the United States is promoting democracy as it has laid waste to the Middle East over the past two decades to control the region’s oil?
Or that Washington is seeking peace for the world and Ukraine by arming it with ever-more offensive weapons against a nuclear-armed Russia so that the U.S. can place ballistic missiles on Moscow’s doorstep?
Or that the U.S. wants a ceasefire in Gaza even as it supplies the munitions, intelligence and diplomatic cover for Israel to carry out a genocide there?
*
Some have suggested political figures and media groups which disseminated or spread the (100% debunked) “40 Babies Beheaded!” global psychological operation/deception possess an equal measure of guilt for facilitating the (ongoing) genocide of the Palestinian people. “40 Babies Beheaded!” was front-page-prominent in major newspapers across the Earth, offering clear evidence of a covert psychological operation requiring considerable planning and coordination between intelligence agencies and media organizations worldwide.
An investigation focused on identifying the origin(s) of the “40 Babies Beheaded!” deception is long overdue, for the simple reason such an investigation is the only means of holding all those guilty of genocide (Not only Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant) accountable.
From the article:
From the 18th century French writer and philosopher Voltaire:
hxxps://www.deism.com/post/famous-deist-voltaire
In other words, those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. Or to accept or condone atrocities.
hxxps://quoteinvestigator.com/2021/11/08/absurdities/
Funkadelic put it more succinctly: “Free your mind, and your ass will follow.”
At the same time, saying “Who cares what the Squares think?” prevented the Squares from making many believe the absurdities of the Domino Theory and thus kept some souls safe from going overseas to commit atrocities. Both statements would have been heard at Woodstock, and the people who went to Woodstock mostly avoided committing atrocities in Vietnam.
If you don’t listen to people, if you do not accept what they tell you, then you deny those untrustworthy people the power to convince you of absurdities. And that will help to protect you from being led to commit atrocities.
—–
Besides, I always heard it the other way around …. Free your ass, and your mind will follow.
In other words, stop thinking and dance, and keep dancing until you achieve understanding.
While the brain can be fooled by other thoughts and words, if you stop “thinking” and just experience the world, then your brain will understand the world. And yes, four hours of dancing to Phil Lesh and the Grateful Dead did result in a free-er mind as one ventured out into the parking lot for the rest of the morning. The world noticeably seemed different, and many illusions had evaporated. If you have a Tardis, I recommend it. And if you are going, I still know how to put out a thumb to try to hitch a ride – back to better times when the Doomsday Clock was further from midnight.