Have you tried telling a die-hard Democrat/Biden supporter that the President was sundowning during the recent Presidential debate? Did they reply with information about his lifelong stuttering as a way of explaining why he said things like “we beat Medicare” and “women are being raped by their in-laws”?
Were you left dumbfounded by a hard-core Trump supporter who ignored the fact that Trump never directly answered most of his questions during the debate and when he did, he often didn’t tell the truth? Did they assure you that the many legal cases against him would not affect his presidency if he were elected?
Suppose you dared to engage in a conversation on either side. Were you told that you were a Maga-loving Republican who supports convicted felons and male predators or a Marxist-leaning Democrat who would vote for a doorknob as long as it had a D beside its name?
Or were you lucky enough to find someone who said, “You know what? Both are true. Neither Biden nor Trump is a good candidate for President”?
In our polarized political world, which seems to have morphed into all aspects of our daily lives, we must take sides. Since we have two main candidates for President of the United States, the conclusion is that only one can be bad. It is then okay to gloss over the foibles of the other and declare them the better candidate. It’s amazing to see the lengths some people have gone to make that happen.
Just a few weeks ago, the New York Times called months of Biden wandering, staring blankly and speaking incoherently a new “style” he had acquired in his maturing years. Other news outlets blamed Republicans for creating cheap fakes that purported to show Biden looking dazed and confused on numerous occasions.
Then, just days after the debate, the Times devoted its editorial section to calls for Biden to step aside and let someone else be the Democrat nominee.
There is no reason for the party to risk the stability and security of the country by forcing voters to choose between Mr. Trump’s deficiencies and those of Mr. Biden. It’s too big a bet to simply hope Americans will overlook or discount Mr. Biden’s age and infirmity that they see with their own eyes.
A piece by the Associated Press on July 3 stated that covering Biden’s obvious decline is “a complicated story that has bubbled for months — and, it can be argued, the American people were onto it first.”
It’s exasperating and insulting to be gaslit by news outlets and the White House when you know what you saw. Suddenly, when the truth couldn’t be completely hidden any longer, the news outlets, at least, reported on it as though it had only started the night of the debate. (The White House still claims Biden is as fit as a 50-year-old, even if we all saw the video of Jill gingerly leading him down the stairs after the debate.)
What’s most unfair is that those who pointed out Biden’s mental and physical decline were often lumped into the Maga category. If you dare to say that Biden is unfit to run the country, the only explanation could be that you support a convicted felon and a womanizer.
Because certainly you couldn’t be looking at both sides and shaking your head in disbelief.
Several fact-checkers noted that Trump made more than 30 false claims during the debate, as compared to Biden’s 10. Seriously, isn’t a single lie one too many? Are we going to lower the bar that much to say, “Well, it’s fine to tell lies as long as they are fewer than your opponent”? Obviously, we are, and that’s not a good thing. If we focus only on one person’s untruths, we give the other a pass to spin facts.
Anyway, back to Trump. He told lots of lies during the debate, but at the same time, he didn’t say much of anything. Do you know his stance on foreign policy or how he actually plans to control the border? Sure, he can talk about what he did during his administration, but what’s his plan if he gets in again in November? All we know is that, according to Trump, the Biden Administration is a disaster and the rest of the world is laughing at us. (Remember that the rest of the world was also supposedly laughing at us when Trump was President, which means we’ve been providing amusement to everyone outside the United States for almost eight years.)
And you won’t hear this from most right-leaning news sources because they have been too busy gleefully recalling Biden’s poor performance and declining capabilities.
The truth is that we have serious problems with Biden and Trump, but many pundits, politicians, and citizens don’t want to admit it. Doing so is obviously problematic because what’s the alternative? RFK, Jr. is making a big push for the presidency, but many people can’t get beyond his stance on vaccines to take his candidacy seriously. Also, the latest article in Vanity Fair isn’t going to win him extra votes. The other candidates - yes, there are others! - won’t make a dent on election day.
That means you have to vote for Biden or Trump, correct? Maybe. But why can’t you voice your displeasure? Why must it be “anybody but Trump” or “anybody but Biden”? Why can’t it be “neither of them”? Why can’t you say, “I don’t want to settle; I want a great candidate”? How do you get that message across while still exercising your right to vote?
What if everyone wrote in “none of the above”?
“Neither Biden nor Trump is a good candidate for President…Trump made more than 30 false claims during the debate, as compared to Biden’s 10. Seriously, isn’t a single lie one too many?”
I cannot in good conscience vote for either. Even if their emotional and mental fitness were exemplary, both prescribe policies in important areas that I deeply reject, find seriously flawed, and will negatively impact the future.