Trump's Decline too Obvious to Ignore---Boston Globe

[Pototan]

We can see the decline in the former president’s ability to hold a train of thought, speak coherently, or demonstrate a command of the English language, to say nothing of policy. So why are Republicans and the press holding Trump to a different standard than Biden?

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/10/16/opinion/trump-cognitive-decline-press-republicans/

[BOSSHOG]

1. That first sentence

Sounds like a description of a generic Republican.

They are holding different people to different standards because republicans have no standards. No integrity. They have proven they cannot lead govern or manage money. In other words they are the perfect weapons for billionaires.

[H2O Man]

2. Recommended.

There have been signs for a couple of years, but they are on public display every time he speaks now.

[ScratchCat]

3. Here it comes....

Undisclosed medical condition by Monday, JD new candidate.

[Wednesdays]

4. The chaos that would cause means that is highly unlikely

The 'pugs will continue to limp TCF to the finish line, and if the ticket wins, THEN they'll dump Trump via 25th Amendment.

[ScratchCat]

5. If he's "too exhausted" to have any more interviews or appearances

Then he is unfit to serve as President. The media can't "sanewash" this one.

Now, we are about to get the documents that confirm(like we didn't know already) that every cabinet member told him there was no widespread fraud and that he didn't win(that's why he is doing no more interviews, his entire charade is over).

[WestMichRad]

6. Why try sanewashing ...

… when they can start and spread conspiracy theories about how Dems have sabotaged his health?

[RandomNumbers]

58. LOL this media can sanewash anything. Or just continue to ignore it.

The election is close enough they could probably get away with mostly ignoring him and just posting b.s. stories that try to make Kamala or Joe look bad.

In the end they don't really care, they just want eyeballs and a horse race. They will do whatever they need to preserve the horse race.

On second thought they may care a little, because some idjits in high media places may think a Trump win will help their bottom line - endless crazy stories to keep people tuning in. That's just stupid though - there is enough craziness in the world and real life that they wouldn't need Trump if they just tried doing their jobs just a little tiny bit. Oops ... I guess there it is.

[lame54]

64. Trump's exhaustion is tremendous...

The greatest exhaustion the world has ever seen

Harris is too energized and active to be president

[birdographer]

9. I agree

And I am not so sure his cult will agree to just change horses midstream like that--I doubt they care about Vance's misogyny, they want to know if he hates non-whites as much as they and trump do. There's too much about him they don't know yet. Of course they are too stupid to realize that trump won't set foot in the WH again, he will be 25-ed out before he can pack his bags, so their votes are all for Vance.

[PortTack]

29. If tsf comes out and endorses Vance for the top spot, I think they'll vote. Not all, but some.

[birdographer]

37. I don't think he would ever pull out of the election for any reason

That declares failure. I also doubt he is aware that Vance will take it from him immediately Jan 21st. Who's going to tell him?

[PortTack]

38. I sure hope you are correct! Althou being the con he is, I think he sees his own game being played against him

Maybe part of his “exhaustion?” He knows he’s lost even if he were to win.

[birdographer]

39. We know this whole candidacy is to avoid prison

If he is not president, what happens to all the trials? If he is declared insane, do they go away? I guess he could bail if he is assured of no prison or house arrest?

[PortTack]

41. I doubt he would be declared insane, but infirmed, too frail and old to withstand trial, unfortunately I think

That could happen.

And yes, I agree with him possibly bailing…they will make him an offer, go quietly here’s some cash and we’ll make the rest go away. Fortunately, I don’t think they will be in power come Jan ‘25. What I’m hoping….he’s gone as in dead b4 Jan ‘29. I don’t believe either party has ever held the WH more than 8 consecutive yrs. No doubt the next gqp president will pardon him if still alive.

[HUAJIAO]

51. FDR

[sdfernando]

57. Reagan then Poppy Bush

Whitehouse in republican hands for 12 years. FDR then Truman, Whitehouse in Democratic hands for a whopping 2O years!

[ThoughtCriminal]

42. Vance will pardon him

He will need to do that to appease the base after Trump gets 25th.

But he can only do that for Federal crimes.

[birdographer]

44. Ah ha!

I didn't think about the pardoning only for Federal crimes. I was imagining him getting off scot-free and spending the last of his days cheating at golf.

I do not believe that they will win, legitimately or by cheating. Too many people voting for America this time around.

[ShazzieB]

52. Agree 100%.

Especially the last part. I'm sure he has no idea what is being planned for Vance. No one who is in on it would dare tell him.

[usaf-vet]

16. So does that mean "real GOP plans" is they are running a 22 month term Senator. January 2023 - October 2024?

Really! Oh, and he was also a military news correspondent.

Great, that should make us all feel safe with that experience in the WH.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

8. This late, it simply does not work like that. They are stuck w tRump until Nov. 6. . . . . nt

[Orrex]

24. Wait... Should I or should I not keep wishing for his death at this point?

[PortTack]

30. Lock in 11/6!

[ChazInAz]

55. Go for it!

I've been doing it since 2015. In that time, I have evolved a peculiar list of specifications for the mode of his demise: included are pterodactyls, rabid groundhogs on a golf course, galloping leprosy and terminal flatulence. Then there are the more dire events.

[Orrex]

56. My go-to is "drowning in an industrial hog farm's waste pond"

But I will happily accept any of your suggestions as well. Heck, why not all of them?

[RidinWithHarris]

14. We switched from Biden to Harris before any election deadlines passed

It's too late to switch to JD now except as a write-in candidate. And many MAGA fanatics would still vote for Trump over Vance no matter what.

Hopefully Trump is a lost cause no matter what, but trying to switch to Vance now would be utter suicide for Republicans (so I hope they try it, but they won't).

[GB_RN]

18. And Write-ins...

Are only legal in a few states. Most don’t allow for it. IIRC, in some places, writing on your ballot can get it tossed.

[Renew Deal]

23. I think that's unlikely

Vance is very unpopular all around. Also, the mechanics of that are challenging, but not impossible.

[JoseBalow]

34. drumpf will NEVER voluntarily give up the grift

He'll never stop running for office, he'll never stop being the victim.

He is incapable of walking away from the cash cow he has cultivated.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

59. What?

Just like that? And who will be JD's running mate?

The prognosticating on DU has really jumped the shark.

[4catsmom]

7. and yet they ignore it

constantly. the hypocrisy is jaw-dropping both from the media and the GOP

[LetMyPeopleVote]

10. This should be a much bigger story!!!

Link to tweet

[StarryNite]

11. Dump with dog/goat killer Kristi seen here glitching to the oldies.

Two pathetic pieces of shit.

[Attilatheblond]

22. There were a couple of times, just for a split second each, where her face registered sheer panic at his weird antics.

[StarryNite]

40. Yes, that was pretty funny.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

60. Definitely the "dancing"

She looked like a nursery school teacher leading her toddlers in a "dance," OMG.

[StarryNite]

61. LOL

[NonPC]

53. Her Botox Makes It Hard to Tell

And I get distracted by the duck lips anyway

[Warpy]

12. It should be, but it's not the first time

the Republicans have tried t prop up, sanewash, and lie about a befuddled old man who whould have retired halfway through a first term. Remember Reagan? After he was shot, he had obviously lost it. Yet the GOPEE ran him for a second term in ever worsening metal condition. They'd seemingly rather have an affable but completely befuddled man out in front while thieves and fascists run things behind the scenes.

The Globe came close to exposing this pattern, but not quite.

[PortTack]

32. They did, but as mentioned they had elder bush and Cheney propping him up. DonOLD sick or not will not agree to that

[calimary]

62. Many of us (um... older ones) had to live through that.

I found it rather nauseating. He was a snake charmer. Reagan. ICK. But he had a way of charming and disarming people and they’d fall like houses of cards.

It was really frustrating. And while his mind was fading, too many people just kept falling for him, mainly because he could read cue cards really well, and sell those scripted speeches. He WAS an actor first, after all.

[ffr]

13. We can see reality with our own eyes. He looks like he is so high on Adderall, he's about ready to croak.

"Yet Trump’s party has not urged him to step aside for the good of the country, as Biden’s did." And much of the press is doing the American people a disservice by treating Trump’s obvious cognitive slippage as just “Trump being Trump.”

But his diminishing cognitive ability can’t be ignored. He may not be able to get a grip, but it’s long past time the news media and Republicans stop participating in the gaslighting. We can see reality with our own eyes.

[Blue Owl]

15. They'll never publicly admit the real reason

It’s because they’re propaganda outlets, not real unbiased news

[RidinWithHarris]

17. How much of the press can point this out to the rest of press and be ignored?

Quite a bit, apparently. The rest of the press has surely heard the message by now.

I'd love to hear these Trump propping-up assholes in the media cornered in interviews under a barrage of tough questions about why, when they damned well should know better, when they've certainly by now gotten the message from a few of their colleagues with some integrity, why they not only continue to normalize and sanewash Trump, but why Biden's one bad debate performance turned into a weeks-long feeding frenzy while Trump's far worse ongoing displays of mental decline (and so many other ways of being unfit) aren't causing anything close to the same reaction.

[Cirsium]

21. That bears repeating

"Why Biden's one bad debate performance turned into a weeks-long feeding frenzy while Trump's far worse ongoing displays of mental decline (and so many other ways of being unfit) aren't causing anything close to the same reaction."

Excellent.

[bucolic_frolic]

19. -aid

They are either afraid, or paid.

[Sane1]

20. Posted by me, 10/17/24....

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=19577216

[calimary]

25. Because they've always held trump to a different standard than they have with ANYONE else.

They’ve all given him immunity. They’ve ALL given him an ongoing, perpetual free pass. Who knows why? The bullying they’re afraid of, or something? His threats and menacing behavior (remember how he loomed behind Hillary during their debate -wouldn’t stay in his place in that forum)? Maybe the fear they have of what he might do to them?

[JohnSJ]

26. The Al Smith dinner demonstrated that decline.

[Rocknation]

27. Trump's decline has become too obvious to ignore because he wants it to be

Last edited Sat Oct 19, 2024, 12:03 PM - Edit history (7)

And he wants it to be because he NEEDS it to be.

And he NEEDS it to be because he's accepted the facts that:
a) he most likely won't win the election
b) he most likely will be convicted/sentenced/wiped out financially on at least one of his remaining criminal and civil charges.

UNLESS...
Unless he can succeed at convincing the courts that he's as cognitively declined as he accused Joe Biden of being.

And why in the world would he WANT to succeed at that?
Because courts DON'T try people who are TOO cognitively declined -- they declare such people to be either too mentally incompetent or too insane.

And THAT'S why Mister I-Can-Shoot-Someone-On-Fifth-Avenue-And-Get-Away-With-It has suddenly started turning up the dial on his cognitive decline: It's HIS way of shooting someone on Fifth Avenue -- and getting away with it!


Rocknation

[Prairie Gates]

28. This is one columnist, not the Boston Globe

I wish people would distinguish between Op-Ed columns and editorials. This is 7th grade stuff, folks. Come on.

[maxsolomon]

31. That takes all the fun out of it, PG

You wouldn't be able to post that the "MSM is ignoring x, y, or z" for the 1000th time.

[generalbetrayus]

48. Thank you. That practice here at DU irritates

the piss out of me. There’s a BIG difference between a columnist’s opinion and a newspaper’s official position.

[Klarkashton]

33. He wants to last just long enough to pardon himself

And take a victory lap. He doesn't give a shit about anything else.

[maxsolomon]

35. The press holds Dems to a higher standard than Repukes

they always have. Because we're the party of rationality and empathy.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

36. Is Putin done with his puppet?

Speaker Nancy Pelosi to traitortrump, "All roads with you lead to Putin."

[Joinfortmill]

43. Good. Glad this reached publication.

[bmichaelh]

45. Trump does not adapt well to change

Last edited Fri Oct 18, 2024, 07:45 PM - Edit history (1)

There are some creative people that regardless of the circumstances, they would excel.

They know how to excel at everything they touch.

Not Trump; he is not a creative person.

Trump does not know how to adapt when circumstances change.

Which should be a warning sign in itself.

When his aides presented him with new facts, he digs in deeper or try what he did in the past.

[DemonGoddess]

46. The OpEd

is spot on.

But OMG the comments section. Jeebus!

[hay rick]

47. The rationale for having different standards for different parties and different candidates.

If you use a single standard, the Republicans are not competitive in terms of simple integrity, decency, and very often- competence. Using different standards maintains the fiction that we have a functional two party system that just offers two different and competing paths to the same goal- creating a just and prosperous society. The problem is that the paths are different because the goals are very different.

Democrats seek equal opportunity and general prosperity. Republicans claim those lofty goals but actually seek to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of a very few. Republicans rise through the ranks by competing in oligarch-financed primaries. The perfect GOP lawmaker has the ability to lie shamelessly in public while offering unquestioning support for any policy brought forward by their sponsors. They don't need any professional competence because they will not be expected to craft the desired legislation.

[lpbk2713]

49. Trump is nothing but a PITA now.

Anyone who claims to be (R) should be embarrassed.

[Martin68]

50. "why are Republicans and the press holding Trump to a different standard than Biden?" Because they are in the bag for a

fascist takeover of America to benefit the American authoritarian oligarchy.

[Aussie105]

54. Recognising that the head of the Party of Trump is in decline, how would his cult followers react?

If Trump went down for natural or other reasons before the election.

I'm guessing . . . Trump or nothing?

They will stay home and not vote?

A cult, unlike a proper political party, just disintegrates if the head of the cult goes down.

For some strange reason though, cult leaders like Jim Jones, David Koresh, Charles Manson were held in high regard by their followers and strange and destructive behaviour wasn't criticised, called out or condemned by cult members, only those outside the cult.

And that is happening here, Biden is a normal person and held to normal standards, Trump is a cult leader and not to be questioned or criticised.

But try to imagine what would have happened at Waco or Jonestown, if you remember the details (*), if the cult leader had gone down prior to the actions that made the headlines.

(*) Worth a Google if you don't remember.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

63. Thank you @BostonGlobe for this.

TFG is not fit to be POTUS

Link to tweet

[LetMyPeopleVote]

65. Trump's mental decline finally gets attention Deranged rants & rambling speeches obvious to all