If I've learned anything in the last four years, it is that I am not skeptical enough. The election isn't all but over. One side has the enormous resources of the "Intelligence Community" and military industrial complex at its disposal, and we know the government is now free to threaten and exhort social media and internet platforms to censor dissident views with impunity. These platforms hardly needed encouragement, but they'll have plenty of it.
The Democratic Party is now facing some very tough choices: (1) Stay with a sure loser who, by the way, isn't fit to run the country, (2) Get Biden to step down and scramble to put together a new slate picked by delegates, not the voters, and for which there is no broad consensus, (3) Pull the 25th Amendment, remove the President in July (before the Democratic Convention), swear in VP Harris, and figure out in Chicago who your November ticket is.
After last night's performance, which reflects what Washington insiders have long known, the pressure to execute option 3 above (remove a sitting President) will be significant, perhaps unavoidable. This should in fact occur regardless of whether Biden agrees to step down. He simply isn't lucid enough to deal with any one of a number of crises which could arise. This is not only about politics, it's about America's ability to weather a crisis successfully.
So Kamala will then run as an incumbent. She will pick a "safe" VP like Shapiro or (the best choice) Raimondo if she wants to win. She might pick Whitmer to win Michigan. She might pick Newsom because he's a great campaigner though he's been perhaps California's worst governor. This will only enhance the importance of Trump's VP pick. Tactically, if they can put up with each other, Haley would be his best choice, or perhaps Tim Scott. The fun has just started.
What a great article, covering everything from Biden's mental acuity (exposed in Robert Hur's report), presidential betting odds, Nate Silver's model (which gave Trump 35% chance of winning in 2016), elite panic... So that's what it takes to write a guest column for Ayaan Hirsi Ali!
We now know that Biden's mental decline was obvious in February, when Special Counsel Robert Hur declined to press charges solely because he thought Biden wasn't mentally competent to stand trial. This condition doesn't happen suddenly and Biden's inner circle must have known about this at least a year ago. That they didn't stop him from running, and didn't encourage him to resign the Presidency right away, points to an irresponsible and distinct lack of patriotism among the Democratic elite. No softer conclusion fits after Biden's debate performance on June 27.
It was hard to watch and sad. I’m voting for people that celebrate the traditional values of the west, and I won’t be voting Biden. That said, Biden has spent his life servicing the county for what he thought was best, and deserves a better exit than this. It’s unfortunate.
“Servicing” is indeed the right verb. Biden’s long history of public service has been mediocre at best and self-serving at its worst. Still, I agree with you that it was sad to watch. His condition is rapidly deteriorating, and he is no longer fit to be our commander in chief. The Dems have some hard choices ahead.
Well done! I believe that the Dems. will find a way to change horses and put Biden out to pasture if the polls clearly indicate that he will lose. My main concern is that, in the meanwhile, Biden's mental incapacity was and communicated to our enemies. If they were in the dark before the debate, they arn't anymore. It is likely that we are now at peak risk!
Is the very nature of political debate based on a rhetoric is reality delusion of consciousness, to paraphrase Albert Einstein’s comment on our perceptions of reality manifesting a persistent illusion? The Illusion of Knowing we are raised to believe in through our early-life adaptation to speaking our mother’s tongue? And is our 'post-truth' world, post Trump's election to the highest political office on the planet, to paraphrase Ken Wilber, a clear example of humanity entering the 'phase' of chaos that transforms 'systems' into larger wholes? Social systems?
And beyond the blindingly obvious sense of something wrong with the current political climate, are we experiencing a transition into the more 'conscious-realism' people like Donald Hoffman and Iain McGilchrist are calling for? Is it time to begin 'noticing' the veritable mountain of information about the 'unseen' reality of human nature that has flowed from our ascent into an era of technological advancement and globalization? Please contemplate: The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and how people think. - Gregory Bateson
Spot-on essay. And did folks also notice the near-total failure of the debate to address ANY of these critical national security concerns?
- Iran’s nukes
- Iran’s bid for Mideast hegemony
- China targeting Taiwan
- China-Russia-Iran’s Cold War vs free world
- Imminent Hezbollah war
- Bankruptcy-trending US debt
- Surge in global Jew hate
Makes one wonder whether the overused "late Roman Empire" analogy finally does accurately describe the state of our Union. (Pray not . . .)
Henry, Henry.... you were expecting a substantive debate?
Shame on Jill Biden. What kind of person puts her soulmate through this?
If I've learned anything in the last four years, it is that I am not skeptical enough. The election isn't all but over. One side has the enormous resources of the "Intelligence Community" and military industrial complex at its disposal, and we know the government is now free to threaten and exhort social media and internet platforms to censor dissident views with impunity. These platforms hardly needed encouragement, but they'll have plenty of it.
The Democratic Party is now facing some very tough choices: (1) Stay with a sure loser who, by the way, isn't fit to run the country, (2) Get Biden to step down and scramble to put together a new slate picked by delegates, not the voters, and for which there is no broad consensus, (3) Pull the 25th Amendment, remove the President in July (before the Democratic Convention), swear in VP Harris, and figure out in Chicago who your November ticket is.
After last night's performance, which reflects what Washington insiders have long known, the pressure to execute option 3 above (remove a sitting President) will be significant, perhaps unavoidable. This should in fact occur regardless of whether Biden agrees to step down. He simply isn't lucid enough to deal with any one of a number of crises which could arise. This is not only about politics, it's about America's ability to weather a crisis successfully.
So Kamala will then run as an incumbent. She will pick a "safe" VP like Shapiro or (the best choice) Raimondo if she wants to win. She might pick Whitmer to win Michigan. She might pick Newsom because he's a great campaigner though he's been perhaps California's worst governor. This will only enhance the importance of Trump's VP pick. Tactically, if they can put up with each other, Haley would be his best choice, or perhaps Tim Scott. The fun has just started.
By the way, I saw a couple of minutes of Biden's rousing campaign speech in NC today. No sign of a cold...
The election is nowhere near over. Look for more dirty tricks and improbable happenings plus court decisions and more. I am hopeful but not sanguine.
What a great article, covering everything from Biden's mental acuity (exposed in Robert Hur's report), presidential betting odds, Nate Silver's model (which gave Trump 35% chance of winning in 2016), elite panic... So that's what it takes to write a guest column for Ayaan Hirsi Ali!
We now know that Biden's mental decline was obvious in February, when Special Counsel Robert Hur declined to press charges solely because he thought Biden wasn't mentally competent to stand trial. This condition doesn't happen suddenly and Biden's inner circle must have known about this at least a year ago. That they didn't stop him from running, and didn't encourage him to resign the Presidency right away, points to an irresponsible and distinct lack of patriotism among the Democratic elite. No softer conclusion fits after Biden's debate performance on June 27.
Either way, Trump or Biden, it's a scary time to be an American citizen. Biden is a known evil, while Trump, at best, is a wild card.
It was hard to watch and sad. I’m voting for people that celebrate the traditional values of the west, and I won’t be voting Biden. That said, Biden has spent his life servicing the county for what he thought was best, and deserves a better exit than this. It’s unfortunate.
“Servicing” is indeed the right verb. Biden’s long history of public service has been mediocre at best and self-serving at its worst. Still, I agree with you that it was sad to watch. His condition is rapidly deteriorating, and he is no longer fit to be our commander in chief. The Dems have some hard choices ahead.
Well done! I believe that the Dems. will find a way to change horses and put Biden out to pasture if the polls clearly indicate that he will lose. My main concern is that, in the meanwhile, Biden's mental incapacity was and communicated to our enemies. If they were in the dark before the debate, they arn't anymore. It is likely that we are now at peak risk!
Is the very nature of political debate based on a rhetoric is reality delusion of consciousness, to paraphrase Albert Einstein’s comment on our perceptions of reality manifesting a persistent illusion? The Illusion of Knowing we are raised to believe in through our early-life adaptation to speaking our mother’s tongue? And is our 'post-truth' world, post Trump's election to the highest political office on the planet, to paraphrase Ken Wilber, a clear example of humanity entering the 'phase' of chaos that transforms 'systems' into larger wholes? Social systems?
And beyond the blindingly obvious sense of something wrong with the current political climate, are we experiencing a transition into the more 'conscious-realism' people like Donald Hoffman and Iain McGilchrist are calling for? Is it time to begin 'noticing' the veritable mountain of information about the 'unseen' reality of human nature that has flowed from our ascent into an era of technological advancement and globalization? Please contemplate: The major problems in the world are the result of the difference between how nature works and how people think. - Gregory Bateson
What? I must be on the wrong Substack. I’ll retype in my IQ and try again.
Or turn on your EQ?