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News has ceased to be informative.  Instead it has become predictive, or at least tries to be.  It takes a few rumors and turns them into a narrative for a brokered Democratic convention in August where Biden will be replaced on the Democratic ticket. While there were a few grumbles after the debate, no principal Democratic leader has suggested Biden should be replaced.  Yet, all the major news outlets run with the story just the same.  It has reached the point where Trump is upset that it overshadows his "fantastic" performance.

Throughout this election cycle we have seen predictive storytelling.  There has been little attempt to present news as it is or to give us any real understanding as to why.  It would have been much more interesting to delve into the reasons why Biden stumbled so badly in the debate or why the CNN hosts made no effort to rein in the many lies and false claims Trump made.  Anthony Scaramucci generously estimated that Trump lied every 100 seconds during the debate.  News is principally about fact checking despite Lindsey Graham's statements to the contrary.  Instead, CNN consciously chose to let Trump go off in any direction he wanted, evading the hosts' questions with no effort to challenge his many falsehoods.  I suppose the news network felt Biden should have done that.

As a result, we come away from the debate with Biden portrayed as a doddering old fool who needs to be replaced and Trump as a man defying his 78 years with the energy of a billy goat.  A narrative the news media has pretty much run with ever since the two declared their candidacies early last year. 

There have been brief moments where the news media has taken a more positive view of Biden, such as reporting how he defied expectations in delivering a strong State of the Union address in February. The news media was even comparing him to Truman at one point.  However, this was soon overridden by Republican claims that Biden "shot himself in the ass," to use Trump's parlance, implying that he was on drugs.  Most likely Biden was on drugs Tuesday night as he was battling a cold and probably took some pretty strong medication that threw him off his rhythm.  He seemed fine the next day on the campaign trail.

More amusing is the idea that an off night implies you're senile.  If that is the case then we have all had our "senile" moments, as no one can be on 24/7.  I forget things.  I struggle for words sometimes, resorting to a bit of babbling as I try to recall a specific word, especially if involved in a heated argument.  Lost in all this reporting is Trump's ability to drag almost anyone down to his base level when forced to engage with him.  This is what happened Tuesday night.  Biden in a particularly bad moment ended up arguing with Trump over golf handicaps.  He was trying to highlight that this was one of Trump's many lies but he garbled it so badly that it just looked like a "longest dick" competition.

Yet, CNN made no real effort to analyze what happened.  Instead, their post-debate panelists feigned shock over Biden's performance and immediately began speculating on a replacement, including David Axelrod who should know better.  Trump had successively been able to rattle Biden and therefor had everyone bemoaning Biden's shortcomings rather than Trump's equally horrible performance.  

Trump should be ecstatic!  Instead, he is his usual petulant self believing he should have gotten a gold star for his performance.  He goes on and on about "Crooked Joe," when he is the one with 34 convictions that the news media blythely dismisses.  As with the convictions, the debate appears to have made little impact on what voters think about the election.  Polls have remained pretty much the same with a slight edge to Trump, even if his fanboys are now predicting a landslide in November.

We're still four months away with two conventions yet to come.  The only real surprise will be who Trump picks as VP.  Those who think Biden will step down and the Democrats will choose an alternate candidate are just kidding themselves, as to do so would be admitting defeat.  All the principal leaders in the Democratic Party have shown their support for Biden in the wake of the debate.  You only hear calls for replacement from the fringes of the party.   

The person who needs to be replaced is Biden's campaign manager for organizing these debates.  This gave legitimacy to Trump that he didn't deserve.  Not only that but Biden has never been a very strong debater and is prone to go off the rails in these settings, as we have seen numerous times in the past.  His strength lies in directly addressing the public as he showed at a rally the next day in Raleigh, North Carolina.

From this point onward, news should be day to day.  CNN and other media outlets should be covering events not speculating on what will happen down the line.  They very rarely show Trump's many off moments.  You find them on YouTube and other social media sources.  Here is a mash-up compiled by MSNBC just to show how far gone he is.  If you covered the nominees side by side on the campaign trail you would get a far more accurate portrayal of their cognitive abilities.  Instead, the major news outlets gloss over Trump's many questionable moments and highlight Biden's occasional bad moments.  The result being that many Americans think it is Biden who is suffering from dementia when it is Trump who is showcasing his dementia on a daily basis.


Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 1, 2024 at 12:36 PM

    I agree with many of your comments here. Bottom line is that neither of these men is a good choice for president. It is a sad situation in America where the best we can put up for president are two old men fighting it out for who's least affected by their age. Many of us will still vote for Biden simply because he isn't Trump. "Any functioning adult" still applies. However, it seems likely that replacing Biden wouldn't hurt the Democrats chances and could improve them markedly, unless the convention were to choose Kamala or a far left candidate that s further splits the party.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. James FergusonJuly 1, 2024 at 5:56 PM

      I look more toward their administrations than the men themselves. That's why I don't fret so much over Biden's age. Sure, I would like a younger president but that won't happen until next election cycle.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJuly 2, 2024 at 12:55 AM

    I get your point. Most Presidents are just figure heads for the party machine. Trump is different. It will be interesting to see how much today's Supreme Court decision granting a president carte blanche will change the climate. Even more important that Trump not return to office. He will be in "no holds barred" mode. Perhaps Biden should take advantage of his newly granted power...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. James FergusonJuly 2, 2024 at 6:20 AM

      Time to bring someone up on sedition charges ; )

      Delete

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