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I Will Not Mock Joe Biden
“You can resolve to live your life with integrity. Let your credo be this: Let the lie come into the world, let it even triumph. But not through me.-Alexander Solzhenitsyn
A few of months ago, I made a couple of (what I thought) were amusing posts on social media about Joe Biden’s gaffes on the campaign trail. They were generally good-natured little jabs about his tendency to slip up during interviews and how often he loses his temper in seemingly normal situations. At the time, they seemed funny, and my friends and I got a good laugh out of them. Now though, after some reflection, I’m beginning to think that my remarks about Biden weren’t nearly as funny as they were cruel, that perhaps I should hold myself to the same standards that I hold the world. I have decided, for the sake of my own moral character, that I will not mock Joe Biden.
Let’s begin with the most basic truth: I’m not a fan of Joe Biden. He’s a career politician that has been the architect of countless bad ideas and has generally pulled the country in the wrong direction for forty years. However, I do not hate Joe Biden. Hate is a counterproductive emotion, and hating someone simply because you disagree with their politics is destructive to both your moral character and political discourse. My personal disagreements with him do not justify any cruelty on my part toward Joe Biden as a human being. I hope that I am above that.
“I understand that the democratic party has already formally nominated Mr. Biden for president, but it has become clear to me that the stress of this campaign and his general mental decline has made him unfit for office. It is beneath my dignity to tear down a man simply because I am running for political office. With that in mind, if the democratic party chooses to replace Mr. Biden with a more capable candidate, I will offer no opposition. I fully understand that replacing Mr. Biden may lessen my chances of winning this election, but no election–even the presidency–is worth destroying a fellow human being. Please, for the sake of human decency, consider my offer.”
Yes, there is that. I’m afraid management at Walmart will have to monitor him all the time.
@jameslileks, would you mind explaining why this OP earned your “Lileks Post of the Week”? Most of the commenters disagree to some extent with the OP author’s premise. I believe some rational, worthy arguments have been put forth based on the high stakes of the 2020 election.
Do you genuinely believe that Alexander Solzhenitsyn would call for kid glove treatment against the apparatchiks of the the USSR so he could congratulate himself on taking the kinder, nobler way? Of course, the comparisons are wildly dissimilar to the point of absurdity but underneath, there remains a nugget of core truths.
Our country finds itself facing a stark choice in 2020. The Democrats would put us on an eventual path to transforming America into something unrecognizable to the American experiment. Every facet of life would be affected via the coercive power of a centralized government: economics, wealth redistribution, the justice system, censorship, abridgement of our 2nd Amendment rights, social programs, energy, voting, freedom of religion, private industry and more.
So let’s ask ourselves genuinely, what would Alexander Solzhenitsyn (WWASD?)
I sometimes “like” a post for the discussion it starts even if I disagree with the post itself.
If this is post of the week, it doesn’t say much for the quality of posts here, agreement or no agreement.
Dr. Bastiat has been more interesting, insightful and inspiring than anything else here. Maybe he’s won too many?
I’m guessing the appeal of a post like this is the kind of template the Never Trump Republicans are so enamored with. Write how you are above insulting someone whilst insulting them in a patronizing way. This post is highly insulting to Biden, saying in effect, the guy deserves his pity. The fantasy speech is equally disgusting and insulting. This man is crippled, I will not play him in the soccer game! Get someone more worthy of a challenge!
They love to act all high-minded and superior lecturing others who they ostensibly agree with on our manners and style. Thank you, Saint Republican!
I don’t think anyone is calling for kid glove treatment of Biden. I think — I could be mistaken, of course — that the post author is using the word “mock” as distinct from “criticize.” There is much in Biden’s record and policy pronouncements (to the extent that we can discern them) that warrant criticism, even harsh criticism. But it looks like Biden is experiencing the onset of senility, and I think the author is saying that he won’t mock Biden for his deteriorating mental state. That’s really all I read into it. And I agree with that sentiment: it’s okay to point out that Biden may not be mentally competent to run for the office or to hold it, and that can be done without mocking his growing deficiencies.
I find the original post charitable and humane. I thought the tiny Trump criticism was unnecessary and a bit counter to the overall tone of the post, but for the most part appreciated the author’s point.
i agree. I’m sure Lileks read the post and the comments. I don’t think his vote for post of the week presumes agreement with anything.
I think he is now neurologically impaired and it might be that it is up to us to pray for him.
Thanks for this tip on this book. “Profiles in Corruption” – Brilliant!
I haven’t (and will not) read all the comments because it is late and my wife has already impatiently gone ahead to bed (and because this is way late to the party and it may be that nobody will read it anyway), but I have a suspicion that the Democrats do not intend to enter the general election with Biden. He is a perfect place-holder who can withdraw for health reasons at any time. His replacement will enter the fray without the Republicans having been able to define him. Biden will have absorbed the attacks and made the Republicans look mean while their candidate can appear to be noble and squeaky clean.
I mean, that’s what I would try to do under these circumstances.
There was a rumour a few weeks ago about the Democrats replacing Biden with Pope Mario the Pius’ son. Not sure how that would be received by the Democrat voters. By August or September the decline might be so obvious that something must be done.
I’m thinking more in the nature of an October Surprise. The nominated VP candidate may not be the substitute, either. Have there ever been rules formulated for the case when a Presidential candidate dies before an election? I doubt it. The Democrats would probably prevail in being able to nominate whoever they want (just because) but the Republicans would have to nominate someone acceptable to the Democrats, if past is prologue.
I enjoyed your post very much! (Ricochet has great, caring people, unless you criticize Trump. It was a minor criticism, but turned out to be the focus.) I’m in the “we’ll just agree to disagree on this one”club. I do think it deserves “Post of the Week”! Congratulations!
I may not mock Biden ( I will concede it is in bad taste to mock), but I already find the Babylon Bee mocking him to be highly entertaining. Trump vs Biden is going to be incredibly entertaining.
Entertaining or not, I am concerned that Biden may get more electoral college votes than Trump.
Something is alarmingly and fundamentally wrong here. This man can never be President.
The man is putting himself out there to be leader of the free world, and be a puppet for progressive causes
He said I wanted to put black people in chains
He ruined a good man in Judge Bork.
He’s been a bloviating jerk, an unrepentant liar, and he’s running for President.
I will do everything in my power to stop that, including destroying him for having a brain made of pudding.
He and ESPECIALLY his administration, the same people peddling Russian intel, who spied on us through the NSA, who audited us through the IRS will show no quarter.
I won’t either.
Oh, Dear Lord…and this man will be put in front of other world leaders if elected? Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh…
I think Jill Biden, excuse me, Doctor Jill Biden really, really, really wants to be First Lady!
Now that’s an angle I hadn’t thought about. Could explain some dynamics going on.
So were cancelling political cartoons and all other forms of political humor?
I generally don’t think I’m any more virtuous than the people I share the world with, but, because you’re so charming, I’ll make an exception for you.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have the new champion of the keyboard warriors.
I think part of the issue of disagreement with the author is that we already had gentlemanly politeness with Mitt Romney.
And he was trounced. He lost spectacularly.
Likewise, John McCain before him.
Another possibility would be a candidate who has developed a facade of gentlemanly politeness, but is ruthless behind the scenes.
And I think we’ve seen that in Obama.
Or Surgeon General.
Good thing I read this far as you put my thoughts down better than I would have. As much as I despise Biden, I despise those who are putting him through this even more. Then again, Biden seems so far gone that he probably doesn’t know he’s the court jester.
Trump is sort of like Larry Holmes when he fought Ali. Holmes said that he couldn’t win because if Ali won, Ali was the Greatesf of All Time, and if he won, he had beaten an old man. As you said, Trump has to regard Joe as collateral damage and go after the Demos.
Trump should borrow the line from NPR’s “Click and Clack”. Just laugh and say, “What’s the matter, Joe? Shorts riding up on you?”
@Brian Watt I’ve gotten into several spirited debates with my school classmates from years ago, who are the classic Democrats, and remember Hubert Humphrey. Like you, I had a mother who had Alzheimers, with her final death certificate reading dementia. I see all the signs in Joe Biden from the forgetful to the suddenly fiery argumentative. His family should be charged with elder abuse.
As for the Dems running someone in his place, they may yet have to. My theory is that Joe is going to commit a gaffe on stage, possibly the debate stage, with millions watching, that no amount of spin from anyone in the media or the party, will be able to cover up his mental decline. At that point, the Dems and the Deep State, who planned to control him anyway, will pull him for someone else. Could that someone be Hillary? Michelle? Cuomo?
Finally, as for Trump beating him up onstage, I don’t see it. Trump does a lot of good quietly behind the scenes that no one knows about. He would have his wife in the audience, his family, and is certainly aware of the millions watching. I think that he would do the right thing, and could possibly ask for the debate to end early if Joe becomes disoriented and foolish.
I think the author is trying to point out that anger and negativity affects us more than the person it is targeted at
I remain sympathetic to the author’s point that we should not mock the mentally disabled. I was tempted today to post something on Facebook making light of Joe Biden’s mental incompetence, a series of recent quotations from him that are largely unintelligible and demonstrate, I think, a seriously impaired brain. I held back, because I don’t want to play his senility for laughs. But it seems necessary to keep bringing this to light, because it’s important that people realize that he’s impaired, and quoting him seems the most obvious way to do it.
The challenge is, how do you quote him without it being, well, funny?