Saturday, June 29, 2024

On Dreadful Spectacles, Ruthlessness & Moral Infirmity

 

From a June 28, 2024 article by Brendan O'Neill, at Spiked, on Why the Democrats lied about Joe Biden’s frailty. The presidential debate has exposed the ruthlessness of the American establishment:

"Few events have shone a light on ‘American decline’ as much as Joe Biden’s sad, impassive performance in last night’s CNN presidential debate. Here was the leader of the free world speaking in faint, broken tones, and struggling to stay focused, and at points seeming to blank out entirely. Before the eyes of the world, it became clear: this man is too old, too frail and too infirm to be at the helm of America.

And yet, Old Joe’s physical infirmity is not the thing that should horrify us. Everyone ages, everyone withers. No, it is the moral infirmity of the Democratic establishment that is truly chilling. It is those who are so bent on power that they’ll force a frail man on to the world stage to do their bidding who deserve our ire. It is the media movers and shakers who said ‘Joe is fine’, and who damned the concerned as ageist cranks, who have behaved atrociously. Behind Biden’s physical decay is the far graver problem of the moral decay of a ruling class that will lie, gaslight and bully just to stay on top.

The debate was a dreadful spectacle. No one can now deny that Biden is not fit for the highest office in the Western world. Even Donald Trump seemed to put a lid on his usual piss-taking, perhaps clocking that Biden’s decline is now too serious for wisecracks. Although at one point, after Biden breathlessly mumbled something about border control, Trump snuck in a jibe: ‘I really don’t know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don’t think he knows what he said, either.’ The vacant, doleful look on Biden’s face in response to Trump’s swipe was painful to see."

2 comments:

edutcher said...

As Glenn Reynolds noted years ago, it's not the West's (or America's) decline, it's the Left's decline. Keep that in mind as we march forward.

Even Donald Trump seemed to put a lid on his usual piss-taking, perhaps clocking that Biden’s decline is now too serious for wisecracks.

My God, what drivel.

Trump got in his shots. What's interesting is the Lefty comics are the ones out for Brandon's blood.

MamaM said...

The comics on the Right have been observing and remarking on Brandon's decline for a long time. The ones on the Left are now trying to salvage what left of their artistic reputations as commited observers rather than clueless puppets.

I thought Trump did well with the shots he delivered. He managed to evade the hooks intended to snag and anger him imprudent responses and stopped short of "mean" when he could have justifyably torn a lot more flesh.

As for drivel, my take on Trump was slightly different than the writer's but the rest of what he wrote came through as on the mark from my perspective.