I love reading The Bulwark, a site founded by Republicans who can’t bear Trump and his demagoguery. Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes posts there along with other never-Trumpers. He wrote this article, “Biden is Old But Trump is Crazy (and Dangerous).”
Many readers on this blog wish that Biden would take a victory lap, then step aside for a new generation. Undoubtedly there are Republicans who feel the same way about Trump.
But if there is to be a rematch of 2020, Sykes gives us much to think about.
He writes:
In the last few days, the leading GOP candidate for president — the twice impeached, defeated former president, who is facing four criminal indictments — suggested the execution of General Mark Milley; demanded a federal shutdown unless the prosecutions against him are defunded; called on all Senate Democrats to resign; and threatened to use the powers of the federal government to retaliate against news outlets like NBC that had criticized him.
This is the same former president who has called for terminating provisions of the Constitution; orchestrated a coup to overturn the last presidential election; and absconded with military secrets. Lest you have forgotten, he has also been found liable for rape; and faces more than 90 felony counts for (among other things) paying off a porn star, conspiracy, obstruction, and defrauding the federal government.
Since Sykes summarized Trump’s recent antics, a judge in New York concluded that the Trump Organization committed fraud by repeatedly overstating its assets.
The problem is not Trump, but the millions of Americans who don’t care about Trump’s behavior or his danger to the future of our democracy.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
And of course Trump is also old.
Here’s a word-for-word transcript from Trump’s speech in South Carolina two days ago:
“When I came here [in 2015], everyone thought that Bush was going to win. And then they found out Trump was up by about 50 points. Then everyone said, ‘What’s going on right here?’ They thought Bush, because Bush supposedly was a military person. You know what? He was a mili . . . he got us into the Middle East. How did that work out? Right? But they all thought that Bush might win. Jeb. Remember Jeb? He used the word Jeb. He didn’t use the word Bush. I said, ‘You mean he’s ashamed of the last name?’ And then they immediately started using the name Bush.”
This moron thinks he ran against the Bush who started the Second Iraq War. LOL. “Remember Jeb?” Trump asks in the course of this word salad. But he doesn’t remember who Jeb was. ROFL.
There is much talk about Biden being old. But Trump CLEARLY is suffering from dementia. He recently warned that Biden was “going to get us into World War II” And in the same speech Trump took credit for beating Barack Obama in a close race for the presidency in 2016.
The guy cannot distinguish in his memory one Bush from another, doesn’t know that we already had a World War II, and doesn’t even remember whom he ran against in 2016.
Dementia. CLEARLY. People age at different rates. Trump’s diet of cheeseburgers, Diet Coke, and vitriol has caught up with him, it seems.
Person. Woman. Man. Camera. TV.
Now try this one, Donnie. There’s one more item to remember, but this should be easier because the items are all related.
Rapist. Seditionist.
Con Man. Russian Asset. Criminal. Imbecile.
Although was he more coherent eight years ago?
One of Biden’s problems is that because he was a high profile Senator for so long, we remember such a different man than what we see today. He was always gaffe-prone, yes, but he also was enormously charming and very articulate, as well as vigorous.
Trump today doesn’t seem much different from the Trump of 40 years ago in terms of his verbal acuity. And most people don’t remember the Trump of 40 years ago. They remember the Trump of the Apprentice, and I don’t think he’s much different from that Trump. Trump is and remains all bluster and puffery with zero substance or sense.
But he no longer remembers whom he ran against in 2015-16!!!! That’s not the same old Trump. That’s dementia.
To me, saying that Trump’s age is a concern is like saying Charles Manson’s age was a concern in the several years before he died. “Have you noticed that Charlie’s not making sense lately?”
You have a point there, Flerp!
a point for Flerp!
But who’s keeping score?
There is the postulate to which I referred in another post:
If a Republican accuses another of some outrage, that member of the GOP has almost certainly committed the same act in a more dramatic way. Hackneyed, but effective among the people.
I’m not sure it is just dementia. He once said he hasn’t changed since he was six years old. If there had been high stakes testing in the 1950s, do you think that would have disqualified Trump from office?
No. But then again it would make sense to use the results a test of six year olds to determine qualifications for being president.
No. But then again it would make sense to use the results a test of six year olds to determine qualifications for being president.
Despite Biden’s accomplishments, he does not get the credit he deserves, It may be due to the Democrats’ poor messaging, widespread age bias or the fact that working families continue to struggle to pay their bills and are blaming Biden. A recent poll scored Biden low on the economy, but Biden is not responsible for the price of gas or groceries, the two main concerns voiced by those in the poll. It is shocking and disturbing that a recent ABC poll has Trump leading Biden by nine points despite Trump’s many indictments. Democrats need to figure out a better strategy going forward.
“Democrats need to figure out a better strategy going forward.”
Correct. Unfortunately this has been the case for so long.
A SNL skit way back in 1988 has a famous line (written by Al Franken). It’s the Dukakis – Bush debate, with John Lovitz as Dukakis and Dana Carvey as Bush. And Dukakis says “I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy”.
Transcript of what came before, in Al Franken’s words:
The line everyone remembers from the sketch is Dukakis’s “I can’t believe I’m losing to this guy.” I wrote the line, but what made the laugh was the exquisite setup written by Jim Downey and executed brilliantly by Dana and Jan Hooks as a sultry Diane Sawyer.
Bush: . . . Stay on course, a thousand points of light. Well, unfortunately, I guess my time is up.
Sawyer: Mr. Vice President, you still have a minute-20.
Bush: What? That can’t be right. I must have spoken for at least two minutes.
Sawyer: No, just 40 seconds, Mr. Vice President.
The advice to the media to ignore Trump’s outrages is the real problem. Because all that does is make the media turn an intense focus to parsing the Democrat’s every word to turn some perfectly innocuous statement or stumble into a massive scandal.
What needs to be done is not do a one day story on what Trump said, but to make the Republican reaction to the disgusting thing that Trump said the ongoing scandal. The Republicans are brilliant at doing this — the Democrats not so much because they always want to talk policy or what they think matters to people.
Imagine if every Democrat surrogate flooded the airwaves with expressing how outrageous it was that the Republican Party condoned and encourages Trump calling for people’s deaths. No matter what they were asked, each Democrat quoted Trump and said that the American people are sickened that Ron DeSantis and Jim Jordan and Nikki Haley and Mike Pence approve of Trump calling for murder (make sure to constantly cite prominent Republicans as approving this and then saying to the media “ask them, watch if they criticize Trump or are too cowardly to do so”.) Change the narrative so it is an ongoing story, not a one day story about Trump’s sick statement. It is an on-going story about how X Republican (use a name) hasn’t yet criticized Trump and that Republican approves of Trump using that language, with Democrats saying to the news media: “just ask Ron DeSantis and he won’t denounce Trump, he will weasel and squirm and the American people will be watching because they want to know if the Republican party has decent values or is now calling to murder their opponents.” Force DeSantis and every other well-known Republican to either denounce Trump or publicly come off as weaklings who would sell out the American people to someone calling for murder. Make the story about the Republicans who are too cowardly to call this out or who agree with Trump that murder is okay. Or make the story that what Trump said was so sick and disgusting that even Republicans denounced it and said he was unfit for office.
Trump’s outrageous, dangerous comments should not be a one-day story about his comments. It should be an ongoing story that not just amplify what Trump just said but use Trump’s ugly words to demonstrate how bad the entire Republican Party is. One day it can be “Nikki Haley condones Trump calling for murder” Or “Nikki Haley denounces Trump’s calling for murder, will other Republicans follow?” And then another 100 articles about how Republicans are too cowardly to denounce Trump’s call for murder. “Nikki Haley refuses to denounce Trump calling for murder”. Next day it’s “Ron DeSantis won’t denounce Trump calling for murder”. Next day it’s “People at the coffee shop are disgusted that Ron and Nikki are too cowardly to even say calling for murder is wrong.” Next day it’s “Vivek Ramaswamy won’t criticize Trump calling for murder, many voters are concerned Republicans now condone murdering their enemies.”
The fact that Trump says these things is a one day, forgettable story. The fact that the Republican party is too cowardly to stop him – and the concern that voters are constantly expressing about why the Republican party is so weak and cowardly – should be a daily story right up until the election. But since the media believes that news is always the Republican narrative, this will never happen.
Back in the 1990s, the media wrote endless stories about various Republicans condemning David Duke, and that’s what hurt Duke. They didn’t write a one day story about what Duke said. They wrote endless stories about the many Republicans (whose opinions could not be dismissed as partisan) condemned Duke for saying XXXXX which amplified how disgusting Duke’s words were.
Had the media just ignored David Duke, he would very likely have won the election.
Or the billionaires who love to operate through the ensuing predatory capitalist maelstrom.
There is hope.
Donald Trump found liable for fraud in New York civil case September 27, 2023
By Jonathan Stempel and Karen Freifeld
September 27, 2023
NEW YORK, Sept 26 (Reuters) – A New York judge found Donald Trump and his family business fraudulently inflated the value of his properties and other assets, in a major defeat for the former U.S. president that could severely hamper his ability to do business in the state.
The scathing decision by Justice Arthur Engoron of New York state court in Manhattan will make it easier for state Attorney General Letitia James to establish damages at a scheduled Oct. 2 trial.
Engoron also ordered the cancellation of certificates that let some of Trump’s businesses, including the Trump Organization, operate in New York, and ordered the appointment of a receiver to manage the businesses’ dissolution.
The judge described how Trump, his adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric, the Trump Organization and other defendants made up valuations and inflated Trump’s net worth to suit their business needs.
“That is a fantasy world, not the real world,” Engoron wrote.
The judge also sanctioned the defendants’ lawyers for making “preposterous” legal arguments and fueling their clients’ “obstreperous” conduct.
Trump and the other defendants have argued that they never committed fraud, and that the challenged transactions were profitable. They plan to appeal Engoron’s decision…
https://www.reuters.com/legal/judge-finds-trump-liable-fraud-new-york-civil-case-2023-09-26/
The problem is not Trump, but the millions of Americans who don’t care about Trump’s behavior or his danger to the future of our democracy.
And a “Just Us” system that allows a criminal like Trump to walk around free while calling for the execution of a potential witness at one of the many trials he is facing.
Anyone else would be in jail pending trial after something like that. What gives?
Biden is doing just fine, he travels all over the globe and just made an appearance with the striking auto workers….ON THE PICKET LINE…. a first for a president. He’s competent, capable and has all his marbles. He gets my vote.
We will find out if Biden is “too old.” The interesting thing about Biden is that he knows that the presidents who are revered are those who enacted great programs that benefitted all: FDR and LBJ. He wants to leave that kind of legacy.