Fans and aficionados of movie lore will probably recognize the simple but relatively easily identifiable line from the 1990’s hit Forrest Gump. The quote came about when the title character, who had just inked a modestly lucrative deal to promote ping pong paddles (long story), headed to his dearly departed best friend Bubba’s hometown to start up the shrimping business the two buddies dreamed about in Vietnam together.
Probably because Forrest didn’t know the first thing about shrimping, Bubba’s mother thought the visitor was nuts for seeking to buy a boat and uttered the above famous line in incredulity when he informed her of his intentions. Gump eventually struck it rich by doing exactly what Bubba had taught him to do, so the Alabamian gave Bubba’s mom her dead son’s share. The simple fellow’s incredible generosity rendered her speechless the second time they spoke.
Followers of contemporary American politics wonder much the same thing (“Are you crazy or just plain stupid?”) about current president senile Joe Biden’s mental state. The befuddled chief executive has been committing more than his share of gaffes lately, which has only intensified the cavalcade of calls for his brain function to be put to the test by medical professionals.
Last week, for example, the oft-bewildered president asked for a Republican congresswoman to “stand up” at an event honoring her noble service to feed the hungry. The problem was that Indiana Rep. Jackie Walorski was killed in an auto accident the month prior, a terrible occurrence that Biden himself had acknowledged by calling to express condolences to the woman’s family after the news broke. The always memory challenged senile Joe had apparently forgotten all about Walorski’s unfortunate fate – and his phone call to her kin -- hence his public beckoning of a woman who had already gone to her reward.
Everyone knows American presidents have a lot to remember virtually all the time and the duties are crushing for even the sharpest of minds. Through a lifetime of being in the public eye, former President Donald Trump was about as adept as they come at dealing with names and faces and keeping everything straight. But even Trump was far from perfect in this regard.
Americans don’t demand perfection, but they do insist that their president be present in the moment and possess the ability to comprehend basic things. Is it time for Joe to go? In a piece titled “Biden's mental sharpness is increasingly doubtful, and it's a serious issue”, the Editors of the Washington Examiner wrote:
“Biden declared in late July that he has cancer, which, thankfully, is not true. His staff has twice, including this month, walked back Biden’s declaration that the United States will defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion. It seemed a bold and welcome policy change, but it was apparently only a senior moment. This is not a frivolous concern. Several polls have shown that most voters do not believe Biden is mentally sharp enough for the job he is in.
“His incessant and increasingly serious stumbles are not just pathetic but alarming. They raise serious questions about who is governing the country. Is it the brave and stunning spokeswoman [Karine Jean-Pierre] who keeps having to put the right words in his mouth? The cackling vice president [Kamala Harris]? More likely, it is chief of staff Ronald Klain, the guy who spends all day on Twitter. But none of these people were elected to the job.
“Biden is indisputably old, and his mental acuity is becoming a more pressing issue every day. Democratic primary voters should think long and hard before reelecting this man to be the leader of their party in 2024.”
Definitely true and an obvious fact to everyone except the president’s closest handlers. Those around Biden swear he remains quite sharp and fit and vigorous and up to the job. They’re either excellent liars (likely) or actually believe that Biden’s occasional lucid moment indicates that he’s mostly still there (also could be possible).
I’ll introduce a third likely alternative, but it would force some folks to concede something they’re probably not comfortable with admitting. Essentially, I contend that Biden hasn’t deteriorated all that much since he took office because he’s been dumb as a brick from the very beginning. If we were to respond to Bubba’s mom’s question (“Are you crazy, or just plain stupid?”), we’d answer that Joe was the latter -- just plain stupid.
Throughout his entire career, Biden’s always been notorious for gaffes, and, let’s face it, was never that bright to begin with. Young Joe was nearly kicked out of law school in his mid 20’s for allegedly copying someone else’s material and presenting it as his own. He then “borrowed” English politician Neil Kinnock’s words and was caught doing it – a plagiarism scandal that abruptly ended the Democrat’s first presidential campaign in 1987.
Senile Joe’s told plenty of whoppers to cover up holes in his personal resume and also to disguise his latent racism. He’s lied and lied and lied again about his son Hunter’s exploits and sleazy dealings. Perhaps the elder Biden chose not to learn about Hunter’s fast-lane life – or he’s simply forgotten the details. It’s possible that it’s all slipped his mind – he’s that dumb.
Don’t overlook the fact Biden had two serious brain surgeries over thirty years ago. He’s also spent all of his productive years in Washington, including a 36-year stint in the senate and eight more as vice president. I’ve never been a senator, but I would imagine the snail-like pace of the place is less than intellectually stimulating for its lawmakers and his two terms’ worth of service as Barack Obama’s occasional errand boy after all that monotony couldn’t have been overly exciting, either. All the while Joe was commuting back and forth to his Delaware home on an AMTRAK train – more basically non-productive time. Ever been on one of those stiff rail cars? They’re not exactly a good foundation for high-capacity brainwork.
Lots of people have surmised that decades in politics makes one crazy, but does long-term periods of schmoozing, fundraising, pontificating, campaigning and butt kissing make one… stupid? There are a number of good test cases, but it’s also plain to see that not every career swamp dweller travels down the irreversible path to Biden-dull-brain-ism.
My theory: Biden was obtuse to start with and his decades of sitting around idle waiting for senate votes or a spit bucket-carrying assignment from the Obama White House dulled his limited intellect even further. Some exceptional men and women are smart enough to occupy themselves with meaningful tasks in Washington for a long time, but when you’ve got a dunce like Joe right off the bat, there’s absolutely no room for cognitive growth there.
Washington dumbness is akin to a chronic disease.
Objectively speaking, when the current president does move on to the great marble building in the sky, maybe he should donate his brain to science so researchers can study the effects of stupidity combined with prolonged boredom occurring in large quantities over the course of decades. If it’s been proven that multiple and regular blows to the head cause CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) in football players and boxers, perhaps a half-century in the swamp leads to some other yet-unnamed brain disorder in politicians.
The condition appears to be a strictly modern phenomenon as well. Many of the Founding Fathers had served in various legislatures and executive capacities for decades, but all of them viewed politics as a part-time vocation while also maintaining other businesses, law practices, farms or military careers. Unlike their contemporary peers, historic leaders never considered politics to be their life’s work and a means to making a fortune.
Politics was better “back then”.
Brain-dulled Biden, on the other hand, has not had a real job and therefore never developed the ability to think for himself. An “unexceptional student” while in school, after graduating from Syracuse law school and serving for a brief time as a clerk at a law firm, Joe was elected to office almost right away. From Wikipedia: “He was elected to the New Castle County Council in 1970 and became the sixth-youngest senator in U.S. history after he was elected to the United States Senate from Delaware in 1972, at age 29.”
Other factors could have contributed to Joe’s noticeable downhill psychological slide, including the tragic deaths of his first wife and baby daughter in a car accident as well as the grieving process for son Beau’s battle with and eventual succumbing to cancer in 2015. These events added even more burdens to Joe’s limited faculties.
I could go on, but there’s more than enough here to conclude that Joe Biden isn’t crazy -- he’s just plain stupid!
Should he resign? Or be removed? These topics have been bantered back-and-forth for as long as Biden’s been president and the debate fire only burns hotter every time Joe makes another verbal (or physical) stumble. If Biden were president in a vacuum, the answer would be an emphatic “yes” to both queries. But waiting in the wings to succeed a fallen president is vice president cackling Kamala Harris, a woman who’s not exactly renowned for her own cerebral aptitude.
Plenty of people have touched on the subject of Harris’s fitness to be president. Some even propose that the Democrats remove Harris before the Republicans take power in the House (and senate?) next year so as to provide a smoother transition into anointing someone other than the top two to carry the Democrats’ torch in 2024.
Simply put, allowing Kamala Harris to ascend to the presidency would be a disaster. She’s younger than Biden, is every bit as “dumb” as he is but she’s also… “crazy”. The republic wouldn’t survive with Harris in the Oval Office, not even for a minute.
Joe Biden’s cognitive abilities are deteriorating right before our eyes, which should worry everyone, including liberals. But oddly enough, Americans should hope that he lasts through the next election. The alternatives seem far worse, even when compared with a dolt like Barack Obama’s hapless errand boy.
Joe Biden economy
inflation
Biden cognitive decline
gas prices,
Nancy Pelosi
Biden senile
January 6 Committee
Liz Cheney
Build Back Better
Joe Manchin
RINOs
Marjorie Taylor Green
Kevin McCarthy
Mitch McConnell
2022 elections
Donald Trump
2024 presidential election