#994: Let the Games Begin!
As I begin writing this blog article, It is currently 6:20 EDT, Wednesday evening June 26, 2024. I plan on finishing, editing, recording, and posting it by about 9:00 AM tomorrow. This means it will be posted about 12 hours before Thursday night’s first presidential debate between FPOTUS Donald J, Trump and his successor, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. There are so many “what ifs” surrounding this debate . . . the first of which must certainly be “What if Trump doesn’t show up?” It is possible. He and his team have already spent quite a bit of time and money proclaiming that the debate is rigged to favor Biden. And in a sense, they are correct . . . at least from their point of view.
How so?
Well, CNN’s Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are both practicing Jews who come from well-educated families; Jake’s father Sam (“Ted”) was a Harvard-trained pediatrician; Dana is, the daughter of long-time ABC news producer Stuart Schwartz. Next; they are both real, honest-to-god journalists, which means that to MAGA Maniacs, they are fatally flawed when it comes to Trump, and should be more than willing to give Biden a pass on anything and everything he has ever done.
Trump supporters have argued that the debate rules have been skewed to favorite Biden (microphones shut off when one debater is not responding), despite the fact that both sides’ teams agreed to the rules weeks ago. Trump’s team has already suggested that the only way Biden is going to beat Trump is by being loaded up on drugs like Adderall (amphetamine and dextroamphetamine), which is used to treat narcolepsy and ADHD, and that the POTUS cannot manage without wearing an earwig or employing a teleprompter (disallowed by debating rules for both candidates). It would seem that Trump’s main argument is going to be that Biden is too old to be POTUS and thus must be, deeply in senescence’s loving embrace. Did none of these MAGA Maniacs watch Biden’s most recent State of the Union?
Yes, President Joseph R. Biden is 3 years older than Donald Trump. Nonetheless, Mr., Biden jogs every day, where Mr. Trump plays an occasional round of golf perhaps twice a week. Biden does occasionally stammer and mispronounce words; it is a lifelong disability that he has spent more than 80 years dealing with. By recent comparison, Donald Trump seems to be in the throes of dysarthria (slurred speech), a motor speech disorder. which happens when brain or nerve damage changes the way one’s muscles work. It can be mild to severe. Considering some of the former president’s recent verbal blunders and incomprehensible gaffs, I would encourage him to make an appointment with a good neurologist. Regarding President Biden, a family truism comes to mind: Growing older is inevitable; growing up is purely optional.
The two men are as different in mood and mien as a gentleman is from a boor. Biden has spent the last week going over issues, and doing practice sessions with his closest debate advisors (including the best of them all, former Chief of Staff Ron Klain); Trump, on the other hand, has been out campaigning before his adoring, unquestioning followers. This doesn’t bode well for Trump; the man does not do well in a speaking format (such as this evening’s televised debate) unless he can hear laughter and applause. He also doesn’t do well without a teleprompter. Heck, even with a teleprompter he goes off the rails more often than not. Add to this the fact that neither Biden nor Trump has been in a debate for several years, and you have to wonder on whom is the rust going to be the most obvious.
Biden’s strategy is likely going to deal first with issues and programs he intends to put into action in the next 4 years, and second, with democracy versus autocracy. Trump, on the other hand, is likely going to be Trump: an abrasive, condescending, revengeful victim who has few concrete plans for the future . . . short of remaking the government in his own image. Pay particular attention to Trump’s use of the first person singular (“I”) versus Biden’s “We.” I can recommend a self-deprecating bon mot to President Biden to get under Trump’s skin when he makes an obvious blunder: “I am old enough to have known and studied with Demosthenes; you Donald are no Demosthenes!”
So who’s going to win this first debate? I would say the smart money is on President Biden. His half-century of successful public service has taught him the importance of deportment, presence, and communication. It also helps that he has 50 years’ worth of experience and accomplishments . . . as well as one of the broadest, most honest smiles in the business. He is a winner. Donald Trump, on the other hand, despite the image he likes to present to the public, is a man of vast insecurity. Biden receives loyalty from his advisors . . . and knows how to take advice. Trump demands loyalty and winds up doing only what he wants to do.
So who will win? Both: Biden will win the debate itself; Trump will win (at least in his own mind) because the debate was rigged from the start.
So tune in this evening at 9:00 sharp and watch, listen and learn.
Let the games begin!
Copyright©2024 Kurt Franklin Stone