The Post Turtle

 

 The Presidential debate on June 27 was the most disturbing and frightening thing that I have seen in more than a half century of observing Presidential politics. It was also perhaps the saddest public display of aged caused incompetence that I have ever witnessed.

I am no fan of Joe Biden. I had him pegged as a buffoon when he first appeared on the national scene in 1973. He was a cocky, arrogant braggart; the archetypical “empty suit” politician. Even 50 years ago, Joe Biden was well-known for his verbal gaffes. The man was stupid long before he became senile. And, he has always had a mean streak.

According to the UCal Santa Barbara “American Presidency Project Website”, "Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., fighting to salvage his Presidential campaign, today acknowledged 'a mistake' in his youth, when he plagiarized a law review article for a paper he wrote in his first year at law school.” Biden also lifted almost word for word a long portion of a speech given by British politician Neil Kinnock (https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/trump-campaign-press-release-copy-that-joe-bidens-long-record-plagiarism). Revelation of that fact caused Biden to drop out of the 1988 Democratic presidential primary. He also plagiarized from a speech by Robert F Kennedy (same source). The man has a well-known history of using the words of others without attribution.

Even as much as I dislike the man, the revelations of his corruption took me totally by surprise. I have always assumed that most politicians enrich themselves while in office, but this guy takes the cake, if even half of the allegations are true, this man might be the most corrupt man to ever occupy the White House.

Yet, even with my total disdain for the man, it was incredibly sad to watch him on TV last Thursday night. The man had no business being there. His bumbling, wandering, incomprehensible answers were devoid of substance and just made no sense. Watching him was like watching a fish out of water – flopping around, gasping for coherency like a fish gasping for water to breathe. 

I can’t get the image of the “post turtle” out of my head either.

For those of you unfamiliar with that term, let me explain it. When you're driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle'. You know he didn't get up there by himself, he doesn’t belong up there, he doesn't know what to do while he is up there, and you just wonder what kind of an asshole put him up there to begin with.

The whole spectacle was tragically sad.

Aging is a normal part of life. As we age, our physical and mental abilities decline. We each age at differing chronological times and at differing rates. None of us have the same abilities at 70 that we did at 40, it is just a fact of life. Most of us acknowledge those limitations – though grudgingly sometimes – and adjust our lifestyles to accommodate the new realities that we face. At least the wise among us do.

Our mental and cognitive abilities tend to decline as we age, too. Regardless of how sharp we were in our prime, our abilities to remember, reason, and retain new knowledge decline as we age. Most of us do retain enough of our mental abilities to independently function and contribute well into our 70s and 80s. Some of us don’t. The wise, or at least the well adjusted among us accept (if not graciously) the limits and restrictions that age imposes. The wise, or at least well adjusted among us, do not continually try to exceed our limitations. And many of us who consider trying to exceed them have spouses and families to advise us not to – or to restrain our stupidity! His debate performance showed that Biden has neither the wisdom, nor the family support, to stop from making a pathetic spectacle of himself.

Putting aside all personal and political objections to the man, it was nothing short of tragic to see him on TV. He was in no way presidential. He was a caricature of a man; a fumbling, doddering, incompetent old man; incapable of expressing a coherent thought. No person should have to endure the humiliation of being seen in the condition Biden was in during the debate. It was terribly sad.

If Biden himself chose to be on TV that night he obviously is incapable of making good decisions. If his wife and advisors forced him to be there, the should be arrested and charged with elder abuse. He just should not have been there. It was cruel, humiliating, and just sad.

It was also frightening to see the most powerful man in world reduced to an incoherent, totally incompetent, senile being. It was frightening to see this husk of a man and to know that he holds incredible power over 340 million Americans. This doddering old man has the authority to launch nuclear weapons. But more frightening was the fact that all of America’s enemies also saw this pathetic spectacle and now know that America offers no danger to them. The once great and mighty United States has been reduced to a toothless, paper tiger – a caricature of what we once were – by Joe Biden – an empty, tragic caricature of a man.