[NY Times] ‘My Memory Is Fine,’ a Defiant Biden Declares After Special Counsel Report

Not many, but as you have shown here, there are some.

Biden makes gaffes and has done so for decades. Trump has done his recent share of gaffes as well, confusing who was the current POTUS, who was the speaker of the house and so on. These can definitely be simply a sign of normal aging and may not be something more concerning like mental decline or dementia. Slip ups, gaffes, mixing up things, forgetting things aren't that atypical, especially in high stress situations (the POTUS job is right up there in high stress). Even young people do it sometime. Obama is as sharp as there can be and he said there were 58 states.

Anyway, memory lapses are not that concerning and do get more common as you age. Slowing down is not that atypical either as you age - and those would be very concerning in a job that requires fast response, but not a job that requires deliberate slow thoughtful analysis and response, which you want from a POTUS. Where it becomes concerning for the POTUS is with cognitive decline such as Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia.

I think both men's mental capacity is still all there. But the baseline is different. Biden is usually thoughtful and can express ideas clearly and in a way you can understand. I have a hard time understanding Trump half of the time.

Physically, Biden still looks to be in excellent shape. Trump is overweight. So while he's a few years younger than Biden, his body's age is probably older. Those that listen to Trump's speeches and body posture have said he has shown signs of early dementia. Trump claimed he passed the Cognitive Assessment test (it was a 10-minute screening test to flag major issues, not an in-depth test that takes hours to complete). Since he passed that, I'm guessing they didn't proceed with the more in-depth test. If Biden has shown real signs of potential dementia, he would have also been assessed. AFAIK, he has not been.

So, anyhow, yes age is a concern, but I think it's been blown way out of proportion, largely because Republicans pushed the narrative for years, one that actually is more applicable to Trump than Biden IMO.

 

Biden isn't thoughtful.

He's not a fascist and that's the only positive thing going for him compared to Trump and they one thing is enough for me to vote for Biden. We don't have to oversell Biden.

Let's not do the whole Biden aid thing of hyping him as an intellectual stallworth.

The dude has never been the intellectually curious type

 

No, Biden isn't an intellectual heavyweight. Presidents aren't required to be. They are executives who execute laws, manage our national security, and provide an overall American vision. Intellectual prowess belongs more to the academic field and think tanks, but they rarely move toward applying those ideas.

Maybe thoughtful is the wrong adjective. I was intending to say he can articulate clear, logical, sensible and comprehensible ideas. I listen to his speeches (especially those addressing America's current internal affairs, our democracy, relationships with allies, and the recent global challenges involving the dynamics between democratic backsliding and autocracy uprising, his middle-out economic approach) and his speeches have those attributes. Perhaps that's more attributed to his team than him, but that's part of the job—surrounding yourself with a good team and incorporating their feedback.

 

Biden is clearly rapidly declining mentally and physically.

 

NBC reporting that Hur didn't ask him about his son, contrary to Bidens assertion in his press conference. Biden brought it up.

 

It makes old timer Chomsky look brilliant when he says the Dem Establishment would rather lose the election than lose control of the party.

Ofc, if they were ever hit head first with a populist monster that opened up long ignored voting blocs, then they'll eventually fold just like the GOP did.

 

I bet Biden thinks he met Ben Hur

 

We did have three fairly young presidents in a row with Clinton, GWB, and Obama so I wouldn't be too discouraged.

 

Trump keeps slurring his words in his campaign speeches. This isn't the winning issue that Republicans think it is.

 

Simpler times.

 

Reagan was a simple minded man. I loved how he had a long life of being accepting of homosexual lifestyles when he was around Hollywood types but immediately latched onto the religious right and homophobia for political expediency.

A empty vessel of a man.

 

I was referring to the good-natured interaction between the two men in a debate.

 

I think a big part of the problem is a large part of the electorate are old AF and are generally biased in favor of their contemporaries and a lot of them have this victim mindset surrounding “age discrimination.”

Especially with Congress members. Name recognition, predictability, been there forever are big advantages plus most of the people voting are their contemporaries and view themselves as totally capable and don’t need younger people telling them they can’t do things.

Which comes back to the problem that old people have by far the biggest motivation to vote in our system. Policy issues most directly effect them (SS, medicare) and they have all the free time in the world to go vote.

 

These politicians are bought and paid for a long time ago. Political parties exist 1st to protect their existence. They put candidates up who will not attack the status quo. This is why we fight over dumb **** like identity politics instead of real issues on the domestic side. Healthcare, poverty, education .... neither party are fighting these groups head on. Instead they pass the burden onto the tax payers by expanding entitlements instead of dealing with the root of these issues.

 

link

Still doesn't look great for team old man lol

It looks like every US president elected over the age of 65 has shown concerning mental deterioration or has died from a fever, while in office.

 

We fight over dumb stuff like identity politics because that's what Americans really care about. Most Americans don't understand or care about any serious issues. Politicians don't MAKE us get obsessed with stupid stuff, they just cater to our whims. Americans are perfectly happy to tear each other part over who is in the bathroom with you instead of fixing roads, solving healthcare, poverty, education, etc.

 

Except that under Biden legislation and policies have passed addressing healthcare, poverty and education.

 

There certainly is something too this. It’s also the power of incumbency.