Biden v. Trump is Unfair. But so is Life.

A weekend reality check.

Biden defiant. Democrats fretting. The GOP descending on Milwaukee.

In other words, the storm before the storm continues. (BTW: Subscribers will get my “Letter from Milwaukee” during next week’s convention.)

Happy Saturday.

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Dog pictures. Of course.

Auggie split a nail, so he’s having a somewhat gimpy weekend. Eli is watching the turkeys in his yard.

**

Four years ago. Pete, a growing Eli, and Auggie.

Double standards. Of course.

Let’s talk.

I want to start by reminding you that we are not the crazy ones. But the anxiety is real and that anger you’re feeling is understandable. A few weeks ago, in The Atlantic, I wrote that amid the parade of outrages, “what we’re feeling isn’t numbness. It’s more like airsickness.”

We thought our world was right side up, but it now feels as if it’s been turned upside down. Words don’t mean what we think they do. Outrage is followed not by accountability, but by adulation. Standards shift, flicker, vanish. Nothing is stable.

And that was before the vertigo of the last two weeks, where our absurd double standards have been on full display.

Joe Biden continues to be under pressure to step aside and his every gaffe is highlighted, scrutinized, and memed. The polls are mixed, but the trend looks ugly.

And all of this is grotesquely unfair.

Donald Trump is a mendacious liar, rapist, and felon. His prefrontal cortex is a bunch of black bananas¹, and his standard speech pattern is gibbering nonsense. At his rallies, he wanders off into bizarre, incoherent tangents about sharks, batteries, and Hannibal Lecter.

But all of that is shrugged off as standard Trumpian fare.

No prominent Republican left standing is calling for him to drop out. While Democrats are tormented by doubts about their candidate, triumphant Republicans will coronate Trump without a hint of dissent at next week’s RNC-turned-MAGAfest.

On Friday, Biden gave a fiery, defiant speech in Michigan where he laid out his second term agenda. But it won’t be enough to quash doubts, because now he has to nail it every damn time. If he stays in the race, every single Biden appearance will be a make-or-break event. He no longer has any margin for error.

Meanwhile, Trump’s verbal feculence will be treated like old news.

And of course, it’s unfair that Biden’s verbal stumbles are considered politically fatal, while Trump’s gibberish and lies leave barely a scratch.

Last Thursday, Biden’s worst gaffe was referring to the Ukrainian president as “Putin.” Which was awful. But Trump’s chronic fawning references to Putin aren’t gaffes or fumbles: they are windows into his mind and his worldview.

Last week, Biden stood by Ukraine, while Trump continues to signal that he would betray it.

But the story was the fumbled name.

And that, of course, was unfair.

As Lawfare’s Roger Parloff notes, “Many conservatives now accept with bored acquiescence the near certainty that Trump, if elected, will dismiss both federal indictments against himself. Yet it would be an abuse far greater than the Saturday Night Massacre that once shocked the nation.”

At his press conference Thursday night, Biden called Kamala Harris, “Vice President Trump.”

Guess which story is getting more attention.

As Bloomberg’s Tim O’Brien noted, “Biden hasn’t used his presser to advise Americans to shine flashlights up their butts or drop nukes into hurricanes, said he’d like to be a dictator for a day or wage an all-out war on democracy, said he’d like to date his daughter or wants a big fat dose of global warming.”

We could go on, but we don’t have world enough and time to relate all of the ways that Trump has soiled the body politic. He incited a violent attack on the Capitol, conspired to overturn the election; and has embraced the rioters who assaulted police officers. He called political opponents “vermin,” threatens a presidency of retribution; and thanks to the Supreme Court, will be able to wield the powers of the presidency without having to worry about legal consequences.

For many Democrats, the weight of Trump’s depravity is so massive that it seems unfair to hold a little light senility against Joe Biden.

In a fair world, of course, someone like Trump would not be allowed anywhere near any office of public trust. All of the guardrails of morality, law, and common sense would have kept him far away from the presidency.

But I regret to tell you that we do not live in that world.

**

A few years back I wrote a book that began with these words: “Life is not fair…”

Recognizing that life is not fair as a reality check. Hurricanes, tsunamis, plagues, earthquakes, and famines are not fair. Genetics is not fair. The good guys don't always win. It's not fair that some kids are taller, go through puberty early, or can eat gallons of Häagen-dazs without gaining a pound. It's not fair that your average talentless D-list celebrity makes more money than all the math and science teachers in your school combined, and it's not fair when the moronic suck up gets the good job — but let's not talk about Congress.

“Life is unfair,” author Edward Abbey observed. “And it’s not fair that life is unfair.”

**

I know how annoying this will be to some readers. But this seems a moment to deal with the world as it is — not as we wish it was. And that means confronting the reality that Donald Trump may be on a glide path to re-election.

That is the reason we are having this painful, emotional — and incredibly high stakes — discussion about Joe Biden’s ability to stop him.

Biden Agonistes

Some reactions to Thursday’s press conference:

David Frum: “Art restorers use the term photodegradation to describe the process by which a painting fades. The colors remain present; they just become less vivid. That’s the Joe Biden story.” Or if you prefer a sports metaphor: “At his press conference, he reminded me of an athlete who still knew where to aim the shots, but who could no longer muster the force to send them home.”

Frum found the whole thing to be heartbreaking.

Three-quarters of an hour of detailed, sophisticated answers. Mastery of detail. Knowledge of world personalities. Courtesy to the reporters before him. Accurate recall of facts and figures. Justified pride in a record of accomplishment. A spark of sharp humor at the very end.

Also: Verbal stumbles. Thoughts half-finished. Strangled vocal intonations. Flares of unprompted anger. Glimpses of the politician’s inner monologue—resentment at how underappreciated he is—spoken aloud, as it never should be, in all its narcissism and vulnerability.

**

Joe Klein: the Agony and the Agony

Joe. Oh, Joe. My heart goes out. He did the best he could—as he promised to Stephanopoulos—but he seemed a very old man, unable to communicate his nuanced ideas to an electorate that doesn’t want the Orange miscreant, but wants to vote for someone who seems vital and vigorous…and clear, someone who doesn’t stumble every other sentence.

**

NOTUS: ‘It’s a Rorschach’: Did Biden Buy Himself Time or Speed Up His End?

“It’s a Rorschach. If you were ready to boot going in, you’ll still want to. If you were ready to defend, you still will. If you were on the fence on either direction, you’re still there,” said a White House aide. “Hinging the fate of democracy on each of these pretty spaced out, unscripted events is exhausting and unsustainable.”

**

Susan Glasser: Joe Biden’s Less-Than-Awful Press Conference Does Not Mean Everything Is Now O.K.

For those who listened to the full hour of Biden’s press conference, it wasn’t, in the end, the gaffe that made this a poor performance. It was Biden’s over-all halting, painful delivery. It was his struggle to find words, and the fact that when he did find them they were often not the right ones. Most important, it was his inability to make the case for himself—and his difficulty prosecuting the case against Trump….

This was nothing like the debacle of the debate, but a quieter sort of fail—that of an eighty-one-year-old who is struggling to stay onstage, who still thinks he has wisdom to impart and a job to finish.

Biden insisted on Thursday, as he has before, that he is ready to continue in the world’s hardest job, and he protested when a reporter for the Financial Times suggested he had acknowledged in recent days some limits he might put on the twenty-four-hour-a-day responsibilities of the Presidency. But then he began to elaborate on the limits—a shorter workday, a more disciplined schedule—he ought to put in place. He proceeded to go on about his wife being mad at him for doing too much, about his staff sneaking new events into his already packed calendar.

It was a painful answer, an old-man answer. Because it was less of a car crash than the debate, the moment somehow felt even more tragic.

**

Politico: “It’s not only elites: Swing state voters are freaking out about Biden’s age, too.”

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — Voters and local candidates in Wisconsin have a message for President Joe Biden: It’s not just Democratic elites who are freaking out about your mental acuity….

Even the president’s most loyal supporters — voters, local party activists and candidates alike — say that the debate fall-out has made it tough to focus on anything else. As a result, it’s become much harder for Democrats on the ground to deliver what they hoped would be a winning message in the swing state — on the Biden administration’s success reviving the local manufacturing economy and commitment to protecting abortion rights.

**

Tyler Austin Harper posted this thread: “Here's a list of things Biden defenders expect us to believe.”

1. The Biden we see on TV – rambling, exhausted, confused – has no relationship to the Biden that is running the country. He's too old to campaign vigorously but not too old to be president, which is less taxing.

2. Projecting competence and vitality on both the American and world stage is not part of the job of the president. It does not matter if he seems horribly frail and reminds you of a declining parent or grandparent. All that matters is that his administration gets results.

3. It is normal for a president to require a teleprompter and script to sound coherent. It is normal that he requires a teleprompter even when meeting with small groups of people. While we're at it, it's normal not to have cabinet meetings. Lots of things are normal, actually.

4. Biden's aides admit that he is only reliably mentally coherent from 10am - 4pm, but this is acceptable. And it's also acceptable for the president to stop working after 8pm because he gets exhausted. Being president is a 40-hour-a-week job, actually. This is fine. Normal.

5. It's ok that Biden sometimes misses important meetings with world leaders because he is tired and needs to go to sleep. Everyone gets tired. He's not Super Man. Expecting the president to be able to regularly function without 8-hours of sleep is unrealistic, unreasonable.

6. Even if Biden is too old and often confused – as his public performances suggest – that's really fine, because he is surrounded by competent unelected bureaucrats who are really running the country. A presidency is actually a team sport, the president merely a figurehead.

7. Even though a number of doctors have said he displays clear signs of Parkinson's, Biden has no responsibility to submit to a cognitive test conducted by an independent doctor. Yes, his last neurological exam was before people say he began declining, but that doesn't matter.

8. It's unfair and unreasonable to expect the president not to call an ally by the name of an adversary, or his vice president by the name of his political opponent. Just gaffes. Gaffes are fine. Expecting Biden to keep everything straight while he's speaking is a lot to ask.

9. When Biden stares slack-jawed while Trump speaks. When he freezes. When he gets confused, trails off, and says "anyway." When he calls people by the wrong name. When he wanders away and someone has to steer him to where he's supposed to go. This is because he has a stutter.

10. Yes, Biden's debate performance showed clear, obvious signs of cognitive dysfunction. He seemed confused. He made little sense. It was a bad day. We can all admit it was a bad day. And presidents are people and people are allowed to have bad, confused, incoherent days.

11. Knowing basic facts about other countries and current conflicts – facts that any well-informed citizen would be aware of – demonstrates a mastery of foreign policy. Biden knows who we're fighting and who we are not fighting, and he's able to tell you. That's impressive.

12. Voters picked Biden in the primary. That primary was normal. And even though many voters were not aware of his obvious decline at that time – and he almost certainly would not be the candidate if the primary happened today, post-debate – replacing him is anti-democratic.

13. Even though 49% of black voters say Biden should withdraw from the race, compared to 34% who say he should remain the candidate, replacing Biden would be racist, an affront to black Americans who overwhelmingly prefer Biden even though the polls paint a different picture.

14. Speaking of polls. Bad polls are fake. Polls that say we're losing every swing state are fake. Polls that say we are bleeding minority voters are fake. Polls that say Biden's approval is in the toilet are fake. Our polls say he's winning! But you can't see them.

15. 85% of voters say that Biden is too old to be president. 67% of voters say that Biden should withdraw. But you can win an election with these numbers. Biden can beat Trump even though only 15% of the electorate thinks he is up to doing the job and 1/3 think he should run.

16. 56% percent of democrats want Biden to drop out of the race. Only 42% think he should stay. But even though most voters in his own party want him to step aside in favor of another candidate, Biden is the only candidate who can beat Trump, who he is currently losing to.

17. Biden simply needs to right the ship and get back to his pre-debate polling numbers. Yes he was losing in those polls – which by the way, were fake – but if we just return to pre-debate normalcy everything will be fine. Magic things will happen between now and November.

18. The debate was rock bottom, not the tip of the iceberg. Biden will not decline further, even though people around him say he has declined rapidly since the spring. We won't have a repeat incident at the next debate, at which point it will be too late for him to withdraw.

19. As for campaigning? Well, we don't need to do that. Presidents running for re-election don't need to campaign. Interviews and press conferences are "bizarre media fixations." It's pathological that you expect Biden to do them. The real issue is you and your expectations.

20. Your instincts are wrong. Your eyes deceive you. Your ears mislead you. All bad news is fake. Great things are happening behind the scenes. We have a plan to win, which we won't tell you. Trust us. Just indulge a little magical thinking. Everything is going to be fine.

**

Who’s enjoying all of this?

See you in Milwaukee?

Principles First at the GOP Convention: Milwaukee, WI Tickets, Wed, Jul 17, 2024 at 5:00 PM | Eventbrite

1. Credit: I’m borrowing this from Jennifer Senior, who memorably and brilliantly wrote: “People younger than 25 mainly said they felt older than they are, not younger—which, again, makes sense if you’ve had even a passing acquaintance with a 10-year-old, a teenager, a 21-year-old. They’re eager for more independence and to be taken more seriously; in their head, they’re ready for both, though their prefrontal cortex is basically a bunch of unripe bananas.”