Sorry JoJo, I think we have to accurately call balls and strikes so as to retain credibility. History must be documented and studied. As is said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” We cannot afford to get things wrong as we try to defeat MAGA. Pres.Joe said he would serve for one term and that was exactly what was needed.
And if President Joseph Biden was as frail as the report purports, it might have been a blessing for him, and the - by far predominant - responsibilty for his staying on regardless, falls to his advisors.
You're wrong about that. You need to regain the trust of the people. That means rigorous honesty, regardless how painful it is. If you don't, there's a good chance your democracy will fall. We've seen it all before here in Europe. It's new territory for the US, but you can't afford to get it wrong. Own the mistakes made in the Biden years. Apologise. Unite. Put up a strong resistance. If you don't, then God help us all.
This naval gazing is simply gratuitous piling on. I'm sick of it. I say leave him alone. It's now the past. We have far greater challenges on our plate.
Biden is a decent man who did a lot of good as did those on his team. As a country, we are far better off than we would have been with a second term for Trump in 2020.
"Leave him alone"? My friend, Biden was the president of the United States. In a democracy, you, the people, are the boss, not the politicians. He is a decent person, and that counts for something, but what counts more is that Biden made a grave error in running past his prime and that has left Americans and the world with an authoritarian mess. It still matters because we need to learn from that experience if the constitutional order is to survive.
What else do we need to learn, Garry? This is simply piling on blame and shaming. This is just distracting attention from Trump's quite apparent mental decline and blatant violations of the rule of law.
This is now a known thing which does nothing to inform our current situation or help us fight our next battle. The same situation will never exist again in our life times, like fighting the last war rather than the one you face.
Biden's mistakes weren't constitutional violations, they were human failings. Trump is the one threatening the constitutional order, not Biden.
Pardon me for not giving greater credence to your assessment. It's too simplistic to blame Biden for Trump's rise and victory in the last election. The ugly underbelly of America has been swelling for a long time.
Try not to let emotions taint your opinion. Read what Garry is saying again with a cool head. The truth is more important than protecting your party's image. Trump is too dangerous to get this wrong. Unless the Dems can regain the trust of the people, you're going to end up under tyrannical rule. Is that what you want? Here in Europe, we've seen it all before. This is new territory for you Americans, but honestly, you can't afford to get this wrong.
Look, Garry isn't just a chess player. He's living in exile from a brutal regime. If America wants to avoid a similar fate, you need to wake up and put up a united resistance. In-fighting only makes your opponent stronger.
Agreed. Wanna know who is polling worse than Trump? The Democrats. Why? Because much of the public sees them as coastal elitists who are out of touch with ordinary Americans. It has nothing to do with Joe Biden. If we are going to defeat Trumpism, we need a party that is united and capable of presenting a coherent and appealing message for a path forward for the U.S. We don’t need a bunch of folks sniping at each other in a circular firing squad over something that may, or may not have had an impact on the last election.
We study history so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes. That’s why we study WWII. That’s why we must examine what happened in the 2024 election. That picture of the democrats failure is still barely coming into view yet. We can learn far more today than we could 1 day after the election.
That’s my belief. There are more important lessons to be learned. It’s not supposed to be a comforting or pleasant experience. Every over-achiever I’ve met is relentlessly self-reflective.
The positive effects of self examination and reflection are realized in the long term. They are never tangible, short term benefits
Nick, I don't think the reaction from the MSM qualifies as academic interest. I would never deny that there should be introspection. It just doesn't address the moment we are in.
And that’s where we disagree. This is the best moment for reflection and introspection. We can examine the past while staying grounded in the present, no matter how ugly the present is.
I'll have to disagree about your approach. I never suggested that it be ignored. Just don't be so self-absorbed that you don't see how this is being weaponized.
Yeah, it happened. But it is in the past and can't be changed. Do you really think the "guilty" parties are going to be frog marched to jail as much as Pam Bondi would like them to be?
It's really not a complicated thing. Don't let the conditions arise for it to happen again. Guilt trips aren't that healthy.
When you accept that all humans make mistakes, it is not a guilty exercise to reflect on your mistakes. We all make mistakes. Some people just choose to cover them up rather than to learn from them.
I don’t think anyone is asking for Biden to be punished further here. This isn’t a witch hunt where someone must be crucified. We are all guilty here. It takes a village. We have to see our mistakes with clear eyes and own them.
Here was my biggest mistake that I’ve realized only on reflection: I gaslit and shut down the arguments of people who wanted to address Biden’s old age. I should have validated their concerns, listened, and explained why I politely disagreed, rather than shame them and move on. Why didn’t I tell them that I actually agreed with their sentiment and only disagreed with their conclusion? Being combative sabotaged my own message. It felt good in the moment, but it did no good for me in the long term, and now I see democrats expressing real pain from bad faith discourse that I was apart of.
Would you call Trump or Vance or even Musk for instance, over achievers? Because none of them seem in any way self-aware or self-reflective to me. Maybe my definition is wrong.
It’s just my opinion, but I would call them over-achievers of the worst kind, yes. I think they are intelligent with high work ethic, and we underestimate them.
Make no mistake, Musk and Vance are self reflecting and examining their mistakes behind closed doors, it’s just not bound by a moral code, and they still don’t admit those mistakes publicly. It’s a guilt free exercise for them. They learn the lessons that help them politically empower themselves.
For example, how can you look at this current Trump administration and say he didn’t reflect and learn any lessons from his first term? For one, he filled his cabinet in lightning speed where it took months of chaos in his first term to do that. He never acknowledged the mistake, but we know he learned from it
Everyone is a saint when you compare them to Musk and Vance by the way.
I agree. Except I think if Trump had had his second term we might have saved the Republic and be rid of him and MAGA now, at least in part; instead of being ruled by them. Hindsight, of course. Speculation.
No. Do not care to. If every word was true, the reality remains that Biden's autopen was smarter than Trump's entire cabinet and the country didn't descend into a dumpster fire.
Unique circumstances. What does it teach you for how to respond to the current fight?
But you have this "greater challenges" becouse of Biden and democrats stupidity, greed or whatever resons he and them had to hope for second term. More then half of you country voted for what you call "greater challenges" and your proposal is to forget about it. Btw Trump is disaster not only for USA for world also, but Biden was not so much better. Weakness and stupedity those are characteristics of USA foreign policy 2020-2024. Also "decent man" whould not pardon his son from criminal charges.
Anna, thanks for identifying my poor analysis of both the situation and culture of my own country.
Why you picked my comment for unloading your anger is beyond me. I'm tempted to believe that you are a poorly sourced Russian disinformation bot.
And yes, any American father with a soul would pardon his son to avoid the foreseeable tsunami of bullshit that he would have faced under the Pam Bondi weaponization of the law.
Please take your weakness and stupidity arguments to Truth Social. Good luck.
😁 welcome Keenan, yes I am actually russian but not a bot, Biden's policy towards Ukraine was a disaster, so fuck him and you also. Becouse of his weak and stupid police a lot of people died, so yeh karma is bitch
Yes. Biden made a mistake in deciding to run again. He is a stubborn Irishman who wanted to continue presiding over a booming economy with low unemployment, bolstering relationships with allies and NATO, and being respected worldwide. His heart is in the right place. Shame on him for caring about you. His stubbornness handed Trump a victory. That said, Biden is no longer president. Leave him alone. Truth? Trump won't go after Medicare and Social Security. He is. Lie. Trump will trim fraud, waste, and abuse. He wants a $45 million parade for his birthday. Thus far, we have spent $26 million on Trump to golf at his resorts, pocketing this money. Now he is accepting a $400M flying palace against the Emoluments Clause.
A presidential library? From the guy who is destroying the pillars that make us great, including the Department of Education, and cutting funding for the oldest education system in the country, because of his pettiness. You don't need to like DEI. But you do need to accept it. Republicans claim to be the party of law and order while being lawless. I could go on and on. Yet, people are focused on a former president's mental health, while Trump has mental health issues. Who talks about boats being attacked by sharks and magnets getting demagnetized when dropped in water, and your TV won't come on if the windmills (wind turbines) are not running? Trump doesn't give a shit about you. Biden does. Leave the man alone and face reality.
Thank you Judy. I can’t say enough about the gentleman and warrior that Biden is. All the good he did for us. Shame on Jake Tapoer. There’s fertile ground for calling out mental health issues and early onset dementia with trump who’s totally relavent NOW. Where’s tapper now?
Yeah not sure about the whole humility/ ask for forgiveness thing. Look how it turned out for Senator Franken. Look how it turned out for Louis CK. They apologized and got spurned for it.
In a perfect world, we could be contrite, and perhaps move on after demonstrating the appropriate level of penance, but Penitence would be an inappropriate posture to assume in the middle of a battle for our freedoms, rights and democracy against an unapologetic hoard of gaslighting fascistic double-downers eternally moving the goalposts of accountability.
Fair counterpoint, George, but let's put things in perspective. There's a huge gulf in significance between a senator like Franken who represents one state and the president, who represents the nation and is the ostensible leader of the Free World. Franken behaved inappropriately and was rightly held accountable, but the scandal didn't have national and international implications. What happened with Biden does.
Yes. It does/did. And here we are. We took our fingers off the piece and can’t take the move back, so let’s focus on the next moves and go for mate. At what point is examining and reexamining this coverup going to be enough? When ppl take the point? So many won’t, no matter how long the subject is belabored. There is more than enough focus and energy devoted to it, when there’s so much more happening every single day with/from/by the current administration that we need to direct our focus, time and energy on. Right NOW. I honestly don’t know what else you hope to achieve by spending any more of our limited energy on this. It’s done. And so, too will our democracy be if we don’t focus on the here and now.
I say this respectfully, sir, as I greatly admire you. But in this instance, I absolutely think it’s time to stay in the present to save our future.
It is a tragedy that Biden and his people not recognizing his limitations and inability to beat Trump for the second time. We should not defend their hubris as history should be the final judge. However, almost every institution, especially elite Republicans such as Mitch McConnell, capitulated to Trump over the past decade. The pro-democracy camp placed our hopes and dreams on Biden, and he undoubtedly failed his one assignment. Making him the scapegoat now is futile. I prefer we spend our capital exposing Trump’s criminal and corrupt acts instead.
Whataboutism on display. Is action to restore trust in the Dem party the right thing to do? Or is the sniveling of the GOP a good reason to not accept accountability?
After the debate last year, I was on the phone constantly with my senators and rep to ask them to get Biden off the ticket. I also really disliked how Harris walking on egg shells regarding Biden during her campaign and frankly disgusted by Biden going on the View saying he would beat Trump had he stayed. Did I feel gaslighted, yes. But I arrived to the conclusion what Garry Gasparov suggested is too drastic and not productive. He is asking the party to purge the Biden cabinet, that will include possible candidates on the future presidential ticket such as Pete Buttigieg and Gina Raimondo. To me, the punishment does not fit the “crime”. If you are telling me that this will definitely regain voters’ trust, then by all means do it. I am just not convinced it will help the Democratic brand, unless high ranking Dems continue talking like Rachel Bitcofer. I think there has to be a more artful way to disassociate from Biden and his sins without going nuclear on all members on his administration.
Biden was not compromised because of prostrate cancer..that’s a very fat provable lie! I’m surprised you would say it? He’s more capable now than Trump! You diminish yourself pretending that! He studders, and they have to think faster than normal! Listen and digest…compose a truthful answer..then control their throat while answering! Nobody can do that in a debate with Trump! He makes things up and lies about everything! A debate with him requires fact checking in the debate!
Biden actually won because he told the most truth!
Thank you Gary! Yes yes yes. How quickly people forget and buy into the latest ‘scandal’. Mr. Kasparov, Joe Biden is and was more presidential than trump could even dream of. Count all the things he did for us and question Tapoer, who’s on one side then the other, and the co author. Question why? Why shit on our beloved Joe? Just count all the things Joe did and listen to the psychologists that describe normal aging, to Malignant narcissism and early onset dementia in trumps case. Get off the Dems back. Quit looking for crap on Dems. Our honesty is like 99% to 1% for trumps lying cheating regime. You should know better.
If you have late stage prostate cancer, it almost always means you’ve had detectable prostate cancer for decades.
Let’s be honest here… this proves that Biden had late stage cancer while POTUS, whether he knew it was another question.
I’ll say this, failing to screen for this was either a total dereliction of duty by his medical team, or it was a total dereliction of Biden’s own duty to the American people to stay in good health while running the executive branch.
What you are completely missing, Nick, is the quality of governance wasn't affected by cancer or mental decline! There wasn't any irrationality in leading the nation unlike virtually every second of every day right now. So why not deal with more pressing business?
Look at the last six months of governance and identify one consequential governmental (not political) action that was tainted by mental diminishment. He ran a generally competent government - that alone is a real accomplishment in modern times. His whole administration, not him alone, was responsible for missing the immigration tsunami headed their way.
Nothing I say will shake your righteousness on this issue, so don't bother to respond.
If you feel better shitting on Biden, go ahead, but you aren't helping.
“If you are a Democrat or you voted for him, how do you feel?”
Conflicted. I was never convinced of Biden’s mental acuity, but I was convinced he was our only option to defeat Trump.
I was compelled by 2 fears:
1) I was unshakably convinced that we could only beat Trump with the incumbent
2) I was quietly convinced that Biden would be too stubborn to let go the presidency
In my mind, I had no choice but to get behind Joe. The stakes were too high to be debating if we should abandon the incumbent democrat.
I still don’t personally care as much about Biden’s decline. My ideal president doesn’t carry much day to day power anyways. It’s who they surround themselves with that matters most to me. I am still frustrated at people choosing to be ignorant of Biden’s highly experienced and competent cabinet choices. I am frustrated that people want the president to carry more executive power than what Biden wielded. I am frustrated with people’s lack of patience in our government.
I am frustrated that people can’t see the striking similarities between the Biden and Obama presidencies, which are getting received as if they are opposite regimes.
All that said, the optics of this situation were horrible. In hindsight, the incumbency was nothing compared to the mental decline Biden was demonstrating for the average American voter. I abandoned him after the debate. That was the straw that broke the camels back, and I’m kind of grateful it happened.
I’m pretty resigned to the fact that our education system has failed us catastrophically, and it continues to erode. The lessons many people have learned from the Biden debacle have only disheartened me more, and they aren’t the lessons that I want to get behind.
There’s a huge, unspoken allure to fight Trump with Trumpian tactics, and I wish we’d be more honest about that temptation
I’m not a registered member of any party, but I would have voted (and did) for any Democrat who ran against the Republican party.
I was shocked during the debate, and worried that the democrats had seriously dropped the ball.
Did it make any difference if it was Biden or Harris who ran ? I don’t know. Everyone I talked to either voted for Trump, against Trump, or stayed home because they said it didn’t matter who won, we’re all screwed.
Personally, I think the biggest influence is allowing money have too much influence in our elections, and having a huge propaganda organization masquerade as a news organization.
If it weren’t for gerrymandering and repub dirty electioneering, Harris would have walked away with it. Not to mention trumps filthy and continual lying.
And he still lost the majority vote if you count in the third party votes. And given all the factors these days I will always wonder if he won that slim plurality fairly too. But here we are. There will be nothing but smoldering rubble here by the next election cycle.
As a RN who worked in the neuro dept of our hospital, I see Biden ‘deterioration’ as you put it as normal aging. We get more tired the later it gets, we often search for words. But I don’t think there was a cover-up . As to the debate, he was obviously over prepared and that lead to mixing up facts. They should have allowed him to be authentic Joe, talking about what he cared about and what he’d done. I resent Tapoer for describing a ‘cover up’.
Right! A person who studders thinks faster than normal people.not slower!They have to listen then analyze the compose a truthful response! Then control their throat while answering! Nobody’s trying to do that to Trump because he makes things up for the moment! Without fact checking it is useless talking to Trump…for anyone anytime! Facts need checking at the debate,then Trump gets laughed out of the room!
Biden won the debate by saying more truth and facts than Trump! We’re not judging “pig callers” were checking who has knowledge!
This editorial is a big supposition that contradicts the testimony of many physicians on television the last few days. Just because you are a master of chess doesn't mean that you are a master of medicine, or experienced in all the "moves" that doctors make on a daily basis.
I don’t think there’s any supposition here. You don’t have to assume anything here to get the point:
If Biden had stayed in the race, we would have just tried to elect an elderly man dying of late stage cancer. Even worse, the only reason we didn’t give him the boot was fear of hurting his pride.
That’s the uncomfortable truth here and I don’t think it’s helpful to beat around the bush.
There’s nothing personal here with Biden. 80 is too old to be president. Trump is very lucky he hasn’t gone as far downhill yet, but he will, and the GOP better hope he’s out of office when he does.
Nick, I notice that you have made a hobby of peppering this thread with commentary, mostly unanswered. But in my case, I am going to take a few moments to answer your misrepresentation of Mr. Kasparov's presumptions. Just to focus this. As you yourself note, and as Mr. Kasparov notes, this is not about the recent prostate cancer diagnosis, but about some kind of "sickness." Here are a few quotes from Mr. Kasparov's piece.
1) "The combination of the terrible news of the former president’s advanced cancer diagnosis along with Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s exposé on the coverup of Biden’s decline." Of what expertise is Mr. Kasparov (and you) to make such a determination of "Biden's decline." As most people know, the human mind is a very complex organism, with a variety of types of intelligences, and only someone who is trained and who performs an in-person diagnosis can have an educated idea of what is transpiring.
2) "...disowning Biden and the circle of loyalists directly responsible for hiding his condition." WHAT condition? An older man who stumbles during a debate, but who rescues the country from the economic and public health hole that the previous administration left it in? Or someone who wasn't on the tip of his toes during a debate? And what kind of intelligence is required for someone to conduct the office of the Presidency, as opposed to a debate? Have you or Mr. Kasparov studied this issue, bringing to it your professional training?
3) "Biden’s accomplices will only remind voters of an audacious coverup and an unpopular status quo. Americans will find no saviors among the disgraced cabinet officials who lied about Biden’s health." This implies that the Cabinet members were also trained neurologists/psychologists/geriatricians and should of course have known better, or at worst told the truth that they were hiding.
4) "If you’re an American, how are you reacting to the Biden coverup?" I'll take this last insinuation as a reason to respond for myself. I think Biden was an excellent President and there is absolutely NO PROOF WHATSOEVER that someone else who was younger or, according to the uneducated analysand, more "together" and could have beaten Trump.
I hope you will realize that your claim that there's no uneducated "supposition" going on in what Mr. Kasparov's piece writes is false. Perhaps you read what he wrote or I wrote too quickly in your effort to write down as many answers as possible throughout the thread. My advice to you is "slow down," you may no longer have the mental acuity to work so quickly.
I have passionate opinions to get off my chest with this and they are my own.
I disagree with Kasparov on a lot of things. I get frustrated that he doesn’t always understand American culture and I get frustrated when he criticizes our party from abroad for taking the high road, which is in our DNA.
I gave Biden the benefit of all my doubt for 4 years. I pleaded with friends to vote for him. Young liberals do not like Biden, at all. I’m not sure that has sunk in for older generations yet. I’m 30. All of my friends are liberals, none of them supported Biden. They voted for him because they had no choice.
His condition is obvious. He is dying of old age.
I respect that you disagree and I respect your loyalty to Biden. He’s a good man that tried his best. He’s the only person to ever defeat Trump. History will remember that.
Technically, sure. The rest of us continue to believe our eyes. The Biden that ended his term was unrecognizable from the Biden that began his term. I don’t know how you don’t see it. It was so stressful to watch it all unfold over the last couple of years. 80 is too old to be president.
This also happens to be one of our best arguments against Trump, but we can’t use it if we aren’t cutting ties with Biden and owning up to that mistake.
1 in 5 men get prostrate cancer! And live full lives. Biden was never compromised.. he studders! That’s it! He can do better than Trump today on anything except lies! He’s even physically in better shape than Trump! America was Great on everything under Biden! Now we’re losing everything we built up! All our assets being destroyed by a Putinisk Trump!
1 in 5 men do not have late stage prostate cancer. People with late stage prostate cancer don’t die of old age, they die of prostate cancer.
Most of those 1 in 5 men you cite have benign prostate cancer that they’ve caught early in screenings. Many of them, the cancer is spreading too slowly to ever worry about. They’ll die of old age long before the cancer kills them.
Aggressive prostate cancer is just as bad as any other aggressive cancer.
Pres. Biden was not cognitively declining and his diagnosis has nothing to do with anything except we all need to pray for he and his family and act like decent people.
You are one of those that thinks he is so important and passing judgement like you are a know it all, you disgust me.
Pres. Biden was more intelligent, more decent, more cognitive than you.
You are no better in your little judgement b.s. than a maga or the felon himself.
You will be going in my spam folder from my email now. I will be informing substack that they should separate from you.
Will reporting me to Substack stop Trump? The Democratic Party hit a 29% favorability rating back in March. You can hide from this reality or you can adapt. I am trying to engage in good faith to develop a strategy to defend the constitutional order. My approach is "stop whining, start winning." What's yours'?
I’ve been following your discussions for a while and I notice you have a lot of commenters who are “angry.” I find that interesting. I agree with you on most things, disagree on some others, but I haven’t seen anything to inspire that level of “angry.”
We should be able to have different viewpoints without attacking each other. I think the criticism aimed here at you personally is stronger than is warranted.
I understand your reaction. Agree in many point. Still insulting is probably not the best way to convince anybody of the reality we live. Someday history will judge this time fully. Right now we should do our best to survive the storm. The same way others did in the 1940’s during and after the war.
This is shameful language from someone who claims to be a Christian. Can you not disagree without ad hominem attacks and insults?
What bothers me the most is that your post exemplifies “blue MAGA”, a term used by @Charlie Sykes (a straight arrow whom I respect tremendously) that made me (and Katie Couric) cringe. The onus is on each of us to be better than that; it’s not enough to just claim that we are. Who you are is defined by your actions, how you comport yourself; not your opinions, religion or who you vote for.
Speaking of which, it was plain for all to see that President Biden was physically and perhaps cognitively declining and indeed polls showed people were aware and open about it. That’s why this “cover up” story is a shameful money grab. If the best and most shocking Fox News got from it is that he took naps during debate prep, it’s quite laughable to release this now when Trump fell asleep at the Pope’s funeral and snoozed during half of his NY trials.
Is it a cover up to claim your horse can win when you know it’s a bit lame, everyone can see it’s a bit lame but your horse is the only one who’s ever beat the competition fair and square? Maybe if you’re News of the World or Fox News; if you’re a serious political journalist you investigate when it’s relevant (during the campaign) or you put it in context. Real context: facts against facts. Not CNN context: facts against MAGA bull.
I remain convinced that Democratic primaries would have got us exactly where we are now and that’s the bet Biden made and lost. I disagree that he threw Kamala under the bus: I know as a multiracial woman that he is right. He is in fact one of too few White people to not cower from it and I admire him more for that. That’s where is strength was and still is. I believe that his running was the only path where Trump could have lost and that’s the card he played; if there was another way, we’ll never know.
You saw the debate, and you don’t think Biden has issues? Now, my guess is that it isn’t actual cognitive decline as a lack of stamina. He’s good for a few hours a day, pretty sharp. But he can’t handle a presidential schedule. One interlocutor after another says so, many who had known him for years.
The point of the diagnosis is that it isn’t a surprise when an 82-y.o. man is very sick. What’s the point of putting your eggs in the basket that he can persuade people to elect him to a four-year term? Who is excited to canvass for a shuffling, frail man?
So get over it… backwards is not progress… there are so many urgent things to deal with. I have 100,000,000 reasons to move on… I need one good legitimate reason to talk about Biden… the winner of that discussion is…? Wait for it…??
I was about to offer a comment similar to Cece’s. Like some commenters, I did not like Mr. Kasparov’s note and I think that former President Biden deserves our respect. It’s not Kasparov’s fault that Biden’s health is in the news cycle. And it’s natural for people to have opinions about what mistakes were made last year and before by the Democratic Party leadership. But save it, people. We have bigger fish to fry.
How are we going to respond to an illegal seizure of gov’t power by a minority of the country? The Democrats are not to blame, but they had adequate opportunity to save us and they failed. Why are we waiting for them to step up and save us? Time to form new coalitions beginning with a supermajority coalition of those who think the Constitution should be preserved and that we should do our utmost to restore our standing in the world.
It appears you can’t discuss anything as a respectful adult with someone who dares to disagree with you. That’s on you, not on others. Maybe you should find a far left echo chamber, you know, that functions like Trump’s Truth Social. I prefer respecting others who disagree with by responding maturely. Feel free to block me. Good-bye.
Talking about Biden goes no where… move on… bigger more urgent issues to deal with…you’re going no where…. Backwards is not progress… seriously get over yourselves…
Cece, many of us realize that the Bidens almost ensured Trump’s re-election because of his well-documented mediocre performance as president, especially with respect to the prices on the shelves. Garry Kasparov wrote in a mature, balanced, objective manner. If we all choose to ignore or deny the facts we can’t come up with ways to prevent the same results in future elections.
Biden was and is not more intelligent and much less decent than Garry Kasparov. This comment tells about you a lot, first of all that you you don't understand the subject and that you simply stupid
Because of this way of thinking, a conservative president was recently elected in Poland (hard to say, maybe even far-right? we will see as he is not well known yet).
And everyone is... surprised. :D
For years, I’ve heard that voters shouldn’t be too harsh on liberals because they fight an important battle against the far-right. But they have FAILED—again and again.
Here’s the short version: those who lie should be removed from politics, no matter which side they’re on. No mercy, no hesitation. Only then will better leaders come forward.
Or maybe we should be as strict as the ancient Athenians, who used ostracism to keep politics honest?
Now, I see that the liberal candidate who lost the election—and all their supporters—have no idea why they lost (even though they claim they do, lol).
This is a dangerous sign that they might lose the parliamentary elections in 2027.
We see it happening, and we can’t seem to stop it. Everything is at risk!
Why?
In my opinion, it’s because democrats, liberals, centrists, leftists, or whoever calls themselves “progressive” have forgotten one thing: they must never lie, never stir up emotions, and never twist facts to fit their agenda.
Why? Because when they do, they become no better than the far-right. They either started using these tactics or never stopped. But now, voters see through it and are turning to the far-right instead. When faced with two sides that lie, voters choose the one that offers simpler solutions.
I supported President Biden in 2020 and I would have supported him in 2024. I proudly voted for Vice President Harris. Either way our country would be in a much better place than it is today!!
I am sending well wishes and prayers to him and his family. 🙏🙏🙏
I am tired of everybody having a say on Biden failure and the ppl that voted for the alternative now governing. I am frustrated. Biden with all his limitations and problem and the Democratic Party errors is a better person and party than the GOP and TRUMP. I am tired off this piñata attitude like with can continue punching it for fun. Let’s move on, we will have time when things are better to analyze it. Let the past rest so we can judge it fairly. The past administration is by far better than the 4-5 months old new administration.
I'm not going to read this, because, I DONT GIVE A SHIT!!! I AM MUCH MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PSYCHOPATHS THAT ARE CURRENTLY DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY!!!!
Continuing to focus on Biden instead of Trump is not the way forward. I would have thought you of all people knew better.
Sorry JoJo, I think we have to accurately call balls and strikes so as to retain credibility. History must be documented and studied. As is said, “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” We cannot afford to get things wrong as we try to defeat MAGA. Pres.Joe said he would serve for one term and that was exactly what was needed.
And if President Joseph Biden was as frail as the report purports, it might have been a blessing for him, and the - by far predominant - responsibilty for his staying on regardless, falls to his advisors.
You're wrong about that. You need to regain the trust of the people. That means rigorous honesty, regardless how painful it is. If you don't, there's a good chance your democracy will fall. We've seen it all before here in Europe. It's new territory for the US, but you can't afford to get it wrong. Own the mistakes made in the Biden years. Apologise. Unite. Put up a strong resistance. If you don't, then God help us all.
This naval gazing is simply gratuitous piling on. I'm sick of it. I say leave him alone. It's now the past. We have far greater challenges on our plate.
Biden is a decent man who did a lot of good as did those on his team. As a country, we are far better off than we would have been with a second term for Trump in 2020.
"Leave him alone"? My friend, Biden was the president of the United States. In a democracy, you, the people, are the boss, not the politicians. He is a decent person, and that counts for something, but what counts more is that Biden made a grave error in running past his prime and that has left Americans and the world with an authoritarian mess. It still matters because we need to learn from that experience if the constitutional order is to survive.
What else do we need to learn, Garry? This is simply piling on blame and shaming. This is just distracting attention from Trump's quite apparent mental decline and blatant violations of the rule of law.
This is now a known thing which does nothing to inform our current situation or help us fight our next battle. The same situation will never exist again in our life times, like fighting the last war rather than the one you face.
Biden's mistakes weren't constitutional violations, they were human failings. Trump is the one threatening the constitutional order, not Biden.
Pardon me for not giving greater credence to your assessment. It's too simplistic to blame Biden for Trump's rise and victory in the last election. The ugly underbelly of America has been swelling for a long time.
I’m disgusted and done here. I just can’t take this 💩.
Apparently being a genius at chess doesn’t make you wise.
Try not to let emotions taint your opinion. Read what Garry is saying again with a cool head. The truth is more important than protecting your party's image. Trump is too dangerous to get this wrong. Unless the Dems can regain the trust of the people, you're going to end up under tyrannical rule. Is that what you want? Here in Europe, we've seen it all before. This is new territory for you Americans, but honestly, you can't afford to get this wrong.
😂🤣🤣🤣😂🤣
Look, Garry isn't just a chess player. He's living in exile from a brutal regime. If America wants to avoid a similar fate, you need to wake up and put up a united resistance. In-fighting only makes your opponent stronger.
Agreed. Wanna know who is polling worse than Trump? The Democrats. Why? Because much of the public sees them as coastal elitists who are out of touch with ordinary Americans. It has nothing to do with Joe Biden. If we are going to defeat Trumpism, we need a party that is united and capable of presenting a coherent and appealing message for a path forward for the U.S. We don’t need a bunch of folks sniping at each other in a circular firing squad over something that may, or may not have had an impact on the last election.
We study history so that we don’t repeat the same mistakes. That’s why we study WWII. That’s why we must examine what happened in the 2024 election. That picture of the democrats failure is still barely coming into view yet. We can learn far more today than we could 1 day after the election.
That’s my belief. There are more important lessons to be learned. It’s not supposed to be a comforting or pleasant experience. Every over-achiever I’ve met is relentlessly self-reflective.
The positive effects of self examination and reflection are realized in the long term. They are never tangible, short term benefits
Nick, I don't think the reaction from the MSM qualifies as academic interest. I would never deny that there should be introspection. It just doesn't address the moment we are in.
And that’s where we disagree. This is the best moment for reflection and introspection. We can examine the past while staying grounded in the present, no matter how ugly the present is.
I'll have to disagree about your approach. I never suggested that it be ignored. Just don't be so self-absorbed that you don't see how this is being weaponized.
Yeah, it happened. But it is in the past and can't be changed. Do you really think the "guilty" parties are going to be frog marched to jail as much as Pam Bondi would like them to be?
It's really not a complicated thing. Don't let the conditions arise for it to happen again. Guilt trips aren't that healthy.
When you accept that all humans make mistakes, it is not a guilty exercise to reflect on your mistakes. We all make mistakes. Some people just choose to cover them up rather than to learn from them.
I don’t think anyone is asking for Biden to be punished further here. This isn’t a witch hunt where someone must be crucified. We are all guilty here. It takes a village. We have to see our mistakes with clear eyes and own them.
Here was my biggest mistake that I’ve realized only on reflection: I gaslit and shut down the arguments of people who wanted to address Biden’s old age. I should have validated their concerns, listened, and explained why I politely disagreed, rather than shame them and move on. Why didn’t I tell them that I actually agreed with their sentiment and only disagreed with their conclusion? Being combative sabotaged my own message. It felt good in the moment, but it did no good for me in the long term, and now I see democrats expressing real pain from bad faith discourse that I was apart of.
Thoughtful, Nick. Thank you.
Would you call Trump or Vance or even Musk for instance, over achievers? Because none of them seem in any way self-aware or self-reflective to me. Maybe my definition is wrong.
It’s just my opinion, but I would call them over-achievers of the worst kind, yes. I think they are intelligent with high work ethic, and we underestimate them.
Make no mistake, Musk and Vance are self reflecting and examining their mistakes behind closed doors, it’s just not bound by a moral code, and they still don’t admit those mistakes publicly. It’s a guilt free exercise for them. They learn the lessons that help them politically empower themselves.
For example, how can you look at this current Trump administration and say he didn’t reflect and learn any lessons from his first term? For one, he filled his cabinet in lightning speed where it took months of chaos in his first term to do that. He never acknowledged the mistake, but we know he learned from it
Everyone is a saint when you compare them to Musk and Vance by the way.
Fascinating!
I agree. Except I think if Trump had had his second term we might have saved the Republic and be rid of him and MAGA now, at least in part; instead of being ruled by them. Hindsight, of course. Speculation.
As long as wishes are only nickels, if Hillary had won in 2016 the world would definitely be different (mostly better).
Haven't perfected that time machine yet, damn it.
In any actual democracy Hillary did win.
And Trump I think has not.
The electoral college is 100% undemocratic.
So ate our presidential elections.
And good governance doesn't lead to intelligent voting.
Ultimately we might say the fault is in us, if not in
our stars. In our characters.
I agree with you.
Have you read Original Sin yet???
No. Do not care to. If every word was true, the reality remains that Biden's autopen was smarter than Trump's entire cabinet and the country didn't descend into a dumpster fire.
Unique circumstances. What does it teach you for how to respond to the current fight?
Keenan, you’re wasting your energy. Why respond? Totally no point for a willingly deaf & blind audience.
But you have this "greater challenges" becouse of Biden and democrats stupidity, greed or whatever resons he and them had to hope for second term. More then half of you country voted for what you call "greater challenges" and your proposal is to forget about it. Btw Trump is disaster not only for USA for world also, but Biden was not so much better. Weakness and stupedity those are characteristics of USA foreign policy 2020-2024. Also "decent man" whould not pardon his son from criminal charges.
Anna, thanks for identifying my poor analysis of both the situation and culture of my own country.
Why you picked my comment for unloading your anger is beyond me. I'm tempted to believe that you are a poorly sourced Russian disinformation bot.
And yes, any American father with a soul would pardon his son to avoid the foreseeable tsunami of bullshit that he would have faced under the Pam Bondi weaponization of the law.
Please take your weakness and stupidity arguments to Truth Social. Good luck.
😁 welcome Keenan, yes I am actually russian but not a bot, Biden's policy towards Ukraine was a disaster, so fuck him and you also. Becouse of his weak and stupid police a lot of people died, so yeh karma is bitch
Welcome to America.
Oh no 😂 I am blessed to be far from USA
I know. That was sarcasm.
Yes. Biden made a mistake in deciding to run again. He is a stubborn Irishman who wanted to continue presiding over a booming economy with low unemployment, bolstering relationships with allies and NATO, and being respected worldwide. His heart is in the right place. Shame on him for caring about you. His stubbornness handed Trump a victory. That said, Biden is no longer president. Leave him alone. Truth? Trump won't go after Medicare and Social Security. He is. Lie. Trump will trim fraud, waste, and abuse. He wants a $45 million parade for his birthday. Thus far, we have spent $26 million on Trump to golf at his resorts, pocketing this money. Now he is accepting a $400M flying palace against the Emoluments Clause.
A presidential library? From the guy who is destroying the pillars that make us great, including the Department of Education, and cutting funding for the oldest education system in the country, because of his pettiness. You don't need to like DEI. But you do need to accept it. Republicans claim to be the party of law and order while being lawless. I could go on and on. Yet, people are focused on a former president's mental health, while Trump has mental health issues. Who talks about boats being attacked by sharks and magnets getting demagnetized when dropped in water, and your TV won't come on if the windmills (wind turbines) are not running? Trump doesn't give a shit about you. Biden does. Leave the man alone and face reality.
Thank you Judy. I can’t say enough about the gentleman and warrior that Biden is. All the good he did for us. Shame on Jake Tapoer. There’s fertile ground for calling out mental health issues and early onset dementia with trump who’s totally relavent NOW. Where’s tapper now?
Yeah not sure about the whole humility/ ask for forgiveness thing. Look how it turned out for Senator Franken. Look how it turned out for Louis CK. They apologized and got spurned for it.
In a perfect world, we could be contrite, and perhaps move on after demonstrating the appropriate level of penance, but Penitence would be an inappropriate posture to assume in the middle of a battle for our freedoms, rights and democracy against an unapologetic hoard of gaslighting fascistic double-downers eternally moving the goalposts of accountability.
Fair counterpoint, George, but let's put things in perspective. There's a huge gulf in significance between a senator like Franken who represents one state and the president, who represents the nation and is the ostensible leader of the Free World. Franken behaved inappropriately and was rightly held accountable, but the scandal didn't have national and international implications. What happened with Biden does.
Yes. It does/did. And here we are. We took our fingers off the piece and can’t take the move back, so let’s focus on the next moves and go for mate. At what point is examining and reexamining this coverup going to be enough? When ppl take the point? So many won’t, no matter how long the subject is belabored. There is more than enough focus and energy devoted to it, when there’s so much more happening every single day with/from/by the current administration that we need to direct our focus, time and energy on. Right NOW. I honestly don’t know what else you hope to achieve by spending any more of our limited energy on this. It’s done. And so, too will our democracy be if we don’t focus on the here and now.
I say this respectfully, sir, as I greatly admire you. But in this instance, I absolutely think it’s time to stay in the present to save our future.
It is a tragedy that Biden and his people not recognizing his limitations and inability to beat Trump for the second time. We should not defend their hubris as history should be the final judge. However, almost every institution, especially elite Republicans such as Mitch McConnell, capitulated to Trump over the past decade. The pro-democracy camp placed our hopes and dreams on Biden, and he undoubtedly failed his one assignment. Making him the scapegoat now is futile. I prefer we spend our capital exposing Trump’s criminal and corrupt acts instead.
Whataboutism on display. Is action to restore trust in the Dem party the right thing to do? Or is the sniveling of the GOP a good reason to not accept accountability?
After the debate last year, I was on the phone constantly with my senators and rep to ask them to get Biden off the ticket. I also really disliked how Harris walking on egg shells regarding Biden during her campaign and frankly disgusted by Biden going on the View saying he would beat Trump had he stayed. Did I feel gaslighted, yes. But I arrived to the conclusion what Garry Gasparov suggested is too drastic and not productive. He is asking the party to purge the Biden cabinet, that will include possible candidates on the future presidential ticket such as Pete Buttigieg and Gina Raimondo. To me, the punishment does not fit the “crime”. If you are telling me that this will definitely regain voters’ trust, then by all means do it. I am just not convinced it will help the Democratic brand, unless high ranking Dems continue talking like Rachel Bitcofer. I think there has to be a more artful way to disassociate from Biden and his sins without going nuclear on all members on his administration.
He never lost an election to DT.
I believe he lost it for Kamala and likely any Democrat running in 2024.
That would be an indictment of the American voter .
The fact a plurality of American voters chose a twice impeached and convicted felon as president is clearly evident that we have serious issues.
Biden was not compromised because of prostrate cancer..that’s a very fat provable lie! I’m surprised you would say it? He’s more capable now than Trump! You diminish yourself pretending that! He studders, and they have to think faster than normal! Listen and digest…compose a truthful answer..then control their throat while answering! Nobody can do that in a debate with Trump! He makes things up and lies about everything! A debate with him requires fact checking in the debate!
Biden actually won because he told the most truth!
Thank you Gary! Yes yes yes. How quickly people forget and buy into the latest ‘scandal’. Mr. Kasparov, Joe Biden is and was more presidential than trump could even dream of. Count all the things he did for us and question Tapoer, who’s on one side then the other, and the co author. Question why? Why shit on our beloved Joe? Just count all the things Joe did and listen to the psychologists that describe normal aging, to Malignant narcissism and early onset dementia in trumps case. Get off the Dems back. Quit looking for crap on Dems. Our honesty is like 99% to 1% for trumps lying cheating regime. You should know better.
If you have late stage prostate cancer, it almost always means you’ve had detectable prostate cancer for decades.
Let’s be honest here… this proves that Biden had late stage cancer while POTUS, whether he knew it was another question.
I’ll say this, failing to screen for this was either a total dereliction of duty by his medical team, or it was a total dereliction of Biden’s own duty to the American people to stay in good health while running the executive branch.
What you are completely missing, Nick, is the quality of governance wasn't affected by cancer or mental decline! There wasn't any irrationality in leading the nation unlike virtually every second of every day right now. So why not deal with more pressing business?
Look at the last six months of governance and identify one consequential governmental (not political) action that was tainted by mental diminishment. He ran a generally competent government - that alone is a real accomplishment in modern times. His whole administration, not him alone, was responsible for missing the immigration tsunami headed their way.
Nothing I say will shake your righteousness on this issue, so don't bother to respond.
If you feel better shitting on Biden, go ahead, but you aren't helping.
“If you are a Democrat or you voted for him, how do you feel?”
Conflicted. I was never convinced of Biden’s mental acuity, but I was convinced he was our only option to defeat Trump.
I was compelled by 2 fears:
1) I was unshakably convinced that we could only beat Trump with the incumbent
2) I was quietly convinced that Biden would be too stubborn to let go the presidency
In my mind, I had no choice but to get behind Joe. The stakes were too high to be debating if we should abandon the incumbent democrat.
I still don’t personally care as much about Biden’s decline. My ideal president doesn’t carry much day to day power anyways. It’s who they surround themselves with that matters most to me. I am still frustrated at people choosing to be ignorant of Biden’s highly experienced and competent cabinet choices. I am frustrated that people want the president to carry more executive power than what Biden wielded. I am frustrated with people’s lack of patience in our government.
I am frustrated that people can’t see the striking similarities between the Biden and Obama presidencies, which are getting received as if they are opposite regimes.
All that said, the optics of this situation were horrible. In hindsight, the incumbency was nothing compared to the mental decline Biden was demonstrating for the average American voter. I abandoned him after the debate. That was the straw that broke the camels back, and I’m kind of grateful it happened.
I’m pretty resigned to the fact that our education system has failed us catastrophically, and it continues to erode. The lessons many people have learned from the Biden debacle have only disheartened me more, and they aren’t the lessons that I want to get behind.
There’s a huge, unspoken allure to fight Trump with Trumpian tactics, and I wish we’d be more honest about that temptation
I’m not a registered member of any party, but I would have voted (and did) for any Democrat who ran against the Republican party.
I was shocked during the debate, and worried that the democrats had seriously dropped the ball.
Did it make any difference if it was Biden or Harris who ran ? I don’t know. Everyone I talked to either voted for Trump, against Trump, or stayed home because they said it didn’t matter who won, we’re all screwed.
Personally, I think the biggest influence is allowing money have too much influence in our elections, and having a huge propaganda organization masquerade as a news organization.
Trump won the popular vote by a slim margin. That is quite an accomplishment for Harris, who only had 117 days to campaign.
If it weren’t for gerrymandering and repub dirty electioneering, Harris would have walked away with it. Not to mention trumps filthy and continual lying.
And he still lost the majority vote if you count in the third party votes. And given all the factors these days I will always wonder if he won that slim plurality fairly too. But here we are. There will be nothing but smoldering rubble here by the next election cycle.
True. I meant that I think most people had already made their minds up.
As a RN who worked in the neuro dept of our hospital, I see Biden ‘deterioration’ as you put it as normal aging. We get more tired the later it gets, we often search for words. But I don’t think there was a cover-up . As to the debate, he was obviously over prepared and that lead to mixing up facts. They should have allowed him to be authentic Joe, talking about what he cared about and what he’d done. I resent Tapoer for describing a ‘cover up’.
Right! A person who studders thinks faster than normal people.not slower!They have to listen then analyze the compose a truthful response! Then control their throat while answering! Nobody’s trying to do that to Trump because he makes things up for the moment! Without fact checking it is useless talking to Trump…for anyone anytime! Facts need checking at the debate,then Trump gets laughed out of the room!
Biden won the debate by saying more truth and facts than Trump! We’re not judging “pig callers” were checking who has knowledge!
This editorial is a big supposition that contradicts the testimony of many physicians on television the last few days. Just because you are a master of chess doesn't mean that you are a master of medicine, or experienced in all the "moves" that doctors make on a daily basis.
I don’t think there’s any supposition here. You don’t have to assume anything here to get the point:
If Biden had stayed in the race, we would have just tried to elect an elderly man dying of late stage cancer. Even worse, the only reason we didn’t give him the boot was fear of hurting his pride.
That’s the uncomfortable truth here and I don’t think it’s helpful to beat around the bush.
There’s nothing personal here with Biden. 80 is too old to be president. Trump is very lucky he hasn’t gone as far downhill yet, but he will, and the GOP better hope he’s out of office when he does.
Nick, I notice that you have made a hobby of peppering this thread with commentary, mostly unanswered. But in my case, I am going to take a few moments to answer your misrepresentation of Mr. Kasparov's presumptions. Just to focus this. As you yourself note, and as Mr. Kasparov notes, this is not about the recent prostate cancer diagnosis, but about some kind of "sickness." Here are a few quotes from Mr. Kasparov's piece.
1) "The combination of the terrible news of the former president’s advanced cancer diagnosis along with Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s exposé on the coverup of Biden’s decline." Of what expertise is Mr. Kasparov (and you) to make such a determination of "Biden's decline." As most people know, the human mind is a very complex organism, with a variety of types of intelligences, and only someone who is trained and who performs an in-person diagnosis can have an educated idea of what is transpiring.
2) "...disowning Biden and the circle of loyalists directly responsible for hiding his condition." WHAT condition? An older man who stumbles during a debate, but who rescues the country from the economic and public health hole that the previous administration left it in? Or someone who wasn't on the tip of his toes during a debate? And what kind of intelligence is required for someone to conduct the office of the Presidency, as opposed to a debate? Have you or Mr. Kasparov studied this issue, bringing to it your professional training?
3) "Biden’s accomplices will only remind voters of an audacious coverup and an unpopular status quo. Americans will find no saviors among the disgraced cabinet officials who lied about Biden’s health." This implies that the Cabinet members were also trained neurologists/psychologists/geriatricians and should of course have known better, or at worst told the truth that they were hiding.
4) "If you’re an American, how are you reacting to the Biden coverup?" I'll take this last insinuation as a reason to respond for myself. I think Biden was an excellent President and there is absolutely NO PROOF WHATSOEVER that someone else who was younger or, according to the uneducated analysand, more "together" and could have beaten Trump.
I hope you will realize that your claim that there's no uneducated "supposition" going on in what Mr. Kasparov's piece writes is false. Perhaps you read what he wrote or I wrote too quickly in your effort to write down as many answers as possible throughout the thread. My advice to you is "slow down," you may no longer have the mental acuity to work so quickly.
I have passionate opinions to get off my chest with this and they are my own.
I disagree with Kasparov on a lot of things. I get frustrated that he doesn’t always understand American culture and I get frustrated when he criticizes our party from abroad for taking the high road, which is in our DNA.
I gave Biden the benefit of all my doubt for 4 years. I pleaded with friends to vote for him. Young liberals do not like Biden, at all. I’m not sure that has sunk in for older generations yet. I’m 30. All of my friends are liberals, none of them supported Biden. They voted for him because they had no choice.
His condition is obvious. He is dying of old age.
I respect that you disagree and I respect your loyalty to Biden. He’s a good man that tried his best. He’s the only person to ever defeat Trump. History will remember that.
Just so you are aware, and I assure you I do not mean this in a condescending way, there is no such thing as ‘dying of old age’.
Technically, sure. The rest of us continue to believe our eyes. The Biden that ended his term was unrecognizable from the Biden that began his term. I don’t know how you don’t see it. It was so stressful to watch it all unfold over the last couple of years. 80 is too old to be president.
This also happens to be one of our best arguments against Trump, but we can’t use it if we aren’t cutting ties with Biden and owning up to that mistake.
1 in 5 men get prostrate cancer! And live full lives. Biden was never compromised.. he studders! That’s it! He can do better than Trump today on anything except lies! He’s even physically in better shape than Trump! America was Great on everything under Biden! Now we’re losing everything we built up! All our assets being destroyed by a Putinisk Trump!
1 in 5 men do not have late stage prostate cancer. People with late stage prostate cancer don’t die of old age, they die of prostate cancer.
Most of those 1 in 5 men you cite have benign prostate cancer that they’ve caught early in screenings. Many of them, the cancer is spreading too slowly to ever worry about. They’ll die of old age long before the cancer kills them.
Aggressive prostate cancer is just as bad as any other aggressive cancer.
You are so full of crap.
Pres. Biden was not cognitively declining and his diagnosis has nothing to do with anything except we all need to pray for he and his family and act like decent people.
You are one of those that thinks he is so important and passing judgement like you are a know it all, you disgust me.
Pres. Biden was more intelligent, more decent, more cognitive than you.
You are no better in your little judgement b.s. than a maga or the felon himself.
You will be going in my spam folder from my email now. I will be informing substack that they should separate from you.
Will reporting me to Substack stop Trump? The Democratic Party hit a 29% favorability rating back in March. You can hide from this reality or you can adapt. I am trying to engage in good faith to develop a strategy to defend the constitutional order. My approach is "stop whining, start winning." What's yours'?
Garry, you have 40,000 followers. She has . . . one. Don’t waste your time.
I’ve been following your discussions for a while and I notice you have a lot of commenters who are “angry.” I find that interesting. I agree with you on most things, disagree on some others, but I haven’t seen anything to inspire that level of “angry.”
We should be able to have different viewpoints without attacking each other. I think the criticism aimed here at you personally is stronger than is warranted.
Oh, there you go, Garry, clouding the discussion by responding to her with facts and logic. 😁
Thank you Donna, well said!
I understand your reaction. Agree in many point. Still insulting is probably not the best way to convince anybody of the reality we live. Someday history will judge this time fully. Right now we should do our best to survive the storm. The same way others did in the 1940’s during and after the war.
This is shameful language from someone who claims to be a Christian. Can you not disagree without ad hominem attacks and insults?
What bothers me the most is that your post exemplifies “blue MAGA”, a term used by @Charlie Sykes (a straight arrow whom I respect tremendously) that made me (and Katie Couric) cringe. The onus is on each of us to be better than that; it’s not enough to just claim that we are. Who you are is defined by your actions, how you comport yourself; not your opinions, religion or who you vote for.
Speaking of which, it was plain for all to see that President Biden was physically and perhaps cognitively declining and indeed polls showed people were aware and open about it. That’s why this “cover up” story is a shameful money grab. If the best and most shocking Fox News got from it is that he took naps during debate prep, it’s quite laughable to release this now when Trump fell asleep at the Pope’s funeral and snoozed during half of his NY trials.
Is it a cover up to claim your horse can win when you know it’s a bit lame, everyone can see it’s a bit lame but your horse is the only one who’s ever beat the competition fair and square? Maybe if you’re News of the World or Fox News; if you’re a serious political journalist you investigate when it’s relevant (during the campaign) or you put it in context. Real context: facts against facts. Not CNN context: facts against MAGA bull.
I remain convinced that Democratic primaries would have got us exactly where we are now and that’s the bet Biden made and lost. I disagree that he threw Kamala under the bus: I know as a multiracial woman that he is right. He is in fact one of too few White people to not cower from it and I admire him more for that. That’s where is strength was and still is. I believe that his running was the only path where Trump could have lost and that’s the card he played; if there was another way, we’ll never know.
You saw the debate, and you don’t think Biden has issues? Now, my guess is that it isn’t actual cognitive decline as a lack of stamina. He’s good for a few hours a day, pretty sharp. But he can’t handle a presidential schedule. One interlocutor after another says so, many who had known him for years.
The point of the diagnosis is that it isn’t a surprise when an 82-y.o. man is very sick. What’s the point of putting your eggs in the basket that he can persuade people to elect him to a four-year term? Who is excited to canvass for a shuffling, frail man?
So get over it… backwards is not progress… there are so many urgent things to deal with. I have 100,000,000 reasons to move on… I need one good legitimate reason to talk about Biden… the winner of that discussion is…? Wait for it…??
I was about to offer a comment similar to Cece’s. Like some commenters, I did not like Mr. Kasparov’s note and I think that former President Biden deserves our respect. It’s not Kasparov’s fault that Biden’s health is in the news cycle. And it’s natural for people to have opinions about what mistakes were made last year and before by the Democratic Party leadership. But save it, people. We have bigger fish to fry.
How are we going to respond to an illegal seizure of gov’t power by a minority of the country? The Democrats are not to blame, but they had adequate opportunity to save us and they failed. Why are we waiting for them to step up and save us? Time to form new coalitions beginning with a supermajority coalition of those who think the Constitution should be preserved and that we should do our utmost to restore our standing in the world.
Again, if you don’t like a post, just move on.
It appears you can’t discuss anything as a respectful adult with someone who dares to disagree with you. That’s on you, not on others. Maybe you should find a far left echo chamber, you know, that functions like Trump’s Truth Social. I prefer respecting others who disagree with by responding maturely. Feel free to block me. Good-bye.
Talking about Biden goes no where… move on… bigger more urgent issues to deal with…you’re going no where…. Backwards is not progress… seriously get over yourselves…
Cece, many of us realize that the Bidens almost ensured Trump’s re-election because of his well-documented mediocre performance as president, especially with respect to the prices on the shelves. Garry Kasparov wrote in a mature, balanced, objective manner. If we all choose to ignore or deny the facts we can’t come up with ways to prevent the same results in future elections.
Biden was and is not more intelligent and much less decent than Garry Kasparov. This comment tells about you a lot, first of all that you you don't understand the subject and that you simply stupid
What world do you live in? Have you thought about who has used the auto pen for the last four years?
Please think again about your approach!
Because of this way of thinking, a conservative president was recently elected in Poland (hard to say, maybe even far-right? we will see as he is not well known yet).
And everyone is... surprised. :D
For years, I’ve heard that voters shouldn’t be too harsh on liberals because they fight an important battle against the far-right. But they have FAILED—again and again.
Here’s the short version: those who lie should be removed from politics, no matter which side they’re on. No mercy, no hesitation. Only then will better leaders come forward.
Or maybe we should be as strict as the ancient Athenians, who used ostracism to keep politics honest?
Now, I see that the liberal candidate who lost the election—and all their supporters—have no idea why they lost (even though they claim they do, lol).
This is a dangerous sign that they might lose the parliamentary elections in 2027.
We see it happening, and we can’t seem to stop it. Everything is at risk!
Why?
In my opinion, it’s because democrats, liberals, centrists, leftists, or whoever calls themselves “progressive” have forgotten one thing: they must never lie, never stir up emotions, and never twist facts to fit their agenda.
Why? Because when they do, they become no better than the far-right. They either started using these tactics or never stopped. But now, voters see through it and are turning to the far-right instead. When faced with two sides that lie, voters choose the one that offers simpler solutions.
I supported President Biden in 2020 and I would have supported him in 2024. I proudly voted for Vice President Harris. Either way our country would be in a much better place than it is today!!
I am sending well wishes and prayers to him and his family. 🙏🙏🙏
I am a US citizen. I have contempt for the mainstream media marketocracy that feeds the public gossip, spin, speculation, tabloid trash, and damned little that is relevant to our concerns. Their pattern is clear. They agree on a news cycle, roll the same stories through the day/week, and ignore or marginalize reality. Simultaneously the public have diminished and trivialized education and critical thinking abilities. It is much more important to discuss global warming and attempts to correct it. https://pacinst.org/the-business-case-for-investing-in-nature-from-novel-to-the-new-normal/ ; https://www.thewirechina.com/2025/05/11/the-looming-power-of-chinas-energy-megabases/; https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2426768122#executive-summary-abstract. It is much more important to not drop news about kidnapping innocent people like Abrego Garcia, about Andry Romero https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/01/its-a-tradition-outrage-in-venezuela-as-us-deports-makeup-artist-for-religious-tattoos. It is useful to understand the right wing media machine and ways to encourage the public to think critically. The quality of the news has diminished so severely in my lifetime that the results contribute to growing fascism. Compare the Pulitzer price winning investigative journalism of the Washington Post and the New York Times to today.
I am tired of everybody having a say on Biden failure and the ppl that voted for the alternative now governing. I am frustrated. Biden with all his limitations and problem and the Democratic Party errors is a better person and party than the GOP and TRUMP. I am tired off this piñata attitude like with can continue punching it for fun. Let’s move on, we will have time when things are better to analyze it. Let the past rest so we can judge it fairly. The past administration is by far better than the 4-5 months old new administration.
I'm not going to read this, because, I DONT GIVE A SHIT!!! I AM MUCH MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE PSYCHOPATHS THAT ARE CURRENTLY DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY!!!!