I have always liked Joe Biden. Even in 2020, he was the best of a bad bunch of Democratic Presidential candidates. It pains me to see him as a shell of his former self. It made me wonder if he was ever the man I remembered him as being.
Joe Biden has a long and well-documented public speaking history. With no particular methodology, I found clips of him throughout the years to see how he got to the mental state he is in now. Some clips are longer than others, and can be scanned through to get a general sense of the man at the time of their recording.
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A clip of JB from 1987 on the Larry King Show. Sharp as a tack. Almost too slick.
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Joe Biden on the Senate floor in 1995, describing the genocide of Bosnian Moslems. Inspiring and possessing an almost encyclopaedic knowledge, leaving aside his notes in an impassioned speech.
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Joe Biden in the 2008 Iowa Democratic Debate discussing health care. He has facts and figures at his command. There is a little hesitancy at one point, but this is a man who has mellowed his youthful swagger into a more natural confidence. Still, there seems to be just a bit less of a sharp edge.
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The 2012 Vice Presidential Debate against Paul Ryan. Still in possession of his faculties, but there are more fumbles and searches for words. There is a noticeable lessening of vigour from his younger self. He still manages to hold his own against a man half his age. There are times when there is a glint in his eye as he watches his opponent and he is eager to respond.
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In 2016, he gives a speech as he campaigns for Hillary Clinton. He is cogent, but there is some slur to his words. He looks like the granddad that he is, but Grandpa still has style and you can see he has the confidence that would let him nuzzle up to a motorcycle mama while her old man glowers. Grandpa can still spin a good yarn without needing notes.
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In the 2020 Democratic Debates, JB looks a bit tired, and he can muster facts and a good argument, but the passion is not there, or rather, the passion is forced. On a stage full of septuagenarians, he fits right in. His flubs are the worst of the bunch. The man who used to be the smartest man in the room just isn't the smartest man in the room anymore. You feel him going through the motions, but being annoyed at having to make the effort, almost apologetic for taking up your time.
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In his first Presidential Press Conference, he is confused and at times incoherent. He reminds me of my 89 year-old father-in-law. JB is tired and worn out. It is painful to watch him struggle even as he clings to his crib notes for help. Even with the softball questions, you want to tell the reporters to stop hectoring this confused old man. There are occasional flashes of the Joe Biden in his prime, but they are so fleeting and weak that they only highlight his helplessness.
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He has gone from a man of supreme confidence and razor-sharp wit to a stumbling and, at times, incoherent old man who looks older than his 78 years. He has changed from a man who you might, at turns, admire or detest, but must always respect; to a man who you cannot help but like; to a man who registers only pity in his audience. This last phase of Biden's public life saddens me, because it diminishes the legacy of a once great Senator.
I hope this survey might inspire others to make a more complete and better organized presentation and analysis.
I think you are nuts, your links do show his decline but sucking up to this POS who has rarely if ever showed flashes of brilliance like you allude to is fucked.
Once great Senator? What the fuck are you on? Did you steal Hunter's crack?
We can't all attain your level of partisan perfection. You would lynch the Donald Trump of 40 years ago for his political impurity.
To persuade, you must be able to compliment your opponent for the insults to have real bite.
If you took any of the politicians or public figures of 40 years ago and dropped them into today they would all be considered hardcore far right white supremacist racists by the totalitarian left, of whom demented Joe Biden is their star child.
Totalitarianism, the political phenomena, and the more general social Totalism, are ideologies that cannot tolerate dissent. We suffer from it on the right as well as on the left.
If somebody is not completely in agreement with a very narrow set of views, they are anathema and reduced to a subhuman status.
It is disgusting when the Left does it, and it is worse when the right does it because they should know better. Fanatical partisanship is un-American.
Thanks for doing this. As a new observer to American politics this has been a really useful lesson for me, to see how we got to where we are now. Appreciated 👍
He did nothing but LIE for 47 years.
He lied about the Bosnian genocide?
Always find it interesting what some people do for a hobby. Like wading in sewage pools or eating tied pods. Or like this fellow who follows the life of pedophile thief. Biden is the poster monster for what the right find discusting. I look at people like and think that there is no way i could ever let you anywere near my circles.
How do you manage to get about in the real world, where good and decent people do and think things that fall out of your very narrow criteria for acceptable thought and behaviour?
It must be very lonely living in such moral perfection.
addendum: do you disagree with his 2008 remarks that healthcare reforms should be pursued by the individual states, rather than by the federal government? Do you really abhor his 1995 statements condemning genocide? You are an unthinking partisan. You are a moron. Go out and talk to real people rather than hide behind an online persona.
What spews out of that parasites mouth are only words to gain him power and position.
Because you can not see that makes you his perfect puppet and a moron. Terrortot.. what a pedo name
I am not sure if you are a troll or serious. That's the problem with online discussion. You are either a very angry, isolated American, or a foreign shill hired to poison rational discussion.
The same goes for me. If I am a shill, what is the purpose of my post? If I am praising Biden, I have put a lot of effort into calling him senile.
If I am sincere in my intentions, then what is the point of your criticism? You would certainly agree that documenting Biden's mental decline is good. Whaat you object to is my characterization of those documentary videos. A shill would act as you do, hurling insults with little regard to the substance of the discussion.
If you are a sincere Trump supporter, you might tone your rhetoric down and attempt to engage in constructive discussion. -- better yet find more compelling videos and provide better commentary to emphasize Biden's cognitive decline.
Or you can just stay angry because you are so emotionally stunted that you cannot get over the fact that those who would be your friends and allies approach things in a different way than you do.
Get over your totalitarian tendencies. People of good faith will disagree with you and you with them. The founding fathers of this country were men of different temparments and philosophies. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were bitter foes politically, yet they both played vital roles in securing American independence and prosperity. Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, were both military heroes of the Revolution, yet they loathed one another enough to kill, with Burr succeeding. That last one is a bad example -- I'm not going to duel you over an anonymous petty online squable.
So which is it, omniwulf? Are you a shill or just an asshole?
hurl all the insults you want. i could care less . i don't know you. and honestly do not want to know you. As for my position on who that senile snake is. He has Always been a thief and a Liar. He has been caught so many times at it. So why should i grant merits to any words ever uttered from that snake? He has stolen others merits. To me anything he says is stolen valor. I do not believe he has ever believed in anything he has ever said. I hate that guy. Soo happy you love him. so fuck you.. fuck him. Am i a asshole.. I do not give a rats ass if you think i am. Because i think you are a total ass and are below me in the swamp with Biden
So you are either a shill, or a hateful goon.
I can understand that you despise Joe Biden. I can understand that you hate anyone that does not hate Joe Biden.
What saddens me is that in hating anyone who does not hate Joe Biden, you are a totalitarian. It is not enough for you to have your own beliefs, but it is your insistrnce that all those who do not hold to your beliefs are to be despised as well. You wish to dictate the thoughts of others.
You refuse to try to discuss or persuade where you have a difference with someone. You can only heap scorn on those you disagree with. Yours is a fundamentally undemocratic, anti-republican stance. You would prefer to live under benevolent dictatorship that you agree with, than under an imperfect pluralistic society.
If saying that judgement of me floats your boat. Enjoy.
Here's the Deal: C'mon, man! Have I been talking for too long?
I do not enjoy holding you in any poor regard. I would rather think of you as a patriot who got caught up in a moment of fervour, who can now appreciate a red-pill painted so blue it makes an American blush.
These videos clearly document a trajectory of mental fitness, going so far as to map not just his later decline but his earlier growth as an effective speaker and politician.
A Boomer for Biden reads a headline --
In 1995 Biden was inspiring. And he is even more inspiring NOW!
-- with all the links and commentary intact.
The cognitive dissonance will lead to headaches. Those headaches can only be cured by recognizing that Joe Biden has lost his marbles.