What Has America Done to “Deserve” a Choice Between Trump and Biden?

The sarcasm is appropriate.

The president bumbles along, says what he thinks without forethought and displays an apparent ignorance of America’s constitutional structure.

The former Vice-President’s utterances often display in public a looseness of expression which suggests, to use the medical term, the presence of “mild cognitive impairment” (early dementia).  And on other occasions, he expresses harsh opinions about others which supporters attribute to “mistakes”. 

Back to Donald Trump.  This past week he “commanded” reluctant governors to open up their states.  He neglected a detail of our national government.  The Constitution prescribes a federal system, along with limitations on the authority of the president.  The Republican Party standard bearer evidently didn’t know that until his staff informed him.  “Command” was then changed to “encourage”.

And Joe Biden?  His latest “mistake” was his view expressed to an African American interviewer that if a black person didn’t support him, given his civil rights record, “you ain’t black”.  (Ten percent of black voters chose Trump over Hillary Clinton last time.)

That remark was widely criticized although fellow Democrats attributed it to being merely a mistake.

That’s an interesting characterization.  Being confused, misinformed and incorrectly identifying a location or mispronouncing  words (all of which Biden has done) are fairly described as not intentional – and thus mistakes.
 

But there are mistakes… and mistakes.  Was the recent statement on black voting choices a mistake because he said what he meant to say?  Was his comment made to a radio interviewer with a largely black audience calculated to have an impact?  If so, the post-interview reaction was welcome.  This racial remark received wide distribution.  Perhaps whatever mental deficiencies Joe Biden may have are intermittent.  He’s not always confused or forgetful.  Maybe last week was proof of that.

[Note:  Race baiting is not foreign to the former U.S. Senator and Vice President.  In 2012, he warned a predominately black audience in Virginia about Republicans – “they’re going to put you back in chains”.]

Between the two of them, what a choice!