45 Comments

I am voting for Biden. If anybody is insane enough to talk trash to me about my current and future President , they had better be ready for hellfire to rain down on them. I’m done with the bullshit.

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I just spent an hour in the COMICs political/editorial section refuting adult commenters claiming they are fine with "replacing Biden", although they haven't the faintest idea of what the process might be at this point, how to raise money if the candidate can't get all of Joe's incumbency advantages, and evidently unaware that they are disenfranchising millions of Dem voters by ignoring their primary votes...not to mention that no one else polls as well as President Biden who has already beaten the convicted felon once. Sometimes, Democrats (and I are one) can be so damned dumb.

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The ones I call Dimocrats and Dumbocraps.

Have you noticed that the ones who know the least are the ones who trumpet thier ignorance the loudest and refuse to believe any fact-checking of their BS idea? Lefgends in their own minds. The Dunning-Krueger Effect in full force.

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Thanks, Tom. Your reply made me chuckle--legends in their own minds; not unlike the dimwits in the punditocracy.

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Same here Gloria

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Me too.

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Thank you Tom. That is an excellent analogy, and John F Kennedy was 44, not 81. I hope the right people have access to this post. Joe Biden is the only person I will consider for the presidency. From my point of view he is the Best, The most experienced, the most honest, the most supportive of the Constitution, the most capable of all those available today of any age. He was my first choice in 2020, and now that I've seen how much he accomplished in his first two year's of service to this Country. Yes, he may die before his term is finished - Kennedy did. We'll deal with that when and if it happens. As for me if by some miracle I'm still alive in January 2029, I expect to see President Biden at the inauguration to his successor - whoever that is they have enormous footprints to follow,

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So to whom are you sending this analytic narrative, so clear, describing such historical consequence, so spot on… It can’t just stay here on Substack… And while we, the readers, can share share share, esteemed author and historian that you are, where are you sending this? Up the ladder, I hope. Watchful here to see what unfolds, unfurls, is put on full display like laying all the cards on the table, face up!

Even we, the common people, wondered about the jet lag and so forth… The pace he had been keeping? Jeepers. And your description is so so so clear. Please, keep us in the loop. Think of the sea change you could signal. Please please please….

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There are readers here now who will put this to use.

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Good work TC.

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Excellent history lesson re Kennedy. Excellent. I just returned last week from a trip to Japan. Wiped me out for at least 4 days.

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I think you are absolutely correct. President Biden’s travel schedule was brutal in those days/weeks. I kept wondering how anyone could deal with such a schedule. Actually no one can effectively. I'm so glad you brought thus fact up and told the story of President Kennedy. Just because you're flying in Air Force 1 does not mean you ever rest given the time zones.

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Two things: 1) When George tried to second guess him by pointing out that he had been at Camp David following those trips, questioning him as if he was lying, he said, "I was sick." So Camp David wasn't all "fun and games" nor all prep for a debate. And 2) I was able to hear most of the press conference this evening (someone who is grieving needed my ear at the beginning) but I did catch MSNBC's "discussion" afterwards. I scared my poor cats to death by yelling at the TV. I will NEVER watch Jen Psaki again. Her rudeness was despicable. I also don't think her opinions are worth my time nor my BP. And one more: 3) This comparison and analysis is BRILLIANT. It needs to be shared widely. Thanks.

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One interesting point the otherwise-execrable Jen Psaki made last night was that, in her experience of the Biden White House, "he has a tendency to over-prepare," and she also observed that he's better when he's less prepared.

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The reason it’s brilliant is because it’s got that sense of truth and reason like all TCinLA’s stuff. It’s also timely. I was waiting for a good mind to express the ideas contained in this piece. Didn’t know it would be Tom.

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Yeah, what is up with her? I can't help but wonder if she's been bought?

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Excellent analysis. Jet lag will kick your ass! The more time zones you cross, the worse it is, and the longer it takes to get over it; add in a stressful schedule and your brain and body will eventually go "nah, I'm done", hopefully when you crash it's not face first on the pavement.

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We also don't know how

many times the president

was disturbed on AF1 while

trying to rest on the wild back

and forth through time zones.

All these aides needing

answers right now!

I also wonder how much

sleep he really gets when

at the residence. What time

do they get him up in the

morning? How many times

do they interrupt his sleep at

night?

Look at his schedule this

week with the NATO

conference, then press corp

tonight and all the effing

bushwa in "after reports".

And too, wondering how all

the negativity is affecting

him. Broadside after

broadside.

Thank you so much Tom for

your very thoughtful and

smart take on this.

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I learn something new with every post you make, Tom. Fascinating and totally plausible. Jet lag slays me. I'm much younger than Joe.

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I'm one of the few people my age who actually doesn't remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. It was my first week of college, away from home for the first time. Totally immersed in getting into the dorm, getting adjusted to campus life. There was only one TV in the dorm and no one was watching it. I found out when my brother told me how scared he'd been. Back then, such telling was done by snail mail. So it was a couple of weeks.

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I was 11 and I was *terrified*. Every time a plane flew overhead I thought we were about to get bombed. (This was in the Boston suburbs.)

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The Cuban Missile Crisis really didn’t register with me until years afterwards when I sat through a class in history at college and did some reading about it, then coming to the realization of how close we had come to the brink of an all out nuclear war. I always figured that Hawai’i was pretty safe out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean until I found out Oahu was high on the Soviet target list because of all the military installations here including Hickam AFB, Pearl Harbor Subase, and the big communications centers for all the military branches on island. If a Soviet ICBM hit Oahu, it would have become a smoldering hole in the ocean…not a cheery scenario for a twelve year old kid back then.

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My husband's 35th Infantry Division at Schofield had their enlistments extended six months when the crisis developed. High alert all the time.

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Why do people think Biden insists on such a rigorous schedule? And how does he even rise to such a schedule?

He’s doing everything he can to protect our laws based democracy and world stability because all our lives depend on it.

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Great analysis!! I'm a very infrequent flyer and have next to no experience with jet lag, but this makes total sense.

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And don’t forget the Gish Gallop aspect of the debate. A despicable debate tactic especially effective against someone with a stutter. Also, Trump’s mic was muted but he still kept spouting his vituperative nonsense, which Biden and the moderators could still hear … but those of us watching the debate could not hear.

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As for Biden saying Trump when he meant Harris, let me ask you parents of more than one child. Have you never called your child by the wrong name, especially if you were exhausted at the time? In my case it was Rob/Susie, stop that! I was forty-something.

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This is an excellent point. My cats’ names get thrown in the mix too.

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My son does it too, with his daughters. Forty-something. Senility is coming, senility is coming!

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