This article is a warning to the news networks to do
your jobs properly! The
continuation of our democracy, and
perhaps world peace, are at stake. Obsessing only over the latest gaffe, instead of reporting all the facts drives up
ratings, but it also distorts public
perceptions and opinions! This is an
unstable feedback, that has already
gotten out of control, with the
reporting of the June presidential debate.
Assessing Cognitive Difficulties
Everybody is focused on Joe Biden’s fitness to serve another
term, after his debacle in the June
debate. Transient or not, his physical and mental infirmity was
obvious. The coverage of this is so
all-consuming, that it is actually
driving opinions about this issue, to
the exclusion of other facts.
Nobody seemed to notice Donald Trump’s own mental
infirmity, which (so far) is much
less obvious than Biden’s, but still
there for all to see, if they but
look! The obsessive coverage of
Biden’s problem completely ignores this!
And that is both wrong and irresponsible!
Trump never answered a single question, even when the questions were repeatedly
put to him, instead always repeating
the same debunked lies that he has spouted for some years now. Dangerous lies, too:
one has already sparked an attempted insurrection!
Part of this question avoidance might be deliberate, but part is not. Failure to deal with an unexpected question can
be a definite sign of cognitive decline!
Trump even lost his train of thought a few times (just like
Biden), but recovered more quickly than
Biden, simply repeating what he had
already said seconds previously.
That fast repeat is actually how you can tell the cognitive stumbles
from the deliberate question avoidance!
Who Would Take Over if Unable to Serve
Biden has a credible backup in VP Kamala Harris, should he become incapable of serving while
in office, a fairly likely possibility
at his age and in his condition.
Trump does not have such a credible backup, and at his very-similar age, the very same risk of becoming unable to
serve also applies!
We do not yet know who the Trump VP pick might be, but all the purported candidates would be new to the job, and they all spout the same dangerous and debunked lies that Trump spouts, being selected for utter loyalty, not ability. I see no good choices there for the country! [Update 7-17-2024: it is Sen. J. D. Vance of Ohio, quite the far-right extremist on most issues, and a former "never-Trumper" who is now a fierce loyalist, spouting the same lies as Trump.]
Behavior that Poses Threats
And then there is the behavioral history: it is on the public record that Trump
threatened to renege on our obligation to defend our NATO allies. He clearly would prefer that we were not part
of NATO, and has said publicly that he
would give Putin everything he wants in Ukraine and elsewhere in eastern
Europe. That is a serious threat to world peace, and to the other democracies.
It is also on the public record that Trump also tried
multiple means, both legal and
illegal, to overturn his 2020 election
loss. This included using his debunked
lies about the 2020 election over multiple months (not just the “ellipse
speech”, although that was the final
trigger), to finally incite an
insurrection at the Capitol, on Jan.
6, 2021.
That was his last remaining possibility of staying in power past the end
of his term. He so very clearly did not
want to leave office, and that was,
and is, a very serious threat to
our democracy!
And he chronically lies,
about everything. The fact
checking makes that chronic lying a matter of public record. That makes it very much harder to understand
what the executive branch is really doing,
or not doing, when nothing that
is said can be trusted!
Joe Biden poses none of those threats! And yet I never see that
reported!
My Criticism of the Obsessive Coverage
So, I ask all the
news media, where is the reporting of
this overall picture? I don’t see it! I just see obsessive coverage of the latest
flap or gaffe, with no overall context. This is irresponsible!
The obsessive coverage of Biden’s debate problems is just
sensationalism, to the point of actually
driving viewer beliefs, and the response
of pandering politicians to it. That way
lies high ratings, yes, but also the destruction of our
democracy, for lack of a responsible “fourth
estate”!
Consequences of Irresponsible Reporting
Without the whole picture,
no voter can properly weigh the risks! So, the
bulk of them don’t.
And that is how we ended up with the chaotic disaster
that was Trump’s term in office.
Complete with vilification and persecution of refugee immigrants, to the point of separating children from
their families, that resembled nothing
so much as what happened entering the Nazi death camps! And sucking-up to the worlds’ worst
despots, in public! Plus threatening to renege on our NATO
obligations! Not to mention that nearly
every claim he ever made was a lie. And
still is.
Concluding Remarks
So, I am asking you
to change your ways, and report all
the facts, and also report on how
they fit in the big picture. That is
what all Americans desperately need, so
we can weigh the risks, and vote wisely. We once had news reporting that actually did
this, several decades ago. We need it again!
A Visual Example of Weighing Risks This November
This is what weighing the risks, which
requires all the data, actually looks
like, for the election coming this November. Considering the similarity of the two
candidates’ ages, and how fast physical
and mental condition can deteriorate with advancing age, both parties are offering the wrong choices! One candidate is deteriorating a bit sooner
than the other, but such deterioration
is inevitable, for both of them, before the next term will be over.
But, given those choices, one candidate brings huge risks, while the other does not. This kind of overall picture thing is exactly what you news media should be showing to the American public in your opinion pieces. It is your civic duty!
Update to Risk Balance,
with Harris Replacing Biden 7-22-2024
Harris poses little or no risks from age and
infirmities. At age 59, she is young enough to serve vigorously for
many years yet (while Trump cannot). The
rest of her risks are about the same as with Biden, excepting the choice of VP. Anybody she chooses will be as new to the job
as Trump’s pick Vance, posing about the
same risk. The revised risk balance
still says the same thing:
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