VIDEOS: Dems in damage control after debate disaster

It wasn't a good night for Sleepy Joe Biden. In spite of having everything set up to give him an advantage -- unfriendly network and hosts, no audience, only one live mic at a time, etc -- he has been revealed as not just "sleepy", but suffering from senile dementia. Millions of people must be saying "I didn't realize it was that bad."

Before we get to the videos, a comment about the debate as a whole. The strictures imposed by the Democrats and the format notwithstanding, it wasn't as bad as I anticipated. The anchors refrained from arguing with the candidates, and only pointed out that they weren't answering the questions a couple of times.

The anchors needed some coaching on the rules of order. In a proper debate of this kind, you put a question or a proposition to one party, let him answer, then let the other party reply. The first party might get a rebuttal, and that closes the topic. What you don't do -- as was done to President Trump twice -- is to pose a different question instead of letting him challenge the first speaker's answer.

Not a big deal, really, because the candidates stopped answering questions (or even pretending to do so) almost from the get-go. They had talking points they wanted to get out -- President Brandon even told us the number, "1 - 2 - 3" several times -- and said what they wanted, no matter what question was asked. After a while, the moderators didn't even bother to ask questions at times.

The "debate" -- quote marks are appropriate here -- wasn't really about the issues anyway. It was about image, about which one had the alertness, confidence and mental acuity required of someone who aspires to be the leader of the free world.  

That, dear readers, is where Joe Biden let himself and his party down. And badly! President Trump repeatedly attacked President Biden on the economy and his foreign policy record, while the latter took aim at his rival's criminal conviction and alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election. 

The candidates accused each other of lying, and both were right. But the Donald was in "rally mode" -- as if addressing a friendly audience -- whereas Senile Joe gave a performance which can be called stumbling, at best. Democrats expressed concern at the President's weakness, with party insiders saying his early answers triggered panic. His supporters told the BBC his campaign team overworked the president -- a week of rest at Camp David is tough, eh -- and senior White House officials said they are meeting to discuss options. 

OK, let's go to some video. You've probably already seen this first one. President Biden opened the debate with a raspy voice and disjointed, rambling answers, reigniting Democratic concerns about his age and cognitive ability. Many of his answers were hard to follow. At one point, seemingly losing his train of thought, Brandon says, "we finally beat Medicare," -- his own policy on earned benefits. 

 

In text messages with Politico, Democrats expressed confusion and concern as they watched the first minutes of the event. One former Biden White House and campaign aide called it "terrible", adding that they have had to ask themselves over and over "What did he just say? This is crazy." 

But wait (as Vince Offer used to day), there's more! Here are some highlights [or lowlights? Ed.] from Sky News Australia.

   

And, from the same source, here's what you didn't see....

   

Cue the Warner Bros cartoon finish: Th-the-th-the-th-the... that's all folks! As in, the election is over. Joe Biden lost, right there. Walt's lifetime pct .987.

Further reading: 

"NYT editorial board calls on Biden to drop out". By Lauren Irwin, on The Hill, 28/6/24. Thanks to BCF.

And from the Babylon Bee: "Trump Indicted For Murdering Elderly Man On CNN", 27/6/24. Hilarious!

Obamacare in a bottle

Agent 6 says this little poke at Al O'Bama came from Scotland, but Ed. noticed it has a tag linking it to the RedState website. Agent 6 adds that Da Prez's approval ratings are so low now that Kenyans are accusing him of being born in the United States!

Population control damaging society, bankrupting Social Security, US bishops say

This coming Sunday, October 4th, is Respect Life Sunday. In their statement for the occasion, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops condemns a wide variety of threats to human life and dignity, including abortion, euthanasia, embryonic stem-cell research, and population control.

Cardinal Justin Rigali, speaking for the USCCB, writes, "In the current debate over health care reform, it has become evident that a number of Americans believe that the lives and health of only some people are worth safeguarding, while other classes of people are viewed as not deserving the same protection. Such an attitude is deplorable, all the more so in the context of health care.

"Unborn children remain the persons whose lives are most at risk in America: Over one million children each year die in abortion facilities.… It bears repeating: Abortion -- the direct, intentional killing of an unborn girl or boy -- is not health care. Abortion robs an innocent child of his or her life, and robs mothers of their peace and happiness.… Abortion funding can only increase the number of dead and grieving." (emphasis added. ed.)

"Unborn children are not the only human beings disfavored under current proposals," the statement continues. "Many people insist that undocumented persons living and working in the United States should not be allowed in any new system to purchase health-care coverage, and that poor legal immigrants be denied coverage for the first five years they are in the United States. Do immigrants forfeit their humanity at the border? How can a just society deny basic health care to those living and working among us who need medical attention? It cannot and must not."

Cardinal Rigali also slated the environmentalists who support population control. Small family sizes are bankrupting Social Security and Medicare, he said.

"It should not be surprising that the neglect, and even the death, of some people are offered as a solution to rising health care costs. Population control advocates have long espoused aborting children in the developing world as a misguided means for reducing poverty. Some environmentalists now claim that the most efficient way to curb global climate change is to make 'family planning' more widely available in the developing world. They report that an average of 2.3 pounds per day of exhaled carbon dioxide can be eliminated from the atmosphere by eliminating one human being. As used by population control advocates, the innocuous term 'family planning' includes abortifacient contraceptives, sterilization, and manual vacuum aspiration abortions.…

"Since the advent of widespread contraception and abortion, a cultural hostility to children has grown. They are often depicted as costly encumbrances who interfere with a carefree adult life. No fewer than six recent books are dedicated to defending the childless-by-choice lifestyle, for selfish reasons, or to counter 'overpopulation,' a thoroughly discredited myth.

"In fact, if married couples were to have more children, Medicare and Social Security would not be hurtling toward bankruptcy. Since 1955, because of fewer children and longer life spans, the number of workers has declined relative to the number of beneficiaries, from 8.6 to only 3.1 workers paying benefits to support each beneficiary. Without substantially more young people to enter the work force as young adults, in 25 years, there will be only 2.1 workers supporting each beneficiary. Eliminating our young does not solve problems even on pragmatic grounds. It adds to them."

Click here to read the entire USCCB statement.