• I've created a thread for feedback on the reaction/likes feature Feedback thread
  • You may find search is unavailable for a little while. Trying to fix a problem.

The US Presidential Election: A Battle of Two Senile Old Fools.

shemp

a flimsy character...perfidious and despised
shemp
Joined
Nov 5, 2002
Messages
62,739
Location
valid location
This is what our wonderful geriatric political system has given us. Two senile old fools, one of whom will be President for the next four years.

And the only reason to choose one over the other is that one (Trump) is bent upon destroying democracy for his sick personal gain, while the other (Biden) is relatively harmless and is at least smart enough to surround himself with intelligent, capable people and take their advice. But still, a senile old fool.

I voted for Biden in the New Hampshire primary, and will vote for him in November. But either choice still leaves the U.S. (and by extension, the world) on a very dangerous and potentially disastrous path. But at least with Biden, we'll have a chance to find someone younger who can take us down a more positive, and hopeful path. If Trump is elected, there may very well never be another Presidential election in this nation.
 
They're both senile old fools in the way that a 200 pound man and a 800 pound man are both fat.
 
shemp said:
This is what our wonderful geriatric political system has given us. Two senile old fools, one of whom will be President for the next four years.

And the only reason to choose one over the other is that one (Trump) is bent upon destroying democracy for his sick personal gain, while the other (Biden) is relatively harmless and is at least smart enough to surround himself with intelligent, capable people and take their advice. But still, a senile old fool.

I voted for Biden in the New Hampshire primary, and will vote for him in November. But either choice still leaves the U.S. (and by extension, the world) on a very dangerous and potentially disastrous path. But at least with Biden, we'll have a chance to find someone younger who can take us down a more positive, and hopeful path. If Trump is elected, there may very well never be another Presidential election in this nation.
Click to expand...

I used to think the highlighted was hyperbole, but now, today . . . not so much.
 
TragicMonkey said:
They're both senile old fools in the way that a 200 pound man and a 800 pound man are both fat.
Click to expand...

You might want to rephrase that. The military standards for maximum weight at my particular height sits at 235 for a reason (and that's the weight that they start calculating body fat to potentially make an exception -- at age 18, no less). People with enough muscle (and height) can be well over 200 with very low body fat. 250 not so much, but 200 is actually fairly common if you're anything over 6 ft. (I'm 6'4 and around 220. Nobody in their right minds would call me fat. I'm just barely getting soft around the edges at that weight. I'd look as "ripped" as I get [which isn't that ripped -- I'm not particularly massive] at 200).

Yeah, I get the point in context, but 200 is a bit low for a starting point on that unless you're 5'8 and/or female. Also, Biden is just short of 6 ft., himself. Trump is reputedly somewhat taller, even without his elevator shoes. If I had to guess, Biden is probably around 190 and Trump probably about 280 or so in weight. I could be off by 20-30 pounds (or more) on either guess, and of course Trump has lost weight recently.
 
Last edited:
Manopolus said:
You might want to rephrase that. The military standards for maximum weight at my particular height sits at 235 for a reason (and that's the weight that they start calculating body fat to potentially make an exception). People with enough muscle (and height) can be well over 200 with very low body fat. 250, not so much.
Click to expand...

Comfort yourself with the knowledge that at least you're not senile. Yet.
 
shemp said:
That's a good comparison. I wish I'd thought of it.
Click to expand...

It's not your fault you didn't: the clouds of senility have befoggened your mind.

I remember there being a huge fuss about "diagnosing malignant narcissism" on strangers a while back, but I got to tell you it's enormous fun to diagnose obesity and senility on them! From now on I'm going to assume everybody else is either fat or senile and try to guess which it is! That's a very stupid idea, an outrageously stupid idea, but it's still more sensible than everything about the current US political landscape which is riddled with fatness and senilitiousness. Voting for me would be the better option and that's truly terrifying.
 
Dean Phillips seemed like a better alternative to me for Democrats, but he doesn't have the name recognition of Biden. On the other hand, he wouldn't have the same questions regarding his age, or the issues with Biden's son, Hunter.

It seems like an indictment of American democracy that these two men are our choices.

I think Biden will win again, but I'm not highly confident in that belief.

I believe he will benefit from an anti-Trump vote, as he did in 2020, because he is the only viable alternative. I believe that a large share of Biden's vote in 2020 came from people who don't support Biden, like Biden or approve of him, but who dislike, are repulsed by, and disapprove of Trump even more.
 
Puppycow said:
Dean Phillips seemed like a better alternative to me for Democrats, but he doesn't have the name recognition of Biden. On the other hand, he wouldn't have the same questions regarding his age, or the issues with Biden's son, Hunter.

It seems like an indictment of American democracy that these two men are our choices.

I think Biden will win again, but I'm not highly confident in that belief.

I believe he will benefit from an anti-Trump vote, as he did in 2020, because he is the only viable alternative. I believe that a large share of Biden's vote in 2020 came from people who don't support Biden, like Biden or approve of him, but who dislike, are repulsed by, and disapprove of Trump even more.
Click to expand...

Not impressed with Phillips. The rich-guy-funding-his-own-campaign-thing only works for conservative candidates. Moderate-to-left voters aren't generally impressed with that sort of thing. His shtick seems to be mostly "Biden, but younger" but I sort of suspect he's a closet conservative.

Don't get me wrong. I very much wish there was a legitimate alternative, but I'm not convinced he is one. I haven't looked at him all that deeply, but I also haven't noticed any good reason to. I'm just vaguely aware of him. Went to his website once.
 
Last edited:
I don't think either Biden or Trump are senile. I don't believe you know what senility is.

Trump is batcrap crazy and stupid. But he's been batcrap crazy for a long time. That doesn't make him senile in the least.
 
Trump suggests he’d disregard NATO treaty, urge Russian attacks on allies

GOP front-runner said he encouraged Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to member countries he views as not spending enough on own defense.

Marianne LeVine

CONWAY, S.C. — Former president Donald Trump ramped up his attacks on NATO on Saturday, claiming he suggested to a foreign leader that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to member countries he views as not spending enough on their own defense.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/10/trump-nato-allies-russia/

One of these senile old fools is encouraging Russia to attack our allies. That would be very bad for our nation’s security.
 
He used to be a lot more articulate. Not up to the level of most politicians, but far better than he is now.
 
zorro99 said:
Trump suggests he’d disregard NATO treaty, urge Russian attacks on allies

GOP front-runner said he encouraged Russia to “do whatever the hell they want” to member countries he views as not spending enough on own defense.

Marianne LeVine

CONWAY, S.C. — Former president Donald Trump ramped up his attacks on NATO on Saturday, claiming he suggested to a foreign leader that he would encourage Russia to do “whatever the hell they want” to member countries he views as not spending enough on their own defense.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/10/trump-nato-allies-russia/

One of these senile old fools is encouraging Russia to attack our allies. That would be very bad for our nation’s security.
Click to expand...

Aside: Which is why one of the hottest topics in Europe right now is how to become geostrategically and militarily independent of the US, not only because of Trump, but because of deglobalization. The US, Mexico and Canada are experiencing higher growth and will continue to benefit from the onshoring of Asian manufacturing, and in terms of broader hemispheric resources, really do not need the rest of the planet. That leaves resource-poor and export-market-starved Europe in dire straits. IMHO, the future of Europe lies in successfully encouraging the rise of a new "tiger" to whom they can export and from whom they can increasingly source materials, the best candidate for that being West Africa.
 
Manopolus said:
Not impressed with Phillips. The rich-guy-funding-his-own-campaign-thing only works for conservative candidates. Moderate-to-left voters aren't generally impressed with that sort of thing. His shtick seems to be mostly "Biden, but younger" but I sort of suspect he's a closet conservative.

Don't get me wrong. I very much wish there was a legitimate alternative, but I'm not convinced he is one. I haven't looked at him all that deeply, but I also haven't noticed any good reason to. I'm just vaguely aware of him. Went to his website once.
Click to expand...

While, I don't agree, there's not much point in arguing about it now. "Younger" alone is a huge difference to me.
 
Manopolus said:
You might want to rephrase that. The military standards for maximum weight at my particular height sits at 235 for a reason (and that's the weight that they start calculating body fat to potentially make an exception -- at age 18, no less). People with enough muscle (and height) can be well over 200 with very low body fat. 250 not so much, but 200 is actually fairly common if you're anything over 6 ft. (I'm 6'4 and around 220. Nobody in their right minds would call me fat. I'm just barely getting soft around the edges at that weight. I'd look as "ripped" as I get [which isn't that ripped -- I'm not particularly massive] at 200).

Yeah, I get the point in context, but 200 is a bit low for a starting point on that unless you're 5'8 and/or female. Also, Biden is just short of 6 ft., himself. Trump is reputedly somewhat taller, even without his elevator shoes. If I had to guess, Biden is probably around 190 and Trump probably about 280 or so in weight. I could be off by 20-30 pounds (or more) on either guess, and of course Trump has lost weight recently.
Click to expand...

So with Trump, you get more for your buck
 
For information, 200lbs for a 6 foot person yields a BMI of 27.6, in the middle of the overweight classification.

BMI is a very poor indicator for individuals, and barely better for populations but it is easily determined and widely known.

An 80 year old is unlikely to have a great than average muscle mass so IMO it's fair to say that a 200lb 6 foot 80 year old is likely overweight.

Regarding the OP, the fact that the media obsesses about small Biden gaffes and mis-speaks whilst at the same time largely glossing over President Trump's wholesale gibberish, Fascist rhetoric and calls on Russia to attack NATO allies means that IMO there's a media-fuelled false equivalency in play here.
 
One might consider that the situation indicates that Democracy in the US is already in terminal decline, whatever the antics of Trump.

Maybe the US itself is in terminal decline without external pressures to glue the middle and the extremities into a cohesive whole. off topic.....:D
 
acbytesla said:
I don't think either Biden or Trump are senile. I don't believe you know what senility is.

Trump is batcrap crazy and stupid. But he's been batcrap crazy for a long time. That doesn't make him senile in the least.
Click to expand...

Have to disagree, it would be very strange if either of them was not senile, to an extent. I don't view senility to be the same as dementia, senility is simply the mental equivalent of losing physical strength as you age. It doesn't mean you are mentally incompetent, doesn't mean you can't still be a person engaged with the world capable of making serious decisions, taking in new information and so on.

These two are both old men, one has kept an obvious better level of physical fitness than the other, which usually means their mental health is better. (I think there is some evidence that moderately overweight people - not obese people - show less mental decline than very thin or obese people.) Plus of course Trump has always been stupid and wilfully ignorant so he didn't start from a good place from which to lose any mental faculties.

I'm not suffering from dementia (I think) but I know my mental faculties are not as good/strong as they were 30 years ago. For instance, sometimes it will take me a couple of attempts to learn something new when in the past it would have taken only one attempt. But as many of us older people claim I hold that my extensive knowledge and experience helps to negate that weakening, in other words although the learning may take longer, I can implement that learning more effectively and quicker than a young greenhorn whippersnapper in their 20s even if they picked it up in one attempt.

Now have I told you about when we carried onions in our belts....
 
Resume said:
Nah, he's pretty much been a sociopathic narcissist his entire life.
Click to expand...

During his first campaign against Clinton I think I commented on this forum that if you watched older interviews of Trump you could see that he was much more articulate and much quicker to react 30 years ago. I can't see that his mental decline has been reversed in the (about) 8 years since then.

ETA: Mentioning Clinton has reminded me - wasn't it sad how she died just weeks after the election, I mean we'd been told repeatedly that her health was terrible, that she wouldn't make it through a full term, that "the Dems" were hiding her serious health issues. Given how right those pundits were about her health we should give their calls about how senile Biden is all the weight it deserves from getting it right about Clinton's health and the Dems trying to hide it from us.
 
Last edited:
Biden is old, occasionally forgetful man who always tries to do his best to serve his country.

Trump is old, lying, disgusting POS who is always trying to do what is best for himself.

As far as I am concerned, the choice could not be more clear.

However, I do hope with this election, then the USA will finally start flushing so many of our old leaders who are well past their respective retirement ages.
 
Crossbow said:
However, I do hope with this election, then the USA will finally start flushing so many of our old leaders who are well past their respective retirement ages.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, this part probably won't happen, mainly because the committee assignments and leadership positions are based on seniority. So basically, the oldest ones (or the ones there the longest) have the most clout. Most primary voters know this, especially if they've got an ancient geezer running from their state/district.
 
Last edited:
Trausti said:
He's the same guy he's been for the last 40 years.
Click to expand...

And?

I believe some are observing he is crazy and also in mental decline. From my POV he's been crazy and stupid since I've seen his public persona beginning in 2016. His vocabulary is seriously limited, he struggles to read, and he says some very stupid things that go against his benefit.
 
Darat said:
Have to disagree, it would be very strange if either of them was not senile, to an extent. I don't view senility to be the same as dementia, senility is simply the mental equivalent of losing physical strength as you age. It doesn't mean you are mentally incompetent, doesn't mean you can't still be a person engaged with the world capable of making serious decisions, taking in new information and so on.

These two are both old men, one has kept an obvious better level of physical fitness than the other, which usually means their mental health is better. (I think there is some evidence that moderately overweight people - not obese people - show less mental decline than very thin or obese people.) Plus of course Trump has always been stupid and wilfully ignorant so he didn't start from a good place from which to lose any mental faculties.

I'm not suffering from dementia (I think) but I know my mental faculties are not as good/strong as they were 30 years ago. For instance, sometimes it will take me a couple of attempts to learn something new when in the past it would have taken only one attempt. But as many of us older people claim I hold that my extensive knowledge and experience helps to negate that weakening, in other words although the learning may take longer, I can implement that learning more effectively and quicker than a young greenhorn whippersnapper in their 20s even if they picked it up in one attempt. ....
Click to expand...
Technically senility can mean age related cognitive decline (per the definitions online I just looked up), but here in the US senility implies the loss of cognitive function to a point of crossing the line into dementia territory. I like most people my age (70) or older have some memory loss. I hardly consider myself senile.

A person who repeats the same story they told you a week ago may not be senile. But if you tell them you already heard it and an hour later they tell you the same story again, that is senility.

It's stupid having a semantic argument about whether or not Biden is senile. @zorro99 has it right,
zorro99 said:
For a senile old fool, Biden sure is doing a good job.
Click to expand...

That is what people should be judging Biden on, not whether the news media keeps showing clips of him forgetting a name or a date.
 
I suspect Trump is closer to 90 in his biological age. You can't be a 300ish pound 77 year old with a **** diet, no exercise who nose bumps Aderal and continue to exchange oxygen. A political campaign, civil and criminal trials are probably all triggers to increase his drug use.

According to the DoD Inspector General, the Whitehouse Medical unit was buying in far more Ketamine than previous administrations. If the Trump boy was also snorting Ketamine, his biological age is probably higher.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41366-018-0210-2

Trump is already past his life expectancy for someone as obese as he is.:D
 
Last edited:
Trump aced his cognitive test. Joe did not even release the results. Oops, Trump did not either. I think he spotted the lion in the drawing, though. You only need to remember three words 5 minutes later, not 5.


The 5 comes, for media, from person woman man camera TV. Those are 5 things Trump saw sitting there. The three words have to be unrelated. I had "village, kitchen" and something third I forgot last September.
 
Last edited:
Skeptic Ginger said:
And?

I believe some are observing he is crazy and also in mental decline. From my POV he's been crazy and stupid since I've seen his public persona beginning in 2016. His vocabulary is seriously limited, he struggles to read, and he says some very stupid things that go against his benefit.
Click to expand...

Do you really believe the answer to Biden's mental decline is to gas light about Trump?

Trump does 2 and 3 hour long rally speeches, much of it off the top of his head. By contrast Biden can't do a Super bowl interview and holds a press conference to refute any questions of his mental capacity while at the same time confirming those claims 100%.

Your bubble is closing in on you. Donald Trump has said on multiple occasions anyone running for President should pass cognitive tests and he is willing to submit to those tests, is Biden willing to do the same? He should be. According to you there's no need for concern, right?
 
Tero said:
Trump aced his cognitive test. Joe did not even release the results. Oops, Trump did not either. I think he spotted the lion in the drawing, though. You only need to remember three words 5 minutes later, not 5.


The 5 comes, for media, from person woman man camera TV. Those are 5 things Trump saw sitting there. The three words have to be unrelated. I had "village, kitchen" and something third I forgot last September.
Click to expand...

Your video link is dead. I'd be interested to see what you claim to have seen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom