Thinking and Talking are Not the Same Thing.
I don't mix up ideas. But sometimes I retrieve the wrong labels for them.
President Biden has a label problem, not a thinking problem. The debate we are having now sends the message that either we think President Biden HAS a thinking problem (which he doesn't) OR we care more about a person's performance ability than his thinking ability. Either one is a bad message.
My brain has a glitch. I often say New Orleans when I am talking about Las Vegas and vice versa. New Orleans is my MOST favorite city. Las Vegas is my LEAST favorite city. It's not like I am confusing the cities! I KNOW which city I am talking about. My brain just doesn't retrieve the right word. (Sometimes it even throws in St. Louis, just for kicks!)
I have the same problem with Anat Shenker Osorio (ASO) and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (AOC). I can't say either name without stopping and sounding it out v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y, because my brain completely scrambles their names together. They are both brilliant progressive women! But do you seriously think I don't know the difference? I am not confusing one with the other. It's the LABELS I have trouble with, not the people!
President Biden has a label problem, not a thinking problem. My concern is that the debate we are having now sends the message that either we think President Biden HAS a thinking problem (which he doesn't) OR we care more about a person's performance ability than his thinking ability in running the country. Either one is a bad message.
We now know that the debate did not hurt President Biden with voters. The way we are talking about him is, because people think that we’re saying that he has a THINKING problem. That’s on us.
I know that people are so worried about beating Trump that they think we need the best TALKER on the stump that we can get.
In Arizona, in 2022, Katie Hobbs beat Kari Lake in the election for Governor. Kari Lake was a newscaster. She’s a heck of a talker. Katie Hobbs outright refused to debate her. Katie Hobbs might be a smidge neurodiverse. She knew that a live debate would not be her best venue, so she stood her ground. Kari Lake was ahead in the polls leading up to the election, but as we know, Katie Hobbs won. And she’s been a fantastic governor. Why did she win? Because voters can tell the difference between talking and thinking, even if pundits can’t.
I have news for you. We've got all kinds of good talkers, like Gavin Newsome for example. He talks great. But he's not culturally appealing to wide swaths of voters outside of the coasts.
Did it ever occur to people that President Biden is the best person to beat Trump because people know he cares? Because voters know he came from a working-class background? Because they know that he knows what it's like to be a regular "Joe?" Because he's the most populist President we've had in my lifetime? That he stands up to corporations on our behalf like no-one since the Roosevelts? That he has been a superb President?
I can "sell" Joe Biden, even if he can't. I don't know if I can sell the candidates people want to replace him with. They each have their downsides.
The primary voters chose Joe Biden. We have no right to over-ride their decision. If President Biden were to decide to step aside, that's up to him. I support him 1000%, and if he asks me to support someone else, I will support them 1000%.
This election is about the future of our country, the world, and the planet. It's Joe Biden's character, his vision, his agenda, that we are running on and will win on. Joe Biden himself is the best messenger for that message, but if we stay true to his emotional connection to people, his dedication to building our economy around working people, his decency and respect for every person, and his commitment to building a better country and life for all of us, that we will win - either way.
THANK YOU, as always, for reading, subscribing, and all that you do to make our world a better place!
In solidarity,
Antonia
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Couldn't agree with your more Antonia...
We need to stop amplifying the calls for Biden to step away. It was one bad night—after 90+ minutes onstage with a torrent of lies, projection and gaslighting, he went on to a debate watch after party, a Waffle House, a 2 AM flight to NC, later that morning a rally in Raleigh (the biggest of the campaign yet), and then a flight to New York to celebrate a Pride event recognizing Stonewall—all within a single 24hr window!
One bad night, a cold and a lifetime trying to master a stutter—meanwhile a jury-convicted felon, rapist, and tax evading fraudster who, after being asked THREE times, refused to say he will accept the election’s outcome! But the only media to call for Tr*mp to step down from the race is the Philadelphia Inquirer’s editorial board…seriously, WTF?
One thing I will give MAGA & Repubs—literally the only thing—they rally around their own in moments of weakness, they don’t eat their own.
Also, Biden not only had a RECORD day of fundraising after the debate, but also RECORD volunteer sign ups.
Sometimes the corporate media and punditocracy, or even our own anecdotal experiences do NOT reflect the broader reality.
No matter the spin from a media reliant on binary, conflict-driven narratives, which forces false equivalences and pushes politics as a horse race, defaulting to covering the poll-obsessed odds, rather than the existential stakes in this election (especially given MAGA Justice's above-the-law immunity ruling)—what happens next is in OUR hands.
So, keep calm and do the work that wins election—the same grassroots volunteer work that delivered our wins 2018, in 2020, and 2022.
One bad night can’t (and shouldn’t) wipe out the past three years of what is THE most consequential administration since FDR…let’s not do MAGA’s job for them by tearing our own candidate down—that effort should be directed at the two-time popular vote losing, twice impeached and 91 times criminally-indicted traitor who would be convicted of even more crimes were it not for his billionaire-bought justices delaying his day in court.
As Anat Shenker-Osorio reminds us, it’s time to stop doom scrolling and #BucktheF*ckUp!
https://x.com/anatosaurus/status/1806796373888831625/video/1
This is a great piece that should get a lot of exposure. Like as an opinion piece in the NYT and perhaps other publications with a significant political readership. More people need to recognize and understand this, whether about Biden, other people, or themselves.
I have had a lifetime issue (I'm in my late 70s) with name labels – either thinking of a wrong name or no name at all when I see a face. My face-to-name association is very weak. On the other hand, my face-to-information about a person association is extremely strong, so if I have to come up with a name for a person, all I need to do is recall some information about them – and this even works for naming people I have never met, but happen to know about.
In spite of my difficulties with naming a face, even the faces of long-time friends, my ability to think clearly has always been and still is very good.