I don’t really buy that Biden’s cognitively impaired.

I made the same excuses for him. What are you comparing him to? He's not sharp. Maybe he can do fine in every day tasks. Not as president. Why do we have such low expectations of our leaders?

Reagan was off his game too. Trump definitely (although he was always a bit off balance). Each one of these men stayed in power because others propped them up.

I don't think, in the free market, competing for an important job without favor, any of them would be hired.

He’s had a speech impediment his entire life.

I made the same excuses for him. The debate showed the man. But it wasn't one off. I've seen him slip again, and again. He can't be on sometimes and off sometimes. He's president. He has to be on all the time. He is no sharper than I am, and believe me, I cannot be president.

A generation ago he was famous for putting his foot in his mouth

Yes. I was never a Biden fan. He put his foot in his mouth (not because of stuttering). He plagiarized. He eviscerated Anita Hill. He helped to launch mass incarceration.

I was still going to vote for him, until the debate. Then I had no one to vote for. I donated to the Harris campaign. I was willing to do anything to keep Trump out. But the man who was at that debate (Biden) was not someone I could vote for. That would have been unethical, in my view.

Of course, you and I can disagree on this, because we are civil, rational, courteous people. Can't disagree with a lot of people because the age of civility and rationalism seems to have passed.

I enjoy your posts very much, although sometimes what I read gets under my skin :)

I'd like to edit this comment: Biden knows more than I do about policy and government. In that sense, he's smarter than I am. But he's not sharp. He doesn't think in the moment. He doesn't have fluency of thought. That's what I'm addressing. That's what a leader needs, I believe.