Comment by mindslight
9 hours ago
There's definitely a problem with gerontocracy, but the reason you heard about it so much last year is because the fascists use the technique of projection to preempt criticisms of themselves. Biden was passive demented, which probably didn't really matter all that much (group project). But this was used as cover for Trump's active combative micromanaging dementia that we're now all suffering.
Couldn't this backfire pretty badly, though? Raising a national conversation about the dementia of the last President makes it easier to have a conversation about the current one, right? I think the fact that the MSM outright lied to cover up Biden's mental decline is actually the root of the problem, because now they've lost credibility and appear hypocritical if they try to point out Trump's glaring mental deficits. If you're contending that the fascists pushed the issue of Biden's decline because they knew the MSM would cover it up and therefore lose credibility, I think you're giving them too much credit.
"Conversation" ? Do you really feel there is any kind of conversation happening?
I don't think it's possible for the MSM to lose any more credibility at this point. The only credibility left is people giving a pass to their flavor of MSM for articles that confirm their biases - same dynamic as social media posts.
For the timeline, Trump has been rambling word salad well before it was an issue for Biden. The difference is that for republicans/fascists, mental incompetence is an endearing feature ("he sounds like the kind of person I could have a beer with"), and the democrats/conservatives application of used-to-be-societal-values is seen as a weakness whereby they're getting "triggered".
I don't think the whole story arc needed to be planned ahead of time strategically. Rather I think it comes from flooding the zone with shit that might stick, and then the chaos creates opportunities.