By Sherman Frederick/Properly Subversive
Honestly, I never thought he’d do it. At the age of 80 and showing signs of decline, Joe Biden is actually – no joke – running for re-election. And
Sherman Frederick
here’s the kicker: He’s the worst president in recent memory and if he lives long enough, he’ll probably win.
As giddy as some are about Donald Trump winning the Republican primary and going on a scorched-earth revenge tour, he’ll go into the race with not just baggage, but an airport carousel full of baggage. Some of it is trash accusations fostered by a politicized deep state, yes. But, let’s be honest, not all of it.
While a new Gallup poll that shows President Biden’s approval rating hit an all-time low with only 37% approval and a staggering 59% disapproval rating, Biden could still beat Trump – again.
The “Hide Joe” strategy worked once thanks to COVID-19 and If party line votes hold steady and a significant number of middle-of-the-roaders in purple states like Nevada fear the Trump factor enough so that they are driven to vote for Biden or for a dark-horse third candidate, it could work again.
Democrats have already announced that there will be no primary debates this cycle. You don’t have to be a UNR college graduate to know why. Sustained public exposure risks a glimpse of Biden’s declining mental acuity, such as what happend at the end of last month when the president could not remember the last country he visited. (It was Ireland, but the way, and it was only a few weeks ago.)
Here’s the N.Y. Post account of what happened at a “Take Your Child to Work” event at the White House.
“The last country I’ve traveled, I’m trying to think of the last one I was in,” Biden mused to the children of administration staffers and members of the media.
“I’ve been to, met with 89 heads of state so far. So, uh, trying to think where was the last place I was; it’s hard to keep track.”
“Ireland,” a child shouted out, jogging the president’s memory.
“Yeah, you’re right, Ireland. That’s where it was,” he said good-naturedly.
“How’d you know that?”
The Post goes on to report: “The Ireland exchange was one of a handful Thursday that highlighted the president’s frequent memory lapses, most notably forgetting the death of Congresswoman Jackie Walorski and calling out the Indiana Republican’s name at an event last September.”
So, here we go again. Joe Biden is running. Trump’s his likely opponent.
We do, indeed, live in interesting times.
UNKNOWN?
I was reading the annual report of a police department in a Battle Born Media town. In 2022, they reported having to use force in arresting a number of citizens throughout the year. About 90 percent of the time, force was used on men, 8 percent on women and 2 percent on “gender unknown.”
Look, I understand we live in new times when it comes to gender identification. But I can’t think of any reason why police would not know – eventually, at least – the gender of people upon when they used force. There are still only two, right?
ONE MORE THING
Thanks for reading. Until we meet again here next week, avoid soreheads, laugh a little and always question authority.
“Properly Subversive” is commentary written by Sherman R. Frederick, a Nevada Hall of Fame journalist and co-founder of Battle Born Media, a news organization dedicated to the preservation of community newspapers. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com.
