Joe Biden isn't Senile--He's a Life-long Stutterer!

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Fascinating radio show on Brian Lehrer this morning (WNYC, the NPR affiliate). He had on a writer and editor, John Hendrickson for the Atlantic who just wrote a piece about Biden called "What Joe Biden Can’t Bring Himself to Say: His verbal stumbles have voters worried about his mental fitness. Maybe they’d be more understanding if they knew he’s still fighting a stutter."

Hendrickson himself is inflicted with a dreadful stutter, and he had difficulty speaking. But it's clear his mind is razor-sharp, and highly trained. It's like there's an intermittent short circuit between his thoughts and his ability to vocalize. He argues that Biden suffered TERRIBLY growing up as a stutterer, and has mastered all kinds of techniques to overcome it, techniques that are apparent to other stutterers, and to expert speech pathologists who specialize in stuttering.

When under stress, even though the brain may be in top gear, the vocalization can be more difficult to control. And so, Biden's life-long stutter that he worked SO hard to overcome, re-asserts itself. It's not senility, it's being in a blood-thirsty race for the nomination. And it's no reflection on achievement, either. Stutterers have been great achievers, from Moses (OK, he MAY be mythical) to Isaac Newton, Lewis Carroll, Claudius (as in "I, Claudius"), Marilyn Monroe, Winston Churchill, George VI (even a movie about it "The King's Speech") and, of course, beloved actor James Earl Jones.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/ar ... le/602401/

The list of stutterers of achievement is impressive. That means, it's not Joe Biden's gaffes we should look at, but what he actually stands for, and no, he's not senile, unlike Trump, who once could speak in complete sentences and paragraphs, but no longer can.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stutterers
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: Joe Biden isn't Senile--He's a Life-long Stutterer!

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eelj wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:17 am He may or may not suffer from senility. His biggest personal fault is he is a shameless self promoter, much of it out right lies or way over embellished. People start to question his trustworthiness because of it.
You mean like Lindsey "Flip-flop" Graham?
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: Joe Biden isn't Senile--He's a Life-long Stutterer!

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:26 am
eelj wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:17 am He may or may not suffer from senility. His biggest personal fault is he is a shameless self promoter, much of it out right lies or way over embellished. People start to question his trustworthiness because of it.
You mean like Lindsey "Flip-flop" Graham?
Or like Hillary, actually there are many from both parties. By the way, polls show that like in 2016 Bernie is still the most trusted person in politics.

Re: Joe Biden isn't Senile--He's a Life-long Stutterer!

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highdesert wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:49 am That could very well explain some of it. Have a relative diagnosed with dementia but the more I read older people can be misdiagnosed with different dementia problems, when the real issues can be hearing and vision problems. Vanity often prevents people from wearing hearing aids or glasses.
vanity does NOT prevent me from wearing glasses! in fact, i think they make me look exting....distinguished.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: Joe Biden isn't Senile--He's a Life-long Stutterer!

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lurker wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 11:34 am
highdesert wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:49 am That could very well explain some of it. Have a relative diagnosed with dementia but the more I read older people can be misdiagnosed with different dementia problems, when the real issues can be hearing and vision problems. Vanity often prevents people from wearing hearing aids or glasses.
vanity does NOT prevent me from wearing glasses! in fact, i think they make me look exting....distinguished.
Screw vanity, I wear glasses so I can fucking see. Past 40, it's been all downhill in the vision department. I'll stick to the vanity of combating dunlap's disease so I can still bend over with a gun in my britches.

Re: Joe Biden isn't Senile--He's a Life-long Stutterer!

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highdesert wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:49 am That could very well explain some of it. Have a relative diagnosed with dementia but the more I read older people can be misdiagnosed with different dementia problems, when the real issues can be hearing and vision problems. Vanity often prevents people from wearing hearing aids or glasses.
Yeah, well, we thought my dad was getting senile, when, in fact, his "senility" vanished when he got a hearing aid--and used it! I probably need one, and my brother is deaf as a post without his--they do blue tooth, so they connect to his phone.

My point still holds: Biden's gaffes need to be evaluated as compensation efforts for a physiological condition, stuttering, not that he lacks mental ability. As for his other issues, any and every politician is subject to those.
"Even if the bee could explain to the fly why pollen is better than shit, the fly could never understand."

Re: Joe Biden isn't Senile--He's a Life-long Stutterer!

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YankeeTarheel wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 2:31 pm
highdesert wrote: Wed Nov 27, 2019 9:49 am That could very well explain some of it. Have a relative diagnosed with dementia but the more I read older people can be misdiagnosed with different dementia problems, when the real issues can be hearing and vision problems. Vanity often prevents people from wearing hearing aids or glasses.
Yeah, well, we thought my dad was getting senile, when, in fact, his "senility" vanished when he got a hearing aid--and used it! I probably need one, and my brother is deaf as a post without his--they do blue tooth, so they connect to his phone.

My point still holds: Biden's gaffes need to be evaluated as compensation efforts for a physiological condition, stuttering, not that he lacks mental ability. As for his other issues, any and every politician is subject to those.
Yup, I still nag on about all the septuagenarians in the race we really need young candidates but older and more experienced than Buttigieg. Last night was a much better night for Biden, he should really wear hearing aids if he needs them.

My hearing is good, a little tinnitus but some of tinnitus is in the brain. Better to get hearing aids or one of the new hearing amplifiers and not turn up the TV, noise is the biggest cause of hearing loss.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/19/healt ... ives.html?
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

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