Swalwell on Biden age: ‘I’ll take the guy who’s 81 over the guy who has 91 felony counts’

You know what, Brandon is too old. But I’m voting for him anyway because I’ll be damned if I ever vote (passively or actively) for a filthy republican traitor cunt.
- I would agree, but I kinda got forced to vote for a Republican Warden last election. The previous guy (Dem) and his administration had just overseen the worst case of prisoner deaths in a US jail, and the person the Dems ran to replace him was his deputy warden of the same administration.
  The rest of my ticket was solid blue, or green.
  Edit: I did look into the republican guy. He at least didn't have huge scandals, just some small acts of assholery
  
  I get it. It's like voting for LDPR becase it is FPTP(municipal elections) and other "choice" is fucking United Russia.
- We are lucky they're both old. For a moment a couple years ago I was afraid DeSantis or Haley might actually be the nominee.
- He's old, and as a leader he leaves a lot to be desired.
  Having said that, he has a pretty good team. He has a lot of competent people in his cabinet, and they've achieved some pretty good things. I wish he'd run more on the strength of his team, rather than himself.
  Trump can never run on the strength of his team because his team are incompetent sycophants. The only thing that matters to him is loyalty, so he'll reward loyalty with cabinet positions. He can't even name a cabinet because he's so fickle that a rumour will come that someone said something bad and he'll throw one of his cabinet members under the bus.
  
  Trump just has three criteria. Attractiveness, fealty, or bribery. I. No particular order unless female, the only attractiveness seems to matter.
- Rfk jr
  
  Useful idiot

The comments by septics on Biden's age reek of ageism.
His age is irrelevant. Can he do the fucking job?
Yes?
Then vote for him.
The poor bastard is destroying his retirement, health and twilight years to stop the US falling to fascism and all you can do is whine about his age?
- I don’t think it’s particularly ageist to say that octogenarians should generally be avoided for a 4 year commitment to leadership roles. It’s no more ageist than barring 16 year olds from the job imo.
  That said, in a battle between risky to lose competence midway and blatantly incompetent now the former always wins
  
  Agreed. That being said it sucks to be stuck choosing between two ppl who won't live long enough to see the ramifications of their decisions and policies.
  
  Trump isn't exactly a spring chicken either. He now has a half a billion dollars in judgements that he owes in addition to being within 4 years of Biden's age. The issue is the double standard and blatant disregard for the fact that he has numerous conflicts of interest that should disqualify Trump
  
  Dark Brandon’s last act will be to bring about the first female US president. Based.
  
  I think it is different, 16 year olds have no experience, limited knowledge of the world, and under developed pre frontal lobes. You want experienced leaders with wisdom, much more than inexperienced leaders with a lack of wisdom, they aren't equivalent
- I don't think septics is the right word but I am also high
- His age is irrelevant. Can he do the fucking job?
  His age is the main reason that he can't do the job particularly well.
- He can't do the job. He's a terrible candidate and he's not mentally fit. His only qualification is that he's not openly fascist. Definitely vote for the not fascist, but that won't stop fascism in the long run.
  Being forced to choose between senile and psychotic is fucking bullshit, and I'm sick of being told to just suck it up.
  
  To be fair, Trump is also senile.
  
  Citation needed for Biden being senile.
  
  Afghanistan withdrawal alone was a fucking abortion. SO hella dumb, SO rushed, I mean that was done in the worst way possible. We left so much shit behind, we didn't destroy it, we didn't burn it up & just shoot the shit out of the Taliban before we left, we left our people there with no way home, what was it 13 American soldiers died?? It couldn't have been done any worse. And that's on Biden's head, that's on all the people that just went along with it & were like, "Okay, whatever you say President Potato Head".
  It's just not enough to say these people shit the bed with Afghanistan. They shit the bed multiple times, rolled around in their filth, slaughtered a goat on the bed, lit the bed on fire, tried to put the fire out by spraying it with gasoline, burning down the whole goddamn house, and shuttling in the Taliban in a full service limo on the American dime to do a Gangnam Style breakdance where the house once stood.
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/06/an-ominous-poll-democrats-what-it-says-about-biden-alternative/
  https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/first-read/biden-trump-both-underperform-generic-opponents-poll-finds-rcna126098
  Biden is putting the country at serious risk of having another Trump term vs if he were to concede to literally any other Democrat.
  Voter shaming has never worked as a strategy and has only made people want to be less involved in politics. People need something to vote for, not against.
  Also note how both sources strongly lean towards the Democratic Party. Not like I'm citing Fox here.
  More evidence of low voter turnout with Biden: https://news.yahoo.com/only-4-registered-voters-show-122000488.html
  
  Biden performs better against Trump than Newsom or Harris. Name another democrat even close to having the name recognition to win the general election.
  https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4470956-biden-trump-harris-newsom-poll/amp/
- His age is irrelevant. Can he do the fucking job?
  He can barely speak or remember his own major life events and colleagues. His team constantly has to step in and correct "what he meant to say" regarding very important international relations.
  His age is relevant.
- Age-related cognitive decline is real and inescapable. All people over 80 have declining mental abilities, less ability to handle stress, etc. Old age is fundamentally a handicap and to suggest it isn't is a delusion.
  
  Being a little slower is so far different from what Trump is that it sounds delusional to even make a deal out if Bidens age and cognitive abilities when there is an actual lunatic with knives running towards us
- This right here. He didn't have to run again. Right now he needs our support and deserves at least a hardy thanks of appreciation. He came out of retirement to stop trump and the maggats. If I could buy him a beer or a very expensive scotch I would.
- Providing the weapons for a genocide is not doing the job.
  Ignoring people saying we won't vote for genocide with the strategy of 'Vote Harder!' is stupid and dangerous if you believe the alternative is the end of democracy.
  Edit: people here are mad at the people saying 'we won't vote for genocide' but not at the person directly responsible for the mass murder of babies.
  What the fuck is wrong with you?
  To all those downvoting or responding with "he's all we have", be honest: fucking outright say "I'm willing to have babies slaughtered to prevent Trump." That is a choice you are making. Have the courage of your convictions and say it out loud.
  Look at the cost you are paying without flinching.
  
  Providing the weapons for a genocide is not doing the job.
  Actually, it kind of is. America has interests in the middle-east and Israel is key to them. Plus, the rich warmongers who own all our politicians want this. So it doesn't matter who is in the White House, the weapons will flow.
  Ignoring people saying we won't vote for genocide with the strategy of 'Vote Harder!' is stupid and dangerous of you believe the alternative is the end of democracy.
  Ignoring people ignorant of the bigger picture is how we keep the entire house from burning down. Trump will literally do everything most Democrats don't want while Biden only does a few. If you're willing to throw away everything over a few issues, then you've failed to be an educated voter.
  
  Also, I just cannot believe Trump can be both wildly incompetent and the end of democracy at the same time. Do i want him at the helm? Fuck no, those 4 years aged me like 10, the next 4 might kill me.
  But will he be the guy who "ends democracy"? Fucking lol. We're all here, weve all experienced the last decade, we have had front row seats to "the end". Its dying with him or without him.
  Trump is just a grifter. Hes a symptom, not the cause.

He's saying this like Trump being 77 is somehow young or any different than Biden being 81
- Clearly it is because 4 years ago, when Biden was 77 the election didn't revolve around age.
  I'm just going to throw it out that I think people are only looking at the first number and don't care about the second one, kinda like in stores 9.99 seems much cheaper than 10.00 despite the actual difference only being a penny. It's not a 77 year old vs an 81 year old, it's 70 year old vs 80 year old. 70 year old is an old man, 80 year old is your demented grandpa.
  
  There were definitely people 4 years ago trying to make the discourse about age but it didn't really take hold.

Im just... So tired of this game. If we were even ever old enough to witness the zenith of the Democratic party, it is surely in its waning form.
“It’s not about two individuals,” Swalwell continued, “It’s about the idea of competence versus chaos, or even greater, freedom versus fascism. If we make it about those ideas, and what they mean in our daily lives, we’re gonna win.”
Don't they all just sound like ad execs? "Make it about X" and we "win"...
Or maybe they sound like your middle manager who brought all the team together for a pizza party on Friday afternoon? You know the speech I'm talking about, the one where "we gotta tighten our belts" and how "we're all in this together" because we're "lucky we even have jobs in this economy"?
They arent even doing the thing we're used to anymore, where they tell comforting lies about future policies they don't plan on implementing.
They don't even pretend to talk about policy. It is clear isn't even on their minds! Now it's all like, "this isn't the time to gripe, we're all in this together."
and
"You're lucky we even have a democracy"
So fucking tired...
- Unfortunately, they are kind of right at least in terms of this coming election. The best thing we can do is to try to get the fascists out, then come January 20th, 2025 at 12:01pm, take them all to task and demand that they make good on their promises. Protests, rallies...hell, riots even...just make them understand that they serve at our behest and make them earn their keep. But we have to get through November first.
  
  Unfortunately, they are kind of right at least in terms of this coming election.
  They told me that last time, and i don't feel like they held up their end of the bargain. I know, i know, republicans. But we just did this. We swallowed and voted joe hoping to move fems left, orbat least get rid of trump, and here he is again. I just don't see how my actions this time will have a different result than last time. In fact I have a sinking feeling in my gut that it won't
  
  We get through November a lot easier if Democrats could vote for somebody else besides Biden. I'm pretty sure the Democratic party has more than just one person in it.

Both instances are a huge fucking problem though. The first people who made the USA warned against a two party system.
- I agree, but the reality is that it's the system we have right now. We can try to change it. But sitting this election out or voting for a third party will only help Trump get elected. I said in another comment (and got downvoted for it) but I would vote for a ham sandwich over Trump.
  
  The issue is that we're not in this situation accidentally. Every 4 years we say "I know it sucks, but for now we just have to vote out the lesser evil, then we can focus on change" then go 4 more years without making any changes. We'll always just be voting for the lesser of 2 evils, whether for this election or the 2064 election. Everyone with any real say in the government loves how things are working out right now, and has no intention to allow us to truly vote for anyone other than 2 candidates that have been vetted by the oil companies.
  
  But sitting this election out or voting for a third party will only help Trump get elected.
  only a vote for trump helps trupm get elected
- Mathematically, the system they set up - the first past the post system - will always devolve into a 2-party contest.
  Strategically, it only counts for you to vote for one of the top two choices, and then only sometimes.
  
  Even so, still vote against fascism. Every time.
- Sorta. It was actually Washington who warned against a two party system, because one was already forming from everyone else.
  It's more like the first people who made the US devolved into this same tribalism, and Washington tried to warn them it was bad.

Republican: He has 91 felony charges and in debt for AT LEAST 355 million dollars. Let's make him our president, make this country GREAT AGAIN! 🙏
- Around $440MM if you throw in the $83MM he owes in that recent defamation suit
  
  I'm sure being in so much debt wouldn't influence the odds of him being corrupted by foreign interests...
- HE'S FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE

This is a funny take and yes we should vote for Biden if the alternative is an authoritarian. BUT, Biden still is old as fuck and the DNC is once again pushing a candidate that no one wants. Fuck the DNC and the Democrat institution that forced Hilary down our throats and started this mess in the first place. Biden should not be the candidate and will most likely be dead before the next four years are over. Fuck this
- most likely be dead
  Rich people with medical care tend to live a long time, look at Jimmy Carter.
  
  It's possible but why roll the dice?
- Speak for yourself I'm happy to have Biden again.
  
  He's done a fine job, he just told us he was planning on being a 1 term president and I don't think he'll still be alive 4 years from now. It's silly and selfish just long how I appreciate RBG's career but she screwed everyone by needing to stay in power way too long.
  
  The polling is astoundingly clear that you are in a vast minority with that opinion. It's hardly a surprise that someone likes him, but he is not the democratic choice.

Damn, those are your choices? You okay america?
- It's worse than you think. Point out how we don't actually have two choices and the party front liners come out and say a vote not for their party is in reality a vote for the other party. Then they say, "[blah, blah, blah] vote like us or the world will literally end." I'm not sure if they are serious anymore.
- No. But we have to work with what we got.
- No 😭😭
- Please help us.
- No. Send help.
- OTOH in some countries choice was poisoned with chemical weapon twice and then killed in prison.
  
  Damn, that's your standard? Russia?
  Typical "Our system is perfect because it's not the worst" thinking, the kind that leads you slowly to the end of democracy

What if we had more choices? Why does our choice have to an old ass man and an old ass man with felonies.
They are all missing the point.
- What's a realistic way to get out of a 2-party system?
  Keep in mind that any change will require that the party in power enacts it, and they're one of the two parties in the two party system. Also, keep in mind that US elections are "first past the post", so voting for a third party weakens the candidate you otherwise would have considered.
  
  2-party system in reality seems even worse than 1-party. At least single party can't point at each other and say "blame them".
  
  A good first step would be to pass HR 1 For The People Act and then from there elect members of the party of progressive reform. Even just Independents who caucus alongside the party of reform.
  A realistic way to never get out is to elect conservatives who by definition do not want reform, at least 34 or enough to stop any supermajority votes so they can filibuster nonstop for days, but for good measure enough for them to elect a majority leader who never calls things to vote such as Mitch "The Legislature Reaper" McConnell who let countless bills die on the senate floor having never been called to vote.
  
  How will women ever get the right to vote without the right to vote? If that can be achieved, I think there are ways to ditch FPTP.
  
  Changing the voting system seems like a vital part of a solution.
  Term limits may be anorher.
  But the flood of money and influemce delivered by Citizens United has overwhelmed most checks and balances.
  Despite how you may feel about Andrew Yang and his presidential bid, one of the ideas in his platform was meant to counteract some of it.
  He called it Democracy Dollars and it was $300/yr of earmarked money, sepearte from his UBI money, that was provided to every voting citizen to spend on political donations - candidates, committies, etc. at local, state, or federal levels.
  This would amount to over $1T of non corporate lobbying to help balance out the foriegn and/or corporare PAC sponsorships.
  
  Change the voting system. Preferential or many others, pretty much everything beats first past the post
  
  Now is the best time to make more parties. When one is really weak. The Republicans are ready to fracture. There just needs to be many to replace them. Same with the Dems. Once we have like 6 choices, then it will finally become like most Europeans and for the people. Because there is no other alternative but to be accountable and keep the job.
  
  Ranked choice voting.
  
  Violence, coup d'etat, revolution, and civil war. This is the history of the change in human civilization.
- You have plenty of choices, none of them are viable other than R vs D because there are 350 million people in the US and they're mostly all going to vote based on established branding of the big 2 parties. Convincing everyone to vote 3rd party in a FPTP electoral system is literally impossible.
  
  Then we will die till it changes.
  
  most people don't vote
- What if we lived in a Utopia? What if "What-Ifs" were more productive uses of our time?
  Have you ever contacted your representative with these concerns? They accept emails, these days. I once sent my Representative 38 pages split among 3 peer reviewed studies because her stance on immigration and crime conflicted with mine, and she thanked me for sharing my concerns.
- I don't see how someone younger is any better just by dint of being young. That's what a VP and a line of succession is for.
  This is going to get all the more confusing if/when life extension rears its head.

What kills me about this is that a felon can become president, but isn't even allowed to vote. Like how does THAT make sense??
- There's only a handful of states where felons have no ability to vote after they've served their full sentence (including parole).
  The big issue is that people in jail can't vote at all in any election despite them being counted towards the population count. (except for I think Vermont allows this? I forget exactly and can't be assed to look it up atm)
- a felon can become president
  Genuine question: has he actually been convicted of any felonies yet?
  
  No, he has not been convicted.
  
  Nah, they keep saying "convicted" in the news when he loses civil trials
- Never thought I'd be defending Trump but he's only lost civil trials, not criminal ones. He's not a convicted felons, and there is no guarantee that will happen.
- What you prefer: Russia or USA? In Russia felon can't be elected, but can vote, in USA what you said.

That, and there is a succession if Biden becomes incapacitated and/or steps down. Harris takes over; most/all of his cabinet stays. BFD.
We can thank our stars that the "liberal media" does nothing to call out this bothsiderist/horse race BS. Tiny d is a criminal and a fascist bent on being a dictator. The other guy is, OMG, OLD (even though tiny d is nearly as old as him)! I cannot tell which is worse!

When do you think people will learn that "Our candidate is the second worst choice!" is not a good campaign strategy?
- They've tried telling people all the accomplishments and good things he's done, but the media and whiners on the internet only focus on the negative.
  Biden's like a hunk of old, hard cheese with a little mold on it: you can still stomach it if you cut off (ignore) the bad part. Trump is horse shit in the shape of cheese with lots of orange food coloring.
- When the baby bombers eventually die off.
  
  I hate to tell you that us Gen-Xers as well as Millennials and Gen-Zers have more than our fair share of assholes in it. I don't think the Baby Boomers dying off will do as much as you hope they will.
- how would they learn this? what circumstances could befall them that could overcome "the other side had russian interference"?
  
  They should have learned many lessons when Clinton lost. "The other guy is worse" campaigns don't mobilize voters, they are vulnerable to divisions within parties, and they are vulnerable to similar third party candidates siphoning off votes.

Isn't Trump 77? It's not like he's some young buck. The argument against Biden's age is quite strained when your own candidate is almost just as old.
- It isn't a comparison between 81 and 77 I'm concerned about. They are both too old to run for presidency!
  Two candidates pre retirement age would be great about now.
  
  It isn't a comparison between 81 and 77 I'm concerned about.
  Tell that to all the trumpsters who complain about Biden's age. They don't seem to be particularly concerned about Trump's age.
- It's a hard concept to grasp, but the vast majority of people critical of Biden's age don't like Trump either.

I think the frustration comes from the fact that this could have easily been avoided. The primaries didn't have to be a formality.

Whereas I will take the guy who is 81 over the treasonous rapist wannabe dictator who has 91 felony counts.
In fact, all of that other stuff comes before the felony counts.
Not sure why it doesn't for Swalwell.
- Because it was another number. No need to be obtuse.
  
  I can honestly say I have no idea what you're talking about.

I wonder when the ADA will file a lawsuit against the constitution for Ageism. Looks like it's only for old shits. 40yr+?
Is there precedent for president being national born being illegal too?
https://www.eeoc.gov/age-discrimination
- It’s legal to discriminate if employees are less than 55 years of age. It’s only illegal to discriminate if people are too old. We’re a gerontocracy.

Nobody who votes for Trump is voting in their own best interest, because Trump cannot vote.

Legal woes is a weird way to say criminal actions

All this news is nada if Trump is still leading ahead. Or better yet, put him in prison.

Well done to the press staffer who came up with that line.
- Decent homeoteleuton.

Fair point by Swalwell.

On balance, the relative recklessness of actuarial tables VS. Trump is kind of a laughable comparison. Would it be better to have someone more likely to survive, sure, but... what are the options here? Lunatic, or someone who according to some tables has a bigger chance of dying than someone younger? Why is this even a question? If there was some viable 45 year old candidate running against Biden, then maybe it's a point worth making, but that doesn't even exist.

Obviously Biden is better than Trump but I really think a much younger President would be the best thing for the USA in the near future.
- How is someone younger in any substantive way better?
  
  Biden isn’t just old, he’s very old. Have you ever spent much time around an 85 year old? They may not be totally senile, but they are almost all losing language skills by this point. Pretty important skill for someone who speaks on behalf of their country.

They don't agree that there is any notable or significant cognitive decline and point out that forgetting it mixing basic things is not an indicator of decline. Sure he is older and there is going to be a difference in the pep in his step, but to turn it into a cognitive diagnosis is very different

This is the best summary I could come up with:
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) went after former President Trump for his legal woes in an interview on MSNBC Saturday.
“I’ll take the individual who’s 81 over the guy who has 91 felony counts,” Swalwell said, making a reference to President Biden’s age in an interview on MSNBC’s “The Katie Phang Show” on Saturday.
Swalwell’s comments come after Trump was ordered to pay almost $355 million in penalties in a civil fraud case and amid increased scrutiny faced by the president on his age and memory in the wake of a special counsel report on Biden’s handling of classified documents.
“We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” special counsel Robert Hur wrote in the report.
Ezra Klein, a columnist and podcast host for The New York Times, made an argument that Biden should stop running for reelection due to the scrutiny the president is facing over his age and memory Friday on his podcast “The Ezra Klein Show.”
Trump still faces several other legal challenges heading into the 2024 election season, including in the ongoing Georgia probe.
The original article contains 357 words, the summary contains 202 words. Saved 43%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

Choosing between a maggot and a spider, I see.

Swalwell went on to voice support for the Politburo and denied claims of politically motivated show trials.