There has been considerable discussion regarding President Biden’s mental acuity with some suggesting that this should be a factor in voting for ex-President Trump in November.

As pointed out by Tom Nichols in his recent article in The Atlantic, the Republican Party continues to manufacture utterly fraudulent evidence of this. For example, earlier this month, Biden was at the G7 meeting in Italy.

The Republican National Committee released a video of him apparently wandering off from a group at a skydiving exhibition, like a confused grandpa looking for the van back to the senior-citizens home. It looked bad — but as presented, it was a lie. Biden was turning to talk to a paratrooper just a few yards to his left.

If the RNC has ample evidence of Biden’s decline, why the need to constantly manufacture false evidence? Do you continually lie about something when telling the truth is entirely possible?

Secondly, if Biden is suffering from dementia, why do congressional Republicans continue to accuse him of being a Machiavellian genius deftly pulling the strings behind the scenes to outmaneuver Congress in every negotiation “Republicans got outsmarted by a president who can’t find his pants,” Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.). “It is going to be difficult for my Republican colleagues to keep calling President Biden feeble while he continues to take Speaker McCarthy’s lunch money in every negotiation.” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.).

Good grief, McCarthy even accused Biden of manipulating the GOP Congressional Caucus behind the scenes into dumping him as speaker! Biden is feeble and a James Bond villain, apparently.

In the face of their own elected representatives’ protestations, the GOP is forced to produce all this false evidence of Biden’s decline as a final act of desperate defensive projection. It’s a strategy as impressive now as it was in fifth grade when someone retorted “I know I am but what are you?”

Republicans are fully aware that Trump is a loose cannon and that this could pose a very serious campaign problem. While there is a dearth of named officials in the Biden administration who have publicly criticized Biden’s mental abilities, there is an embarrassment of riches of ex-Trump officials who were totally amazed by Trump’s lack of capabilities and have said so publicly.

Of the 44 members of Trump’s Cabinet from his first term, only four have publicly committed to supporting him again. It was not just these “disgruntled employees” who struggled to lower themselves to Trump’s intellectual level.

Angela Merkel, the former German chancellor, frustrated with Trump’s lack of comprehension on complex policy matters, reportedly once asked him to his face, “Do you understand any of this?”

Trump has not lost any mental agility recently because he had none to start with.

The strategy of projection has gone to an extreme that, while attempting to hold Biden accountable to every breath, the Republican Party members have granted themselves blanket immunity from commenting on anything Trump says by merely saying, “Yes, sigh, Trump is Trump, … We’ve always said that he speaks differently,” … Reassuring, isn’t it?

However, the “Trump is Trump” shrug-off refrain is actually political poison that should seriously backfire.

When Trump posts a video romanticizing an impending “American Reich” or calls Jan. 6 protesters wearing “Camp Auschwitz” shirts “patriots,” or calls some Americans “vermin” (think Rwanda) or talks of immigrants “poisoning the blood of our people” (think Hitler), the only conclusions that observers can possibly draw are that Trump is either genuinely evil, or genuinely off his head.

The Republican Party needs you to believe that Trump’s mouth is merely a runaway train because if it’s not, then you need to take Trump seriously, and then issues of character become important. Enter people like Gen. Kelly, who described Trump as the “most flawed person” he has ever known, highlighting Trump’s lack of respect for democratic institutions, the Constitution, and the rule of law.

Dear God, you don’t want that conversation, so best just to laugh Trump off as a thrashing clown mouth. And therein lies the greatest right-wing privilege.

The Republican Party’s worst criticism of Biden is that he cannot be taken seriously. This is also their best excuse for Trump because the alternative explanation is too horrible to contemplate.

Think about it next time they tell you something about Biden.

Frans Bicker Caarten is a Park City resident.

The post Guest editorial: If so feeble, why does Joe outsmart Republicans? appeared first on Park Record.

This letter critically examines the barebones responses of Utah politicians to the 34 felony convictions of former President Trump. It frames these responses within the context of advocated Utah’s Republican Party principles, drawing parallels to the concerns expressed by Socrates and Benjamin Franklin about the fragility of democracy and the potential rise of demagogues.

Socrates, an Athenian philosopher from the 5th century BCE, supported the idea of a government based on the consent of the governed. However, he worried that democracy could falter if citizens became apathetic or uninformed.

Benjamin Franklin echoed these concerns centuries later, famously responding, “A republic if you can keep it,” when asked what kind of government the Constitutional Convention had created.

Both thinkers feared that disengaged electorates could be manipulated by demagogues who would prioritize political power and personal gain over the public good.

Surely, one of the most crucial sources of information for the electorate must be feedback from their elected representatives, who should be intimately aware of all aspects of the various issues. For utmost utility to the electorate, this feedback should be clear, unequivocal and aligned with prior assessments and the principles upon which representatives were elected.

In the context of former President Trump’s 34 felony convictions, such feedback is essential to ensure that the electorate remains factually informed. The responses of Utah representatives are, therefore, nothing short of a disgrace.

Bear in mind that the Utah Republican Party’s state platform highlights two key principles: the rule of law, and the role of the jury as fundamental institutions of liberty. The rule of law advocates for laws to be clear, consistent and equally applied, while the jury system is described as the “only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”

The threadbare responses in this most vital time in the American experiment:

• Gov. Spencer Cox called the day of Trump’s charges “a dark day for our country” and argued that the charges shouldn’t have been filed.
• U.S. Rep. Burgess Owens blamed the verdict on “a political and biased judge.”
• U.S. Sen. Mike Lee cited “unclear charges and irregular jury instructions” and labeled the case as a “political prosecution.”
• State Sen. Todd Weiler referred to the case as the “weaponization of the justice system.”
• Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs described it as a “Third World ‘judicial’ system.”
• Former House Speaker Brad Wilson called the verdict “a mockery of our criminal justice system.”

These responses echo the entirely absurd responses from representatives across the country.

The rebuttals to these comments are painfully obvious.

If the charges should not have been brought, were only politically motivated or were as a result of a weaponization of the Justice Department then, as you quite rightly assert, the grand jury, in applying its mind, would not have voted to violate the rule of law and indict former President Trump. The grand jury, “as the only anchor yet imagined by man,” would have instead held the government to the Constitution.

If the charges or the jury instructions were unclear, politically motivated or inherently biased, then the trial jury system you so explicitly revere would simply have done its job and would not have found former President Trump guilty on all 34 counts.

To have both the grand jury and the trial jury functioning exactly as you plainly desire and then, simply because you don’t like the particular outcomes to brand the entire system as a “mockery” or “Third World justice,” is simply an appeal to infantile and baseless tantrums.

The responses from Utah representatives are inadequate, lacking in substance, and fail to provide the electorate with the necessary information to make informed decisions on critical issues.

This failure to offer clear, factual and principled feedback is a manifestation of a Socratic nightmare: It promotes a disengaged and uninformed electorate susceptible to manipulation by demagogues. The current situation may not have occurred in error. Given the ballot choices in November, an uninformed electorate may be desirable.

We should demand better.

Frans Bicker Caarten is a Park City resident.

The post Guest Editorial: Trump case was manifestly constitutional and therefore legitimate justice appeared first on Park Record.