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Comment by yongjik | Hacker News Reader

He's still competent enough to be president. He just doesn't have the chops to skewer a lunatic in a live TV debate, which is unfortunately very important, because if he can't, the lunatic might be the next president.

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Would you hire him for any role in your company in his current state?

I’d hire Biden as an advisor. Or a board member. I wouldn’t trust Trump with taking out the trash.

Isn't Biden pretty good at getting out of the way and letting experts make the decisions? That seems like a pretty valuable trait in a leader assuming the advisors are high quality and that you're not in a time of crisis and need a strong leader (e.g. war).

This may piss off a bunch of people here on this site who are in the C-suite but...

I'd only hire Biden for the CEO role actually. Guys a great executive that has a hard time leaving. Classic CEO.

Yes, his decision making is sound, and comes with a huge weight of experience and understanding of how the world works. His ability to communicate effectively has diminished, but not his ability to assess facts and make effective determinations.

Oh hell yeah he'd be ridiculously overqualified as a lobbyist.

Would you hire Trump for any role in your company?

"Would you hire an ex-president for any role in your company?"

Is there literally any company that wouldn't?

> He just doesn't have the chops to skewer a lunatic in a live TV debate

Sorry, but this borders on gaslighting.

It's not that he "didn't have the chops" to win the debate, it's that during the debate he clearly demonstrated that his mind is gone.

Disagree. The debate showed that his communication abilities are nearly gone, but his mind behind them is intact, just slower than it was.

Which is a really unfortunate position for him to be in. It can't be pleasant. He's not suitable to lead the country for another four years for sure. The country needs a leader who inspires people, and no one on that debate stage was that.

He is clearly not competent enough to be president. He is, arguably, barely competent enough to be a ventriloquist's dummy at this point, which is effectively what he is. We just don't know who the ventriloquist is.

Does anyone believe that he should have his finger on "the button" controlling thousands of nuclear weapons? If you were in charge of a boomer or a Minuteman III silos and you got a launch order purportedly from Biden, would you execute that order? If so, really? If not, what deterrent is currently in place?

If that's the situation, then he's not the president and should either step down or be replaced via mechanisms of the 25th Amendment.

I mean he didn't even sign the letter himself and he's been completely hidden since it was published. No one thinks this is weird or dangerous?

Think for a moment about what you are saying.

He is not able to hold his own in a debate. Yet you believe he's strong enough to lead the nation and decide when to go to war or not?

Being president should take a high degree of intelligence, integrity, and awareness. At all times.

If Biden's age has been causing mental issues, fine. That'll happen to everybody. But if it's bad enough to stop him from running, it should be bad enough to keep him out of office.

> Being president should take a high degree of intelligence, integrity, and awareness. At all times.

You're basically saying a superhuman is the only thing that should be president. There doesn't exist a person that can navigate politics while having a high degree of intelligence, integrity, and awareness at all times.

I find this to be one of the most troubling comments in the thread.

If it's true, then we genuinely have destroyed most societal incentive structure that makes being governed worthwhile.

He's deteriorating. He's probably ok to do the job now but the thought of him doing it in four years time is scary.

To invoke Grestky: it's where the puck is going that's a concern. Four years from today is not the same as today.

(Agreeing with you, just adding to the perspective.)

> He is not able to hold his own in a debate. Yet you believe he's strong enough to lead the nation and decide when to go to war or not?

Because when he has to decide when to go to war or not, he's surrounded by a group of trusted advisors.

Damn, where are all the HN regulars who chant "How the fuck is a one hour pressure-cooker leetcode session relevant to someone's capability as a software engineer? We're measuring the wrong thing!" ...

* Also, are we just ignoring the context that Biden is stepping down because otherwise Trump might get elected? I know this forum is not a place to call for Trump's resignation, but I can practically taste the double standard today ...

And he also has to be able to make a decision at a moments notice. When the alarm bells are flashing red in the nuclear bunker, do you want a half senile man deciding to press the button or not?

Between that and one with 'dictatorial impulses', I'll take the half senile guy.

I wonder strategically if it would help Kamala Harris if he did step down so she could be acting president heading into the election?

Probably not. She needs to spend her time campaigning.

Imagine what a target she would become for anything she does.

I think they discussed this and:

Biden: run the country and try to lay the groundwork to rectify the Supreme Court crazyness

Harris: your turn to beat Trump in November

I thought that congress declared when to go to war.

Yes, it's those pesky 10 year "military operations" that keep sneaking by we're really talking about, though.

Yep. We've been a nation at peace since 1947.

That's a bad faith suggestion. You know very well that it's better to have Harris focused on the campaign in this situation.

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