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Comment by RickJWagner | Hacker News Reader

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.

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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.)

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.

> 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 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.

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

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

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