You make good points. My feeling is simply that the Democratic Party needs to be as transparent as possible about this, without weakening our influence abroad with rogue nations and even our allies. I realize that those two goals can be incompatible to an extent, but if the Dems are seen as being evasive or even untruthful, it will do their cause more harm than good in the end -- like the old saying goes, it's not the crime so much as the coverup.
I have a parent with severe dementia, and I don't see that in Joe. (But I do see signs of it in Donald.) So I'm not down on Joe so much as wary that the Dems have been trying too hard to massage the situation rather than address it appropriately over time, hoping that it would not explode in our faces. Yet here we are. A large part of why I don't advocate one way or the other what Joe should do is because I simply do not feel that I have enough reliable information to take a stand on it (and since my voice means nothing to the process). But you do ask good questions and pose ample food for thought. I hope those who in fact are in a position to make important decisions will take them into account. For my part I just keep coming back to the feeling that this is becoming the mother of all unforced errors by the Democrats in how they've handled it, and we all stand to pay the price for it in the end.
You make good points. My feeling is simply that the Democratic Party needs to be as transparent as possible about this, without weakening our influence abroad with rogue nations and even our allies. I realize that those two goals can be incompatible to an extent, but if the Dems are seen as being evasive or even untruthful, it will do their cause more harm than good in the end -- like the old saying goes, it's not the crime so much as the coverup.
I have a parent with severe dementia, and I don't see that in Joe. (But I do see signs of it in Donald.) So I'm not down on Joe so much as wary that the Dems have been trying too hard to massage the situation rather than address it appropriately over time, hoping that it would not explode in our faces. Yet here we are. A large part of why I don't advocate one way or the other what Joe should do is because I simply do not feel that I have enough reliable information to take a stand on it (and since my voice means nothing to the process). But you do ask good questions and pose ample food for thought. I hope those who in fact are in a position to make important decisions will take them into account. For my part I just keep coming back to the feeling that this is becoming the mother of all unforced errors by the Democrats in how they've handled it, and we all stand to pay the price for it in the end.
We are in agreement. Thank you for taking this in the spirit that it was intended.