The emperor has no cognitive clothing

We all know the folktale of The Emperor Has No Clothes.  I have long argued that folktales, fables, metaphors, adages, etc. are a form of cultural programing.  They are effectively lines of code which build individual knowledge, norms and awareness.  

We have had, for a variety of reasons, a great insistence from the Democratic Party, the government, and the legacy mainstream media that their candidate, Joe Biden, was on top of things and effective in his role.  Others, argued otherwise; that he is old, tired, and not only past his prime but perhaps deep into decline.  

His handlers keep him out of the public eye, and even the eye of the media, with few events and even fewer interviews and virtually no press conferences.  It is easy to infer that he is simply no longer up to those cognitively taxing events.  That is a plausible interpretation but certainly not proven.  

Within the past week, we have had the White House press office trying to push a claim that videos circulating of Biden distracted and befuddled were somehow "cheap fakes" to be dismissed as unreal.  Despite the fact that these were videos made and released by otherwise sympathetic political allies in the mainstream media.

In addition, there are continuing rumors and press releases of various Administration efforts to manage Disinformation and Misinformation despite those activities being in clear violation of the First Amendment.  

After last night's presidential debate, it feels like all the lies and gas lighting are vaporizing.  CNN and the president's handlers demonstrated for ninety minutes that all the claims of misinformation, disinformation, and cheap fakes were mere cons.  The president has no cognitive clothes.

There are valiant efforts in some quarters to continue to push the narrative of mental acuity and capability but those seem to be desperate rear guard actions.  Everyone saw what was going on.  Everyone saw enough to be truly concerned about who is even managing the executive branch.  

I have two reactions.  One is human anger - the handling of Biden almost constitutes elder abuse.  Yes, yes, it's complicated, and maybe he is doing what he wants to do.  But the odor of self-serving abuse is rank.  

The second reaction is almost of astonishment.  I know about cascades.  I know about the Emperor's clothes.  I know about gaslighting.  I have been confident for a year or more that Biden's cognitive capabilities were increasingly impaired.  

But for it all to come together in ninety minutes for everyone to see, and for everyone, friend and foe alike, to reach similar conclusions - Pretty astonishing.

Maybe it was just a randomly bad debate night performance.  Maybe.  But I think the winds have shifted.