Questions for Joe

The Democrats have developed an effective (some might say, brilliant) strategy for a presidential candidate who is cognitively disabled and at the same has a long record of comments and votes that run counter to their own party's current hard-left positions on everything from police reform to crime to corruption to China to Israel. To put it simply—the Dems have decided to keep their candidate hidden and to limit his ability to respond extemporaneously to any question of substance. 

The strategy is brilliant because it is enabled by a media that is blatantly biased (in favor of the Dems) and therefore is happy NOT to ask hard questions, to probe the Dem candidate's positions, to explore how he would expand the size and intrusiveness of government, to provide free stuff to the Dems' favored constituencies, to solve the "systemic racism" problem they enunciate but never fully define, to respond more effectively to COVID-19, and otherwise conduct both domestic and foreign policy.

With three months of leftists participating in "mostly peaceful protests" (a.k.a. riots) and a complete lack of condemnation of those riots (until forced to do so last week), the media refuses to admit that Biden is dropping like a rock in many polls and continues to insist he'll win in November. 

But at some point, Biden's strategy will begin to become a liability. And that's when he'll be forced to answer questions extemporaneously—the only sure indicator of any politician's positions and philosophy. 

As an aside, it's pretty clear that Joe Biden is NOT writing the tweets that are attributed to him. At the same time, it's abundantly clear that Donald Trump is writing his own tweets. Both situations are in their own way problematic.

Given that, here are a few questions that might be posed to Biden, if we had a professional, ethical, truthful, unbiased media (we do not). It would be interesting to hear him answer them extemporaneously, without a teleprompter, an earpiece, or cue cards:

• Will you pledge to raise federal income tax rates? If so, how much? 
• Will you pledge to make college free for all Americans? How will you pay for this?
• Will you forgive college debt? How will you handle responsible people who did the right thing and have already repaid their debt?
• Will you pledge to dismantle private health insurance and let the government control all healthcare? Will you eliminate employer paid health insurance?
• Are you in favor of the Green New Deal?
• Do you believe in open borders? If not, how would you secure our borders?
• Will your administration be pro-business. Give us a few examples of how you'll achieve that.
• Are you against fracking? if so, how will that affect our country's newfound energy independence?
• In a January, 2017 meeting in the oval office while you were still VP, did you suggest, as contemporaneous notes indicate, that Gen. Michael Flynn be indicted using the Logan Act. Was this before or after then FBI director James Comey said that Flynn's call with the Russian ambassador "appeared legit"?
• Follow-up-1: You said you had little to do with any investigation of Flynn. Did you or did you not attend that meeting?
• Follow-up-2: John Kerry met with Iran's leadership after he left the Obama administration. Do you believe he should be indicted under the Logan Act and if not, how is Kerry's face-to-face meeting different than Flynn's telephone call?
• Would you call for indictments and imprisonment if you discovered that members of the Trump Administration had government agencies spy on your campaign? 
• If after you won the election, you found out that senior members of the Trump administration lied to the courts and investigated your appointees for senior positions, would you call for indictments of the perpetrators?
• Are you in favor of "reparations" for African Americans? If yes, please explain your answer along with an explanation of the logistics of accomplishing reparations.
• Will you categorically condemn the actions of the the "mostly peaceful protesters" who became rioters and looted, committed arson and were sometimes violent?
• Follow-up-1:  Are you in favor of removing historical statues of anyone who was somehow connected to slavery?
• Follow-up-2: Do you believe that Antifa is an organized group that wants to foment revolution?
• Follow-up-3: Do you believe that the Black Lives Matter Group is marxist in its philosophy. If not, how do you explain that its leadership has stated this?
• You have repeatedly called Donald Trump a "racist" and hold him responsible for the racial animus related to police misconduct that exists today. Yet your party, the Democrats, has been in charge of most major cities and their police departments for decades. Please explain why it's unfair to hold Democrats even more responsible for the police departments they managed for many decades.
• Are you in favor of defunding the police?
• Do you believe that the police are targeting black people purposely and systematically?
• Are police departments in major cities "systemically racist?" If not, please tell us which parts of the country are "systemically racist" and give us a few examples.
• You stated that any African American who supported or voted for Donald Trump "ain't really black." Please explain what you meant by that statement in light of the fact that before COVID-19 more black people were employed and had higher wages than at any time in history. Is that not a reason that a black person might support Trump?
• You have repeatedly alleged that Donald Trump has handled the COVID-19 crisis poorly. How would you have handled the COVID-19 response differently that Donald Trump? Would you have stopped travel to China earlier, and if so, why did many members of your party criticize Trump for the travel ban when he established it. What other things, specifically, would you have done that Trump didn't do?
• Do you categorically reject and condemn the anti-Zionist and arguably anti-Semitic statements of Democrats like Linda Sarsour, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Talib, Keith Ellison, and many others?
• Has Donald Trump adequately supported Israel during his term, and what would you do differently?
• Will you unequivocally commit to keeping the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem?
• Are you in favor, like Trump, of withdrawing all ground forces from Afghanistan. How would your approach differ from Trump's?
• Do you continue to believe that Trump colluded with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016? If so, did Robert Mueller lie to the Congress and the American public when he reported that there was no evidence of collusion?
• Do you trust Iran? If so, would you re-establish the "Iran Deal" established by Barack Obama? If not, why didn't you publicly question the Iran Deal when it was established while you were VP?
• Why is it that an Obama State Department official overseeing Ukraine policy testified that he voiced concern to your office about your son's position at Burisma and was turned away by your staff? Were you informed by your staff of those concerns?
• Follow-up: Please explain why as VP, you insisted that an investigation conducted by a Ukrainian prosecutor be stopped, threatening the withdrawal of aid if it went forward?
• While you were Vice President, your son was given $1.5 billion for an investment he managed by the Chinese government. He profited handsomely from management fees. Did you in any way influence that transaction since he traveled with you to China just before the money was invested? If not, why is it, do you think, that the Chjnese entrusted $1.5 billion to someone who has little investment experience instead of a major finacial house like Goldman-Sacks? 

No problem, you say? At least some of these issues and questions will be addressed in the presidential debates. Ummm ... not so fast. 

The Dems and their trained hamsters in the media are doing battlefield prep in hopes of convincing the public that there's no need for presidential debates. In an op-ed in The Washington Post, titled, "It's Time to Rethink the Presidential Debates," the author, who for now at least accepts the notion of debates, is concerned about the format and number because COVID-19. 

Other flaks for the Dems have suggested doing away with them entirely. After all, there is no good outcome for Biden if he is forced to answer questions extemporaneously—none. The past few months indicate that he will make serious factual errors, will have trouble crafting coherent replies, and may possibly fabricate events or outcomes simply because he is cognitively challenged.

Press conferences? You gotta be kidding. Biden (well, actually his handlers) will avoid any uncontrolled contact with the media, claiming COVID-19, I suppose. And when they do happen, Beckett Adams characterizes them this way:

... calling it a “press briefing” may be too generous. It [the latest press briefing] was more like a meet-and-greet between a pop star and members of his or her official fan club.

Joe and his handlers love his hideout in the basement. In many ways, the Dems could be running a store mannequin and achieve the same result—except the mannequin would have fewer "gaffs."

Now that we're living in Wonderland, a place where coherent thinking is ... well, ... rare, it may be that some of us want a president who can't think straight, talk straight, or be straight with the American people. 

The Cheshire Cat smiles.