I know this is an immensely easy analogy, but this season reminded me of a mediocre, high priced tasting menu.

Which is basically a meta-representation of where The Bear is as a restaurant.

I agree with everything you said. I actually liked to loved every episode but felt unfulfilled by the season as a whole. It felt like getting into a really nice car for four hours without ever leaving your driveway. A lovely experience but it went nowhere.

I've literally never seen that complaint, so I do wonder where you hang out and with whom...

Sure, but if we’re going to talk about policy, then I still wouldn’t necessarily choose Biden over other, potential Democratic candidates. It’s hard to say since we didn’t have a serious primary season for Democrats this election. To some extent I would argue that the primaries in 2020 were less about policy and more…

The political media has done irreparable harm to itself by so obviously covering for Biden for the last four years.

I expect there’s also the frustration that Biden now has the same hammerlock on the party that Trump does with Republicans. He won’t quit and they won’t forcibly remove him.  So we have...

Oh, my point was that those are the basic things you do to reassure voters about your age and stamina...except everyone and their mother knows at this point that Biden is just not up for it. I think a live, 1-hour townhall would go disastrously for him, and the Biden campaign knows that too. That’s not a good thing.

Because half the world is on an opposite time zone, including China and Russia.  I don’t think it’s unfair to expect a president who can function after sundown DC time.

Because it’s not just the debate anymore. Beginning with his 2020 campaign the Democrats’ party line has been “who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?” He didn’t have to endure the rigors of a presidential campaign because of COVID. People now feel like not just the party but the media have been covering…

I agree in theory, but the Stephanopolous interview did nothing to assuage my concerns. Biden should have had a pretty good idea of what he was going to be asked (what happened at the debate and what would you say to Americans to ensure them that you are still fit to go forward) and still came off shaky. Crappy…

Yeah, the “he’s not in obvious mental decline due to his age, he’s just exhausted to the point of near-illegibility due to the base-level demands of the job he’s campaigning to keep” defense is really not compelling.

China wants to start shit in Taiwan they’d better give a six-week heads up.

I mean, the problem with the “he was super tired!” excuse is it’s terrible, both as messaging and in its implications. The presidency is inherently tiring and effectively campaigning for the presidency is even more tiring on top of that. If the candidate genuinely needs at least two weeks between major events (there…

Exactly. The Biden administration, other Democrat politicians, and the DNC are the ones in denial - not the voters.

Lol a fair point and you’re right. 

Maybe they weren’t lying and he really was still jetlagged after 12 days. Which is a more terrifying thought. 

Biden’s poll numbers were abysmal before the debate. All the debate did was make the Biden campaign and much of the media look like fools for gaslighting the American public and even more foolish telling the lies on why he “had a bad night.”  

There hasn’t been a national election in two years, and there were no other (serious) primary candidates. The Biden campaign is also clearly reacting to the abysmal poll numbers showing that no, Democratic voters aren’t swallowing the “it was just a cold” line.

Those of us who’ve been paying attention saw the issue, sure, but after having the problem literally waved in front of their faces even Democratic voters who aren’t politically engaged can’t help but notice. Maybe not you or I but plenty of people swallow messaging hook, line and sinker. Now they’re spitting out the…