At Some Point You Have To Stop Taking Them Seriously

This is a United States Senator questioning the Secretary of State as to whether or not the President of the United States is being operated by remote control. https://t.co/GJlrr4nXSi

— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) September 14, 2021

Apparently, this is a Thing that’s been bouncing around in the right-wing media ecosystem, in which almost everything is proof that the president is senile. It’s so awfully hard to keep up with all that flotsam these days. But I would not be surprised if Blinken’s going to need a tanker truck full of Pappy Van Winkle by the time this week is over.

The first line of questioning to Secretary of State Antony Blinken from a Senate Republican during today's hearing is Jim Risch bizarrely grilling Blinken about who in the White House has authority to "push the button" & cut off President Biden's mic. Blinken insists nobody does pic.twitter.com/kWTmitvOXE

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 14, 2021

even Sandra Smith thinks Charlie Hurt's commentary is a bit much pic.twitter.com/oPzT5wfcCu

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 14, 2021

My memory goes back to the Obama Administration, when tout le internet knew that "not taking them seriously" was the original sin and political suicide.  Every outrage, every false and foolish statement, had to be refuted, or the Republic was lost. Now?  Well, at some point, as ever, it's just too ridiculous to worry about.

Not that the explanation is all that complicated:

At length, Sen. Jim Risch absurdly said someone at the White House yesterday hit a "button" to stop Biden from talking.

No. There was a planned "pool spray," in which press/cam is allowed in for brief remarks at a meeting's start; it ended as Biden began questioning officials.

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) September 14, 2021

Although, yeah, to your average citizen a "pool spray" is something you do in the summer with a garden hose.  But it seems pretty clear, after 4 years of Trump, that calling a Democratic office holder "mentally unfit" doesn't really have the clout it might once have.  Maybe in another 16 or 20 years. 

But so long as Dan Crenshaw is rapelling down a rope onto a stage at a political conference for kids, and your alternatives are Chris Christie and Ron DeSantis,  it's gonna be hard to take GOP Presidential contenders very seriously.