The Five Stages of Biden Grief

The long road toward acceptance.

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292
President Joe Biden in the Rose Garden at the White House on October 25, 2023. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Some truths are so bitter that they can’t be swallowed in one gulp. Ingestion is a process.

And that process doesn’t always work. Millions of Republicans have now entered their fourth year of trying to choke down the fact that Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

Likewise, the idea that a coup-plotting strongman given to describing his enemies as “vermin” really, truly might be president again is so preposterous and dispiriting that many of us have already begun to gag on it, with a year still to go before the expected rematch. Coming to terms with the reality that Biden might lose to an authoritarian cretin will be a psychological journey.

Some will never reach the end. More on that later.

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  1. Avatar photo
    SandyG

    OK. I don't know Phillips.

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  2. GettawayGal

    Once again, I realize I have stumbled into exactly the kind of echo chamber I try to avoid - in this case, folks who have deluded themselves into believing the Democrats and Biden should be entrusted with the presidency in light of the (many) deficiencies of Trump. While I agree Trump has disqualified himself from serving, I have also been paying attention to what was going on before and following his 2016 election - and do not understand how anyone could interpret what the Democrats did then, and have done since, as anything, other than threatening foundation of our republic. This is all documented - and not by conservative partisans - but, rather, progressive journalists actually willing to see and tell the truth. https://open.substack.com/pub/public/p/why-democrats-became-the-totalitarians?r=1pv2jp&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post In short, I think we have a far bigger problem than simply convincing people not to vote for Trump - and hoping No Labels manages to come through with a ticket that gives those of us based in reality a meaningful option.

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  3. Avatar photo
    Soniak21

    What gets me about the Dems and Biden—and I guess this typifies the Denial stage—is that they think they can "logic" their way out of the problem. Or maybe that's giving them too much credit: Some just think they can "snark" their way out of the problem.

    Their typical line goes: "Gee, whom shall I vote for: The unhinged, dictator-loving narcissistic sociopath under four criminal indictments, or the guy who—oh noes!—is super-duper old??"

    It's as if they think that by simply articulating the absurdity of this proposition, the world will give them the mic-drop moment they deserve and simply award them the "win," which... by some electoral magic... will make it impossible for the sociopath to beat the merely old guy?

    I cannot overstate how much it DOESN'T work this way.

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  4. Zjim0608

    it is probably inevitable that during Biden's second term we come upon President Harris

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  5. Avatar photo
    BloggerBarbie

    I reached depression in 2016, looking at the fact that Trump even got enough votes in the primary to be a viable candidate, let alone win. I haven't moved past it. It shouldn't be moved past. Large swaths of the country have lost sight of the American project so much that they follow this idiot around like loyal dogs. How do we save the country? Is it savable? Is the country my ancestors helped create really dying? And if it is, what's left to care about? I was even depressed in 2020 because the vote was WAY too close. I don't care about Trump himself--malignant narcissists have always been drawn to politics--but the fact this two-bit con-man has managed to snooker so many people, that's a hard pill to swallow. I keep hoping he'll get bored of it and decide he'd rather go back to reality television, where he can throw his little tantrums for the camera to his heart's delight, but it seems unlikely.

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    Little.Billy.Wright

    Is there polling that suggests 2024 will not be low turnout? I see the buffet the parties are offering as so unappetizing many would sit this one out.

    But actually, I don't expect us to get there: Torricelli Maneuver is on the horizon. Prepare for Michelle!

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  7. Keatonm88

    I’m just going to grasp at straws and hope Manchin launches a presidential bid

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    Adam

    "America won’t reach something like the acceptance stage for a presidential outcome again until after the MAGA movement has passed and the consequences of elections feel less existential. Figure 2060 or so."

    Optimistic of you to think we'll still have elections by then!

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  9. Grafakos

    If Democrats are serious about stopping Trump, then instead of moving on to stage 5, "acceptance", how about focusing their efforts on paying a few hundred thousand Californians and other voters from deep blue states to move to the five or six swing states where elections are decided? Do that, and we'll likely never see a Republican president again.

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    1. Avatar photo
      BloggerBarbie

      Seriously, the approach of "I'll move to Canada if things don't go my way!" is silly. Move to Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Oh, wait, those are the states where the jobs are leaving.

      Proposition: Start focusing on rebuilding the interior of the country and geographically diversifying the electorate.

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    2. Peter T

      If only Soros, Bezos, et al, were 5% the evil partisan geniuses as portrayed by Conservative Inc.

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  10. Grafakos

    Trump is only three years younger than Biden and in much worse physical shape. A "health event" afflicting Trump seems at least as likely as one for Biden. And we can't rule out both!

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