Photo credit, property of New Line Cinema, fair use
I thoroughly enjoyed The Lord of the Rings film series which was based on The Lord of the Rings high fantasy novel written by J. R. R. Tolkien. Perhaps to the dismay of others, I never read any of Tolkien’s work. Nevertheless, I appreciate his legacy.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the King of Rohan, Théoden, suffers possession and premature aging from a wizard named Saruman. During his affliction phase, Théoden is advised by sycophant Gríma Wormtongue whose poisonous machinations have unfavorable effects.
With this framing in mind, I now turn to yesterday evening’s presidential debate [6/27/2024] involving former president of the United States [U.S.] Donald Trump and current president of the U.S. Joe Biden. The former is 78-years-old and the latter is 81-years-old.
As a requisite disclaimer, I don’t participate in the voting process. This is partially due to the religious teachings up with which I was raised. As well, I don’t believe in the functionality of the U.S. democratic republic voting process. Nevertheless, I don’t advise others to behave as I do.
In any case, having viewed the disastrous performance of Biden, it remains clear to me that he mirrors Théoden during the king of Rohan’s possessed phase in both temperament and behavior. For the record, I’m not claiming that Biden is literally possessed.
Nevertheless, I’m not entirely convinced that there isn’t a Wormtongue lurking in the background of the Biden administration. Herein, I’m making no remarks about the likelihood of his apparent cognitive decline, nor am I intentionally violating the Goldwater Rule.
All the same, I stand by what I expressed in a blogpost entitled Arguing Attributes of Ability:
I think it’s worth questioning whether or not some people need continued access to sensitive data and authoritative roles when they can barely form coherent sentences or they lack orientation to person, place, and time. The reader may disagree with this conclusion.
Following Biden’s abysmal performance during the debate, one source reported, “Jill Biden has been accused of treating her husband like a toddler after she praised him for ‘answering all the questions’ during his disastrous CNN debate with Donald Trump last night.”
What a sycophantic thing for Mrs. Biden to have done! Who is the puppeteer for what is arguably a puppet of a president currently running the U.S.? As our nation stands on the brink of kinetic conflict in either Ukraine, Gaza, or at home, who’s actually running the show?
I doubt answers to these questions will be revealed. Still, it isn’t as though I’ve recently became aware of Biden’s unfortunate behavior. For those people who’ve paid close attention since around 2020, video evidence clearly demonstrates a rational though cautionary tale.
All one may do in order to discover similar evidence is merely perform an internet search for Biden’s faux pas to find that the leader of the U.S. speaks to himself, greets people who aren’t actually present, and he mumbles incoherently. This isn’t an issue of so-called “cheap fakes” either.
Noteworthy, my late stepmom used to say, “Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining” to describe the process of gaslighting—psychological manipulation of a person, usually over an extended period of time, that causes an individual to question the validity of one’s own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence, uncertainty of one’s emotional or mental stability, and a dependency on the perpetrator.
There’s no “cheap fake,” leg-pissing that can explain away what the world witnessed yesterday. The puppeteer(s) couldn’t control the puppet long enough to convince me – and likely many other U.S. citizens – that it isn’t plausible that Théoden has been captured by Wormtongue.
Astonishingly, there’s no need for Sarumanic possession in this instance. Even the lamestream media which usually provides sociopolitical cover for Biden’s questionable behavior has chimed in on his dreadful performance during the debate:
Describing the performance of a likely puppet, one source states of the debate:
From the minute President Biden shuffled onto the stage in Atlanta, millions of Americans watching knew something was wrong. His appearance was, frankly, shocking – mouth agape and eyes hooded.
Then, he opened his mouth – and it was worse. His voice was weak. His train of thought wandering. Throughout the 90-minute debate, he was often difficult to hear and completely unintelligible.
In my chosen career field, we have clinical terms for what the aforementioned source described. However, since Biden isn’t a client of mine I’ll refrain from commentary that could be mistaken as diagnostic in nature.
Still, it’s worth noting that a single debate performance isn’t the sole reason that the King of Rohan is unpopular. Apparently, many people know when they’re being pissed on. Discussing how Biden’s support dwindled even before the debate began, one source reports:
According to polling aggregator RealClearPolling, which tracks a number of betting markets, Biden now stands with just a 22.2 percent chance of re-election, compared to Trump’s 54.8 percent.
Biden stood at 35 percent before his feeble performance on the debate stage, with speculation now falling on whether Democrats could look to replace him at the top of the ticket before November.
All the glowing coverage about Biden’s favorite ice cream flavor, discussion about how strong the economy supposedly is, talk about how virtually everything negative about the U.S. is Trump’s fault and seemingly everything positive is attributed to Biden feels a lot like rain on the leg.
One remains uncertain as to who puppeteers Théoden, though suspicions remain about Wormtongue and who’s been fulfilling the role of the U.S. President since January 2021. It’s difficult to suspend critical and rational belief long enough to pretend as though it’s the man who stumbled and bumbled on a debate stage yesterday.
Rather than disturbing myself – becoming pissed off – with unhelpful beliefs about being pissed on, or blaming fallible human beings who actually voted for Biden in the first place, I choose to openly mock that which is clearly illogical and unreasonable. Not only isn’t the king not wearing clothes, someone likely has a hand up his ass.
If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
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