Discussing cognitive decline in POTUS

suicide_circus

Hi there

Looking for clarification;

It seems to be forbidden to suggest that Joe Biden could be suffering from some kind of cognitive decline in the Current Affairs forum.

Why is this?
Does this rule apply only to Joe Biden?
Does it apply to all world leaders?
When did this rule come into force?
Does this rule apply in other fora?

Many thanks

Beasty

Forum specific issues are dealt with in Help Desk

There is though a general feedback thread on the Current Affairs forum in Feedback where this particular issue has been done to death

suicide_circus

Ok thanks for moving this to the correct forum.

Beasty

Just to clarify one point - there was a thread earlier today started by a re-reg troll that I deleted

The issue of Biden's mental state was raised as some kind of "ammunition" in the election threads and it was not tolerated in those threads, particularly as there has been no evidence produced to support any assertions that his cognitive abilities were in decline

Any new discussion on the topic is likely to be seized upon particularly by those who were opposed to his presidential lection. I really do not think any dedicated thread on the topic is warranted in the absence of clear evidence of an issue

suicide_circus

Thanks for the reply.

Does this standard for the requirement of clear evidence apply when critiquing other global public figures? If so, it's new.

I'm surprised that questions over Joe Biden's state of health is seen as such out of bounds topic. Fair enough if it's off topic in a thread but to make it completely verboten seems strange and excessive.

Beasty

There is no "policy". In this case, as I said, posters were trying to use it as "ammunition". Other posters were wound up about it, and we took a view that such references were unacceptable in the heated discussions surrounding the election

So it was down to mod discretion. I've given a view on how we may look at this sort of thing going forward. TBH in the absence of clear evidence it's only going to be used to troll other users. Nothing more to say really.

suicide_circus

Thanks again.

Perhaps it could go into the forum charter for all to see because as Biden's presidency continues, I'd imagine it might come up again and it's only fair that users are aware that this topic may not be discussed.

TheValeyard

Well, once he is President it really should be fair game to question his mental state and other supposed upcoming revelations. Say the media gloves will come off soon enough.

Beasty

TheValeyard wrote: »

Well, once he is President it really should be fair game to question his mental state and other supposed upcoming revelations. Say the media gloves will come off soon enough.

You say "other supposed" media revelations. If there are such "revelations" about his "mental state" then I agree - they can be discussed. That has not been the case to date

looksee

As Biden gets to be more public and make more statements it will be so patently ridiculous to suggest cognitive decline that the whole thing will naturally fade away. He does have a mild speech impediment, I would hope that wittering on about it will be firmly squashed, such wittering could become very tedious.