Democratic Primaries
Related: About this forumWhat Joe Biden Can't Bring Himself to Say
"My closest friend in J School had a severe stutter. I was so amazed at her ability to do the task and her commitment to working through it. And I recall, vividly, the inspiration she took from Bidens story. This piece is a remarkable and worthy read." Sam Stein (@samstein)
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/joe-biden-stutter-profile/602401/
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
peggysue2
(10,829 posts)Poignant, too. Because many of us remember what it was like growing up with the daily assaults on our looks, behavior and even the tiniest flaws, quirks or disabilities outside the norm that can wither a kid's heart and confidence. Stuttering is always out in the open, making the stutterer feel exposed, vulnerable, open to all sorts of ridicule.
For me, it's a plus/plus for Biden that he's experienced this, refused to let his stutter define him, carried it with grace and humor, even while in the public spotlight.
He just keeps on keeping on. Because he's been tested for a very long time.
Go get 'em, Joe!
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
OKNancy
(41,832 posts)so far it looks like a really good article.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden
Gothmog
(145,291 posts)I was a stutter until about 4th grade. I find these attacks on Biden to be sad. This article about Joe's stuttering really hit home with me. The discussion of the movie The King's Speech was very moving for me.
Link to tweet
Presidential candidates usually dont speak about their bleakest moments, certainly not this viscerally. It resembles the way Biden writes in his memoir about the aftermath of the 1972 car accident that killed his first wife and young daughter and critically injured his two sons, Beau and Hunter: I could not speak, only felt this hollow core grow in my chest, like I was going to be sucked inside a black hole.
A few weeks later, I ask Jill Biden what she remembers about sitting next to her husband during the movie. It was one of those moments in a marriage where you just sort of understand without words being spoken, she says.
As he watched The Kings Speech, Biden accurately guessed that the screenwriter, David Seidler, was a stutterer. He showed me a copy of a speech they found in an attic that the king had actually used, where he marks hisits exactly what I do! Biden tells me, his voice lifting. My staff, when I have them put something on a prompterI wish I had something to show you.
I agree with Joe that it would be difficult for trump to use Joe's stutter against him
I dont think so, Biden says, because if you ask the polls Does Biden stutter? Has he ever stuttered?, youd have 80 to 95 percent of people say no. If Trump goes there, Biden adds, itll just expose him for what he is.
I ask Biden something else weve been circling: whether he worries that people would pity him if they thought he still stuttered.
He scratches his chin, his fingers trembling slightly. Well, I guess, um, its kind of hard to pity a vice president. Its kind of hard to pity a senator whos gotten six zillion awards. Its kind of hard to pity someone who has had, you know, a decent family. I-I-I-I dont think if, now, if someone sits and says, Well, you know, the kid, when he was a stutterer, he must have been really basically stupid, I-I-I dont think its hard toIve never thought of that. I mean, theres nobody in the last, I dont know, 55 years, has ever said anything like that to me.
This is an issue that I have strong feelings about.
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden