When the ancient Greeks wanted to know what their future held, they consulted oracles. Alexander the Great, for example, visited the Oracle of Siwa, an oasis in the Egyptian desert. According to his biographer, Plutarch, the oracle told Alexander that he was destined to conquer the world.
In these tumultuous days when we, the electorate, are presented with a choice between an old, old president and his vice president and a vindictive reprobate with a persecution complex, I did the smart thing: I consulted the oracle.
No, I didn’t cross the desert on a camel, or like Alexander did with his beloved horse, Bucephalus, or in a fancy BMW SUV.
I went to the oracle of the day, which is the only place I know of to look for and get what appears to be alien advice: Bing’s AI. I asked the oracle several questions and got some interesting answers.
When it came to the big question, I begged Bing’s AI, “Great Oracle, I’m an American voter and I’m in a terrible mood. I don’t know who to support in the upcoming presidential election.
“It seems to me that one candidate, President Joe Biden, a decent man, may be too old to navigate the difficult waters ahead in domestic and international affairs.
“As for another candidate, former President Donald Trump, many people find aspects of his conduct reprehensible.
“What to do? For me, this is even more difficult because I am a TV columnist and commentator, and I need to have something to say. I’m sure you understand, Great Oracle.
Well, Bing’s AI held back – it only offered the two men’s formal stories.
I had thought that my question would elicit a revelation, a wise analysis, or a contradiction of my view of the candidates. Clearly, I’ll have to wait for the day I get into real AI chat: ChatGPT.
Above all, I had thought that the oracle would tell me that all the aspirants for the presidency so far will toast in November 2024, that the new candidates will bring us hope, enthusiasm for the party and let it break.
Are new faces and new options too much to expect?
Republicans are grappling with their future nominee after his latest character blemish, after he was found guilty of sexual assault and defamation in a civil lawsuit. What does this mean for the whole question of what we look for in the character of candidates? Righteousness used to be considered essential. Not because of Trump. Post-Trump is post-righteousness.
Just under 70 percent of the electorate has told pollsters they believe Biden is too old to be re-elected. This is not, I think, a conclusion reached by reflecting on what it means to be 80 years old. This is a conclusion, once again, I claim, that they have reached by watching the president on television – on the few occasions that they see him there. .
He clearly doesn’t have the strength or confidence to hold a press conference. These are vital.
In America, the press conference is the closest thing we have to questioning the weather in the British House of Commons. It’s accounting time. Biden is behind on his accounting as audited by the press corps.
Harold Meyerson, editor-in-chief of the American Prospect, is avowedly liberal. He is one of the most skilled political writers working today; he’s skilled, knowledgeable, and persuasive, and you know where he stands. He’s on the side of the Democrats.
So it’s significant when he raises a question about Biden and when he draws attention, as he did on May 9, to Biden’s absence from public engagement.
Meyerson wrote, “Right now, Democrats are edging uncomfortably toward a waterfall, hoping that Biden can somehow navigate the coming turbulence. By the fall, if he hasn’t had measurable success in the time to allay much of the public’s fears of a president drifting into senescence, then some prominent Democrat (a category that doesn’t include Robert Kennedy Jr. or Marianne Williamson) had done quite well. better get in to the race.”
On Twitter: @llewellynking2
Llewellyn King is executive producer and anchor of “White House Chronicle” on PBS.
