Much has been said regarding Rabbi Rosenfeld’s criticism (“Show Some Respect,” August 1, 2024) of Zachary Greenberg’s analysis of Joe Biden (“It’s Time to Go, Joe,” July 25, 2024).
While all the points raised opposing Rabbi Rosenfeld were fair in my opinion, there was one crucial point that was overlooked. Let me preface by saying that I am not pro this or anti that candidate. To me Trump and Biden are both reflections of a declining society. The issue I would like to address is not so much the political alliances but rather the lack of faith in the human capacity for reason which Rabbi Rosenfeld clearly does away with in favor of appealing to authority. He asks Mr. Greenberg to “show some respect” to the sitting president of the United States, writing that Mr. Greenberg should not opine on the cognitive decline of President Biden “unless he (Mr. Greenberg) is a personal physician to the president.” In other words — don’t trust your own sense and reason and listen only to those with the proper hierarchical authority to tell you what to think. This is the thesis we are witnessing being championed.
Furthermore, it is not as though Mr. Greenberg simply wanted to ad hominem President Biden out of office. As Mr. Greenberg himself wrote regarding the 2008 debate, “between then-vice presidential nominees Joe Biden and Sarah Palin… At the debate, Biden was sharp, witty and an incredible speaker. Watching side by sides of Biden speaking over the years, it is clear there has been a sharp decline in his cognitive abilities, reaching rock bottom at the recent June debate.” Mr. Greenberg is simply demonstrating what we can all observe.
As we can see, in lieu of a counter to Mr. Greenberg’s position, Rabbi Rosenfeld simply appeals to Mr. Greenberg’s lack of authoritative credentials. But this is clearly a one-way street. Rabbi Rosenfeld continues with negative observations about Trump, claiming that Trump has dictatorial aspirations. Why can these disrespectful statements be said about a former president? If it is because Trump himself said those words (as noted by Rabbi Rosenfeld), then this sentiment would require consulting a linguist to discern exactly what Trump meant when he said that. Rabbi Rosenfeld certainly did not quote the full context of Trump’s statement. And given the concern for respect for office, it seems to be just as disrespectful to accuse a former president of being an aspiring dictator as it is to accuse the current one of cognitive decline.
There is a double standard here. We can see it with our own eyes. We do not need an expert or authority on the matter to decipher what is right in front of our eyes. If one can only ascertain anything from the voice of an expert, then we would have to resort to waiting for a doctor to proclaim us ill each time we lie in bed with a 104-degree fever while coughing uncontrollably. We can recognize that our reason should suffice to know that we need to take medicine.
This is what Mr. Greenberg did when he realized that President Biden is not the man he once was. He proposed a treatment. He can do this, even communally in The Jewish Link, because of the free speech granted every citizen to criticize a government which has been ill-equipped to serve its people. This right comes from respecting the citizen’s capacity for wisdom. Respect is not simply being “nice”; it is demanding of ourselves and those around us to build a better future. In that way, Mr. Greenberg showed Americans and the president the respect they deserve — respectfully — far more so than Rabbi Rosenfeld.
