The midterms defied expectations and, contrary to my prediction, are sure to strangle the Democratic “push Joe out” campaign in its cradle, especially if, as is not at all improbable, the Georgia runoff leads to another 50-50 Senate split. If that happens, the Democrats will need a Vice President to break ties, and Kackling Kamala is the only Veep they’ve got or will be able to get.
The problem is that the President’s mental decline is palpably accelerating. One may (and should) sympathize with a man facing the seventh and last of Shakespeare’s ages of man (“second childishness, and mere oblivion”), but sympathy is no argument to keeping him in the most important office on the planet. In an article bluntly titled “Biden’s Lost Marbles”, Jim Geraghty lists many, but not all, of the President’s recent mental stumbles.
Back in July 2021, as the U.S. presence in Afghanistan was ending in disaster and Biden’s public appearances were limited to short statements and he was refusing to take questions, John Ellis, formerly of the Boston Globe, summarized how it was acceptable to acknowledge Biden’s age and mental condition if you used certain euphemisms.
“Somewhere along the way of the last few years, Biden transitioned from ‘young old’ to ‘old,’” Ellis wrote. “Veteran reporters describe the transition in code. ‘He’s lost a step or two.’ Or: ‘He’s lost something off his fastball.’ You’re not supposed to talk about it. If you do, and you’re a Democrat, you’re scolded for aiding and abetting the enemy. . . . The problem is that it’s there for all to see. Pretending not to see it is untenable.”
And yet the White House pretends no one can notice Biden wandering around oddly at public events, see the vacant look in his eyes at times, or hear the meandering stories and mumbling. Anyone who has watched a parent or relative succumb to the ravages of age is familiar with the sad, inevitable decline. Biden is not well, and he’s not going to get any better. The presidency ages the most energetic and dynamic of men, and Biden was not among them when he took the oath of office.
The President does, however, retain the last faculty to go: a stubbornness that refuses to acknowledge the inroads of time. He has become the White House Norma Desmond. We must hope and pray that our country doesn’t share the fate of Joe Gillis.
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