From the report issued today by the DOJ Special Counsel tasked with investigating Joe Bden’s storing boxes of classified documents in his garage:
Holy guacamole.
Well, I assume this document will authoritatively put an end to the dissembling Democratic narrative that President Biden is as sharp as a tack. The status of Biden’s mental facilities was relevant in making the determination of whether charges should be filed, if prosecutors were doubtful about whether and jury would convict someone who is described as a doddering old man, as in this passage:
“…We have also considered that, at trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory. Based on our direct interactions with and observations of him, he is someone for whom many jurors will want to identify reasonable doubt. It would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him—by then a former president well into his eighties—of a serious felony that requires a mental state of willfulness.”
To be clear: it was irresponsible for the Democrats to offer Joe Biden to voters back in 2020, when it was obvious, or should have been, even then that Joe’s mental acuity had declined precipitously from its previous modest level. They used the lockdown strategically to protect Biden from scrutiny as much as possible, counting on the Wuhan virus effects on the economy and national state of mind along with Joe’s general reputation as a nice guy to get him elected, and and the Machiavellian plan worked.
And thus it was that the United States of America was burdened with a mentally failing man in the most difficult of jobs. The disastrous results have been evident, but the Axis of Unethical Conduct (“the resistance,” Democrats and the mainstream media) has been spinning, hiding , deceiving and lying for three years to try to convince the public that Biden is in command, capable, and fit. He never was, and now the reality can’t be denied.
Now what? Even the Biden-protecting media was finding it difficult to maintain the myth of “The Emperor’s New Brain” lately. This week, before the Special Counsel’s ominous diagnosis came out, “CNN This Morning” featured this telling exchange:
Host Phil Mattingly: “What’s interesting, though, is that President Joe Biden said ‘no’ to the traditional “60 Minutes” interview before the Super Bowl. And to me, him saying no to something that he’s expected to do, a serious interview, he can really get his message out to an audience, just sitting, waiting for him, waiting for his message, is telling. Is it because he can’t handle it?”
Poppy Harlow: “And he just did the interview with Scott Pelley less than a year ago for ’60 Minutes.’ Do you have any sense of why [Biden is a] ‘No’ on this one at such a crucial moment?”
Bloomberg senior Washington correspondent Saleha Mohsin: “I have no idea. I mean, just look at that clip we just saw. If he is not able to follow the questions, if his staff is worried that he cannot connect the dots and find the word that he’s looking for, that’s a problem.”
Mattingly: “I think my question to that point is, given the fact that those are issues that show up in poll after poll after poll—age is something that shows up in poll after poll after poll; if you don’t debate, doesn’t that just exacerbate that problem?”
Republican strategist and pollster Lee Carter: “Absolutely, agreed. And the narrative is already there.”
I repeat: this was before an official public report described the President as losing memories and facts like a leaky bucket loses water.
In my view, the report absolutely mandates the imposition of the 25th Amendment, the Constitutional device the anti-Trump forces tried to weaponize against him without justification. What Hur’s assessement reveals is exactly what Section 4 of the amendment was added to deal with: a President unable to perform his duties:
“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
This should not be a partisan matter. It is a matter of national security and national interest. As for allowing a man in the condition Hur’s report describes run for a second term, any party that would do that is untrustworthy and unfit to govern.
I’m no more eager to see Kamala Harris as President than anyone else. There is no other option, however. This day was assured the moment the Democrats nominated Joe Biden, and the party must pay the price for it.
Ethics Alarms 
Joe went on camera today to crow about the fact that he wasn’t indicted. He said he was especially appreciative that François Mitterrand called to congratulate him on it.
Maybe he is in contact with Mitterand – the veil must be getting pretty thin for him.
Perhaps that was who he was trying to shake hands with when there seemed to be nobody there.
Oh my.
jvb
Thee sarcasm tag is missing from your post Willem….Monsieur Mitterrand has been dead for a few years now…
How is it that no one in the Legislature or anywhere is not submitting that passage for the 25th amendment, it is unlikely that our enemies and our friends are not currently “pondering the unbelievable”.
He is referring to Biden stating that at the G7 in 2021, “German Chancellor” Mitterand asked him “How long he was back for”. Later in the week, he clarified that it was German Chancellor Helmut Kohl. This isn’t sarcasm.
One must assume that Obama will direct the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments to get rid of their puppet.
Biden, I think took lessons from Vincent “the chin” Gigante. I just wonder when he will start parading down Pennsylvania Ave in his bathrobe,
I highly doubt they’ll do anything of the sort. That would be essentially admitting that Republicans were right, and than they’ve been deceiving – nay, gaslighting the American public for years. I think they’ll have him withdraw from the 2024 race just before the convention, then finish out his term if they have to prop him up, Weekend At Bernie’s style.
Biden seems to think this is a win for him… I’d say it’s a double win for Trump. One, it reinforces the idea that there is one lenient justice system for democrats, and another to be loosed full-bore on Trump for each and every cobbled-together infraction. Two, it confirms the already-apparent-to-those-with-eyes,-ears,-and-brain-cells fact that that Slojo is too feeble and senile to be president.
Bingo and bingo. But the Democrats will still say he’s preferable to the insurrectionist. That hate is proving surprisingly durable.
An incredibly bad day for Biden and a romp for Trump. First it was obvious that the 14th Amendment ploy is DOA at SCOTUS. Then the Justice Department’s Special Counsel pronounces Biden too feeble to indict and with a failing memory. THEN Biden embarrasses himself in am “I am not a crook” style speech, but it’s “I am not confused,” and promptly confuses Egypt with Mexico.
Here are Jonathan Turley’s tweets documenting the debacle in both SCOTUS and the report on Biden.
The money tweet for me was this one:
I guess Trump is not the only one who needs to learn to keep his mouth shut. When he went out to try to contrast himself with Trump, did Biden really not realize that the special council essentially said he was guilty but too addlebrained to be put on trial?
Biden may make the border his trifecta if he continues with his risible claim that the lack of security and flood of illegals is Trump’s fault.
None of this matters to Democrats. They WANT a president who is senile. They WANT a president like Biden. They believe in the government ‘of experts’. Trump was impeached for the crime of trying to be President and going against the ‘interagency consensus’. Laws only exist for Democrats to use to get what they want, so the 25h Amendment will not be invoked until it is used to remove a president who rebels against the bureaucrats. They want Biden and the Democratic voters want Biden. If Biden was dead and his skin placed on an animatronic skeleton to regurgitate what the career bureaucrats decide, he would be the perfect president for Democrats and Democratic voters would gladly vote for him knowing that he was an animated flesh puppet mounted on a cart. They would gladly vote for him because the ‘experts’ told them it is better this way, their teachers and professors would tell them that this is how it should be, and because the media would tell them that this is how the ‘smart people’ say the presidency is supposed to work.
During his tenure as president Biden has said off the cuff things that contradict current US policy. When asked about this, it is always clarified with “Joe Biden’s statments do not reflect White House policy’. It is the White House that is president, not Joe Biden and they like it that way. The more senile he gets, the better the situation is in their minds.
Bingo Michael. Biden will not be removed until Obama tells the media and bureaucracy he needs to go.
That’s too conspiratorial for me. The Democrats are running out of time: if Biden is going to be replaced, they have to act immediately. The Trump “lawfare” is falling apart, and Biden is not going to make it to November.
A number of pundits and commentators have expressed the belief that Biden will be replaced at the Democratic National Convention, likely by Michelle Obama. How this will come to pass has been a matter of debate. Maybe Biden cites his health or some family emergency, and he announces he will no be able to accept the Democratic nomination for president. Maybe it will be a coup. But there’s been a lot of chatter about it. Am I off my rocker for thinking this is plausible?
They are not replacing Biden. They can’t replace the top of the ticket outright without bypassing Harris, who is supposed to be next in line, because they’d be both snubbing her and bypassing a black woman, which looks terrible to a chunk of their base. They can’t put Harris up top because even they can see what a disaster she would be, black woman or not, because she just is not up to the job and is even less popular than Biden (except to the woke class). They’ve painted themselves into rather a neat corner.
For the moment, I think they are still banking on at least some kind of conviction sticking to Trump, which polls say would cost him a big part of his support and give Biden a second term. That is still a possibility, for now. However, if the Special Counsel’s report really has punched a fatal hole in the mishandling of classified documents case and the Fani Willis dumpster fire continues to burn to the point where that prosecution is no longer viable, then I think that possibility diminishes greatly.
Bill O’Reilly thinks that Michelle Obama is waiting in the wings to take Biden’s place at the top of the ticket once Biden decides he can no longer continue, but I don’t see it. She denies any such ambition and has never held executive office. Gavin Newsome does not have national appeal, a lot of people see in CA precisely what they DON’T want. The idea of Gretchen Williams or J.B. Pritzker heading up the ticket is absurd on its face. Some have even floated NJ governor Phil Murphy as a possibility, never mind the fact that he’s taken no steps to run, isn’t well known nationally, and will be 67 when he is term-limited out next year as a multi-milllionaire with houses in three nations. He’s ready to retire, not seek higher office.
At least for now, the Democrats are stuck where they are. Assuming no wild cards, it’s generally a race between charges sticking to Trump, Biden’s mental or physical health collapsing, and the election itself. If no charges stick, or none stick in time, then there is a good chance Trump can regain the White House.
I think they will soon have no choice. This is heading into Woodrow Wilson territory, and the news media is not all Krugmans. It is increasingly unlikely that Trump will be convicted decisively of anything before November, and the documents case was the most legally solid of the cases against him. The obvious double standard if Trump is tried and Biden is left alone shoudl ensure at least a hung jury, unless Trump’s lawyers are complete idiots. Fani Willis has all but guaranteed that her lawfare is going down the drain. And Kamala has the power to trigger the 25th’s power on her own, with some help from the Cabinet.
“It is the White House that is president, not Joe Biden and they like it that way. The more senile he gets, the better the situation is in their minds.“
Which raises the question of why they let him loose to make a (bigger) fool of himself. Have they already decided that he’s dangerously underwater v. trump and needs to go to give them a shot at inserting Newsome or some other chosen wokey authoritarian?
I love that I started blogging, not because I’m good at it, but because it gives me easy access to what I thought about evergreen issues from a while back.
https://humbletalent.substack.com/p/the-25th-amendment
“When you look at the context in which the 25th Amendment was framed, it’s obvious that the amendment was supposed to deal with Presidential vacancies and incapacitations; It wasn’t even supposed to remove simpletons, it was supposed to control against vegetables. Stupid people can be President, so long at they can convince the electorate to vote for them. This is why a contested removal requires a 2/3rds majority in both houses: It wasn’t supposed to be a partisan popularity contest. Hell, Impeachment only requires a 2/3 majority in the Senate, the house can impeach with a simple (50%+1) majority. And that highlights yet another reason the 25th was a stupid theory: Whether or not you thought Trump was fit for office was largely a popularity contest; The people that liked him supported him, and the people that hated him with all the passion of 1000 burning stars wanted him gone. And if you’re going to remove a President based on a popularity contest, you might as well take the path that requires fewer votes.
What about Biden?
I’ve made some colorful jokes recently; How Joe Biden is a prop from Weekend at Bernie’s, How Benny Hill music should start playing whenever he boards or disembarks from Air Force One, How we’re not sure if it’s Joe or Major biting the White House staff and pooping in the halls. Those are unfair. I know they’re not true, or at least in the case of the Air Force One stairs, it’s true, but sad. When you compare Joe Biden in 2021 to Joe Biden from the Obama years, or Joe Biden 20 years ago, the difference is incredibly stark. I’m actually not going to link to videos, because this is one of those things where if you believe me, you don’t need the link, and if you don’t believe me, you’ll think I’m cherry-picking. Do your own damn work, plebs: Go to YouTube, search “Joe Biden Speech 2016” and watch a video or two, and then turn on CNN to compare. Even with a sympathetic news organization, you simply can’t cover the fact that Joe is 78 years old and slipping.
Added to that, Kamala Harris is hangry. She loves the idea that she might be the first female President (Not counting Edith). The first black President. The first Asian President. First first first first first. She’s not particularly interested in being a good or popular President. And I don’t think she could be; She dropped out of the primary before the embarrassment of losing brutally in her own home state, and her record is abysmal.
So when you have Joe Biden’s relative infirmity alongside Harris’ ambition, I think the 25th Amendment isn’t as outside the pale as it was for Trump. It’s more likely that Joe just dies of something, and that would be a much cleaner path for Harris (Joe Biden’s food taster should be getting hazard pay.), but I think The Plan is probably for Joe to retire in 2024, and have Harris step up. Joe is already slipping and calling her “President Harris” every now and again. Is that a mistake? A Freudian Slip? Did Joe think it was 2025? Probably the former. Probably.
“But if we get to the point where Joe isn’t capable, and it’s obvious that he isn’t capable, which isn’t impossible, because there’s a long haul between now and 2024, then as opposed to a situation where a vote for or against the removal of Joe Biden is a direct partisan popularity contest, we’d have a situation where we’d want to legitimately look at the merits of removal. Frankly, if it got to the point that the 25th was actually invoked, Biden probably wouldn’t fight it; I have the impression he ran because he wanted to beat Trump, and the Democrat bench was really shallow and he was afraid they’d blow it, more than he actually wanted to be President. If he did contest it…. God that would be messy. From a partisan perspective: There’s no chance that a Republican takes office following Harris making a section 4 invocation, the VP becomes the President, and unless Harris tapped a Republican to be VP, the rest doesn’t even warrant conjecture. But how would Republicans or Democrats vote? I don’t know… And we’re pretty deep into the reeds of “what if”.”
As to the process, and paraphrasing from what I wrote:
First off, Kamala would have to start the process. She would have to decide that President Biden is unable to discharge the duties and powers of his office, and to move forward, she would have to gather a majority of the Cabinet and go to war with Biden.
She would have to produce a letter to that effect, and deliver it to Mike Johnson and Chuck Schumer. Then a decision would have to be made: Biden would have to decide on whether or not to fight the proceedings. If Biden decided that enough was enough, that would be enough to actually remove Biden from office.
If he decided to fight it, that would still be enough to actually remove him from office, but only for the period of time if would take for him to write another letter saying that no, he wasn’t incapacitated and deliver it to Johnson and Schumer. Then he would be President again. That is, unless Kamala Harris and the Cabinet leaders wrote a letter to Johnson and Schumer within four days that basically says: “No, I really mean it, Joe is gone.”.
That would start a process. Both houses of congress would be required to assemble within 48 hours and hold a vote in both the house and the senate. Removal of the President would require a two-thirds majority vote, and if that couldn’t be achieved, Biden would continue to be President.
For the record… I don’t think this is happening before the election. Either Joe is going to run again or he won’t, but the Democrats aren’t interested in something as messy as a leadership takeover six months before an election.
“Kamala would have to start the process.“
That gosh darn Babylon Bee is Johnny On The Spot::
Kamala Harris Found Mentally Unfit To Replace Biden
PWS
But wait, there’s more!
https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-calls-for-the-president-to-step-down
From Axios:https://www.axios.com/2024/02/09/biden-defends-memory-2024-election
They’re whistling in the dark at the White House. Joe’s going to get worse, not better; the only question is how bad, and how fast. The comment that his debacle last night won’t be fatal because it’s only February. But that cuts two ways: now they have time, barely, to move. Saying that Joe has time to reassure the public–that’s nuts. He can’t reassure the public. He can only convince them he’s hopeless. If he has to be replaced at the last minute, the Democrat are doomed.
At this point, the movie ‘Dave’ becomes plausible.
Sharp as a tack in what way… every tack has two ends.
B’ seems to match one of them.