I hate it when I have to post repeatedly on a single ethics issue. Yesterday I heard an angry Greg Gutfield proclaim the revelation that the Axis has been actively deceiving the public about Biden’s true condition a bigger scandal than Watergate. It might be. On that basis, the extra posts are justified.
1. I heard the pathetically incompetent Karine Jean-Pierre at the White House Press briefing repeatedly explain Biden’s cognitive crash as a “bad night.” Yeah, Abe Lincoln had a bad night on April 14, 1865. She used all the other agreed-upon talking points too: it was late, he had a cold, and the President knows he isn’t as young as he used to be and isn’t as “smooth a talker” as he once was. This is simultaneously a “Just how stupid do the Democrats think the public is?” test and a “Just how stupid IS the public?” test.
2. Part of Joe’s “I am not a vegetable” tour is apparently going to include a press conference and an interview with George Stephanopoulos. Would it be too much to ask for the interviewer not to be a former Democratic Party operative? I guess so…
3. Tucker Carlson tweeted, “Biden is done. Bet on it. Too many prominent Democrats have suggested he’s brain damaged. They can’t walk that back. They have to remove him, and they will. The only question is when. If they’re smart, they’ll do it immediately. If Kamala’s going to be the nominee, she might as well be the president first.” What the hell is he talking about? You don’t just “remove” an elected President. If he doesn’t want to go, he won’t go. Even the Democrats’ much loved 25th Amendment doesn’t work. Has Tucker read it? Nah, probably not.
4. My sister, a Democrat who is furious at Biden for letting all of this happen, suggests this: The Party leadership demands that Joe take a real cognitive function test challenging Trump to do the same. If Joe flunks. he promises to quit. If Trump flunks, HE promises to quit.
5. This might be the biggest Jumbo since Jumbo: Biden’s campaign chair, Jen O’Malley Dillon, tried to calm worried big-money donors yesterday by telling them that “He’s probably in better health than most of us,” according to two people who were on the call. How is obviously lying your head off going to calm supporters, unless the theory is, “See? We can lie shamelessly!”?
6. Nate Silver now gives Biden just a 27.6% chance of winning the Electoral College and 44.2% odds of taking the popular vote. Silver says that his first projection since the debate is “probably conservative,” and that things for Biden “will get worse.” Oh, really? Nate doesn’t think Democrats and MSNBC hacks lying 24/7 will make it all better?
7. Here’s when you write something so mind-meltingly stupid that you should never be taken seriously again: political consultant Stuart Stevens authored “The Absurdity of the Dump-Biden Uprising.” Yeah, right on, man: why would any party want to dump their Presidential candidate whom they have been claiming has to save democracy when he proves on national TV that he would have a hard time playing a game of Tic Tac Toe, never mind running the country? What are they, nuts? He also writes that “for many in the party,” Biden’s debate performance “raised concerns.” Wait, there are actually members of the party who are not concerned?
8. I heard a Republican offer faux thanks to prominent Democrats for giving them so much material for anti-Biden campaign ads. Did these people even consider that? How does a party mount a campaign telling voters that Biden’s their man when so many prominent Democrats have been recorded saying that he’s not fit to serve?
9. Stupid question of the week: Ancient Washington Post hack pundit Eugene Robinson (He won a Pulitzer Prize!) wondered on “Morning Joe”: “Why isn’t [Biden] doing some sort of unscripted appearance that shows — that erases the impression that was very clearly left Thursday night?” Gee, I don’t know: Good question. And while we’re at it, why didn’t Chrissie from “Jaws” try out for the Olympic Synchronized Swimming team?
But then there’s #2….
Ethics Alarms 
4. Why is Trump’s mental capacity an issue? Other than this sudden equivalence being a Dem talking point, I don’t see where this is coming from. It’s like saying, “If the Dems need to get rid of Biden, the GOP needs to get rid of Trump.” (Which appears to have been a talking point. See, eg., the Philadelphia Enquirer made after instruction headline.) It makes no rational sense. But frankly, I’m sure Trump would pass a test. However, this, “Okay if Biden’s senile, so’s Trump” thing is simply bizarre and childish. Petulant.
Oh, they’ve been claiming that Trump is impaired since early in his term—people like my sister really believe it. I also think any candidate for any office who is 75 or over—(70?)—-should be tested as a matter of course. Why not? If I were Trump, I’d take that challenge. And if I were Biden I’d phtrdbipslop mendapill…and beat Medicare!
But then there’s #2….
Cue Nelson.
#10 below…?
PWS
Hunter Biden Joins West Wing Meetings After Joe’s BAD DEBATE
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot??? Are they trying to throw this? Talk about Bizarro World!
PWS
Maybe the President is channeling his inner Huey Lewis and wants a new drug…one that won’t keep him up all night, one that won’t make him sleep all day.
3. Biden could resign as president and withdraw from the race citing health issues. That would be the responsible thing to do if the vice-president wasn’t Kamala Harris.
Of course he won’t do it. They also have the problem that he won the delegates and there are state deadlines looming. Another issue is that the campaign fund is in Biden and Harris’ names. Harris has to be on the ticket to use the money, apparently.
Yes, they have a big mess of their own making. They have known he was incompetent for years and hid it. Now that it is out and at this late date, they don’t have good options. On the plus side, many Democratic Party voters just want government by the elite ruling class anyway and wanted Biden as a figurehead-only president in the first place.
There are certain types of people — from all accounts Biden is likely to be one — who, when scolded and told he must do something that he really doesn’t want to do, well, the more you hammer at him the more dug in he gets. I sense this is likely Biden right now.
If they really wanted him to withdraw from the ticket, in all rational universes it would have to have been far better to talk to him in private, something along the lines of “Joe, you know you aren’t really up to this job any more, you’ve done a great job so far and gotten us past Trump, but now it’s time to bow out and give someone else a chance to beat Trump.” Something like that from people like Pelosi, ideally Jill and Hunter Biden, but I think not Obama.
That probably wouldn’t have worked either, because he has an ego the size of Scranton, and he likely thinks he’s done a great job. But I don’t think just hammering on him in public as they’ve been doing is very productive.
I’ll admit to selfish motives — I rather hope he stays on the ticket and gets the Carter treatment. I realize that this could be perilous for the country for the next 7 months, but what are the alternatives? I don’t think Harris would be good and the next person up is Johnson. Unless Biden has Seal Team Six take out Harris, that’s not going to happen either.
Bottom line: There’s a lot of petards lying around the Democrat landscape — and the fuses are lit…
Carl Bernstein thinks Biden’s cognitive decline is a big problem:
https://www.salon.com/2024/07/02/carl-bernstein-says-biden-is-sharp-at-meetings-but-his-alarming-debate-performance-not-a-one-off/
Bernstein has known about this for a while. Shouldn’t the famed Watergate reporter have written about this?
jvb
Oh, John. You’re expecting consistency from a Baron of D.C? Nah!
Add another excuse to the poor debate performance: jet lag
President Joe Biden has blamed his poor debate performance last week on jet lag, telling reporters that he “wasn’t very smart” for “travelling [sic] around the world a couple of times” before the debate.
Did you know that Trump lies all the time?
Any Democrat/progressive/Biden supporters who isn’t angry and disgusted, and reevaluating their loyalties, is either corrupt, in denial, or a complete cretin.
I saw that article this morning. Absolutely, I believe that the President nearly fell asleep at the debate. I do not believe it was because of his traveling. He spent all week in Camp David, presumably resting and preparing for the debate. It was past his bedtime and outside of the 10-4 window of lucidity.
Everyone on the right who is in absolute delight over “the democrats in disarray” seem to forget that since 2000 (basically when I started paying attention), that Democrats have “been in disarray” to a serious extent in at least 25% of elections. They’ve always pulled through. They always will. They have too well oiled of a machine not to.
I would see that and raise you a “back to 1984 when I started being aware.” Republican victories have been helped by terrible Democratic nominees…though maybe that’s the “disarray” you see and refer to. Mondale in 1984 (though Santa probably would have lost to Reagan that year), Dukakis in 1988, Gore in 2000 (albeit probably the best of the bad candidates), Kerry in 2004 (blech!!), and Mrs. Clinton in 2016 (easily the worst…well, okay, Mondale was just as bad, but not worse).
I suppose the reverse could also be said – Dole/Kemp in 1996 was super yawn and McCain/Palin in 2008 smelled so bad it made a job as a proctologist seem appealing.
Anyways, I agree with your assessment. Even with President Biden on the ticket and with polls trending more strongly towards President Trump (one headline on RealClearPolitics this morning reads “Dem Donor: ‘Comatose Biden’ Is Better Than Kamala”), there’s a long ways to go and nothing is sure.
People talking about an “enthusiasm” gap – where consistent democrat voters imply they may not be too energetic in getting to the polls – that may plunge democrats into defeat are all ignoring that any democrat who says they may not go vote will be accommodated by energetic and enthusiastic progressive acolytes that will happily go to their house and handle voting for them and do the leg work getting the vote to the ballot box.
Enthusiasm gaps don’t matter with our currently unprotected system.