The New York Magazine, hardly a bastion of conservative or Republican punditry, has broken Axis ranks with a story headlined “The Conspiracy of Silence to Protect Joe Biden.” Longtime Biden family friends and associates admitted to the magazine that Biden’s deterioration has been known for a very long time, and that “they did not want to blow a whistle. They wished that they could whistle past what they knew and emerge in November victorious and relieved, having helped avoid another four years of Trump.”

“When they discussed what they knew, what they had seen, what they had heard, they literally whispered,” the magazine reports. “They were scared and horrified. But they were also burdened. They needed to talk about it (though not on the record). They needed to know that they were not alone and not crazy. Things were bad, and they knew things were bad, and they knew others must also know things were bad, and yet they would need to pretend, outwardly, that things were fine. The president was fine. The election would be fine. They would be fine. To admit otherwise would mean jeopardizing the future of the country and, well, nobody wanted to be responsible personally or socially for that.”

Unethical, indefensible conspiracies often have well-meaning rationalizations behind them. (The horrible imprisoning of law-abiding Japanese-American citizens during WWII is one example.)This is how the Democratic Party has let itself slip into quasi-totalitarianism. It was inevitable that someone in the captive media would reveal this disgusting cover-up. Now it’s out. The absurd enablers, liars and spinners have no traction now. Every one of them should be—must be— mocked, exposed, and permanently relegated to Distrust Purgatory—including the President himself.

“He needs to get more sleep.” Really? That’s the best he can do?

For the record, I wrote and said that Biden was slipping into senility before he was nominated in 2020. It didn’t take any special perception on my part, just eyes and ears, and a belief that the public in a democracy should know who and what they are voting for. The Democrats owe the public a massive, groveling, unequivocal apology. Of course, they won’t give one, because the whole party has allowed itself to rot to its core. maybe beyond repair.

There have to be consequences for such an unprecedented betrayal of trust.

This story would be funny if it wasn’t so damning of organized religion generally.

The Meeting House is a Canadian megachurch, of the largest and most influential churches in Ontario. It promoted itself as “a church for people who aren’t into church” (Good motto! Like “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should!”), and the campaign worked. The church grew, as they used to say, “like Topsy.” Pastor Bruxy Cavey, who took over the leadership of The Meeting House in 1997, became Ontario’s “most influential pastor.” But in 2021, as described in detail here, Cavey resigned after being accused of sexual assault in his holy activities. He was then charged, with law enforcement adding that there were probably more than one victim.

The church announced in 2022 that “two more claims of sexual abuse and another case of sexual misconduct” against Cavey at been substantiated, with one of the alleged victims being a juvenile.

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A brilliant friend from college just posted on Facebook, “Mitch McConnell froze twice and nobody suggested that he should step down.” And got dozens of “likes” and “loves.” It’s a moronic, silly argument. He’s far too smart to think it’s valid, unless bias has literally made him stupid. Or he’s deliberately trying yo confuse people dumber than he is, which is despicable. I just commented, “(Come on.)”

To state the obvious:

• Many did suggest that McConnell step down.
• Mitch is too old too, and should have retired years ago. The fact that Mitch, a jerk, has hung around way past his pull date is not an argument for why other elected officials should do the same.
• Being a Senator, however, isn’t like being President. At all.
• How does the Senate leader displaying an alarming cognitive episode have anything to do with the copious evidence of Biden’s progressive dementia? The McConnell episode doesn’t make Biden’s performance less serious, and the response to it, adequate or not, doesn’t  justify pretending Joe’s meltdown was just a “bad night.”
• There is literally no critical thinking path or logical process that makes my friend’s  infantile “whataboutism” response defensible or persuasive, except to fools clutching at straws.

It’s very depressing.