As I am just some schmuck in Wisconsin that writes op-eds for no money, I understand that nobody is really clamoring for my opinion about Joe’s significant issues. Still, I feel that I should at least touch on it, lest I be labeled some useless RINO who might as well just vote Democrat, despite me not being a member of the Republican Party at any level.
I’ll be blunt. Joe has no business being president. It is apparent that the issue that developed during that debate in 2020 (illustrated in the picture above) was not a benign subconjunctival hemorrhage as was relayed by his doctors and the media, but an indication of a serious condition, possibly a stroke. It doesn’t take a lot of anecdotal evidence either. Ignoring the content, you can clearly see that the Joe Biden of 2019 is not the same Joe Biden of 2023…far from it. This isn’t the slow deterioration of a man in his 80’s. This is the rapid onset dementia that often accompanies a major medical condition.
What is more disturbing to me is the more insidious nature of the situation. Under any other objective measure, what Jill Biden and Joe’s staff is allowing to happen would be elder abuse. Sure, Joe says he wants to run, that he still wants to be president, but is he really able to make those decisions for himself? Yes, there have, supposedly been tests by doctors that do not show any major deficiencies, but knowing what I know about politics, the true nature of the president’s health, any president, is a matter of national security and could be very damaging if it were to be widely known. We hid FDR’s polio (mostly an optic decision, but a strategic one as well) during a time of war. It isn’t much of a stretch to think that Biden’s real level of health is also being withheld.
This is the reason that the 25th Amendment was created. Invoking it is a very high bar to clear by design and with good reason, but you can’t tell me that it can’t be cleared now if the people required were honest with themselves. But that is the rub. In today’s era of personal legacies and personal image, few Democrats would want to be labeled as one of the people to be responsible for the first removal of a president under the 25th. Instead, they are content to continue the elder abuse and parade around Joe as a shell of his former self. I would like to think that Joe of 2018 wouldn’t want to be the Joe of 2024. He deserves to retire with what little dignity he has left.
Removing Joe at this point in the process will create a constitutional crisis, but it can’t be helped. If any of the people on the list for the 25th consider themselves compassionate human beings, they need to do what is right and tell Joe that it is time to go and rest. Sure, you may lose an election, but is that really greater than propping up someone who shouldn’t be in the position that he is in? Is political power so important that you are willing to abuse an 81 year old man to keep what power you have? If the answer is yes, you probably have no business in public service…