The Editors, National Review, Feb. 12, 2024- Joe Biden is a crisis in the making. The last president to run for reelection who was so obviously incapable of serving another four years was FDR in 1944. But Roosevelt was in the midst of ably managing a world war and, as it turned out, chose his vice president wisely.
Biden’s mental and physical diminishment has been clear for some time and has been even more alarming the last several weeks. The Robert Hur report on his mishandling of classified documents underlined his reduced state. In an instantly famous sentence, Hur said his team concluded that a jury would consider Biden “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” The report, of course, included damning details of Biden not being able to place the years of his vice presidency nor — and this is what precipitated Biden’s angry press conference in response — the year of his son Beau Biden’s death.
Rage has been directed at Hur for including this material in his report. This anger is misplaced. The report indicates that Hur could have justified recommending that Biden be indicted for serious crimes (Hur found that, for years, Biden willfully mishandled classified intelligence, yet the applicable statute requires prosecutors to establish only gross negligence, a less demanding standard). Moreover, Hur was required by regulation to produce a confidential report explaining his reasoning. Then, the attorney general decides whether to make it public or not. (read more)
The Question Is Not if Biden Should Step Aside. It’s How.
by ROSS DOUTHAT, The New York Times, Feb. 10, 2024- Joe Biden should not be running for re-election. That much was obvious well before the special prosecutor’s comments on the president’s memory lapses inspired a burst of age-related angst. And Democrats who are furious at the prosecutor have to sense that it will become only more obvious as we move deeper into an actual campaign. (read more)
Democrats Might Need a Plan B. Here’s What It Looks Like.
By CHARLIE MAHTESIAN and STEVEN SHEPARD, The Hill, Feb. 10, 2024- So far, Democrats have vigorously avoided any discussion of a Plan B for their presidential nominee. But special counsel Robert Hur’s report may have forced their hand.
Fairly or not, Hur’s stinging characterization of President Joe Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” and “diminished faculties” has thrust the president’s age and mental fitness into the debate. Coupled with the widespread perception that Biden is too old for another term and the fact that he frequently trails former president Donald Trump in swing state polling matchups, it’s raised serious questions about whether Biden is positioned to lead the party in November — and whether Democrats need a contingency plan. (read more)
The National Interest, Feb. 9, 2024- Joe Biden's Plan: Win the 2024 Election and Then Resign?
By Joe Garofoli, The San Francisco Chronical - Feb 11, 2024 - ‘At least he’s not Trump’ might not be the rousing campaign pitch Dems think it is
Rod's Comment: So far most of the calls for President Biden to resign are coming from conservative sources, but we are seeing some mainstream liberal sources start to say the same and we are seeing the defense of Biden's competency less that full-throated.
In the press conference in which Biden repudiated the claim of his mental decline, he answered a question about the Israel-Hamas war and mistakenly referred to Egypt’s leader Abdel Fattah el-Sissi as “the president of Mexico." On other occasions Biden has mistakenly said "Iraq" when he meant "Ukraine." Recently he referred to the president of France as "Mitterand." The president of France is Macron. Mitterand has been dead since 1996. He recently referred to the German Chancellor Angela Merkel as Helmut Kohl. Kohl was Chancellor in 80's and 90's and died in 2017. At the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit he thanked the prime minister of Colombia when he meant Cambodia.
It is going to be hard to keep Biden out of the public view and off the international stage. When he does make appearance and it is clear he does not know where he is or what he is talking about, the liberal media will begin to report it. There bias will incline them to cover for him, but that can only go so far. There are enough journalist who have journalistic integrity that the wall of protection for Biden will crumble and his cognitive decline will no longer be covered up. First a trickle then a flood gate. More and more liberal media and personalities will call for his resignation. I expect it soon, within days or weeks. I do not think Biden will be the 2024 Democratic nominee.
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