Commentary
“It’s awfully hard to oust a sitting president who wants to run.” -Byron York, Washington Examiner
Yes, but President Biden needs to be told it’s time to step aside.
Regular readers may recall my repeated criticism of Jill Biden for her failure to advise him not to run in 2020, followed by three years of encouragement when the world saw him going downhill.
I was gratified to note that the editorial board of the New York Post, following the release of Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report, referred to it as a “humiliation” caused by those around him.
“Jill Biden did this to her husband. His children, his staff, all the people who enabled this charade, this is on them. And Americans won’t soon forget it,” the board stated.
The Post reflected on his last campaign when they imprisoned Old Joe in the basement, limiting his interactions with the press, and keeping him tied to a teleprompter between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. “It worked,” they wrote.
“That’s how they ran the first campaign. That’s how they run the country and that’s what they’re hoping to do again this year.
“This is elder abuse. And it’s a fraud on the American people.”
After reading the puff piece in Vogue magazine a couple years ago, “A First Lady for All of Us: On the Road with Dr. Jill Biden,” it was clear that she was reveling in her position, “knowing the power of the presidency – knowing that she could change things.” She loved the power she held.
She no doubt relished the references to the outfits she wore, her jewelry, her hair and makeup during the session by Jonathan Van Meter and photos by the one and only Annie Leibovitz, as she noted “there was so much to do” as first lady.
There was the Oscar de la Renta dress she wore on the magazine’s cover, the Ralph Lauren blouse and skirt while in the East Sitting Hall, and the Michael Kors Collection sweater and skirt while sitting with the president on a White House patio. And she loved the attention given her style.
Other Options
Forget Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, which outlines what happens when the president is incapacitated and unable to hold office but is unable or refuses to formally give up the powers of the office.
It is a time-consuming procedure requiring the majority of the principal officers of the executive office (the fifteen cabinet members) to agree, resulting in day after day press coverage around the world.
It is not 1974, when Senators Barry Goldwater and Hugh Scott, along with Rep. John Rhodes went to the White House to inform President Nixon that he faced all-but-certain impeachment, conviction, and removal from office in connection with the Watergate scandal.
And forget sending in former President Obama, still considered the voice of the Democrat Party. Biden didn’t listen to him when he told him, “You don’t have to do this, Joe, you really don’t,” as he launched his campaign for the presidency in 2020.
According to the New York Times, Obama also met with several of Biden’s top aides to implore they ensure that the former vice president does not “damage his legacy” or “embarrass himself.”
Recall that Biden failed to get Obama’s endorsement upon entering the race, and Obama’s infamous warning, “Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f**k things up.”
Forget, too, sending in South Carolina Rep. James Clyburn, who we are asked to believe saved his 2020 campaign.
So, then what?
He needs to resign. That could leave us with Kamala Harris and an unknown running mate, but who knows what the Democrat Party has up its sleeve. It doesn’t really matter.
What matters is, the sooner the better. At least Biden wouldn’t be our commander-in-chief for the 11 or 12 months leading up to Election Day and the January 20, 2025 inauguration of a Republican president.
Finally, ponder this …
… from Biden’s Thursday night address to the nation. Within minutes after assuring us that he was “the most qualified person in this country to be president of the United States” and responding that his “memory was fine,” he referred to the president of Mexico rather than Egypt while commenting on the situation in Gaza.
May God continue to bless the United States of America, and the return of America First.
