3.) He fell prey to something we can all fall prey to, not fully recognizing the speed of his cognitive decline, and wanting to go on like he always had. Not good as a presidential candidate to run for reelection, but understandable. Do not go gentle into that good night.
The persons I fault mostly are his loved ones and close advisors, for not standing their ground, and insisting he become aware of his mental state compared to just months earlier. They should have been making notes when they first noticed it. And I'm sure they had lots of video footage that never made it on air, that should have convinced him, while he was thinking clearly. But I guess notbody showed him that. We need an age limit, which would have stopped him from running for a second term. Then us, future presidential candidates, & Biden won't have to worry about making that fatal mistake, because it will be illegal.
Forgive me for repeating old arguments, but we bring up the same subjects a lot, in the crossfire board.(as we do on most of the sports boards on here)
Good post. I would only add that the 25th amendment is the product of the Cold War. A time when we were hyper focused on national unity and all in agreement that the President should be hyper vigilant every second of his term on the defense of the country.
We appear to have lapsed into a malaise where it really isn’t important to project strength and unity from the Oval Office. America, including our leaders in Congress, seems quite comfortable not knowing who the hell is in charge as long as Social Security checks get mailed.
So since the 25th Amendment requires the Cabinet to initiate removal, and they will all potentially lose their jobs if they do, as will around 3,000 of their subordinates who will remain in politics and hate them for the rest of their careers, it appears going forward that unless a President is frequently totally incapacitated, but only temporarily, as Ike was, the 25th is a dormant clause now. Which is alarming.
Because it begs the question of whether Biden was totally incapacitated at times as Wilson was, and we never knew it.
I’m very curious to see if the dam ever breaks and we get a tell all book alleging the extent of his dementia and when it became obvious. It was a federal crime to hide it if it was hidden. I suspect we will have to wait until the statute of limitations runs before we know what really went on.
But as most people who have gone through this with loved ones know, the bottom can fall out in days or weeks for some folks, not slow decline over years.
Which might be more troubling, if the plan in advance was to elect him then have him resign if the bottom truly did fall out after it was too late to change.
I was watching an ex Obama advisor raging on Thursday that Biden was the worst President in history. His only goal was to stop Donald Trump. And Biden claimed he was the only one who could do it. And ultimately he was the cause of Trump’s return. He had one job and let his ego get in the way was the argument. Not sure I agree with that, but I found the melt entertaining.