Joe Must Go

In the wake of Thursday night's disastrous debate, the New York Times Editorial Board opines that the best way Joe Biden can serve his country now is by stepping aside.  The New Yorker's David Remnick argues that a continued candidacy is more than self-delusion but is endangering this country. Israel worries that Iran could exploit the obvious weakness.  I am sure Ukraine and Taiwan are concerned as well. Despite his obvious weakness, his family and inner circle - the same idiots who prepared him for a Terrible Thursday - selfishly urge him to stay on. This is in spite of a post-debate poll in which a whopping 72% of Americans conclude that Biden lacks the "mental and cognitive health to serve as president.”

NYTimes columnist Maureen Dowd, a Washington insider, is far from my favorite columnist. She's snide and condescending, and I believe she routinely uses a thesaurus to make herself sound more intelligent than she actually is. But for once, I am in complete agreement with her Saturday Ghastly v. Ghostly column, which starts with these two paragraphs: 

"He’s being selfish. He’s putting himself ahead of the country. He’s surrounded by opportunistic enablers. He has created a reality distortion field where we’re told not to believe what we’ve plainly seen. His hubris is infuriating. He says he’s doing this for us, but he’s really doing it for himself.

"I’m not talking about Donald Trump. I’m talking about the other president."

Let's forget the "What About" arguments that Democrats are now making about Trump. Of course he lies. We all (or at least most of us) know this. This is not about his fitness to serve. This is about the man who currently is at the helm, and it's downright scary.

As Dowd reminds us, this is a guy who had to bow out of a Presidential race in 1987 when it was discovered that he was using lines from speeches by RFK and Hubert Humphrey. This is the Senator who basically assured us Clarence Thomas as a Supreme Court Justice. This is the man who suffered two aneurisms in 1988. 

"Biden looked ghostly, with that trepidatious gait; he couldn’t remember his rehearsed lines or numbers. He has age-related issues, and those go in only one direction. It was heart-wrenching to watch the president’s childhood stammer return."

We are constantly reminded by the media that Trump is surrounded by myrmidons who parrot his every thought, no matter how ridiculous. But it is now clear that Biden has his own set of lemmings who have shielded him from what was so obvious on Thursday night. They are condemning all of us to a Trump landslide.

One of the most important attributes of a President is the ability to communicate. Like him or not, Trump has been an effective communicator. He lacks the soaring oratory of an Obama or FDR. He is far from likable. But he knows how to get his message out, even if it is hawking bible. Biden, in contrast, has miserably failed to explain foreign or domestic policy in terms an average American can understand.

He can step down and open up the convention to candidates who at least are lucid. I doubt this will change the result but am certain about what will happen if he remains in this race. 

He needs to look at the polls instead of listening to his cheerleaders.