All the President's Enablers
Three books on Joe Biden’s presidency jointly paint a devasting portrait of an ailing, geriatric leader surrounded by mendacious aides and grasping family members.
Dear Friends,
Please find my review essay about three books concerning the 2024 election in POLITICO Magazine (also published in Die Welt and Bild).
Best,
Jamie
Bob Armstrong
As this story points out, Joe Biden's enablers in the White House and among the Democratic Party leadership ran a snow job on the American public. His closest advisors claim the president is sharp as a tack--"80 in the new 40" as his press secretary said--until his fateful debate with Trump. Then the amazing flip. His disastrous performance triggers a panic attack among high profile Dems & doners. He's senile. He can't win. They knife him, demand he withdraw from the race. He capitulates, shuffles off-stage, gets swapped out for his vice-president. Mission accomplished in a most undemocratic way to save democracy.
Another flip. The big-hearted party officials pull out the knife blade, announce that by stepping down Biden will stand next to George Washington in the history books for putting the good of the country above his own ambitions. His time on Mount Rushmore with the father of our country is brief. Flip #3: Kamala Harris blows the race, the Democratic establishment knife Biden AGAIN, blaming the old coot for her defeat despite her squandering a decent shot at permanently burying Trump in his gold toilet.
I concede I have a soft spot for Biden despite the fact while prez he too often capitulated to the left wing of his party. The soft spot is due to my age, the same as Joe Biden, 82. We were born in '42 only two weeks apart--11/20 for him; 12/2 for me. Like Biden, I'm sensitive when somebody suggests my lightbulb is dimming.
For example, a few nights ago a clip of George Clooney flickered across my flatscreen and I said to Brandy, my caregiver, that Robert De Niro has always been my favorite actor. After she corrected me I decided to test her loyalty: "OK, let's say I'm in Joe Biden's slippers and some slimeball reporter is grilling you about the wiring in my brain. What are you going to say?"
Without hesitation--bless her heart--she said: "The president is sharp as a tack, 82 is the new 41."
Isn't that the way it is supposed to be?