Joe Biden’s terrible debate performance set off several days of Democratic soul searching, but sadly, the search has been fruitless. They still haven’t found one.
Frankly, the widespread panic embodies why right-wingers hold us in contempt – we run around flapping our hands at every setback. We like to mock them for listening to Fox News, but we’re just as mockable for being led by the nose by mainstream media, which is awash in a sea of calls for Biden to step aside. The New York Times led the charge with an an ugly, needlessly personal editorial that smacks of butt-hurt because he wouldn’t grant them an exclusive interview.
This piece encourages Biden to follow the example of Harry Truman and LBJ who, the author contends, knew when to quit. The author hand-waves away the fact that in each case the decision led directly to eight years of Republican rule. History doesn’t lie: When an eligible incumbent president doesn’t run, his party loses.
If you’re looking for silver linings, viewership for the debate was way down, off 35% from the first debate in 2020, a 20-year low. But that’s OK – Democratic caterwauling ensures that everyone who didn’t watch will get the impression that Biden is all but embalmed.
While our journalistic class sucks its thumb and wonders by the banks of its own lagoon, pregnant women in red states are dying because doctors and hospitals are refusing to treat pregnant women having health crises for fear of criminal prosecution. That’s what Democrats should be talking about instead of fretting about Biden’s declining intellectual capabilities.
I don’t pretend to understand French politics, but on the surface it looks like their centrists are as over-confident as our centrists. Macron’s call for snap elections backfired in the first round of voting. The far-right National Rally party stands poised to take over the government, though it fell short of an outright majority. Oh well, there goes the neighborhood.
The floor’s yours.