Given His Mental State, Joe Biden Must Step down

 By David Starr

 

Most everyone in the USA knows about the “Debacle,” that is, the June 27 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. It was a freakshow, with Trump pathologically lying and Biden looking and sounding like he has dementia.

 

Among the lies perpetrated by Trump, he accused Biden of letting in millions of undocumented immigrants, whom Trump called murderers and rapists. Trump may as well come out and admit he’s an ultranationalist and racist. Trump also claimed that Biden was a threat to Social Security and Medicare. And, unfortunately, Biden gave Trump an opening when he mumbled, then didn’t speak for a few moments, and then saying that “we finally beat Medicare.” Trump jumped on this gaffe and said that yeah, he’s beaten Medicare into the ground.

 

While Trump has his followers in what amounts to be a cult, Biden has his followers who are unquestioningly loyal. For the latter, they are sticking with Biden regardless of the consequences. Which means that Trump could “win” the presidency, given Biden’s state of mind and thus not being able to perform the job of president consistently. 

 

Despite Trump throwing accusations without any meaning or credibility, Biden did at times take a few shots at Trump. Quoting from The Progressive, Jennifer Shutt writes, “Referring to reports that, as president, Trump said veterans killed in action in France during World War II, were ‘suckers and losers,’ Biden invoked his son Beau, who was a National Guard veteran and later died of brain cancer.” 

 

Biden became incensed, Shutt quoting him, “My son was not a loser and was not a sucker. You’re the sucker. You’re the loser.” Trump, of course, denied making the accusation, but Shutt writes that it was “confirmed in [various] reports.” In another sharp remark at Trump, Biden said, with Shutt again quoting him, “Every single thing he said was a lie. I never heard so much malarky in my whole life.”

 

So, while Biden did speak out against some of Trump’s lies, it was a poor performance by both candidates. In the aftermath, democrats are worried about Biden’s ability to be effective against Trump. The two have another debate scheduled for September 10. 

 

There may be a dangerous precedent set and Biden may not be able to fight it. The right-wing, or more to the point, fascists, have publicized their plans for a takeover of government and try to impose policies that are anti-democratic. It’s called Project 2025. It emphasizes the control of the executive branch to be in line with a tyranny. That is, making the president a virtual king. And this is what the U.S. founders fought against. 

 

Potentially violating the U.S. Constitution, the fascists would like to impose a dictatorial executive branch; and Trump would be the “king.” In The American Prospect, Rick Perlstein wrote that, “The Supreme Court just might have given presidents fewer constitutional constraints than King George III had in 1776.” With the Supreme Court having a conservative majority, it’s not that surprising. For them, Trump is immune from virtually any penalty that is an official action.

 

Many would like to think that Joe Biden has an exemplary record in his career as a senator, leading up to his role as president. But Biden has more often than not pushed the policies of a neoliberal. Some examples: 

 

In the 1991 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Biden voted in favor of appointing token Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court. This after the testimony of Anita Hill who accused Thomas of sexist and lewd behavior. Biden was the head of the Senate Judiciary Committee which would decide on accepting Thomas. Ignoring Hill’s testimony in the final decision, Biden approved Thomas. 

 

During the hearings, Thomas, a right-winger, tried to portray them as a “high tech lynching,” thus, playing the victim using the race card.

 

In the 2002, Biden was chair of the Foreign Relations Committee to decide on whether to start a War with Iraq. After being lied to by the George W. Bush regime, Biden approved the decision to go to war. Although he could say he was fooled, Biden nevertheless was bullish on the war and promoted it to the U.S. public.

 

Switching to today, Biden has made the USA complicit in the attempted genocide by Israel against the Palestinians. While Biden expressed concern about the death and suffering of the people in Gaza (and the West Bank), he still has given military aid to Israel which has used it to commit more war crimes against those same people.

 

In domestic policy, at least, Biden, as president, has presented policies that have helped workers, unions, students in debt, and challenged medical debt, looking to erase it from credit records.

 

But, above all, Biden is a neoliberal, a corporate Democrat, a Third Way Democrat, who joined the effort of the Democratic Party’s move rightward. 

 

Regarding Biden’s age, he’s 81, Perlstein writes, “But the lengths to which the president and his team avoided the issue made [the June 27] debate all the more bracing. The question is one of character. Biden should have accepted that he simply wasn’t capable of selling his vitality to the electorate in a reelection fight.”

 

Quite a number of Biden supporters still can’t admit that he is not up to the task of resuming his role as president. But there are a number of individuals who are, at the least, wondering. There are also individuals on Biden’s staff and some Democrats who admitted that Biden is in no shape to continue. The Young Turksprovides details on Biden’s situation.

 

Excuses were made by Biden supporters of his zombie-like appearance in the debate. It was said that he had a cold. It was said that he was tired because of a long flight in an airplane. Then it was said that he had a sore throat. But at the same time, Biden admitted he “screwed up,” this according to the BBC, which adds, “He told a Wisconsin radio station he made a ‘mistake’ with his stumbling performance, but urged voters to instead judge on his time in the White House.” 

 

Then the BBC quoted a defiant Biden: “I’m the nominee of the Democratic Party. No one’s pushing me out. I’m not leaving.” Still, the doubts are not going away. If Biden stays in and by some chance wins reelection, he’ll be 85 years-old when he’s at the end of his second term, if he can finish. And that’s the thing. It’s better to make a change now to avoid any potential disaster regarding Biden’s health.

 

In CounterPunch, Jerry Long writes, “The truth is Joe Biden is not merely old but sporadically incapacitated to a previously unacknowledged degree.” And according to a CNN poll, “three-quarters of US voters say the Democratic Party would have a better shot” holding on to the presidency if someone else was running instead of Biden. The lack of confidence in Biden is all-too-evident.

 

But the vote-blue-no-matter-who crowd is persistent. Writing in Salon, Norman Solomon stated, “Unfortunately, Biden’s ego has proven to be much more resilient than his cognition. His loved ones and sycophants, in inner and outer circles, cling to talking points that are patently dishonest, often preposterous, and dangerous for the prospects of preventing a second Trump presidency. [T]he pretenders are doing a huge disservice to all who want to avert a full takeover of the U.S. government by the fascistic Republican Party.”

 

Among those pushing to keep Biden running, his wife Jill Biden has sounded like she’s more in denial than Biden himself. In her meeting with donors in New York, Jill Biden was in denial, Solomon quoting her, “When Joe gets knocked down, Joe gets back up, and that’s what we’re doing today.” At a fundraiser, Jill Biden went further into denial saying, “Joe isn’t just the right person for the job. He’s the only person for the job.”

 

After the debate, Jill Biden went deep into a fantasy world, a total flight from reality, when she told Joe Biden, “Joe, you did such a great job! You answered every question! You knew all the facts!”

 

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) were at first in denial about Biden’s condition, but eventually realized something was wrong. Pelosi said, “I think it’s a legitimate question to say, is this an episode or is this a condition.” Clyburn also had doubts as he promoted Vice President Kamala Harris: “This party should not in any way to work around Miss Harris. We should do everything to bolster her, whether she’s in second place or at the top of the ticket.”

 

And the doubts remain, as a CBS News Poll revealed that 72% don’t think Biden has the mental capacity to serve as president while 27% do. So, if Biden asked voters to vote for him, most would say, “Hell no, we won’t, Joe!

 

The June 27 debate was probably more than an aberration. Joe Biden has dementia. To avoid a fascist Trump tyranny, Biden should step aside and let Kamala Harris be the candidate. She’s younger and has had experience in the political arena. It’s necessary for the sake of stopping fascism in the USA.