Madsplaining: '24 or 25th?

President Biden's shaky debate

Around 50 million Americans reportedly tuned in to watch the debate between Donald Trump and President Joe Biden last week. There was no audience and each man was given time to answer questions in turn. People were surprised at how restrained Donald Trump was; people were surprised as how frail the President was.

Within a few minutes of the broadcast, Twitter Democrats were expressing dismay. Commentator Chuck Todd said that “Biden looks like the caricature that conservative media has been painting ... you saw it before your eyes!" Progressive blogger Ben Dreyfuss expressed what a number of people were asking: Why defraud your own voters by covering up the extent of the President’s decline?

And the cover up was certainly strong, with many White House insiders insisting that in private, the President is sharp, cogent and full of energy. Plenty of people had noticed the multiple jump cuts in the President’s recorded video addresses, the disorientation when leaving a podium, the lack of events on his schedule. But they were dismissed as fake news. Meanwhile, efforts to shield the President’s stumbles and gaffes were nicknamed “Operation Bubble Wrap” by staffers.

The editorial board of the New York Times has called for the President to drop out of the race, noting that “more than once, he struggled to make it to the end of a sentence." Snarky late night host, John Stewart said it might be time to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove President Biden from office. But former Obama White House senior adviser David Axelrod concluded, the time for those discussions was probably last year. But if the President is not fit to run any longer, how can keeping him in office be justified? as commentator Steve Deace noted. And who has been running things, if the President is so clearly impaired?

The Democrats are in a pickle to say the least, with media claims that the President’s family is encouraging him to stay the course. There is much discussion about how the President could be swapped out with dignity and who could possibly replace him. In the mean time, no one will be interested in formulating or debating actual policies while foreign states are realizing they have a limited window to make mischief. Alerts at American military bases in Europe quietly ticked upward over the weekend.

It is a sad situation and we should pray for wisdom for our leaders and for truth to prevail.

At any rate, what is very clear for now: Whether the Dems have a difficult task on their hands (all of their own making) or some tricks up their sleeves, the election is not about Donald Trump any more.

*Edit: the amount of viewers was closer to 50 million, not 100 million!