Joe Must Go

Oh, and where does Robert Hur go to get his reputation back?

Where’s the rest of me…?

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In the days following President Joe Biden’s disastrous performance on the debate stage in Atlanta, news story after news analysis have informed us that the fate of the Biden presidency—and, one supposes, the fate of the nation—depends now on Dr. Jill Biden. It is she, we are told, whose opinion will determine her husband’s fate. And Dr. Jill is standing by her man, rejecting any suggestion that Joe should end his reelection bid and permit the Democratic Party to choose another 2024 standard bearer.

But ours is not a government of men (and women). It’s not a government of husbands and wives or extended families. It’s a government of law—law which incorporates provisions to deal with the extraordinary and dangerous crisis into which we have been plunged by the Biden Administration.

I’ve never thought much of Joe Biden, and as president he has far exceeded my low expectations. But even so, it’s painful to contemplate his present situation. I suspect that in his heart of hearts, the President knows it’s all over for him, that he can’t go on, that for the good of the country he must bow out. Warring against that knowledge is pride and stubbornness. One hopes that Biden heeds the example of Richard Nixon, who in the end, against all his instincts, accepted the necessity of resignation.

It’s by no means certain that he will.

Margaret Thatcher once remarked that doing the right thing is often the expedient option as well. Assuming that the Democratic Party does the right thing by kicking Biden to the curb, will it prove to be the expedient option as well? I’m not so sure. The coverup of the President’s incapacity by the White House inner circle, colluded in by many senior Democrats, facilitated by a compliant media, is a huge political scandal. The damage it caused to the Democratic Party and the nation is not, I believe, fully appreciated. Can the Dems put it in the rearview mirror just by getting rid of Joe Biden? Suppose, for instance, that Kamala Harris replaces Biden as the party’s standard bearer. The very first questions for her will be: How much did you know about President Biden’s condition? How long have you known about it? Those would be awkward questions indeed, especially given the Vice President’s propensity for large servings of word salad.

But such political issues are of secondary importance. What really matters is that Joe Biden’s incapacity and the attempt to cover it up have placed our country in grave danger. In effect, we have no president. Multiple crises are erupting around the world, and we have no leadership. The threat of war looms over us, and we have no commander-in-chief.

Apologists for the people who put America in this position say: Well, let’s not exaggerate. Biden’s got good advisers and they can pick up the slack. No. No! A cabal of senior advisors propping up a galvanized corpse is no substitute for an energetic presidency. It is, on the contrary, a subversion of the constitutional order—especially in this case, where the same people who engineered the coverup and colluded in it are the “good advisers.” They knew. Think about that. How can such people, how can the Democratic Party, expect us to believe that they’re defending “our democracy”?

Robert Hur could be forgiven for indulging in a bit of schadenfreude at this moment. All those who denounced him as a tool of the Great Fascist MAGA Conspiracy now stand revealed as conspirators themselves.

So what happens now? The only way out is through, as Robert Frost so trenchantly put it. Joe Biden must step aside; it’s as simple as that. And if he can’t be persuaded to go voluntarily, the Vice President, the Cabinet, and Congress must remove him from office. The 25th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States gives them the authority to do so. Yes, it would kindle a political firestorm and yes, it might fracture the already divided Democratic Party. But for the good of the country, Joe must go.

Kamala Harris believes that she has what it takes to be president. Now the test of that belief is upon her. If she refuses to do her plain duty, the Vice President will stand revealed as one more vainglorious third-rate politician with delusions of greatness.