Joe Biden was never a man of principle. He was always, even at his best (which wasn't all that great), a creature of self-serving expedience. If moving his personal goal ahead required lying, he lied. If he could make a buck, laundered through family members, by peddling influence, he did so. He ran for president in 1988 and was forced out by a plagiarism scandal, but he always had his eye on the Resolute Desk.
In 2020, he finally — inexplicably — achieved that goal. And now, in the face of his own physical and mental deterioration, he seems defiantly determined to hold onto the presidency as a tick embeds itself in a dog's ear.
More and more Democrats are trying to talk him down, to convince him that the best thing for their party and their presidential hopes would be for Joe Biden to step down, to step away, to let younger, more capable Democrats (mind you, that's setting the bar really low) take over. But he's not listening.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) met with President Biden Thursday night to relay the sentiments of the House Democratic Caucus regarding his reelection bid, as concerns grow within the ranks about the incumbent’s ability to beat former President Trump in November.
The meeting — revealed in a letter to colleagues Friday morning — came after Jeffries spoke with a large swath of House Democrats in the two weeks since last month’s debate, which prompted concerns about Biden’s viability at the top of the presidential ticket. . The meeting took place after Biden’s high-stakes press conference that evening, a source familiar told The Hill.
Jeffries said he passed along the “full breadth” of thoughts he heard within his caucus.
Jeffries didn't pass on what the "full breadth" of those thoughts were, although we can very well guess. I would bet a substantial sum that the full breadth of those thoughts were along the lines of "Please, Joe, step away now."
Joe Biden clearly isn't listening.
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What's interesting is the defiant tone he is taking towards these suggestions, even from his own party. And I think I have an idea as to what is going on: Joe Biden's obsession with keeping his office, that office he tried for so many years to attain, has reached a dangerous stage. With his unreasoning defiance and his flashes of anger when he gets a question regarding his diminished capacity, it appears that the President of the United States, the man with his finger on the nuclear button, arguably the most powerful man on the planet, is in the throes of a dangerous obsession. He is, it appears, determined to stay in office no matter what the cost. Donald Trump has become his white whale; Joe Biden appears so determined to prevent a second Trump term that he is willing to destroy his party's 2024 electoral chances in the attempt.
Herman Melville, in what is one of the most tedious works of literature in American history, nonetheless presented an eloquent picture of another man trapped in just such an obsession.
Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!
There are talks of invoking the 25th Amendment, but that doesn't appear likely. The vice president and the Cabinet have to agree to move ahead with 25th Amendment proceedings. That isn't unlikely — but if Biden resists, and it sure looks as though he will, it requires a two-thirds vote of both houses of Congress to remove him. That's unlikely. Removing Joe Biden is tantamount to handing Donald Trump the 2024 election, which he is already likely to win in any case. There are certainly enough Democrats in Congress who feel they have something to gain by keeping Joe Biden as the candidate to prevent such a vote from being successful.
Joe Biden's Thursday press conference was illustrative. Watching that event was like watching a series of train wrecks rolling into a long, long row of dumpster fires. It was a disaster. It was a calamity. It was embarrassing. And throughout, Joe Biden reacted to any hint of a question about his capacity with anger and defiance.
This is not a man who is acting rationally. This is not a man who is acting with the best interests of the republic in mind. This is a man in the throes of an Ahab-like obsession, determined to hold on to the levers of power no matter what the cost, even if it means dragging his party down with him, tied to that obsession, to be towed to pieces, while still chasing his dimly-recognized goal, thou damned Trump. And if he's not removed, in November, one way or another, he will give up the spear.
