Biden on his last legs?

AS stated succinctly by the Buddha, three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon and the truth.

Last week, the stark reality of the truth was revealed to millions of people around the world during US President Joe Biden’s first live debate against challenger and ex-president Donald Trump.

The 81-year-old Democrat looked feeble and befuddled as he mumbled to finish his barely coherent sentences. At one point, he appeared to have suffered a full mental lapse and froze for about 15 seconds.

Biden’s performance was widely viewed as a debacle by most political pundits and the media, even those that are openly pro-Democrat.

Time magazine published an apt image of its bright red cover on the debate. It has the word “Panic” and a picture of Biden walking out of the frame.

A day after Biden’s disastrous showing, The New York Times wrote an editorial urging Democrats to admit that Biden was no longer capable of defeating Trump in the November presidential elections, and that they needed to find a stronger candidate to replace him.

“Voters cannot be expected to ignore what was instead plain to see: Mr Biden is not the man he was four years ago,” the editorial noted.

It added that Biden struggled to articulate his own policy position and ultimately failed to adequately counter Trump.

“There are Democratic leaders better equipped to present clear, compelling and energetic alternatives to a second Trump presidency.

“It’s too big a bet to simply hope Americans will overlook or discount Mr Biden’s age and infirmity that they see with their own eyes,” it wrote.

A poll conducted by CNN, which hosted the televised clash in Atlanta, Georgia, showed that 67% of voters who watched it felt that Trump had won.

Not that Trump came out of the face-off with flying colours, though. He ducked many of the questions and, according to fact checkers, did not tell the truth 30 times during the 90-minute debate.Cringeworthy as the debate was, it did provide some comic relief to viewers.

Most importantly, it unveiled this shocking reality: Biden is nowhere near capable of running the country, especially during this parlous period when the United States is largely funding the escalating wars in Ukraine and Palestine.

It is all the more frightening that the warring sides are displaying more intentions to intensify the conflicts than ending them.

Surely Biden’s Cabinet and the media must know that America’s commander in chief has been cognitively challenged for some time now, given the number of occasions when he has “misspoken”, wandered off course during events and even fallen on stairs, including those of Air Force One.

As Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr wrote, Biden’s dementia “is not breaking news, unless you’re not paying attention”.

“There are lies of commission – making stuff up. And then there are lies of omission – not reporting something in plain view. Biden’s senility falls into the latter category,” Carr noted.

Retired US Army colonel and former Department of Defense adviser Douglas Macgregor accused the media of working closely with the White House to conceal the truth, pointing out that “President Biden is not fit to discharge the immense duties of the presidency. The alarming evidence of his cognitive decline was on display for all to witness.”

Macgregor believes that Biden is controlled by his political advisers and allies, who have “fuelled the proxy war in Ukraine” and “eroded” US moral authority and credibility by supporting Israel in its “disproportionate actions in Gaza”.

“These actions drained our defence resources and compromised our moral standing in the world.”

According to US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, Biden’s condition has put the country in a “very dangerous situation”.

The Republican politician called for Biden to be removed from office.

“It’s not just political. It’s not just the Democratic Party. It’s the entire country. We have a serious problem here because we have a president who, by all appearances, is not up to the task,” he said.

Johnson added that Biden’s administration could force him to step down by invoking the 25th Amendment, which has never been used in US history.

It states that the vice-president and Cabinet members can vote to declare the president “unable to discharge the powers and the duties of his office”, making the VP the acting head of state.

In a bid to reassure his supporters a day after the debate, Biden acknowledged he had done poorly and portrayed himself as a tough survivor who can bounce back.

Speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina where he was more comfortable with a teleprompter, he said: “I don’t walk as easily as I used to, I don’t speak as smoothly as I used to, I don’t debate as well as I used to.

“But I know how to tell the truth. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job, I know how to get things done.”

He has also announced that he would stay in the race, but is it too late? The New York Times reported on Sunday that his key sponsors were already looking at ways to replace him.

It cited insiders as saying that discussions were being held with political advisers on “arcane rules” which may allow Biden to be forced off the 2024 ballot before the Democratic National Convention in August.

The US media and pundits have also been suggesting that several prominent Democrats could potentially replace Biden.

Among the names being speculated about are Vice-President Kamala Harris, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, in addition to two wild card candidates: Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama.

Media consultant M. Veera Pandiyan likes this quote from Napoleon Bonaparte: ‘Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.’

The views expressed here are entirely the writer’s own.