Joe Biden’s cognitive deficits are increasingly apparent, even to the most amateur observer.
Whether he has dementia at this point is immaterial. Half the world thinks he does and that weakens the United States and imperils us all.
Whether he is falling up the stairs of Air Force One or falling off a stationary bike, whether he is wandering around on stage in a fog or clutching cheat sheets designed for a 4-year-old, whether he is shouting incoherently or whispering creepily, the optics are shocking.
With his 80th birthday approaching next month, even if most Americans are too polite or willfully unobservant to say so, it’s clear that Biden is not up to the world’s most difficult job.
He projects weakness and folly at a time of international turmoil. Disrespect for the president echoes around the world, among allies and enemies alike.
Even when he went to London last month for the Queen’s funeral, people were filmed yelling, “Let’s go, Brandon” at his passing limousine. He and first lady Jill Biden arrived late to Westminster Abbey and, after they were ushered to the cheap seats 14 rows back, he was mocked for playing with his tongue during the service.
It’s criminal that the Democratic Party has placed America in such an invidious position with an emotionally febrile part-time president who appears not to be all there an awful lot — either in his mind or at the White House. The least they could do is cover up his deficits more skillfully.
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Who’s to blame
It is at least a staff failure that Biden is left to wander around confused in front of the cameras. Why isn’t a minder always at his side to subtly steer him off stage?
He keeps looking to Secret Service agents to step in and guide him. But it’s not their job to play nursemaid.
It’s also a wife failure. Dr. Jill ought to be saving her husband’s dignity, but she always looks out of sorts when she is in place to perform the role, whether it’s telling him what direction to walk in the Rose Garden or helping him put on a jacket at the airport.
It’s not easy, as anyone knows who has experienced the aging of a loved one. But Nancy Reagan would never have allowed her husband to be repeatedly humiliated in public.
At stake is the nation’s honor, at least.
