We all see it. We all know it. But will the president act in the country’s best interests?
President Joe Biden should resign.
We have known for some time that the president is infirm, but infirmity goes to physical capacity. He moves stiffly. He tires. Public events are rare and always fraught.
The president is now also revealed as impaired. He cannot remember basic facts. He cannot deliver even the simplest line. Reports of his angry temper and his profanity are consistent, if not with dementia, then certainly with an ability to weigh and judge important matters with a calm and coherent mind.
Most Americans have sympathy for the aging, the infirm and the impaired. Many have themselves had to deal with aging parents or friends. Very few churches do not have beloved octogenarians, for whom younger adults are eager to be solicitous and of help. Most Americans have fond memories of grandparents who, when on their game, provide unconditional love and encouragement. None of that has anything to do with a very old man showing that age being president.
There are some jobs in the federal government that can be handled even by the 80-somethings. Many senators have ambled through an unofficial retirement while casting votes in accordance with the suggestions of their party’s leadership. Senators Storm Thurmond and Dianne Feinstein, for example, stayed on in the Senate long past their ability to process information —a very different situation from that of, say, Senator Chuck Grassley who at 90 may not sprint down the marbled halls but knows exactly where he’s going and what he intends to get done.