Let me state right upfront that I am truly, deeply sorry for the diagnosis and suffering that former President Biden and his family have been dealing with. No one–and I mean NO ONE–deserves such a fate, and I say that with empathy having known folks who have battled a milder form of the prostate cancer that apparently has spread to his bones. No, not even two unbelivably moronic people who share the same name that somehow think a doctor of education should have diagnosed something in Stage Five. Maybe something only slightly less painful.
But that said, anyone who suggests that this turn of events would be sufficient reason for Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson to abort their promotion of their much-awaited book that chronicles the decline and ultimately the fall of his presidency, ORIGINAL SIN, which was roughly 24 hours from wide release when the Associated Press broke the news of his cancer, is guilty of exactly the same kind of mollycoddling and denial that has ultimately led to tragic events involving people who are allowed to stick around and keep drinking well past their limit.
In some of the book’s more mundane anecdotes, the authors, respected correspondents for CNN and AXIOS, respectively, cite several examples of lesser politicans, doctors and even agents who ruefully compare the mannerisms and behavior that Biden exhibited–some going back even before he officially declared his candidacy for the 2020 election–as eerily reminiscent of those they saw in their aging parents. Memory lapses, repetitive stories, physical fraility. The comparisons to their grandparents who were given the car keys one too many times. I for one saw that in my own father even though he was never actually diagnosed with anything like Alzheimer’s; the prostate cancer that he was diagnosed with shortly before he died was nowhere near as severe as Biden’s case. So I can indeed identify with the level of frustration and disbelief that so many expressed when they were given access to him–especially those that had gone months or years since their last interaction.
We are treated to several stories of how Biden’s stubborn old coot, “Scranton Joe” personality and never-say-die ‘tude intimidated his staffers and his handlers, and ultimately many of the calls that led him down the path to his ill-fated bid for a second term–a pattern captured in detail in the very first provocatively titled chapter entitled “He Totally Fucked Us”–were his. We did know about many of them and yes, now may not be the ideal time to dredge up those missteps.
But may I please ask anyone who has used media to question if Tapper and Thompson are somehow guilty of sins on the same level for pressing forward–and I’m looking straight back at you, Jon Stewart, as well as anyone else who has pleaded for a moving train to be shut down at the very last moment–if Grandpa’s ill-advised drive had caused an accident which resulted in permanent damage to someone and/or some thing, what would you have said to the victims to defend your viewpoint? Would you have been able to even offer them counsel? Most of all, would you have had the ability for introspection to examine how you may have contributed to that outcome?
Judging by the childish and condescending behavior we’ve seen in the Oval Office over the last few months, most recently as late as today when the schmo who uses the Resolute Desk as a de facto podium turned yet another discussion with a fellow world leader into an ambush that the likes of which have not been seen on daytime television since Maury Povich revealed the results of DNA tests , let alone the tariffs, banning and chastizing of news reporters and, worst of all, the overnight House votes with proverbial guns aimed at representatives’ heads that will ultimately strip people of life-saving benefits, I’d contend a lot of permanent damage has already been done.
Once again, the book does rehash a whole lot of old news, including the outsized role Dr. Jill and tormented son Hunter played in this. The authors cite several instances where the two were as addicted to the power and fame that came along with the presidency as any substance which Hunter pledged allegiance to, in particular in the waning days of pop’s vice presidency and triggered by his brother’s ultimately death from brain cancer at the tragic age of 46. But they also introduce some previously lesser known contributors who, last I heard, aren’t suffering from any sort of potentially fatal illness. USA TODAY’s Davis Winkie and Bart Jansen lets us in on who a few more significant ones are:
The book’s authors point the finger at “the Politburo” − a nickname for Biden’s four closest advisers: Mike Donilon, Bruce Reed, Steve Ricchetti, and later Ron Klain − for simultaneously gatekeeping and shielding the president, who grew increasingly cloistered during his term. The president reportedly limited his meetings to the Politburo and his “top national security aides.” There was clearly a deliberate strategy by the White House to have him meet with as few people as necessary,” one Cabinet member said. The group had financial and familial incentives, the authors reported. Ricchetti, Donilon, and Reed each had one or more children or nieces on staff in the executive branch. And Donilon, according to the book, demanded “approximately $4 million” to leave the White House and advise Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign, an arrangement that reportedly “outraged” senior staff, During the campaign, even after the disastrous debate performance that put the spotlight on Biden’s declining mental acuity, the Politburo repeatedly told the president that he had a path to victory.
MEAWW’s Conrad Dias threw a coupla more names in Dr. Jill’s world onto this pyre that caught my attention and ire as well:
(I)mportant figures such as senior adviser Anthony Bernal and deputy chief of staff Annie Tomasini reportedly had access to the POTUS’ private residence, and the junior officials feared them.
“As Jill’s power rose, so did Bernal’s. Biden aides would say that she was one of the most powerful first ladies in history, and as a result, he became one of the most influential people in the White House,” the book mentioned.
Funny, virtually no one I know who has spent the better part of the last eight months frantically regurgitating increasingly lengthy and niggly posts from anyone following every action and reaction of Trumpworld, and in particular the ringleader-in-chief, mentioned any of these politically and financially motivated egotists at any point–even after their guy did finally leave the race after crapping the bed in his June 27 debate, leaving their party behind a large enough 8 ball and scant little time to effectively turn who said Politburo dismissed as a weak, ill-equipped alternative into someone a plurality of America was willing to vote for.
So in light of the most recent events, I cast my stones squarely in the direction of Donilon, Reed, Richetti, Klain and Bernal, as well as some other bit players that Tapper and Thompson tell us about. And yes, in spite of my own severe financial challenges I found a few spare shekels to send their way–mind you, it’s a Kindle copy. Because all these authors are doing is following the leads of those they are covering–now AND then. Anything for money, right?
Should they have come forth sooner? While the story was unfolding and not as concrete? Would their employers have allowed it to be told? Would they have had the courage to go rogue? And even if they did, would enough of YOU have paid attention? Particularly the ones that are still questioning whether this was the moment to tell it at all?
To those of you who literally can’t stop screaming to the choir your angst and anguish, your fierce determination to not be silenced no matter what–as if anyone on the other side actually is paying attention–where the heck were YOU and the underground fact-checkers and sources you can’t stop sharing last summer and fall? At the time when people were actually still making up their minds to vote?
And to that Politburo–you’re not all that different from the clown college currently frolicking around the White House. You’re all trying to protect a mentally declining senior citizen from themselves, let alone us. Say this much for the enablers surrounding Fat Orange Jesus–they may be everything you so rightfully feared, but they are far better at their jobs than you were.
So sorry not sorry, I’m recommending people find a few shekels of their own and make this a holiday weekend read. It would be yet another sin if you didn’t.
Until next time…