It’s Eve. Whether Biden and his allies are willing to face it or not, he is in a bloody battle for survival. Politically, there is no way to get out of this situation alive. Media and pundits continue to chant the demand that Biden should not run in 2024. The criticism expressed as concern has reached the level of a legitimacy crisis.
A big element of the campaign trying to stick and twist the knife is making it irrefutable that Biden didn’t just have a bad night, but has been deteriorating for some time. Tom Neuberger gives several examples from the historically Biden-friendly CNN and the influential Politico.
Add to this even starker warnings from intelligence officials who were in a position to keep a close eye on Biden. CIA whisperer Cy Hirsch wrote earlier this week: (emphasis added):
The real shame is not just for Biden, but for the men and women around him who have increasingly covered him up. He is a prisoner of war. He has deteriorated rapidly over the past six months.I’ve been hearing for months from former friends in the Senate that the president is becoming more isolated. They’ve noticed that he’s not available to take calls. Another old family friend, from whom Biden has sought help on important matters since his days as vice president, told me of a plaintive phone call from the president months ago. Biden said the White House was in chaos and he needed his friend’s help. The friend said he refused, telling me with a laugh, “I’d rather have a root canal every day than work there.” A longtime senator colleague was invited by Biden to travel abroad, and the two played cards and drank alcohol on their way out on Air Force One. The senator was barred by Biden’s staff from flying home with him.
And one more data point: Tucker’s glee in talking about Biden’s decline is unseemly. But don’t let the noise drown out his signal. In comments and emails, readers told me that European and Chinese media have been reporting relentlessly on Biden’s condition, so his debate performance came as less of a surprise abroad than it did at home.
MUST SEE: Tucker Carlson talks about Democrats’ surprise after the 2019 debate when claims spread that Joe Biden had dementia and no action was taken. #TuckerCarlson #Biden pic.twitter.com/aWKmSjix3p
— Prince Carlton 🇺🇸 (@_PrinceCarlton_) June 30, 2024
On the topic of foreign media outlets being less than discreet, despite Sky News being part of the Murdoch empire, this new clip is pretty spot on.
Now, for the main event.
By Thomas Neuburger. Originally published in God’s Spy
This will be a short one for a holiday weekend, but I’ll cover one of the two big stories this week: the explosion of media concern over Biden’s condition after years of consistent denials.
The other big news story this week is what’s going on at the Supreme Court and how it relates to the Project 2025 plan, which I’ll save for more thoughtful coverage. Here is a quick summaryBut the topic is huge.
Hint: I will deviate from most people’s analysis and give a more specific analysis. This country is Not a Republic For now. But who are we?
Alignment of Project 2025 with the following decisions: Dobbs Through Trump It offers a startlingly clear picture of where we are headed, even as rulers change.
After literally years of in-depth study, I think I finally understand how all the elements of the right wing fit together, and it’s just as bad as what you’ve heard, but it’s not. And we’ve been down this road longer than most of you have been alive.
But that’s for later. Stay tuned.
Link
All these links are integrated together. Add to previous post.
• Carl Bernstein: Sources say concerns about Biden have been building for a year(CNN)
This is significant because it speaks to a White House cover-up: It is not clear who knew and who didn’t, but Biden’s deteriorating condition was widely known, not just by a knowledgeable few.
Well, these are people who are very close to President Biden, who love him, who have supported him, and some of them have raised a lot of money for him.
And they assert that the Joe Biden we saw the other night was not a one-off, but that there have been 15 or 20 times over the last year and a half where the president has presented a similar appearance to the horror show we just witnessed.
And the question is, who is making this statement, and how many people in the president’s circle are aware of these incidents, including, by the way, reporters who witnessed some of them.
But tonight (when the President delivered his prepared remarks), we see President Biden at his very best, as these people say.
But those who support him, who love him, who campaign for him and see him frequently say that his cognitive decline and physical frailty have become especially evident over the past six months.
But that’s not all there is to the interview. If you haven’t seen it yet, please do so. Note that it says “journalists also participated.” This confirms the lie.
A file called “How awful.”
• ‘We all brought this on’: Democrats attack Biden’s inside story after debate (Politico)
For those wondering who is acting as the gatekeeper when Biden is unwell, or, colloquially, “who is running the show,” this Politico article names some key players. It’s a nerve-wracking journey to get there, but read on.
President Joe Biden’s small circle of advisers has surrounded him with an increasingly protective circle throughout his presidency, limiting his exposure to the media and outside advice — an effort to manage public perception of the longest-serving person ever to hold the presidency and to keep a tight rein on his political activities.
But inside the White House, Mr. Biden’s limitations were becoming clear long before his emotional outburst at last week’s debate, and the president has become more tightly controlled by his senior team as his term continues. In meetings with aides putting together a formal report to present to Mr. Biden, some senior staffers went to great pains to cherry-pick the information they presented to avoid provoking a negative reaction.
“It’s like, ‘Don’t put that in, he’ll get mad’ or ‘Put that in, he loves it,'” one senior administration official said. “It’s a Rorschach test, it’s not a briefing, because he’s not a pleasant person to be around when he’s being briefed. It’s very difficult and people are extremely afraid of him.”
Here’s the opening paragraph: Notice how in the second paragraph we inexplicably switch from a focus on “the management of the president by his senior team” to saying that the president’s temperament “is deeply frightening to the public.”
Apparently Politico wanted to slip this second idea into the opening paragraph, but didn’t say why. Incidentally, Politico wasn’t the first to come up with the idea. Commenting on Biden’s anger.
As for who is behind the obstruction and perhaps acting as Biden’s regent at times, Politico provides the answer later in the article (emphasis added):
No one has done more to isolate the president and shield him from tough conversations than his wife, the First Lady. Jill Bidenand her sister, Valerie Biden Owens.
(…)
A Democratic official who is in frequent contact with the White House and campaign said the proposal could be quickly rejected. “If I’m talking to the White House or the campaign, Anita (Dan)and then when I ask, ‘What about X?’ she immediately says, ‘The president wouldn’t do that. No way.’ It closes down options, but it also allows them to act more quickly because they know the president well.”
(…)
From the first months of his term, Biden was carefully managed by the first lady’s senior advisers. Anthony BernalDeputy Chief of Staff Annie Tomasini, (Ron) Crane After spending much of the campaign at his Delaware home, the president remained in a protected space at the request of senior staff and family, who felt it was the best way to manage his health given the ongoing risks of COVID-19 infection and his possible reelection, according to five people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to publicly discuss internal decisions.
In particular, Mr. Bernal and Mr. Tomasini have developed very close relationships with the President and the First Lady. (…)
In my research, the names most often cited as part of the curation team were Jill Biden, Anthony Bernal, and Annie Tommasini, but as Politico and Bernstein point out, many others knew what was going on too.
“We should tell the public, right? Right? Right?”
The fall of Athens and Rome
Before concluding, I would like to make two points.
• When the Roman Republic fell, it wasn’t a day’s job. It occurred over several generations, beginning with the reforms and murder of the Gracchi brothers in the late 2nd century BC, and continuing through Marius, Sulla, and Caesar, and over time the system itself changed, with fierce contests by both people and leaders.
We are already more than half way there. We were a republic; we are now moving on. Bush v. Gore Surveillance is not the original sin, but it is one of the original sins and it has been accepted. Bush, as you remember, was the founder of the modern surveillance state, and it has never been undone.
We are not a republic, but many deny that fact. Who are we today? Stay tuned.
Who can access Great course “History of Ancient Rome” Listen to the story of change by the excellent Garrett Fagan, start with lesson 20, and you’ll see what I mean about changing systems from systems with no way back.
• Lessons Learned by the Athenian Empire Their objective in this (literally) reckless war with Sparta was simple. You can’t have an empire abroad and maintain democracy at home.No, we can’t. Plato was devastated by the collapse of democracy, which is one of the reasons he wrote the Philosophical Books. Republic.
music
A feel-good tune by Dave Brubeck. This piece is derived from his delightful composition “Brandenburg Gate.” (You can find several live versions of it on YouTube.)
This version is “Brandenburg Gate revisited” is performed by a quartet with a full orchestra. Did you know that Brubeck was classically trained? He studied with Darius Milhaud, and it shows in this piece.
Click the image to play or use the link above. Enjoy!
