Not competent to run again for president, Biden can still okay Ukraine firing U.S. missiles into Russia.

President Bident has given a green light for Ukraine to fire long-range strikes into Russia using Amerian-provided missiles. “This escalates tensions to a qualitatively new level,” the Kremlin’s spokesman told reporters. Biden’s advisors were apparently divided on the decision—but who had the final say? The President?

It’s not clear that Moscow’s reaction will be any more than bluster. But the fact is that it is an important change in American policy in a very dangerous part of the world. What I find remarkable is that it was undertaken by a President who two months ago agreed not to run again for office because of his obvious diminished capacities. In a substack in Seormber I asked, how he could still be permitted to head the world’s most powerful nation? Because of this latest development, I’m reposting my previous post—repeating the same question.

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Remember how delighted we were when they convinced President Biden to step aside? How thankful we were when he announced he would no longer run for another term.  We cheered his patriotism, his self-sacrifice. He had finally recognized that his capacities had diminished. For the sake of the nation, he was bowing out.

"We all breathed a huger sigh of relief. During the debate, he looked like a paralyzed deer trapped in the headlights of an oncoming car. There was no way he would ever hold his own in a bruising campaign against Donald Trump. And if by some miracle he defeated Trump, he could never be trusted again with the enormous responsibilities of the Oval Office.

Reason and patriotism had won out. America was saved

But wait—Biden is still there. That same man, who appalled us all with his disastrous performance-- that same man still makes the critical decisions for the most powerful nation on the planet. And he will keep on making them that for another four months.

Amazing how everyone’s avoiding talking about the elephant in the room. If Biden was as indeed diminished as he appeared in that debate, how on earth can he be allowed to continue as President?

Of course, he should; his supporters flare back. Most of the time, he’s in great shape. The same good old Joe—particularly if you get him before six P.M. After all he has done for this country, how dare anyone suggest this final humiliation?

In any case, it’s just four more months.

But four months can be an eternity. The world‘s affairs evolve at breakneck speed. Each day, the American President is confronted with grim decisions that can be fateful for the United States and the entire world.

Just this week, for instance, Keir Starmer, Britain’s Prime Minister, flew to Washington to confer with Biden about permitting Ukraine to fire Western-made missiles deep into Russia. Ukraine’s desperate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy demands an immediate decision. But Putin warns such attacks will bring massive reprisals. It would mean that NATO had declared war on Russia, he said.

Is he bluffing? Is it time instead to oblige Zelenskyy to enter serious negotiations with Moscow? What will the U.S. and Europe do if Putin carries out his threats? It’s an incredibly precarious moment—perhaps the most ominous since Russia invaded Ukraine.

A decision has to be made. There is little time. We are told that President Biden is pondering the options. But which Joe Biden? The one we all saw virtually incoherent, gaping blankly at Trump?  Or a clearheaded, articulate, experienced statesman?

Could the answer depend on the hour of the day?

Picture the scene: It’s three A.M. in Washington. Anthony Blinken, Bidens’s Secretary of State, races to the White House. He demands an immediate meeting with the sleeping President. Biden is awoken. Five minutes later, he stares bleary-eyed across a small conference table at Blinken.

“Mr. President,” says Blinken, “the Russians have just launched a tactical nuclear missile at Ukraine. Putin says it’s just a warning. But there could be more to come unless Zelensky immediately surrenders. And if any Nato country retaliates, he says, that will mean all-out war!”

Still groggy, his hair disheveled, Biden gapes at Blinken. It’s unclear if he understands the situation.  “Mr. President,” says Blinken desperately, “you have an immediate decision to make…...Mr.President, did you hear me?”

Or. Bibi Netanyahu has just called Blinken in the middle of the night. The Israeli Prime Minister has reliable intelligence that the leader of  Hezbollah is in Tehran for a conference with the head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. They’ll be in the same guest house for the next three hours. It’s the perfect opportunity to get them both. Netanyahu is authorizing a missile strike to take them out. He wants to be assured of U.S. backing.

 Blinken is alarmed. “Bibi’s pushing us too far,” he says. Privately, he’s worried that Netanyahu thinks the fading American President is a pushover.

“Mr. President,” says Blinken with alarm. “This could mean an all-out war in the Middle East. We need you to call Netanyahu immediately. You’ve got to be tough. You’ve got to talk him out of this craziness. Do you agree--Mr. President?

Or, say that the urgent 3 a.m. visit from Blinken is to announce the Chinese attack on a small island off the coast of Taiwan.

The sinking of an American destroyer by Houthi rebels from Yemen.

The question again…how can we be assured that Biden can still make tough, clear-headed decisions—and handle the crises that will undoubtedly continue to confront the U.S. over the coming months?

Who can assure us? 

We can no longer trust the people who should know—those with daily access to the President—his wife, his family, his doctors, top White House staff, and Kamala Harris. They must have realized long before the fateful debate that Joe Biden was no longer the man he had once been. Instead of sounding the alarm, they hid that fact from the world. Until they no longer could.

For some reason, however, the mainstream media and most Democrats have decided that Biden’s capabilities are no longer an issue.  Instead, they’ve turned their fire on the Republicans, right-wing media, and the people closest to Trump. 

Ironically, the charge is the same—and indisputably true.  Put plainly, Trump has gone bonkers. But his backers, including some of the most powerful and wealthiest men in America, are doing everything possible to deny and cover up the unhinged state of their candidate.

If Trump wins, we will witness one seriously impaired president replaced by another even more dangerously dysfunctional leader. Probably psychotic.

How could such a catastrophe be avoided?

By having a politically neutral group of psychiatrists conduct a regular examination of the American President—and any candidate running for that high office.

Will it happen?

You’re kidding.

You have to admit, the situation is incredible. It would make a great TV Series. Or a Shakespearean tragedy.

Except the tragedy is for real.

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