Column By Mike Bibb
Everyone gets sleepy now and then. Joe Biden, on the other hand, seems to doze off more frequently than most.
Maybe, it’s the weight of responsibility upon the shoulders of “The most powerful man in the world.”
I’ll be charitable and assume that’s the case.
It isn’t exactly a state secret Joe has a tendency to nap during meetings and official government functions. His filmed visit with the Maui, Hawaii fire victims showed him nodding off during a conference with the citizens and representatives of the island.
His tour lasted only about five hours. The rest of the time he was onboard Air Force One, flying to Hawaii and back to Lake Tahoe to resume another vacation.
I would imagine, he probably grabbed a little shut-eye en route to both places.
His frequent jaunts to Delaware beaches are filmed by numerous news agencies and inquisitive individuals with camera phones. In almost all instances, Joe is caught reclining in a beach chair — sometimes, under the shade of a canopy – catching 40, 80, or 120 winks.
It appears he needs a brief siesta to recover from the previous siesta.
However, his most recent five-day travels in India and North Vietnam, where he met with officials of the G20 governments, must have been too much for Joe to handle.
During his speech in Hanoi, Vietnam, Joe rambled and stammered about John Wayne, Indians, cowboys, dog-face pony soldiers, and insisting global warming increasing 1.5 degrees is more frightening than nuclear war.
Stuff most Southeast Asians have probably never really considered adversely affecting their lives.
Then, he concluded the press interview by announcing, “But I tell you what, I don’t know about you, but I’m going to go to bed.”
Shortly after a nonsensical comment about Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Joe’s press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, cut Joe’s microphone and ended the interview – announcing, “Thank, thank you, everybody.”
Biden was led from the speaker’s podium and the media conference was over.
Whoa, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a press secretary intentionally shut down a presidential news interview, and doing it in such a dramatic manner.
Not certain what prompted her reaction, other than Joe’s mindless comments about various things, including a rise of only 1.5 degrees in the planet’s temperature would be worse than the heat coming from a 2,000-degree thermo-nuclear explosion.
That one is a little difficult to comprehend. At least, for me.
I guess it was for Jean-Pierre, too.
Presumably, being exhausted from the long flights and official goings-on of the G20 meetings, Joe headed to his private room for a good sleep.
The next day would be the 22nd anniversary of the 9-11-01 terrorist attacks. Unfortunately, Joe couldn’t make it home in time to commemorate the occasion.
Instead, he mentioned it at an Air Force base in Anchorage, Alaska, where he stopped for a two-hour refueling of Air Force One.
Anchorage is a long way from ground zero in New York City, Washington, D.C., Shanksville, Penn., or the graves of 3,000 American citizens killed in the attacks.
To Joe, it probably doesn’t matter since — at nearly 81 years of age — he looks to be having increasing difficulties realizing where he is on any given day.
Little wonder VP Kamala Harris remarked she is prepared to occupy the Oval Office should something happen to Joe.
Not everyone thinks that’s a good idea. Including, liberal Washington Post opinion columnist David Ignatius, who wrote on Sept. 12, 2023, that Biden and Harris should consider dropping out of the 2024 race because of “two big liabilities” — his age and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden’s frequent mental missteps and Harris’ abysmal poll numbers — actually, worse than Joe’s — are two topics the public is most concerned with.
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program, Sept. 14, 2023, cohosted by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brezinski, commented that Democrats they’ve talked to universally believe Joe is “too old to run” for reelection.
A polite way of saying Joe’s incompetency is due to his advancing age. Maybe, but Joe has never been the brightest star in the political heavens — at any age. Just ask his former boss, Barack Obama.
“We often will complain about Republicans who will say one thing about Donald Trump off the air and another on air,” Scarbrough remarked. “Well, let me just say, Democrats, off the air, will say ‘Joe Biden’s too old. Why is he running?’ On the air? They won’t say that.”
However, the Democratic National Committee is committed, for now, to staying the course with Joe and Kamala. The DNC won’t even talk to Democrat Robert Kennedy Jr., who is gradually gaining in popularity. Nor has the DNC approved any debates between potential Democrat or Republican presidential candidates.
This election season, Joe will remain isolated from the normal political campaign process. No questions, no debates, and no incoherent replies.
Perhaps, they’re relying on Biden’s Department of Justice to toss Trump in jail, leaving Joe and Kamala an obstructed path back to the White House in 2024.
At the same time, Joe is facing a possible impeachment proceeding, which will probably expose his alleged shady dealings with foreign governments and wealthy business interests. How he accumulated at least $20 million on a government salary will, undoubtedly, be one of the questions he will have to explain.
Unless he pleads the 5th.
That is if he can manage to stay awake.
On a side topic, a little 9-11 trivia: Does anyone remember in 2010 a rather large section of a wooden ship’s hull was discovered buried 25 feet below the surface of the World Trade Center’s debris field? Because of the type of wood used, it is believed the ship was constructed in Philadelphia in about 1773, as similar wood was used in various buildings in that community.
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
