Column By Mike Bibb
It may be a rhetorical question, but is Joe Biden’s cognition under suspicion?
If so, how long has it been in doubt?
If not, why does he do the things he does?
These questions seemed to be the central theme in the House Judiciary Committee’s
hearing March 12, when Special Counsel Robert Hur commented he believed Joe was currently cognitively impaired enough to avoid prosecution for unlawfully removing classified documents over the past two decades.
Kind of a lame replay of the 2016 “Hillary defense,” in which James Comey, former Director of the FBI, declared “in spite of overwhelming evidence, no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case” – or, words to that effect.
Readers may recall Hillary had willfully destroyed thousands of emails, smashed phones, and “bleach-bit” other evidence in attempting to cover up her inappropriate behavior of using her own personal email server to send and receive classified government information.
In President Joe’s situation, he simply carried off top secret documents and records when he was a U.S. Senator and Vice President. Then, stashed them in at least eight or nine different locations, including his home’s garage.
Guess Joe may have thought he was already president at the time since only the president is lawfully permitted to remove these kinds of reports.
The problem was, he wasn’t. That wouldn’t happen until several years later.
However, no armed FBI raid took place at his house, or the other half-dozen places.
Only Trump was lucky enough to receive that special attention from Joe’s DOJ.
I wonder why?
Rep. Russel Fry (R-SC), commented on Newsmax’s “The Record with Greta Van Susteren,” Mar. 12, 2024, “We know now, based on not only just the report itself but (Robert) Hur’s testimony that Joe Biden, in nine different locations, kept classified documents. We know that he kept them for gratuitous purposes. He was clearly writing a book, and he believed that they were his. And despite 36 years in the Senate and eight years as vice president handling classified information, even knowing – his own staff, when he was vice president, had to create a memo on how to handle classified information – he continued to do so.”
Continuing, Fry said “That was the big revelation to me, and really where I pushed Mr. Hur because the willfulness doesn’t trigger now, it triggers at the time the crime was committed. So, we know that he is in a diminished mental capacity today, but when he was vice president, it was very different. And so, I ultimately disagreed with (Hur) the finding.”
Allegedly, Joe received an eight-million-dollar advance from the publisher for his book, which may have been an incentive to purloin some of the classified documents.
Actually, despite all the hyperbole, I find it almost inconceivable Joe was writing a book. More than likely, he had a ghostwriter, or someone possessing similar skills, to produce a manuscript that would make sense and have market appeal. There’s nothing in Joe’s background suggesting he had those talents.
However, Fry makes it unquestionably clear that just because Joe’s brain is muddled now, does not absolve him of the crimes he committed 15-20 years ago.
Nor, should a plea of “an elderly man with a poor memory” excuse his actions from investigation and indictment, if appropriate.
Also, I don’t believe having “presidential immunity” would protect him in this particular case. Especially, considering the larcenies were carried out before he became president.
Neither can be ignoring the evidence felony crimes have been perpetrated. Regardless of how long ago it was, or if Biden can hide – as his son has done – behind the statute of limitations.
If that was the case, a bank robber could just as easily insist since he’s now old and senile, he’s forgotten what he’s done with the money he stole years ago. As a result, there’s no need to prosecute after all this time.
Of course, such unorthodox finagling would probably require the assistance of a few friends high up the ladder in the DOJ.
Nevertheless, Joe’s gotten himself into a real pickle. Stealing classified government documents, arousing suspicion through multi-million-dollar financial deals he’s supposedly made with his son and brother with foreign individuals, and lying about it seems to be a trifecta of criminal activity going on in his public service career for decades.
In only three years, Joe’s team has managed to destroy a mostly secure southern border, presently encouraging millions of illegal migrants to enter unlawfully; twisted the economy into knots; bungled a logical response to a COVID virus; promoted rising inflation and interest rates; seen the debt increase by several trillion dollars and accelerating an additional trillion dollars every three or four months; presided over the most disorganized military retreat/withdrawal in modern history; actively spending more taxpayer money financing and supplying an ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine; assuring us he was going to be the “Great Uniter” calming the waters of a tumultuous time, while intentionally condemning nearly half of voting Americans as Nazis, White Supremist and Ku Klux Klan sympathizers; a spectator to his Department of Justice running former President Trump through the legal grinder in hopes of financially bankrupting, or imprisoning him to prevent his reelection.
Meantime, the same DOJ remains mute as Joe shuffles and mumbles his way to the Oval Office. Apparently, incapable of remembering what he was doing between the years 2009 and 2016.
“When did I stop being vice president?” he asked. – Time Magazine, Feb. 8, 2024
Oh boy, what can we expect from “an elderly man with a poor memory?”
Obviously, not much. Certainly, not enough to grant him four more years of worsening delusional behavior and mayhem in demolishing a once prosperous and productive society.
Joe may be confused over what he was doing a few years ago – or, even yesterday – but there’s a whole lot of us who remember.
And, we don’t need a government Special Prosecutor spinning ridiculous tales to remind us. Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, will give a more accurate accounting of how many millions of voters recall exactly what Joe has been up to!
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
