Situations have ended sad, relationships have all gone bad

A few late-night thoughts on today’s developments:

(1) Biden’s ABC interview featured this gem, which I’m wondering how many members of the Joe Biden Martyrs Brigade are willing to defend:

Perhaps the most revealing answer came when Mr. Biden was asked about how he would feel if Mr. Trump were being sworn in as president in January.

“I’ll feel as long as I gave it my all, and I did the goodest job as I know I can do, that’s what this is about,” Mr. Biden said.

This election is about an existential threat to American democracy, but if Joe gave it the old college try he’s going to be cool with it.

(2) As of three days ago I was basically agnostic on the question of whether Biden should withdraw from the race — I was certainly less sure about this than Scott and Erik appeared to be (BTW, the belief among various commenters that the front pagers have all gotten together and decided to collectively do their best to bring down Biden’s presidency is a reminder that the paranoid style isn’t just a band).

Then I spoke to four prominent neurologists directly, and got the opinion of maybe 20 of their colleagues indirectly, via the comments of those I spoke to regarding what those colleagues were thinking, and my views changed dramatically. The idea that a now four-month old clean bill of health from a White House employee ,who has no expertise in neurology or movement disorders, should count for much in this situation isn’t one I take very seriously — hence my altered opinion regarding this matter.

(3) If Biden withdraws it will be because the party’s elites will have abandoned him, not because of anything that gets posted at LGM. I personally don’t think that Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jefferies et. al., are prone to panic and hysteria. If the leaders of the Democratic party abandon Biden it will be because they think the situation is sufficiently dire to justify such a radical move at this late date. And the situation is dire because Biden’s public appearances are for the most part exacerbating concerns about his apparent decline, rather than assuaging them.

This is from a radio interview he did with a completely non-confrontational host at a Black radio station in Philadelphia yesterday:

Biden at one point also claimed, “I’m proud to be, as I said, the first vice president, first Black woman, to serve with a Black president.”

He also said, when speaking about discrimination against Catholics, that he was “the first president [who} got elected statewide in the state of Delaware” when he apparently meant he was the first Catholic elected to statewide office.

This is in a totally non-hostile low pressure environment, when he knows every word he’s saying is now being picked over.

(4) I think it’s quite telling how little the White House has done to try to put Biden in situations that could reassure people about his cognitive state in the eight days since the debate disaster. That two weeks are going to pass before he even holds a press conference speaks volumes about the level of confidence the people around him currently have.

(5) This is a horrible situation with no good options. It’s understandable that people are extremely upset, as indeed I am. Still, the level of sheer denial in the commentariat here has taken me aback.