The Blame Game: Who’s Responsible for Our National Nightmare?

It’s the day after the day after, and much of America is still reeling from a shocking debate performance by President Joe Biden. It was humiliating for him and an embarrassment for the nation. Anyone who has ever served as a leader in any capacity knows that at times like these, someone must step up to the plate and take responsibility because it's vital to learn from our mistakes in order to avoid repeating them. So, who is to blame for placing a man with obvious signs of dementia on the world stage only to make a fool of himself?

Rambling, mumbling, checked out for long periods, and just plain confused, the president of the free world, arguably the most powerful man on Earth – a man with the nuclear football by his side 24 hours a day – was having a great deal of difficulty making sense. Even an objective observer might have thought they were watching a Saturday Night Live skit, expecting the Democratic standard bearer to turn to the camera and shout, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

It would be comical were it not so profoundly sad.

National Nightmare – Suspect Number One

Heading up this list of those responsible for putting an ailing president in this position, one must pivot to the helpmate, the protector, the woman who promised “to love and cherish in sickness and in health” – Dr. Jill Biden. Over the last 48 hours, cable news networks have been shoving microphones into the faces of ordinary Americans, asking for their reaction to Mr. Biden’s performance. Not ones to be easily bamboozled, members of the public have often pointed the finger at Dr. Jill. Mean as it may sound, the president’s wife needs to bear at least some of the responsibility, if not the lion’s share, for what can only be termed as elder abuse.

What on Earth was she thinking?

As the person closest to the president, Dr. Jill knows her husband of 47 years inside and out. She likely has had conversations with the president’s personal physician and learned to make accommodations for his tragic, chronic condition. Why, then, would she agree to prop him up like Howdy Doody on a stage with no ventriloquist in sight? One could argue that Jill is so used to the medically compromised Joe Biden that she doesn’t even see it any longer. But this beggars belief.

Anyone who has had even one conversation with someone suffering from dementia intuitively understands that a hoarse, whispering voice spewing incomprehensible thoughts is part and parcel of this disease. Liberty Nation News has written extensively about the various symptoms of Mr. Biden’s malady – not to be malicious, but to tell the truth about the condition of the president. Does Dr. Jill love the trappings of the White House so much that it’s worth eviscerating her husband’s dignity before 100 million people?

It’s not like these are uncharted waters: Jill Biden could have taken a page out of Nancy Reagan’s playbook. Knowing her husband was losing it, Mr. and Mrs. Reagan decided the proper thing to do was have the president pen a personal message to the American people. After making the hard decision to say goodbye, the president rode quietly – with dignity – into the sunset. And if that wasn’t enough of an example for Jill, perhaps she could have looked across the pond and found another instance of poise when Queen Elizabeth II gracefully tried to run cover for the ailing Margaret Thatcher.

Yes, examples abound of how not to publicly expose a loved one to the indignities that come with dementia. Dr. Jill may be to blame for putting her husband in such a tight spot, but she is not the only one who should bear the guilt for such a shameful and unloving act.

The Leftist Media

For months – no, actually, for years – those on the right have been watching Mr. Biden struggle through the demands of the presidency while suffering from a chronic and degenerative disease. Complicit in this cover-up are the members of the leftist press. They’ve been running interference for the commander-in-chief since before he took office.

Mid-debate, the Biden campaign floated the urgent message that the president was suffering from a cold. But the progressive media, finally and fully awakened from their slumber, were not buying the spin. An ordinary head cold could not explain Mr. Biden’s uneven performance and they finally saw that the jig was up. This was not a cheap fake; this was a national nightmare.

Thus, watching the medically compromised and cognitively impaired Mr. Biden came as a shock to those who get their news from leftist sources. The progressive news glitterati claimed their phones were blowing up during the debate, replete with phrases like “Freaking out!” and “Panicked.” Their presidential hopes in shambles, it didn't take long before talk of dumping good old Joe from the Democratic ticket was being seriously considered.

It’s difficult to ascertain when the media began running cover for Mr. Biden, but their abject hatred of his opponent opened the door to their duplicity, and once it began, it was hard to stop. Their lies became a runaway freight train – but they ran out of track on Thursday. When the media starts covering up the facts in deference to its preferences, it is complicit in shielding people from the truth. This is precisely why the news has become balkanized, much to the detriment of the public at large.

The consequences of a cover-up are now coming home to roost. As the national nightmare unfolded in real time on Thursday night, the shrill lamentations of the leftist cable TV commentariat were heard from coast to coast. Indeed, they are in a pickle, wondering if there is a way to get their guy to bow out gracefully or decide to ride the horse they brought to the racetrack all the way to the finish line. Either way, both Dr. Jill and the leftist media must take some responsibility for treating Joe Biden as a commodity to use up and throw away. No matter how one feels about his politics, his character, and his public performance, he is a human being who should not have to suffer every indignity of his illness in the public square. The other injured party, it must be said, are the American people who deserve better. Shame on those who allowed this to happen.