Can Two Things be True at the Same Time?

Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson recently wrote a book called Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. Based on the title outlines, those closest to him covered his physical and mental decline and Biden's disastrous decision to run again in 2024. Even though these authors interviewed over 200 individuals who had close contact with Biden over the last several years, I won't automatically believe everything written in this book. Considering there has been some controversy about publishing a book post-mortem, it's essential to have a critical eye on what was written.

However, the book describes that some in Biden's inner circle and some U.S. Senators experienced some of Joe's mental decline, some of which was noticed before 2020. During his term, some wondered if he could be President. You pair that with the fact that he rarely did news conferences and how poorly he did in his debate with Trump last summer. You also factor in that he seldom sold his domestic programs to get our country out of those early economic doldrums in '21. Americans who were struggling wanted to know what you were immediately doing to help them survive financially. If the man shuffled his feet while walking on the stage, how could he have the intestinal fortitude to take on Xi and Putin? If many Americans had an inferior opinion of his physical and mental challenges, why wasn't this made public by those who worked with him regularly?

Biden finally gave in to hubris and dropped out late in the summer of 2024. With limited time, Harris was the only viable candidate to oppose Trump. Unfortunately, in lieu of Biden's mental struggles, the Biden administration didn't appear to groom her to assume the role of President once his term was completed. I can't blame her for trying her best, but perhaps Biden's first mistake in 2020 was choosing her as VP. Anyway, we now have to deal with Trump for another 44 months.

Some anti-Trump voters say things can't get any worse today. I'd be careful about saying such a thing. Maybe our imaginations can't fathom worsening, but that may only mean we lack imagination. Many well-informed Americans felt that Trump would never become President again, and here we are.

Let's pivot to our current occupant on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Regardless of all of his rhetoric and campaign promises, this is what he's been unable to do:

Can't end the Ukrainian war.

Can't bring prices down.

Can't tell the truth.

Can't implement fair tariff policies.

Can't resist getting into trivial spats with certain universities.

Can't stand up for all Americans.

Can't stop the killing in Gaza.

Can't follow the law.

Can't help but be vindictive.

Can't assess tariffs against Russia.

Enough about Trump; as my title suggests, two things can be true at once, so let's review several mistakes made by Democratic Presidents, Democratic Senators, Representatives, and their staff over the last 16 years:

• The Democratic Party is the same party that allowed Mitch McConnell to steal a seat on the Supreme Court because Obama didn't have the nerve to call for a general strike and bring the country to a standstill.

• Biden held very few press conferences during his administration; he was just not equipped to handle questions from the press. If this wasn't evident in 2021, he certainly couldn't engage in extemporaneous conversations in '22. The lack of press conferences should have signaled to Biden, Jill Biden, Kamala Harris, and those operatives and consultants closest to him that moving ahead with him at the end of 2023 was a fool's errand.

• Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Kareen Jean-Pierre, Kamala Harris, and Biden's inner circle, to name a few – they were all in on it.  And they are all still lying right now, maintaining that they didn't see anything to suggest Biden was cognitively compromised during his presidency. Some senators said in private that he wasn't equipped to serve a second term, but for the sake of democracy, didn't make their views known publicly last year. 

• Many alert ordinary people recognized the problem with President Biden, but why couldn't the insiders?" Because the insiders want to stay in power themselves. It was a big betrayal, and now we're stuck with this fascist in office.

• Obama pushed Biden aside in 2015 in favor of Clinton. In retrospect, Biden had a much better chance of winning in 2016 (Americans are not and have not been ready to elect a female president). Let's be honest: We're not Europe, and unfortunately, we're dealing with many low-information voters who don't often engage in critical thinking.

• Trump won in 2016 and nominated Neil Gorsuch in 2017 and Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. Less than two months before the 2020 election, Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, and she was confirmed less than two weeks before the election. Presidential elections can have incredible consequences.

• Does Biden share some blame for caving to Jim Clyburn's pressure to name a brown woman as his VP? Even if Clyburn helps deliver Biden a win in South Carolina, you pick someone with the skills and ability to become President in the future, possibly.

• Even if Biden had been much more alert and mentally competent in '24, Harris would still have been a drag on the ticket. She was more qualified to be the attorney general than a president or vice president.

• Biden waited too long to decide against running in 2024. As a result, the Democratic Party had very little time to hold a primary to determine the best candidate for their ticket. Harris performed above average as a candidate replacing Biden. Still, she never set herself apart from the Biden administration, stating on The View on October 8, 2024, regarding what she would do differently, "not a thing comes to mind."

• Should some blame go to the seven million democratic voters who stayed home?

• Some blame could go to Arab Americans who were upset with Biden's policy in the Middle East and decided to either not vote or vote for the most narcissistic President in American history. At what point will these voters begin to experience buyer's remorse?

• The Democratic Establishment lacked the guts to do what was in the best interest of the nation and the Democratic Party. This is an indelible stain on all who played a part in causing the unfolding, unmitigated disaster being orchestrated by Donald Trump.

• Those closest to Joe and Bill, including Hunter Biden, Mike Donilon, Steve Ricchetti, Anita Dunn, Anthony Bernal, and Annie Tomasini, knew it was a big gamble to push Biden to run again in '24. They abused their responsibilities, seeking to hold onto and increase their power. It's inexcusable. They have lost any credibility to ever work in politics again.

• Based on Biden's Senate and VP experience, he was more equipped to handle foreign policy matters. Because of this experience, he focused less on domestic politics (inflation and immigration). Well, we still have a war in Ukraine, and there's still a tremendous amount of hostility and violence in the Middle East. He was too meek to stand up to Netanyahu and threaten to withhold aid to Israel. His handling of the Gaza War was bumbling and based on sentiment, not reality. How has that worked out for the Democrats and America overall?

• Democrats talk too much policy and not enough quick stories and bullet points. Hillary Clinton used to be asked a policy question, sometimes taking five minutes to outline it. Dealing with the American people is unlike discussing complex policy decisions in a graduate-level government class. Could you keep it simple? Here are a few quick points on how the American worker would benefit from a Democrat in office.

As my title suggests: Can Two Things be True at the Same time?

Yes, Trump is mean, vindictive, petty, vain, lazy, racist, arrogant, incompetent, and a convicted felon. At the time of this article, I firmly believe our democracy is in peril. We don't need to spend any more time on him for the sake of this argument.

Even though Biden's heart was in the right place at many times, for the republic's sake, he should have said emphatically in 2022 or 2023 that it was time for a much younger Democrat to take the reins in 2024. That didn't happen, and now we have to do a post-mortem on what we can learn moving forward. There are many things that Democrats need to review about the failings of the Obama and Biden administrations. Will that happen? If you don't learn from your mistakes, you will repeat them.