by @CynicalPublius at Z
I want to talk about what happens when dementia-ridden old people are in power in Washington DC. (Yes, I’m talking about Joe Biden.)
When I was an Army major, I once had the duty of serving as an escort for Senator Strom Thurmond as he visited my unit for half a day. This was during Strom’s last term as a Senator, so he was pushing close to 100 years old at the time. Now I really hope I am as spry as Strom was if I ever live that long, but the fact is that the guy obviously had dementia and his thinking, memory and speech patterns were what you would expect from a patient in a memory care facility. He saw a bunch of our equipment and troops and walked the lanes on a live-fire exercise. I stayed with him at his elbow the whole time. Again, I was surprised at how physically spry he was, but clearly he lacked the cognitive skills needed to serve as a US Senator.
Now on that day, there were a bunch of generals and colonels milling around, and I knew from the pre-visit briefing that they all wanted to chat with Strom’s Chief of Staff. Strom was on the Senate Armed Services Committee at the time, and his Chief of Staff (Duke Short) was the real power behind the throne. So while I held Strom’s arm as he walked over rocks and he asked a female soldier “When are you going to get married honey?” (true story), the brass was politicking with Short for promotions and program funding. Strom was like a little child wandering around wide-eyed and barely coherent, while Short was obviously the guy with the actual power and authority. At the time, it shocked me and frankly seemed utterly contrary to how our constitutional republic was supposed to work. Yes, South Carolina elected Strom, but based on name only as for at least that last term they actually elected Duke Short.
I am certain that this is what is happening with Biden today. Biden is in charge of nothing, and the power behind the throne is calling all the shots. I’m not sure exactly who that power is–Jeff Zients? Obama? Valerie Jarrett? I don’t know who, but I know this: it sure as hell ain’t Biden.