Joe, I Feel Your Pain

Poor Joe Biden. He had it all, but now he’s losing it. As we all eventually do. It is the inevitable end phase of what is referred to as “the human condition,” but, as with all things, one can appreciate its full meaning only when in the throes of a condition that makes it a more immediate reality. Even then it’s hard to not be in denial.

The elderly frail people we have seen all our lives always seemed to be a different species. They are not. A long life guarantees we all will eventually be one of them.

Moving along the path to death on which my ALS has set me I can relate to this very well. Intellectually, I know it’s going to keep getting worse, that I will become a helpless invalid and die of asphyxiation unless something else takes me first. But, some voice in me keeps saying, “some day, not yet” and, irrationally, “not ever. It happens to everyone else, but not me, not me. Not a strong, competent, vital guy like me.”

The disease answers back, “Oh yeah?”

Listen Joe, VIPs are no exception. As the Italians say, “at the end of the game, the pawns and kings go into the same box.” You, lofty though you be, are no more exempt than lowly I. Trust me, I know how much that hurts.

The image of ourselves that evolves over a lifetime, a life spent cultivating skills and strengths, of being powerful actors on the stage of life, cannot easily shift even in the face of overwhelming reality. In my dreams I run, make music, fly down snow covered slopes, swim blue ocean waters. But in the morning I pull myself out of bed and hobble to my chair at the breakfast table to be served by the woman for whom I not long ago cooked every meal. I fumble with my eating utensils and modify my typing technique on my laptop. Soon I will not be able to feed myself or type my blogs. That time is swiftly bearing down on me. It is inescapable, undeniable. Still, denial persists.

At some point reality can no longer be denied. That time has come for us both, Joe. Time is short. Time is cruel. Take a lesson from Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s tragic decision to hang in too long and from countless over-the-hill athletes who refused to pay due respect to Father Time. Abandon your hubris. You need to act swiftly or your defeat will play out like a Greek tragedy and spell the doom of everything you spent your life working for. For if you run, you will surely lose, and America, America of all nations, will become a totalitarian state.

One “advantage” I may have over Joe is that my disease spares the mind. I can think clearly about it. Honestly, sometimes I wish it were otherwise. But recently it appears Joe may well be deteriorating mentally. If that’s the case, typical of mental decline, he’s unable to fully appreciate what the rest of us clearly see.

Joe says he just needs more sleep, but the demands on a president go on 24/7 and all that exhausting travel is part of the job description. As Harry Truman said, if you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.

An intervention is brewing, as it should be. I feel for Joe, but I hope it succeeds. Some Dems keep saying Trump can’t win because he’s so bad and Joe beat him once so he’d beat him again. Dream on. I’d vote for a tennis ball before I’d vote for Trump, but the reality is Trump’s many crimes are hardly mentioned by the politicians, the press, or the public. He steals, rapes, bribes, foments revolution, tells lie after lie, but hey, that’s just “normal” Trump. So what? Despite, or could it be because of, his sociopathy, he leads in all the polls and has not lost support. Indeed, he has gained it and now leads handily in the battleground states. The failed assassination attempt, like all adverse circumstances in Trump’s charmed life, will make him a martyr and improve his prospects further. Republicans lost no time in laying the responsibility at Joe’s feet for his daring to tell the truth about this scoundrel.

Meanwhile the Greek chorus constantly sings of Joe’s age and decline. If they would hold Trump accountable, sing the symphony of his misdeeds, almost anyone could beat him. However, given the persistent public perception of Joe as impaired, Joe may be the only one who can’t beat him.

Make no mistake, even if Joe really is perfectly okay, which I doubt, the very perception he is not okay will sink him. Almost 70% of voters believe he isn’t.

Sorry Joe. As the song goes, “you’ve been a good old wagon, Daddy, but you done broke down.” Perform one last brave selfless act. With pride in what you’ve accomplished, retire gracefully and with honor. Do it now.

For your own good and for the good of us all.