What Should America Do with an “Elderly Man with a Poor Memory”?

 

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is President Joe Biden and his poor memory. Special counsel Robert Hur published his report on Thursday of his investigation of the way that Biden managed classified documents for the past forty years - in one word, poorly.

According to Jarrett Stepman, Biden failed to correctly answer a variety of questions during the investigation, among which were the following: “when he was vice president to forgetting when his term ended to failing to come up with the year his son Beau died, ‘even within several years.’” The picture painted by the report shows “a man in severe mental decline.” 

Hur’s description of Biden’s mental state may have been used to justify not prosecuting the president for his illegal mishandling of classified documents, but it can hardly give Americans confidence in the man now running for a second presidential term.

If Biden is like this, it’s fair to ask who is actually running the executive branch?

Despite all the efforts by the Biden administration and its sycophantic media to cover for the president, questions about Biden’s fitness for office are now out in the open and impossible to dismiss.

Stepman noted that Americans were not reassured after watching “Biden’s angry, combative, and hardly reassuring press conference” upon the release of Hur’s report. He observed that Biden “is unlikely to resign” and asked this question: “What can be done to remove a president unfit for office?” He then gave the following four options.

25^th Amendment

Using the 25^th Amendment to remove the president from office has been the option most discussed following the release of the special prosecutor’s documents….

The states ratified [the 25^th Amendment] in 1967 following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy after questions were raised about what to do in instances where a president is incapacitated.

In an age in which communication is instant and a president is expected to be able to make large, potentially world-changing decisions on a moment’s notice, it seemed like there needed to be some kind of mechanism to ensure that the country always had a chief executive….

Here is the critical Section 4:

Whenever the vice president and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as acting president.

Putting this into effect requires a two-thirds vote by both houses of Congress if the president disputes the opinion of the Cabinet members.

The 25^th Amendment has been used on a few occasions. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush used it when they had medical operations that would leave them incapacitated for several hours….

 

Impeachment

Another solution to presidential unfitness for office that’s been floated is impeachment. In a certain sense, there is a lower threshold to impeach a president than to remove him through the 25^th Amendment. It requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate to convict the president but only a majority vote in the House to impeach him and send it to the Senate for trial.

The hurdle in this case comes down to the necessary requisite of the president committing “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Declining mental acuity doesn’t seem to fit this standard. That, of course, doesn’t mean that Biden couldn’t be otherwise impeached. The question of his handling of classified documents remains highly problematic….

So, impeaching Biden would come down to the House investigations into potential illegal activity and the political will to vote the president out.

Mental Fitness Test

This is a more novel – and I’d argue toothless – suggestion to deal with Biden’s infirmities….

Election

The last solution for removing a failing president from office is perhaps the most mundane one: an election.

While Biden has clearly avoided cameras and public appearances more than other recent presidents, he’s also demonstrated clear signs of severe decline beyond his long history of verbal gaffes.

That’s something Americans will have to consider in the November election.

Biden could resign tomorrow. His staff could conclude he’s incapable of going on. Congress could go along with his cabinet’s suggestion or separately impeach him.

If the president is unable to handle his duties, then for the sake of the country, he should leave office.

Unfortunately, our elected officials often don’t do what’s in the best interest of their country. So, it’s ultimately up to the American people to decide whether they think the president is fit or unfit.

While Biden is clearly unfit to hold the office of President of the United States, Americans may be in deeper troubles if Vice President Kamala Harris were to become POTUS. Who can say whether she would be controlled by the same handlers making decisions for Biden?