Geppetto vs. Pinocchio

Joe Biden is living a personal drama to which everyone is entitled to an opinion. Literally, everyone.

He is an old man who shows unmistakable signs of senility. It’s natural, it can happen to anyone. Well, not to him. He is the president of the United States and is planning to stay another four years in the Oval Office. Even if he wins, the decline of his faculties sets off warning bells. His condition will not heal; in fact, it will become more serious as time goes by. The bottom line.

What is most worrisome is that his condition generates poor performance in important moments, such as during his debate with Donald Trump last week. The debate opened up a broad avenue for the return of the Republican to the White House. This is what really has everyone invoking Jesus: Trump is a dangerous man. He is a convicted felon who orchestrated a coup not too long ago. Yes, that sounds harsh, but that’s just what he did. He staged a coup against American democracy. A trial concluded a few days ago which dealt with his paying for sexual services with public funds. He was found guilty, but against all logic he is in the battle for the U.S. presidency and is winning. How did we fall so low?

The crisis of political leadership in the United States is embarrassing. That the presidency is being decided between Biden and Trump is pathetic. Hours after the debate, someone who knows about this, a teacher, Ms. Uribe, told me that it looked like a bad animated movie of Geppetto vs. Pinocchio. An old man who doesn’t realize he is no longer part of the solution but part of the problem versus a compulsive liar who falsifies just like he breathes: naturally.

Many in America think that the only option is for the Democrats to offer a different candidate for the November election to try to prevent Trump’s return. Biden needs that. President Biden is the top representative of the American establishment. He began holding political office in 1970 as a county councilor in his home state. Two years later, he came to the Senate as a representative of Delaware. So he has been in the big leagues for more than half a century. He has been a good president, but the decline of his faculties will soon lead him to retirement, when he can then go to Palm Beach to rest.

The deep concern generated by the situation was reflected in an unusual statement made by the editorial board of The New York Times, a newspaper with Democratic leanings. It asked Biden to put an end to his candidacy for the sake of American democracy. The New York newspaper said that Trump has proven to be a significant danger to democracy, an erratic and self-serving figure who is unworthy of public trust. He has systematically undermined the integrity of elections. In last week’s debate, Biden needed to offer clear assurance that he is up to the extraordinary demands of the office of president of the United States; however, what was clear to all was that Biden is not the man he was four years ago. He no longer is. In the debate, he struggled to string sentences together, to formulate ideas.

Back to the iconic newspaper: Calling for a new Democratic nominee at this point in the campaign is not to be taken lightly. It reflects the magnitude and gravity of Trump’s challenge to the values and institutions of this country and the apparent inadequacy of Biden to meet it.