Here, from the latest article by powerlineblog.com’s John Hinderaker, is a very, very interesting take on why Democrats were so agreeable to an obviously debilitated Joe Biden riding out his term as President:
What is striking is how few people on the Left–approximately zero–cared about the fact that we didn’t have a functioning president. Why were Democrats so unconcerned about having a president who was basically a cardboard cutout? Because they don’t really think the president is very important. They were content to have the Executive Branch run by nameless White House aides and by party grandees like Barack Obama. They thought, understandably, that the real power in government lies in the administrative agencies, and that those agencies would carry on perfectly well without a sentient being in the White House.
“Joe Biden” was just a name on the ballot, served up because, as of 2020, he had wide name recognition but not a far-left image. A perfect combination! And one that did not require him to do anything at all, once in office. A vote for Biden was simply a vote for things as they were: a government trending always to the left, with trillions of dollars being dispensed by a benign bureaucracy–the real power in America, the fourth branch that is nowhere mentioned in the Constitution.
I think this narrative helps to explain why Democrats are so horrified at the prospect of a Trump presidency. Trump, a real, non-senile president? A president with a mandate from the voters to bring about important changes? A president who will re-assert control over the “fourth branch”? A president who won’t be a pawn in the hands of Washington insiders? A president who actually understands and carries out his duties under Article II? A president capable of standing up to the Washington establishment?
I think there are other reasons besides this one for the Democrat hierarchy and their media acolytes to run cover for Biden – one of which is that, albeit for very different reasons, they were about as thrilled with the prospect of a 25th amendment-created Kamala Harris presidency as Republicans were.
But that aside, I find Mr. Hinderaker’s take on this, however unsettling, to hold a lot of water.
How about you?
