O P I N I O N

NOT THAT PROFOUND

By Nathan Graziano

As I watched President Joe Biden’s atrocious performance in the now-infamous June 27 debate with former-president Donald Trump, I was reminded of a time in the late ’90s when I was driving to visit a friend in Jersey City and got hopelessly lost in the city.

This was before the GPS app was invented, so I kept glancing at an unfolded road map from my glove compartment lying on the passenger seat as I succumbed, more and more, to despair. I was frustrated, confused by my surroundings, scared, angry and helpless, on the verge of giving up entirely as I cruised into some of the seedier sections of the city.

Finally, I decided to stop at a convenience store and ask for help.

As I walked into the store and approached the clerk, I imagine my countenance looked somewhat similar to President Biden’s at the debate—or anytime he makes public appearances these days.

My point being—and maybe this analogy isn’t holding together as well as it did in my head—I arrived at the point where I had to stop driving because I simply did not know what I was doing anymore, and I was no longer driving safely or effectively.

I had to stop being stubborn, and so does President Biden for the sake of the Democratic Party, and the country as a whole.

However, Biden continues to be defiant—sometimes cantankerous—when it seems pretty clear to everyone not named Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. that he is simply too old to fulfill another four-year term. Some are even questioning his cognitive health, speculating that he could be on the doorsteps of dementia.

Some might remember Ronald Reagan toward the end of his second term when his mind and his memory started to leave him. It was difficult to watch Reagan, particularly in his testimony at the Iran-Contra Hearings. Biden is already there, and he hasn’t even finished his first term—although he did seem to suggest in 2019 that he would not run for a second term.

And given what is at stake in November’s election, Biden’s defiance seems selfish given recent polls and some of his own party’s concerns about his viability as a candidate.

Granted, it is unfair to ask the American people to choose between two elderly white men, one who is a pathological liar and the other who couldn’t find his ass with both hands. Jon Stewart, of course, brilliantly skewered America’s presidential dilemma in this week’s “Daily Show.”

But here we are.

And unless you’re looking to live through a reality television version of “The Handmaid’s Tale”—if you haven’t educated yourself on Project 2025, please read up on it—you will need to pull the blue lever in November but, right now, Biden’s candidacy is making this an impossible decision.

Admittedly, Kamala Harris will probably not beat Trump either, but at least she will do the little things, like enunciating and finishing her sentences, at the next debate.

Joe Biden has served in public office for more than 50 years. If he insists on staying in the race, it will sully his legacy, and he will be known as the man who allowed his ego to help topple almost 250 years of democracy.

Sorry, Joe, but it’s time to go.

Nathan Graziano can be reached at ngrazio5@yahoo.com.