"Let's Go Brandon, I Agree!"

I guess everyone was on holiday when President Brandon made his remark, and so far, I've seen little worthwhile commentary. The best was

COVID has not been shut down as he promised. And his Build Back Better agenda has been torched as well. So, yes—'let's go Brandon’ and Merry Christmas.

Biden agreeing that he should go screw himself is probably the greatest Christmas gift of all time.

But does this say anything about Brandon's mental condition? It was a complete, coherent statement generally reflective of context. If the caller had said, "Let's go, Yankees!" And Brandon had agreed, there would have been absolutely nothing notable about it. On the other hand, if the president had been muttering about spiders creeping up his arms, that would have been something more clearly indicative of a problem. But we didn't see anything like that.

I think it was simply a gaffe, something Biden has been known for throughout his career. Granted it was a gaffe at the historic level, approaching Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat cake!" -- and Brandon may yet surpass himself and even Marie Antoinette in the time remaining to him -- but it was just a gaffe.

This is not to suggest there isn't a basic problem, just that the problem isn't pathological. He's dumb as a rock, but he isn't sick in any traditional sense, which really removes the 25th Amendment as a solution to the ongoing quiet constitutional crisis.

There's actually a second data point that for me is almost as concerning:

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden did not go to church for Christmas, but instead chose to watch the Mass virtually from the White House.

The White House did not explain why Bidens skipped the church for Christmas, as the president typically attends Catholic Mass regularly.

Although US Catholic bishops typically dispensed Catholics from the obligation to attend Sunday mass during he pandemic, this obligation was restored in both Washington, DC and Wilmington, DE last summer:

On June 2, Washington Cardinal Wilton Gregory and the Bishops of the Province of Baltimore issued a joint statement lifting the general dispensation from the obligation of Catholics to attend Mass on Sunday and Holy Days, beginning the weekend of June 26 and 27.

The statement is signed by Cardinal Gregory of the Archdiocese of Washington; Archbishop William E. Lori of the Archdiocese of Baltimore; Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington; Bishop Barry C. Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond; Bishop Mark E. Brennan of the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston; and Bishop William Francis Malooly, Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Wilmington.

So although President Brandon considers himself a "devout Catholic", skipping mass on a day of obligation, which includes both Christmas and regular Sundays, is a no-no. This year, observant Catholics must attend mass on both December 25 and the next day, December 26, which is a Sunday. Strictly speaking, Brandon must now make it to Reconciliation and confess not one, but two mortal sins, as well as a likely third, scandal, since as a public figure he set an example of skipping mass.

And of all people, Brandon or Dr Jill could hardly be better placed to make a call to the archdiocese and have them send over a priest for private masses on both days, no questions asked.

I think this goes not to the president's mental health but to a serious spiritual deficiency, which we also see in nominal Catholic Speaker Pelosi, where some sense of entitlement seems to exempt both of them from ordinary obligations. And as best I can see, they've both been that way all their lives. This isn't age related. And does either do anything close to tithing not just their official salaries, but the multimillions in graft, lagniappes, and baksheesh that clearly stream their way?

I think this is not least among the issues that underlie the current national disquiet. Pretending it's senility or dementia, or even simple incompetence, dodges the actual problem.