Yeah, He's Already Been Told

Scary clip

BIDEN: "It's my intention to run again."

MSNBC: "Dr. Biden is for it?"

BIDEN: crickets

MSNBC: "Mr. President?"

BIDEN: "Dr. Biden thinks that uh, my wife thinks that uh, that I uh, that, that we're, that we're doing something very important."pic.twitter.com/lPVyEi2kv3

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 21, 2022

When I think back on my corporate career, I remember case after case where the Senior VP, or whatever the big boss's title was, had been told he was no longer needed. At that level, they were never escorted out the door, but it was plain they had only weeks remaining. Still, they were allowed to keep up appearances until the end. But you could read the signs. They didn't show up at the planning meeting for next fiscal year, for instance.

Rhetorically, President Brandon's remarks in the interview linked above give the game away: "It's my intention to run again." Not "Don't be silly, of course!" Instead, after a peculiarly worded question, "Dr. Biden is for it?", silence.

"Dr Biden" had nothing to do with the decision. I'm not sure how it was delivered. My estimate is that Secretary Blinken is the highest-ranking, if not the only, lizard person in the administration, and as I've said, I think he has status comparable to Averell Harriman or Nelson Rockefeller. I also think he's fed up with Joe Brandon, who's proven incapable of speaking from his assigned script, to the point where in the current diplomatic environment he's dangerous.

I would theorize that the decision was conveyed via Mr Klain in impersonal, passive-voice terms, it was delivered recently, and it's final. It's looking like the November elections are going to be worse for Democrats tjhan anyone predicted, and with Republicans in committee roles, Hunter will be a focus. The only way to salvage 2024 will be to remove Brandon as a target. Lame duck status also distances the US from future ill-considered remarks that might otherwise be provocative.

In fact, he did the job he was hired for, which was to get rid of Trump in 2020. The whole Democrat strategy was Götterdämmerung, if the world is about to end, then let's run up the credit cards and enjoy ourselves while we can. But the world didn't end after all, the bills still have to be paid, and they didn't even get rid of Trump.

The awkard silence in the interview came as the big guy relived the moment he was told he wasn't running. He didn't even have the chance to invoke Dr Jill.