14 lagunabeachindy . com JULY 5 , 2024
GUEST OPINION :
We Finally Beat Medicare
By BiLLy FrieD
By the time you read this , I am hoping Biden inhaled the smelling salts and dropped out of the race . It couldn ’ t come a moment too soon , because putting Joe on that debate stage was clearly an act of elder abuse . And political suicide for the Democrats . No matter how the party spins it – he had a cold , he was hoarse , he has a well-known stutter , he was overrehearsed , tired from travel , they covered his tan with pale makeup , and the eyeroller , “ everyone gets knocked down . It ’ s how you get back up ” reassurance – none if it can overcome what we can ’ t un-see : 90 minutes of a doddering old man with a blank stare struggling to keep up with and dispute the tidal wave of lies flowing
from Trump .
And what we saw after was even worse . Trump strutting off the stage the triumphant peacock , Biden helped down by “ easy now , old man ” Jill , side-stepping down one ginger foot at a time . And then , in the post-debate room , praising Joe like a toddler who wasn ’ t quite sure what happened : “ You did great , Joe . You answered every question .” Here ’ s a cookie .
Wasn ’ t it just a few years ago we were roasting Teflon Don for tottering down the bleachers at the Army-Navy game , holding the arm of a general , while candidate Biden was making a show of his fitness , riding bikes and skipping up steps like he was going to prom . Oh , the ravages of biology .
I don ’ t blame Jill for channeling her inner Nancy Reagan and encouraging her man to stay in the game . For a career politician who has finally reached the pinnacle , and received the praise and admiration he for so long coveted when he was an oft-ridiculed , career gaffe machine , being told you are no longer useful is a bitter pill to swallow .
So now there is panic in the party divided . The spin doctors tell us it was just an off night , and that Biden is a fighter . But voters aren ’ t thinking about the next four months . They ’ re thinking about the next four years and the rapid
cognitive decline we are witnessing in real time . And the sight of Biden going blank in front of Putin , or Xi Jinping , or , God save us , Marjorie Taylor Greene .
There is simply no choice for Democrats now but to prevail upon Joe to bow out and get behind another candidate . Any carbon-based life form under 70 with a pulse will do . It ’ s a Hail Mary for sure , but we are on our own 10-yard line , trailing by 6 , with 2 minutes left to go . Nancy , Hakeem , Chuck , Bill , Hillary , Barack , Michelle , Oprah and Tom Hanks have to perform an intervention and hammer Biden with the truth : step aside gracefully and be remembered as a terrific , stabilizing , one-term President . Or go down in history as the stubborn , deluded asshole who lost the country to a sociopathic malignant narcissist .
Am I naïve to put any faith in Democrats ? This is the party that coronated ( not nominated ) the 2016 candidate , Hillary Clinton , believing they ’ d cruise to victory because she was more palatable - to them , at least . But they were completely tone-deaf to the grassroots eruption of passionate support Bernie Sanders had engendered among scores of young people across the party divide . And then the party coerced the class of 2020 Presidential hopefuls to rally around Team Biden after they exposed all of his foibles because , we were assured , the bland , not-too-bright , avuncular Joe was just a transitional , one-term President .
Now the party says it ’ s too late to
sport anyone else . Which is exactly why there ’ s probably ample time . They get everything wrong . They didn ’ t fight for Gore . Or Merrick Garland . But they did throw Al Franken out of the Senate for mock grabbing a woman ’ s breasts in a photo bomb .
The stakes are galactic . The Supreme Court just ruled that America shall have kings . The people have already expressed their displeasure over both candidates . Let the Republicans die on the hill for theirs . But a second Biden term was never our hill to climb . It was foisted on us , especially on the young people who have undoubtedly lost faith in a political system that produces such uninspired choices . Maybe this race will beget so many third-party votes that it inspires a movement for more choice .
The day of reckoning for the tone-deaf Democratic Party is here . It ’ s no more business as usual . We need an orator who can excite us by annihilating Trump with real debating chops and fact-checking on the spot . Someone who can unhinge and fluster him by simply reminding him of what he truly is : a loser . Even in golf .
So , Mr . President , you may have gotten your handicap down to a 6 when you were VP , or was it an 8 ? And that you carry your own bag . Doesn ’ t matter . Because you are the handicap now . And we are hitting dead into the wind . We love ya , Joe , but you gotta go .
Billy is the CEO of La Vida Laguna , an outdoor adventure company , and Executive Director of KXFM Radio . He can be reached at billy @ lavidalaguna . com .
You ’ re Invited !
Celebrate July with art at Hotel Laguna !
Join us for Art Start with wine and hors d ’ oeuvres from 5 pm to 7 pm at the Hotel Laguna . Featured artists Adrienne Fayne , Teri Perlstein and Deborah Schlesinger will share their artwork . Saxophonist Jake Brown will provide soothing sounds as you peruse the art . Enjoy the rest of Art Walk from 6 pm to 9 pm in Laguna .
Thursday , July 11th at 5:00 PM
425 South Coast Highway Laguna Beach
Come Meet the Artists
“ Looking Up ” Teri Perlstein
“ Voices Rise ” Deborah Schlesinger
“ The World ’ s On Fire ” Adrienne Fayne