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A recent op-ed, by Cal Thomas, posits that the recent treatment of Joe Biden harkens back to
the treatment of President Wilson after his stroke. This amazingly, disingenuously, and
flagrantly manipulates the narrative.

While it cannot be questioned that Biden was, and is, in a state of age-related mental decline,
he was never as fully incapacitated as Wilson, whose wife basically took over the country, an
act that was in large part the basis for the 25th Amendment, almost 50 years later.
While questioning the mental capacity of a president is certainly fair game the question
becomes, what is the ultimate goal of the question? Logically, it should be the current occupant
of the White House.

A man who has claimed that the toy company Mattel is a country, has leveled tariffs on
uninhabited islands, has engaged in illegal deportations and looks for all intents and purposes
like a modern-day Nero, I sincerely hope that he doesn’t have a fiddle.
The criticisms are valid, if not timely. They seem an odd victory lap by those who always
criticized Biden, but those critics don’t seem to offer equal scrutiny. They fire off broadsides at
Biden while largely giving the sitting president a pass.

Biden was occasionally slow on the uptake, taking a moment to orient himself before response.
That said, he had a legion of advisors he knew and trusted to offer advice.
The sitting president has a worldview as a rock unto himself. He has only sat for 12, according
to Politico, intelligence briefings in his 124 days in office. His White House has also ceased
releasing transcripts of his speeches, according to the Huffington Post.

The concern about having a mentally fit President is valid. That said, the current criticism of a
politician who has lost and election and is no longer in office is nothing more than a political
distraction. It is eyewash, intended to distract from the mad king who currently inhabits the
White House.

Brian Barnett
Glendale, Mass.