Put the politics aside. I understand such to sometimes be a difficult task, but clearly the politics are secondary to reality. Today\u2019s post isn\u2019t about the November 5th election, which candidate lied most, nor anyone\u2019s golf game. Allow us to begin with a bit of fiction, courtesy of Hans Christian Andersen, as summarized by the University of Colorado Boulder:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was once an Emperor who loved new clothes to the point of excess and spent all of his money and time buying and showing them off. One day, two swindlers come to the town disguised as weavers, and claim to be able to make beautiful garments with rich colors and patterns, but which are only visible to those who are worthy of the positions they hold, and are invisible to the impossibly dull and those who are not fit for their jobs. The Emperor is enthralled and gives them a large sum of money in advance to make the clothes. He wishes to check up on their progress, and, having his own reservations, sends his minister to see the weavers in his stead. The faithful old minister finds the two swindlers pretending to be hard at work at their looms, and can\u2019t see a single bit of fabric because it is not really there. He worries that he may not be fit for the position he holds, and does not dare tell the Emperor he cannot see anything, so he pretends to be able to see it. The Emperor sends another official to see the stuff, and the same thing happens to him. Soon, the whole town is talking about how splendid the fabrics are. Wishing to see it for himself before it is taken off of the loom, the Emperor goes accompanied by the two men he had sent to check up on it. He cannot see a thing either and worries that he himself is not worthy of being the emperor. But, he lies, and exclaims that the patterns and the colors are beautiful. Everyone in the suite agrees with him, and the two swindlers are given an order of knighthood. The next day, a very big deal is made out of dressing the Emperor in his new clothes, and they tell him that they are marvelously light so that he will not feel like he is wearing anything at all. They \u2018dress\u2019 him, and he starts a procession to show off his new clothes, with chamberlains pretending to be holding up his train while he walked. The entire town pretends, also, to see the clothes, until a little boy shouts that he is naked, and everyone else begins to say the same thing. The Emperor knows that they are right, but continues with the procession anyway.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For months \u2014 make that years \u2014 we\u2019ve been told we don\u2019t see what we see; we\u2019ve been told the clothes are actually there, but we are unable to see them, it\u2019s just a stutter, or someone has slightly manipulated what we see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The shock heard round the world Thursday night was that it was painfully clear that there were no clothes, it wasn\u2019t just a stutter, and no one manipulated what we saw. Pres. Biden looked dazed and confused. And that was before he opened his mouth. That was before he answered a question about abortion by talking about illegal immigration. This wasn\u2019t just a bad debate performance; it wasn\u2019t a question of character either. It was evidence of indisputable cognitive decline. And that\u2019s not just an Intramuralist <\/em>assessment; that\u2019s the assessment of a majority of media outlets which are typically partial to the President.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Friends, remember that politics is secondary. This isn\u2019t an analysis of the candidates nor the coming contest; this doesn\u2019t negate any of the valid concerns many of us have about Biden\u2019s opponent. The current sobering disquietude is that we have someone in the highest office in the land, with access to the nuclear codes, advising world leaders, who is not ok. And I am being kind. The belief that dementia is setting in is indeed plausible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What I\u2019d like to know, no less, is why didn\u2019t they tell us?<\/em> Why weren\u2019t those near to Biden, those who speak for Biden, those who cover Biden tell us?<\/em> Why were they dismissive in February when special counsel Robert Hur reported that he was opting not to bring classified document misuse charges against Biden because \u201cMr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory\u201d? Why did they block the audio tapes of Pres. Biden\u2019s testimony from being released? Why did they act offended when the Wall Street Journal <\/em>reported 3 weeks ago that \u201cbehind closed doors, Biden shows signs of slipping\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simply put, why have they lied? Why did they attempt to get us to believe that the sitting President of the United States was looking spectacular, running circles around everyone, wearing some kind of imperial, \u201cmarvelously light\u201d clothes? And don\u2019t they know that if you\u2019re willing to lie about one major thing, you\u2019re likely to lie about a whole host of others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the classic \u201cThe Emperor’s New Clothes\u201d the reader knows from the beginning that the weavers are dishonest. The reader then sees how the deception plays itself out on a bigger stage, as repeated tales are told. We saw that on Thursday night\u2019s stage. What a sobering reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I said earlier that politics are secondary. I believe that. I want what\u2019s best for our country. I want what\u2019s best for Joe Biden. I also don\u2019t believe that equates to sitting in the highest office in the land, with access to the nuclear codes, advising world leaders, and not being ok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Put the politics aside. I understand such to sometimes be a difficult task, but clearly the politics are secondary to reality. Today\u2019s post isn\u2019t about the November 5th election, which candidate lied most, nor anyone\u2019s golf game. Allow us to begin with a bit of fiction, courtesy of Hans Christian Andersen, as summarized by the … <\/p>\n