As woke as it has become, Harvard Medical School still gets it right every now and again. Their deductions on the stages of grief are both cogent and corroborated. We see the first three stages play out in President Joe Biden as he looks toward November.Yes, Biden is an embellisher and a plagiarizer, and most of the time, displays a non-existent relationship with the truth, but with his polling numbers in the area of dismal and his own party’s potentates calling into question both his mental acuity and ability t...
As woke as it has become, Harvard Medical School still gets it right every now and again. Their deductions on the stages of grief are both cogent and corroborated. We see the first three stages play out in President Joe Biden as he looks toward November.
Yes, Biden is an embellisher and a plagiarizer, and most of the time, displays a non-existent relationship with the truth, but with his polling numbers in the area of dismal and his own party’s potentates calling into question both his mental acuity and ability to win in November, we are seeing the first three stages of grief appear in his demeanor; the beginning of his acceptance that he is destined to be a one-term and failed president.
Citing Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, in her book On Death and Dying, Jennifer Fisher, MMSc, PA-C, writing in Harvard Health Publishing, enumerates the stages as denial, anger, bargaining depression, and, finally, acceptance.
Of significance at this point in time, where Joe Biden and his presidency are concerned, are denial, anger, and bargaining, all of which he displayed when speaking to Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s jadedly pro-Leftist morning program Morning Joe.
Fisher writes – and please keep in mind that while Fisher is talking about these stages as they relate to the death of a human, I am applying them to the death of a political career:
“Denial refers to the period of grieving during which a person refuses to accept the reality of a situation. Denial is different than not understanding. It is a defense mechanism that helps us protect ourselves from the shock of the upsetting hardship. A period of denial can be normal and even helpful during the grieving process, as we work to process a difficult situation. Examples of denial include:
* refusing to accept or acknowledge the death
* refusing or avoiding the topic in conversation
* stating the loss is not true, or that the source of the news is unreliable
“Once a person comes to understand the information they received and accepts the reality of death, they often experience anger. Anger can be a natural response directed toward oneself, family members, doctors, God, or even the deceased. Anger is a normal part of the grieving process, though it may seem hurtful or offensive to loved ones. Often, anger is just a manifestation of grief and can present itself in various ways. For example:
* blaming a medical doctor for not preventing an illness
* blaming family members for a lack of care or support
* feeling anger toward God or a higher spiritual power
* feeling angry with oneself or blaming oneself for the death
* experiencing a short temper or loss of patience
“When we experience grief, we often feel hopeless and overwhelmed. It is common to be overcome by statements of "what if" and "if only," as we experience a loss of control over what is happening. During the bargaining stage of grief, a person attempts to negotiate or make compromises. We try to make agreements with ourselves, or a deal with a higher power, in exchange for feeling less sad or having a different outcome. Bargaining is often irrational. Examples of bargaining include:
* ‘If only I had brought her to the doctor sooner, this would have been cured’
* ‘If only I had been around more, I would have noticed something was wrong’
* ‘God, if you bring him back, I promise I will never lie again.’”
Biden’s Displays Of Denial, Anger & Bargaining
In Biden’s “impromptu segment” on Morning Joe – or what the Leftist media cabal would have us believe was an organic and spontaneous call-in to the program – Biden, just moments after sending a letter to congressional Democrats that stated emphatically that he was not dropping out of the race, despite all the calls within his party for him to do so:
“Here’s the deal. [A red wave is] not going to happen here this time around. The American public is not going to move away from me as an average voter. Again, I’m here for two reasons, pal. One, to rebuild the economy for hard-working middle class people to give everybody a shot, a straight shot. Everybody gets a fair chance, number one…”
Biden’s inability to come to terms with the corroborated polling that indicates he is losing both in critical swing states and, in fact, in just about every state poll illustrates the denial stage. This denial is compounded and reinforced by the fact his economic, tax, and regulatory policies (he’s had 3-plus years to implement his policies and to refine them) have done nothing but damage the middle class, further bolsters the notion that his denial of reality is at a severe degree, and one born of frustration, a common malady for those losing political contests.
Biden continued:
“Number two, remember about all this talk about how I don’t have the Black support? Come on. Give me a break. Come with me. Watch. Watch…I’m getting frustrated by the elites – not you guys – the elites in the party, oh, they know so much more. Any of these guys that don’t think I should run, run against me. Announce for president. Challenge me at the convention…”
Biden’s trademark anger was on full display as he transitioned from denial to anger, but this time, he wasn’t lashing out at an opponent, an autoworker, or a journalist. This time, he was lashing out at the very people he would need going forward if, in fact, he was serious about staying in the race.
This anger – directed at those he needs moving forward – satisfies the criteria for the anger stage in the grief pentagon.
We also saw vacillation between anger and bargaining in his offer to “come with me, watch, watch” and his snide remarks about the Democrat elite who actually do know him well for the fifty years he has been in public office under their banner.
And, again, Biden continued. When confronted with his obvious cognitive decline, Biden responded with a mixture of denial, anger, and bargaining:
“Look, I had before – I was feeling so badly before the debate…When I came back – they tested me for, I thought maybe I had COVID. Maybe there was something wrong. Maybe I had an infection or something. They tested me. They gave me those tests. I was clear.
“Look, I had a bad night, but the fact of the matter is look what I’ve done — let me put it this way. If there was something that was wrong that night [inaudible.] That’s one night and it goes away. That’s why I’ve been out. I’ve been testing myself, testing everywhere I go. Going out and making the case. The night of that debate I went out. I was out until 2 o’clock in the morning that very night, that very night. It drives me nuts, people talking about this.”
Aside from not answering the question asked, instead employing the typical political non-answer answer, Biden launched into a full-blown bargaining session with himself and the interviewers. It’s hard to deduce who he was actually trying to convince.
The White House Staff Is Just As Afflicted
Calls for Biden to drop out of the presidential race are accumulating amid rightful concern for his fitness for office. His cognitive decline became abundantly apparent to his allies during the first 2024 Presidential Debate against Trump, in which he often looked confused, stared slack-jawed, and stumbled through answers, most of the time incoherently.
Yet, when Biden’s wholly unqualified White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre. Was asked about Biden’s health, even being asked once point-blank if the president had dementia, Jean-Pierre gave the Biden team’s untruthful – and in fact delusional – boilerplate response:
“I have an answer. Are you ready for it? It’s a no. And I hope you’re asking the other guy the same exact question.”
Jean-Pierre’s answer held all three stages of grief we are addressing here: Denial, anger, and bargaining.
During his primetime ABC News interview with Clintonista George Stephanopoulos, Biden displayed this trifecta again. In the interview, the president continuously denied truths, dismissing polling numbers, his approval rating, and calls for his removal. And when Stephanopolous told Biden, “Mr. President, I’ve never seen a president of 36-percent approval get re-elected, Biden said:
“Well, I don’t believe that’s my approval rating – that’s not what our polls show.”
This is classic grief-based denial.
Sadly, An Intervention Wouldn’t Be Good For The Country
From a Republican perspective, it is advantageous for Biden to stay in the 2024 presidential race. The most potent arrow in the campaign quiver centers on keeping the focus on Biden’s – and the Democrats' – failures during his tenure, e.g., the border crisis, the economy, their divisive and radical social transformative agenda, his catastrophic failure in the UD departure from Afghanistan, etc.
If, as Biden alluded to them, “the elites in the party” succeed in replacing Biden on the ticket, it will allow the Leftist narrative machine to saddle Biden with the total of the administration’s failures when, in fact, those actually responsible for those failures – Obama 2.0 and the neo-Bolsheviks of the radical Left – would remain at the titular head of the Democrat Party, able to continue their Marxist campaign to fundamental transformation our nation into a democratic socialist Third World nation; just another cog in the globalist machine.
So, we stand at a sad and frustrating crossroads.
If Biden is removed from the ticket, or even removed from office through the implementation of the 25th Amendment, then the true puppet-mastering, radical Marxists who have greatly damaged our country, will be able to select – without voter input – their new puppet.
If Biden remains on the ticket, we have no choice but to continue on in the status quo until November when, hopefully, the independent and uncommitted voters of the United States wake from the gaslighting of the far-Left in their demonization of a man who has already proved all of their alarmism wrong by way of his having had held the presidency before.
This is the price we pay for both consuming the intellectual waste that is the information offered up by the mainstream and social media under the guise of “news,” and for failing to provide proper and necessary vigilance over the government, as our Forefathers demanded.
We get the government we deserve…until we don’t.
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