Above, Dr. Jill Biden, First Lady of the United States (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Biden).
“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t.” – Mark Twain, Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World.
With the general election on Thursday, those readers wishing to concentrate of UK politics might prefer to read the contribution of knowledge presented by my friend Dr. North is his blog-post today(https://www.turbulenttimes.co.uk/news/front-page/politics-on-the-brink-of-retreat/).
I however will focus on the events unfolding on “the other side of the pond” as they are of far more consequence and will affect us all.
In my post debate blog-post (https://british-gazette.com/slow-and-stumbling-absolutely-strong-and-stable-literally-no-figuratively-yes/) many eyebrows (especially in the USA) were raised when I did not join in the throng of the US commentariat insisting that President Biden was now incapable of discharging the duties and functions of his office. The FACT is that heads of governments have in the past have been let us say, incapacitated and the states that were governed by them were still governed effectively. In the case of my own country, the UK, previous prime minsters have been “incapacitated” and government continued. Notably during WW2 when Winston Churchill was temporarily “incapacitated” at times. In his second term as prime minster (26 October 1951 – 5 April 1955) he was “incapacitated” on numerous occasions due to the same general cause that is affecting President Biden – old age and infirmity!
So, back to the present: The Democratic Party have two very very important decisions to make:
#1: For President Joseph Biden to announce that he will no longer be that party’s candidate for the presidency for the next term.
#2: Choose a successor to which all members are in agreement OR choose a successor quickly with the minimum of debate.
Now, IF the Democratic Party does the above, the world will know which two candidates – of the two main parties – will be on the ballot papers and thus will know that the next US President will be one of them.
Now of course there are two other candidates, but just as in the case in the UK, the world and his dog all know that on Friday 5th July 2024, His Majesty will either appoint the Rt. Hon. Sir Keir Starmer, PC, KCB, KC as his next prime minister OR – far less likely – the Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak, PC.
So, what does “the world” want?
Well most of the world’s political leaders will be looking for two things: Continuity and Stability.
This of course would be a problem for President Joseph Biden for although he could offer Continuity, he would not be able to offer “Stability” due to his aforementioned old age and infirmity!
You see, whilst world leaders will be OK with President Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. being in office up to Monday 20th January 2025, they will NOT be OK with the prospect of him being in office on Tuesday 21st January 2025!
There is however one person that world leaders will be OK with being in office on Tuesday 21st January 2025 and that is President Jill Tracy Biden!
You see, it is now emerging that Mrs Biden has been actively assisting her husband in the discharging of his duties as POTUS!
Thus, were the Democratic Party to announce that President Joseph Biden was withdrawing his candidacy as the party’s nominee and that Mrs Jill Biden was to be the party’s nominee in his place, world leaders would be very OK with this! This because Mrs Jill Biden will be able to offer the two things they desire: Continuity and Stability.
You see, world leaders are especially concerned at this time as there is a “hot war” in south eastern Europe which has the potential to develop into WW3; there is a continuing high level of conflict in the Levant; there is the prospect of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons; there is the ongoing tension in relation to China and Taiwan – and that is not even addressing domestic US issues.
If you read the Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Biden) you will see that Mrs Biden is very much a “Washington DC insider” and taken together with her professional experience, this causes her to be an excellent candidate. Furthermore – in stark contrast to her Republican opponent – she has no “scandalous incidents” (or criminal convictions) in her past!
Now to address the prospects for the Unfortunate Donald John Trump: At the moment, Mr Trump’s star is rising high. Unfortunately however, Mr Trump has a court date approaching – Thursday 11th July 2024.
Now the extent of the “lawfare” against Mr Trump has been addressed comprehensively elsewhere. It has however to be emphasised that the Democrats in pursuing this strategy have to a very great extent “bet the farm” on this and now find themselves in a very invidious position: Were they to “let up” from this strategy it will more than likely result in electoral disaster and they will have to face the prospect of an angry and possibly vengeful President Donald Trump!
However there are little specs of light glimmering on their horizon. The Supreme Court’s decision in relation to presidential immunity protects Mr Biden as well as Mr Trump! However, unfortunately for Mr Trump the circumstances of his conviction in New York are NOT covered by this decision!
Of course, the world and his dog know that the New York case is a classic example of a politically motivated prosecution – right out of Mr Putin’s playbook!
In such a case the Democrats are now past the point of no return and have to “double down” on their strategy. For the Unfortunate Mr Trump this could well mean that he faces the prospect of an immediate prison sentence and for the politicised criminal justice system to ensure that any appeal against sentence and conviction will be heard after 5th November 2024! That the thirty four convictions will be ultimately quashed and Mr Trump’s sentence expunged is a foregone conclusion.
It is also a foregone conclusion that the Democratic Party will have comprehensively trashed the USA’s reputation for jurisprudent independence and impartiality! They will – both literally (because bananas can and are grown commercially in the USA) and figuratively – have reduced the USA to the status of a banana republic!
Of course, there is for the Democratic Party a very grave danger inherent in this strategy: That Mr Trump might well win and in January 2025 the world and his dog will watch their TV screens as President Elect Trump will be released from his prison cell to be inaugurated as the next President of the USA! This because many American voters may be so incensed at this grotesque state of affairs that they will vote Mr Trump into office!
Were this to happen, Mr Trump will have had a singularly unique election campaign one that would have been the least stressful! This because very special measures will have had to be put in place to protect him whilst in prison. It is likely that a whole wing will have been cleared of inmates and Mr Trump will have a cell in a block where many of the other cells will be occupied by his security detail! Not that these men will be prisoners. They will be free to come and go but will have to endure some (not all) of the privations normally associated with incarceration! This will not be overly burdensome to these men for most will be ex “special forces” and whilst incarceration in a US penal institution will be a trial for we civilians, these ultra tough soldiers will take it in their stride.