Over the past couple of weeks in the media, I have heard and seen the same things that you probably have about Joe Biden possibly slipping a gear or two in public appearances — something of note with just under five months to go until the November 2024 election.

Now if you have watched Joe Biden at all during his 50-plus years in public service as a senator from Delaware to Vice President of the United States, you already have an idea that he's never fired on all eight cylinders. As I have said on my radio show and the RedState VIP Gold show, there was a reason John McCain used to hang out with Biden, and that was because McCain's IQ went up 50 points when he was near Joe. That does not mean Senator McCain was dumb, but anybody who had a bit of a temper dealing with the public would be smart to hang around somebody who would say something stupid off the cuff at any moment, and Joe Biden fits that bill.

Takes the pressure off you if you slip up.

So Biden screwing up more in public could be just due to his age, or it might have something to do with some sort of cognitive deficit — which we can all speculate about, but no doctors are going to release any information that he's in any sort of decline mentally. So all we have to go on is some recent examples of Biden having trouble doing normal parts of the job in public.

The White House, of course, is in C.Y.A. mode because they have to make sure that the Big Guy is portrayed as all good and dandy, and hot damn, they are going to go down with the ship trying to convince the country he is not having any issues. 

Except that it is clear he is.

My colleague Sister Toldjah had this article earlier today that revealed how the White House is handling the Biden freeze-pop moments: 'He's Fine?' Journo Shares Unintentionally Revealing Moment From Exchange With KJP on ‘Cheap Fakes’ Issue.

Rosen was one of the reporters who was asking about recent clips of Biden including the Obama video clip and the G7 clip. During their exchange, Jean-Pierre repeatedly denied that there was any issue with how Biden looked and acted in any of the "cheap fakes" videos in question. But at three different points, Rosen asked her if Biden was "fine."

She dodged every time and never directly answered the question.

Here's the relevant part of the transcript:

Q    The majorities of American voters who are telling pollsters repeatedly for years now that they have serious concerns about this President’s cognitive fitness are being misled by cheap fake videos?  Is that what you’re telling us?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I’m saying that there have been — in recent weeks, there have been cheap fake videos that have been fact-check.  They’ve been fact-check — by conservative media as well — to say that these videos are false.  They’re purp- — purposefully being altered. 

Q    So, he’s fine?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  That is —

Q    So, he’s fine?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  That is — look —

Q    He’s fine?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — the President has done more in his three years — three and a half years as president than most modern-day president in what he’s been able to deliver.  He’s able to do that because he knows what he’s doing.  He knows how to deliver for the American people.

I love it when Karine Jean-Pierre mixes it up with James Rosen, but the point is that Jean-Pierre isn't even delusional enough to say Biden is fine with a direct question about it. This whole cheap fake nonsense that the Biden brain trust has come up with is about to go all Hindenberg very soon.

This leads me to the thing that my colleague Scott Hounsell and I have been yapping about for almost a year, which is this:

Joe won't be on the ticket in 2024, and others are saying something similar now.

This post from Bonchie touches on this point: NEW: Rumblings From Inside the Biden Campaign Range From Delusional to Despondent. 

What they're saying: A Democratic strategist in touch with the campaign told Axios: "It is unclear to many of us watching from the outside whether the president and his core team realize how dire the situation is right now, and whether they even have a plan to fix it. That is scary."

• People close to the president told Axios they worry about raising concerns in meetings because Biden's group of longtime loyal aides can exile dissenters.
• "Even for those close to the center, there is a hesitance to raise skepticism or doubt about the current path, for fear of being viewed as disloyal," a person in Biden's orbit told Axios, speaking on condition of anonymity because of those dynamics.
• "There is not a discussion that a change of course is needed."

The man who can't remember the names of his cabinet members and mumbles incoherently while speaking appears to have such a heavy hand that his advisors are scared even to suggest a change in strategy. That despite poll after poll showing that Biden is legitimately floundering against Donald Trump. The article also mentions that Jill Biden is leading the way in keeping everything insular around the president. 

Here's the thing with problems. You can't fix them if you don't admit they exist, and Democrats seem content to go down with the ship mumbling about "democracy" and believing that Americans don't care about their actual well-being, including what's in their wallets. I can't see that working out very well, but we'll see.

Just yesterday on Fox News, Steve Forbes said he didn't believe that Joe Biden would be at the debate next week, and then Jesse Waters had on a guest who went further and said he wasn't sure that Biden would be on the ticket.

If Biden has any setback in the debate, there will be a major discussion among the party elders on how to move him out of the current plan for him to be at the top of the ticket again in 2024. That causes a lot of problems for the Democrats, including what to do with Veep Harris, but those are problems that Democrats will have to solve, and I will be watching with some sort of muted glee.

I say muted because I hate the fact that Jill Biden has allowed her husband, whom she “loves,” to be put through this meat grinder. Having dealt with somebody and cared for them with dementia, I just can't imagine loving the room service at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that much to put a family member through this. I don't let my feelings burst through on too many things politically, but this is a soft spot, and I feel just a bit bad for the old codger.

However, I also know the Democrats are much more vicious and ruthless about winning elections, and we have to prepare for whatever they do if Biden is given his walking papers. I will enjoy watching that food fight every minute of every single day up until the election this November.

Do you think Biden will make the debate next week?

Will he be the nominee for the Democrats in 2024?

Let me know in the comments.