Well, not quite. That won’t happen officially until 20 January 2025, but we now again have a lame duck at 1600 PA.

Y’all have probably seen this, but here it is anyway. Another historic first for 2024.

As resignation letters go, perhaps it isn’t so bad. We wonder which of his inner circle of advisors wrote this – or was it dictated by one of the Powers-That-Be – the puppeteers that have been pulling his strings for far more than 3-1/2 years?

But like his opponent, The Donald, the thing is full of lies and misdirection and warped thinking. Just as we accept and expect to hear from anyone in politics. The list of accomplishments glows with pride and warped thinking. Or just outright falsehoods: the claim of “strongest economy in the world” in particular rings hollow, as does the generic claims “never been better positioned to lead than we are today” and “revitalized and strengthened our alliances around the world.”

But here are some specific items we here at TPOL note:

There is no ringing endorsement for dear Kammi to replace him at the top of the ticket. Nor anyone else, for that matter.

The bald-faced lie that “we’ve protected and preserved our Democracy” is exaggerated by capitalizing “Democracy” – and we ask does he mean what was once commonly called “The Democracy” (the Democratic Party) or the increasingly-fractured Union?

And he obviously – clearly states that – he places party ahead of the country. (No surprise, really.)

At the same time, we pray (sincerely) that he truly benefits from this decision – forced on him though it may be. Not for his own power and prestige but because now he will be less and less abused by those around him – including his wife and the rest of his family – and able to somewhat better enjoy the remaining time he has to live on this planet. We also pray that he might wake up enough to repent of the mistakes and evil he has done, instigated, and permitted. He deserves, as a creation of God, his eternal rest provided by God’s grace and mercy, not the just consequences of his actions.

And we do admit that we understand the concern and fear of Jill Biden. We know that those who have Alzheimer’s and other senility problems very seldom live very long once they have had all responsibility and decision-making taken away. Once they have no purpose in life, it is too often a sad tale of a spiral into death. But what she did and allowed and cooperated with is very much abuse of an elder.

So what is next? Do the PTB in the Democratic Party think they have the election already rigged enough to put Harris or some other “deserving” Democrat into power and defeat The Donald? Have they come up with a foolproof Plan B? Or are they going to try and do everything to ensure that they can neuter The Donald by controlling one or both houses of Congress? Or will they simply do away with anything but a Potemkin village of elections? Rumors and theories abound, and many seem truly crazy. But the rumor of Uncle Joe calling it quits turns out to be an accurate forecast, at least.

Who knows? But leaving the futures of 300+ million of us in the hands of people like this is definitely something to worry about. And work to prevent.

An afterthought.

Governor Kristi Noem of South Dakota wrote this on her Facebook page:

“This is the right decision for our nation. Whoever replaces Biden will support the same radical agenda of open borders, unchecked illegal immigration, and woke values that do not appreciate what America stands for.

“The Democrats’ nominee must answer for runaway inflation, the dismantling of the American Dream, rampant violet [sic] crime, and a disastrous and weak foreign policy.

“Donald Trump is the leader America needs to get this country back on the right track. Republicans are unified and will work tirelessly to ensure Donald J. Trump wins in November and Makes America Great Again.”

Clearly, TPOL disagrees as much with Kristi as with Uncle Joe (and The Donald). But at the same time, she reflects what a majority – a large majority – of South Dakotans and other Westerners believe. We know that despite recent defections from the GOP Never-Trump ranks, the GOP is as fractured as the Democrats. And as likely to further mess up our States and the world as anything Joe or Kamela or the dozen other Democrats busy sharpening their knives in their offices and homes would do.

And apparently, neither Kristi nor her staff know the difference between “violent” and “violet” – even though the WordPress spell-checker does. Denoting an over-reliance on computers, software, and no doubt, most of the graduates of our public schools for the past three or more decades.