I wonder if America’s press might be willing to spare at least one of the journalists who are now trying to turn Kamala Harris into the second coming of Jesus Christ and keep him working on the Continuing Story of Joe Biden, who, if they hadn’t forgotten, is still the serving president of the United States — and will be for the next six months. I had predicted that as soon as the media got what it wanted — which was improving the electoral fortunes of the Democratic Party, and nothing else besides — it would drop its sudden interest in telling the truth about Biden’s health and move on, but Good Lord, when one sees it happen those predictions don’t make it any less jarring. If one were to plot the last three years on a timeline, one would end up with an extremely long line marked “Defend Joe Biden,” followed by a short line marked “Get Joe Biden Out Because He’s Losing,” followed by a new line marked “Defend Kamala Harris.” That trajectory marks many things, but none of them are journalism.
And the thing is: this really, really matters. As I’ve noted ad nauseam, the press’s insistence that it did not know that Joe Biden was in such bad shape implies that it was fooled — and fooled by the White House in what New York magazine described as a “conspiracy.” Is it going to investigate that? Is it interested in finding out what happened here? Is it going to ask Kamala Harris why she lied her head off on television about Biden’s state? What about the others who were involved? Beyond that, may we know specifically why the president decided not to run again, other than he “believes it is in the best interest of my party and the country”? May we learn how well he is doing his job? We are informed that he’s now living in a strange corner of the Twilight Zone, in which he’s well enough to be president for half a year but not well enough to be president for a second term. Fair enough. But can we put some flesh on those bones — even if just for a few days?
I understand that it is less exciting than helping the Democrats eject their nominee, but it remains the case that covering the conduct and capacities of the incumbent president of the United States is actually one of the most important things that the media does. Could it maybe . . . well, do it?