When President Grandpa Publicly Wishes His Ancestors Had Murdered More People, Invoke the 25th

Kamala Harris should be president of the United States. I don’t mean she should be elected in November, I mean she should be taking the oath of office this afternoon, because Joe Biden has demonstrated, once again, that he is our national elderly grandfather, rambling in semi-coherence, who needs to be in a rest home, not being propped up as our commander in chief for the next five months.

It’s not just the fact that Biden’s schedule is ridiculously light, and that he’s effectively spent two weeks making almost no public appearances while living in vacation homes, although that too is reason for concern. On Labor Day, at a rally for Kamala Harris, the president told a long, meandering story that concluded with his disappointment that his great-grandfather wasn’t a notorious murderer of coal mine foremen, leaving dead bodies on doorsteps of the victims’ families.

I remember when my great-grandfather was one of the — only the second Catholic elected statewide to the state senate here in — in Pennsylvania.  And I remember they talked about when he — when they were running against him in 1906, they said, “Guess what?”  They said, “He’s a Molly Maguire.”

You know what a Molly Maguire was?  Well, those of you who don’t, a Molly Maguire, back in the — in the old days, when we Irish and the Catholics came and then the Poles and others that were Catholic — when they came to the United States of America in the beginning, the 1840s and — late 1840s, they made their way down into Pennsylvania, a lot of them.  And there — there’s a tier in this — in the coal mines.  Those guys who got there last ended up being the last people in the coal mines.

But a lot of the English owned the coal mines.  And what they did was they’d really beat the hell out of the — the mostly Catholic population who was in the mines.  Not — not a joke.  Not a joke.

But there was a group.  They’re called the Molly Maguires.  And the Molly Maguires, if they’d find out the foreman who was taking advantage of an individual — and they’d literally kill him.  Not a joke.  And they’d bring his body up and put him on the doorstep of his family.  Kind of crude.

But I’ve got to admit, they accused my great-grandfather of being Molly — he wasn’t.  But we were so damn disappointed.  But, you know — (laughter) — I — that’s a joke.  That’s a joke.  (Applause.)

Now, call me crazy, but I don’t think “I wish my great-grandfather had killed more people over labor disputes” aligned with the Harris campaign’s preferred messaging for this week.

Also, I know this is going to shock you, but it appears President Biden is mixing up legend and historical fact; according to the Pennsylvania State Archives, “the actual existence of the Molly Maguires as a coordinated secret society or terrorist organization is still debated by historians. No one has ever produced a primary source document proving that the Molly Maguires existed as such.”

But if you don’t find a rambling, incoherent Biden story persuasive evidence that he should be forced into retirement, check out any of the “issued statements” from the president on the White House web page, and contrast them with the transcripts of Biden’s terse, unclear, sentence-fragment remarks to reporters going to and from Marine One.

Yes, written and prepared remarks are going to be clearer and more eloquent than off-the-cuff remarks, but with Biden it’s like night and day.

Monday:

Q    Feels good?  How do you feel about Pennsylvania?

THE PRESIDENT:  Except I’m not able to go out in the crowds anymore.  They don’t — the Secret Service doesn’t let me.

Q    No?  Why not?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, because they said it’s too dangerous.  No one gets to go out.

Q    (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT:  (Inaudible.)

There’s a lot of “(Inaudible)” in these transcripts.

Saturday:

Q    Sir, have you spoken to Netanyahu?

Q    (Inaudible) weekend?  Are they resuming next week?

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes.  There — there are talks.

Q    Mr. President, what do you think of President Trump’s behavior in Arlington Cemetery with the — the visit to the — to the fallen soldiers?

THE PRESIDENT:  I don’t want to answer because I may tell you what I think.

He can barely communicate anymore, his staff is afraid to put him in front of cameras, and God only knows how Biden would perform on a cognitive test. He shouldn’t be president right now. How likely is it that we get to January 20, 2025, without a serious crisis that requires presidential action under time pressures?