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Russia Today
2 days ago
- Business
- Russia Today
The Biden years: When America started to resemble the late-stage USSR
It's been a while since we've heard much about Joe Biden, hasn't it? Yet here he is, back in the headlines – not because of some triumphant return to form, but for all the wrong reasons. The former US president has once again found himself at the center of national attention, thanks to a sequence of revealing and deeply troubling events. It began with Axios publishing the full audio of Biden's now-infamous interview with special prosecutor Robert Hur. The same interview in which Hur concluded that the then president suffered from serious memory issues. As the recording confirmed, he wasn't wrong. Biden struggled to recall basic facts – even the date his son died. Days later, another bombshell dropped: Biden had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. The news barely had time to circulate before the release of Original Sin, a book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios's Alex Thompson, tore down what little remained of the White House facade. The authors didn't just suggest that Biden had declined mentally during his presidency. They asserted that he had not been governing at all. Instead, they described a 'Politburo' of family members and close aides who effectively ran the United States in his name. It's a term that will sound all too familiar to the Russian ear, and one that cuts deeper than many Americans might realize. For years, critics of the US establishment – especially abroad – have joked about the 'Washington Obkom', a reference to the old Communist Party regional committees of the Soviet Union. Today that comparison doesn't seem like satire. It feels like a diagnosis. It's especially ironic that these revelations are coming not from conservative firebrands or Russian media, but from the very liberal American outlets – CNN, Axios – that worked so hard in 2024 to prop up the Biden administration and conceal the cracks forming behind the curtain. But I'm less interested in their delayed honesty than in the questions Americans are now starting to ask. How did the United States, with all its checks and balances, end up with a gerontocratic shadow government? Why did Washington begin to resemble Moscow circa 1982? Let's start there. A gerontocracy emerges when the ruling elite can no longer tolerate change. In the USSR, it was the ageing leadership of the Communist Party that clung to power. In the US, it's the political generation that peaked in the 1990s and 2000s, the last so-called 'consensus' generation in American politics. Their grip on power outlasted their ideas. Though Democrats and Republicans had their differences, they broadly agreed on the same post-Cold War worldview. They ran the show for decades – until Donald Trump shattered that illusion in 2016. Trump's rise forced a reckoning. On the right, younger Republicans moved toward a more nationalist, populist agenda. On the left, Democrats tacked hard toward identity politics and expanded welfare, partly driven by their reliance on minority voting blocs and partly by the legacy of Barack Obama's progressive rhetoric. By the time Trump's first term ended, the American political elite faced a nightmare: if they handed power to the next generation, they risked total collapse. The establishment Republicans had already been steamrolled by Trump's base. Democrats feared the same fate if they embraced their more radical progressives. Their solution was to cling to the past. Enter Joe Biden, a relic of the consensus era, sold to voters as a unifying moderate. In reality, he was a placeholder. A human firewall designed to stop the rising tide on both sides. The hope was that a return to 'normal' would restore calm. Instead, it prolonged the crisis. Biden, like Brezhnev before him, became the living embodiment of a system unable to face reality. And now, as Americans look back on the Biden years, they are forced to reckon with the consequences of their denial. Power didn't disappear, it simply drifted into backrooms and family circles. Decision-making was outsourced to unaccountable figures behind the scenes. And the public was kept in the dark. Even Biden himself, we now know, was shielded from bad polling numbers. But the deeper lesson is more uncomfortable. Change comes whether you want it to or not. The US establishment tried to shut out the new generation. It only worked temporarily. Trump is back in power. Yes, he is old. But unlike Biden, he has surrounded himself with younger, dynamic figures who are already shaping the Republican Party's future. The Democrats, by contrast, have learned nothing. Despite their crushing defeat in 2024, the old leadership continues to resist renewal. And now it's costing them. Just recently, the Republicans passed Trump's major tax bill in the House of Representatives by a single vote. That vote was lost because Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly, aged 75, had passed away just before the session. He was the third Democrat to die in office this year. This morbid pattern hasn't gone unnoticed. Americans have begun to joke grimly that the Democratic Party is literally dying. And the punchlines, as dark as they may be, contain more truth than fiction. Washington is starting to resemble Brezhnev's Moscow – not just in age, but in inertia. In the end, the lesson isn't about personalities. It's about systems that refuse to adapt. Systems that cling to the past until the present falls apart. The 'Washington Obkom' may have seemed like a Russian jest once. It's not a joke anymore. This article was first published by the online newspaper and was translated and edited by the RT team
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Biden speaks publicly for first time since cancer diagnosis
Former President Biden made a public appearance Friday for the first time since his cancer diagnosis earlier this month, speaking at a Delaware ceremony in honor of Memorial Day. Biden's remarks came after a series of tough weeks for him, which have featured two new books containing accusations that his cognitive abilities were slipping toward the end of his presidency, topped off by his diagnosis of an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bone. But Biden could also be back in the spotlight after the release of audio from his 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden's handling of classified and sensitive documents. The transcript of the interview was been released last year, but the audio recording wasn't made public until this month. After the audio's release, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) announced the committee plans to hold hearings on a 'cover-up' concerning Biden's mental acuity and his use of an autopen to sign executive orders and pardons. Comer said Wednesday that he's 'open' to bringing Biden in to testify before the committee on these topics. But Biden didn't reference any of the developments during his speech in New Castle, focusing on honoring those who served in the armed forces and calling for a defense of democracy. He also noted that Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the death of his son, Beau, who served for a year in Iraq and died from brain cancer in 2015. 'We come together to remember the debt we owe to the American military,' he said. 'The military is the solid spine of our nation.' Biden referenced the division that dominates U.S. politics, but he said those who serve don't 'wear a uniform that says 'I'm a Democrat' or 'I'm a Republican'' but 'I'm an American.' He said each generation of the United States has needed to fight to maintain democracy, and it must continue. 'Today, let's renew our pledge to honor our heroes … not only with our words but with our deeds,' he said. Biden spoke to a local news outlet last Friday at Connecticut's Bradley International Airport as he was visiting for his grandson's graduation. Despite the cancer diagnosis, Biden said he was feeling 'great.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Biden speaks publicly for first time since cancer diagnosis
Former President Biden made a public appearance Friday for the first time since his cancer diagnosis earlier this month, speaking at a Delaware ceremony in honor of Memorial Day. Biden's remarks came after a series of tough weeks for him, which have featured two new books containing accusations that his cognitive abilities were slipping toward the end of his presidency, topped off by his diagnosis of an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bone. But Biden could also be back in the spotlight after the release of audio from his 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden's handling of classified and sensitive documents. The transcript of the interview had already been released last year, but the audio recording wasn't made public until this month. After the audio's release, House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) announced that the committee plans to hold hearings on a 'cover up' concerning Biden's mental acuity and his use of the autopen to sign executive orders and pardons. Comer said Wednesday that he's 'open' to bringing Biden in to testify before the committee on these topics. But Biden didn't reference any of the developments during his speech in New Castle, focusing on honoring those who served in the armed forces and calling for a defense of democracy. He also noted that Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the death of his son, Beau, who served for a year in Iraq and died from brain cancer in 2015. 'We come together to remember the debt we owe to the American military,' he said. 'The military is the solid spine of our nation.' Biden referenced the division that dominates U.S. politics, but he said those who serve don't 'wear a uniform that says I'm a Democrat or I'm a Republican' but 'I'm an American.' He said each generation of the United States has needed to fight to maintain democracy, and it must continue. 'Today, let's renew our pledge to honor our heroes… not only with our words but with our deeds,' he said. Biden previously spoke to a local news outlet last Friday at Connecticut's Bradley International Airport as he was visiting for his grandson's graduation. Despite the cancer diagnosis, Biden said he was feeling 'great.'
Fox News
7 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Credibility crisis: Press dismissed Hur report on Biden's memory issues long before concerns became undeniable
The press spun, obfuscated and outright dismissed Special Counsel Robert Hur's early 2024 report that stated then-President Joe Biden came off as an elderly man with memory issues well before his declining state emerged as an acceptable topic in the legacy media. Hur, who was appointed by then-Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Biden's handling of classified documents, famously concluded he would not bring charges against the then-president, in part because a jury would find him to be a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory." A new book detailing the former president's mental acuity concerns while in office, his prostate cancer diagnosis and the recently-released audio recordings of Biden's interview with Hur reinvigorated the notion that mental acuity concerns were valid. But when the Hur report was initially released in February 2024, months prior to Biden's disastrous presidential debate performance, it made his cognitive decline impossible for the press to ignore, and much of the media rushed to Biden's defense. Hur acknowledged the documents were "willfully" obtained by Biden both as vice president and as a senator, but revealed Biden had a "hazy" memory of when he was previously in office and when his son Beau died. Liberal pundits were often in lockstep to insist the report featured "gratuitous" language or was "editorialized," and Biden attacked reporters who dared to question if he was fit for the job at a last-minute White House press conference following the release of the damning report. Some reporters in the room vexed Biden by asking about his memory and concerns about his age, but left-leaning pundits were in damage-control mode. Jim Acosta, at the time an anchor for CNN, wondered aloud if Hur's assessment was "out of bounds," while CNN commentator Paul Begala peddled claims from Biden officials saying the president was "totally focused" and "very sharp." Jeffrey Toobin appeared on CNN to scold Hur for making "unnecessary points" about Biden's advanced age. "Part of that report was an outrage, it was a disgrace. I mean, the idea that they that he would make such a big point of Biden being elderly is not something a prosecutor needed to do," Toobin said. A panel of MSNBC hosts defended Biden by attacking Hur for injecting "ageism" into his report. "Do you want to get into the age thing? Let's call it what it is. This is ageism snuck into a report clearing the person of any wrongdoing," MSNBC host Ari Melber told viewers during the network's primetime coverage of the breaking news. "If you want to get the ageism, young people are told all the time by their lawyers, 'Hey, you're way better off leaning into I don't recall than possibly misstating something to a federal officer or under oath in this case.' So it's a lot of derogatory stuff," Melber continued. "And I do think, and I want to be clear, a credit to the president that he chose to do fast cooperation. I think that's good for the system. Politically, though, it's now being used against him." His MSNBC colleague Chris Hayes insisted Hur was "frustrated and angry" that he "didn't get more" from his probe into Biden, turning to how age is the "central narrative question here that this all revolves around." "Age is not something you can rebut," Hayes said. "The man is 80 years old… He is the age he is, And so it's a very useful political attack for them." "He rides a bike!" host Rachel Maddow interjected. MSNBC host Katie Phang slammed the "inflammatory, unnecessary and partisan" language used in the report, while network contributor Molly Jong-Fast suggested Hur wasn't a "good faith actor." "He's not a neurologist," Jong-Fast said. Pod Save America co-host Dan Pfeiffer complained at the time that the Hur report was a "partisan hit job." CNN's media reporter at the time, Oliver Darcy, insisted that Hur's depiction of Biden's mental state "didn't match reality." The New York Times went with the "Republicans pounce" framing when covering Biden's reported memory issues and ex-MSNBC host Keith Olbermann raged that Hur "should be fired immediately" for offering an "amateur medical opinion." The media lined up high-profile Democrats to defend Biden, too. Then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press" to bash the report as "gratuitous, unnecessary and inaccurate personal remarks." MSNBC's Jen Psaki, a former Biden press secretary, invited then-Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., onto her program to say Hur would be "disciplined or fired" if he were a typical prosecutor. "What he did was quite deliberate and destructive and also just plain false," Schiff said as Psaki nodded along. Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., said on CNN, "It was extremely gratuitous, unnecessary and just a political potshot." Journalist Drew Holden posted a lengthy social media thread last week detailing other examples of the media attacking Hur's report, including then-NBC News host Chuck Todd telling viewers it played into the "right-wing noise machine" and USA Today rounding up "sympathetic voices" to dismiss the findings. Holden also put a spotlight on The Washington Post, citing experts who insisted memory losses "are surprisingly normal" and a New York Times report that said Biden appeared "clearheaded" aside from fumbling a few dates. Many longtime Biden allies have since come around after audio obtained by Axios contained clips from several interviews between Biden and Hur related to the probe. On CNN, host Abby Phillip suggested Hur "undersold" the extent of Biden's decline and threw the former president and the Democratic Party "a lifeline." "In a way, Robert Hur kind of undersold this," Phillip said. "He kind of threw Joe Biden a lifeline. It was an opportunity, actually, for Democrats to take it seriously, maybe change gears at that point, maybe give a potential nominee more time." Former Obama spokesperson and political commentator Tommy Vietor wrote last week that critics of Hur's report "weren't totally fair." "[T]he book made me realize how important that context was for Hur in explaining his decision NOT to charge Biden, and I now feel that many of the attacks on Hur, including by me, weren't totally fair," Vietor wrote. He added that he still believed the situation around Biden's memory was "complicated" but that "clearly Biden was experiencing cognitive decline." "The just-released audio clearly shows a guy who should not be running for reelection," Vietor wrote.
National Post
24-05-2025
- Politics
- National Post
J.D. Tuccille: Cover-up of Biden's decline made Trump necessary
In the hot mess that is U.S. politics, it's sometimes difficult to decide which is the less-awful choice in a system dominated by two remarkably repulsive political parties. Should you pick the nativist, economically illiterate authoritarians or the antisemitic, economically illiterate totalitarians? New evidence about the deteriorated mental condition of former president Joe Biden — a situation covered-up by top Democrats and dismissed by the brand-name press — suggest that, as bad as President Donald Trump is, his election was a necessary break from an unsustainable situation. Article content Article content Article content Article content Transcripts of interviews conducted with Biden by special counsel Robert Hur in October 2023 during an investigation into the handling of classified documents revealed a national chief executive whose mental faculties were failing and unreliable. 'He did not remember when he was vice-president,' Hur wrote in his report, and 'he did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died.' As a result, Hur declined to prosecute Biden for mishandling secret material, concluding that in Biden a jury would see 'a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.' Article content But the release last week of audio recordings of that interview finally ended any pretense that Joe Biden was still up to the demands of the presidency in 2023 — and for an unknown time before. They're painful to listen to, with the then-president meandering and weak in his speech, fumbling chronology and requiring repeated prompting from his interviewer. (Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis adds another serious concern, though it's not obvious that it worsened his performance in office.) Article content Article content As Axios's Marc Caputo and Alex Thompson, who obtained the recordings, noted, 'The newly released recordings of Biden having trouble recalling such details — while occasionally slurring words and muttering — shed light on why his White House refused to release the recordings last year, as questions mounted about his mental acuity.' Article content Article content Thompson is also the co-author, with CNN's Jake Tapper, of ' Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,' a book belatedly pulling back the curtain on the debilitated state of the former president. Thompson and Tapper reveal that powerful people knew the former president was incapable of exercising the responsibilities of his office and pretended otherwise. This was obvious to anybody who saw Biden repeatedly stumble over his words on television even before he embarrassed himself in the June 2024 debate with Donald Trump. That event finally prompted him — or those around him — to withdraw from the race and essentially appoint then-vicepresident Kamala Harris as the heir to the Democratic presidential candidacy.
