"Gee, Walt! What happened after that?!"

...I hear you asking. Sorry, I can't tell you. Like everyone else, I didn't watch the entire Big Boy Press Conference. Apparently the only parts that anyone paid attention to were the gaffes. Here's a screen shot of the landing page from this morning's National Post. 

Sad, isn't it? Here's the Leader of the Free World (TM), the man whose shaky fingers rest on the Big Red Button, trying to convince us that there's no need to invoke the 25th Amendment, and everyone is paying attention only to the flubs and brainfarts. 

Kind of scary, when you think about it. Suppose Senile Joe falls asleep at his desk -- he wouldn't be the first president so to do -- and his his head hits the BRB. There may be some kind of failsafe mechanism in the black box, something that requires a sentient human to confirm the "GO!" order, but... remember Doctor Strangelove? As the National Review opines: "Biden’s Fitness Is Not Just a Campaign Issue. It’s a National-Security Issue".

By all accounts, President Brandon didn't do that badly in the Big Boy Presser. He made it on and off the stage under his own power. He answered questions without straying off into the weeds too often. He showed that he could engage with reporters’ questions on a range of issues without losing focus.

There was still the coughing and throat clearing. (In the 19th century he might have had a spittoon  beside the podium.) And at times he lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper that evoked the rasp of his voice on debate night. 

But so what? The presser was still a reminder that people are focused on now on Senile Joe's presentation, rather than its content, with an almost clinical eye toward possible slip-ups and mistakes.

House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) said afterwards that "one of the really kind of sick aspects of this moment is that we are watching every speech, every rally, every debate and saying, how did he do today? And that’s just not the way to think about the presidency of the United States."

Indeed. Ŧhat kind of pressure that is unlikely to go away for as long as President Biden insists he'll stay in the race. How much longer will the death watch continue?