The Politburo President

So, I read Original Sin. The story of how a small group of advisors and the Biden family called the Politburo shielded themselves and others from the truth that Joe Biden was not capable of running for another term as president.

It didn't seem like a big shock to me. I think we all saw what was happening in front of our own eyes, and we all knew there had to be people doing things to make it seem like what we were seeing wasn’t true. And while we can be mad at those people, both in government and in the media, who misled us for what they thought was right. We should let go of the emotion, take the time to learn from it, and grow from it.

While the advisors can defend themselves by saying it was just doing their job, they believed Biden was the best chance at victory. What can be said about Jill Biden? Poor Dr. Biden, with her multiple Vogue covers, may be remembered as a version of Edith Wilson—a sympathetic wife shielding her ailing husband, and a tone-deaf enabler oblivious to the consequences of power.

At one point, Biden had to confront the reality that he no longer had the support of a majority of Democratic members of Congress. Yet, he persisted, but driven by what? Was he there? And where were the people who were supposed to care for him most?

And while in 2020, Biden ran as a moderate and a bridge builder, someone who wanted to unite the country and guide it through a turbulent time. The Politburo president acted like a self-interested egomaniac. Proving once again how the transition of power is never easy when someone doesn’t want to let go.

There are a couple of bright spots in this story—pops of color in a drab and dreary world where the only person who could beat Trump was an octogenarian who couldn’t remember deeply personal facts about his own life.

Dean Phillips and Merrick Garland are two individuals who have shown themselves to be above religious partisanship, above loyalty to the party at the country's expense, and more focused on service than winning.

Dean Phillips ran against Joe Biden in the primary when nobody else would, to show the world who he had become. Merrick Garland was hired to be the Attorney General of the United States—and that’s what he did. He pushed back on the Politburo President and served the country.

Another person who shines in this story is Robert Hur. He led the investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents and discovered more than he bargained for. He delivered a sobering and honest report. The report showed everyone—the American people, Biden’s team, and the party—that Biden wasn’t capable of doing the job.

And look, I am sympathetic to the argument that Trump is a unique threat to democracy. But democracy is not one-party rule. Democracy is not a small group of people who think they know better than everyone else.

Our democracy is a representative system that takes in all the different factions. And when the party has lost the ability to take in all the different factions, to listen and debate among each other, and to move with the interests of the whole, instead of the interests of those in power, then the party is no longer acting in the interest of democracy. The party is no longer acting in America's interest. The party is acting in the interest of the Politburo. And I don’t know how that’s any different from what Trump does.

While reading, I found myself muttering the same as Jonah Goldberg: “If only Congress wasn’t broken.” Yet, Congress has failed to fulfill many of its responsibilities. Failed to manage the debt, failed to impeach a president. If they had, something like the Politburo might never have existed because there might not have been enough power to circle around.

Our founders created a system that predicted this kind of thing would happen. They fractured power, layered it into the states, and shared it around the union. Because they understood people to be self-motivated or incapable of seeing the interests of a large and growing population, they purposely moved power away from a single individual or small group and toward a larger, more representative body—Congress.

Yet Congress is failing us.

We can keep chasing the symptoms—corrupt leaders, partisan hacks, and power-hungry egomaniacs—but the real problem is the concentrated power that burns so bright and a campaign system that feeds air to the fire. Instead, we should focus on the remedy and unite those who are doing difficult things in unprecedented times.

So, I invite you to support the Dean Phillips, Merrick Garlands, and Robert Hurs of the world. Support balancing power between the Politburo and the People. Support Uncapping the House of Representatives. Go to why435.org and Declare for Representation.

Peace & Love,

Jeff Mayhugh