Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall, Who’s the Dumbest of Them All? By Charles Taylor (Florida)
In the grand political pantomime of 2025, where egos clash and secrets spill like cheap wine at a DC dinner, the New York Post reports a deliciously absurd standoff: Joe Biden's allies are poised to unleash a barrage of "Palinesque" stories about Kamala Harris if she dares whisper a word about the former president's cognitive wobbles. Veteran journalist Mark Halperin, on his 2WAY show The Morning Meeting, claims Biden's team is sitting on tales so damning they'd make Sarah Palin's 2008 gaffes, allegedly not knowing Africa's a continent or the NAFTA trio, look like mere trivia night flubs. But let's hold the mirror up to this circus and ask: in this game of political shade-throwing, who's really the dumbest of all? Spoiler: it's a moot question, and the answer's funnier than the setup.
The Setup: A Game of Mutually Assured Embarrassment
Picture the scene: Biden's loyalists, clutching their binders of "Palinesque" anecdotes, are ready to paint Harris as the vice president who couldn't find Canada on a map (or, perhaps, shirked the Gridiron Club dinner like it was a root canal). According to Halperin, these stories stem from Team Biden's heroic efforts to prep Harris for the VP role, only to conclude, "Not happening. She's not up to this." Meanwhile, Harris, fresh off announcing she won't run for California governor, is penning 107 Days, a memoir about her doomed 2024 campaign. If she so much as hints at Biden's mental decline, say, his reported inability to recognize George Clooney or aides mulling a wheelchair, she's in for a gossip tsunami.
The irony? Both sides are armed to the teeth with dirt. Harris could spill on Biden's stumbles, like his debate performance that had voters wondering if he'd forgotten his own name. Biden's could counter with tales of Harris dodging tough assignments and earning "buyer's remorse" from aides who wished they'd picked Gretchen Whitmer instead. It's a Cold War of competence, where each side's threatening to nuke the other's reputation. But who's the fool in this farce?
The Cast: A Parade of Political Pratfalls
Let's meet our contestants in this grim fairy tale, where the magic mirror reflects only folly:
Joe Biden, the Forgetful King: Once the leader of the free world, now a figure dodging GOP probes into whether he was actually running the show or just signing autopen squiggles. His team insists he was sharp as a tack, but books like Original Sin claim aides hid his decline, think "Weekend at Bernie's" with a White House backdrop. If Harris squeals, Biden's crew promises to bury her in stories that make her look like she flunked VP school.
Kamala Harris, the Reluctant Queen: The former VP, who swore Biden could "run circles" around his staff, now faces whispers that she was a "regular headache" who shied away from tough tasks. Her 2024 campaign tanked faster than a lead balloon, and some Democrats blame Biden's late exit for her 107-day sprint to defeat. If she dishes on Joe's brain fog, she risks a "Palinesque" pile-on that could torch her political future.
The Biden Loyalists, the Scheming Courtiers: These aides, described as "extraordinary" in their efforts to prop up Harris, allegedly found her wanting. They're ready to leak tales of her incompetence, think Palin not knowing NAFTA from Narnia, if she betrays their boss. But their own credibility's shaky, given their role in allegedly covering up Biden's decline.
The Media, the Mischievous Jesters: Outlets like the New York Post relish the drama, framing it as a juicy scandal. Halperin, despite his own controversial past, plays the soothsayer, warning of a "dam burst" of gossip. Meanwhile, the public's left wondering if anyone in this saga ever read a map or a memo.
So, who's the dumbest of all? The mirror cracks under the weight of the question, because this isn't about intelligence, it's about ego, power, and the absurdity of political loyalty. Biden's team threatening to smear Harris for stating the obvious (his cognitive decline was no secret post-debate) is like a toddler hiding a broken vase behind their back. Harris, for her part, pretending Biden was a mental Olympian while dodging tough VP duties, looks equally foolish. The real idiocy lies in the system: a political machine so obsessed with narrative control that it's ready to self-destruct over who gets to tell the least flattering story.
Imagine the headlines if the dam does burst: "Harris Didn't Know Delaware Was a State!" or "Biden Forgot His Own VP's Name!" It's a race to the bottom where no one wins, and the public's left with a grim chuckle. The Washington Post already called Harris's defence of Biden's sharpness a credibility killer for Democrats, costing them the 2024 election. Yet here we are, with both camps clutching their grudges like life rafts on a sinking ship.
The Moral: Nobody's Looking Smart
In this twisted fairy tale, the mirror doesn't pick a winner, it reflects a collective dunce cap. The Biden-Harris feud is a microcosm of a broader truth: when loyalty trumps honesty, everyone looks like a fool. If Harris spills, she's toast. If Biden's team leaks, they'll expose their own complicity in propping up a faltering leader. The only winners are the gossip hounds and late-night comics, who'll feast on the "Palinesque" carnage.
So, mirror, mirror, who's the dumbest of all? It's a moot question, because the real folly is the game itself, a political pantomime where truth is the first casualty, and nobody escapes without egg on their face.
"Joe Biden's allies are prepared to "escalate" and reveal unflattering stories about Kamala Harris should the former vice president decide to talk about the former president's cognitive decline, according to a veteran political journalist.
The stories about Harris' tenure as Biden's No. 2 are "Palinesque," 2WAY's Mark Halperin said Friday, a reference to former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin.
"I will tell you, and this has never been reported, barely at all: if the Biden people decide that Kamala is coming after Joe Biden, wait till you hear the 'Palinesque' stories about how much they tried to help her be prepared to be vice president and be in a position to run. And how much they decided, 'Not happening. She's not up to this,'" Halperin said on "The Morning Meeting" show.
Earlier this week, Harris announced that she would not be running for governor in California.X/Kamala Harris
In the aftermath of late Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) loss to former President Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election, leaks from campaign staffers suggested that Palin, McCain's running mate, was woefully unprepared for the job.
In one infamous report, campaign staffers claimed that Palin did not know Africa was a continent and that she could not name the three countries that formed the North American Free Trade Agreement – the United States, Canada and Mexico.
You will hear stories about Kamala Harris as vice president that will not make her look good," Halperin said.
"So there's a closeness to the couples," he added. "It's not like they're at war currently, but I'm telling you, if Joe Biden feels threatened, if his people feel threatened by her, this is gonna escalate in a big way."
Halperin argued that Harris would have a "hard time defending against the stories if that dam bursts."
Journalists Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper detail some of the frustrations Biden loyalists had with the VP in their recent book, "Original Sin."
In the book, Harris was described as a "regular headache" for the White House, according to Biden people.
"She often shied away from politically tough assignments when Biden had accepted such assignments as vice president," the authors write. "She even turned down seemingly simple asks, such as headlining DC's Gridiron Club dinner."
"Many on the Biden team felt that Harris didn't put in the work and was also just not a very nice person," according to the book. "Several quietly expressed buyer's remorse: They should have picked [Michigan Gov. Gretchen] Whitmer" as Biden's running mate in 2020.
Biden's cognitive decline and use of autopen in the White House is being scrutinized by Republicans.REUTERS
Halperin said the stories Biden's team has about Harris are "Palinesque."2WAY/YouTube
Halperin argued that Biden's people "were extraordinary in trying to help her do the job of vice president."
"They gave her every opportunity. And they did — they found in some instances that she had some issues."
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