Updated
Join Fox News for access to this content
Plus special access to select articles and other premium content with your account - free of charge.
By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News' Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.
Please enter a valid email address.
By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News' Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Last night I saw upon the stair

A little man who wasn’t there

He wasn’t there again today

Oh, how I wish he’d go away …

— Hughes Mearns

January 20 will see the conclusion of the most extraordinary episode in the history of the American presidency. For the last four years, the supposed president, Joe Biden, has been the man who wasn’t there.

Bloody and historic events — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Hamas’ pogrom in Israel and the subsequent five-cornered Israel-Iran war — have shaken the world, yet Biden wasn’t there.

Millions of non-Americans of every description, including terrorists, criminals, and members of the Cuban Communist Party, have swarmed over the Mexican border and flooded into our urban centers, costing billions of taxpayer dollars to support — and still Biden wasn’t there.

BIDEN TAKES DEPARTING JAB AT TRUMP, SAYS HE WAS A 'GENUINE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY'

And speaking of money: Trillions were spent by a ramshackle administration that built nothing and achieved nothing, but did manage to trigger an inflationary spike, making food, cars and housing less affordable to ordinary Americans — though Biden wasn’t there for this, either.

The president of the United States is supposed to preside — I mean, it’s in the title.

Biden didn’t because he couldn’t.

From the start of this term, we are now told, old age had grievously enfeebled his body and dimmed his mind — and the latter, let’s recall, never burned with particular brilliance.

The controllers who manage Biden worked hard to keep him away from his job. He spent 40% of his time in office on vacation, much of it slurping ice cream cones on the boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach.

Great gig if you can get it.

But even when Biden was in Washington, he had "bad days" during which he wasn’t allowed to play-act being president.

Only seven cabinet meetings were held during his term — that’s 1.75 meetings per year, in case you’re counting. Did these people know each other’s names?

One can imagine that, rather than the coordination of policy, meetings were taken up with trying to figure out who the chirpy gay guy was, sitting two chairs away from you at the big table.

This was a cabinet that wasn’t there.

CHUCK SCHUMER CONFRONTED WITH OLD CLIP OF HIMSELF DECLARING BIDEN'S DECLINE 'RIGHT-WING PROPAGANDA'

The predictable consequence was an absolute policy vacuum. The US government ran on slogans: "arsenal of democracy" meant Ukraine, "immediate cease-fire" meant Israel, "equity" meant racialism, etc.

And once the slogans were uttered, we were stuck with them forever. It’s been impossible for a brain-dead government to learn from failure — for example, in our dealings with Russia and the Middle East.

Even when Biden was having one of his presumed good days and he was allowed out in public, he was liable to blurt out weird and shocking statements.

He said regime change in Russia was a necessity. He said the US would go to war with China if it invaded Taiwan. He said many things that contradicted past American positions and had never been part of his administration’s baggage — statements that had to be walked back, denied and spun by horrified White House staff.

When Biden said of his Republican opponent, Donald Trump, "The only garbage I see out there are his supporters," staffers waved their arms and jumped up and down, exclaiming, "No, no — you’re missing an apostrophe," which apparently made all the difference.

How does this happen? And who are these people? Who gets to tell the president that he’s a dotty idiot — that he’s said another no-no, and it’s back in the box with him?

Who is actually there when Biden isn’t?

Is it his wife, the splendid Dr. Jill? His sister, Valerie Biden Owens, described by Wikipedia as "an American political strategist"? Or his White House chief of staff, Jeff Zients?

While whole regions of the globe bleed and burn, who makes these awful decisions on behalf of the wealthiest and most powerful country of all? Is it national security adviser Jake Sullivan — or maybe the ineffable Antony Blinken?

For most of Biden’s tenure, staffers were represented as mere underlings cleaning up behind rare slip-ups by the boss.

After his cognitive incapacity was painfully demonstrated in the debate with Trump, and especially after he dropped out of the presidential race, the story changed.

Family and staff, the new line went, had overprotected the president. Out of affection and loyalty, they had "covered up" Biden’s now universally acknowledged decline.

This profoundly misrepresents the situation that has prevailed for the past four years.

JONATHAN TURLEY: WHAT JIMMY CARTER WOULD NEVER DO AND BIDEN DID. SMALL WONDER HE DIDN'T MENTION IT

Whoever has been making decisions on Biden’s behalf criminally usurped presidential power. In 2020, American voters didn’t elect Jill or Valerie Biden, Sullivan or Blinken — they elected Joe Biden and invested him with the tremendous powers of the presidency.

If, in the way of all flesh, Biden had become too incapacitated to perform his duties, he could have resigned or been removed by invoking the 25th Amendment.

The coterie around Biden knew exactly what was happening. It wasn’t subtle. "Joe Biden is, like, dead. Not literally. He can’t, like, say a sentence," observed Henry Appel, a national security staffer.

Those closest to the president must have seen him at his worst.

Yet they chose to perpetrate a fraud in which Biden was turned into a scripted sock puppet and they got the thrill of running the world.

"Blind ambition" is a banal phrase — but the kind of blindness to consequences involved in this scandal would make Lady Macbeth blush. The entire federal government, all that time, was flying blind, like an aircraft eternally circling on automatic pilot.

I have, as you can tell, too many questions, but I will limit myself to the two big ones.

The first one is: What actual persons in the administration — names and addresses, please — made the calls in the persistent trampling on our citizen rights?

Someone ordered for Catholic groups and anti-transgender parents to be treated as terrorists by the FBI and Homeland Security. Someone erected and allocated funds for a tentacular online censorship structure that silenced or downranked opinions distasteful to those in power.

Someone "debanked," or cast out of the financial system, persons lawfully working on artificial intelligence and crypto. Someone perverted the prosecutorial authority to hound and persecute political opponents, particularly of the Trumpist variety.

We know Joe Biden didn’t commit any of those unconstitutional acts. He was too far gone.

So who did? And what should be their penalty?

DAVID MARCUS: BIDEN GIVES LIZ CHENEY THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF INSUFFERABILITY

My second question is: Where the heck were the news media while this clown show was going on?

Everyone with eyes to see could tell that Biden had slipped to a far place, from which there was no returning. Most of us have had a parent or grandparent who arrives at that sad hour — suddenly, the parent is the child, and the child becomes the parent.

The condition was already visible from the beginning — from before the beginning, or else why did Biden conduct the 2020 campaign from the comfy couch in the basement of his Delaware home?

The media are supposed to speak truth to power. They’re supposed to have many sources, deep connections. Journalism’s noble purpose, we are told, is to inform the public, to make better citizens out of the ignorant masses.

None of that, of course, was ever true — but it now stands exposed as a laughable falsehood.

Reporters have special passes to the White House. They accompanied Biden on his trips, often on Air Force One. They saw what Appel saw: a president who "can’t say sentences."

And they chose to think nothing of it, to say nothing, to remain at best incurious and at worst to lie and so curry favor with the mighty.

The news media’s corruption is too evident to need elaboration. But there ought to be consequences.

Here’s a modest proposal: Disband the White House press corps. Cast them out like money-changers from the temple. Select those American citizens entitled to question the president by lot, the way the Athenians chose their public officials.

Frustratingly, what we have come to call for convenience’s sake the "Biden administration" has decided to go out in style.

Hundreds of pardons and commutations have been awarded just because they could be.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Hunter Biden is now immune from prosecution for every crime, high or low, he committed between 2014 and 2024. What crimes are we talking about? Maybe Jill Biden knows.

Foul murderers sitting on death row have been preserved from execution and will live on the taxpayers’ largesse until the end of their days. Why was this done? Maybe someone in the White House can explain.

Medals were also dispensed like candy to political allies. Liz Cheney, of all people, got one.

Cheney lost her last primary by a margin of 30%. Her vast unpopularity, I suppose, made her a hero to the establishment.

On Monday, Biden "permanently" banned offshore drilling, one of the reams of allegedly irreversible regulations that have been issued. On December 3, Biden surpassed his former boss, Barack Obama, for regulatory obesity added to the Federal Register in a single year: 96,088 pages.

Who directed this pointless last-minute frenzy? One nanosecond after Trump enters the White House, those irrevocable mandates, even if carved in stone, will be wiped away with a single stroke of the pen.

Led by the president-elect — who is, if anything, too present — a host of rebels and reformers is approaching Washington, DC. A distant rumble can already be heard.

Never in my lifetime has there been greater need for change.

The new crowd will attempt to put the bureaucracy on the Stone Age diet. I wish them luck. But what I want at the moment is credible answers about their predecessors — who did what to whom, and why.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Change can only follow in the footsteps of truth.

That process of discovery will begin in a few days, after the president who was never there has finally gone away.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MARTIN GURRI

universo-virtual.com
buytrendz.net
thisforall.net
benchpressgains.com
qthzb.com
mindhunter9.com
dwjqp1.com
secure-signup.net
ahaayy.com
soxtry.com
tressesindia.com
puresybian.com
krpano-chs.com
cre8workshop.com
hdkino.org
peixun021.com
qz786.com
utahperformingartscenter.org
maw-pr.com
zaaksen.com
ypxsptbfd7.com
worldqrmconference.com
shangyuwh.com
eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com
playminecraftfreeonline.com
trekvietnamtour.com
your-business-articles.com
essaywritingservice10.com
hindusamaaj.com
joggingvideo.com
wandercoups.com
onlinenewsofindia.com
worldgraphic-team.com
bnsrz.com
wormblaster.net
tongchengchuyange0004.com
internetknowing.com
breachurch.com
peachesnginburlesque.com
dataarchitectoo.com
clientfunnelformula.com
30pps.com
cherylroll.com
ks2252.com
webmanicura.com
osostore.com
softsmob.com
sofietsshotel.com
facetorch.com
nylawyerreview.com
apapromotions.com
shareparelli.com
goeaglepointe.com
thegreenmanpubphuket.com
karotorossian.com
publicsensor.com
taiwandefence.com
epcsur.com
odskc.com
inzziln.info
leaiiln.info
cq-oa.com
dqtianshun.com
southstills.com
tvtv98.com
thewellington-hotel.com
bccaipiao.com
colectoresindustrialesgs.com
shenanddcg.com
capriartfilmfestival.com
replicabreitlingsale.com
thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com
gkmcww.com
mbnkbj.com
andrewbrennandesign.com
cod54.com
luobinzhang.com
bartoysdirect.com
taquerialoscompadresdc.com
aaoodln.info
amcckln.info
drvrnln.info
dwabmln.info
fcsjoln.info
hlonxln.info
kcmeiln.info
kplrrln.info
fatcatoons.com
91guoys.com
signupforfreehosting.com
faithfirst.net
zjyc28.com
tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com
nhuan6.com
oldgardensflowers.com
lightupthefloor.com
bahamamamas-stjohns.com
ly2818.com
905onthebay.com
fonemenu.com
notanothermovie.com
ukrainehighclassescort.com
meincmagazine.com
av-5858.com
yallerdawg.com
donkeythemovie.com
corporatehospitalitygroup.com
boboyy88.com
miteinander-lernen.com
dannayconsulting.com
officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com
forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net
generictadalafil-canada.net
guitarlessonseastlondon.com
lesliesrestaurants.com
mattyno9.com
nri-homeloans.com
rtgvisas-qatar.com
salbutamolventolinonline.net
sportsinjuries.info
topsedu.xyz
xmxm7.com
x332.xyz
sportstrainingblog.com
autopartspares.com
readguy.net
soniasegreto.com
bobbygdavis.com
wedsna.com
rgkntk.com
bkkmarketplace.com
zxqcwx.com
breakupprogram.com
boxcardc.com
unblockyoutubeindonesia.com
fabulousbookmark.com
beat-the.com
guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com
magie-marketing.com
kingstonliteracy.com
guitaraffinity.com
eurelookinggoodapparel.com
howtolosecheekfat.net
marioncma.org
oliviadavismusic.com
shantelcampbellrealestate.com
shopleborn13.com
topindiafree.com
v-visitors.net
qazwsxedcokmijn.com
parabis.net
terriesandelin.com
luxuryhomme.com
studyexpanse.com
ronoom.com
djjky.com
053hh.com
originbluei.com
baucishotel.com
33kkn.com
intrinsiqresearch.com
mariaescort-kiev.com
mymaguk.com
sponsored4u.com
crimsonclass.com
bataillenavale.com
searchtile.com
ze-stribrnych-struh.com
zenithalhype.com
modalpkv.com
bouisset-lafforgue.com
useupload.com
37r.net
autoankauf-muenster.com
bantinbongda.net
bilgius.com
brabustermagazine.com
indigrow.org
miicrosofts.net
mysmiletravel.com
selinasims.com
spellcubesapp.com
usa-faction.com
snn01.com
hope-kelley.com
bancodeprofissionais.com
zjccp99.com
liturgycreator.com
weedsmj.com
majorelenco.com
colcollect.com
androidnews-jp.com
hypoallergenicdogsnames.com
dailyupdatez.com
foodphotographyreviews.com
cricutcom-setup.com
chprowebdesign.com
katyrealty-kanepa.com
tasramar.com
bilgipinari.org
four-am.com
indiarepublicday.com
inquick-enbooks.com
iracmpi.com
kakaschoenen.com
lsm99flash.com
nana1255.com
ngen-niagara.com
technwzs.com
virtualonlinecasino1345.com
wallpapertop.net
nova-click.com
abeautifulcrazylife.com
diggmobile.com
denochemexicana.com
eventhalfkg.com
medcon-taiwan.com
life-himawari.com
myriamshomes.com
nightmarevue.com
allstarsru.com
bestofthebuckeyestate.com
bestofthefirststate.com
bestwireless7.com
declarationintermittent.com
findhereall.com
jingyou888.com
lsm99deal.com
lsm99galaxy.com
moozatech.com
nuagh.com
patliyo.com
philomenamagikz.net
rckouba.net
saturnunipessoallda.com
tallahasseefrolics.com
thematurehardcore.net
totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com
velislavakaymakanova.com
vermontenergetic.com
sizam-design.com
kakakpintar.com
begorgeouslady.com
1800birks4u.com
2wheelstogo.com
6strip4you.com
bigdata-world.net
emailandco.net
gacapal.com
jharpost.com
krishnaastro.com
lsm99credit.com
mascalzonicampani.com
sitemapxml.org
thecityslums.net
topagh.com
flairnetwebdesign.com
bangkaeair.com
beneventocoupon.com
noternet.org
oqtive.com
smilebrightrx.com
decollage-etiquette.com
1millionbestdownloads.com
7658.info
bidbass.com
devlopworldtech.com
digitalmarketingrajkot.com
fluginfo.net
naqlafshk.com
passion-decouverte.com
playsirius.com
spacceleratorintl.com
stikyballs.com
top10way.com
yokidsyogurt.com
zszyhl.com
16firthcrescent.com
abogadolaboralistamd.com
apk2wap.com
aromacremeria.com
banparacard.com
bosmanraws.com
businessproviderblog.com
caltonosa.com
calvaryrevivalchurch.org
chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com
cheminotsgardcevennes.com
cooksspot.com
cqxzpt.com
deesywig.com
deltacartoonmaps.com
despixelsetdeshommes.com
duocoracaobrasileiro.com
fareshopbd.com
goodpainspills.com
kobisitecdn.com
makaigoods.com
mgs1454.com
piccadillyresidences.com
radiolaondafresca.com
rubendorf.com
searchengineimprov.com
sellmyhrvahome.com
shugahouseessentials.com
sonihullquad.com
subtractkilos.com
valeriekelmansky.com
vipasdigitalmarketing.com
voolivrerj.com
zeelonggroup.com
1015southrockhill.com
10x10b.com
111-online-casinos.com
191cb.com
3665arpentunitd.com
aitesonics.com
bag-shokunin.com
brightotech.com
communication-digitale-services.com
covoakland.org
dariaprimapack.com
freefortniteaccountss.com
gatebizglobal.com
global1entertainmentnews.com
greatytene.com
hiroshiwakita.com
iktodaypk.com
jahatsakong.com
meadowbrookgolfgroup.com
newsbharati.net
platinumstudiosdesign.com
slotxogamesplay.com
strikestaruk.com
trucosdefortnite.com
ufabetrune.com
weddedtowhitmore.com
12940brycecanyonunitb.com
1311dietrichoaks.com
2monarchtraceunit303.com
601legendhill.com
850elaine.com
adieusolasomade.com
andora-ke.com
bestslotxogames.com
cannagomcallen.com
endlesslyhot.com
iestpjva.com
ouqprint.com
pwmaplefest.com
qtylmr.com
rb88betting.com
buscadogues.com
1007macfm.com
born-wild.com
growthinvests.com
promocode-casino.com
proyectogalgoargentina.com
wbthompson-art.com
whitemountainwheels.com
7thavehvl.com
developmethis.com
funkydogbowties.com
travelodgegrandjunction.com
gao-town.com
globalmarketsuite.com
blogshippo.com
hdbka.com
proboards67.com
outletonline-michaelkors.com
kalkis-research.com
thuthuatit.net
buckcash.com
hollistercanada.com
docterror.com
asadart.com
vmayke.org
erwincomputers.com
dirimart.org
okkii.com
loteriasdecehegin.com
mountanalog.com
healingtaobritain.com
ttxmonitor.com
bamthemes.com
nwordpress.com
11bolabonanza.com
avgo.top