Fans of the old Star Trek series may remember an episode called "The Doomsday Machine," about a planet-blasting device from another galaxy, still wreaking destruction long after its builders would have died off in ancient times.  That's kind of what Team Biden is up to these days.  Even as Joe Biden fades away into decrepitude, his political machine is ripping through the Democrat party.

Biden's document scandal went a long way in discrediting the latest anti-Trump Deep State contrivance, the Mar-a-Lago Raid.  Add that to the Balloon Fiasco and the coming 2023 Recession, and Biden's approval is starting to tank even among regular Democrats.

Republicans are looking great, with both DeSantis and Trump ahead of Biden in the latest polls.

For the Democrats in 2024, though, no matter.  The Biden Machine will tolerate no debates, nor any real choices in primaries.  Biden will just do what he did last time, only more so.  James Clyburn has finished reworking the DNC schedule to guarantee that Biden wins the early primaries, starting with South Carolina, making it all over before it even gets started.  Union boss states Nevada and Michigan will quickly follow.

This new Democrat primary schedule massively conflicts with the Republicans' and various state laws.  South Carolina Dems are free under their laws to set any date they like, but the New Hampshire primary law can't be changed.  Most likely, the real New Hampshire primary will come in late January, with Iowa Republicans a few days before then for caucuses.

New Hampshire Democrats will be forced to hold a so-called firehouse primary, one run and paid for by the party, on Feb. 11 to decide who actually wins delegates.  Biden would run only in the firehouse primary and win it easily.  (Lots of independents may vote in the earlier, real New Hampshire primary on the Republican side.  This would favor DeSantis, one would think.)

Georgia Dems may also be stuck paying for their own firehouse primary on Feb. 13, which will be geared again for Biden loyalists, under the new DNC rules.

Biden's standing in the mainstream media, his real constituency, is also solid.  Never a discouraging word is ever heard from the army of liberal opinion journalists like Paul Krugman, Robert Reich, etc. (Everything is going great, you stupid peasants!)  I see even the always unfunny Gary Trudeau devoting what few strips he still issues to defending Hunter Biden.

Add to that the corrupt A.G. Merrick Garland, who will stonewall Congress as long as needed.  The DOJ has a decades-old constitutional position that a sitting president may not be indicted.  That's all he requires to wave away any suggestion that Biden be investigated.

As incredible as it is, Democrats are stuck with Old Joe as their 2024 nominee, no matter how bad he is.  Of course, to be a Democrat these days means in large measure to be at war with reality.  If men can get pregnant, it's no stretch to insist that Joe Biden is innocent of all charges and doing a great job.

There is also some speculation that Michelle Obama could be called in to save the day.  But I don't buy it.  Sure, Michelle might condescend to take the nomination if it were offered to her on a silver plate.  But unless Old Joe goes completely catatonic, I expect that Jill would make a fight of it.  She hasn't forgotten all the nasty Obama comments about Joe, and my impression has always been that Jill has no love for either Obama. 

And there is also this to consider: Michelle is as obviously untalented as Kamala Harris, and at some level, she must know that.  She truly enjoys her Oprah-style celebrity life.  Setting that aside for two years, to get into a primary knife fight with the Bidens and then take on a real Republican bruiser, Trump or DeSantis (as opposed to a wimp like Mitt Romney), can't look like much fun at this point.

Of course, there's the other big election looming in 2024, for president of Russia.  Vladimir Putin is the expected winner again — no surprise, as he plays a game of hardball that would put to shame even James Clyburn.  Putin, however, does face other challenges, such as assassination attempts — or an actual coup organized by his own allies.

Those are things American politicians need not worry about — for now, anyway. 

Frank Friday is an attorney in Louisville, Ky.

Image: Marc Nozell via Flickr, CC BY 2.0.