Napoleon Bonaparte is reputed to have originated the expression, “Never interfere with the enemy when he is in the process of destroying himself.” It’s to be hoped that, when it comes to the Democrats and their reckoning with Biden’s profoundly diminished brain power, Republicans heed this advice.

In 2020, when Biden ran for office, conservatives warned that (a) he was a deep well of corruption, kind of like an unplumbed cesspool; (b) he was never the brightest bulb in the box, to begin with; (c) he was showing early signs, if not of clinical dementia, but at least of age-related diminished capacity; and (d) that he seemed to be in declining health. That didn’t stop the Democrats, nor did their decision to proceed surprise conservatives. The latter always suspected that, per Obama’s seeming joke about a third term, Biden was merely a frontman.

After putting Biden on top of their ticket, the Democrats selected Kamala Harris, a sort of black woman (East Asian Indian mother; Jamaican father with a Caucasian enslaver heritage), as his running mate. That ensured that black women would have her back, given that so many have been indoctrinated into seeing themselves as members of the “black woman team” rather than as individual actors and thinkers.

Harris’s presence on the ticket served another goal: It disincentivized Republican party efforts to knock Biden off the top of the ticket via impeachment or a 25th Amendment process. After all, bad as Biden was and is, the thinking has been that Kamala is either even less competent than Biden or, at best, more of the same. Removing Biden won’t improve America’s well-being and may make it worse.

Image by Andrea Widburg

Another problem with putting Kamala at the helm is that it gives her the freedom to appoint her own Vice President. Of course, everyone knows that she won’t be making the choice. The solons who run the party (and who are a whole lot savvier than the people behind the Republican National Committee) will pick someone, and they’ll pick someone a whole lot more electable than Kamala herself.

Yes, it’s possible that, just as the DNC allowed Joe to pick Kamala, they’ll allow Kamala to choose her own Veep. However, I’m gambling that they won’t make the same mistake twice.

So, whom do they pick? They could pick relatively new faces such as Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, or Pete Buttigieg. Admittedly, conservatives find them incompetent and unappealing, but the base likes them.

Alternatively, Democrats could pick old faces like Hillary Clinton or Michelle Obama. Of course, while Hillary would jump at the job. Michelle would need persuading—but count me as one who believes that Obama and other Dems could and would bully her into getting into politics.

The fact that Michelle has never held a useful, productive job or an elected position in her life would be irrelevant. The leftist women who increasingly power the Democrat party would be there for her. And unless you’ve hung around young leftist women (as I have because of my children), you have no idea how popular Michelle is. Once everything is in place, Democrats will have no qualms about pushing Kamala off the ticket, whether through threats or bribes.

Those facts and calculations were all set in stone right up until Thursday when everything changed. That was the day when Special Prosecutor Robert K. Hur dropped a bomb: The facts show that Joe Biden, who had no authority to declassify documents, took them home with him, stored them in his unsecured garage, handed them over to the unsecured Biden library at Penn, and read them aloud to his ghostwriter, who had no security clearance.

As was the case with Hillary’s cavalier treatment of national security information, the undisputed facts ought to have landed Biden in federal prison for the rest of his natural life. However, just as with Hillary, there was a “get out of jail free” card included along with the damning facts. With Hillary, it was “intentionality”—she had none, said Comey, even though intentionality isn’t a basis for failing to prosecute.

In Biden’s case, Hur claims that Biden is essentially non compos mentis: Because of Biden’s failing memory, the jury won’t indict. That’s not a reason not to prosecute, of course. It’s up to Biden’s defense counsel to claim that because he’s demented, he cannot offer a meaningful defense. What matters, though, is that Biden will get a pass.

Given that the White House staff let Biden show up Thursday night for a trainwreck press conference and that the media are finally talking about his age and memory, it seems as if the Democrats are ready to jettison him from the White House and from the top of the 2024 Democrat party presidential ticket. Sure, it’s embarrassing to have to admit that he’s Grandpa Simpson, but better now than later, right?

Well, maybe it is better for the Democrats but not for the Republicans. For the Republicans, the calculation is and should remain the same as before: Do not knock out Joe at this point because, once Kamala gains the Oval Office, the Democrats have complete room for maneuver with the newly opened vice presidency. Then, they can push Kamala out, and they’ve got a fresh, popular face to run against Trump.

The best move Republicans can make is to sit tight. Joe’s ego and Jill’s ambition mean that he’s not going anywhere soon. Instead, Democrats will be stuck with him right through November. And no, leaving him there is not a disservice to the country. Other nations (including our enemies) already have his measure, so nothing changes. Moreover, as before, we know he’s still someone’s puppet because he’s never been calling the shots. That the truth is out doesn’t change the status quo.

The Democrats are twisting in the wind right now. If the Republicans can control themselves, that’s where Democrats should stay.