Beyond The Pulpit Ministries

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you;” or so goes the paraphrase from the Bible’s Luke Chapter 6. Or put perhaps more secularly: “If you live in a glass house, don’t throw no stones.”

Of all the things President Joe Biden could have been found guilty of, the last thing we expected was that he be found guilty of mishandling classified documents; the same things he and the Democrats have been bashing former President Donald Trump for since last August.

Now, it seems to this observer that with the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives impeachment is inevitable.  Extreme right-wing Republicans already were salivating at the opportunity to file articles of impeachment against Biden for the alleged sins of his son, Hunter.  Now, however inadvertently, Biden’s retention of classified documents from his days as vice president has essentially ensured that a third presidential impeachment in as many years is on its way — two from the Democrats and now a possible third from the Republicans.

To avoid further embarrassment or stains on his legacy, President Biden’s best bet is to resign from office.  It’s the only way he can salvage his own reputation, and that of national Democrats who excoriated Trump for a similar behavior.  (It might also save Biden some embarrassment from the pending Hunter Biden revelations.) 

President Biden needs to make a Nixon move: you can’t impeach me if I’ve already quit.

Biden’s documents were discovered on Nov. 2, 2022 – one week before the midterm elections. At the very least, the Biden administration knew about the discovery, but didn’t reveal it until after the election.  The U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into the Biden documents on Nov. 14, yet we’re only now finding out about that inquiry.

There’s no good ending to this debacle that Biden has somehow brought upon himself.  Sympathetic Democrats are saying that the Biden documents and the Trump documents are apples and oranges. My wife says Trump has done everything “but piss on the Whitehouse lawn.” But none of that really matters. These are distinctions without a difference.  No matter how inadvertent Biden’s mishandling of the documents might have been, the president has thrown to his detractors a huge helping of red meat for them to gnaw on during the remainder of his term.

An impeachment of Biden might not result in a conviction in a Democratic-led U.S. Senate, but the trial and haranguing that the Republicans have in store will rip away from us the few remaining shreds of decency we have left in our democracy.  What hangs in the balance is that to acquit Biden of his action, no matter how inadvertent, portends that Trump was somehow justified in what he’s done with his own mishandling of documents.  Just the thought of enabling a Trump narrative should make Biden want to resign.

Biden’s resignation is the only recourse to defang the Republicans who are just waiting to pounce on Biden in an attempt to vindicate Trump.  We need a break from this gang-banger style bickering, and a Biden resignation is the only decent way to begin dissolving this tit-for-tat, partisan division.

Which brings us to U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.  She’s the first woman, first Black woman, and first woman of east Indian descent to hold the office.  Harris has flown under the radar for the past few years of the Biden administration.  She’s not free from controversy herself, with some reporting that the vice president was less than endearing to members of her staff. (See Symone Sanders Resignation here: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/01/symone-sanders-vice-president-office-523660 )

And should Biden take my advice and resign from office, buckle up your seatbelts for an all-out right-wing assault on the first Black woman president of the United States. It’ll be historic, but it will also be horrific.

Kamala, I pray you’re up for the challenge.