We currently do not have a president of the United States who is paying attention to unfolding events in the world. What we have is a frail and failing old man who is sleeping on a beach in Delaware while the world burns around him.

Sitting president of the United States. Dropped out by tweet. No explanation. Barely been seen since.

War looming. Border crisis.

On vacation.

Media has no follow-up questions. https://t.co/6S7QrUZAWz

— Sunny (@sunnyright) August 10, 2024

I honestly felt like Jill should have poked Joe just to prove that he was still breathing for the cameras well before the 53 second mark when he rouses. And you have to love the helper who brings an umbrella in at 1:36 to block the view of the cameras. I understand that it’s summer, the beach is nice, and even presidents deserve a break. Except that the Middle East could burst into actual flames at any second, and you would think the president of the United States, who looks to be largely checked out of life, the universe, and everything around him, would actually pay attention to the job he swore an oath to do.

Unless, of course, Joe Biden is completely incapable of doing that job, and all of this is just window dressing until we get through Election Day. If we had a mainstream media who actually cared about getting at the truth, we might know if the current president of the United States still had two brain cells to rub together and fire off a neuron. Instead, we have a press gushing about the “joy” Kamala Harris brings to them because they don’t have to shill for Grandpa Joe anymore, while trying to ignore the fact that Tim Walz has embellished his military resume for YEARS.

The weirdest thing about the press’s current behavior is that it has forgotten both that Joe Biden is still president and that Kamala Harris is the vice-president. The whole thing is being treated as a competition for a currently vacant White House.

— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) August 11, 2024

You know who else is noticing that we have no working president right now? The bad guys. Joe Biden is trying the “don’t” routine again with Iran, after the world has been waiting to see what kind of retailation Iran might try after losing some of their top terror proxy leaders. It has definitely been a longer wait than anticipated, with the exception being rocket attacks from Hezbollah into northern Israel almost every day. Still, nothing has been on the scale of Iran’s previous drone and missile attack back in April. Nothing, yet. But it doesn’t take much to realize that something is going to be coming.

MARGARET BRENNAN: General, we’ve talked a number of times in recent months, and the scenario you have flagged as the most concerning is one it seems we are on the brink of, and that is Lebanese Hezbollah entering this conflict, potentially in a significant way. How do you characterize where we are right now?

GEN. MCKENZIE: Margaret, I think we are hours, maybe days, not weeks, away from Lebanese Hezbollah entering this fight, and that’s always been the big variable. They are the largest non-state military entity in the world, you know, a parasite on Lebanon, but they have 10s and 10s of 1000s of highly accurate rockets and missiles, and they can challenge Israel in a way that Iran and the Houthis, for that matter, are unable to do so, because of their geographic proximity, because of the number of weapons that they have. And that’s very concerning. I’ve thought all along, the most dangerous turn in events would be if they chose to enter at scale. Now, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Lebanese Hezbollah, has got to make a very strategic decision on this, because he will be open to a withering Israeli counter attack should he choose to enter at great scale. And what would great scale be? Don’t know. I would say if he chooses to attack Israeli population centers, I would say if he- significant, significant casualties are caused by a Hezbollah attack, that will bring the IDF in, back in, with great force, and he recognizes that. And the last point I just make is, Hassan Nasrallah and Lebanese Hezbollah are perhaps weaker in Lebanon now than they’ve been in many years, because of the- the destruction of the economy, the fact that the country’s in governmental gridlock, lots of problems in Lebanon that he has to think about before he chooses to fight Israel, toe to toe.

There had been a plan for Israeli and Hamas negotiators to meet once again, on August 15th, in the hopes that a hostage release deal could be worked out. Joe Biden wants this deal in a bad way, and it’s clear that it would be in Democrats’ best interests if a deal was done BEFORE the Democratic National Convention starts on August 19th. Why? The pro-Hamas protesters are coming, and they want make Democrats bend the knee and grovel.

Organizers say tens of thousands will show up, creating scenes of fury and dissent at a moment when Democrats will be working to project unity.

Democratic leaders hoped that Vice President Kamala Harris’s ascent to the top of the ticket would shrink the protests, since she was not the architect of President Joe Biden’s Gaza policies and has been more vocal in challenging Israel and voicing empathy for Palestinians. But to many activists, Harris has not done nearly enough.

“We don’t expect any changes — we’re still anticipating that there will be tens of thousands of people in the streets,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair for the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and a spokesman for the Coalition to March on the DNC, an amalgamation of more than 200 advocacy groups and community organizations. AbdulQader added, “Unless she clearly takes a stance and says this is not okay … that door is shut.”

The groups who have gotten permits to march are overwhelmingly pro-Gaza and pro-Hamas, and they do not give a solid damn if the optics hurt Democrats. THAT is why the Biden administration was working so hard to get a deal done before the convention could start.

Well, Hamas just blew off that plan.

BREAKING: Hamas says in a statement that it refuses to participate in the hostage deal negotiations on August 15

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) August 11, 2024

Hamas leadership said Sunday that it will not attend cease-fire negotiations this week, insisting instead that the U.S. and allies submit an action plan to implement its cease-fire proposal agreed to last month.

The statement from Hamas, acquired by The Associated Press, urges the U.S., Egypt and Qatar to show how they can implement last month’s proposal “instead of going to more rounds of negotiations or new proposals that provide cover for the occupation’s aggression.”

President Biden insisted earlier Sunday that the cease-fire proposal is “still viable” despite some pushback from Israeli leaders.

“The plan I put together endorsed by the G7, endorsed by the … U.N. Security Council, et cetera, is still viable,” Biden said in a “CBS News Sunday Morning” interview. “And I’m working literally every single day to — and my whole team, to see to it that it doesn’t escalate into a regional war. But it easily can.”

As a result, and because Joe Biden is sitting on a beach, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is moving more support to the Middle East. You know, something a president might tell him to do. But there is zero indication that Joe Biden is even aware that this decision has been made.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered a guided missile submarine to the Middle East and is telling the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to sail more quickly to the area, the Defense Department said Sunday.

The moves come as the U.S. and other allies push for Israel and Hamas to achieve a cease-fire agreement that could help calm soaring tensions in the region following the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and a senior Hezbollah commander in Beirut.

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement that Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant earlier in the day, and reiterated America’s commitment “to take every possible step to defend Israel and noted the strengthening of U.S. military force posture and capabilities throughout the Middle East in light of escalating regional tensions.”

The Lincoln, which has been in the Asia Pacific, had already been ordered to the region to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier strike group, which is scheduled to begin heading home from the Middle East. Last week, Austin said the Lincoln would arrive in the Central Command area by the end of the month.

It wasn’t clear Sunday what his latest order means, or how much more quickly the Lincoln will steam to the Middle East. The carrier has F-35 fighter jets aboard, along with the F/A-18 fighter aircraft that are also on carriers.

Ryder also did not say how quickly the USS Georgia guided missile submarine would get to the region.

“Get there as fast as you can” is not exactly a GOOD sign. While getting the Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group to the area is undoubtedly necessary, one now has to wonder if the Roosevelt group will be leaving just as quickly as the Lincoln group is coming in. Or will we have a period of overlap, with two aircraft carrier strike groups in the region, waiting to see what happens?

The 3 am phone call could come at any time, and Joe Biden doesn’t seem to care much. And he certainly isn’t going to be awakened to answer the phone. Kamala Harris, who could invoke the 25th Amendment in order to make sure that we had a president without dementia, is nowhere near the Oval Office. It would be the worst of all worlds for her to actually have to be president before being elected, because if she actually had to work, then she would be held accountable for whatever actions and words came next. She could not escape press scrutiny. Which leaves us in the current situation of the lights being on, but no one is actually home at the White House to take the call. At least, no one who was elected and can be held accountable for their actions.

When the day comes – and it will come – that Joe Biden is no longer president, and either the press or former staff decide to start writing the “tell-all” books about just how addled and frail Joe Biden really had become, we should all be horrified. Not that the books are being written, not that the syncophantic press covered it up until it benefited them to reveal it all, but we should be horrified that the safety, security, and the lives of millions were all considered to be secondary considerations to a failing old man being left in the most powerful job in the free world, all to protect his “legacy” – and to make sure that Hunter got a last-minute pardon from Pop.

In the meantime, we have a president in name only, and no one willing to be responsible or accountable for what may come next.

Featured image: original Victory Girls art by Darleen Click