Accommodating Grandpa

The "steps" the White House is taking to

 accommodate Joe Biden in his dotage.

posted by Dianny at SweetMercifulZeus

You've probably seen the clip of President Biden stumbling ever so slightly as he made his way up the steps to Air Force One last week in Helsinki.

As Biden Tumbles go, it was relatively mild compared to some of his more memorable pratfalls, like the wipe-out at the Air Force Academy graduation when he tripped over a sandbag.

But what you may not have noticed about the Helsinki shuffle is that Grandpa Joe wasn’t boarding AF1 using the more traditional grand steps to the front door. Instead, he took the shorter steps that lead into the belly of the plane.

And according to Politico, the decision to use the truncated steps to the presidential plane began a few months ago, no doubt to avoid embarrassing incidents like the triple fall Grandpa took in 2021 or the less dramatic stumble in February.

Nothing deflates the ego faster than the cocky old bugger tripping over his feet while taking the steps to Air Force One with all the confidence of a star quarterback leaving the field after making the game-winning touchdown pass.

But considering Joe still stumbled on the shorter steps, maybe the White House should just fit one of those stair-lift chairs onto the steps of Air Force One instead.

According to Politico, shifting to the short steps is just one of the ways the White House is accommodating the octogenarian president who frequently laughs off concerns about his advancing age.

The outlet reports that White House aides "are also trying to limit situations where any signs of physical frailty might be on heightened display — and to ease the burdens of travel where possible."

Oh, honey. Joe’s frailty is on display every time he appears in public. You could prop him behind the Resolute desk and even Helen Keller would be able to spot his frailty.

Any road.

In addition to using the abbreviated steps to board Air Force One, Grandpa has taken to wearing sneakers more often, which is better than wandering around the West Wing in a pair of slippers.

Not that I'm knocking that. I shovel snow in hard-soled slippers sometimes if my kidneys are so inflamed from Lupus that I can't get my boots over the accompanying edema in my feet.

Then again, I'm not the leader of the free world. I can run to the grocery store in my slippers without causing America's enemy's to rub their hands together in gleeful anticipation.

But a president’s frailty is another matter entirely.

A recent Pew Research Center survey found that only 3% of respondents prefer a president in his 70s or older. Even 5% of respondents over 70 don't want a president their age.

Meanwhile, poll after poll shows that most voters, including Democrats, think Joe Biden is just too damn old to serve a second term in office.

Last month, a DailyMail.com/JL Partners poll found that 71% of likely voters, including 49% of Democrats, said Grandpa is too old.

If the White House thinks that sending old Joe to the short steps and having him make truncated visits abroad is going to put the "He's Too Damn Old" genie back into the bottle, I think that ship has sailed.

Yeah, I know. Mixed metaphor.