From Crisis to Opportunity
Congratulations, Democratic Party!
I am rejoicing, not because Joe Biden has dropped out, but because he has shown the flexibility and the consideration of national interests—and, therefore, the fitness—to be able to do so. This is a sign of health that gives us hope.
I have said since the very beginning that I was never concerned about Biden’s mental fitness, and even this past week, in my interviews with the New Yorker and the Los Angeles Times, as I was continually questioned about Biden’s fitness, I tried to redirect the issue to Donald Trump. As a result, long interviews were truncated to short quotes, since reporters’ focus was on Biden, not on Trump.
If I had concerns about Biden, they were simply secondary concerns about his opponent: if Biden had little chance of winning and still held onto the nomination, despite the existential threats Donald Trump’s election posed, then his fitness would indeed need to be questioned. But now, there is no longer any doubt.
Contrast this to Donald Trump, the truly unfit candidate who needs to step down. When he writes about Biden, he is actually speaking of himself:
Crooked Joe Biden … only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News…. All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t - And now, look what he’s done to our Country…. We will suffer greatly because of his presidency…. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Crooked Joe Biden is the Worst President, by far, in the History of our Nation. He has done everything possible to destroy our Country…. He was not fit to serve from the very beginning, but the people around him lied to America about his Complete and Total Mental, Physical, and Cognitive Demise…. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
Mental incompetence balloons out of proportion when handed more power than one can handle, and the one who needs most to step down is the one who will insist that he alone can do the job, that he is “God-ordained” and “the Chosen One.” This is why fitness must become the number one issue among elected officials. Biden’s greatest miscalculation, perhaps, was that he did not sufficiently address the mental unfitness of Donald Trump, believing that he could simply treat Trump as a normal politician while focusing on fixing his damages. As a result, despite the exceptional good he had done the nation, he ended up being saddled with Trump’s problems as his own!
While we do not yet know who Biden’s replacement will be, it is quintessential that the person be able to confront the elephant in the room: the fact that one will be running against not an equal but a pathological, dangerous, and unfit candidate bent on destroying the nation (no matter what he says). Who is accustomed to dealing with such disorder and dysfunction, without being a psychiatrist?
My interview with the Heritage Foundation publication, the Daily Signal, from almost a month ago comes to mind:
“The reason why so many people see problems with Joe Biden is that Donald Trump is projecting his mental symptoms on to Joe Biden so he can deny his own symptoms….
“There is a huge difference between being unfit and someone who does not present very well,” she said. “Joe Biden’s presentation makes people lose confidence in him. That’s not at all equal to danger or unfitness.”
The article reported on the fact that we “prepared a risk assessment for New York state Judge Juan Merchan to consider in his July 11 sentencing decision on Trump.” Of course, the sentencing did not happen, thanks to the Supreme Court decision to give Donald Trump “absolute immunity” on official acts, and pressures bearing down on even a state case caused it to be postponed to September 18, 2024. And especially after the assassination attempt, two days before the Republican National Convention, a frayed nation considered Trump all but elected.
Apart from denigrating our panel with, “It isn’t clear whether all five are psychiatrists or may have other training [he knew they were the most eminent living psychiatrists],” the reporter gave the rest of our story fairly. He stated:
Their risk assessment could be a factor in the severity of Merchan’s sentence for Trump in Manhattan Criminal Court, which could be up to 20 years in prison for all 34 felony counts on which he was convicted last month.
Lee said the mental health professionals made recommendations to the judge concerning the danger Trump poses to the public, how likely he is to commit a crime, and what message the sentencing would send to future offenders….
Lee said that she and other mental health professionals evaluated special counsel Robert Mueller’s 2019 report and determined Trump wasn’t fit to be president…. A “functional” test does not require the cooperation of the subject, while a “diagnostic” test would, she said.
However, Lee said she and colleagues did no such functional test on Biden, because they didn’t believe the incumbent president posed a danger to the public, but believed Trump did.
“We only did it for Donald Trump because he poses a danger to the public,” Lee said. “Mental health professionals have a responsibility to society and are required to act.”
She and her colleagues also weren’t asked to evaluate Biden, Lee said. However, she noted: “Our group has recommended that Joe Biden volunteer to take a test and set a standard for future presidents.”
Some high-ranking military officers are required to take mental assessment tests, Lee noted.
During the debate, Trump noted that he had taken two cognitive tests, and that Biden hadn’t. Such a test only proves someone doesn’t belong in a nursing home, Lee said.
The forensic psychiatrist then criticized Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, who was White House physician for both Trump and Barack Obama before him.
“I have often criticized Dr. Ronny Jackson. He is neither trained nor qualified to conduct a mental fitness exam,” Lee said. “He was an employee of the White House and a subordinate of the commander-in-chief. He had a conflict of interest.”
I truly hope that, no matter who is selected, the Democratic nominee will have the courage to point out that his or her counterpart is someone who should never have been allowed near the presidency in the first place.
The rest is explained in my new book, The Psychology of Trump Contagion: An Existential Threat to American Democracy and All Humankind, which is instantly available through paid subscription or by ebook.
Thank you again, Dr. Lee. I'm so glad there has finally been publication of your truly important message in major news sources. Biden has shown his integrity, while Trump continues to show his depravity. As for those who've fallen for the Trump contagion, "If you don't recognize the con, then you're the mark"! I continue now more than ever to hope the Democratic candidate will have the majority votes yet again (as in both 2016 and 2020), as well as enough for the Electoral College (as in 2020). Vote Blue!
Biden ending his re-election bid is both heartbreaking and wonderful at the same time. Little in this world is about what we want or can do. Often, we're limited by what colleagues can comprehend.
Dr. Lee asks: "Who is accustomed to dealing with such disorder and dysfunction, without being a psychiatrist?"
I'd suggest people capable of dealing with such disorder and dysfunction are those in responsible positions who must successfully deal with evil. If we define an evil person as someone who consciously and willfully violates the appropriate boundary of another person, then those who keep evil from hurting others, without violating more boundaries, are exceptionally valuable people who perform a difficult soul-wrenching task that should never be taken-for-granted.
Competently containing and managing evil is physically and psychically dangerous.
My sense of Biden during the debate was that he was not prepared for being alone in the same room with Trump intently attacking him. Biden was used to dealing with people who treated his presence with a degree of respect, good-faith, and even loyal opposition not only because he is President, but also because this is how healthy people treat others.
Biden is rarely alone with someone outside his close circle. Yet here he was on-stage having to manage a vicious, evil presence that has no sense of appropriate boundaries, that lies with impunity, and has zero sense of rational discussion or decorum. Trump's superpower is that he's a rich, hardcore 100% Egoic presence in a world that is mostly ignorant about such phenomena. Evil is banal when exposed. I believe that, among other considerations, the experience sucked all life out of Biden.
What I found most telling about Biden was that he didn't try to out-Trump Trump, or fight fire with fire. He did what most healthy people do when in the presence of evil: he withdrew.
Although she will go through hell for it, I hope Harris becomes the nominee. She's a successful prosecutor, which is a task in the hands of a good-person that challenges the soul. So far, she seems up to it. Her first real test will be alone on a debate stage with a phenomenon like Trump.