There’s a story in this morning’s Guardian saying Biden’s Chief of Staff, Ron Klain, is stepping down from his position. It was placed right next to a story about how still MORE classified documents have been uncovered in Biden’s possession. Well, no, that’s not right. The way these files keep being found, it seems more like he reads something, then just tosses it aside and it ends up in a pile of jetsam somewhere in some room, office, or garage. I suspect there’s an attempt to link Biden’s mishandled files with some failing on Klain’s part so Klain falls on his sword. I don’t think it’s going to work, though.

This piece, that I’m writing right now is a primary difference between left and right in this country. If I were a Republican, I’d be defending Biden’s actions no matter what, despite the fact that mishandling classified documents is an indefensible act. There are a LOT of excuses we could toss out. We could take a page from the Republican playbook and simply pretend a) it never happened or, b) Biden declassified them with his mind or even c) the files all belonged to Biden and some functionary simply failed to cross out the classified markings. But the left doesn’t do that. We don’t pick and choose right and wrong based on the person in question’s political affiliations. We start off at “mishandling classified documents is bad” and go from there. It remains true regardless of the person doing the mishandling.

Truth be told, though, I would like to know the level of classification of those files. Are they confidential or Top Secret? Are they assessments of nuclear capability or personality assessments of world leaders? In practice, it makes very little difference. Classified is classified. Mishandled is mishandled. But I worry less if the files are confidential than if they’re Top Secret or higher.

To be clear, you can put me in the crowd that thinks that, overall, Biden hasn’t done a bad job as the President. But I DO worry about his age. It’s not an “ageist” thing. I don’t worry about the number, alone. My concern is not his age but rather, HIS age and the way the years are expressing themselves in him – and I really would prefer he not run again. I think the fact that he can’t keep track of classified materials is one good example of the way he seems to be experiencing some…set-backs of age.

I was treated to an opinion from conservative media that pretended the files were planted – by the DemocRATS! (Conservative dogma DEMANDS one capitalize the last four letters…) Because the Dems don’t want Biden to run again, they set him up to look bad. Okay, well, if we’re going with paranoid conspiracy theories, here, I like mine better: Donnie the Dumbass had someone plant some of the files Donnie stole in order to do exactly what it’s doing – giving the cons an out. But for those of us who continue to dwell in the real world, it’s most likely Biden just mislaid them – and then forgot about them entirely.

I hope he doesn’t run again. Yes, it leaves the Democrats with a problem. Which aging, corporate, oldster with yesterday’s solutions to tomorrow’s problems do they run in his place? For reasons I can’t understand, the Dems simply refuse to go younger, with fresh blood and fresher ideas. But now is the time. The cons are in disarray. At this point, it looks like they’re going to run the moronic extremist trump again or, perhaps the slightly less (but still) moronic extremist Ron DeSantis. With those as the picks from the right, the left has a bit of wiggle room.

I’ll tell you this: Every day, more and more Americans – true Americans – are catching on to the b.s. that is the conservative position and abandoning it. The extremist far right is finally losing ground but it’s going to take a bit of time for them to purge the problems from the party and in the meantime, the left can try out some new, younger talent…

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I’ll tell you this: I’m pretty excited about today’s playoff game between the Cowboys and the Forty-Niners. The Niners have enjoyed a bit of a dream season. They lost not one but TWO Quarterbacks making the third stringer the starter and dashing the hopes of the faithful – until it turned out that the third stringer is a bit of a ringer and plays like…well, he’s already breaking some of Joe Montana’s early records. No, I’m not prepared to call him the “next Montana.” THAT, he’s got to prove over time. There’s no short cut. But, given that time, he really might be able to prove it.

I have a friend who argues that the talent experts in the NFL saw something about Purdy they didn’t like, which explains why he was relegated to the last pick of the draft. My friend suggests these talent guys really know their stuff and, sooner or later, the flaw in Purdy’s play will be exposed. I’m not sure I agree with my friend on this. I’m not sure the talent guys really know so much. For me, the measure isn’t found in the number of late round drafts who didn’t perform. It’s found in the number of first and second round drafts who didn’t perform – ALL of whom were vetted by the talent scouts and dubbed first- or second-rounders.

Joe Montana was taken in the third round. Tom Brady wasn’t selected until the sixth round. Ryan Leaf (who?) was a consensus first round pick (though, in fairness, nobody said THE first pick…) So…maybe the “experts” are just plugging numbers into some formula and letting the algorithm sort it out. Purdy fell until the late rounds – infamously, now, the last pick of the last round – likely because he’s not what the NFL has termed tall enough to play Quarterback. (He’s just over six feet tall.) Now, though, it looks like Purdy will be the new starting Quarterback of the Forty Niners going forward. He should be. He’s the best player they’ve had at that position since, well, honestly since the Montana/Young years. But it took a series of unexpected events to get him there. Not ONE of the so-called “experts” found this, particular, diamond in the rough.

He faces what I think will be his toughest challenge today. I’ve been a Niner fan for a long time. As a result, I have…feelings about the Dallas Cowboy I shouldn’t write in this space. But one has to respect the talent and the success they’ve managed this season. They’re a VERY good team. But so are the Niners. In fact, on paper, largely because of Purdy (and the addition of Christian McCaffrey), I think the Niners are better overall. They should win what I expect to be a tough fight. Of course, that’s why they play the games, right?

Whoever wins, they’re off to Philadelphia to face a rather daunting Eagles team next week. This time of year, that MUST equate to an advantage for the Eagles. So these (hopefully) next two games will be the toughest the Niners have played this year. I don’t plan to miss a minute of it…