By Bruce A. Smith

Today, President Joe Biden announced the end of his candidacy for re-election to the Presidency of the United States. In turn, he endorsed his Vice-President, Kamala Harris, to lead the Democratic ticket for President.

I, and many others, are relieved and excited by Grampa Joe’s decision. To my view, especially during his debate with Donald Trump in June, Joe Biden revealed that he is suffering from significant cognitive impairment. Specifically, I believe he has early onset Parkinson’s Disease. Dr. Tom Pitts, a neurologist interviewed recently by journalist, Tom Llamas on “NBC’s News Now,” claimed that Biden has manifested definitive signs of Parkinson’s, especially with his physical “rigidity.” These symptoms include “end-block” turning – the wooden-like movement as he pivots or turns his body. Instead of a smooth and multi-faceted orchestration of many muscles, Biden’s body moves as if it is a block of wood.

In addition, Biden displays a loss of “arm swing” as he walks, and only takes small steps in a shuffling gait. Plus, he manifests a “masked face,” whereby his face is often slack, with a noticeable open-mouth posture. More troubling, the President speaks in a small, monotone voice, and when coupled with the mobility issues, they are a “hallmark of Parkinson’s” according to Pitts. “He has Parkinson’s. That’s a fact,” declared Dr. Pitts.

However, Biden’s decision today leaves me and many Americans now free to celebrate the President’s many achievements. In my view, Joe Biden is the best president of my lifetime.

First, he is threading the needle with Israel in its conflict with Hamas – supporting Israel while keeping Netanyahu’s feet to the fire to establish a cease fire in the Gaza War and openly support a two-state solution to the Palestinian crisis.

Second, Biden saved Ukraine from being overrun by Russian. Without Biden’s orchestration of NATO forces and garnering domestic US political support to keep funding Ukraine’s war effort, life in Kiev today would be very different.

Third, Biden pulled us out of the COVID mess. First, he cleaned up the vaccine distribution chaos generated by Trump ineptitude. As of January 1, 2025, the distribution in Washington State was so bolluxed that the three main health organizations attempting to vaccinate the public offered three radically different timetables, locations, and eligibility. However, once Biden took office, the confusion dissipated and large sale, effective vaccination programs were quickly up and running. I myself was vaccinated in late February, 2024 at the Eatonville High School in a city-wide effort.

The economy was saved as well. When Biden took office, many economists were forecasting a deep recession., and that did not happen. In fact, the opposite occurred, and now the stock market roaring, and unemployment is low. Yes, the supply chain issue was sticky, and inflation a real kick in the pants. But we survived.

As for climate change, we finally got a public leader who took the matter seriously and passed legislation to begin the transition to a more sustainable future.

Nevertheless, Biden’s biggest contribution to my life has been blunting the madness of Trumpism. I haven’t seen a MAGA person wear a pistol to the laundromat in years, and my friends who once told me that I was a “lethal threat” because I was vaccinated now invite me to watch the Super Bowl and share a pizza. I trust that come November President Kamala Harris will continue “keeping peace in the valley.”

As for those of us who angst over our own loss of memory, or our inability to find the word that’s right on the tip of our tongue, here are some details on Parkinson’s Disease.

It is a degenerative neurological disease. According to the Economic Times, it is caused by a buildup of a protein called “alpha-synuclein,” which accumulates on the insides of brain neurons responsibility for the production of a certain type of dopamine. It causes the cell’s death, and thus, dopamine levels are reduced and the body deprived of the necessary chemicals that regulate physical movement, memory, and mood. Besides the changes to gait and physical movements, Parkinson’s is also responsible for cognitive deficits, such as “word-finding difficulties, and slowed or slurred speech.”

Reportedly, some medications are available to slow the advance of Parkinson’s or mitigate some of the symptoms. Mohammad Ali was reported to have developed Parkinson’s several years before his death.

Regarding Joe Biden, the White House released a report in February 2024 from Dr. Kevin Cannard, a board-certified neurologist at the Walter Reed Military Medical Center, who examined the president. Dr. Cannard claimed that he did not find any evidence of a “cerebellar or other central neurological disorder, such as stroke, multiple sclerosis or Parkinson’s” in the President. As for the veracity of this report, I’ll leave it for intrepid journalists of the future to discern the truth of this announcement. But I am highly skeptical.

Regardless, we all have seen what we have seen on TV. Joe is clearly not right. Thankfully, President Joe Biden did the right thing today. I salute him, and thank him for his great service to this country.

In historical terms, yes, Barack got us Obamacare, and LBJ procured many civil rights bills along with Medicare and Medicaid. But Obama had Pelosi, and Johnson’s pieces of legislation were only brought to fruition by the determined efforts of many unheralded leaders, such as Martin Luther King and John Lewis.

Biden’s achievements are more singular, and to me, illustrate his greatness.

Thanks, Joe.