Since the palace coup, Joe Biden has been the lamest of lame ducks. His handlers no longer perceive the need to keep him out of the public eye and are letting him “just be Joe” to the general disgust and horror of the public. Some of them are even admitting—as are some in the Media—that just maybe Joe hasn’t been as sharp as they claimed, and maybe even not before he took office. Even Joe Scarborough, who angrily and obscenely told Americans they couldn’t handle the truth about “the best Biden ever” has backtracked and trekked to Mar-a-Lago to beg forgiveness.

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Thus did Biden grant an interview to USA Today’s Susan Page. It was, to put it mildly, revealing but not as Biden might have intended.

President Joe Biden, both reflective and defensive as he discussed his legacy, told USA TODAY he believes he could have won his reelection bid − but isn't sure he would have had the vigor to complete four more years in the Oval Office.

"So far, so good," he said. "But who knows what I'm going to be when I'm 86 years old?"

As Inigo Montoya might have said: “you keep saying ‘so far, so good.’ I don’t think that means what you think it means.’”

Neither does most of what Biden had to say:

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On his legacy: 

“And so I hope that history says that I came in and I had a plan how to restore the economy and reestablish America's leadership in the world. That was my hope. I mean, you know, who knows? And I hope it records that I did it with honesty and integrity, that I said what was on my mind. And I think the only advantage of being an old guy is that I've known every major world leader for a long time. “

I’m sure when Biden slept during meetings in foreign lands, or mumbled gibberish, major world leaders knew what to expect. 

“And so, I hope that my legacy is one that says I took an economy that was in disarray and set it on track to lead the world, in terms of the new sort of rules of the road.”

I wouldn’t put money on that hope. Responding to why Democrats lost everything in November, Biden observed: 

“…almost every democracy out there "lost" this time…"

 which was a good thing indeed for our representative, constitutional republic.

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And about the economy: 

“And if you think about it, much of what I had, the hardest thing to do for me in the economy was to think through what were the immediate fixes you could do to make people feel better? But what do we do in the long-term? Put America in a position where you continue to be able to lead the world.”

Great job on that, Mr. Biden. What does he fear most about Trump?   

“On the economy, my single greatest fear is that he will try to, and maybe even succeed, in eliminating the elements of the climate law. “

Sane Americans fear Trump won’t.

 “…that's why I put so much money into rail. First, you can get from point A to point B in a vehicle and get to the same point from A to B in a train. It's an electric train. They take the train. And guess what? It reduces pollution by over 20%. You get thousands of cars off the road.”

That hasn’t worked out so well for California. I suspect the transcript was edited to remove observations like this:

“Or not so much me, but establish that the government did this for you. It wasn't... It was... Anyway...”

And who would Biden preemptively pardon?

“For example, I think there are certain people like, if he were to, I don't want to name their names. I'll tell you off the record. [REDACTED]. But there are other parties that we're following through on to determine that, rectifying some of the, correcting powder-cocaine difference, things like that.”

Anyway:

PAGE: I know you're very proud of your family.

BIDEN: I really am. Anyway...

Could Biden have beaten Donald Trump?

“It's presumptuous to say that, but I think yes, based on the polling that...”

And this well sums up not only the substance of the interview, but Biden’s term in office:

“Well, my sister is my best friend in the world. I mean, for real. She used to be three years younger than me. Now she's 20 years younger. “

How does that happen, I wonder?  More about his sister:

“She's been in my handlebar since she's been three years old. That's not a joke.”

No. I don’t suppose it is.

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At least some of Biden’s handlers are surely working on tell-all book deals. Americans of good faith will simply hope Biden gets the elder care he so badly needs, and his remaining days are filled with warm beaches and long, comforting naps.

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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.