ArcaMax

Those who lived through the Watergate scandal in the’70s with its associated names and labels, including President Richard Nixon, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the plumbers, non-denial denials, press secretary Ron Ziegler, Haldeman and Ehrlichman, the tapes, Judge John Sirica, Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski, John Dean and the cover-up, will recall the blazing headlines.

Daily, especially in The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times, and most leading broadcast network newscasts were stories about the growing scandal and calls for impeachment of the president and the jailing of some of his top associates.

Compare this to the massive double cover-ups of Joe Biden’s mental decline and the announcement last Sunday that he has advanced prostate cancer. Among the cover-up co-conspirators appears to be Biden’s doctor, Kevin O’Connor, who assured the public that Biden was “fit” and could serve a second term. There was nothing about Biden’s PSA level, which is a measurement that helps determine whether men might have prostate cancer.

I have had an annual physical for many years and the PSA results are always included. In not telling the public about Biden’s PSA level, O’Connor was either incompetent, or more likely, covering it up. He was not alone. Jill Biden had to know, not only about his PSA numbers, but his mental and physical decline.

Where are Woodward and Bernstein, or their equivalent? The newspapers and broadcast networks remain fixated on what they regard as President Trump’s bad character, ethical breaches and to them, bad policies. They seem to regard the Biden cover-ups as an afterthought. As usual, the New York Post is leading the way in reporting and commenting on this, to the shame of what used to be called “mainstream media.” The Post reported Tuesday: “A senior Department of Justice official has suggested former first lady Jill Biden should face criminal charges for ‘elder abuse’ for not revealing what she knew about her husband’s health problems.”

This scandal is much bigger than Watergate because it involved the health, life and decision-making by the president. If someone else was making decisions we need to know. Some Democrats who staunchly defended Biden are now suggesting they might have understated his condition. Don’t look for them or the major media to apologize, for heads to roll or for them to promise never to do this again. Like the Democrats, they prefer to “move on.”

All who were engaged in these shameless cover-ups should not be allowed to get away with their actions (or inactions). This isn’t about revenge. It is about sparing the country from similar episodes in the future and holding accountable those who engaged – actively or passively – in the cover-ups.

President Biden was asked on several occasions about his mental health and whether he is tested. He claimed he was tested “all the time,” but never released the results of those tests and reporters never pursued them. President Trump has released his medical test results, which include a low .10 PSA level.

The New York Times reported earlier this month: “ Months before President (Biden) was forced to abandon his re-election campaign, his top White House aides debated having him undergo a cognitive test to prove his fitness for a second term but ultimately decided against the move, according to a forthcoming book. The account illustrates the degree to which Mr. Biden’s top aides harbored deep fears about how voters viewed his age and mental acuity. The book, ‘2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,’ by Tyler Pager of The New York Times, Josh Dawsey of The Wall Street Journal and Isaac Arnsdorf of The Washington Post, is set to be released in July.”

Republicans need to uncover the cover-ups and do it quickly, before the country moves on.

========

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks).

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.