I remember being in high school and reading … and I had to check this… Frank R. Stockton’s short story from 1882, The Lady or the Tiger. It’s a story about a nasty king who rules the land and has a public trial by ordeal of someone who was opposed to his rule. A handsome young man is accused of the crime and is brought into the public arena and must choose one of two doors. Behind one door is a woman who the king has chosen to be a match for the accused and behind the other is a hungry tiger.
Both doors are soundproofed to prevent the young man from hearing what’s behind each one. If he chooses the door with the woman behind it, he’s innocent but must immediately marry her. If he chooses the tiger, he is deemed guilty and you can only imagine.
The king then learns that his daughter has a lover, the handsome young man. The Princess realizes that the woman behind the door is someone she hates, a rival for the love of the accused. When he looks to the Princess for help, she indicates the door on his right which he opens. The choice is never revealed. It’s always left up to all of us who comes out of the open door, the lady or the tiger.
The Princess’ dilemma is she loses her handsome young man either way. He’s eaten by the tiger or married to her rival. It’s a dilemma we all face now. Joe Biden is behind one door and Donald Trump behind the other. Joe Biden every day slips further and further into dementia. It’s overwhelmingly self-evident that Biden’s mental abilities come into question after the Special Counsel report of his handling of classified documents, he was dubbed an elderly man with a poor memory.
There are seemingly no more Biden protectors or defenders. Joe is a year older than I am and kept saying his memory was fine and for all of us to take a look at what he’s done since he became president. That’s the last thing I’d be saying, Joe. Seemingly every focus group that I’m able to read on the internet will mention they don’t believe Joe has all of his faculties.
Now comes Donald Trump. Enough things have been said about Donald Trump that I don’t need to go back over them in this column. But what we face is the rematch that most Americans don’t want. Nationwide polls have Donald Trump leading Biden, and a lot of unsure people are people that are planning to vote for someone else. I’ve been asked many times, as if it matters, Peter, what do you think is going to happen? In 1968 Lyndon Johnson went on national television and told the American people he’s not going to seek the nomination in the November presidential election. That the torch would pass to Hubert Humphrey.
How do we shake out of this? Yogi Berra once said, “Predictions are hard to make, especially about the future.” Will Donald Trump return to the White House? Will Joe Biden return to the White House?
Given how the United States is in the world today, given all the different scenarios and tragic potential outcomes, will Biden step aside? Who’s in the wings? Will the Republican Party turn away from Donald Trump knowing he cannot win a general election? It’s an extremely dangerous time in the world. Joe Biden is having memory lapses and Donald Trump absolutely scares the hell out of me. Which will it be the lady or the tiger? We stand in the arena reaching for a door handle.
— Peter Boyles