All eyes - and few ayes - on Biden as Nato summit opens in Washington

WASHINGTON: The world's most formidable military alliance began a three-day meeting in Washington DC on Tuesday, ostensibly to strengthen partnership on its 75th anniversary and pledge greater support to Ukraine in its war with Russia. At the same time, all eyes are on the host, US President Joe Biden, whose re-election bid is in jeopardy on the growing perception that he is infirm and aging rapidly, and the looming shadow behind him of his Republican rival Donald Trump, who has often threatened to dismantle NATO and is seen in many quarters as unhinged.
The global geo-strategic gathering against the backdrop of domestic US political drama came even as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Moscow attracted adverse notice. A state department spokesman said Washington has "made quite clear directly with India our concerns about their relationship with Russia.” But a sharper reaction came from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, who posted photos of a children’s hospital in Kyiv that was struck by a Russian missile on Monday, while tweeting, “It is a huge disappointment and a devastating blow to peace efforts to see the leader of the world’s largest democracy hug the world’s most bloody criminal in Moscow on such a day."
For the moment though, NATO leaders are more concerned with outcome of the struggle the US President is waging to salvage his re-election bid against critics in his own party and liberal elites beyond. That ongoing tussle witnessed further drama on Monday when it was disclosed that a neurologist specializing in Parkinson's disease had visited the White House eight times in the last eight months, a log-book disclosure that rattled the US political cage.
The White House eventually explained that the neurological specialist, Dr Kevin Cannard, had indeed examined Biden during each of his annual physicals, but not beyond that. Many of his visits related to regular neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of other White House personnel, the President's physician Dr Kevin O'Connor said in a statement.
“Many military personnel experience neurological issues related to their service, and Dr Cannard regularly visits the WHMU as part of this General Neurology Practice,” he added.
O’Connor stressed that Biden's last physical found no signs of Parkinson's, which he detailed in a February 28 letter, and that the President "has not seen a neurologist outside of his annual physical."
The clarification did little to assuage concerns of the growing band of Biden critics in the Democratic eco-system who are convinced that the 81-year President will cede White House, and possibly the Senate and House too, to a more physically vigorous Donald Trump. One critic noted that "July is not February," suggesting that the President is slowing down rapidly and will not be able to lead the country effectively for four years even if he were to win the November 2024 election.
TV networks on Tuesday wheeled out doctors specializing in Parkinson's, with one physician who said he was a Democrat telling NBC News that Biden is definitely showing symptoms indicating onset of Parkinson's, and that he should drop out of the race in the interest of the party and the country.
The physician, Dr Tom Pitts, said Biden is showing "classic features of neurological degeneration" including word-finding difficulties; rigidity, including loss of arm swing; standing up robotically; shuffling gait; and low, hypotonic monotone voice, among others.
There will be minute scrutiny for any manifestation of those symptoms over the next three days during which Biden -- older than the NATO alliance itself -- will appear in public several times, including at a concluding press conference on Thursday. Even Biden supporters are wishing for a more forceful and energetic leader to lead them, but it is not certain the 81-year old President can pull it off even if he wants to.
Any verbal and physical misstep will be amplified and magnified by tv cameras and talking heads, potentially leading to the end of Biden's bid for a second term -- and possibly of NATO too if his rival wins in November.