If there is one word that has come to define the behavior of the permanent managerial class, it is overreach, willing as they are to stretch the limits of common decency and their supposedly strongly held democratic principles. While this willingness has had brought them great success in evading consequences electorally, they’ve only cemented their own ignominy in the history books.

While there’s a whole litany of stories and narratives that fell victim to both the void of the Memory Hole and the churn of the Endless Present, there is one in particular I want to perform a brief autopsy on given a number of recent events.

When the Biden Administration elected to throw a Molotov cocktail on the nation’s political situation last September by sending the FBI in to raid Mar-a-Lago, Attorney General Merrick Garland went to great lengths to assure Americans that the White House investigating a political opponent was totally above board. With every delayed and obfuscated admission from Biden’s handlers, the whole affair is looking more and more like transparent political theater ginned up to salvage the midterm elections for a party and a presidency plunging the depths in approval ratings and snap polls.

Histrionic pundits yet again had another Trumpian Shaggy Dog story that would generate headlines and donations, but deliver little of the blood the faithful have been baying for since the Orange Man glided down that golden escalator. During a “60 Minutes” interview in the midst of the fiery coverage, the president marveled that his predecessor could ever have been so careless.

“How that could possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible?” Biden solemnly intoned to a glassy eyed and giddy Scott Pelley, “and I thought what data was in there that may compromise sources and methods. By that, I mean, names of people who helped or et cetera. And it’s just totally irresponsible.”

Crucially, by Nov. 2, a little tidbit of information became known by a large number of people, including but not limited to: the long-march bureaucrats hovering about the West Wing, by every hack in the Department of Justice, every goon in the FBI, and most pertinently by Joe Biden himself.

This little tidbit was that Joe Biden was guilty himself of illegally possessing and improperly handling classified documents and information. They would go on to sit on this story until long after the election had come and gone, an election where the Democrats’ successes were bolstered by the scandal and surprise of the Mar-a-Lago raid. It does seem as though Biden himself was certain his mishandling of classified documents from his time as a Senator and Vice President would avoid being the focal point of national conversation, with any potential stories quashed and hidden from the public’s view.

For a time that was true, until a whistleblower leaked the story to CBS News on Jan. 9, ripping the curtain down and forcing the Biden Administration into a state of transparency it has cowered from ever since he was inaugurated. AG Garland, reticent as he is to investigate anyone in the President’s orbit let alone the Big Guy himself, would have happily had the entire affair be investigated out of view of public scrutiny. Now that it’s all out in the open, the sheer panic descending upon the West Wing has provided a healthy amount of schadenfreude, but where does this leave the nation?

For our younger readers, it’s a little bit like letting loose a blue shell in Mario Kart, only for it to somehow swing back around and set its sights on you instead of your intended target. For my elders, Biden was living in a glass house and was throwing stones, conserving power for himself but imperiling the democracy he claims to stand for.

This isn’t simply psychological projection, a kind of emotional defense mechanism employed by people avoiding confrontation. Rather, it’s a cynical and brazen employment of the call for radicals to “accuse your enemy of that which you are guilty.” It’s no different than a child covered in crumbs blaming the picked over plate of cookies on the dog.

While the captured and capitulating members of the legacy media contort themselves into pretzels trying to rationalize for the layman why Biden’s actions are somehow uniquely forgivable, this all comes after months of non-stop coverage explaining exactly why such violations are decidedly not.

That begs the question, why would someone in the permanent bureaucracy put the entire apparatus in place propping up the Biden Presidency in such a precarious position by leaking the story to the press in the first place? And why did they wait until after the election? It doesn’t take a political science degree or a think tank to venture a guess. Covering it up before the election was just as calculated a move as the Mar-a-Lago raid was and the same can be said for the decision to ultimately reveal the truth to the public.

This might signal that those truly in power in Washington have decided that dragging Biden’s husk over the finish line 2024 is too tall an order, despite Biden’s stated desire to run again. Like many of the actions taken by his administration, it is clear that this decision is now being made for him. After sliming and sullying the process and his opposition, Biden, his party and his cheerleaders currently look like they just won a surfboard at the Nickleodeon Kid’s Choice Awards (if that’s even something they still do).

Whatever the reason for the merciful death of the stewardship of Joe Biden, it’s not clear who the Democrats have in the wings to take his place. Their clown car of candidates lacks the strong alternatives presented by GOP hopefuls such as Nikki Haley or Florida Gov. Ron Desantis do for Trump.

The reality could very well be that Trump’s resiliency could rear its head once again, which is only a positive for Democrats if their own candidate isn’t wrapped up in the same scandals and peccadillos that the Orange Man is. God knows they can’t run on Biden’s track record from his first two years, never mind whatever he has in store for us over the next two.

It is also very possible that nothing will come from these tepid and weak-wristed investigations into the current president, but all the same, someone behind the scenes is laying the groundwork for Biden’s political career to be taken out to pasture. In and of itself, a pretty clear message to our “Commander in Chief” no matter how it shakes out. If only they had done it sooner.