It’s been a while since we’ve heard much about Joe Biden, hasn’t it? Yet here he is, back in the headlines – not because of some triumphant return to form, but for all the wrong reasons. The former US president has once again found himself at the center of national attention, thanks to a sequence of revealing and deeply troubling events.
It began with Axios publishing the full audio of Biden’s now-infamous interview with special prosecutor Robert Hur. The same interview in which Hur concluded that the then president suffered from serious memory issues. As the recording confirmed, he wasn’t wrong. Biden struggled to recall basic facts – even the date his son died.
Days later, another bombshell dropped: Biden had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. The news barely had time to circulate before the release of Original Sin, a book by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’s Alex Thompson, tore down what little remained of the White House facade.
The authors didn’t just suggest that Biden had declined mentally during his presidency. They asserted that he had not been governing at all. Instead, they described a ‘Politburo’ of family members and close aides who effectively ran the United States in his name. It’s a term that will sound all too familiar to the Russian ear, and one that cuts deeper than many Americans might realize.
For years, critics of the US establishment – especially abroad – have joked about the ‘Washington Obkom’, a reference to the old Communist Party regional committees of the Soviet Union. Today that comparison doesn’t seem like satire. It feels like a diagnosis.
It’s especially ironic that these revelations are coming not from conservative firebrands or Russian media, but from the very liberal American outlets – CNN, Axios – that worked so hard in 2024 to prop up the Biden administration and conceal the cracks forming behind the curtain.
But I’m less interested in their delayed honesty than in the questions Americans are now starting to ask. How did the United States, with all its checks and balances, end up with a gerontocratic shadow government? Why did Washington begin to resemble Moscow circa 1982?
Let’s start there.
A gerontocracy emerges when the ruling elite can no longer tolerate change. In the USSR, it was the ageing leadership of the Communist Party that clung to power. In the US, it’s the political generation that peaked in the 1990s and 2000s, the last so-called ‘consensus’ generation in American politics. Their grip on power outlasted their ideas. Though Democrats and Republicans had their differences, they broadly agreed on the same post-Cold War worldview. They ran the show for decades – until Donald Trump shattered that illusion in 2016.
Trump’s rise forced a reckoning. On the right, younger Republicans moved toward a more nationalist, populist agenda. On the left, Democrats tacked hard toward identity politics and expanded welfare, partly driven by their reliance on minority voting blocs and partly by the legacy of Barack Obama’s progressive rhetoric.
By the time Trump’s first term ended, the American political elite faced a nightmare: if they handed power to the next generation, they risked total collapse. The establishment Republicans had already been steamrolled by Trump’s base. Democrats feared the same fate if they embraced their more radical progressives.
Their solution was to cling to the past. Enter Joe Biden, a relic of the consensus era, sold to voters as a unifying moderate. In reality, he was a placeholder. A human firewall designed to stop the rising tide on both sides. The hope was that a return to ‘normal’ would restore calm. Instead, it prolonged the crisis. Biden, like Brezhnev before him, became the living embodiment of a system unable to face reality.
And now, as Americans look back on the Biden years, they are forced to reckon with the consequences of their denial. Power didn’t disappear, it simply drifted into backrooms and family circles. Decision-making was outsourced to unaccountable figures behind the scenes. And the public was kept in the dark. Even Biden himself, we now know, was shielded from bad polling numbers.
But the deeper lesson is more uncomfortable. Change comes whether you want it to or not. The US establishment tried to shut out the new generation. It only worked temporarily. Trump is back in power. Yes, he is old. But unlike Biden, he has surrounded himself with younger, dynamic figures who are already shaping the Republican Party’s future.
The Democrats, by contrast, have learned nothing. Despite their crushing defeat in 2024, the old leadership continues to resist renewal. And now it’s costing them. Just recently, the Republicans passed Trump’s major tax bill in the House of Representatives by a single vote. That vote was lost because Democratic Congressman Gerry Connolly, aged 75, had passed away just before the session.
He was the third Democrat to die in office this year.
This morbid pattern hasn’t gone unnoticed. Americans have begun to joke grimly that the Democratic Party is literally dying. And the punchlines, as dark as they may be, contain more truth than fiction.
Washington is starting to resemble Brezhnev’s Moscow – not just in age, but in inertia. In the end, the lesson isn’t about personalities. It’s about systems that refuse to adapt. Systems that cling to the past until the present falls apart.
The ‘Washington Obkom’ may have seemed like a Russian jest once. It’s not a joke anymore.
This article was first published by the online newspaper Gazeta.ru and was translated and edited by the RT team
Such an approach would violate Washington state’s anti-discrimination law, a court has ruled
A federal appeals court has obliged a Korean spa in Lynnwood, Washington to provide services to transgender females. The beauty parlor had attempted to bar transwomen who have not undergone gender-affirming surgery from entering its ladies-only facilities.
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday, in a 2–1 vote, that Olympus Spa must change its admissions policy to comply with the anti-discrimination law. The court found that the spa’s owners were not being deprived of their First Amendment rights, such as the right to free exercise of religion, freedom of speech and right of association, by the State of Washington’s requirement.
Olympus Spa, which operates two locations in the state, is a traditional Korean bathhouse offering massages, body scrubs, and hot tubs that require full nudity. In 2020, the Washington State Human Rights Commission filed a complaint after a transgender woman—who had not undergone genital surgery—was denied entry.
The Commission argued that the spa’s ladies-only policy violated the Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), which prohibits discrimination in public accommodations based on gender identity and gender expression.
In response, Olympus Spa filed a lawsuit claiming the state was violating the owners’ constitutional rights to freedom of religion, speech, and association. The spa, run by a Christian Korean-American family, cited religious and cultural beliefs in opposing the inclusion of individuals with male genitalia in female-only spaces where nudity is required.
“The family-run business is owned by Korean Christians who hold sincere faith-based convictions against allowing persons whose genitals are external (males) to be present with persons whose genitals are internal (females) while in a state of partial or full undress if such persons are not married to one another,” the complaint stated.
However, the Ninth Circuit ruled that enforcement of the state law does not violate the First Amendment. Writing for the majority, Judge Margaret McKeown said that providing a Korean body scrub or massage does not constitute protected expressive conduct. She added that accepting the spa’s argument would essentially make every gym or massage parlor exempt from nondiscrimination laws.
The ruling comes amid broader national debates on transgender rights. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump reversed several protections for trans individuals, ending federal support for child sexual mutilation procedures and issuing executive orders banning transwomen from women’s sports and removing “radical gender ideology” from the military.
The accusation comes after the Pentagon chief alleged that Beijing posed a “real and imminent” threat
Washington is “vilifying” Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday. The accusation follows remarks made by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is deliberately ignoring calls for peace from nations in the region, according to the ministry.
Earlier, Hegseth claimed that China poses a real and potentially imminent threat, and urged Washington’s allies in the Indo-Pacific region to increase defense and security spending.
“Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region and instead touted a Cold War mentality of bloc confrontation, vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely labeled China a ‘threat’,” the ministry said in a statement.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday, the defense secretary accused Chinese authorities of seeking to fundamentally alter the region’s status quo and aiming to “become a hegemonic power.” Hegseth also raised the issue of Taiwan, which relies on the US for its defense – accusing Beijing of preparing to invade the territory.
The Chinese foreign ministry described the comments as “deplorable” and “intended to sow division” in the Asia-Pacific. It emphasized that the only country that “deserves to be called a hegemonic power” is the US, which it accused of undermining peace and stability in the region.
Responding to Hegseth’s remarks on the self-governing island, the ministry reiterated that the issue is entirely China’s internal affair. It stressed that no foreign nation has the right to interfere and warned the US against using the Taiwan issue as leverage against Beijing.
Taiwan has long been a source of discord between Beijing and Washington. While China advocates peaceful reunification, it has warned that any move toward formal independence could trigger armed conflict. Beijing contends that certain elements within the US government are pushing Taiwan toward that outcome.
China has also repeatedly criticized US-led joint military drills in the Indo-Pacific, arguing that they destabilize the region and provoke tensions over Taiwan.
In addition to geopolitical disputes, the two nations are at odds over trade. US President Donald Trump has blamed Beijing for America’s significant trade deficit with China.
In May, both countries agreed to pause the tariff hikes introduced the previous month for 90 days, while maintaining a baseline 10% duty on mutual imports. Earlier this week, Trump accused China of violating that agreement.
The newspaper has alleged that the billionaire was hooked on ketamine and took ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms
Elon Musk has denied allegations of drug abuse following a New York Times report detailing his purported heavy use of controlled substances during Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
On Friday, the NYT released an article alleging that the mogul was using the substances “far more intensely than previously known.”
In a post on X on Saturday, Musk brushed off the allegations, writing: “Also, to be clear, I am NOT taking drugs! The New York Times was lying their ass off.”
He added that he had “tried prescription ketamine a few years ago” and had publicly disclosed this fact. “This [is] not even news. It helps for getting out of dark mental holes, but haven’t taken it since then,” Musk stressed.
The Times had alleged that Musk was taking so much ketamine that it was affecting his bladder, a known effect of chronic use. The article also claimed, citing sources familiar with the matter, that Musk took ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms and traveled with a daily medication box containing about 20 pills including the stimulant Adderall.
The NYT stated that it is unclear whether Musk was taking drugs when he joined the Trump administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which was tasked with slashing the federal bureaucracy. However, it mentioned that during his tenure as a public servant, the businessman “exhibited erratic behavior,” insulted cabinet members, and at one point made a controversial gesture that many interpreted as a Nazi-style salute.
On Thursday, Musk announced that he would no longer serve as a government employee. He thanked Trump “for the opportunity to reduce wasteful spending” while stating that DOGE would continue its operations.
While Trump noted that Musk “is really not leaving” and was “going to be back and forth,” the announcement came amid multiple reports of a rift between the mogul and administration officials.
In March, the NYT reported that Musk had clashed with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio over firings in his department and with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy over air traffic control regulations.
Musk also recently voiced disappointment over Trump’s spending bill, which he said would increase the deficit and undermine DOGE’s mission.
Did you know Global Entrepreneur Week is the second week of November? Every year presents new challenges, which is why Global Entrepreneur Week (GEW) is a big deal for everyone in the business. Since the inaugural event in 2008, heads of state, celebrity entrepreneurs, business coaches, and leaders have fronted 40,000 events for 10 million […]
The British defense ministry plans at least six new munitions factories
The UK will invest $2 billion in new weapons factories as part of a sweeping rearmament strategy, Defense Secretary John Healey has announced.
The move comes ahead of the publication of the government’s Strategic Defense Review on Monday. The plan includes the construction of at least six new munitions and explosives factories and the procurement of more than 7,000 domestically produced long-range weapons, including drones and missiles. Healey has also pledged to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2034.
“The hard-fought lessons from [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine show a military is only as strong as the industry that stands behind it,” Healey said in a statement on Saturday.
“We are strengthening the UK’s industrial base to better deter our adversaries and make the UK secure at home and strong abroad.”
The conflict in Ukraine has highlighted significant shortfalls in Western arms production. Senior British officers have warned for months about depleted stockpiles, according to the BBC.
Opposition politicians have questioned the timing of the announcement, pointing out that procurement had stalled over the past year.
“We welcome investment in new munitions factories, but we don’t know when they will be ready – only that these orders should have been placed months ago,” said Conservative shadow defense secretary James Cartlidge.
The UK has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest backers in its conflict with Russia, as NATO members in Europe seek to boost military support amid concerns that the US under President Donald Trump may scale back aid to Kiev.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that foreign military assistance would only escalate the conflict without altering its eventual outcome. Russian officials have also accused former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of encouraging Ukraine to abandon peace negotiations in the spring of 2022 – a claim Johnson has denied. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed his denial as a “blatant lie.”
