What’s the moral of Joe Biden’s and the Democrats’ current troubles? From the Bible and the Greeks and throughout the Western tradition, there is a constant refrain of being wary of hubris, the lying and arrogance that are innate to it, and the divine power that ultimately levels things out.

Biden and the Left so despised Donald Trump that they lost all sense of moderation, of proportion, of logic itself. Thus, they find themselves in the current ridiculous situation of suffering the consequences of their own unhinged rhetoric and actions.

For this irony of blindly speeding over the cliff to one’s own destruction is not limited to Mr. Biden, but explains the self-implosion of Hillary Clinton, our Woke Military, Black Lives Matter and so much else afflicting the Democrats.

Based on his abysmal job performance, Joe Biden's been unpopular with a lot of voting groups lately, and I'm not talking about just conservatives.

He's managed to alienate Latinos, suburban voters, independents, young people... He's lost a noticeable chunk of black men voters. He's losing with women.  Inflation, violent crime, job competition from illegals, and the monstrous Afghanistan pullout are taking their toll on old Joe's presidental approval ratings.

Now we learn that the rot has spread to the core: Even woke progressives can't stand Joe Biden.

Take a look at the just-released (12/27) poll of prog-lefties by Civiqs...

I love the smell of Joe Manchin in the morning … it smells like … victory.

If you survey the charred ruins of the progressives' hopes and dreams, you will need to have a heart of stone not to burst into hysterical laughter at their pain.

They were so close, so very close, and their heart's desire was ripped from them by a senator from a sane state who had zero desire to commit ritual, political suicide to please the brother-marrying likes of Ilhan Omar.

Cue the gif of a team of Joes carrying a coffin to that catchy EDM song.

[Note by Jack Wheeler: As the Dems go Full Woketard Freakout, the Wall Street Journal Editorial Board here explains how Joe Manchin can save them from political extinction.  With any luck, the Dems will ignore the advice.]

Joe Manchin’s decision on Sunday [12/19] to oppose the Build Back Better Act is a service to the country, sparing it from huge tax increases and new entitlements that would fan inflation and erode the incentive for Americans to work. Paradoxically, it is also a blessing for Democrats if they get the message, and it offers President Biden a chance to reboot.

What is behind recent pessimistic appraisals of democracy’s future, from Hillary Clinton, Adam Schiff, Brian Williams and other elite intellectuals, media personalities, and politicians on the Left?

Some are warning about its possible erosion in 2024. Others predict the democracy downturn as early 2022, with scary scenarios of “autocracy” and Trump “coups.”

To answer that question, understand first what is not behind these shrill forecasts.  After seeing all the reasons what is not, you see why:

The Left is fearful and angry not because democracy does not work, but because it does -- despite their own media and political efforts to warp it.

Does responsibility for the deaths of over 1 million Americans make Tony Fauci a mass murderer? It’s actually worse than that. Consider the basic evidence. It’s all laid out in Democrat Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s remarkable book, “The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health.”

Haven’t seen Kennedy being interviewed on the network news shows or the late-night talk shows?  No book tours? It’s no wonder. There is a wall of silence and fear throughout the media.

Simply put, there is certainly no way the Big Pharma-supported media is going to challenge a primary source of revenue. To Amazon’s credit, Kennedy’s book is available online and currently shows 3,000 ratings with 94% of them earning five stars. So the word on Fauci and his multiple misdeeds has not been totally contained.

China is experiencing a slow-motion economic crisis that could undermine stability in the current regime and have serious negative consequences for the global economy. Despite the many warning signs, Western analysts and policy makers are optimistic that Xi Jinping is up to the task of managing the crisis.

Such optimism is misplaced.

The U.S. and its allies have many tools to influence China’s economy and need to weigh the consequences of an acute crisis against the threat its current trajectory poses to the U.S. Policy makers should be thinking of how best to deploy these tools, instead of passively assuming the rapid growth and stability of the Chinese economy will continue.