auto editor for essays

No, and no. This challenge is open to everyone. There is no fee to join, and you don’t need to be an active AutoCrit member.

Yes. At the end of the challenge you will submit your story for potential inclusion in our finale livestream. We’ll share all those details at the kickoff of the challenge!

Absolutely not. All our challenges are built to engage and inspire our community – that’s it. We make absolutely no claim to anything you create during the challenge.

No. All genres are welcome.

Schedule: Stream 1: Tuesday, July 9th - 1pm Eastern US Stream 2 : Tuesday, July 16th - 1pm Eastern US Stream 3: Tuesday, July 23rd - 1pm Eastern US Stream 4: Tuesday, July 30th - 1pm Eastern US For the best benefit, we recommend you subscribe to the AutoCrit YouTube channel so you don't miss out on stream notifications. Recordings will be available on YouTube if you miss a live session.

Register now - it's free, autocrit editing.

• Member Login
• How It Works
• Plans & Pricing

HELP & ADVICE

• Writer’s Room
• Support Center
• AutoCrit Reviews

ABOUT AUTOCRIT

• The AutoCrit Story
• Terms and Conditions
• Privacy Policy
• Website Terms

Free Online Photo Editor AI Image Generator and AI Design tools

The suite for all your creative photo and design editing needs directly in your web browser, on your smartphone, or on your desktop, all free. The only limit is your imagination!

Pixlr Editor

Pixlr express, pixlr designer, batch editor, jump right in.

Here we collected the most used Generative AI and Photo Editing features people are looking for!

Generative AI Tools

Explore Pixlr’s new AI Powered Generative Tools unleashing limitless creative possibilities. Perfect for both beginners and seasoned professionals, these tools redefine artistic expression with intuitive AI technology, revolutionizing your creative process.

AI Image Generator magic!

Elevate your creations with the revolutionary Text to Image AI image generator, revolutionizing the way you convert simple text into visually captivating artwork. Unleash your imagination and craft breathtaking, AI-generated masterpieces that are bound to captivate and inspire your audience.

Amazing AI Generative Fill!

From concepting creative ideas to making complex edits and refinements, Generative Fill can help you quickly realize your vision while giving you complete control over every creation.

See more with AI Generative Expand!

Explore beyond the borders of your canvas with Generative Expand, make your image fit in any aspect without cropping the best parts. Just expand in any direction and the new content will blend seamlessly with the image.

Other EPIC AI Generative Tools!

AI Remove Object

Remove any unwanted object from your image by just drawing a line arround it.

AI Remove Background

One-click background remover, let the AI do the boring work.

AI Face Swap

With the AI face swapper you become anyone you desire: a superhero, a heartthrob, a law enforcer, or an intellectual. Or just switch faces with a friend, there are no limits.

AI Super Scale

Use AI to upscale images and keep a superb quality.

AI Super Sharp

Enhance image clarity and details, bring a new level of precision to your digital photographs.

AI Generative Transform

Separate out object from the image and move, resize or rotate them freely. Just like magic!

AI Remove Noise

Effectively reduce or eliminate unwanted noise from images, ensuring a smoother and cleaner result.

Photo Editing and Design

Over the last 15 years, Pixlr has maintained its position as the top photo editing service on the web. Our commitment to pioneering innovation in online capabilities remains unwavering, ensuring the delivery of excellent retouching, drawing, filter, and effect tools!

Photo Grid Maker

It remains a timeless design choice, continuing to be among the favored layouts for presenting photos on social media, advertisements, or in print. Our auto grid feature effortlessly offers a range of layouts to suit your diverse photo presentation needs, providing convenient options for your creative endeavors.

Product Shot Creator!

Studio looking product images in a few seconds, no more tedious repetitive work to create awe looking product images, just let our AI generate the perfect shot!

Filters And Effects

The Photo effects and filters from Pixlr offer a creative spectrum, enhancing images with various styles, moods, and visual enhancements to elevate and transform the overall aesthetic. Popular filters like Dispersion, Bokeh and Focus, Glitch, Mirror and a large selection of Effects give you ample ways to step up your Photo editing game.

More awesome photo editing and design tools!

Spice up any image with Mimic HDR and make your photo pop, bring up the dark areas and keep the lights intact.

Fokus / Bokeh

Create depth in your photos with background blur, bokeh blur and bokeh lights.

Draw over an area in you image and watch it explode and disperse into small pieces.

Create mesmerizing mirror effects with an array of captivating variations that warp reality and mesmerize the eye.

ransform your photos into playful, distorted masterpieces with the quirky and captivating glitch photo effect.

Single, duo, or tri-tone color effect for that classic looking images.

Join millions of creators!

Great photoshop alternative.

I haven't had access to photoshop in a few years, and I don't especially miss it because of Pixlr. I'm not exactly an advanced user of graphic design products, so I can't speak to that level... But for basic image editing and creation, this gets the job done.

Nicholas, F&B

Best for design.

The software is very easy for photo editing even without special knowledge.

Méo, Graphic Designer

Pixlr - the bigger and better photoshop.

My overall experience with Pixlr has been positive! I have realized how much of a 'hidden gem' this app truly is and I wish that it was more well-known for how amazing it is.

Candice, Medical Practice

Full scope free photo editor.

Overall Pixlr is an excellent tool! I highly recommend for small business designers, especially if you wear multiple hats within your organization.

Braden, Machinery

Best photo editing platform.

As it has all basic image editing tools available on its application so I use it whenever ever I need to edit my business photos as it saves a lot of time and is also easy to understand.

Abhishek, Customer Service

Pixlr is my favorite.

I absolutely love Pixlr and it is my go to software when I need to edit a quick photo or make a quick logo. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a software for photo editing.

Luke, Edu Management

Great for designing beautiful graphics.

Pixlr is used by our organisation as a cheaper and more accessible version of photoshop. We use it to create graphics for our campaigns, as well as posters, report covers and other visual content for our work.

Abhishek, Manage Legal

A fantastic option for doing quick photo work.

I use the software as my go-to for quick photo edits and social media post creation. I've used this for so many uses for simple graphic editing that I can't imagine not having it for image resizing, editing, and social media content creation.

My Ulimate go to Online Photo Editor

Pixlr is so far my best online photo editing applications. I can easily access it through my browser without having to download and install any application on my computer. It pretty much helps me do everything I would do with a more complex and advanced application like Photoshop.

Caroline, Accounting

Pixlr is the best photo editor i have found.

It's super easy to use and delivers fantastic results!

Jennifer, Retail

Excellent photo editor.

AI based photo editor and background remover that delivers!

Your pictures are better quality with Pixlr

The app is extremely easy to use. The interface is simple and user friendly. Instant editing in the application is very successful. It's fun to share instantly.

Barış, E-learning

Pixlr - the best photo editing tool.

Pixlr is a great tool for photo editing. The best part about pixlr is that it is free to use without watermarks. It has user friendly interface and any beginners can use it.

Pixlr is aesthetically pleasing

It's exceptionally user friendly and right on the money. It provides an editing platform like no other platform can. It's well built with high resolution editing experience, which is simple yet very elegant to use.

One of the best photo editing application

This Pixlr application is one of the best photo editing software I have used so far.There are lots of unique features available and the best part of this application is it's clean and user friendly UI.

Great for online photo editing!

It has a very understandable user interface and all the basic tools needed for precise photo editing (crop, clone, blur tools and elements such as filters, adjustment bars, etc.)

Best photo editor with AI image generator

Pixlr has many features that a designer needs which are free as well as premium . It helps me design and edit creatives for my marketing.

Turns boring pictures into eye catching high quality graphics

The autofix and autocontrast features are very useful when time is limited and you have edit multiple images. I use these features to automatically correct the basic adjustments and then tweak few parameters to get the images according to my taste.

Premium Subscription

Get your all-access pass to Pixlr across web, desktop, and mobile devices with a single subscription! Try it out with our 7-day free trial and cancel anytime, no strings attached. More info on the Pricing page. Pixlr is free for Education.

Do you have a Question?

The 11 Best Windows Text Editors for Every Use

Your changes have been saved

Email Is sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

Quick Links

The best text editors for coding on windows, top windows text editors to simplify note-taking, the best text editors on windows for web designers and developers, the best general use text editors on windows.

Text editors are unsung heroes, allowing us to craft everything from simple notes to complex code precisely and efficiently. If you're a programmer, finding the right text editor for your code can be a game-changer. These are some of the best text editors for Windows you can get.

The tools you use when editing code can make a world of difference, starting with text editors for coding on Windows. These pack must-have features, like syntax highlighting , code folding, and auto-completion.

1. Sublime Text

With features like effortless split panes, intuitive code navigation, and side-by-side definitions, Sublime Text provides everything you need for efficient work.

A key feature is tab multi-select, which makes split views and navigating between files a breeze. You can view definitions from auto-complete popups and jump to references with a click. Multiple selections also allow you to rename variables quickly across a project.

Sublime Text is impressively quick as well, with indexed project files enabling near-instant searches across thousands of files. This sets it apart from other editors, including Visual Studio Code. Paired with its super smooth UI, you'll wonder how you ever coded without it.

While Sublime Text is available indefinitely for free evaluation, you’re encouraged to buy a personal (or business) license. Personal licenses are a one-time fee of $99 and include three years of updates. Not only does this remove the nagging notifications about your unregistered license, but you also get all the premium goodies.

Download : Sublime Text (Subscription required, free trial available)

When it comes to coding, efficiency is key. VS Code truly shines in this area—it’s lightweight while packing serious power under the hood.

IntelliSense auto-complete means your fingers never have to leave the home row. Debug directly in the editor using breakpoints and call stacks. And managing source control is easy with integrated Git support and the ability to stage, commit, and push changes.

However, VS Code’s true power lies in its many extensions . You can add new languages, themes, debuggers, and services to expand functionality significantly. Need Python linting? React IDE features? Serverless deployment to AWS? There's a plug-in for that and more.

VS Code is free and supports dozens of languages through the Marketplace.

Download : VS code (Free)

3. Notepad++

Notepad++ provides features like syntax highlighting, code folding, and basic auto-complete for over 70 languages. Powered by the fast Scintilla editing component, Notepad++ remains lightweight and responsive.

Tabs allow working with multiple files simultaneously, and plugins extend functionality further. Default plugins include spell-checking, HTML validation, text sorting, and quote manipulation. Notepad++ also supports internationalization through translation files for additional languages.

While it lacks more advanced code checking and completion, Notepad++ excels at plain text handling with features like auto-save, string finding, and replacing with regex, line bookmarking, and macros. It recognizes different line endings and can reinterpret encodings on the fly. For basic coding needs, it remains an indispensable free Windows text editor.

Download : Notepad++ (Free)

Whether you're brainstorming code ideas or documenting hacks, your notes are crucial companions. But with so many options, which editor best fuels your flow? Here are a few focused yet feature-packed options.

4. Windows Notepad

As the default text editor pre-installed with Windows, Notepad is easily accessible for taking notes. While basic, it fulfills your basic need to record code snippets, configuration instructions, and other informational text documents.

Windows Notepad allows you to write code or take notes without visual clutter. Its key strengths include instant access, swift loading times, cross-platform compatibility, and the ability to strip any unwanted formatting. It supports multiple encodings to preserve character sets and can handle different line ending types.

Although heavier editors provide more robust options, Notepad is enough to maintain small code documents, documentation, TODO lists, and other light referencing materials during your workflows. Best of all, it's free and comes pre-installed on Windows.

Download : Windows Notepad (Free)

If you live and breathe markdown, Typora is a natural note-taking environment for you. Its seamless live preview removes the need to switch between write and view modes, keeping you fully focused on content. Typora simplifies markdown through intuitive formatting, lists, images, and mathematical syntax support.

You can organize your notes through Typora's customizable file tree, search, and outline panels. Various themes optimize visual comfort during extended writing sessions. You can save your files on cloud services like Dropbox , and an array of export options also exist for sharing your notes.

While a license costs $14.99, you can take advantage of a generous 15-day free trial to experience Typora's full capabilities.

Download : Typora (Requires subscription, but offers a 15-day trial)

6. Code Writer

Code Writer is a capable yet lightweight text editor optimized for Windows environments. Its fluid interface streamlines workflows through features like syntax highlighting across more than 20 file types, multiple document handling, and distraction-free full-screen focus.

Edit, print, search, and seamlessly open any accessible file while zooming and dragging text to your heart’s delight. This free text editor serves as a slick Notepad replacement with coding tools incorporated.

Download : Code Writer (Free)

As a web developer, you need lightweight yet loaded tools to tinker and make your ideas a reality. Here are two often unknown yet hugely capable text editors for your front-end fight.

7. Bluefish

Bluefish seamlessly handles the varied demands of web development. It supports over 20 markup and coding languages via real-time syntax highlighting, auto-completion, and code folding. With Project Support, you can even transition smoothly between tasks.

Bluefish’s powerful search/replace and snippet functionality helps you streamline repetitive jobs. Loose integration with external validation and compilation tools places relevant feedback within the editing context. Online documentation and translation into 17 languages further open the text editor to international users. Best of all, Bluefish is completely free.

Download : Bluefish (Free)

8. Brackets

Are you tired of switching between tabs? Bracket’s interface includes visual tools that eliminate the need to switch while working on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript notes.

Powerful preprocessor support integrates seamlessly into the workflow. But Brackets truly shines through its live browser preview—changes made in code are instantly reflected, closing the loop between writing and seeing results. This tight feedback loop is perfect for quickly iterating on web page mockups or prototypes.

A robust extension ecosystem, including additions like Emmet and Autoprefixer, further enhances the experience. Cross-platform, customizable, and fully immersive in the development process through an intuitive visual editing surface, Bracket remains an excellent free choice.

Download : Bracket (Free)

Most times, when it comes to editing, one size does not fit all. Here are a few powerhouses that’ll fuel your flow—in totally different ways.

Emacs is a highly customizable text editor that also functions as an entire computing platform. As one of the oldest text editors still in active development, Emacs has evolved far beyond basic text editing into a diverse ecosystem of contributed modes, plugins, and enhancements.

You can benefit from its self-documenting nature, built-in tutorials, and coding modes optimized for every language. Notes become code through its powerful Lisp-based macro language. Personal configurations completely reshape Emacs through live customization of nearly every aspect.

With decades of community innovations freely available, Emacs remains the ultimate sandbox for ambitious developers to manage all aspects of their work .

Download : Emacs (Free)

10. Textpad

Sometimes, simple is best. Built on the philosophy of intuitive usability over complex learning curves, Textpad seamlessly handles common workflows programmers encounter when managing notes. It excels as a plug-and-play solution for anyone tired of wrestling with configuration or learning curves just to edit plain text efficiently.

Key features like syntax highlighting, code folding, multiple clipboards, and regular expression search/replace optimize workflows. Reusable snippets across projects streamline repetitive tasks. Extensive language support covers documentation, scripts, code, and more.

This editor is not free, but you can access a free trial to see if it's the right fit for you.

Download : Textpad (Requires subscription, but offers a free trial)

Vim is a venerable yet ever-evolving text editor with roots as the standard Unix tool vi. Its deep extensibility through a powerful plugin system and hundreds of supported file types have sustained Vim as a classic programmers' tool for efficient coding workflows.

Taking advantage of macros, registers, and deep undo allows your text to be efficiently transformed with more functionality and potential. Syntax highlighting and configurable keys in Vim optimize the visual parsing of code snippets. Integrations with build tools and debuggers bring relevant project data into your editing context. A vast online community continually develops extensions that integrate new languages and features.

While initially daunting in its keyboard-centric interface, Vim adapts well to simpler usage through configuration presets. For ambitious programmers, this free text editor cultivates proficiency worth investing in.

Download : Vim (Free)

There are many capable options available, but finding an editor that seamlessly enhances your unique workflow and continuously inspires productivity will prove most valuable in helping you effortlessly bring your ideas to life.

• Enter-To-Win
• Classifieds

• >>.print" target="_blank"> -->
• Subscriber Services
• Community Events
• Dogs for Adoption
• Environment
• Police Fire
• School Closings
• Transportation
• Sports Home
• Fishing Report
• High School
• A&E Home
• Music, Theater, & Dance
• Peach Weekender
• Restaurant Reviews
• Toledo Magazine
• TV & Radio
• Business Home
• Agriculture
• Development
• Personal Finance
• Real Estate
• Stock Market
• Opinion Home
• Editorial Cartoons
• Keith Burris
• Letters to the Editor
• Submit a Letter
• Health & Well-Being Home
• B Partners Home
• Ability Center
• Arrowhead Behavioral
• Balance & Mobility
• Black Diamond
• Blue Ribbon Hemp
• Bolt Express
• Boyk Law Offices
• Epworth Church
• Fair Housing Center
• Fulton Cty Health Center
• Glass City Academy
• Hammill Medical
• Holiday Gift Guide
• HOPE Toledo
• Imagination Station
• Kids of Character
• Leadership Toledo
• Levis Commons
• Lourdes University
• Lucas County Recorder
• Luther Home of Mercy
• McLaren St. Luke's
• Mighty Earth
• Ministry of Hemp
• Mission Lean
• OSU Engineering
• Oswald Companies
• Phoenix Investors
• ProMedica Medical Mgmt
• Readers' Choice Awards
• Restaurants
• Ronald McDonald House
• Solheim Cup
• Spengler Nathanson
• Toledo Clinic
• Toledo Museum of Art
• Toledo Public Library
• University of Toledo
• UT Physicians
• USA Insulation
• Zenobia Shriners
• Meals with Maddie Home
• ENTER-TO-WIN
• BLADE REWARDS
• BLADE VAULT / REPRINTS
• CLASSIFIEDS
• BLADE HOMES
• SUBSCRIBER GUIDE
• ADVERTISING
• CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Letters to the Editor: The return of McCarthyism? That’s what Trump backers’ Project 2025 sounds like

• Copy Link URL Copied!

To the editor: Project 2025 has been recruiting and vetting prospective government employees for an anticipated Republican presidency. Fine, that’s their prerogative. But the idea that current federal employees can be scrutinized and assessed, the results published in a list based on their personal ideas and beliefsm and then the employees subsequently reclassified or fired, is a page directly out of Joseph McCarthy’s playbook. The consensus then was, McCarthy’s practices were “anti-American.” The Heritage Foundation should be ashamed of itself for backing this effort.

Furthermore, the president of the Heritage Foundation was quoted as saying that his foundation was proud to aid in draining the government of “bad actors.” Who decides what a bad actor is?

Many federal employees have opinions and beliefs that are contrary to current government policies, yet they do their jobs as they have sworn to do, uphold the Constitution and support the current president. That’s what makes for a strong democracy: ideas, discussions, compromise and free speech.

If everyone meets a certain standard, set by the ruling party, I think there’s a word for that: totalitarianism.

Julia Springer, Santa Barbara

To the editor: Wow. It appears the House Un-American Activities Committee is back, and Roy Cohn is resurrected. As part of the Heritage Foundation-supported Project 2025, government employees will be investigated using well-respected tools such as a “gut check” or “instinct” (one activist’s words). Will they uncover my sympathy for democracy and loyalty to our Constitution? To paraphrase the famous lawyer Joseph Welch, from almost exactly 70 years ago today: Have we no sense of decency?

Jon Merritt, Los Angeles

To the editor: The media need to start publishing more articles on what a Trump second term would look like. We’ve been so deluged with his trials, we are missing a look into our possible future.

Former President Trump has very clearly laid out his plans both in public and in print. The Project 2025 documents, also known as the Presidential Transition Project, lay out plans to reshape the federal government and consolidate power in the executive branch. By inserting only loyalists, he’ll create a “yes, Mr. President” government to eliminate any pushback on his policies.

Included in this plan would be a takeover of the Justice Department — to go after anyone who stood in his way? Imagine partisan control too of the FBI, Department of Commerce and Federal Communications Commission; the dismantling of the departments of Homeland Security, Education and environmental protection; and cutting funding for climate research while reforming the National Institutes of Health along conservative lines.

Terry Priesont, Altadena

More to Read

Letters to the Editor: A tragedy in the L.A. County welfare system

Letters to the Editor: We’re tackling the homelessness crisis in the wrong ways

Letters to the Editor: I was removed from my Chavez Ravine home in 1951. This is what L.A. owes displaced residents

May 16, 2024

More From the Los Angeles Times

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor: How L.A. schools banning cellphones might go too far

July 7, 2024

Letters to the Editor: Replenishing our ecosystem, one beaver at a time

July 6, 2024

Letters to the Editor: What makes ‘The Bear’ great? Readers have thoughts

A unifying celebration of our nation? Not this Fourth of July, say some readers

July 5, 2024

Letters to the Editor, June 25

Greg folley for state house.

I am writing in support of Greg Folley’s candidacy for the State House District 81 seat being vacated by Bob Rommell. After serving with Greg on the Marco Island City Council for the past two terms I have come to respect him greatly and have found him to be a valued colleague.

While we have disagreed over the years on many issues, our disagreements have always been civil and respectful. This is exactly the kind of demeanor we need at the higher levels of government and I’m sure Greg will represent Marco Island with grace and dignity in Tallahassee. Greg’s negotiating skills and sound fiscal management have saved the City of Marco Island millions of dollars.

Greg’s patriotism and advocacy for the values and ideals that make America great are constantly on display in his comments, resolutions, and dealings with government and industry leaders across the state and the nation. Greg’s experience as a Marco Island city councilor has greatly prepared him to step into the State House District 81 seat. I can’t emphasize the importance of this enough.

Greg is already a well-known and respected elected official by his future colleagues in the Florida State House, Senate, Attorney General’s Office and by the governor himself. We need someone with his credentials and ability to represent Marco Island and all of Southwest Florida in the State House. Greg has my unconditional support.

Rich Blonna, Marco Island

No longer recognize GOP

We are longtime Republicans but do not recognize the party any longer. We are so incensed by the attacks on our rule of law (which is sacrosanct to our democracy) by the former president and supported by some Republicans in office. We are worried about our country, our democracy and our freedoms if he regains the presidency.

This is based on what he says, tried to do while in office regarding Social Security, Medicare, veterans’ benefits, withdrawing from NATO, etc. Republicans in office report they were able to keep him under control to some extent, but what happens when all his loyalists are in the administration, kissing his ring to make sure he knows they are loyal to him?

We are so embarrassed by our representatives and senators from Florida who have also attacked our rule of law.

We watched the 80th commemorative ceremony of D-Day in Normandy and felt so proud of the Greatest Generation. Will we ever have that feeling again? We were in awe of the many 95-100+ year olds that were honored and remembered that our former president got out of serving in the military because of bone spurs (although he played sports), wouldn’t visit Normandy when he was in France because of some rain, and calls our veterans, fallen or serving, losers and suckers. It created quite a contrast while watching the ceremony.

Gwyn Baker-Steiner, Marco Island

Support Israel, finish Hamas

Hamas is using the Palestinians as human shields to garner world support. They are nothing but murderers and do not deserve our support. At any time they could surrender, free the hostages and end the war with jail time but not death however they are dedicated to the destruction of Israel and don’t care how many Palestinians die to achieve their ends.

The protesters here are just uninformed tools or Israel haters and should be ignored or arrested if they do damage. Would we after the Japan attack on Pearl Harbor or the attack on September 11 not strike back as we did? Let’s support Israel and finish off Hamas.

Benjamin Glick, Naples

Those creationists and others who don’t subscribe to evolution must be astonished when observing how the former president and his MAGA movement characterize the January 6th rioters.The miscreants were first regarded as “tourists,” then “patriots,” followed by “hostages,” becoming “victims,” and most recently by the ex-president this week as “warriors.”This morphing might be unsettling to some, but it shows that Charles Darwin’s doctrine is alive and well in the MAGA universe.At this rate, beatification is coming soon, prior to canonization, and ultimately sainthood.

Marshall H. Tanick, Naples

More Letters to the Editor, June 18

And Letters to the Editor, June 14

Also Letters to the Editor, June 4

Find anything you save across the site in your account

The Reckoning of Joe Biden

There is an immense bounty of bunk about the wisdom of age available to all of us who require it from time to time, but, as the pitiless Mark Twain put it in his autobiography, “It is sad to go to pieces like this, but we all have to do it.”

On Thursday night, it was Joe Biden’s turn. But, unlike the rest of us, he went to pieces on CNN, in front of tens of millions of his compatriots. At some level, Biden’s supporters were hoping that he would defy the realities of time, the better to puncture the vanities and malevolence of his felonious opponent. And so there was a distinct cruelty to it all, the spectacle of a man of eighty-one, struggling terribly with memory, syntax, nerves, and fragility, his visage slack with the dawning sense that his mind was letting him down and that, as a result, he was letting the country down. It must be said, with fellow-feeling, but it must be said: This was an event that, if unremedied, could bring the country closer to another Trump Presidency and with it a diminishment of liberal democracy.

The question is: What will Joe Biden do about it?

We have long known that Biden, no matter what issue you might take with one policy or another, is no longer a fluid or effective communicator of those policies. Asked about his decline, the Biden communications team and his understandably protective surrogates and advisers would deliver responses to journalists that sounded an awful lot like what we all, sooner or later, tell acquaintances when asked about aging parents: they have good days and bad days. Accurate, perhaps, but discreet and stinting in the details. In Biden’s case, there certainly were times where he could pull off a decent interview or an even better State of the Union. If he worked a shorter day, well, that was forgivable; if he stumbled up the stairs or shuffled from the limo to the plane, a little neuropathy in the feet was nothing compared to F.D.R. in a wheelchair. The prospect of Donald Trump’s return permitted, or demanded, a measure of cognitive dissonance. And wasn’t Trump’s own rhetorical insanity even worse? To say nothing of thirty-four felony convictions , a set of dangerous policy goals, and an undeniably authoritarian personality?

But watching Thursday’s debate, observing Biden wander into senselessness onstage, was an agonizing experience, and it is bound to obliterate forever all those vague and qualified descriptions from White House insiders about good days and bad days. You watched it, and, on the most basic human level, you could only feel pity for the man and, more, fear for the country.

In the aftermath, Jill Biden, who had led her husband off the stage, dismissed the night as an aberration, as did Barack Obama, and a cluster of loyalists. He’d had a “bad debate.” He was sure to get better, grow more agile. Such loyalty can be excused, at least momentarily. They did what they felt they had to do to fend off an immediate implosion of Biden’s campaign, a potentially irreversible cratering of his poll numbers, an evaporation of his fund-raising, and the looming threat of Trump Redux.

But meanwhile the tide is roaring at Biden’s feet. He is increasingly unsteady. It is not just the political class or the commentariat who were unnerved by the debate. Most people with eyes to see were unnerved. At this point, for the Bidens to insist on defying biology , to think that a decent performance at one rally or speech can offset the indelible images of Thursday night, is folly.

Biden has rightly asserted that the voters regard this election not only as a debate about global affairs, the environment, civil rights, women’s rights, and other matters of policy but as a referendum on democracy itself. For him to remain the Democratic candidate, the central actor in that referendum, would be an act not only of self-delusion but of national endangerment. It is entirely possible that the debate will not much change the polls; it is entirely possible that Biden could have a much stronger debate in September; it is not impossible to imagine that Trump will find a way to lose. But, at this point, should Biden engage the country in that level of jeopardy? To step aside and unleash the admittedly complicated process of locating and nominating a more robust and promising ticket seems the more rational course and would be an act of patriotism. To refuse to do so, to go on contending that his good days are more plentiful than the bad, to ignore the inevitability of time and aging, doesn’t merely risk his legacy—it risks the election and, most important, puts in peril the very issues and principles that Biden has framed as central to his Presidency and essential to the future.

Trump went into the debate with one distinct advantage. No matter how cynical and deceitful he might be, no one expected anything else. His qualities are well known. In contrast, Biden’s voters and potential voters might disagree with him on particular issues—on immigration, on the Middle East, you name it—but they are, at minimum, adamant that he not be a figure of concealment or cynicism. To stay in the race would be pure vanity, uncharacteristic of someone whom most have come to view as decent and devoted to public service. To stay in the race, at this post-debate point, would also suggest that it is impossible to imagine a more vital ticket. In fact, Gretchen Whitmer , Raphael Warnock, Josh Shapiro, and Wes Moore are just a few of the office-holders in the Party who could energize Democrats and independents, inspire more younger voters, and beat Trump.

So much—perhaps too much—now depends on one man, his family, and his very small inner circle coming to a painful and selfless conclusion. And yet Joe Biden always wanted to be thought of as human, vulnerable, someone like you and me. All of us are like him in at least one way. It is sad to go to pieces like this, but we all have to do it. There is no shame in growing old. There is honor in recognizing the hard demands of the moment. ♦

New Yorker Favorites

Summer in the city in the days before air-conditioning .

My childhood in a cult .

How Apollo 13 got lost on its way to the moon— then made it back .

Notes from the Comma Queen: “who” or “whom”?

The surreal case of a  C.I.A. hacker’s revenge .

Fiction by Edward P. Jones: “Bad Neighbors”

Support The New Yorker’s award-winning journalism. Subscribe today .

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Patients Stunned by Their Medical Bills

More from our inbox:.

• The Wild West Near the Border
• Worries About North Korea’s Weapons
• Justin Timberlake’s Arrest

To the Editor:

Re “ It’s Just an X-Ray. How Much Could It Cost? ,” by Danielle Ofri (Opinion guest essay, June 18):

As a retired cardiologist, I have been railing against facility fees for years. These are significant fees (sometimes thousands of dollars) added to your doctor’s typical charges when they are employed by a hospital system, as many are these days. The rationale from the hospital or health care system, as Dr. Ofri stated, is nonsense; it is simply a way to make more money.

It works like this: You see your private cardiologist in their office and have a stress test and get charged $500. If the next week the same cardiologist is employed by a hospital — same office, same phone number, same staff — the charge for the stress test is now $2,000. The $1,500 is tacked on as a facility fee.

For reasons that are not clear, many insurance companies as well as Medicare pay this fee completely. It is a perfect scam. The patient often does not know or care because insurance is paying. The doctor usually has no idea this additional fee is being added, and the hospital system pockets the money.

Michael Marek Aspen, Colo.

So-called “site-neutral” policies fail to recognize that not all sites of care are created equal. Current payment rates appropriately take into account that hospitals treat sicker, lower-income and more complex patients. They are also held to higher regulatory and safety standards, and provide unique benefits to their communities, such as 24/7 standby capacity for emergencies.

Facility fees allow a hospital to continue to provide services that only hospitals provide and for which they are not fully reimbursed, including burn units, critical care services and neonatal care. In fact, Medicare paid hospitals just 82 cents for every dollar spent caring for patients, resulting in nearly $100 billion in underpayments in 2022 alone.

In addition, hospitals bill according to federal regulations, which require them to clearly indicate where a service is provided and to provide a written notice to Medicare patients informing them of any potential financial liability before receiving care in an off-campus hospital outpatient department. Hospitals work with insurance companies and the federal government to implement policies that would give patients more meaningful estimates on costs in advance of receiving care.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .