Can we all stop pretending that President Joe Biden is OK?

While the White House insists otherwise, any reasonable person, Republican or Democrat, who's paid attention for the past two years knows there's simply no way Biden has the cognitive -- possibly also physical -- health required to mount a run for a second term in the White House.

It's a grueling process, to say the least, and it requires sharpness of mind and body, and "sharpness" isn't a word any honest person can associate with the 80-year-old president.

On the physical health front, even after promising that Biden's physical exam results for 2022 would be released by the end of the year, it's now almost the end of January 2023, and nothing has been released yet. It's easy to presume there's a strategic reason for that.

Many have criticized the elderly, seemingly fragile president for his constant gaffes and blunders in his speeches. Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-Tennessee) told the Washington Examiner that it's high time the White House is significantly more transparent about the president's health and overall state of mind.

"I think it would be important to see a very thorough and comprehensive cognitive function study that is released with transparency to the general public," said DesJarlais, who practiced medicine before his election to Congress.

"The American people want to know that their commander in chief is fully capable of performing at the highest level to protect the safety and security of our nation," the GOP lawmaker added.

And he's exactly right. Biden's frail public perception has many severe ramifications from a national security perspective.

For a president who essentially ran on a transparency ticket, it's one of many promises that Biden and his White House handlers haven't come through on and presumably never will, because the truth is likely too damaging to survive a round of inevitably lousy press that would come along with it.

One Republican official told the Examiner that Americans deserve better than what they're getting with Biden's White House.

"Seriously, where is Biden?" the unnamed senior official reportedly asked. "No press interviews, the White House press secretary has no credibility left, and the administration dodges, deflects, and delays on matters that deserve full transparency.

"The American people deserve better than the dishonesty and evasiveness of Biden."

DesJarlais joins Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, in calling for Biden to come clean about his overall picture of health. Jackson has been a highly outspoken critic of Biden's cognitive health concerns, even calling Biden's White House an "assisted living facility" during a rally in October.

In late November of 2022, Jackson doubled down and called on Biden to resign.

"President Biden is 80 years old and mentally unstable. This man is NOT FIT to work the counter at Ben and Jerry's, let alone to be our Commander in Chief!!! He's totally incapable of the job, and needs to take a cognitive test immediately or else RESIGN," Jackson tweeted.

President Biden is 80 years old and mentally unstable. This man is NOT FIT to work the counter at Ben and Jerry’s, let alone to be our Commander in Chief!!! He’s totally incapable of the job, and needs to take a cognitive test immediately or else RESIGN pic.twitter.com/inz9EwhDTX

— Ronny Jackson (@RonnyJacksonTX) November 28, 2022

From calling on deceased members of Congress to making embarrassing blunders in what feels like a majority of his speeches, to forgetting names of historically significant figures, Biden's a total mess, and it's time to dial up the pressure.

The doctors calling on Biden to take a cognitive test, as other modern presidents have, isn't a cheap attack line -- it's a valid and critically important measurement that can determine whether or not Biden is capable of leading the most powerful country in the world.

If he's past his prime, so be it. It happens to everyone eventually. But as a country, we can't afford to gamble with a leader who appears to be operating at significantly less than 100 percent, at least according to his actions.

At the very least, the White House should immediately release Biden's physical examination results from 2022. The longer the White House stalls, the more speculation will build that it's delaying the exam results for reasons unfavorable to the president.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.