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SAN DIEGO -- The God of politics has a wicked sense of humor as well as a taste for irony. She delights in making members of both parties confront thorny subjects they've been trying to avoid.

It makes for an agonizing moment for Democrats, and a complicated one. It's a moment filled with sadness for a former president but also anger from voters who feel misled by the leaders of the Democratic Party. It's also a moment that comes with plenty of blame and finger-pointing among party insiders and former White House staffers.

And it's all because of a topic that Democrats have -- for at least the last six years -- tried mightily to ignore, sidestep, downplay and brush aside: persistent questions about President Joe Biden's health.

When former U.S. Housing Secretary Julian Castro took a jab at Biden during a debate in September 2019, asking him if he had forgotten what he had said two minutes earlier, the pundits universally attacked Castro for daring to question the mental acuity of the former vice president.

Over the next few years, when others -- including me -- raised concerns about Biden's age, we were shouted down and called "ageist." Who knew that 80 was the new 40?

Now there is no hope of dodging the topic of Biden's health, which has become a national headline.

Until recently, most of the questions the public had about Biden's well-being had to do with the mental health of the 82-year-old. Now attention has shifted to his physical health with the revelation that Biden has been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.

About an hour after I heard the news, I did a television interview on Spectrum News 1 in Los Angeles, where I'm a political analyst.

The anchor asked what I first thought when I heard that Biden was sick. Three things, I told him.

No. 1: The family. Biden and his clan have an ugly and painful history with cancer that includes the brain cancer that killed the former president's oldest son, Beau, in 2015. By all accounts, losing his son devastated Joe Biden. It also inspired him to spend the rest of his days in politics trying to eradicate cancer. Yet cancer had other ideas, and now it seems determined to have the last word.

No. 2: The timing. The news about Biden's cancer came on the heels of the release of a new book by CNN's Jake Tapper and Axios' Alex Thompson. The book -- titled "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again" -- focused on what Democratic leaders knew and when they knew it. The answers will produce uncomfortable conversations.

No. 3: The propriety. It seems ghoulish now -- in light of Biden's illness -- to talk about his alleged mental decline. Where do decency and good manners factor into our politics? Do they ever? This seems like the perfect opportunity to take that idea for a spin. Of course, people should talk about these things. But they should also strive to do so respectfully, especially at sensitive times like these.

The fourth thing didn't occur to me until later that afternoon. The Washington Post put it in the headline of a digital story: "Biden diagnosis draws well-wishes, questions and conspiracy theories."

That's one of the "tells" of the liberal media. They try to diminish you, your cause or your concerns with phrases like "conspiracy theory."

In this case, the conspiracy theory is easy to explain. It looks suspicious to many -- including me -- not that Biden has cancer but that the cancer is so advanced. Let's remember that, until just four months ago, this man was president of the United States. As such, Biden enjoyed the best medical care in the country, complete with a private doctor, regular checkups and unlimited access to first-rate medical facilities. This raises the possibility that Biden has been aware of his cancer for some time, dating back to when he was still in office -- and that he and his staff didn't share that diagnosis with the American people.

This dovetails nicely with the fact that Biden and Co. already stand accused of covering up his mental decline. What's one more secret?

The media should worry more about themselves, and what's left of their own diminishing credibility. They also stand accused of helping cover up Biden's mental decline. Do they really want to double down now and once again attack those who ask legitimate questions about the health of the former president?

Read the room, folks. And keep your condescension in check.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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