President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the situation in Afghanistan, Monday, August 16, 2021 in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)
After yesterday’s debacle, Americans more fully understand why Joe Biden’s handlers don’t allow him to spend more time with the press. Every time he does, disaster follows. Stephen L. Miller writes in Spectator World, that despite their attempts, there is “no chance that Joe Biden and the Visiting Angels who run his administration will change the slant of his presidency.” The trainwreck press conference yesterday “offered more evidence of that.”
It Shouldn’t Be a Surprise
It should surprise no one that Joe Biden is doing so poorly. Those who watched his campaign, and his history in office, knew it to be so. But, suggests Miller, the media “spent the campaign and his first year in office willfully ignoring Joe Biden’s 40-year track record in the US Senate and as vice president, in order to sell voters on the image that Ron Klain wanted to project.” He continues:
Instead the commentariat’s about-face is jarring for average Americans. Most of them aren’t pro-Trump and really did just want to get some sleep after four years of Twitter screaming. Most of them have since been quick to realize that Joe Biden is not a “very stable genius” who could prove to be the comprehensive antidote to Donald Trump.
The Washington Post’s Ashley Parker tweeted “Biden was supposed to be the anti-Trump — steady, stable, competent. But the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal undercut that image, and facing a cascade of crises — covid, etc — Biden has never been able to recover.” Parker is seemingly unaware that Joe Biden is facing multiple crises of his own making. On top of that, often Joe Biden is the crisis, as demonstrated during his marathon Wednesday presser.
This is not the president that was elected a year ago — and certainly not the ideal one that so many DC pundits had concocted in their own heads.
Biden Can’t Shut Down the Virus, or Russia
Biden sold gullible Americans a vision that he could shut down the COVID-19 virus, and use his years of experience in foreign policy to outmaneuver Vladimir Putin. Neither has so far been the case. Miller laments:
He and his administration were elected to “shut down” a virus that he has for the most part ignored since July, when he declared “masked or vaxxed” and then stuck his foot in a hole in Afghanistan. His administration handlers ensured that the defining image from the Kabul catastrophe was footage of him turning his back to the American people, as he refused to answer questions about the manner of the troops’ withdrawal. We were told that Joe Biden was elected because of his empathy and competence. The commentators who told us that have since learned that he has neither quality.
Joe Biden is not suddenly going to become coherent when he speaks to the press. He can’t make Vladimir Putin back down by whipping out his aviators and heading to the nearest ice cream parlor. The pundits who bought the gingerly grandpa act may be praying that he can capture any fleeting fairy dust bestowed upon him by Barack Obama’s pop-culture prowess. But that won’t transform Biden into someone able to “shut down the virus.”
Media Still in Denial
The media’s most ardent supporters of the Democratic Party still think there’s a way out of this for Biden, but they are denying his entire career as a bungler. Miller concludes:
David Brooks thinks Biden needs to “begin revamping his presidency.” “Jennifer Rubin claims that “Biden needs a reset.” Frankly, any paid pundit begging for Biden to become the fantastical wise elder statesman they fantasized about should keep their thoughts to themselves. The rest of us should ignore their “expertise” when making any serious assessment of this defeated old man’s tenure.
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