The 1970’s have called. They want their decade back.
I did not have high hopes for the presidency of Joseph R. Biden. Still, on January 20th, I listened to the Inaugural Address, keeping my fingers crossed that he meant what he said about unification and leadership. Feeling like Charlie Brown and Lucy with a football, I have come to view my cautious optimism for what it was: stupidity.
Can we count the ways he’s totally screwed us, as a nation, and as a people?
- The Economy. Where to even begin? The litany of disastrous decisions is long. What’s so tragic is that the direction in which the economy is headed is most impactful for the lower economic strata, the very people the Democrats claim to champion. Since February, gas prices have increased, grocery costs have climbed, housing costs have gone through the roof, and all the while, wages, adjusted for inflation, have actually decreased. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/27/wages-are-rising-but-has-inflation-given-workers-a-2percent-pay-cut.html At the same time, everywhere I turn I see “Hiring Now” signs. A local popular ice cream stand was forced to reduce hours because they can’t find enough people to wait on customers — and that’s just a small example. What about larger stores and restaurants? And where is everyone? Sitting home watching The Price is Right?
It began Day 1 with the flurry of Executive Orders — let’s get rid of every little odor of Trump — especially the things that were working, like the Keystone XL Pipeline. What has happened since then? Joe Biden is asking OPEC to sell us more oil. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2021/08/12/suddenly-worried-about-gas-prices-biden-wants-opec-to-produce-more-oil/?sh=8f86ddb1131e Can anyone else see how idiotic this is? We were energy independent under Trump’s leadership, and now we’re spending millions of dollars to buy foreign oil. He could ask American oil producers to do more, but no — let’s send our dollars to the Saudis.
2. Foreign Relations — and Afghanistan in particular. Bob Gates said it best: “I think he’s been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.” https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2019/05/13/gates_stands_by_statement_that_biden_has_been_wrong_on_nearly_every_major_foreign_policy_question.html As a former Secretary of Defense, I think he knows whereof he speaks. How Biden is “handling” the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is example #1. Trump and the Pentagon had a plan for the organized withdrawal, then along comes Papa Joe, and that’s out the window. Suddenly, everyone had to be out by September 11. As a result, as of today, the Taliban has retaken 3/4 of the country, and may overrun the capital, Kabul, by as soon as this weekend. My God. Twenty years, a trillion dollars spent, thousands of Americans lives lost, American military equipment left behind — blood and treasure — and for what? A misguided, ill-conceived plan hatched by a man who has a dismal track record on foreign policy. Now he’s sending 3,000 troops back to the country. If I had a family member or knew someone who had served and died or was injured in Afghanistan I would be beyond furious at the waste of their sacrifice. It’s insulting.
3. Border crisis/Immigration. Joe Biden appoints Kamala Harris as the Border Czar to solve the problem of the Border Challenge. That was his second mistake. His first was rolling back Trump’s policies, which were working. In July, there were 213,000 apprehensions of humanity crossing the border, the highest in 20 years. Without a border, we don’t have a country. Without a secure border, we are not a sovereign nation. Immigrants are being gathered up and released in to the interior of the country. Who knows what percentage are COVID positive? Eight ICE agents have died since February from COVID. Biden’s approval numbers have tanked on his handling of the border. The media can under-report or try to spin what’s happening there, but the American people are smarter than that. They trust what they see with their own eyes , and it’s horrible: men, women, and children stuffed into tents, COVID-positive families holed up in hotels paid for by Catholic Charities, then coughing and sneezing at Whataburger. Thanks a bunch.
What needs to happen is the identification of the issue for what it is; stop playing word games. It is a humanitarian crisis, not just a “challenge”. The government needs to spend MORE, not less on the border. Hire more agents. Start rebuilding the wall. Congress and Biden need to do their jobs, and pass legislation to solve the problem once and for all. We need a Congressional plan. Lotsa luck with that one.
4. COVID. For quite a while, this was Joe Biden’s bright spot, but not now. A series of misstatements from the Commander in Chief and the CDC has developed doubt and confusion among the populace.There was this gem from a CNN Town Hall: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/jul/22/joe-biden/biden-exaggerates-efficacy-covid-19-vaccines/ . Basically, Joe exaggerated the efficacy of the vaccine, by falsely stating that if you’ve had the vaccine, you can’t contract COVID. Not quite. Besides, how about throwing a bone to the former administration, who developed the vaccines in record time, thanks to Operation Warp Speed? He’s never done that, and quite frankly, that’s just petty. If you’re the “great unifier”, how about being gracious about one thing?
Connected to COVID and vaccine hesitancy is the issue of schools, school and business reopening, and mask mandates. What is happening to the civil rights of Americans who have questions about the vaccine and aren’t comfortable with it? What about the immunocompromised, or those who have already had COVID? What are their rights? The tyranny of the vaccinated has become political. I am vaccinated — so are my family and friends. I believe in the vaccine, and am thankful for it. I encourage others to follow their doctor’s advice. Is it truly helpful to shame those who will not get the vaccine? Is it the wisest course of action to ignore Republican governors who govern differently than you, Joe? Apparently, that’s how you act when you’re the Great Unifier.
5. Crime. Crime is spiraling, for a variety of reasons: bail reform — which springs criminals after the commission of a crime, a defund the police narrative, understaffed police departments, and increasingly emboldened criminals. Joe Biden is no law and order guy. His second-in-command, Kamala Harris, actually encouraged supporters to send money to Minneapolis to help post bail for rioters last summer. Are we surprised that this is happening? Hardly. Will I travel to NYC for my annual summer shopping trip? No way. I prefer to not be shot, stabbed, or mugged when I come out of the Swatch store in Times Square. Where’s our fearless leader? Delaware this weekend — for the 18th time since he assumed the Presidency, with a side trip for one day to Camp David. Visitor logs are not being released, logic dictating that the American public is not concerned with the comings and goings of Joe’s grandchildren. Well, if he’s “on the job” 24/7, how does he have so much time for playing with the grandkids? Can you imagine if Trump didn’t release his visitor logs?
So here we are: rising gas prices, inflation, the fall of Kabul — eerily reminiscent of the fall of Saigon, spiraling crime, a border crisis — have we time traveled back to one of the crappier decades of my life? I’ve been here before — it’s not fun. Joe is familiar with all this. After all, in 1972, he had just been elected to the Senate. Imagine that — he was starting his political career before many readers here were even born. The dude’s been around a long, long time. Unfortunate that he hasn’t learned more about how to lead.
