U.S. is adrift, and Biden is no captain
BIDEN ... HAS SAID HE WILL RUN AGAIN IN 2024. THIS SURELY IS A DELUSION. — MURPHY
What a sad, embarrassing time it is for the great republic that is our neighbour. There is the famed United States, still the pre-eminent power in the world, still the centre of invention and technology — despite the terrible degeneration of its politics and the crazed partisanship of its two parties and so large a portion of its press — yet still a country of unsurpassed achievement.
The U.S. is in turmoil, beset by factionalism, every day yielding to the fury of identity politics, ill from the shallow but pernicious doctrines of woke theory and practice. It is hard to deny that the nation is in many ways at war with itself, caught in great confusion, more unstable than it has ever been since the early days of the republic. A brand of ignorance about basic things has corrupted much of its public affairs; a decline in the cardinal assumption of its democracy — freedom of speech — threatens its foundations. It is in so many ways at sea, bristling with internal divisions, enfeebled by a deep divide between red and blue. It is, perhaps irreparably, adrift.
How sad it is then, that at such a moment, when its very unity is at stake, the U.S. is burdened with the most grievously incompetent leadership that could ever be imagined. It’s being led by a man who in almost every public appearance gives clear signs that he is not — to be kind — in command of the momentous office he holds.
It is a hard thing to say, and it is not intended as a meanness directed to his person, but far more to be a matter of pity rather than scorn: the gentleman cannot provide the leadership the office of the president must offer.
The American public has seen his “off” moments, such as giving an address and turning from the podium to shake hands with someone who is not here. It saw that moment two weeks ago when former president Barack Obama revisited the White House, the excitement of all in the room crowding around the still greatly popular Obama, while the sitting president appeared to be ignored by all, piteously glancing around for someone to join him.
Biden has confused memories. His staff are frequently put to correcting some statement or position the president has just announced. His press secretary, Jen Psaki, under a burden greater than that of any press secretary of recent times, is shortly to abandon the post, wandering off to the vastly greater paid and vastly less demanding pastures of cable television chattery.
The leaders of the world’s other powers, with a few exceptions, refrain from public comment on the president. But it is surely as evident to them as it is to most of the American public that Biden is president only officially. It can only be imagined what is said or known in their private conferences. As it can only be imagined that for the first time since the Cuban missile crisis, because of Vladimir Putin’s aggression and invasion of Ukraine, the world feels the tremors — however slight they may be — of potential nuclear conflict. Russia may be, economically, one of the lesser powers, but Russia retains from the days of its Communist leadership an arsenal of terrifying potential.
The question is surely being posed in all the high councils of the world: who, what person or persons, is really “in charge” of the government of the United States? What arrangements have been made within the White House and the halls of government to provide real guidance in the most critical areas?
The mainstream press, though it notes the particular episodes when Biden shows himself lost or confused, steadfastly declines to adequately acknowledge the crisis in the presidency. It is tiresome to note, but still to the point, that were it a Donald Trump presidency, the slightest evidence of serious incapacity would be set in the boldest type and roared from every TV channel 20 times a day. The press of Canada is no better. During the Trump era every newscast was flooded with the latest perceived corruptions of that White House, stocked to the brim with news of Trump’s “collusion” with the Russians. All a dreary partisan farce. The Biden presidency is in a real crisis. The Biden presidency is a crisis. The superpower of the world is absent a real leader, and the major outlets of the American media, the thought and opinion leaders in government and academia, maintain a dangerously discreet silence.
Biden, it is reported, has said he will run again in 2024. This surely is a delusion. The real question is whether he will last the current term. And, should he not, many in American politics are unhappy with the prospect that should Biden’s difficulties cause him to resign, Kamala Harris, his constitutional understudy, is standing nervously in the wings.
It is a sad and embarrassing time for the United States.
THE BIDEN PRESIDENCY IS IN A REAL CRISIS. THE BIDEN PRESIDENCY IS A CRISIS.