Biden, Presidency on Crutches

The View from the Middle

 

From 1933 to 1945 the United States had a President with many physical issues.  Franklin Delano Roosevelt moved around with the help of wheelchairs, braces, canes and crutches for his entire Presidency. With the help of the press at the time, most of America was not even aware of his disabilities.  But despite his many physical problems, FDR is consistently ranked by historians as one of the top three Presidents in our country’s history.  He led the country out of the deepest financial depression in our history and guided us successfully through WWII.  This was because, in spite his physical limitations, he was mentally sharp to the very end when he was taken from the earth by a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 63.  

FDR’s story demonstrates how physical issues can be overcome, even in the most challenging job in the world (arguably), as long as that person is mentally tough and capable. Joe Biden is at the opposite end of the Presidential competency spectrum from FDR.  In three months, Joe Biden will be 79 years old.  He will be 82 at the end of his first term, and would be 86 at the end of his second term if he should choose to run and win (heaven forbid).  

The one common thread between FDR and Joe Biden is that the media has protected Joe Biden throughout the campaign and has continued to do so even today.  The Presidential campaign every four years is meant to be rigorous in order to test the physical and mental toughness of the candidates.  In the 2020 Presidential campaign, Joe Biden was allowed to hide in his basement and avoid the tough questions, and that protection continues today.

In regards to the withdrawal from Afghanistan, we can debate whether we should have left Afghanistan in 2002 or if we should continue with a light military footprint for years to come.  The question that must be answered today and most likely in 2022 and 2024 is, “How well has this withdrawal been managed.”  While the chaos at the Kabul airport is getting all of the attention, there are other issues that so far are being pretty much ignored.  Why did we pull out our military before we pulled out our American citizens and Afghan friendlies?  Why did we abandon the Bagram air base without even informing the Afghan military that we were leaving?  Why did we leave $85 billion of weapons and equipment that will now be used by the Taliban to brutalize their own people and spread terrorism throughout the world?

Our lamestream media continues to cover for this President as he lies (misstates), bumbles and vacations his way through this crisis.  After taking the first week off, he has made a few prepared speeches (created by someone else) which he struggles through with one teleprompter, because he can’t handle multiple teleprompters anymore.  He then turns and hightails it out of the room without answering a single question.  Yesterday, he finally answered three pre-selected questions.  He even had to look down at prepared notes to see who he was supposed to call on and then to his notes again for the answer (because he and his staff obviously already knew what the question was).

This “chaos” in Afghanistan could not have been avoided, says the man who is now presiding over the disastrous, chaotic withdrawal.  That is a meaningless statement that neither he nor anyone else can prove and which I sincerely doubt.  And now the State Department and the Pentagon are focusing on the number of people being evacuated, and patting themselves on their backs using words like “we’re making tremendous progress” or “we’ve successfully improved (whatever)”.  This is like an arsonist taking credit for pouring some water on a fire they started.  It is also amazing that of all the people that they have evacuated, they still have no idea how many Americans have been removed or even how many Americans are in the country.  Is it because they don’t know?  My guess is that they know, but we Americans wouldn’t like the answer.  

For the good of the country, the mainstream media needs to stop covering for this President.  This is not like covering up for FDR or JFK for their physical or moral shortcomings.  This is concealing incompetence that America will suffer from for years to come.  The media must share the blame for hiding the lack of cognitive ability of this President.  He’s only seven months into his four-year term and we have crises in Afghanistan, on our southern border, with violence in our major cities and in an economy that is on the brink of collapse because our new authoritarian government cannot get out of its way.  I don’t think we can take three and a half more years of this leadership.  Of course, that may have been the plan all along.