Almost No One is Listening to the President

Other than media and a relative handful of in-denial voters, almost no one listens to President(ish) Joe Biden anymore. Barely ten percent of Americans viewed portions of his State of the Union (SOTU) telecast.

Frankly, Biden says little worth hearing. Extemporaneously, Joe is mostly odd, off-topic and/or incomprehensible, and, on teleprompter, his speeches, generally, are simplistic, fanciful and awkwardly-delivered. Biden’s self-satisfied, cliché-ridden, marble-mouthed, alternate-universe SOTU was no exception. (More on that later)

Biden has fashioned a career out of grinning, blustering and boasting. His “good stuff about me” repertoire is loaded with improbable claims of boyhood, academic and in-office accomplishments/adventures, however, his history is full of gaffes, whoppers and goofy statements.

In 2017, Biden related an unlikely 1960s confrontation with a gangbanger he called “Corn Pop.”  Joe remembered himself as a young lifeguard ordering “Corn Pop” off the diving board, then a parking lot encounter, a “heroic” happy ending, followed by another weird “lifeguard” tale about black kids admiring/stroking his sun-bleached leg hairs.

In 1987, Biden claimed, falsely, that he “went to law school on a full academic scholarship – the only one in my class…,” that he “ended up in the top half” of his class. Joe also said that, in college, he was “the outstanding student in the political science department” and “graduated with three degrees.”

Biden received one BA degree in college, and graduated 76th out of 85 in his Syracuse law school class.

Recently, the White House released a brag sheet of “Record Firsts in Biden’s First Year,” claiming “record” progress for working families, even though Biden’s COVID mandates, war on fossil fuels, and inflationary policies have left millions of American families poorer, disillusioned, even broken.

Then, in his SOTU, Biden doubled-down on fantasy.

Joe opened with “Russia/Ukraine.”

Clearly, Vladimir Putin has Ukrainian blood on his hands, but, the SOTU is held to report the state of our union.

In that context, Putin didn’t throw open America’s southern border, cancel America’s energy independence, or pump our national debt above $30 trillion. Putin didn’t order Americans to “mask up,” “shut down,” “stay home,” and “get vaccinated – or else.”

Those and other critical domestic issues were glossed over or left unmentioned. Biden family profiteering in Ukraine and China didn’t come up.

China, generally?  …crickets…

Apparently convinced that Americans have been comatose for five years, Joe claimed to have rescued “an economy in crisis.” Primarily, though, he delivered a substance-free string of empty promises.

Joe will: …”Cure cancer!“…”Secure the border!” “…“Fund the police!” …”Lower the cost of families(?)!” …Make things less costly by making them cost less! …“Lower your costs, not your wages” by making stuff in America’s (mumble, mumble) “Rust Belt!”

In arguably his most profoundly stupid statement, Joe told America that we can reduce inflation and the deficit – simultaneously! – with even more massive, unfunded government spending that’s already a primary driver of both.

Some statements were truly bizarre. Joe: “You can’t build a wall high enough to keep out ..uh…a…uh…uh…a vaccine.” And: “I’ve ordered more pills than anyone in the world has.”

There was also the usual gaslighting about “the top 1%,” “COVID,” “unity”…

If his sock drawer is as orderly as his mind, Joe doesn’t own a matched pair.

Nonetheless, in-the-tank media gave Biden rave reviews.

Pretending won’t work, though. Americans clearly see Biden’s failures.

Today, the world is ignoring Biden. America’s allies don’t trust him. Iran’s mullahs, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin smell weakness.

Non-aligned, Ukraine served as a geopolitical buffer between Russia and NATO, an adversary Russia wants dismantled. Some argue that, by promoting NATO membership for Ukraine, Biden guaranteed Russian intervention. In any case, emboldened by Joe’s feckless withdrawal from Afghanistan, and encouraged by his “minor incursion” verbal blunder concerning Russian interests in Ukraine, Putin’s invasion created Biden’s second foreign policy disaster in only seven months.

Arguably, no modern president has been less truthful or effective. Granted, presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Donald Trump told untruths, too, but, in office, Clinton and Trump performed. Joe Biden has not, and, clearly, cannot.

Events, advanced age and two neurosurgical operations for leaking cerebral aneurysms have taken their toll. Biden’s decrepitude has become too obvious to hide – or ignore.

The world is a dangerous place. Americans have a right to know: If Joe Biden cannot, then who is running “his” administration?

https://www.pottsmerc.com/2022/03/07/jerry-shenk-almost-no-one-is-listening-to-the-president/