When former president Barack Obama warned us about Joe Biden, he did it in no uncertain terms. He said (and since this is a family publication, I’ll edit as necessary) that we were never to underestimate Joe’s ability to mess things up. “Mess” is the kind word for the f-bomb dysphemism Obama used. At the time, it struck many as a kind of wink-wink, nudge-nudge comment. Now, nine months into Biden’s presidency, we realize that Obama was ringing the alarm bell, the five-alarm bell for Biden’s coming malpractice.
Joe’s dirty dozen below are, sadly, only the beginning. But there are enough in this small sampling to make grown men cry and pregnant women deliver months prematurely. As a kind of academic exercise, after reading each one, ask yourself a simple question: what would the mainstream media have said if this had happened during a Trump presidency? Here they are, in alphabetical order for easy mnemonic.
Afghanistan—What a blockbuster beginning, so large and expansive that one doesn’t know where to begin! Biden’s only plan here was ostensibly to do the opposite of what Trump did (and secretly that appears to be the only Biden strategy, notwithstanding the Jacobinical Tribe influences). Not only did Biden ignore military intelligence on this matter, but he also lied about what they told him, arguing that they were all on board. Further, he lied about his conversations with former Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. Ghani may not have had time to tell him much, packing as he was into his multiple suitcases the tens of millions of dollars we poured into the country. Thirteen soldiers died, and hundreds of Americans and American allies were left behind. Afghanistan allies have now become poster children for once bitten, twice shy. America will likely never get another foreign country to believe us about anything.
Biden’s Blunders: Here’s an abundant well that continues to gush forth… er, ormolu. From Biden’s thinking, he has been president for 15 months, to calling Kamala Harris the president, to arguing that he can still be 30% wrong even doing everything right, Biden’s gaffes continue to perturb. Some are, admittedly hilarious, like Spoonerisms, but the uneasy feeling mounts: this is the man in charge of the most powerful country in the world?
Covid Deaths—When Trump was president, we had daily numbers emblazoned on the nightly news. COVID deaths continue to mount in the thousands, and cases in the tens of thousands have surged under Biden, but the press has passed them off much like it does flu cases and deaths. While our media chorus stridently demanded lockdowns under Trump, nearly everything has reopened, and stadiums are packed with fans everywhere. The only silver lining here is that cases are now beginning to drop.
Hunter Biden’s “Art”—Who would ever have guessed Hunter Biden was a better artist than Picasso? Our fifth estate is treating this like a third rail story. When the Georges Berges Gallery announced that anonymous art collectors were willing to pay $500,000 for Hunter’s “artwork,” most of us thought it was a Babylon Bee story. Pictures of Hunter painting with his trusty brush (when not decoupaging as if at a women’s Wine & Whine Tupperware party) look for all the world like a third-grader with a giant Crayola. Again, the media tell us there is nothing to see here and Biden often responds with his, “C’mon, man.”
Hunter Biden’s Laptop—Suffice it to say that we know more from the media about Sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster than we do about this “elusive” laptop. First, we were told it was not his, then it was. The New York Times loudly barked it was an “unsubstantiated story” only much later to delete quietly that same story without telling anyone. The machinations on this story mount with each passing day.
Inflation—From groceries to cars to clothing, to say nothing of shortages, Biden’s economy is crashing and burning before our eyes. Since Biden took office, prices have been inching up systematically. Biden’s administration remains blind to the economy’s darkening clouds. September inflation jumped 5%, the largest increase since 2008.
Kabul Drone Strike– Twain once said, “Suppose you’re an idiot, and suppose you’re a member of Congress, but I repeat myself.” It’s hard to imagine the Katzenjammer Kids making a bigger mess of this matter than Biden’s kakistocratic administration. Seeing a possible second attack by ISIS-K on those trying to evacuate Afghanistan (having missed the first one), Biden sent a drone attack as a preventive. Not only did it target and kill the wrong man, but it also killed 16 other people including seven children. To add insult to injury, the Biden administration equivocated about the outcome for days before being caught blood-handed, as it were.
Keystone Pipeline: Before the ink was dry on his election certification, Biden shut down the Keystone Pipeline, ending jobs for 15,000 workers, and stabbing U.S. energy independence in the heart, as if it was some vampire he had to kill before dawn of his second day in office. This one-act raised gas prices on Biden’s supposedly most beloved constituency: illegal aliens and the poor. But not to worry. Taxpayers are funding bus trips wherever the illegals wish to roam.
OPEC– After murdering U.S. energy independence (see Keystone, above), Biden has the gall to beg OPEC for more production. The sultans in OPEC have been laughing maniacally ever since. Although warned by U.S. oil producers and CEO’s, Biden has turned a deaf ear and a blind eye (neither by itself is enough) to their vocal angst. Gas has surpassed $3 a gallon even in the Deep South in most places, and more the farther one is from distribution points.
Paris Accords: This money pit for industrialized nations was on track to further bankrupt the U.S. but Trump pulled us out of it. By February of this year, Biden had dragged us back in. The trouble with this agreement is not the desire to have a better environment, but the willingness of this agreement to saddle the nation with much of the cash outlays. With no apparent empirical evidence upon which to support its velleities, the Biden administration really believes China will comply as well.
The Southern Border—With the exception of Afghanistan, no other debacle is as monstrous as this fiasco. In a few short months, we went from a border largely under control and a wall moving forward, to one overrun by tens of thousands of illegals, many of whom were under a bridge in De Rio Texas. Biden is on track for the entry of more than two million illegal immigrants by Christmas, many without identifications, none tested for COVID, and none vaccinated (Biden only mandates it for U.S. citizens).
Remember when masses were congregating on the border during Trump’s term in office and the media had to be sedated like Victorian women needing smelling salts? Today? Crickets, with rare exception. The awful thing about this particular one of Joe’s dirty dozen is that the problem appears to worsen each day. The silver lining may be that those who do not want to be vaccinated can simply come across the southern border and get a free bus ride to the city of their choice. As of this writing, Biden hasn’t even visited the border.
The Vaccine Roll-Out: Biden claimed he would have 70% of the country vaccinated by July of this year. That, of course, did not happen. Neither he nor Vice President Harris could overcome the doubts they both raised about the vaccine during the election campaign. Harris even stated bluntly that she would be wary of a “Trump vaccine.” Of course, both have complained about vaccine hesitancy but neither has owned up to their starring role in it. Meanwhile, nurses and other frontline workers who were, a year ago, heroes, are now heels in the Biden administration because some of them refused to be vaccinated. They should try the Southern Border crossing (see above).
Stay tuned. Frighteningly, this is a gift that will continue to give for at least the next 36 months.
Mark Y. Herring is professor emeritus, dean of library services from Winthrop University. Herring spent 42 years as dean or director in academic libraries in Tennessee, Oklahoma and South Carolina. He was most recently appointed by Governor Henry McMaster to the South Carolina State Library Board. He resides with his wife, Carol, in Rock Hill.