LOS ANGELES.–President Joe Biden, 81, finds himself lashing out at the press yesterday for a Special Counsel Report commenting on his hazy thinking and diminished memory, both of which are needed to do his job. Yet Biden’s screechy response, “My memory is fine,” reflects the dilemma in U.S. leadership now relying on him to perform his duties at age 81, but, more important than age, is his level of impairment. Biden’s handlers, since he ran for president in 2020, keep him from extemporaneous exchanges with the press, something that invariably shows his age. Over three years into his presidency, his expected GOP rival, 77-year-old former President Donald Trump, points out how the country is in decline under Biden’s leadership. Trump points to Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine, growing conflicts in the Middle East and developing conflict with China over Taiwan.
Trump pointed out at a hastily called press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate talking about yesterday’s Supreme Court oral arguments about using the 14th Amendment to remove him from the ballot, showed all Americans that he’s perfectly capable of spontaneous press conferences without the kind of mishaps seen by Biden. Trump has made his own mistakes, like referring to U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), but nothing like the embarrassing gaffes and physical slips seen by Biden. Biden’s cognitive impairments were on full display on a neutral Special Counsel report talking about his interview, not remembering when he was Vice President [2009-2017] or when his son, Beau, died in 2015. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, Biden lashed out at the press for daring to ask questions about his memory issues.
When it comes to his foreign policy, there’s far more room for error than the U.S. economy, where, regardless who’s in the White House, Wall Street has a mind of its own when it comes to GDP growth and possible slowdowns. When Trump left office in 2021, the U.S. was in the throes of the worst global pandemic since the 1918 Spanish Flu disaster. America voters were genuinely frightened looking for any possible change from a crisis that engulfed the country. So, Biden got his shot largely based on Trump’s misfortune, running for reelection at a time of grave upheaval, including months of rioting from George Floyd’s murder. But once Biden go his shot, it didn’t take long for him to wreck U.S.-Russian and U.S.-Chinese relations, literally one month after taking office. Within a year, Biden had provoked Russian President Vladimir Putin’s to invade Ukraine.
Biden’s failed to take Putin seriously when he asked him for months before the Feb. 24, 2022 invasion to discus new security arrangements in Ukraine, instead of the U.S. continuing to arm the Kiev government. But Biden refused to talk to Putin, resulting in Putin’s “special military operations” that, over the last two years, has wrecked Ukraine’s infrastructure and economy, leaving the Kiev government dependent on U.S. aid. Biden’s kept saying Putin’s invasion was “unprovoked and unjustified,” to give him cover from the obvious that his mishandling caused the invasion. Once Biden took office, he called Putin as “murderous killer and a thug,” not the kind of language used by global partners, built over generations of diplomacy, détente and arms control. So, when it comes to Biden’s mental state, the warning signs were there early in his presidency.
Three years later, Biden funds a reckless proxy war with the Kremlin, busting the U.S. budget with unending appropriations for Ukraine, the most recent demand another $60 billion to fund the bankrupt Kiev government and war. Yet Biden gets “red-faced” when a neutral report questions his thinking and memory, both necessary to the judgment needed to carry out his job as commander-in-chief. Biden thinks it’s perfectly OK to end decades of cooperative relations with the Kremlin and the kind of strategic partnership that enabled Washington and Moscow to keep the world on a stable footing. Biden’s proxy war in Ukraine threatens WW III, but, more importantly, possible nuclear war. Biden doesn’t see how he’s wreaked havoc on U.S. foreign policy and national security.
Biden now finds himself fighting multiple-front wars, escalating bombing various Iranian-backed militia groups in Yemen, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, all designed for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to dominate the Middle East and Horn of Africa. Global shipping routes in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman are no longer safe for commercial shipping companies as Yemen’s Houthi rebels fire on commercial shipping in international wars. Biden’s response has been throwaway missile attacks on Houthi targets but no real change to the treacherous atmosphere in important global waterways. So, it’s predictable to see how Biden has left U.S. foreign policy out on a dangerous limb, no longer able to provide security to the global economy. Biden reacts harshly to questions about his thinking, memory and judgment but it’s taking a painful toll on the country.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlienColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
