OPINION:
All within the span of 24 hours, President Joe Biden first told reporters that Europe was being unified because of “the onslaught on Iraq,” and then, in a different press gaggle, said Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, was “clearly losing the war in Iraq.”
Iraq. Ukraine. Potato, potahto; they’re easily confused. Happens all the time.
Oh, and that reminds: “Registered voters 65-32 percent think that Joe Biden is too old to effectively serve another 4-year term as president,” Quinnipiac wrote May 24. The breakdown goes like this: 90% of Republicans say he’s too old; 69% of independents; and 41% of Democrats.
“If anybody told you — and my staff wasn’t so sure, either — that we’d be able to bring all of Europe together in the onslaught on Iraq and get NATO to be completely united,” blah blah blah, Biden said, during a fundraiser in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
And a day later, outside the White House, asked whether Putin’s been weakened by recent events, Biden said this: “It’s hard to tell. But he’s clearly losing the war in Iraq. He’s losing the war at home.”
Rule number one when you’re the commander-in-chief of an America that’s waging a proxy war against Russia: Know which country you’re warring against. It falls under the strategy ‘know thy enemy.’ It also makes it easier to assure tax payers the millions and millions and endless millions of dollars they’re being tapped to pay for the war effort are really being used in ways that matter.
Look at it this way.
Imagine if Hunter Biden wanted to buy a prostitute but instead, inadvertently sent his money to the crack dealer. He wouldn’t be very happy then, would he? Of course not. That would be a mistaken use of his money; an unintended allocation; a waste, even, of hard-earned dollars.
Likewise, Joe should know where U.S. tax dollars are being spent — if they’re being used to fight the enemy of Russia, for example, versus the strategic U.S. partner of Iraq. That way, tax payers don’t have to worry about any mistaken uses of money, or unintended allocations, or outright waste.
Plus, it’s always best to fight against enemies, and stay friendly with the allies.
One way Biden’s handlers might help him remember these principles is to label notecards with the phrase, ‘Russia, enemy,’ and ‘Iraq, not enemy,’ and place them at the White House podium, or inside his jacket pocket, for easy reference. One quick warning: the jacket pocket should really only be used as as backup; it was just this past August, after all, Biden was “stuck in his jacket,” as The Independent put it. For that reason, the podium seems much safer.
And yes, agreeably, a solid argument could be made for including a third card labeled ‘Ukraine.’ But the better route might be to stick with two cards for now, then slowly introduce the third as time goes by. He’s still struggling, after all, to reference Kamala Harris as his vice president, not president, and to self-identify as president, not senator. Too much work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, as they say.
Oh, and that reminds: “68% of all voters say they have concerns about Biden having the necessary mental and physical health to be president, including 55% who say they have ‘major’ concerns,” NBC News wrote just this week, of its latest poll.
Enter the fawners.
“Well, what I’d say,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, to a CNN host who asked about Biden’s mental competency in the wake of his mixing up Iraq for Russia — twice — within 24 hours, “I wish you could be in a room with him, the way I often am, seeing how he is simultaneously focused on a big-picture vision and very focused on details.”
Hmm. Interesting. That sounds a cloaked way of acknowledging Biden’s all over the map.
He’s got a lot of friends in the media, though.
As Fox News noted, USA Today White House correspondent Francesca Chambers conveniently left out Biden’s “Iraq” reference, instead cutting the quote to read that he said Putin was “losing the war at home.” And Bloomberg reporter Jenny Leonard did the same, just cutting out the “Iraq.” When pressed for explanation, USA said the bias of omission, err, “partial quote,” was “within our guidelines.” Bloomberg’s Leonard, however, righted the wrong and reported on the real context and full quote.
Oh, and that reminds: “Half of Americans in a recent survey indicated they believe national news organizations intend to mislead, misinform or persuade the public to adopt a particular point of view through their reporting,” Fortune reported in February, about a Gallup and Knight Foundation survey.
If Biden only made an occasional gaffe because of work-related fatigue, or stresses of the job or because of natural human error, America could laugh it off and go on with political business. But this is a guy who campaigned from his basement, under cover of COVID, who still needed his wife, Jill, to prop him for the cameras. This is a guy whose earliest White House conferences and pressers and podium remarks were so scripted, and still so bungled, that the world’s heads of state quickly caught on to his mental incompetency. This is a guy who’s called out dead people, wandered off stages, referenced wrong names and wrong titles and wrong locations — not just once or twice, but continuously — and who makes so many mistakes in his speeches and his remarks that it’s become normal for his handlers to follow up with explanations and clarifications and redirects and spins.
And this is a guy who wants a second White House term. He’s not just a joke. He’s a national security risk. And within America, that’s pretty much settled science.
“2 in 3 concerned about Biden’s mental, physical health: survey,” The Hill wrote, just this week.
Truly, the ones who most want him to win again in 2024 are Russia, North Korea, China and Iran. Or, as Biden might put it: Iraq, Australia and President Kamala Harris.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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