Biden lies his way through another national address

Before getting into the substance of President Biden’s latest address to the nation, I have a couple of general observations.

The non-role of Harris and Blinken

What was the rationale for having Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken standing in the background like a couple of statues?   Biden did turn to Blinken on a couple of occasions so that the Cabinet member could nod his head in supplicant agreement – proving that he was not one of those life-size cut-out images of famous folks. 

Harris did not even get that level of recognition.  Maybe she WAS only a life-size cut-out image.  It would have served the same purpose and the real Harris could keep busy planning her presidency.

The decision to include Harris was such a whacky decision that one television commentator wondered if Biden was going to announce his resignation.  And the fact that that could even be speculated reflects the disastrousness of Biden’s decision to walk away from Afghanistan.

And why the masks. Biden did not wear one. They were social distancing – which made the imagery that much more bizarre.  I suppose it was some unrelated symbolism to remind people that the President’s handling of the Covid-19 Pandemic was not as bad as the Afghanistan fiasco.

The staging of this type of event gets a lot of planning.  But what were they thinking?  It was bad optics and tended to distract from Biden’s remarks.  Hmmmm   Maybe that was the purpose.

Pre-selected press questions

Remember the old says when a President would take random questions from a gaggle of reporters.  It was called a news conference.  Since Biden is likely to make serious gaffes if he is let out on his own, they have to limit the questions to a very few – in this case four – from pre-selected reporters – and from the friendliest news outlets, of course.  None of the questions were particularly challenging – and now pushed back on Biden’s litany of lies and disinformation.  Which brings us to the substance of the White House dog-and-pony show.

The speech

In his address to the nation, Biden reaffirmed his lifelong propensity for prevarication.  If he is not actually lying, he is the most uninformed, unaware President in American history.  Let’ look at a few of the whoppers.

Biden said that there were “no circumstances” that would prevent Americans anywhere in Afghanistan to get to the Kabul airport.  Was he unaware of the Security Alerts of the U.S. Embassy that said Americans were on their own?  The government cannot come and get them. 

And more recently – about the time of Biden’s speech – the Embassy advised Americans not to try to reach Kabul because it was too dangerous.  That makes Biden’s assurance that every American who wants to leave Afghanistan can leave another misrepresentation of fact … a lie.

Biden based his claim on an assurance that the Taliban would allow safe passage.  Trusts the Taliban?  Nothing on the ground supported Biden’s bs.

Biden lied when he said that all the leaders of the allied nations were happy with Biden’s plan – such as it was – to precipitously withdraw.  Leaders Britain, France and Germany harsh in their public criticisms.

Biden said the only nation’s unhappy with his withdrawal are Russia and China.  In fact, they are thrilled.  China quickly recognized the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. And why not.  They will be accessing the natural resources – including such critical elements as rare earth.

In response to a question from one of the pre-selected reporters, Biden said he had not heard anyone question the credibility of the United States because of his decision to abandon Afghanistan to the Taliban.  This despite America’s loss of credibility was the major concern heard by virtually every voice – from allies, adversaries, politicians of both parties and the press.  Biden even claimed the opposite – claiming his decision and the results enhanced American credibility.

Biden claimed that other regions of the world present a greater danger of terrorism than Afghanistan – even as his own Department of Defense was pointing to the presence of al Qaeda as a serious threat.

When Biden compares the Russian withdrawal to his order, he fails to recognize that the Kremlin’s retreat from Afghanistan was accomplished without all the chaos.  That also put the lie to Biden’s statement that all such actions are similarly chaotic.  It is the nature of the beast, by his assessment. 

In an effort to shed his wimpish decision to surrender Afghanistan to the Taliban, Biden warned the terrorist organization that if they were to attack Americans, they would be met with the strongest repercussions.  Really?  Would he send in combat troops or bomb some Taliban strongholds?  Or would he send them an angry message telling them not to do that again?  Anyone with an IQ higher than a hockey score knows that Biden would not take any action – he gave away that option.  He is just lying.

Biden claimed to have the full support of his military advisors.  In his previous address, he said he heard no opposition from the Pentagon.  In this one he said he took the advice of the majority of the military advisors.  But he was claiming that as all the reports out of the Pentagon suggested strong opposition to the immediate withdrawal.  In various reports, the military leaders are said to be “angry” and “bitter.”

There was almost nothing in Biden’s speech that was accurate.

Press reaction

Biden’s snake-oil sales pitch was so out of touch with reality that even the most leftwing elements of the news media could not cover for him.  CNN, MSNBC and the three major networks were reporting from the ground.  In fact, a CNN crew were threatened by Taliban fighters – which they captured on camera.  There was no way even the most supportive Biden sycophants in the Fourth Estate could cover-up what was really happening.  Biden’s version of events was just too preposterous to spin to his benefit.

The latest address to the nation was to be a trajectory correction after Biden’s previous speech was a bit of a dud.  It was to put Biden on the offensive.  It failed.  Arguably, it made Biden and his Afghan policy look even worse.

Summary

Unfortunately, the consequences of Biden’s decision will be dragging out for months and years.  More than anything, he hoped Afghanistan would be a major part of his legacy.  It will.  Afghanistan will be the topper – as were President Johnson’s Vietnam and President Bush’s Iraq.  As they used to say in school, it will be part of his permanent record.

So, there ‘tis.