Inflation, Covid virus variants, Russian threats to Ukraine, Chinese transparency and tariffs, supply chain improvements, infrastructure repairs, arcane rules of the United States Senate, criminal insinuations about a son, political ideology, Central American policy, America\u2019s divisions: President Joe Biden stood in front of the press for almost two hours, and answered questions. He showed an in-depth knowledge of all the issues facing our Nation. And President Biden demonstrated an openness to the press, and the Nation, about the crises of our time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biden has been accused of three failings. First, the famous Biden \u201cfaux-pas\u201d (\u201cBarack this is a Big F**king Deal!\u201d). The only possible \u201cfaux-pas\u201d in this two hour grilling on national television, was Biden musing about what actions Russia might take against Ukraine. Some suggest that he was signaling to Russia that the United States and NATO would \u201ctolerate\u201d a small incursion, but not a full scale invasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe he was, or maybe he was simply laying out for Vladimir Putin the levels of retribution that the US and NATO were considering.\u00a0\u00a0Or maybe President Biden was giving the American people some insight into his own thoughts.\u00a0\u00a0But what the President made clear was that Putin had not signaled his own intentions, and that consequences would depend on provocation.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s just as possible that he was communicating to Moscow, rather than just \u201cslipping up\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Others, notably Peter Baker of the\u00a0New York Times<\/em>, hammered Biden for not \u201cstaying on message\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The Biden message, according to Baker, was supposed to be a White House \u201cre-set\u201d, after the failure to pass Build-Back-Better and the Voting Rights bills in the Senate.\u00a0\u00a0Biden started down that path, placing the blame over and over again for failure firmly on the Senate Republicans who voted against as a block.\u00a0\u00a0Biden spent much less time talking about Democrats Manchin and Sinema, Democrats who favored the bills, but refused to break the filibuster rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baker felt that Biden went on to long, leaving the \u201cre-set\u201d behind. While The Times <\/em>is welcome to their opinion, Biden did demonstrate a wide ranging knowledge of all of the issues, and laid out a case for other Democratic accomplishments, versus Republican intransigence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second failing Biden is accused of is having a hot temper. Biden is known for harkening back to his heritage, including \u201cgetting his Irish up\u201d when angered. And the President had several good reasons to become angered, as certain media representatives (not really reporters, more provocateurs) made statement trying to bait him. Newsmax <\/em>asked whether the President was in \u201ccognitive decline\u201d, while Fox <\/em>asked why he had trended so far to \u201cthe left\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of losing his cool, Biden gave a one word answer (\u201cNo\u201d) to Newsmax <\/em>and moved on. As far as the Fox <\/em>question, Biden answered coolly, saying that while he was friends with Bernie Sanders, he wasn\u2019t Bernie Sanders and was and remains a moderate, mainstream Democrat. He didn\u2019t get red in the face, nor did he fall in the trap of the predecessor and start attacking the questioners. Fox News, <\/em>of course, claims that the conference was a \u201ctotal disaster\u201d, and even suggested Biden \u201clost his cool\u201d with a reporter when he told him to \u201cgo back and read\u201d a speech that Biden made about the voting rights bills. But as a direct observer myself, I didn\u2019t see that. I saw the President refusing to accept the \u201cfactual\u201d premise of a question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And when a reporter suggested that Biden didn\u2019t demand tough answers from China because of an alleged relationship between Biden\u2019s son Hunter and China, the President didn\u2019t take the bait. Instead, he ignored the \u201cHunter\u201d part of the question, and corrected the reporters \u201cfacts\u201d about his conversation with President Xi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden spent two hours in the hot light of the national media.\u00a0\u00a0Biden answered questions on every topic in front of him.\u00a0\u00a0He mused on the state of America, and sympathized with a people \u201cfed up\u201d with the coronavirus.\u00a0\u00a0By the end of the conference, the biggest complaint may be that he gave too much \u201cfodder\u201d for a hostile media to swallow.\u00a0\u00a0Reading this morning\u2019s press, it\u2019s clear the “right” will give him no credit, and the \u201cleft\u201d won\u2019t let go of Manchin and Sinema.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biden made his point. He is a man of the middle, perhaps in a time where the middle doesn\u2019t exist. He is a leader who believes that America will join him in change, if he can simply explain what he\u2019s trying to do. There\u2019s no \u201ccognitive decline\u201d in that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s the picture of a President trying to bring America back to a \u201csafer\u201d center.\u00a0\u00a0We\u2019ll see if that works.Irish Up<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Cognitive Decline<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"