One Year In

 

 

 It may have escaped your notice, but we are officially one year into the administration of President Biden.

Back when I was coming along, people used to speak with reverence about "The President," no matter who it was and no matter if they agreed with him or not.

We had books by Theodore White called "Making Of The President..." and it would go through the campaign and make you realize that, yes, only special men become President. Men with the charisma of Kennedy. Men with the legislative insight of Johnson. Men with the experience of Nixon

It was like God reached down and touched the man, and he was anointed.   That explains Jimmy Carter.

Hugh Sidey covered the Presidents, from Ike to Bill, and there was no silliness from him. No, you didn't get Dumb Ol Jock Jerry from Hugh. Instead, he presented Gerald Ford: Yale Law Graduate, Warren Report Commissioner, House Minority Leader, and a serious man of substance.

You don't get that now because, honestly, do you think any of these guys were anointed after the past thirty-some-odd years?

It is easy to forget that in the early days of President Biden's administration, the news media and popular culture went ga-ga with excitement.

The News Media and Popular Culture always do this when a Democrat takes over.  I remember when Obama became President, people were writing songs for children to sing in school about how great it is that Obama came out of nowhere to lead us. 

Last year at this time, journalist John Heilemann compared President Biden to Lincoln. Rachel Maddow talked about how many Kleenexes she used (half a box) when Biden was inaugurated.   Chris Wallace said Biden's inaugural speech was the best he had ever heard.   

Please quote a line from it, Chris.

Now Biden's poll numbers are in the tank, the low thirties.  There are numerous reasons for this. 

The first is the most obvious one.  Biden forgot or ignored the reason why he was elected: he was not Trump.  The daily Trump Circus had simply worn the country out.  Acting like a brat might work in the developer business, but it gets real old fast coming from the Leader of the Free World.  Journalist Matt Taibbi said, "Against Trump, the standard of “technically alive” worked for a lot of voters." 

Biden was "technically alive".

Instead, Biden came in acting like he won a landslide victory and had an overwhelming majority in Congress.  He believed all the horsefeathers that he could push through Bernie Sanders' agenda. The problem was the only people in favor of Bernie's agenda were Bernie and his fellow travelers.

Secondly, people are seeing the real Joe Biden.  He is an old man and he acts like it.  Sentences start, and sometimes they don't finish.  He gets angry for no reason.  He shouts.  He's stubborn and not in a good way.

In one way, he is like President Orange in that he never admits to a mistake and then continues to double down, making the error even worse. Case in point:  Afghanistan. 

Biden's third problem is the economy.

Bill Maher spent a good bit of airtime saying the economy is actually pretty good.  The problem is inflation.  Things cost more now than they did last year.  Presidents always get tagged when this happens and it doesn't matter if there is a (D) or (R) by the name.  Biden's first response was, "What inflation?"  Then it was, "Oh, there is inflation, but it is transitory, which for all you Kennestate State graduates means temporary." Then it was, "Well, Jill's friend Madge says ground round is five dollars a pound. We have a problem with Big Meat in this country."

Add to that "the supply chain" crisis.  The same song and dance.  No big deal. Adjust your expectations. Trump.  

And, of course, Covid.

 
Biden said he was going to believe "Science". This is unlike the other guy who probably never passed a science test in school without buying the answers.

Biden wore a mask, because of "Science".  Biden urged everybody to get the vaccine and tried to "mandate" vaccinations using the greatest power known to man: bureaucracy. He did this because of "Science".

Well, "Science" is now saying cloth masks don't do anything except make the wearer feel like they are doing something. You should really wear a N95 mask which are meant for use a single time. But don't worry, the first one is on the house, says the President. 

"Science" is now saying vaccinations won't prevent you from contracting Covid. It prevents  you from dying of Covid.  Maybe. 

I can't figure out why people don't want to get vaccinated. I am  "up-to-date" with my vaccinations, thank you very much. But when up-to-date people come down with Covid, you will have a problem getting unvaccinated people to get vaccinated. 

We were supposed to be out of the pandemic because we now have a better President. That hasn't happened.

On top of all of this, people still seem to be at each other's throats. Biden promised to "bring people together".  Alarms should ring when a politician promises this. Nixon promised to "bring us together" fifty years ago.  It didn't happen then and it won't happen now.

Can Biden turn it around?   It would take a special person.  I don't think Biden is special.