Gerald R. Biden

 

History repeats itself. Sort of. Kind of.

Just for the record, not once in my studies as a history major did I have a professor say, "History repeats itself".  If so, I would have asked, "Is this going to be on the test?" They would have said yes, and the test would be two questions over something else entirely different.

But it does seem the past couple of years reminds me of another decade:  The 70s.

 

Civil unrest: Check

Uncontrolled inflation: Check

Leaders that when you look at them, you say, "Really?!": Check

Gas prices going through the roof: Check

A pandemic:  No, not unless you consider Disco a pandemic which I did.

So it is not a perfect analogy. But I think it is pretty close when it comes to our current Commander In Chief.

 

Brief historical recap.  The 70s started with President Richard "Milhous" Nixon as President.

He was a gifted, brilliant statesman that was distrusted because he could be a mean lying skunk.  He also was so paranoid that it seemed like he ate a plateful of those special brownies the hippies made.

 

But, as a poster said back then, "Just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean they aren't out to get you".  For various reasons, the Democrats and the News Media were out to get Nixon. In true Nixon fashion, he did everything he could to help them out. 

While cruising to a landslide victory against George McGovern, Nixon ordered a break-in on The Democratic National Headquarters at The Watergate Hotel. He then ordered a cover-up.  If you think they make a big deal about things now, you have no idea how much a big deal Watergate was back then.  

In the middle of all this, a separate investigation found Vice President Agnew was accepting kickbacks and bribes. He resigned, and Nixon appointed House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford to replace Agnew.

 

Soon Nixon resigned, and Ford became President.

At first, all was right with the world. Ford made his own breakfast! Then he pardoned Nixon.

Ford was seen in a new light.  He was no longer Ordinary Jerry and so dog-gone normal but instead just another politician who always made the wrong decision.

Inflation was terrible back then, so the brilliant people at The White House decided inflation could be beaten by wearing a " WIN " button for "Whip Inflation Now".  (In my best Morgan Freeman impression) inflation was not whipped.

South Vietnam fell and Americans were treated to pictures of people trying to crowd onto helicopters leaving Saigon. 

Meanwhile, back home, Ford tripped and fell, was in a car accident, had a gun whipped out on him by a member of The Manson Family, and was shot at by someone else. 

 

Of course, the news media and comedy shows took the position that Ford was a former NCAA Division One athlete and that everyone trips, has accidents, and other incidents.

Just kidding.  Ford's falls and mishaps became a punch line for America's comedy writers, and he practically made the career of Chevy Chase.  (Humor Me, 4/3/21:https://manisville.blogspot.com/2021/04/when-chevy-became-jerry.html)

America's pundits weighed in too.  The trips symbolized Ford's presidency and showed Ford to be the incarnation of The Peter Principal.

I thought about President Ford when I read the Twitter reaction to President Biden's slow-motion bike accident.

Those on my side of the river said it represents Biden's administration.  The other side said, "HE'S 79".  HE'S OUT RIDING A BICYCLE.  TRUMP JUST RUNS HIS MOUTH.

It really isn't a big deal. People have bike accidents every day.  However, you can't say this past year has given you any confidence that Biden can run the country any better than he rides a bicycle.

He thinks yelling is persuasion.  Inflation was "transitory."  There's a labor shortage. The supply chain issues include baby formula and my CPAP machine.

Gas prices going up which isn't a President's fault when there is a (D) beside the name but is when there is an (R) beside the name.  No big whoop, everybody just needs to go out and get an electric car.  Makes sense to me.

His handling of the pull out of Afghanistan?  It made the pull-out of Saigon look organized.

You're not terrible if you think the President's little boo-boo is the perfect analogy of his performance in office.

Some of us have long memories and remember the same arguments used about President Ford.

If you don't think these arguments apply to President Biden, Jerry's ghost would like a word with you.