Early Biden blunders – 3

By Engr. Edgar Mana-ay

 

In any democratic country including the Philippines, the nation especially the press allows the newly elected president a 100-days “honeymoon” to adjust and govern properly, after which the people and the press now has the obligation to  voice its “no holds barred” criticism on his performance. Pres. Joe Biden now on his 80^th day in the presidency, is having a rough honeymoon due to his own making, despite mainstream media being overly sympathetic to him (which was never accorded to former President Trump), giving him a soft landing for his trips, slips and falls.

As if to symbolize his weak presidency, Biden stumbled not once, not twice but three times while trying to get aboard his Air Force One plane with White House officials explaining that he was toppled by a breeze! But the visual of him falling while taking the stairs to the jet illustrates to world leaders what they have already suspected, THAT AMERICA HAS INSTALLED A WEAK LEADER. The world’s leaders have assessed the stress points of Biden-Harris team and found it very soft. In the Anchorage, Alaska meeting with the Chinese, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was blistered by his counterpart, humiliating the Biden administration in its first big-time stage craft diplomacy. The Chinese (despite the most guilty) accused the US of hypocrisy, of being a bully (look who’s talking) and of horrible human rights problems at home. Because the Chinese perceived the weakness of Biden, it has the temerity to accuse the US of crimes that they themselves are the most guilty of.

Putin of Russia after its first conversation with Biden and sensing about Biden’s “cognition” (the act or process of knowing) problem, challenged Biden to a public debate (which is most dreaded by Biden) by saying politely: “I want to invite President Biden to continue our discussion, but on the condition that we do it actually live. I think this would be interesting for the Russian people, for the American people and for many other countries as well.” Biden, of course, cannot accept the invitation, even though the White House promised future communication would be “transparent and consistent.” This is a President who could not even deliver a State of the Union address in February. Note that Putin NEVER extended such a debate challenge to Trump.

It took Biden 65 days in office to hold its first press conference (by that date, Trump has 6 and Truman has 11) and he relied heavily on a “cheat list” with photos of White House reporters that Press Secretary Jen Psaki had chosen because they have pre-screened questions. Even our President Duterte adopts a “no holds barred, freewheeling, all questions under the sun, choosing reporters by random” type of press conference and most American presidents in the past do and Biden is now the exception. According to a reporter from Clear News, “President Biden appears to be calling on reporters from a prepared list”. Fox News host Chris Wallace was “struck” that when Biden was asked questions about foreign policy, Biden “went to his briefing book like Jan Psaki does and was reading obviously White House guidance, White House talking points. This is the first time in American history that a president reads from a White House talking points on ALL foreign policy questions. This shows that Biden at 78, age as a harsh task maker, has already caught up with him thus suffering from senile dementia.

Again we go back to Biden’s most glaring blunder so far, the illegal immigrant crossing crisis at the Mexican – US border. In November 2006, Biden speaking to a South Carolina Rotary Club talked about his support of the billion dollars 700 miles of double-layered fence in the US-Mexican border, a bill which was also supported by then Senators Obama and Clinton. Biden then spoke about jailing employers who hire “illegals” and that sanctuary cities shouldn’t be allowed to violate federal laws and argued that a fence was needed to stop “tons of drugs from coming into the country from corrupt Mexico”. BUT THAT WAS THEN, THIS IS NOW!

In Biden’s penchant for vengeance, he started to “unTrump” all the good things Trump has done on his first day in office. President Biden signed an executive order to end Trump’s 500 miles wall about a month to complete between the US and Mexico. Biden said that the border surge was created by bad circumstances in countries because Trump didn’t fund aid programs to address the root causes of why people are leaving. This is the most moronic justification of the century. As if the US is responsible for solving poverty in all Latin American countries! The illegal immigrant surge was instead prompted by Biden’s promise to reverse many of Trump’s policies on border security and immigration, including ending the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP), which KEEPS MIGRANTS IN MEXICO as they await their political asylum hearings.

During the 2018 Presidential Debate, Joe Biden literally invited and welcomed the border free-for-all surge where a video clip clearly recorded him as saying: “I would in fact make sure that there is immediately a surge to the border. They (the illegal immigrants) deserved to be heard. That’s who we are. We’re a nation that says, “You want to flee, and you’re fleeing oppression, you should come.” According to Biden, the border caravan “problem” (NOT A CRISIS) is because “Mexico won’t take them (families and adult individuals) back. We’re in negotiation with the President of Mexico. I am going to see that change. They should all be going back”. Such is a very naïve and ‘born yesterday’ assertion! Mexico is no longer taking migrants back because Biden tore up Trump’s agreement which had established a “stay in Mexico policy” and arranged with Mexico to station 28,000 soldiers to secure their side of the border.

Trump’s border policy was working but Biden canceled it all, so it is Biden who invited the migrant crisis (more than 150,000 illegals have crossed since he took office) but he continues to take no responsibility. He re-established Obama’s “catch and release” policy. This migrant surge caused Uncle Sam to unnecessarily spend millions a day, which of course are borne by the ordinary hard-working taxpayers, including my entire family working in the US. Is this the President that the Americans deserved?