My Pink Half of the Drain Pipe

No word salad press conference can hide the ineptitude of the Biden administration when it comes to inflation and energy costs.

Yesterday I watched a White House news conference in which President Joe Biden attempted to make the case that a temporary suspension of federal and state fuel taxes would be an effective tool in addressing the “transitory” inflation that Putin (and China, via coronavirus) concocted to bedevil the West.

It was a wasted half hour of my life that I can't get back.

No, it was worse than that. It might have been the most frightening news conference of my adult life. About halfway through, as Biden was slamming oil companies and the owners of gasoline stations for greed and profiteering, it occurred to me that he actually believed what he was saying. Not since I watched the news of JFK's assassination all those years ago have I been so disturbed by a news conference.

It's one thing for a politician to spout partisan, self-absorbed, blame-eschewing, word salads of BS – something that's nearly ubiquitous. It's quite another when you look into their eyes and, in a moment of horror, realize that they actually believe the nonsense that's coming out of their mouths.

The fact that Biden managed to toss into his unique serving of non sequitur stew, a nod to nearly every progressive economic meme and liberal bumper sticker slogan regarding capitalism, is breathless. As is his inability as our current President, a former VP and member of the Senate for decades, to comprehend sophomore economics.

It's no wonder that the Russians and Chinese (among others) openly no longer respect us. Just look at the occupants of the Oval Office for the past six years. If Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the best that we can do, we might not deserve a lot of respect.

Though both Trump and Biden have, in my view, reduced the prestige of this country through incompetence and dishonesty, their dishonesties, though equally unfortunate, are nonetheless entirely discernible.