Every now and then there is an event that really kind of sums it all up.
Such is the case regarding the ‘Adventure of Joe Biden and the Chinese Spy Balloon.’ The incident featured all of the hapless buffoonery of an administration that hardly seems capable of lifting a foot without landing on a misstep. The balloon saga, once again, occasioned the White House’s usual unfortunate mix of incompetence, lying, hiding, and being overruled. In other words, just another day in the Biden presidency.
Let’s begin with the incompetence. When news broke that a Chinese surveillance balloon had been spotted over Montana last week, Joe Biden and his gaggle of nitwits appeared not only surprised but utterly without a plan. This, despite the fact that they had known for days that the balloon had entered US airspace, and by some reporting, known for weeks it was coming.
So what happened once the public became aware of it? Biden let the spy device traverse the entirety of the country before eventually shooting it down. Literally the plan was, we’re just gonna let it float around for a few days.
That brings us to the lying. When the news of the spy balloon dropped, The State Department told us Secretary Anthony Blinken was cancelling his planned trip to China because of China’s “irresponsible act.” But again, shortly thereafter we learned that the White House had known about the balloon for days. So this wasn’t some slap in the face of China for daring to violate U.S. airspace, as it was presented. Anthony Blinken knew perfectly well that this “irresponsible act” had taken place and was packing his pajamas for Beijing anyway. Until the public found out about the balloon.
This is approximately the point at which, as usual, Joe Biden went into virtual hiding. As the media swarmed like vultures around the story and calls to shoot the balloon down intensified the president had little to say and wasn’t taking many questions. It was Biden in the basement all over again at a time when he should have been assuring the nation that somebody, anybody, actually knew what the hell was going on and what to do about it.
Finally, we get to Joe Biden being overruled, as we learned the president originally wanted to shoot it down on Wednesday, but his military advisers told him not to. Just like when he announced that the United States would go to war to defend Taiwan and his advisors overruled him, saying the policy hadn’t changed, just like every time he tells us his handlers will “get mad at me” if he asks the wrong questions. Does Joe Biden ever make a decision on his own?
These four elements — incompetence, lying, hiding, and being overruled — are the four corners of the Biden administration. They use this playbook over and over.
Look at the classified documents scandal.
The incompetence was tracking top secrets all over the place like they were a bits of toilet paper stuck to his shoe. The lying was Joe telling us it was just a few items in the DC office when he already knew about the documents in Delaware. The hiding is the absurd claim that the White House can’t talk about this because of the investigation, a claim denied by the Department of Justice. Finally, the president saying he doesn’t know what’s in the documents because, “his lawyers had advised him not to even ask what was in the files,” is a classic case of Joe Biden being overruled.
These four elements can be applied to pretty much every Biden debacle. And there is a good reason they do it over and over and over again — because they know that even when they’re caught in a lie, the media will make excuses for them. Until that changes, nothing is going to change. The administration will continue gaslighting the American people as they seek to push Grandpa Joe either over the 2024 finish line or under the bus.
Whatever foul leviathan is actually running American policy out of the White House, because by his own admission it’s not Joe Biden, is absolutely ruthless. They will lie forever, safe in the knowledge that our news giants will protect them, usually by finding some way to make the story Trump’s fault.
The bad news is we have two more years of this. The good news is nothing this administration has done in the first two suggests they can correct their course and restore America’s faith in Biden. There are those who say Biden’s is the worst presidency, but maybe it’s not a presidency at all, maybe instead, it is a playbook of lies meant to capture as much power as possible while the old man dithers.
David Marcus is a West Virginia based columnist and author of “Charade: The Covid Lies That Crushed A Nation.” Follow him on Twitter @Blueboxdave
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.