Within a very few hours after being sworn in as our president, Biden was at his desk in the oval office singing 17 executive orders. This was the beginning of a 50-day series of events in which he clearly has demonstrated the he may be, for the most part, unaware of what he was doing.
During the executive order signing on 20 January (17 orders) and the additional 20 signed during the first week, there was no fanfare, no gathering of sponsors as he signed each order, no holding the folder up so all could see his signature. But most importantly, there was no verbalizing of what the executive orders are to accomplish, why it is important to give the orders immediately. Nothing, zip. Some have even suggested he was, in fact, just signing blank pieces of paper.
After watching the so-called campaign over the summer and fall months, we all became aware of the extent to which Biden’s handlers were calling all the shots. Pre-selected questions at fake “press conferences” by pre-selected loyal main-stream media was the norm. Following the inauguration, it became immediately obvious to the casual observer that he was being controlled to the maximum extent possible.
But eventually his handlers knew the president had to make a “public” appearance. The choice was with Anderson Cooper at a CNN carefully orchestrated town hall. What could have possibly been less threatening? The main topic of discussion was, of course, Covid; the one subject on which the president had been totally immersed for months. What could possibly go wrong?
The questions were, of course, carefully scripted and presumably rehearsed. Ready, set, go.
Things were going along OK until the president got off-script in an unehearsed moment and said, “It’s one thing to have the vaccine which we didn’t have when we came into office. But a vaccinator, how do you get the vaccine into someone’s arm?”
Stop reading for a moment and just think about the last 12 months we all spent with some level of pent-up anxiety, inability to be with loved ones, cancelled trips, praying for the next medical breakthrough and, for many, a complete life-style change. Who among us could possibly forget that we have or have not received a vaccination?
Vaccinations under Operation Warp Speed began across the country on 14 December. Biden got his first shot on 21 December and the second on 11 January.
Back to the CNN townhall: Biden went on to say, “We came into office there were only 50 million doses that were available.” In minutes he went from thinking zero to 50 million doses available.
It is not as if Biden was not involved in the planning for vaccinations during the two months preceding the CNN townhall session; on 8 December the president elect rolled out his program to administer 1 million vaccine doses per day in his first 100 days in office. Maybe Biden is not the only one with his head in a dark place. By 8 December President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed was already planning to administer a lot more that 1 million a day during the winter and spring of 2021. Actually, on 20 January the average was 1.7 million shots being administered per day across the country.
The townhall debacle immediately presented Biden’s staff with a stark reality; we cannot trust him to speak extemporaneously. Should any of us be surprised that he is yet to hold an open press conference? And when it does happen will it be completely open as in Trump-open? Don’t hold your breath.
On 26 February Biden visited Texas following the power grid shutdown. Closing out the visit, at the microphone, he was attempting to thank the governor and a number of Texas elected officials. He struggled with the names, halting, “no that’s not right, (long pause) what am I doing here? (pause) “I’m going to lose track here.”
Jesse Waters, Fox News a couple weeks ago: During his opening monologue, Waters showed three brief tapes of President Biden in action. If you get your news from the main-street-media, you will not have seen these clips. I found them difficult to watch and found myself feeling sorry for him. The subject in all three is Covid numbers.
In the first clip he is seated with a Black History Month logo behind him, I do not know the venue. When the tape begins, he is commenting on a Covid fatality number that he cannot recall. “Over 500 I think, it”….. He is patting all his pockets furiously looking for a card, he says, “I have a card, I carry a card with me every day” ….. continuing to seek out the card, looking around helplessly, then says, “folks affected by” ….. he finds and shows the card, it looks to be a folded 5×7 card. He has the card but appears dazed and cannot remember which number he is looking for. Cut.
Second: He is standing behind a microphone and says, “I carry a card with me”…..again searching his pockets and cannot find it….. looking around obviously seeking help. “I don’t have it with me, I must have given it to my staff.” A hopeless look on his face, long pause then goes on saying, “Do I have that around”…….long pause……”anyone”…..looking around……”where is my staff?”
Final clip: Seated at his desk in the Oval Office looking down at notes, “I carry a card”, again searching pockets, looking around for help, hopeless, dazed look on his face “I carry a card…… left it on my desk.” He was at his desk.
Like I said previously, difficult to watch even though the whole sequence was only about a minute long.
On 8 March Biden made some comments on International Women’s Day while attending the promotion of two female generals. At the end of the speech, Biden thanked his Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, as follows, “I want to thank Sec ……. the former general ….. I keep calling him ‘General.’ My …… the guy who runs that outfit over there.” “That outfit over there” being the Department of Defense in the Pentagon.
Conclusions: Since we see very little of our president, period, and even less of him in an unscripted situation, we find ourselves thinking, hoping perhaps that his health isn’t as bad as some make it out to be. But what if it is actually worse?
Why did he even run for president? I place the blame clearly on his family and closest advisors. They, more than any of us, have been fully aware of his inabilities. They have to have known that he lacks the energy and mental acuity to think through and work long-range strategic domestic and foreign policy issues.
He simply cannot handle the toughest job in the world. He cannot lead this once-great nation in his current state.
Marvin L. Covault, Lt Gen US Army, retired, is the author of VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders, a columnist for THE PILOT, a national award-winning local newspaper in Southern Pines, NC and the author of a blog, WeThePeopleSpeaking.com.