Pathetic Presser, Texas Triumph, and President Pompeo: The Week in Review

Headline #1:          Biden Holds First Presidential Press Conference

On Thursday, President Joe Biden held his first press conference more than two months into his presidency; the longest such period without a press conference by a U.S. President since press conferences have existed.

Thoughts and Observations:

• In Fifth Grade, I ran for class president. There were two key issues during that election: 1) the fairness of our school’s classroom monitors, and 2) permissible activities during recess. On the day of that election, we had a Q&A session which was monitored by one of our teachers. Along with the other 11-year olds running for president, the questions we faced that day, including follow-up questions, were more difficult than any questions Biden faced on Thursday.
• Biden’s performance during the hour-long presser was disturbingly feeble. He lost his train of thought multiple times, he had to be reminded of the questions he’d been asked, he blatantly lied, and he came across as unprepared and bewildered. For those of us who’ve felt Biden is nothing more than a figurehead, his first press conference not only solidified that opinion, it crystallized it.
• It’s easy to take cheap shots at Biden, not just for his dismal performance, but his overall demeanor and obvious senility. The man is a mess. He himself has been vicious in attacking political opponents over the years, so perhaps he has it coming to him. But criticisms of his mental acuity aren’t merely opportunities to get a laugh or some sort of revenge, they’re a legitimate concern. Joe Biden is supposed to be the leader of the Free World, yet he doesn’t appear capable of leading his local Rotary Club.
• There’s been much attention paid to the fact that Biden had a “cheat sheet” with him during the press conference, complete with pictures of each of the reporters that were there. There’s nothing wrong with the president, or anyone else, bringing notes to a press conference or any other type of meeting. People with huge responsibilities may need notes to keep their thoughts organized and their messaging on point. But Biden’s binder wasn’t just there as a reference in case the topic became complex. Biden was using his notes not as a fallback to cite numbers or specific facts, but as a substitute for a highly-functioning brain. Joe Biden’s mental capacity is declining; quickly.
• The contrast between Biden and former President Donald Trump is undoubtedly most evident with press conferences. They’re like night and day. Trump would usually hold his pressers with no notes at all, he would call on the most hostile of reporters (including the imbecilic Jim Acosta), and Trump generally came across as if he was toying with them. He welcomed tough questions, he was witty, clever, and frequently made reporters look foolish. Yes Trump could be bombastic and occasionally inaccurate, but he was sharp. Biden, meanwhile, only allowed 25 reporters to attend, was given the easiest questions imaginable by pre-approved reporters, and he failed to let Fox News’ Peter Doocy – the only reporter who would have asked a serious question – make a single query.
• If you were Russia’s Vladimir Putin, or China’s Xi Jinping, and you watched that display – a press conference by your presumptive primary adversary on the world stage – would you have been impressed? Or would you be licking your chops? Many on the left liked to say how they were “embarrassed” of President Trump during his term, but this is what true embarrassment looks like. In a country of 335 million people, this is the knucklehead we’ve elected to lead us.

Headline #2:          Texas COVID Cases Continue to Plummet After Reopening

The Texas Department of State Health Services announced on Thursday that COVID cases in the state have continued to decline, despite dire predictions when the state reopened on March, 8^th.

Thoughts and Observations:

• As you may remember, the left and their media lost their collective minds when Gov. Greg Abbot made the announcement that his mask mandate was being lifted, and all facility capacity restrictions on restaurants and other business were being eliminated. California Governor Gavin Newsom called the decision “absolutely reckless.” Current village idiot and former presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke called it a “death warrant.” And President Biden famously called it “Neanderthal thinking.” It must be nice to be a Democrat, don’t you think? You can get things completely wrong and make inane predictions, yet no one in the media will hold you accountable.
• In two weeks, Texas’ COVID cases since the reopening are down a remarkable 28%. Shouldn’t that information be a top story on every news channel? Shouldn’t everyone be celebrating the fact that the pandemic appears to be waning and we don’t need to lock down in order to control the virus? Shouldn’t our sharp-as-a-tack president have been asked about the story during his aforementioned press conference on Thursday?
• If Biden had been asked about the improvements in Texas, there’s a good chance he would have called the news ‘mullarkey,’ and accused the reporter who asked it of being a lying, dog-faced pony soldier. The media would have applauded his insightful response, no doubt, but at least it would have been fun to watch.
• Imagine if such a bold step had been taken by a Democratic Governor with similar results. For instance, imagine if New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (prior to the media finally paying some attention to his scandals) had pulled the trigger on such a move and his cases dropped by 28%. Do you think they might have made a big deal about it, maybe? They’d have given the governor another Emmy award, an Oscar and a Nobel Prize. They’d have had a tickertape parade for both him and his brother Fredo, and they’d be demanding we rename bridges after him ala the Tappan Zee Bridge and his father Mario.
• The best news of all is not that Abbott and others can now say, “I told you so” – even though that idea is indeed very nice – it’s that Abbott was correct and other states’ governors should be taking his lead. Any governor that hasn’t followed suit within in the next two weeks should be called out for what they are: authoritarian and incompetent.

Headline #3:         Mike Pompeo Pushes GOP in Iowa

Former Congressman, CIA Director, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was in Iowa this week, meeting with conservative groups and local leaders to talk up the Republican Party ahead of the mid-term elections.

Thoughts and Observations:

• Iowa has been the first state in the country to weigh-in on presidential primary politics for decades. That may change in 2024, considering the debacle they had with the caucuses there last year, but don’t count on it. Iowa will be first to vote, again, and it’s no accident that Pompeo visited there this week. Mike Pompeo will be running for president.
• Pompeo would be a fascinating candidate with an extremely impressive résumé. He graduated from both West Point and Harvard Law School, was a very successful businessman, served successfully in the House of Representatives, ran the CIA effectively, and then did one of the best jobs we’ve ever seen as Secretary of State. In addition, he’s witty, no-nonsense, and unafraid to punch back against the left and their media. He could be a terrific candidate.
• It will be interesting to see how Pompeo handles his relationship with Trump and how it relates to a potential campaign. He and Trump appeared to have a genuine friendship. Will he embrace that friendship, or try to distance himself from Trump? My guess: he’ll welcome Trump’s support; assuming Trump himself doesn’t run. Pompeo may stay away from some of Trump’s controversial rhetoric, but he won’t shy away from his history with Trump. And he shouldn’t. Pompeo, Trump, and Jared Kushner orchestrated some of the greatest foreign policy victories in American history.
• Regardless of Pompeo’s presidential aspirations, kudos to him for his efforts in Iowa and elsewhere. Pompeo is talking up the 2022 mid-term elections and the need to remove Democrats from power. Next year’s elections are critical, and it’s never too early to discuss them. Pompeo is smart to start early and seize on his name recognition, thereby keeping his visibility high. Well done, Mr. Secretary.

Headline #4:         More Problems for Hunter Biden

It was revealed this week that two prominent Republican Senators – Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin – have sent a letter to the Secret Service and law enforcement agencies seeking information about a 2018 incident involving a gun purchased by Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son.

Thoughts and Observations:

• According to reports, Hallie Biden – the widow Hunter’s brother Beau Biden who was romantically involved with Hunter at the time of the incident – took a gun owned by Hunter and threw into a garbage dumpster that was nearby a school. Has anyone else noticed that the Biden family tends have extremely questionable decision-making skills? Police were called, and they apparently removed the gun from the dumpster. Just another day in the life of Hunter Biden.
• The Secret Service has denied any previous knowledge of the situation, but the reports seem to be legitimate; Hunter strikes again. It may be a while before we know the full story, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And sometimes it’s a dumpster fire.
• It’s hard to criticize Hunter Biden for having a gun, particularly considering he wasn’t under Secret Service protection at the time. There’s no telling what kind of whackos might have their sights set on him. But Hunter has to follow gun laws, just like the rest of us. Ask yourself… If police found a functioning gun that you owned in a dumpster near school, do you think the episode would have been brushed under the rug like Hunter’s? Or would you be reading this essay from a jail cell?
• Particularly ironic about this most recent development is that it comes to light as President Biden is threatening presidential executive orders to implement new gun laws. Here’s a suggestion for President Biden: Ensure that one aspect of your executive order includes a provision stating if a gun owned by a degenerate (particularly one who’s sleeping with the grieving widow of his dead brother, smoking crack and chasing prostitutes) is found in a dumpster near a school, he’s taken out behind the shed by your friend Corn Pop and clobbered.

Headline #5:         Maritime Accident Shuts Down Suez Canal

A container ship ran aground within the Suez Canal on Wednesday, bringing all canal traffic to a halt temporarily.

Thoughts and Observations:

• The Suez Canal is a critical waterway for global commerce, and this blockage affects the trade of scores of goods and commodities. But the canal is arguably most notable for its role in enabling the transportation of a huge chunk the world’s oil supply. This incident may have been an innocent mistake, with nothing nefarious about it, but it underscores the fragility of global trade and the importance of the Middle East, both commercially and geopolitically.
• The accident began to have an effect on global oil prices almost immediately. Combined with increased demand of gasoline with the COVID pandemic subsiding, and some questionable policies by the Biden Administration, we’ve already seen a huge spike in gas prices, and we should expect that trend to continue.
• A common rallying cry from those of us on the right regarding energy has been to press to “end our dependence on foreign oil.” This incident is just another example of why that approach is important. The market for oil is global, and any disruption to supply such as this will affect the price. But it’s not just the price of the oil that’s affected by our domestic production; it’s the availability of that oil. American needs to be entirely self-sufficient with oil if needed, and there’s no reason we shouldn’t be.
• The Biden Administration needs to be more accommodating to the petroleum industry, not less. Unfortunately, the radical left of the Democratic Party does cartwheels every time the price of oil goes up, and Biden is beholden to them on this issue just like every other issue. Get ready for $4/gallon gasoline coming soon to a pump near you.

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