Having created one crisis after another — e.g., a broken economy; a broken border; a broken energy supply; and, now, a broken Afghanistan — you'd think Biden would at least step up and lead us into some brave new Progressive future.  That, though, is not how Biden rolls.  Instead, he's either played the blame game, hidden at Camp David or in Delaware, attacked Republican governors, dismissed as bagatelles the horrors in Afghanistan, and generally been weirdly disconnected.

I've already commented on Biden's dreadful statement on Monday, during which he created a straw man by contending that the main issue was whether withdrawing from Afghanistan was the right thing to do.  Because few disagree with the decision to withdraw, the real issue was and is the utterly appalling mess the administration, whether in the White House, the Pentagon, or the State Department, made of the withdrawal.

However, Biden having presented his straw man knew where the fault lay: with Trump.  It was Trump's fault that Biden, who has systematically reversed everything Trump did, was forced to fall in with Trump's planned withdrawal from Afghanistan.  But having done so, he bravely took responsibility for that unremarkable decision.

As for the real issue — the debacle — Biden knew where responsibility for that one lay as well: the Afghans.  It was all their fault, he said, that when the Americans slipped away overnight, the Taliban were able to roll through Afghanistan, enriching themselves with American weapons, vehicles, and planes along the way.  After making that speech, Biden practically ran out of the room and headed back to Camp David.

If you thought that speech was as low as it was possible for an American president to go, you underestimated Biden.  On Wednesday, Biden sat for an interview with George Stephanopoulos and insisted that the Afghanistan debacle was "old news" and couldn't have been avoided in any event:

President Joe Biden angrily defended his handling of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying on Wednesday that chaos was unavoidable and snapping when asked about horrific images of Afghans falling from planes.

'That was four days ago, five days ago,' he said, even though the images of people falling to their deaths emerged on Monday.

[snip]

And in a second excerpt shared ahead of the chat, Biden also insisted he'd been told by his intelligence officials that Kabul would likely avoid falling to the Taliban until the end of 2021 — instead of the mere days it took.

'There was no consensus if you go back and look at intelligence reports,' the president said when asked if there had been intelligence failings. 'They said that it's more likely to be some time by the end of the year.'

Did you hear an echo of Hillary's "what difference, at this point, does it make?" when Biden said the collapse is old news?

Tom Cotton was incandescent over the claim that the chaos was inevitable:

No way to avoid this chaos? That's a bald-faced lie.

Joe Biden is as dishonest as he is impotent. https://t.co/cCkOs0n8Kb

— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) August 18, 2021

Biden also insisted that he'd get all Americans out...except he really meant only those the administration could get out by August 31.  As for the others, "we'll determine at the time who's left," whatever that means.  Currently, the State Department has made it clear that Americans are on their own getting to the airport, and Central Command refuses to allow troops to leave the airport to help them.  No mention was made of the fact that the Biden administration deleted a comprehensive Trump-era plan for getting Americans home from emergency situations.

Also on Wednesday, Biden gave a speech — except it wasn't about Afghanistan, which is the most important issue for most people.  Instead, it was about Republican governors who refuse to get with the COVID program.  He was especially enraged that these governors are "banning masks in school."  That is a complete lie.  In Texas, Florida, and South Carolina, they've banned forced mask mandates.  Those who wish to wear masks are free to do so.  But Biden's going to use the power of the federal government to crack down on those states.

The real issue is that creating a sense of crisis about COVID is how the Democrats are consolidating their power. As long as people are kept in a perpetual state of fear, they will freely hand their liberty to the government.

It's not just that the speech was false and inappropriate.  Look at Joe's affect.  This is not a well man:

Biden is a zombie. pic.twitter.com/HenXVOlR84

— Heather Champion (@winningatmylife) August 18, 2021

Having had his say and told his lies, Biden followed his instructions and vanished without taking questions:

Biden's teleprompter told him to "LEAVE NOW" when his speech was concluded pic.twitter.com/dVr63biN04

— Zeno Calhoun (@zenoc_oshits) August 17, 2021

The whole grim situation was best summed up in the comment someone named "BooggieMan" left on a Facebook page: "This entire 'presidency' is like being tied to a chair and watching a toddler play with a loaded pistol."

Image: Biden dismissing events in Afghanistan as old news.  Twitter screen grab.

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