Before my wife's recent surgery, her neurosurgeon turned to me and said, "Peter, this will be a long procedure, and there's no need for you to stress out in the waiting room.  Go back to your hotel, rest, and I'll call you.  Don't worry; we've got this!"  For a rare moment in my thirty-five years as a caregiver, I rested during one of my wife's 83 surgeries, confident she remained in good hands.

When Jen Psaki tells us from her White House podium, "We've got this" — is it believable, or does a delusion of adequacy exist?  As America paces in a waiting room, the stress spills over onto our allies and even our adversaries.  After the Afghanistan fiasco (and others), how many possess confidence that the Biden administration can direct the country and the world to safety?  Confident people instill confidence in others.  The world requires that confidence while facing enormous challenges on a global stage.

While not rushing to do so, the Biden administration recently retaliated against Putin's invasion of Ukraine by revoking Russia's Most Favored Nation trade status.  But American taxpayers spent $32 million investigating Russian collusion in our elections.  Why did Russia enjoy Most Favored Nation trade status in the first place — and why did it take so long to push back?

Answering that question requires returning to December 14, 2012, and the passing of the Magnitsky Act, signed by President Barack Obama (urged on by then–vice president Joe Biden).  Before this, the U.S. could not grant Most Favored Nation status to former Soviet countries, including the Russian Federation — all due to the Jackson-Vanik Amendment.  Replacing Jackson-Vanik with Magnitsky allowed punishment of human rights violation while enjoying Most Favored Nation status.

Ten years later, the United States strips Most Favored Nation status from Russia — and rightly so.  However, one cannot help but wonder why it took being forced into a corner and brutal deaths to punish a bad actor.

Dire optics seemed hardly required to make a better call.

Our country roiled in turmoil, and the integrity of our elections was daily called into question for several years due to Russia — or so we regularly heard from members of Congress, the media, and former Obama officials.  Despite the narrative of so many clamoring "Russia, Russia, Russia," removing Most Favored Nation status never seemed to be pushed to the top of priorities as retribution.  It seems a country that purportedly tried to sabotage our elections warranted retribution, yet Congress seemed unwilling to levy reprisals, and even uninterested in doing so.

Only a few now dare point out that Putin, wildly accused by Democrats of pulling Trump's strings, did not invade Ukraine during Trump's administration.  Some of the loudest accusations of Putin's influence originated from senior members of the Obama administration.  Yet Putin launched his invasion under Biden rather than Trump — a point to which Jen Psaki unwittingly, but succinctly stated, "I was at the State Department, the president was the vice-president the last time Russia invaded Ukraine." 

With this new action, Russia now joins Cuba and North Korea as suspended from Most Favored Nation trade status, yet China still enjoys this status.  It appears that a decades-long trade imbalance along with a virus and its cover-up are unworthy to warrant pushback against China.  Evidently, we must wait until China invades Taiwan before considering adding it to the economic pariah list.  Maybe forensic accountants from the IRS can take time away from investigating conservative non-profits and help us determine if bank accounts from those inside the Beltway share in the profits of China's Most Favored Nation status. 

Surely members of Congress, the media, and the Washington establishment would not lie about Trump being Putin's puppet and advance their political and financial self-interest ahead of the interests of the American people? 

When a lawyer represents a client, an underlying (and protected) assumption that the lawyer aggressively advocates for the client remains.  Inflation, a porous border, high crime, $30-trillion debt, economic fears, energy dependence and costs, safety in cities, and now a horrifying scenario with a nuclear power remain high on America's concerns — despite John Kerry's one-track mind on climate change.  November's elections will answer who Americans feel advocates aggressively for the United States.

Until then, America — and the world — will not enjoy the rest and confidence I did from trusting my wife's surgeon.  We're just going to have pace nervously and wait for a call — hopefully, a wakeup call.

Peter Rosenberger hosts the nationally syndicated radio program Hope for the Caregiver.

Image: Pixabay.