Every single day, we learn two things about the Biden administration.  First, they are stubborn and stick to policies that even Democrats can't defend, like dropping Title 42.  Second, it's clearer day by day why this administration has the cleanup squad ready to go out and clean up after the commander in chief.  My guess is that they travel with him anytime the president has to answer a question in public.

Across the Pacific, President Biden said something a bit shocking about going to war:

President Joe Biden said Monday that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan, saying the burden to protect Taiwan is "even stronger' after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It was one of the most forceful presidential statements in support of self-governing in decades.

Biden, at a news conference in Tokyo, said "yes" when asked if he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan if China invaded. 

"That's the commitment we made," he added.

Thanks for the update, Mr. President.  I guess I missed that story about a "commitment we made."

I'm old enough to remember President Nixon going to China in 1972 and then President Carter going on TV in 1978 to tell us about establishing relations with Peking.  Then I remember something called "The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act," which did not require the U.S. to defend Taiwan if China invaded, but something along the lines of keeping Taiwan well armed to defend itself.  Ever since, we've spoken with "strategic ambiguity," another one of those terms used by diplomats when they want to avoid the subject.

This is not the first time that President Biden has referred to a "commitment."  He did it back in October 2021, and the cleanup crew had to clean up again.

So President Biden needs to stop talking "tough" or come to the U.S. Congress for a resolution, as President Bush did in Kuwait and the second President Bush did in Iraq and Afghanistan.  You can't commit to the defense of other countries without checking it with the American people.  After all, it is the sons of the American people who will be fighting this war.

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Image: Gage Skidmore.