Why White House Aides Are Frustrated With Biden Now

 Townhall   "According to a Friday report from Axios, some White House aides are fed up with President Joe Biden's light schedule that's become the norm as the administration seeks to give the gaffe-prone commander-in-chief the best possible chance of making it through public-facing events without becoming a viral meme. 

"We're all used to the strange whispers and sudden yelling that typify Biden's speeches, as well as his pre-cleared reporters with apparently approved questions being asked at his rare press conferences. As Axios noted in its report, the White House "rarely puts Biden in improvisational settings — or in front of hostile questions from reporters," meaning "it's tough for anyone outside his tight bubble to truly appraise the reality of Biden being the oldest president in U.S. history."

"Axios is right and, according to White House aides that spoke anonymously for the report, it's by design — even if that makes running the West Wing tricky. 

" 'Some White House officials say it's difficult to schedule public or private events with the president in the morning, in the evening, or on weekends," Axios reported. After crunching the numbers, the aides' claims check out.

By the numbers: A breakdown of Biden's schedule so far in 2023 reveals how his staff tries to ensure he's at his best:

• Only four public events before 10 a.m.
• Just a dozen public events after 6 p.m. — mostly dinners and receptions with foreign leaders or fundraisers.
• 12 full weekends with no public events.

"The light and limited event schedule for Biden's official calendar is expected to be mirrored in his recently announced reelection bid, continuing his 2020 strategy of waging a campaign from his basement. Axios said as much, explaining that the "White House is basically hiding Biden as he auditions for another term.' ". . .

Who’s Actually Saving Democracy Here? -

  John Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine

In a democracy, a demonstration is an oxymoron—it’s a supposed show of force that is actually an expression of frustrated powerlessness.  

 "In America, Donald Trump continues to insist the 2020 election was stolen somehow, but perhaps he needn’t have bothered to make that preposterous and embarrassing argument. In Israel right now, we’re seeing a different way to handle losing an election and winning the post-election, one that is vastly more effective—and in its effectiveness, potentially more dangerous to the future good working order of democracy than the election denialism Trump practices and that liberals so revile.

"In November, the right won the election in Israel and then, upon assuming power in January, began to implement the policies on which it ran. At which point, some of the losers of the election took to the streets. Ever since, those in ideological agreement with the losers have expressed continual wonderment and pride at the fact that 8 or 9 percent of the population of the small country is out in the streets on a weekly basis. Yes, but more than 50 percent of the electorate in Israel voted the other way. Imagine if they took to the streets. But you can’t, because they won’t, because they shouldn’t have to. Democracies exist to make street action unnecessary. People go to the streets when they have no other way to express themselves—and what’s more, tragically, street action is almost always futile. And dangerous for those who undertake it, who show heroism by doing so.

"Democratic elections and the legislation that follows them are morally, politically, and practically better than street action because they have specific aims, specific goals, and have been legitimized through victory." . . .

"If you listen to nothing else this weekend, listen to a talk between Vivek Ramaswamy and James Lindsay. It will blow your socks off"

 Bookworm Room

Listening to Lindsay describe how leftists take over institutions is fascinating. I vividly recall the American Bar Association’s transition from a traditional standards institute into a hard-left organization changing the law in real-time. . .

"We’ve been watching this play out for decades: The left coopts institutions, leaving conservatives with nowhere to go. For leftists, it’s been a never-fail tactic, so they always come back to it. And the reason it never fails is because of us: The left’s greatest advantage is that they’re lucky in their enemy because conservatives never learn. We conservatives are the living embodiment of Einstein’s definition of insanity, repeatedly responding the same way to the leftists’ tactics and hoping against hope for a different outcome.

"Vivek invited James Lindsay on his show to discuss leftist strategies. If Lindsay’s name sounds familiar to you, it’s because he was one of the three scholars (Lindsay, Peter Boghossian, and Helen Pluckrose) who highlighted the corruption in academia by submitting 20 manifestly bogus articles for publication. Seven of those articles got accepted, including one about “rape” in dog parks and another that was ostensibly about feminism but was, in fact, a rewrite of portions of Mein Kampf.

"The stunt should have destroyed academia. Instead, Lindsay, Boghossian, and Pluckrose, all of whom characterized themselves as coming from the left, found that it made no difference that they had revealed, not only that the emperor was naked, but also that he was riddled with corruption. Academia healed itself and moved on.

"Lindsay, who is also a mathematician (meaning that he thinks logically), explains that leftists have mastered certain war tactics, whether you want to view them through the lens of Sun Tzu’s adages or just as the type of thing you learn at your local martial arts dojo. The best way to do battle is to provoke your opponent to react in a predictable way so that you already have a devastating countertactic waiting. Nor is the left secretive about this. You can find the tactics spelled out at Beautiful Trouble. This is second-generation Saul Alinsky stuff…and conservatives still haven’t even figured out how to use Rules for Radicals to their advantage." . . .

The Biden Economy and How It Could Be Fixed

  Americans need to open their eyes to the fact that our elected leaders across the political spectrum understand clearly what policies will lead to prosperity and freedom for the American people, but that only some of those leaders consider prosperity and freedom the goal. We need more of them. 

AF Branco

Imprimis (hillsdale.edu)  The following is adapted from a talk delivered on February 22, 2023, at a Hillsdale College National Leadership Seminar in Indian Wells, California.

"Just about everybody on Wall Street knows, despite what you read in the financial press, that the Biden administration’s economic policies are driving our economy into a recessionary ditch. In a recent Wall Street Journal survey of 23 large financial institutions that do business directly with the Federal Reserve, 16 predicted a recession in 2023 and two predicted a recession in 2024, while only five predicted that we would avoid a recession—although even those five predicted we’d have only one-half percent economic growth, well below the 2.1 percent average over the past 20 years and dangerously close to what has traditionally been considered a recession.

"A recession is defined, traditionally, as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. At least it was defined that way before the financial press redefined it prior to the 2022 midterms, ensuring that despite two consecutive quarters of negative growth, President Biden’s policies couldn’t be labeled recessionary. But regardless of the definition, this negative growth meant declining standards of living, fewer job opportunities, lower wages, and increased poverty for the American people. Overall, we have become a far less vibrant and far less prosperous society on the verge of a serious recession.

"The hard economic times we are experiencing are especially striking as they come on the heels of the Trump boom, which opened our eyes again to American economic potential when we have low taxes, reduced regulation, and a bountiful supply of domestic energy. Everybody, particularly minority and low-wage earners, reaped the benefits in the Trump years of abundant job opportunities, increasing wages, historic highs in family income, and historic lows in rates of poverty and unemployment." . . .

Megyn Kelly Goes Viral With 7-Word Response To Dylan Mulvaney Complaining About Being Labeled A Man

The Daily Wire   "The host of the”The Megyn Kelly Show” tweeted on Friday to her 2.7 million followers her thoughts after Mulvaney claimed it should be “illegal” to use “he” to describe the influencer.

“Move to Canada Dylan,” Kelly wrote. “You’ll love it.”. . .

. . ."Kelly’s Canada comment appears to refer to a Canadian court’s ruling from 2021 that stated deliberate misgendering in the workplace is a human rights violation. The court found that doing so violates British Columbia’s Human Rights Act. While violating the rule will not result in arrest, the CBC noted, it could result in thousands of dollars in fines and forced inclusion training.  

"At the time of publication, the former Fox News host’s post had been viewed 1.3 million times and counting.

"Kelly’s post included a tweet from Daily Wire host Matt Walsh who responded to Mulvaney’s video.

" 'Dylan Mulvaney calls for the arrest of people who call him a man,” Walsh tweeted to his 1.7 million followers. “Do you still think I’ve been too mean to this guy?”. . .

    "Dylan Mulvaney calls for the arrest of people who call him a man. Do you still         think I’ve been too mean to this guy?"

pic.twitter.com/SpRHMffqDF

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 28, 2023

Its possible: Trump vs. The people handling Biden

 

Biden Will Be Running on His Record This Time - American Thinker   . . ."This will be the first time in modern history when both candidates have four years of presidential leadership from which voters can draw comparisons.  It will be a choice between

• Trump's prosperity and Bidenflation,
• Trump's national security and Biden's surrender, and
• Trump's energy independence and Biden's broken supply chain.

"Will the guy who did a prerecorded campaign announcement even show up in person?  Will he hold rallies or whine from his basement?  Will he cowboy up and debate — defending his record — or will he coward out?

"I'm guessing there will be some excuse to avoid debating.  Perhaps Merrick Garland will announce that the white supremacist domestic terrorist threat is too great for Joe to appear in public.  It would be best for him to stay in his basement, cozying up to his soft serve machine.". . .

Biden to ‘finish the job’? - Keep Joe away from our "bedrock freedoms!   "President Biden has officially launched his re-election campaign, urging the electorate to let him finish off the country “finish the job.” Remarkably, he is basing his second run at the White House on nothing but malarkey. He is attempting to gaslight the populace by claiming to be the freedom candidate.

"The man who is trying to ban gasoline-powered automobiles and gas stoves -- and who has banned incandescent light bulbs -- says in a campaign video: “Freedom – personal freedom – is fundamental to who we are as Americans.”

"Biden, who fervently supported the pandemic lockdown, social distancing, mask mandates, and vaccine passports, then proceeds to warn us all that, “The question we are facing is whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer.' ”. . .

Biden Will Be Running on His Record This Time   . . ."Joe surrendered in Afghanistan to a poorly armed and poorly trained band of thugs.  A force of 80,000 men beat our 2-million-man professional army because Joe gave up.  In doing so, he left behind over $7 billion of advanced armaments, turning Afghanistan into a better armed version of the terrorism sponsors that it was on September 11, 2001.  He abandoned Americans and broke promises to our allies in the process — setting back international relations by years.  How many citizens will vote for President "Surrender" in 2024?". . .

. . ."On his first day in office, Joe canceled the border wall and many of the Trump immigration protocols.  Have Americans noticed those illegal aliens, being dropped off in their neighborhoods, in the middle of the night, by the Biden administration?  Are they more welcoming than the residents of Martha's Vineyard were?  Do the voters think an influx of fentanyl and crime is a fair trade for cheap labor?  Will they vote for four more years of open borders?". . .

Joe Biden Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things –

  Issues & Insights

"With Biden in the White House, abundance is a word that seems to apply almost uniquely to the Biden family fortunes."   I&I Editorial Board

. . ." An America struggling under Biden is not a new development. In a survey conducted in the spring of 2022, 52% said they were worse off than a year earlier; 39% said they expected to be worse off in one year than they were when they were asked the question in June.

"Last year’s New York Times|Momentive Poll further discovered that “The number of people who expect periods of widespread unemployment or depression to occur in the next five years has risen to 71%, another new high,” while 41% said “now is a bad time to make large purchases.” This was “up from 36% in April and slightly” exceeded “the 39% that number reached in April 2020 at the start of the COVID pandemic.” 

"A few months after those poll results were released, the Heritage Foundation published an analysis that determined the average American had lost $4,200 in annual income since Biden stumbled into the Oval Office.". . .

. . ."While the Big Guy gets his 10% off the top, and the ultra-wealthy who stuff the Democratic Party with their plentiful dollars are enjoying the good times, most of the rest of us are having to live with what Thomas Buckley calls “an abundance of scarcity.” Broken and busted by food shortages and higher energy costs, ours is a future of peasantry.

"Apparently we are expected to tighten our belts, just as one of Carter’s aides suggested more than 40 years ago, and to keep tightening them because Biden is running again. He has no accomplishments. He has a long list of failures. His missteps, and we’re not talking about his stumbles while trying to climb the stairs to Air Force One, keep piling up. He’s like a virus that kills its host."

Riley Gaines Brilliantly Schools Megan Rapinoe Over the Destruction of Women's Sports -

  Analyzing America

If men are allowed into Women's sports it effectively destroys the category. Why would she want to do that? Comment to the following post.

"All-American swimmer Riley Gaines has been at the forefront of defending women’s sports after tying transgender competitor Lia Thomas at the NCAA championships.

"In contrast, pro soccer player and former USA team member Megan Rapinoe argues that biological males do not pose a threat to women’s sports.

"Gaines said, “I can respect opinions that differ from my own and everyone is entitled to think/speak independently, but I can’t help but think Megan Rapinoe would genuinely shiv any male who tried to take her spot on the US Women’s National Team.”. . .

Riley Gaines  "It's worth noting that 1) you're done with your athletic career and 2) because you aren't sexually attracted to men, it's unlikely you will ever have a daughter to defend. To me, this looks like a classic case of virtue signaling because you have nothing to personally lose."  

Megan Rapinoe  "Today, politicians in DC are claiming to “protect women's sports” by pushing a trans & intersex sports ban. Call your Congressional rep today to say women's sports need protection from unequal pay, sexual abuse & lack of resources, NOT from trans kids. #LetKidsPlay"

No president has done more to impinge on the freedoms of Americans.

. . .In reality, no president has done more to impinge on the freedoms of Americans.

The question is not, as Biden says, will we have more or fewer rights in the future; it is, will Americans keep the freedoms as set out in the US Constitution or will Democrats destroy those rights?  That is the moment Americans face now, not a moment to stand up for voting and civil rights, as Biden also claims.

U.S. writes its own destiny with energy independence - Washington Times  . . ."Since President Biden’s first day in office when he canceled the Keystone XL Pipeline, he has made it clear that writing our own destiny when it comes to energy security is off the table. His administration launched a war on American energy, which has driven energy prices through the roof and hurt everyday Americans.

"But beyond the sky-high prices, the Biden administration has also compromised national security by forcing more reliance on foreign adversaries to supplement our depleted energy reserves.

"Look no further than the foreign energy cartel, OPEC. Its recent announcement to significantly cut oil production is poised to drive up U.S. energy prices even more. It is entirely unacceptable for the actions of a foreign adversary to have a direct effect on how much Americans pay for gas. If we had an energy strategy focused on production here in the United States, their actions wouldn’t be a concern to American consumers. But that is not the case.". . .

 

Biden’s Cheat Sheet Again Raises the Question of Who Is Really in Charge -

 Nobody voted for the bureaucrats behind Biden. The American Spectator | USA News and Politics   "Joe Biden’s press conference this week made news beyond the ways that press conferences normally, by design, make news. 

"The press may love this man. This man does not love the press.". . .

"The president acting as a Charlie McCarthy to a slew of Edgar Bergens does not bother some.

“Strange as it may sound, the American government can function without a healthy president,” David Leonhardt reasons at the New York Times. He cited Franklin Roosevelt and other presidents who dealt with age or ailments. “In each case,” Leonhardt writes, “White House aides, Cabinet secretaries and military leaders performed well despite the lack of a fully engaged leader.”

"Nobody voted for any of those people. They lack accountability.". . .

Joe Biden may not be easy to defeat despite his cognitive and mental decline - American Thinker  . . ."Alas, Biden’s cognitive and mental decline and his misgovernance may not be enough to unseat him.  The Democrats may have already rigged the contest.  Perhaps a significant number of illegal aliens who crossed the border are being granted voting rights."

White House insists Biden reporter cheat sheet ‘entirely normal’ (msn.com)  "White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed Thursday it was “entirely normal” for President Biden to be holding a cheat sheet with advance knowledge of a journalist’s question at a joint press conference — even as she denied that was what happened.". . .

Biden’s Cheat Sheet Again Raises the Question of Who Is Really in Charge - The American Spectator | USA News and Politics   "Joe Biden’s press conference this week made news beyond the ways that press conferences normally, by design, make news.

"The press may love this man. This man does not love the press.

"Biden, who met the press jointly this week with the president of South Korea, has held court alone before reporters just 11 times during his presidency. Donald Trump held 44 solo press conferences in his four years. Not unlike so many infatuated lovers, journalists make excuses for the one who ignores them and despise the one who doted over them.

"Despite the paucity of presidential pressers, Biden, as clearly shown by a photograph, carried with him a cheat sheet. On it contained the name and picture of Courtney Subramanian, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times, and a question: “How are YOU squaring YOUR domestic priorities — like reshoring semiconductors manufacturing — with alliance-based foreign policy?”

"One wonders if Subramanian or Biden suffered the greater professional embarrassment. "Even schoolchildren know that possessing the questions in advance amounts to a big no-no.

Arlette Saenz of CNN pointed out, “It’s worth noting that her question was not identical to what was on that note card.” While true, the question Subramanian verbally asked focused on semiconductors and the question on the card attached to Subramanian’s name and photo focused on semiconductors. The laws of probability dictate that this comes as no coincidence.

"The president acting as a Charlie McCarthy to a slew of Edgar Bergens does not bother some.

“Strange as it may sound, the American government can function without a healthy president,” David Leonhardt reasons at the New York Times. He cited Franklin Roosevelt and other presidents who dealt with age or ailments. “In each case,” Leonhardt writes, “White House aides, Cabinet secretaries and military leaders performed well despite the lack of a fully engaged leader.”

"Nobody voted for any of those people. They lack accountability.". . .

Recalling the Wisdom of William F. Buckley, Jr.

As the state’s power and reach grows, the people’s freedom shrinks. Buckley knew that. Americans who don’t yet, will discover how true it is. That’s why Buckley spent a lifetime opposing the growth of the state. 

American Greatness   "William F. Buckley Jr., one of the most important intellectuals of the second half of the 20th century, died in February 2008. A few months later, Barack Obama was elected president. America has never been the same. Now Obama’s vice president, Joe Biden, occupies the Oval Office, and many believe he is the worst president in our history. Buckley’s inheritance of wisdom—and wit—are needed now, more than ever. People who remember Buckley, and his times, wonder if the nation can survive. 

"Buckley is known as the founder of the modern conservative movement in the United States: he burst onto the scene in the early ’50s, with God and Man at Yale, his critique of the increasingly godless university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a few years later with the founding of National Review magazine, standing, as he put it, athwart history, yelling stop.

"History may not have stopped then, but its pace was slowed to glacial compared to the breakneck pace of today’s suicidal race to disaster.

"What was Buckley’s chief skill? Many would probably say it was writing. His output was prodigious: he wrote 55 books, 400 articles and book reviews, thousands of columns, and probably 2,000 or so speeches. 

"He could write—type—anywhere. I remember watching him on his boat, heeled over hard, typing a column that had to be phoned in as soon as we got to port. A friend remembers sitting next to him on the Eastern Airline’s shuttle from Washington to New York after they both, coincidentally, had interviewed a high-ranking visiting dignitary. Before the plane took off, Buckley had started typing his column. Before they landed, he’d finished it. I remember having a, uh, luxurious dinner at a restaurant with him one night (his wife, Pat, was away, and the staff was off). The wine was, yes, luxurious too, and I decided not to take the train home that night. I went upstairs at Bill’s and fell into a deep, yes, luxurious sleep.

"Bill went up to his office and wrote two columns.

"And yet: writing may have been Buckley’s second-most important skill. His most important skill, and contribution to America, may have been organizing. People forget—if they ever knew—how many conservative institutions Buckley started. Mao may have marched through the institutions; Buckley founded them. Buckley probably never intended to create the “conservative movement,” but he seems to have had a sense that organization was necessary—that organizations were necessary.

"And so he created them: National Review of course, in 1955, then Young Americans for Freedom in 1960, the New York Conservative Party in 1962, the Philadelphia Society in 1964, and the Fund for American Studies in 1967. All of that became the housing for the conservative movement. And the New York Conservative Party became the vehicle for electing Buckley’s brother, James, to the U.S. Senate in 1970. That was a shocker to the reigning liberals: the times seemed to be changing.". . .

The Catholic holding a rosary will be the abortion candidate -

Can the unborn child in the womb think or feel? - Cosmic Cradle

 American Thinker   "It sort of began yesterday with the video.  It will continue with President Biden repeating two words:  Trump and abortion.  Yes, the entire reelection will be based on scaring voters about the Orange Man and that the GOP wants to ban abortion.  Beyond that, what is he going to talk about?

"This is from Phillip Wegmann:   

Within the first five seconds of officially announcing his run for reelection, President Biden made clear that abortion would be a cornerstone of his campaign.

The second still image from his launch video showed a protestor standing outside the Supreme Court. An encapsulation of Democratic orthodoxy, her sign read, “abortion is healthcare.” The Biden campaign believes that by uniting around that message, and attacking the GOP as extremists on abortion, they can keep a Republican out of the White House in 2024 just like they held off a predicted “red wave” in 2022.

"Yes, the moderate will take communion at Sunday's mass and then call any restriction on abortion another example of the MAGAs denying women health-care options."