Biden Must Resign!

Since the rise to power of Joseph R. Biden, Jr. nothing seems to be

working properly. The spending policies of the Biden administration

threaten the reappearance of severe inflation on the order of that which

was last seen under the administration of one term President Jimmy

Carter. Massive deficits in the multi TRILLIONS of dollars threatens to

ultimately bankrupt the United States and at the same time weaken us

politically both domestically and internationally. The return of liberal

hegemony as the doctrine of U.S. foreign policy in little more than half a

year has been disastrous globally, potentially fatally weakening the

position of the United States vis a vis its major competitors who are

playing hardball with a weakened country.

There have been presidents who have been less than stellar but who had a

strong cabinet which enabled them to have a successful presidency. There

have been outstanding presidents with weak cabinets who have

succeeded because of their abilities. The best scenario is an outstanding

president with a great cabinet, the worst is a marginal president with a

marginal cabinet. Currently, we are faced with the worst possible situation,

namely a marginally competent president with a marginally competent

cabinet whose members were chosen for reasons other than ability or

expertise. Mr. Biden appears to be a fundamentally decent individual but

the world is full of decent individuals. His decency does not mean he is

competent to serve as President. He, however, has his personal flaws

which were exposed when his life is examined more closely. Plagiarism

while a student at Syracuse University Law School has been brushed

aside by his supporters with the excuse that he didn’t understand that

pages of uncited work needed to at least have been footnoted. This is a

lame excuse for outright dishonesty. During his aborted presidential

campaign of 1988 he continued plagiarizing, in this case a speech by

British Labor Party leader Neil Kinnock. Discovery of this led to Biden’s

withdrawal from that race. More recently, while serving as Vice President

under Barack Obama (2009-17) his son Hunter, apparently with little to no

experience in the oil industry suddenly became a director of a Ukrainian oil

company and received substantial payments for his service. He also

received payments from various Chinese and Russian entities. Whether or

not he earned those sums based on his own merit or based on his father’s

position is open to debate. Now Hunter Biden has become the new

Picasso as a New York art gallery is offering his works at prices of up to

$500,000. President Biden has been a vocal defender of his family and has

lapsed in his ordinary soft spoken manner and challenged critics of his

family foolishly to physical fights. Maybe his son is completely innocent of

any wrongdoing but it doesn’t reflect positively on the President.

President Biden has constantly inflated his resume as he talks of the

Obama-Biden administration. Everyone knows that Presidential and Vice

Presidential candidates run on a single ticket and the constitutional duties

of the Vice President are very clearly specified. He/she is to preside over

the Senate and cast a vote in case of a tie. There is no policymaking role

assigned to the Vice President. True, the President may assign certain

tasks to the Veep but claiming to be a policymaker is a far stretch. Mr.

Biden served as Vice President in the Obama administration. Similarly,

Vice President Kamala Harris serves in that position in the Biden

administration. There is no Biden-Harris administration despite what she or

certain media outlets may claim.

Since assuming the Presidency, Mr. Biden has presided over a chaotic

administration that does not seem to be able to do anything right except

keep its eyes and efforts directed towards the 2022 mid-term elections.

The situation at the southern border of the United States is totally out of

control despite statements from his press secretary that all is well. Over a

quarter of a million undocumented people of varying nationalities crossed

the border illegally in July alone. Many are Covid positive. Despite the

initial caravans from Central America, the world has quickly learned what

is going on at that border and people from Europe, Asia and Africa are

now traveling by air to Mexico, then entering the U.S. illegally. These

foreigners are then being transported to the interior of the U.S. with a

major impact on public facilities, particularly hospitals, housing and

schools. This brings up the question whether President Biden is fulfilling

his constitutional oath to protect and defend the United States.

The economic policies of the Biden administration have been similarly

destructive. After years of price stability and very low inflation, the last

several months have seen an uptick in that indicator. Various functionaries

of the administration have said this is a short term aberration of no

significance. The unprecedented appropriation of trillions of dollars,

creating record deficits, is no laughing matter. The appropriated money

has been spent. It has been borrowed, interest must be paid, and as we all

know, more money chasing fewer goods leads to an increase in prices.

This is inflation. More dangerous, however, is who is the largest creditor of

the United States. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) holds massive

amounts of treasury bonds. Until now, they have been rolling them over as

they come due. Should they stop that practice, the Treasury will need to

seek other borrowers with a certain increase in interest rates which will

reverberate throughout the American economy, resulting in even greater

deficits as more interest will be paid. Additionally, Treasury yields are the

benchmark for many non-governmental loans with the result that

borrowers will see their costs go up. This augurs in particular very badly

for home buyers and the mortgage market. A strong international political

position for the United States requires a strong domestic economy which

can support such a stand. Similarly, a strong economy is necessary to

support a strong military. One can conclude that the international standing

of the U.S. will be increasingly challenged, not only by PRC and Russia but

by the European Union (EU) and other putative allies.

The foreign policy of the United States has undergone humiliation in the

last several days, reminiscent of the downfall of Saigon in 1975. Images of

people climbing onto helicopters on the roof of the U.S Embassy are eerily

being repeated, in this case, desperate people trying to climb onto

airplanes at Kabul Airport. In the era of the internet and satellite

communications, these horrible images are transmitted instantaneously in

real time for all to see. The Pentagon spokesman confidently spoke to the

press that Kabul would hold for 30-90 days in the face of attacks from the

Taliban. Yet Kabul fell in six days despite having an army much larger than

the rebels, better armed as well as better trained. The Afghan army simply

dissolved and the Afghan president fled to Uzbekistan in an airplane

packed with American money. Will Afghanistan again become a refuge for

al qaeda and other terrorist groups, thus threatening the national security

of the United States? What a disaster for our foreign policy and our

nation! The world is dangerous. America appears under this president to

be fatally weakened and the only question at this point is where will the

next crisis erupt.

There are many other challenges that this administration has faced and will

face. This assessment of the Biden administration to this point does not

lead to an optimistic vision of how it will react. Since 1993, marginally

competent presidents have muddled through. Unfortunately, Joe Biden

seems to be a continuation of this trend. The nation deserves better. We

must hope that Mr. Biden in some manner will grow and be able to meet

the challenges that he and America face. However, though we believe in

miracles we can’t rely on them. Joe Biden must shape up and quickly. If he

can’t, the better part of valor may be resignation.

Garry S. Sklar

Memphis, TN

August 18, 2021