The future leader of the free world is outsourcing his response to the assault on the Capitol to Congress, even though it’s going to have a huge effect on his entire Presidency. Does anyone think this is normal?
The attack on the Capitol has rocked the entire world and prompted an impeachment filing faster than a serial killer gets arraigned, and yet the future leader of the free world is apparently voting “present” in response. Unsurprisingly, the mainstream media is playing along, pretending Biden is just a passive observer.
In fact, CNN barely covers Biden at all, like the man doesn’t exist. After the impeachment vote yesterday afternoon (more on that in a moment), the CNN.com home page listed only three items that mentioned Biden, and those three weren’t even about him directly. One was actually an article about Trump, and the supposed mess in the Middle East that Biden is inheriting.
The same is true on CNN.com this morning. Out of dozens of articles, only four mentioned Biden, and only one was actually about Biden’s statements on the matter (more on that in a moment as well). Another was about why Mitch McConnell won’t start Trump’s impeachment before Biden is sworn in, reducing him to merely a date on a calendar. Yet another was about Lady Gaga and J-Lo headlining Biden’s inauguration, reducing him to a concert.
No one writing for the site, or any of the many news sites and aggregators I scan on a daily basis, finds it even remotely remarkable or even a little bit curious, that the future President has said nothing substantive, made no decisions, provided no guidance, or recommended any solutions in the wake of an event, the sacking of the Capitol Building, that hasn’t happened since 1814.
What do they know that I don’t?
Last week, Biden made a few, quite generic and obvious remarks on the assault itself from The Queen theater in Wilmington, Delaware. “What we’re seeing is a small number of extremists dedicated to lawlessness. This is not dissent, it’s disorder, it’s chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end, now…I call on this mob to pull back now and allow the work of democracy to go forward.” He added that Trump should go on television “to demand an end to this siege.”
On Friday, when Nancy Pelosi invented the idea of a snap impeachment out of thin air, he claimed it wasn’t any of his business. “That’s a decision for the Congress to make. I’m focused on my job.” He failed to mention that unifying the country and ending the cycle of violence was certainly part of his job. He did find time to note that he would speak with Nancy Pelosi and Democratic leaders later in the day, apparently about everything except the unmistakable purple polka dot elephant in the room.
“I’ll be speaking with Nancy and the Democratic leadership this afternoon, as a matter of fact, about my agenda, as well as whatever they want to talk to me about.” No reporter, to my knowledge, mentioned to him that he’s the de facto leader of the Democrat Party. Even CBS News, hardly a conservative organization, noted that Biden “deflected Friday when asked if he’d advise Democrats to proceed with articles of impeachment against President Trump.”
Since then, Biden has not officially gone on record to clearly state his opinion on the matter. However, as soon as it became apparent Trump couldn’t actually be removed from office before Biden was sworn in and a potential impeachment trial could derail his agenda and the confirmation of his cabinet, he found time to ponder the possibilities.
The Hill reported on Monday that Biden “hoped the Senate would ‘bifurcate’ its work so that an impeachment trial of President Trump does not interfere with confirming his Cabinet nominees or passing a stimulus package.” Apparently, he asked the Senate Parliamentarian whether they could go “go a half day with the impeachment and a half day getting my people nominated and confirmed in the Senate as well as moving on the [coronavirus stimulus] package.”
The question remained unanswered at the time, but his priority was “to get, first and foremost, a stimulus bill passed and secondly, again to rebuild the economy.”
Nor was a split session, impeachment in the morning and unity in the afternoon, the only odd idea floated by Democrats. House Majority Whip, Jim Clyburn, suggested that they could just delay a potential Senate trial for over three months. “Let’s give President-elect Biden the 100 days he needs to get his agenda off and running, and maybe we will send the articles some time after that.”
Let’s call this Impeachment Trial as Top Gun 2 or the James Bond No Time to Die premiere, though I doubt the trial is as highly anticipated.
In between, Biden found time to generate a small backlash for some of those priorities being based on racial and gender preferences. On Sunday, the Biden campaign released a video on Twitter stating unequivocally that, “Our priority will be black, Latino, Asian, and Native American-owned small businesses, women-owned businesses, and finally having equal access to resources needed to reopen and rebuild.”
Apparently, white small business owners need not apply as part of Biden’s unifying message.
After the impeachment vote on Wednesday, the first time a President has ever been impeached twice and the fastest in history, let’s call it the Amazon Prime of Impeachments, Biden released another anodyne statement. The subtext was that he was more concerned with himself and his agenda than the country. “This nation also remains in the grip of a deadly virus and a reeling economy. I hope that the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation.”
Somehow, he managed to vote “present” on the impeachment issue itself. Noting only that the members voted “to impeach and hold the president accountable” and it was “a bipartisan vote cast by members who followed the Constitution and their conscience.” Once again, no one in the media found it odd that Biden didn’t share his personal feelings on the matter or that, as leader of the party, he certainly has influence on how Chuck Schumer chooses to conduct the business of the Senate now that Democrats are in the majority.
I can’t be the only one who thinks none of this is normal. The theme for Biden’s inauguration next week is “America United,” and yet he hasn’t done a single thing to actually unite America. Instead, he’s going to preside over a rushed impeachment after the former President has left office, and he hasn’t even bothered to tell us what he personally thinks about the proceedings or what his wishes might be in that regard.
Speaking of the impeachment for a moment, exactly how rushed was it? Well, even CNN is now reporting that the attack might have been pre-planned and highly coordinated. “Evidence uncovered so far, including weapons and tactics seen on surveillance video, suggests a level of planning that has led investigators to believe the attack on the US Capitol was not just a protest that spiraled out of control, a federal law enforcement official says.”
I understand Democrats believe that Trump is capable of any and all evil, but how could even he pull off inciting a coordinated attack planned long before he began speaking?
What does Biden think? We don’t know.
During the campaign, many conservatives poked fun at “Hidin’ Biden” for laying low in a Delaware basement and refusing to take a clear stand on the issues, from court packing to ending the filibuster. Surely, he doesn’t believe he can perform the same magic trick as President. Or does he?
Whatever the case, this certainly isn’t leadership.
Confessions of a Conservative Atheist 