I don’t know if that photograph really is a leak of secret information. Here’s what bothers me about it. There’s Biden sitting behind a table that’s way too big for one man, and his advisers are heads on the TV. That was released by the White House yesterday, presumably to convey the message that Biden is on duty and working hard and to appease us as we’re watching TV, seeing Afghanistan collapse in a weekend.
We feel bad and confused and outraged, but we can only sit helplessly watching the TV. And what the White House tries to spoonfeed us is Biden stranded at a big table staring at a TV screen. Biden should have been sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office facing us, speaking directly, explaining, comforting, demonstrating that he is the President.
Why didn’t we get that? (Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?) Is it that no one noticed that it would be a good idea — it’s what’s expected, it’s what other Presidents would do? Did they just have no idea what would be appropriate to say or fear that anything they say will be used against them in the political discourse and that leadership must wait until partisan interests show the way? Or is it that Joe Biden wasn’t in a presentable mental state over the weekend and had to be kept off video camera? It had to be a still. Prop him up in a chair. That’s the best we can do. Look! He’s working. He’s alive. His eyes are open. Isn’t that enough?
It’s not enough, but it’s all we can expect.
Remember: The political establishment — including many Republicans — was so eager to rid us of a non-establishment President that they stuck us with this incompetent and his incompetent-buffoon staff. And they said they did it in the name of “principles” and “standards” and “competence.”
UPDATE: From the comments: “Where is Mattis now? were are all the former Intel officials, retired generals and other Mandarin courtesans’ that kept telling us how the drooling idiot Biden would get us back to norms and cooperation on the international stage or kept bleating about how character matters? Why are they not singing the same tune now? absolute despicable cowards all of them.”
That Mattis served on Theranos’ board and couldn’t see that it was a scam suggests that he is overrated. The more frightening thought is that, nonetheless, he was actually the best general we had.