Can’t make it up. Don’t have to. Unless you’re USA Today. (Or CNN or MSNBC, but that’s a given.)
Before we dig into “the rest of the story” behind my headline, lemme tell you a bit about the USA Today contributor I’m going to shred and get it over with. What can I do to put it in tact? David RothkopfI am a clown. It’s not literally. I assume it was more of a clownish writer. Take a look at the headlines below:
There’s Chaos and Risk in Afghanistan Exit, but Biden Critics Are Getting It Mostly Wrong
De-Trumpifying America Will Take Longer Than 100 Days, But Biden’s Off to a Good Start
Joe Biden Does More on the World Stage than Any President After George H.W. Bush
Infrastructure = Jobs, Growth and Competitive Edge. Better lives for millions
You see what I’m referring to?
That brings us to the topic at hand, USA Today’s “international security expert” David Rothkopf’s most recent journalistic masterpiece, Biden is boring as a president. That’s Okay Because He’s Also a Competent Leader. As you might imagine, Rothkopf’s latest effort is just as brilliant as those that preceded it.
The most interesting or valuable thing isn’t always what produces the highest quality television, or has the greatest number of clicks online. Sometimes the best work our leaders do is dull or slow or complicated…https://t.co/tBWHVIkikQ via @usatoday
— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) November 29, 2021
What’s the best way to start? Anyone with an IQ beyond two digits who truly thinks Joe Biden is a “competent leader” should immediately, as my dad used to joke, “get his head examined.” As is the case with all conservative outlets, RedState chronicles The Adventures of Cornpop’s PalOn a daily basis. We should be doing this every day. TriageBiden stories, because there’s only 24 hours per day. Let’s just call it a target-rich environment.
Yet, USA Today’s Mr. Rothkopf thinks Joe is a competent leader.
This guy starts his absurd op essay by telling us about Unimportance of Joe’s 3-1/2-hour video conference with Communist China’s dictator, Xi Jinping, earlier this month. Because Rothkopf knew it was bad, he is aware We knowHe knows it was a disaster, but it didn’t matter. He knows it sucked — so he tries to play the “It was no big deal, anyway” card. It was hilarious.
Politico’s Phelim Kine wrote, “President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping telegraphed low expectations for their non-summit … and in that they delivered.” CNN led with the fact that the event produced no major breakthroughs and added that Beijing had already declared victory.
Administration spokespeople had repeatedly briefed the news media that breakthroughs were not the purpose of the event. Indeed, the purpose of the meeting was to establish a cordial, open, candid leaders’ dialogue at the center of the most important bilateral relationship in the world.
Oh, please.
Because you know how “cordial” and “open” Xi is — right before he further clamps down on Hong Kong democracy, threatens Taiwan, or kicks up the genocide meter on the Uyghur Muslims a notch or two.
But you see, Rothkopf schools us, “there are benefits to boring foreign policy.”
This isn’t all. [it]Although this is an important issue in and of itself, given the complexity, sometimes fraught, nature of U.S.-China ties such meetings that generate less heat or more light are exactly what the relationship requires.
Even though there were some positive aspects, the overall coverage was mostly negative.
You could almost feel the reporters longing for a leader who sent foreign tyrants love letters or who shocked the world by taking the Russian president’s views over those of his own intelligence community.
Yeah, America. Instead of criticizing Joe for his horribly inept foreign policy, we should be thanking him for being “boring!” Here’s the thing, Mr. Rothkopf: Sure. If Biden were only “boring,” no problem. At least that way he wouldn’t be screwing everything up. But noooo… Joe was hardly “boring” in Afghanistan. He remains nowhere near “boring” with Mexico, Central America, and other countries around the globe from which people continue stream — illegally — to America, with zero consequences. Hardly “boring,” bud.
You can find more lies here #liberal #media #BidenHe is boring as a president. He’s a boring president, but he is also an effective leader. 😅https://t.co/P2i2svDrox
— Astro (@Zalls88) November 29, 2021
It made me giggle.
The fact that often foreign policy involves workaday trades and processes that aren’t intended to generate headlines was overlooked in much of this coverage. Boring is sometimes a good thing in foreign policy. It is also true for governing.
The most popular or important thing isn’t always what produces the highest quality television.
Sometimes the best work our leaders do is dull or slow or complicated, too nuanced or arcane to produce 64-point headlines or “Breaking News” chyrons. Presidents, in this sense, are much like pilots on an airline flight. Although they may be able to handle emergency situations when they occur, they often do their best work when it is least noticed.
Do you have your pants rolled up?
“Who needs presidential charisma when you represent the last best hope of the republic?”, argues the “expert.” “Further,” Rothkopf says, “Biden is not the only messenger his party has.”
OK, I understand the “We don’t have to put all of our Democrat eggs in Biden’s basket” ploy but that doesn’t exactly spell “ringing endorsement,” bud.
If Democrats can mobilize and effectively communicate the stakes in the next election and then bring to life the Biden agenda and all it means to average Americans from coast to coast, then they can produce an election outcome that is the kind of surprising twist that the press loves to write about.
If this guy thinks the next Democrat presidential candidate is going to run on “the Biden agenda,” he’s even further up the creek without a paddle than he appears to be. It’s good.
More “Boring” Biden News:
Biden Remarks on ‘Omnicron,’ Masks, and Lockdowns Show He’s Still a Confused Mess
‘Devout Catholic’ Biden Is Doing an Awesome Job Pretending He’s Not Trying to Quash Religious Freedoms
How long before senior officials in the Biden Administration start to throw Joe under the bus
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