Street Smart

Early this year, I made some predictions regarding what I expected under a Biden presidency. I just reviewed that article and found it interesting how many of those predictions have already come true. I thought mine was going to be a four-year forecast. I was wrong. The Biden administration has exceeded my low expectations. I set the bar at ground level, and they’ve managed to burrow under it. Let’s review just a few of the most recent examples. A curious reader can confirm the following with minimal research.

I predicted that our southern border would become a crisis situation based on Biden’s weak policies. I never expected that it would become as bad as it is! On June 15, Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar wrote a letter to Kamala Harris, urging her to visit McAllen, Texas, (a city in his district) to assess the situation first hand. Instead, Harris visited El Paso and avoided any direct meetings with the Customs and Border Patrol people who are actually working the problem. A logical question would be, why would she (Harris) not honor a request from a representative from her own party to visit the border area he represents? The answer? The truth of the crisis would be right there in front of her and therefore unavoidable. She would then have to admit that her and Biden’s policies had failed, and President Trump’s policies had been working. Can’t have that right!? The resolution then is to avoid the area and put a spin on the visit. She did exactly that. The border is in crisis as predicted and nothing is being done by the Biden administration to address it. Curious readers can confirm all of this with minimal research. Just Google “border situation in the Rio Grande Valley.”

Crime in Democrat controlled cities has continued to rise and there is no end in sight. What has the Biden administration done to address the situation? They certainly haven’t taken a stance on the absurd levels of violence (vowing to finally get tough on existing gun laws while supporting a no bail policy is a contradiction that doesn’t count). They have done nothing to support law enforcement. Things are getting worse and predictions are calling for increased levels of violence in these cities over the summer. For the curious, Google the cities with the highest crime rates and then look at the political affiliation of local government in those same cities. I did that for the cities of Chicago, Baltimore, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco just out of curiosity and the pattern was obvious. I believe in coincidence only to a point. This isn’t coincidence. It’s liberal policy destroying these police departments and the cities they serve.

Gas prices are much higher. No surprise there! One of the first things Biden did was shut down the Keystone Pipeline, leaving thousands unemployed. Although he tried to deny it when confronted, he told us before the election that he was going after the oil industry. He did. We were once energy independent. Not any longer. It has been projected that the U.S. will import 62% more crude oil by 2022 due to declines in domestic production. Way to go Joe!

I predicted that our adversaries would become bolder when dealing with a weak Joe Biden and his administration. The recent summit between Biden and Putin was an absolute disaster for the United States. Biden actually gave Putin a list of 16 infrastructure targets that are especially crucial to the U.S. that he (Biden) said are off limits for future cyberattacks! Brilliant Joe! From a tactical perspective, that was an incredibly insane decision. Giving one of our biggest/strongest adversaries a list of targets that are most important to maintaining our critical infrastructure is nothing short of asinine. This type of behavior, however, was predictable. Beyond that, look at the difference between the way Biden and Putin addressed the media after the summit (the fact that Biden didn’t want to do a joint press conference will have to be addressed at another time). I’m not a fan of Putin at all, but I was struck by the difference in the style of the two leaders when they spoke. Putin came across as, a leader. He appeared confident and answered spontaneous questions from the media. Biden, on the other hand, came across as confused. He spoke from a teleprompter and, as has become common, only answered questions from pre-selected media members. I’ve said before that I think Biden has slipped cognitively and I stand by that assessment. I want to make it clear that, although I dislike Biden’s policies and think he will continue to be a disaster as a president, those factors are not why I say what I do about his cognitive skills. I believe there’s a problem and, policy issues aside, I feel bad for the guy.

The Biden administration likes to take credit for the progress the nation has made in the battle against COVID. We have come far, but none of this would have been possible without President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed. Without that program (and if we had been under Democrat leadership), vaccines would still be in the developmental stage. Biden and his administration didn’t do anything other than build on a system that was already in place.

We’re just six months into this presidency and I don’t see that this administration has accomplished anything significant on their own. Furthermore, I don’t feel at all confident about the direction the nation is headed. We need leadership and, in my opinion, we don’t have it in the White House.

Blaine Blackstone is a retired Los Angeles Police Sergeant who enjoys the simpler life in Thompson Falls.