Tim Murtaugh explains to Federalist readers why he wishes President Biden had remained hidden in his basement.
President Joe Biden inherited a nation poised for a tremendous post-COVID resurgence, requiring only mid-level competence to keep things on track. Unfortunately for America, he hasn’t been up to the task.
The biggest issue facing the nation for the past year obviously has been the coronavirus, which has killed more than 600,000 Americans, infected nearly 34 million, and forced the economy into a near standstill last year.
As he entered office, however, the good news for Biden was that multiple vaccines already had been developed and with doses ramping up, thanks to former President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed. The economy was rebounding, and millions of jobs had returned. What was required of the new president was to not screw things up.
But at the four-month mark of his administration, Biden has badly mismanaged things, contributing to a cluster of problems that are increasingly spiraling out of control. …
… Millions of Americans had to calculate whether they had enough gas in their cars to keep them mobile after a cyber attack on the Colonial Pipeline, which carries 45 percent of the fuel used by the east coast of the United States. With almost immediate gasoline shortages, rising prices, and gas stations shutting down, the nation would rightly expect the president to snap to attention. Instead, administration officials seemed to shrug at the growing calamity and declined to even offer an opinion on whether the pipeline operator should pay a ransom to the hackers. …
… Coming into office, Biden was set up nicely for a smooth glide toward nearly effortless success. Like a golfer going into the final hole of a tournament with a three-shot lead, he needed only to keep the ball in the short grass to win. Instead, Biden has been in the woods, in the bunker, and in the water, seeing his chances for easy glory fading away.
