President Joe Biden delivered a closing foreign policy speech at the State Department on Monday, praising his accomplishments and claiming he has restored “normality” to American national politics and that the world is safer and more stable than it was four years ago. he claimed. America shrugged, and by Tuesday the speech had barely made it into the morning newsletter.
No one believed what the old man said. The best his friends in the press could muster was “good intentions.” The press corps, once dedicated to supporting Biden's candidacy and administration (and violently attacking anyone who questioned his fitness to lead), was AWOL. The king's guards fled from the castle. And all we're left with is the question of how it happened in the first place.
As a child, I remember being amazed that America's Free Reporters hid the fact that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt couldn't walk.
On Monday afternoon, his last day in office, Biden spent more than 20 minutes staggering from region to region, region to region, claiming victory after victory. His speeches were delivered with the angry cries and menacing whispers that so characterized his popular decline. He muttered, slurring his words (“Peace and true security in Isla Delfur”). The audience was professional and kept clapping until he finished.
The press was skeptical but polite. “Biden”, Reuters read the headline“Defending our foreign policy record despite ongoing crises.” CBS made its skepticism clear on the show. heading: “Biden claims…'I will leave the next administration with very strong powers.'” “Biden” Michael Hirsch, Foreign Policy I wrote“I meant it in a good way.”
Politico Morning Newsletter Photos were included As for the event, the following news was about the State Department's fraught attempts to restore stability in the Middle East.
Of course, this skepticism is completely justified. Biden's foreign policy has been far from stable, and from the Red Sea to Kabul, from Ukraine to Taiwan, the world is visibly less secure than when he took the oath of office. But what made this skepticism so striking is that from the moment he secured the nomination in the winter of 2020 to the moment he debated Trump in the summer of 2024, it was incredibly non-existent. That's what happened.
There's no need to detail every lie you've told along the way. The important point is that it didn't happen at all, and it didn't happen to anyone. absolutely no one — facing more concrete impacts than an overall decline in viewership or readership.
As a child, I remember being amazed that the American Free Press Corps concealed the fact that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt could not walk. When I got a little older, I was amazed at how much President John F. Kennedy's problems were covered up. “That would never happen today,” I thought. “They love scandal!'' Today I realized how naive I was about the nature of the American news media, its partisanship, and the Democratic Party's worship of power and access. In reality, Washington's groupthink is as dominant a feature as its lack of curiosity about inconvenient narratives, and above all else, as those narratives range from “Camelot” to “Hope and Change” to Joe, the next generation. It has dominated Democratic presidential positions all the way back to FDR.
Remember when Biden first took office? Our nation's proud presidential historians like Jon Meacham and Doris Kearns Goodwin assured him (and us) that he was a historically significant president who would radically uplift society with the upcoming New Deal. . In the end, the plan didn't get off the ground because they couldn't find enough lesbian and black contractors to do the work. (seriously). All the last-minute pardons for child rapists and murderers cannot be made up for in a Progressive History book.
Remember then-FOX News anchor Chris Wallace? assured us Could Biden's inaugural address be the “best inaugural address I've ever heard,” dating back to Kennedy's 1961 “Ask not what your country can do for you” speech? Wallace left Fox soon after, and CNN+ did not renew his contract.
Remember when I was CNN's political director? David Charian Did we mention that the spotlights along the National Mall are “almost an extension of Joe Biden's arm embracing America”? Unfortunately, Mr. Charian is still employed.
Biden will be gone in just a few days. And people like Meacham, Goodwin, Wallace, and Charian all don't even care to uphold his legacy. He was exposed and they were scattered in the light of day. Biden is already isolated and hasn't even left yet.
It's almost embarrassing. He always, always wanted to be president. He ran for office four times, earning the most respected title in free world politics in the process. The devil's bargain that ultimately delivered the Oval Office is almost Kennedy-like in its tragedy. When Biden finally figured it out, he wasn't there. After half a century in American politics, history will briefly record him as the world's most powerful alternative.
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Expulsion: Why did the police ignore the rape gang?
The scandal rocking British police is so damning that it has been well known for far too long. Rather than protect vulnerable girls, police, journalists, and politicians sought to discredit reporters and the few defenders they had. We have finally reached the climax. Dominic Adler reports:
Statistics behind the rape gang scandal — banish the gangsters The word “grooming” is totally inappropriate and surprising. For more than 25 years, a network of men, mainly from Pakistani Muslim backgrounds, have been abusing young white girls from Yeovil to London to Glasgow. The victims' testimonies go beyond depravity and are unthinkable in supposedly advanced Western democracies.
Of course, that immediately raises a simple and shocking question: why did the British police perform the service? Are we going to turn a blind eye to the mass rape of tens of thousands of girls? You should have a fair mindset. I was a police officer for 25 years, including five years as a detective in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's anti-corruption division. Working on sensitive investigations into police misconduct, I saw firsthand how law enforcement responds to scandals and crises. I have seen senior officers squirm around like greased pigs when faced with inconvenient truths. I have witnessed decisions that defy logic and are blatantly politically motivated. I therefore strongly believe that this whole scandal has clearly exposed the class despicability of police forces across the UK. The most senior whistleblower in all of Britain was a junior detective constable.
As it turns out, the answer is simple. Racism remains the original sin of police services from Chester to Penzance. From the Scarman Report to the Macpherson Inquiry, police have long played a role in Britain's crimes-Eaters, devouring social problems on our behalf. As former Metropolitan Secretary Sir Robert Mark famously wrote, “The police are the anvil on which society beats its problems and abrasions such as social inequalities, racial prejudice, weak and ineffective laws. ”That was over 40 years ago, and little has changed since then. This systemic silence on race goes beyond the police itself. Even the Independent Police Conduct Authority's investigation into the rape gang scandal centered on the tradition and religion of the offenders…
Expulsion: How Britain forgot the Casely grooming gang
