Later this month will be the 60th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
If we last that long.
The common wisdom is that October 1962 was the closest we ever came to nuclear war. This week, our president admitted that, for the "first time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use of the nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path we are going." (Forgive the garbling - that's how he said it).
Now, to be clear (or as clear as we can be, given the speaker), Biden wouldn't consider that an "admission."
As we have mentioned before, he doesn't actually realize he is a key player in world events, particularly this one. Having spent the majority of his life as a back-bench senator just looking for attention, he seems stuck in observer mode. He constantly acts like a press booth analyst, rather than the quarterback for one of the teams.
What little he understands about being president, he learned from Obama:
it's not about what's best for the American people;* it's about personal political advancement, and
blame others.
Result: he rants about the risk of Armageddon at a political fund raiser!
Why? No one is exactly sure. Maybe to distract from all his (and his party's) other failings ahead of the mid-term election (Question: can you file an absentee ballot from an undisclosed bunker?). Or maybe just to emphasize (as he did) that Putin is to blame.
But the simplest explanation is he is senile and incompetent and says stupid, bombastic stuff as part of his life-long need to get and keep attention ("c-mon, man! I'm serious! I really mean it! I'm not joking!").
... and, once again, the "White House" (whoever that is) will have to walk back yet another dangerous foreign policy belch.
... btw, in this particular case, what he said may not be wrong; it may just not be something the "Leader of the Free World" should say at this moment. At the very least, it was "not the venue."
If you watched the awful NFL football game last night, you saw clear evidence the Denver Broncos made two serious mistakes. The first was signing the wrong quarterback - a guy who seems to be even more past his prime than most people thought. The second mistake was not taking the football out of his hands at the critical moments, when the game was on the line.**
As a nation, we made the same first mistake in the 2020 presidential election; let's not compound it by making the second one. While we can't elect a new quarterback and completely take the nuclear football out of Biden's hands until 2024, we can lessen the odds of catastrophe, and minimize the other damage he can do, by flipping Congress next month
... again, if we last that long.
* what's best for the American people might include things like: not destroying the economy ... or not letting even more criminals out of jail ... or not stealing from those who pay their debts to subsidize those who haven't ... or not allowing the unfettered invasion of our country ... or not forcibly indoctrinating our children with things parents don't believe ... or ... at the very least ... not exposing us to nuclear holocaust.
** Hate to dunk on Russell Wilson. From what I know, he is a good person doing his best; maybe things will turn around. He is a leader and has the Super Bowl ring to prove it. But it's sure not working right now. Biden's not working out right now, either. But there is no reason to give him any more chances. He is not a good person. And his ability to lead - or even think - will not get better. As long as he and the Democrats are in office, things will not turn around. And, as much as the Broncos mean to Denver football fans, their sinking season is not the end of the world. Joe Biden's incompetence could be.