Two weeks ago, I watched some of Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. I only watched part of it because I was switching between his address and the Flames/Minnesota hockey game, which was much more interesting than watching someone try to read off a teleprompter while at the same time having to look at Vice President Harris and Speaker Pelosi sitting over Biden’s right and left shoulders.
What struck me was the fact that these three had substantial leadership roles in the running of what many believe is the most powerful country in the world…at least that is what we are told, over and over and over again, by TV personalities in the United States. Although they may very well be correct, a spaceman landing in Washington and watching the State of the Union address and being told that the three bodies at or near the podium were the “leaders” of this “most powerful country on planet Earth” would, I am sure, be very bewildered that these three had positions of authority. And that would be a logical takeaway from the spectacle of a dithering old fool pretending to be a leader and two dopy women standing up and sitting down while applauding every other word mumbled by the pathetic “leader.”
While all of this is going on, those in attendance represented members of the Senate, the House of Representatives, the leader’s cabinet, some members of the Supreme Court, and members of the diplomatic core. Objectively speaking, a rather motley crew if there ever was one.
The backdrop to this speech is the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The dithering “leader” pretended to be a tough guy, and by utilizing economic sanctions, he was going to bring Russia to its knees and stop its invasion of another sovereign country. The “leader” talked tough, but as Russian troops began surrounding major Ukrainian cities, his bluster did not appear to have the desired effect as Russian missiles and bombs rained down on innocent civilians, including children.
In the United States, the President gets primary military advice from the Secretary of State, the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of Defence, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US military.
The first two look like guys who would regularly get beat up at recess when they were kids, and their demeanor and oratory skills do not instill confidence in either friend or foe. In fact, the Secretary of State recently sat in silence as he and the country he represents were berated by some Chinese official without any form of retort. The Secretary of Defence does not look, or sound, very bright to me, but he checks at least one of the boxes that seem to be a prerequisite to getting ahead in the US these woke days. And last, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs presided over the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and supports critical race theory being taught to members of the US armed forces. Need I say more.
So, the spaceman landing in Washington, deciding whether or not his world could take on ours, would, I believe, be very pleasantly surprised with what he saw and would report back to his leaders that the takeover would be a cakewalk. I wonder if Russia’s strong man is thinking the exact same thing because, after all, he has a TV set, and because he probably is not a fan of either the Flames or the Wild, watched the entire debacle.
I am afraid that we are in for some difficult times. We, both in Canada and the United States, have picked really bad leaders, and we are about to pay a very dear price. If you want to know who caused this calamity, just look in a mirror.
Perhaps electoral reform might at least stem the tide of one area of Canada dictating to the rest of us who will govern. IMO the Trudeau Liberals lost the last two elections but here we are.