As winners never fail to remind losers, elections have consequences. But rarely is there a single day where consequences pack as much wallop as Friday, where the irrationality of Joe Biden’s policies came into full view.
From the border with Mexico, where the new administration started opening the doors to at least 25,000 migrants seeking asylum, to the Mideast tinderbox, where it moved to rejoin the misbegotten Iran nuke deal, the new president appears fixated by the desire to turn back the clock to 2016.
It’s as if Biden has been seized by a sentimental longing to try to make the world like it was when the Obama-Biden administration left office. Unfortunately, “The Way We Were” is a nice song but not much of a guide to the future.
Still, trying to recapture the past would be reasonable if those years had created prosperity at home and peace abroad. In fact, the world Donald Trump inherited was bristling with trouble and America’s economy was moving forward at a snail’s pace.
Despite revisionist efforts by the media and the left to erase the achievements of the president they hated, Trump had major policy successes that benefited all Americans. It’s especially unnerving, then, that Biden is choosing to reverse the very policies that produced those benefits.
Trump Derangement Syndrome leads people to do weird things, but Biden’s attempt to cancel Trump’s biggest victories is among the weirdest.
The migrant admittances, through a border crossing in San Diego, came after Biden scrapped his predecessor’s policy of having asylum-seekers wait in Mexico. The “Remain in Mexico” program was an effective solution to the endless stream of caravans of Central Americans that moved north to escape violence and find work in a booming US.
The Obama-Biden policy had been to admit the asylum applicants and turn them loose pending hearings. Naturally, many never showed up because they knew they could not qualify as refugees from persecution. But their ability to stay here illegally served as an incentive for others to follow.
Instead of building on the program that reduced mass migrations, Biden returned to the broken system Trump had fixed. Biden also pledges not to build another foot of border wall and pause nearly all deportations for 100 days.
In what world does any of that make sense, especially in a pandemic?
Something similar happened at the G-7 Security Conference Friday, where Biden abandoned Trump’s America First policy and embraced the “Kumbaya” notion that everybody is better off when we outsource our interests to globalist institutions.
“America is back, the transatlantic alliance is back, and we are not looking backward,” Biden said. He declared that the partnership with Europe is “the cornerstone of all we hope to accomplish in the 21st century.”
Although he didn’t mention Trump, Biden went out of his way to distort recent history. “I know the past few years have strained and tested our transatlantic relationship, but the United States is determined — determined — to re-engage with Europe, to consult with you, to earn back our position of trust and leadership,” he said.
In truth, America’s major fight with Europe, especially Germany, was over the failure of NATO members to meet their agreed-upon commitment to spend at least 2 percent of their GDP for defense. For years, American presidents, including Barack Obama, had made the same complaint and were ignored.
Trump of course cannot be ignored. He loudly questioned the value of the alliance and railed against the fact that America was paying far more than a fair share for the common defense. He also was not amused that NATO spent more than $1.4 billion for a new Brussels headquarters.
Bingo, he succeeded. Most of the deadbeats increased their defense spending, to the tune of more than an additional $100 billion a year, while agreeing to a reduction in US contributions. They remain unhappy but why should Biden care?
And why is he such a generous sap with American taxpayers’ money?
His plan to rejoin the Iran nuke deal that Trump scuttled is perhaps the looniest idea of all because of the shock waves it sends around the Middle East. The deal didn’t even address, let alone stop, Iran’s military aggression and terror proxies, which the Obama-Biden administration admitted. It also conceded that some of the billions Washington included ended up financing terror.
Recall also that the lack of faith in the deal led Saudi Arabia and others to talk of getting their own nukes. Just recently, more evidence confirmed that Iran had a nuclear-weapons program despite its constant denial.
After Trump withdrew from the pact, reimposed sanctions and droned Iran terror leader Qasem Soleimani, an odd thing happened. As Democrats, including Biden, were running around like Chicken Littles warning of new wars, four Muslim countries signed historic peace and diplomatic accords with Israel, part of which involve joint security — against Iran.
So again questions arise: Why would Biden trust the untrustworthy Iranians and undo the enormous progress Trump achieved? Does he hate Trump more than he loves peace?
Before you answer, remember what former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said about Biden: “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national-security issue over the past four decades.”
Finally, Friday was the day America formally rejoined the Paris climate accord that Trump abandoned.
Soon the White House will push more job-killing restrictions on industry and consumer emissions, all while China and India keep increasing theirs.
But fear not, the intrepid John Kerry is on the case. The private-jet warrior for eliminating greenhouse gases used the occasion to restart the countdown to catastrophe.
“Well, the scientists told us three years ago we had 12 years to avert the worst consequences of climate crisis,” he told CBS. “We are now three years gone, so we have nine years left.”
To underscore that this time is different, Kerry insisted, “There is no room for BS anymore. There’s no faking it on this one.”
Funny he should put it that way. If you eliminate fakery and BS, Biden’s policies don’t have much going for them.
Cuo woe spiraling
Round and round it goes and where it stops nobody knows. That describes a roulette wheel and also Gov. Cuomo’s angry, frenetic efforts to escape the self-inflicted nursing-home debacle.
The celebrity cheerleaders and media popinjays have melted away as Cuomo finds himself encircled by harsh criticism, much of it from fellow Democrats. He has two potential escape routes: that Biden buries the FBI probe as a favor and Albany Dems return to their usual state of somnolence.
Both are possible, but in the short run Cuomo needs to help himself. He could start by dropping the shovel he’s using to dig himself in deeper and deeper.
Brought to heel
Headline: Blue dogs discovered near Russian chemical plant.
So that’s where the moderate Democrats went?
