By Kelly Sloan | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice
We read in the Telegraph that outgoing President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, has briefed President-elect Trump, and has warned him that a freshly-weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon. One can only imagine the look of stunned shock in Trump’s face at this entirely unexpected and unforeseen revelation.
To be fair, it is entirely appropriate and necessary for the outgoing national security advisor to brief the new administration, and it is very reasonable to conclude that Iran — now pushed up against the ropes, quickly losing allies in the region and having its proxy armies systematically obliterated — could put Tehran in a desperate enough frame of mind to accelerate the motivation to consummate the regime’s primary dream of becoming a nuclear-armed theocracy. That is a rather existential problem that demands any U.S. President’s attention, and good on Sullivan for keeping up to speed.
But the irony of a Biden administration official offering this warning is hard to miss. This was the administration, after all, which reenergized the Iran nuclear deal which all but permitted Tehran to pursue its programme unimpeded; the same administration which hectored Israeli Prime Minster Netanyahu at virtually every step of the way in his country’s fight against Iran’s militants; not to mention the same administration which hired a guy who once said that it was a mistake to view Hamas solely on the basis of its terrorist activity, who was hopelessly accommodationist toward Iran, and who subsequently lost his security clearance, as Special Envoy to Iran.
The nation is preparing for the quadrennial exercise in peaceful transition of power, and as such it is fitting and natural to examine the legacy of the outgoing President. There is not much good that can be said of it.
The most important legacy any President leaves, generally speaking, is the state of the world and the threats it poses to the nation, and the world that Mr. Biden is leaving Mr. Trump is a mess. It is more complicated than a campaign slogan, of course, but Trump was not inaccurate in pointing out that the world was a generally safer, more secure place while he was in the White House.
So many of the world’s current conflagrations can trace back, at least indirectly, to the debacle that was America’s withdrawal from Kabul, which made our exit from Saigon seem like an orderly and well-executed affair. The chaos telegraphed American weakness, and a measure of official incompetence, that was noted in the rottenest corners of the planet, in effect green-lighting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and later Iran’s countenancing the Oct. 7 massacres.
But American weakness was displayed the last four years in less ostentatious ways as well. The neglect of American military capability, which has become almost a Democratic policy platform, was perhaps the most woefully under-reported scandal of the Biden administration. It will take a serious rededication to investment in the military by the Trump administration just to get the Navy alone back to the point where this country can adequately defend Hawaii, let alone Guam or other strategic interests in the Pacific. Trump is right that American allies need to step up and start footing more of their own defense bills, but that will not let us off the hook for our own.
What about more domestic matters? The Biden term will be defined economically by historic inflation, fueled by incontinent government spending. Culturally, the biggest mark of the Biden era will likely be the official affirmation of what has colloquially come to be known as “woke” culture — widespread social radicalization that is counter to human nature, economics and reality. It is a radicalization that is gradually, abut steadily, being rejected by the American people, in particular those manifestations of it that are economically counter-productive — DEI policies — or which pose enormous negative impacts to children and women, namely the more radical and intrusive elements of trans-genderism.
More subtly, the Biden legacy is marked by an erosion of law and order, and not just at the local level. It is fair to point out Trump’s lapses in this area, but the general lawlessness at the border, which has infiltrated into virtually every community in America, is only the most ostentation example. Biden’s disregard for the law and the Supreme Court with policies like his unconstitutional-but-I’ll-do-it-anyway student loan debt forgiveness programme may be even more pernicious to the maintenance of rule of law than the border situation.
Finally, Biden’s presidency has raised questions as to the role of advanced age in governance. Biden’s loss of cognitive function — ostensibly displayed for the nation during his debate with Trump — illuminated that issue. Now we hear of an octogenarian Republican Congresswoman from Texas who just sort of disappeared from Congressional duty for a few months, only to turn up in a Fort Worth nursing home. I have decidedly mixed feelings about young people today, but that is certainly not tenable.
In summary, Biden’s presidency marked a sad, ineffectual end to a ludicrously long political career — Biden has been in Washington as long as I have been alive, and I’m getting AARP mailers. It is with charity this Christmas season that I wish the President a happy and peaceful retirement.
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.