PARKER: George Washington envisioned irresponsible leadership in Washington

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In President Joe Biden’s announcement on social media of his decision to not run for re-election, he ticked off the many wonderful achievements during his three and a half years in the nation’s highest office.

But if things are so great, as Biden seems to think, why are Americans so dispirited?

Biden’s personal polling is horrible. General polling shows the American public in a sour state of mind.
Per Gallup a few weeks ago, only 41% say they are “extremely proud” to be an American, compared to 70% just 20 years ago.

In Biden’s own Democratic Party, only 34% say they are “extremely proud” to be an American.

America’s first president, George Washington, was urged to run again after serving two terms. He declined, motivated by the ideals of America’s founding that the nation would be about individual freedom informed by moral ideals, not by government and politics. Washington feared the politicization of the nation; that it would become everything that Joe Biden now represents.

Washington expressed this concern in his farewell address in 1796, saying “unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”

This, of course, is exactly what has happened.

We know Biden did not quit voluntarily. His overriding motivation has been the retention of power and glory. He is leaving only because he has been pushed out by party leaders and major donors.

What are the chances a major corporation would leave in control a chief executive officer in Biden’s physical state? The answer, of course, is zero.

Further, as Republican vice-presidential nominee J.D. Vance has pointed out, “If Joe Biden doesn’t have the cognitive function to run for re-election, then he certainly doesn’t have the cognitive function to remain as Commander-in-Chief.”

Worse, it’s not just about Biden. Those who pushed him out the door did so not because of their concern that he was not fit to govern. Their concern was the polls show he can’t win.

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The Wall Street Journal reports that in October 2021, Biden went to Capitol Hill to lobby congressional Democrats to pass the trillion-dollar infrastructure legislation. Per the Journal, “According to Democrats in the room,” Biden spoke for 30 minutes “disjointedly and failed to make a concrete ask of lawmakers.”

Rep. Dean Phillips noted, per the Journal, “It was the first time I remember people pretty jarred by what they had seen.”
That was three years ago.

Clearly, it has been well known for a considerable amount of time, by a considerable number of individuals in the president’s party, that the man sitting in the most powerful office in the world is not capable of doing his job.

George Washington’s concerns two and a quarter centuries ago were well founded. A powerful political class has arisen in Washington, which exists to further its interests at the expense of the welfare of our nation’s citizens. This, of course, follows the dramatic expansion of government. The federal government now takes some 25% of Gross Domestic Product, compared to a little over 14% in 1950.

My first exposure to Joe Biden came in 1991 when, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he presided over the confirmation hearings of now-Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. The circus Biden permitted — allowing live national press coverage of unsubstantiated pornographic allegations by Anita Hill — to besmirch the character of a man who would become one of the nation’s greatest and most articulate defenders of our constitution, is beyond reproach.

Biden’s behaviour was then, as is Biden’s behaviour now, motivated by calculations, first and foremost, of personal political interests.

Let’s hope and pray that, somehow, America finds its way back to the ideals of the founders and George Washington.

Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education