What else can be said? Biden’s State of the Union address was more like a State of Avoiding Responsibility address. The President never once even mentioned Afghanistan, one of America’s most costly and disastrous military blunders of modern times, and managed to deflect away criticism of record inflation by telling everyone “you’ll be fine” and blaming Russia for the situation.
The entire first part of the speech focused on Ukraine, a uniting issue that Biden would prefer to talk about compared to his abysmal record. It was nice that the Ukrainian Ambassador was Jill Biden’s special guest, but what about the problems in this country? Do they take second place? Apparently, they do.
Rep. Michael Waltz called it a “slap in the face” to family members of the 13 dead service members that Biden totally ignored last night:
During an interview on “Mornings with Maria,” Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., weighed in on Biden’s first State of the Union Address, slamming the President for no mention of the botched Afghanistan withdrawal.
“I just want to go back to what you just mentioned about, zero mention- nothing- on Afghanistan. I mean, just frankly, what a slap in the face to those 13 gold star moms, to our allies that we left behind and to the service members that at some point are going to have to go back over to deal with this terrorism problem and barely any mention of China, either.”
For all Biden’s talk at the end of the speech about supporting our veterans, an issue that crosses all partisan lines, he failed to even account for the ones who died directly under his watch during the failed Afghanistan withdrawal.
Beyond Afghanistan, which is being sent down the memory hole never to be spoken of again by Democrats, talk of inflation and the domestic economy was twisted and distorted as well.
Regarding inflation and rising prices, Biden looked into the camera and said that lowering costs would solve the problem, it’s just that easy!
President Biden on fighting inflation: "Lower your costs, not your wages." https://t.co/6At7mamu2Z pic.twitter.com/BJAOcZefG2
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) March 2, 2022
None of what Biden said regarding inflation seems rooted in reality or rooted in practicality when it comes to snapping your fingers and magically lowering costs. His answer boils down to more government spending and expanded social programs to fight inflation which has been caused by rampant government spending.
To offset rising prices, Biden wants to offer free childcare. In other words, gas prices won’t be as harsh once the government is paying for your preschool or daycare. In what world does more government spending make sense to combat inflation? Only in Biden’s head.
It was quite clear that Democrats have completely abandoned any pretense that they care about rising grocery and gas prices, or care about the stress it puts on families of all income levels. They simply do not care to make a change in energy policy or slow down talk of more government spending.
Biden also failed to mention that his Build Back Better agenda was stopped not just by Republicans, but also by members of his own party. The only sane Democrat in the Senate, Joe Manchin from West Virginia, released his own response to Biden this morning:
We need #AmericanEnergyIndependence NOW. Retweet if you agree. pic.twitter.com/41QkjPiFS7
— Senator Joe Manchin (@Sen_JoeManchin) March 2, 2022
Sorry, Joe, the other Joe in your party is only in favor of keeping America dependent on foreign oil, like the oil we keep buying from Russia. When America is weak and cannot support itself, we lose leverage and lose standing on the world stage. Biden put Russia in an emboldened position where we cannot hurt Putin without also hurting ourselves.
In total, Biden’s first State of the Union was a dud and a prime example of America now “leading from behind” as we did under the Obama years. For all the talk of Biden pushing back against Russia, he has been behind the curve on every issue as European countries moved faster to sanction Putin and take away banking access while the President retreats to Delaware.
It’s no surprise Biden would rather talk about Ukraine than anything else. His domestic agenda has failed, dying at the hands of Democratic Senators in his own party, and his 40-year inflation record is among the worst. It’s the 1970s all over again with a weakened economy, rising gas prices, and Russia marching on eastern Europe.
