In the thundering wake of special counsel Rober Hur’s report and the disastrous presidential press conference that followed, national security experts are assessing whether Joe Biden’s memory might pose a threat to America’s safety.
According to former Deputy National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland, who served during former President Donald Trump’s time in office, “Biden’s dementia is plain for all to see, but especially for foreign leaders.”
“That’s dangerous for two reasons,” he told Fox News Digital.
“First, it amplifies the claim that America is a spent power. Chinese leaders have been telling the world for years that America is in irreversible decline, that the future belongs to China. Biden is the embodiment of irreversible decline, giving credence to the idea that America’s supremacy on the world stage is over,” McFarland explained. “Second, because foreign leaders know now is the time to press the U.S., to take advantage of a leader who is not only weak but confused.”
The president’s confusion was on full display last week.
As BizPac Review reported, he confused French President Emmanuel Macron with former French President François Mitterrand, who died in 1996, and twice mixed up German Chancellors Angela Merkel and Helmut Kohl. Most glaring was his jumbling of the leaders of Egypt and Mexico as he tried desperately to assure reporters — and, more importantly, voters — that Hur’s assessment of his mental acuity was baseless.
Bill Maher blasts ‘Biden’s brain,’ urges Dems to ditch him: ‘You can do it at the convention’ https://t.co/OB8bgPRZxf via @BIZPACReview
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Fox News contributor, Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg, blasted the Biden administration as a whole, noting that Biden has always taken “a long time to make decisions or to do something” when handling adversaries of the United States.
“When it comes to national security, you know, it all really comes down to the commander in chief, the president of the United States,” he told Fox News Digital. “You always want your commander in chief to be, obviously, very informed, which the advisers are supposed to do, but able to make very quick, rational, understandable decisions.”
When dealing with national security issues, short delays are expected, but excessive delays are problematic, Kellogg said.
“Frankly, in this administration, you see the latter, not the former,” he said. “They take a long time to make decisions or to do something, and that always lets your adversary get inside your ability to do something.”
“Years ago, in the military, there was a term that was actually used that was called the OODA loop,” Kellogg explained. “The OODA loop [stood for] observe, orient, decide, act. What that meant is, frankly, get inside your opponent’s decision cycle. That’s what presidents need to do.”
“So, if you’ve got a diminished capacity, your ability to make rapid decisions is, of course, questionable,” he continued. “And that’s where you get into trouble with national security.”
The Biden administration is “very risk-averse,” Kellogg said.
“When you look at the Middle East, look how long it took us to react to the attack on the Americans or what we’ve done to try to reestablish deterrence. It’s slow decision-making,” he stated. “The reason that’s important is because you force the adversary to do something different. And the one that makes those decisions is always, ultimately, the president of the United States, who is commander in chief.”
“Is it an issue?” he asked. “Of course it is, but it’s an issue that has just lived with this administration since day one. That is a concern that you have to have when it comes to decision-making and mental acuity.”
Replacement theory? ‘The View’ floats names of Dems who could take Biden’s spot after special counsel’s tough report https://t.co/0Trx2y41aT via @BIZPACReview
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Biden’s “intellectual flexibility and the ability to take in new information” is of greater concern to Michael O’Hanlon, a senior fellow and director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution.
“On the one hand, much of the discussion seems to focus on Afghanistan, and then-Vice President Biden’s role in the debate about what to do in Afghanistan during the Obama administration,” he said. “There, Biden lost out to advocates of a large surge and probably felt vindicated when that surge did not achieve the desired results.”
“That said,” O’Hanlon continued, “in my view, he remained a bit stuck in his vision of where Afghanistan was when he mistakenly ordered our withdrawal in the opening months of his presidency.”
Trump, he said, was guilty of the same mistake.
“That was a mistake he shared with former President Trump. Both failed to take stock of more recent information — that, in fact, even with all the flaws and mistakes, Afghanistan was still on its feet as late as 2020. And only a very modest U.S. military presence was needed (along with small forces from American allies) to help its government retain control at least of the cities,” O’Hanlon explained. “So, I’m less concerned about memory, per se, and more concerned about intellectual flexibility and the ability to take in new information.”
In handling Ukraine, Biden “did well with a rapidly changing and demanding situation,” according to O’Hanlon. “He helped Ukraine survive the original Russian attack. He publicized to the world that the attack was imminent so that Putin couldn’t blame it on us or the Ukrainians. He continued to provide more weaponry to Ukraine yet did so without triggering a war with Russia.”
“These are no mean feats,” he insisted, “and they took intellectual flexibility and adaptability.”
“Bottom line is that while I wish an 81-year old man weren’t running for president again,” O’Hanlon said, “I think Biden’s memory and brain are stronger than the recent report alleges.”
It’s an optimism most of America didn’t share before the president’s painful presser.
On February 4, an NBC News poll found that Trump holds “a 16-point advantage over Biden on being competent and effective, a reversal from 2020, when Biden was ahead of Trump on this quality by 9 points before defeating him in that election.”
According to the survey results, “Biden’s approval rating has declined to the lowest level of his presidency in NBC News polling — to 37% — while fewer than 3 in 10 voters approve of his handling of the Israel-Hamas war.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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