If my phone were to ring and I discovered it was a public opinion pollster, I would answer it and hope that the voice on the other end would ask me my view on the job President Biden is doing.
Do I favor or oppose how he is leading the country?
My answer: Yes … I would give him a favorable rating.
Those who disagree with that view, too bad. I’m sorry you feel the way you do. I make no apologies for feeling as I do about the job President Biden is doing while he leads this country through a global pandemic, seeks to repair the wreckage left by his predecessor and, oh yeah, withdraw our troops and our allies from Afghanistan.
I believe I said during POTUS 45’s term in office that there was nothing on Earth I could picture him doing that would make me think favorably of the job he did.
Conversely, I try to consider what President Biden could do to turn me against the job he is doing. One thing pops out immediately: sending in brigades of fighting forces back into Afghanistan … for starters. Yep, that would do it. So would reneging on his commitment to fighting climate change.
The Afghan War withdrawal surely could have been executed more smoothly. Then again, this country has zero record of ending conflicts cleanly that it has not won outright. The Vietnam War didn’t end the way anyone in this country wanted it to end. Even though our side won virtually all the battlefield encounters with the communists during that bloody war, we lost the political will to keep fighting.
The North Vietnamese army rolled into Saigon, took control of the government, renamed the city after Uncle Ho and the United States was left with trying to explain how it could leave all those allies behind.
President Biden’s national security team is working as near as I can tell to conduct a withdrawal of many thousands of Americans and Afghan allies. The Biden team is actually working — reportedly — with the Taliban to ensure a reasonably safe outcome.
I am not going to turn my back on the president — at least not yet.
Pollsters, if you’re out there, give me a shout. I’ll be glad to answer your questions and give President Joe Biden a thumbs-up on the job he is doing.