President Biden read at excruciating length from his teleprompter early yesterday afternoon “on the Nation’s Supply Chains,” as the title on the White House transcript puts it. I have posted the video below.
It was a big day for Biden. This was only one of three sets of remarks he struggled to read. Later yesterday afternoon he also delivered “to Commemorate World AIDS Day, Launch the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and Kick Off the Global Fund Replenishment Process.” The president wound up his day before 6:00 p.m. with remarks “During a Menorah Lighting in Celebration of Hanukkah.”
His minders in the daycare operation at the White House must think it a good idea to maximize our exposure to Biden staring vacantly into the teleprompter as he impersonates an escapee from Madame Tussauds. My assessment is that he requires better material with which to work, or an adjustment to reality on the part of his writers. In the most notable passage of his supply chain remarks he took a creative walk down memory lane to assure us that all is well, though whatever glitches persist aren’t his fault:
Now, I can’t promise that every person will get every gift they want on time. Only Santa Claus can keep that promise. But there are items every year that sell out, that are hard to find.
Some of you moms and dads may remember Cabbage Patch Kids back in the ‘80s or Beanie Babies in the ‘90s, or other toys that have run out at Christmas time in past years when there was no supply chain problem.
But we’re heading into a holiday season on very strong shape. And it’s not because of luck. We averted potential crisis by figuring out what needed to get fixed and then we brought people together to do the hard work of fixing it.
The New York Post takes up this point in its story on the remarks. From there, however, Biden quiclkly moved on to the subject of inflation. That’s not his fault either. The transcript reveals his struggle with the prompter on this point:
Prices are still out of sunk — excuse me — prices are still out of sync as the world comes back. But as we continue to overcome these obstacles, the more price pressures will ease.
Biden claimed credit for the recent fall in oil prices, but just about everyone understands the decline to result from the panic over the Omicron variant. The panic over the Omicron variant — that’s not his fault either. But I’m jumping the gun on this point. Today he unveils his big plan to suppress the spread of this variant of the virus.
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