Monday, September 30, 2024

We Still Need a Functioning President

By Michael Brendan Dougherty

Monday, September 30, 2024

 

Last week, I wrote that geopolitical events — namely, the crucial decisions that must be made about American aid to Ukraine in these weeks — were too important to leave in the hands of a president who is not in possession of his full faculties.

 

I reiterate the same claim, but this time, the subject matter is the ongoing devastation in North Carolina, both in and around Asheville. I know from personal experience how difficult traveling some of those mountain roads can be after a week of steady rainfall. By all reports, many thousands of people are trapped in their homes, and many of those homes are now in a parlous state. Communication lines are down for much of the state. Aid is coming, but an energetic executive should be coordinating federal resources with the governors of North Carolina and surrounding states.



Biden’s response has been, typically, defensive and ornery, rather than reassuring and supportive. Again, this is a man who would have trouble obtaining an apple sauce and toast for lunch. So it’s not surprising. But, we should demand better — and lawmakers in the House and Senate should be demanding it too.

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