BTRTN: Biden Battles to Avoid Dreaded "B" Word
Born To Run The Numbers on how the Biden administration's recent string of setbacks invites the invoking of the one word that must not be uttered: "beleaguered."
http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2021/10/btrtn-biden-battles-to-avoid-dreaded-b.html
Excerpts: "It is a word that conjures up images of LBJ after Tet, Carter and the botched hostage rescue attempt, and George W. Bush after Katrina. And while those singular events may have triggered the label, each were a culmination of sorts, the crushing blow in a series of disasters. It is the kiss of death for an administration – note the single-term fates of the three presidents mentioned above -- a term that implies not only incompetence but also the sense of being overwhelmed by events, and ill-suited to manage them...
"Biden is not quite at 'beleaguered' yet. But he and his administration are certainly in a bad stretch, which began with the messy Afghanistan pull-out and continued with the revelation that the revenge attack against ISIS-K instead killed an innocent family; the apparently needless blindsiding of France in an arms deal with the UK and Australia; a Haitian migrant crush under a bridge in Texas; the persistence of COVID, where the corner has yet to be turned and confusion still reigns amongst policy guidance emanating from the FDA, CDC and the Administration; and then the current hot button, the legislative pile-up of 'hard' and 'soft' infrastructure legislation, an epic budget resolution (now resolved) and an economy-threatening impasse on raising the debt ceiling...
"The problem with these issues – apart from the substance – is that each undercuts one of Biden’s supposed core strengths ...
"But the question is, can Biden, the LBJ-wannabe, display the skills required to get it all through, a la the 'Master of the Senate' himself? To avoid that "B' word, it is surely time for Biden to start tugging on some lapels."
