The Fabulist

For John, BLUF:  President Joesph Biden seems to be a congentital pathological liar.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Biden says he doesn't debate as well as he used to but knows "how to tell the truth"

From CBS News, by Reporters Kathryn Watson and Aaron Navarro, 28 June 2024, 2:32 PM EDT.

Here is the lede plus five:

President Biden bluntly addressed his lackluster debate performance during an campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, Friday, speaking with notably more energy and vigor than he had hours before.

Some Democrats expressed concern after the president, in a raspy voice, struggled to correct former president Donald Trump's falsehoods as he faced a national audience on prime-time television Thursday night. The president's at times gaping facial expressions and rambling answers to key questions didn't help either, at a time when many Americans believe Mr. Biden, now 81, may be too old for the job and too old to relate to them.

"I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious," the president said. "Well, I know." He addressed a supportive Democratic crowd Friday, one that welcomed him with chants of "Four more years!"

"Folks, I don't walk as easy as I used to," he continued. "I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to. But I know what I do know — I know how to tell the truth ... I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know, like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down, you get back up."

The president also sought to assure his audience that he wouldn't be running again if he didn't think he was up to the job.

"Folks, I give you my word as a Biden — I would not be running again if I didn't believe with all my heart and soul, I can do this job," he said. "The stakes are too high. The stakes are too high."

His word as a Biden?  Really?  There is a phrase I haven't trusted since I first heard it.  Are the Bidens some form of nobility?  I am doubtful.

President Biden is a story teller.  He takes a piece of information and elaborates on it.  His Uncle was shot down during World War II and it becomes his Uncle having been eaten by cannibals.  He hears Neil Kinnock's speech about Kinnock's own past in Wales and takes it as his own as an elaboration of his familty story out of Scranton, Pennsylvania.  He is aided in this by fellow Democrats.

My favorite came up again duirng the debate, in which President Biden talks about Republicans rejecting a bi-partisan Southern Border Bill.  The idea is thst President Trump has ordered Republicans in Congress to not support a bill to solve the border crisis.  The problem is there is more to the story.

This accusation by President Biden ignores the fact that the Republican House had already forwarded a Border Bill to the Senate, which has been sitting on Senate Majority Leader Schumer's desk for months.  In fact, the House, for a long time, held up legislation on aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan in an effort to force a vote on their bill.  Ignored by the President and Senate Maajority Leader Schumer, nothing happened.

Then there is the so-called bi-partisaan border bill in the Senate.  It is bi-partisan to the extent that one Republican Senator had signed on to it.  And, what does it do for border security?  Restrictions are triggered only after the flow of illegal immigrants exceeds 1.8+ million illegal immigrants a year.  That seems like almost no action at all.  In essence, the story is a lie.

Perhaps worse, President Biden has maintained, after cancelling the border rules of President Trump, that he lacks the authority to fix the border by Executive Orders.  Then he does just that.  But only enough to provide him with some cover.  Not enough to actually fix the problem.  In essence, he is lying to us about the Southern Border, so gather votes, without making a major change in Administration illegal immigration policy.

Regards  —  Cliff