{"id":95871,"date":"2021-07-29T18:21:08","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T22:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=95871"},"modified":"2021-07-29T18:21:14","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T22:21:14","slug":"the-daily-gouge-archive-wednesday-july-28th-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedailygouge.com\/?p=95871","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Gouge Archive, Wednesday, July 28th, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Wednesday, July 28th, 2021…and it’s t-minus two days and counting ’til we’re back to Africa.\u00a0 In the meantime, Jim Geraghty just returned from a week-long vacation himself to discover 46* has ushered in…<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Bold New Era of Ignoring Problems<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Thanks to<\/span>\u00a0Alexandra DeSanctis\u00a0for sitting in for me last week.<\/span> Now, what the heck happened while I was<\/span>\u00a0gallivanting around New England?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Hospitalizations for COVID-19<\/span>\u00a0increased 32 percent in one week<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, mask<\/span>\u00a0mandates came back in a few cities<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, the U.S. Department of Justice<\/span>\u00a0decided to NOT investigate<\/a><\/em><\/span>\u00a0Andrew Cuomo\u2019s policies for nursing homes, the Taliban is\u00a0<\/span>beheading Afghans who formerly served the U.S. military as interpreters<\/a><\/em><\/span>, the Biden administration<\/span>\u00a0effectively surrendered on Nord Stream 2<\/a><\/em><\/span>, Democratic pollsters are warning the party that<\/span>\u00a0fears of inflation are hitting Americans hard<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, the president insists that the way to<\/span>\u00a0alleviate inflation is to pump a lot more money into the economy in the form of federal spending<\/a><\/em><\/span>, the administration is<\/span>\u00a0canceling border-wall contracts<\/a><\/em><\/span>, and the Cleveland Indians are now the<\/span>\u00a0painfully generic Cleveland Guardians<\/a><\/em><\/span>?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

My return from vacation has become\u00a0<\/span>this gif<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is now clear is that the Biden era will feature a lot of administrational focus on problems that Democrats think is convenient for their agenda \u2014 climate change, the\u00a0perennial complaint about our \u201ccrumbling infrastructure<\/a><\/em><\/span>,\u201d\u00a0and the unvaccinated (further thoughts on that below). This presidency will feature minimal attention on problems that Democrats think are inconvenient for their agenda \u2014 inflation, crime, the continuing migrant surge at the border that in some places is\u00a0288 percent higher than a year ago<\/a><\/em><\/span>, the Taliban taking over Afghanistan and reverting to the pre-9\/11 status quo, the\u00a0Russians hacking everything in sight<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, the\u00a0Chinese hacking everything in sight<\/a><\/em><\/span>,\u00a0American companies groveling before the whims of Beijing<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/span><\/span>…<\/strong><\/p>\n

But a problem you ignore<\/em><\/span> is not<\/em><\/span> a problem that is likely to solve itself<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

A president who is elected with a mandate to just not be like his predecessor is a president who wakes up every morning and cruises along on the vibe that his mission is already accomplished.<\/span> Biden travels around the country and the world giving speeches declaring that \u201cAmerica is back!\u201d and waits for negotiators on Capitol Hill to work out the details of yet another massive spending bill.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Biden insisted<\/em><\/span> that the surge of migrants at the border was part of a regular seasonal pattern<\/em><\/span><\/a>.<\/span> It wasn\u2019t<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Biden insisted<\/em><\/span> that \u201cThere\u2019s nobody<\/em><\/span> suggesting there\u2019s unchecked inflation on the way \u2014 no serious<\/em><\/span> economist.\u201d\u00a0You don\u2019t have to look that hard to find worried economists<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>, in part<\/em><\/span> because they thought<\/em><\/span> prices would have stabilized<\/em><\/span> by now.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Biden insisted<\/em><\/span> that he trusts \u201cthe capacity of the Afghan military, who is better trained, better equipped, and more re- \u2014 more competent in terms of conducting war.\u201d\u00a0Afghan troops are deserting their posts and fleeing across the border to Pakistan<\/a><\/em><\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Biden turns 79 in four months. Today, he\u2019ll be making remarks to commemorate the 31st anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.<\/span> That\u2019s a perfectly fine thing to do, but it is not particularly connected to any of the pressing issues in the country right now<\/em><\/span>. If the administration wants to argue that the pace of the president\u2019s schedule will naturally slow in midsummer, fine.<\/span> But if the Biden team is wondering why\u00a0a majority of Americans are pessimistic about the coming year after being much more optimistic just two months ago<\/a><\/em><\/span>, perhaps our fellow citizens are realizing (belatedly<\/em><\/span>!)<\/span> that this White House\u2019s first response to a thorny problem<\/em><\/span> is to insist it isn\u2019t really a problem<\/em><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

But hey, it\u2019s great weather for ice cream.<\/span> (Perhaps we shouldn\u2019t be surprised to find a ice-cream-obsessed presidency in a man whose campaign spent $7,724.64 on\u00a0institutions with \u201cice cream\u201d in their names<\/a><\/span><\/em><\/span>\u00a0during the 2020 campaign.)<\/strong><\/span>“<\/p>\n

\u00a0It’s life imitating art, dear friends…<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0