What do we make of Biden’s performance? He's the 'old man yells at cloud' meme

Watching presidential performance and behavior is a pastime for many, especially among those who report the news for a living, and it is important since the man occupying the Oval Office is the most powerful individual in the most powerful nation on earth.

Many in our media, however, seem to still be preoccupied with watching and reporting on our last president, Donald J. Trump, almost two years after he left office. There are, however, and increasing number of media types who have finally started to pay attention to our current president, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and for good reason.

Biden’s behavior has become increasingly erratic and sometimes outright bizarre, and that fact alone serves as a magnet for media coverage.

Biden’s instances of erratic behavior have become almost daily occurrences during public appearances: turning to shake hands with air, appearing unable to find his way offstage, losing his train of thought, and wandering aimlessly even when he is among a group.

The most disturbing trait Biden has developed is his lashing out in anger at citizens in town hall meetings, reporters asking questions on policy, and now at the American people. He has become the living personification of the Abe Simpson “Old Man Yells at Clouds” meme. Memes can be funny, but a leader of the free world who is visibly losing his edge is sad, and also very scary.

Yes, Joe Biden is an angry man. The nice guy story about him that had been sold to a gullible public for close to 50 years has turned out to be pure fantasy, like so much that the media spinmeisters have tried to sell us.

It seems that getting old is a bit like getting drunk because both conditions tend to bring out those frustrations and anger that have been pent up for years. Biden’s anger has been on full display lately and seems to be directed like a fire hose at half of the American electorate.

His recent speech, held in Philadelphia against a backdrop bathed in a hellish red glow, was used to attack and define “MAGA Republicans” as the enemy. British commentator Niles Gardiner summed up the speech best, stating on Twitter, “Joe Biden’s address in Philadelphia tonight is one of the most menacing, bitter, angry, and divisive speeches in modern US political history. Hard to believe that a US president can stoop to this level, condemning tens of millions of Americans as enemies and a threat to democracy.”

The Biden administration tried to sell this naked attack on Americans as a presidential address, complete with two U.S. Marines standing guard behind him, but even his friends in the liberal media didn’t buy it, refusing to give it free airtime as is customary with past presidential speeches.

The real problem is that having a president who isn’t in firm control of himself can lead to disastrous consequences for the country. It might not be so bad if Biden was surrounded by a team of solid pros, but the opposite is true.

You can start with his vice president, Kamala Harris, and then go down through the cabinet one by one, and you literally can’t find anyone who is qualified or good at their job.

That shows up in the downward direction the country is taking in every area: aimless foreign policy, a broken military, an economy that is in recession and getting worse, home mortgage rates that have tripled, a border that is out of control, crime eating away at our society, and inflation that has gone from 1.4% in January 2021 to 8.3% today. And no, it wasn’t the war in Ukraine, because inflation was at 7.9% before that started.

America is in trouble, and our president is oblivious or in outright denial of our problems, preferring instead to lash out against anyone who doesn’t march in lockstep with his and his party’s destructive policies. The state of the nation in general and of the economy in particular is so bad that it makes the late 1970s under Jimmy Carter seem like “the good ol’ days,” and the worst is yet to come.

The prospect of the greatest nation on earth being led to its destruction by someone who may be incompetent is a frightening scenario. It is so frightening that only one scenario could be worse: that the destruction of the America we know and love is no accident, but intentional and planned.

Dwight Weidman is a resident of Greene Township and is a graduate of Shepherd University. He is retired from the United States Department of Defense, where his career included assignments In Europe, Asia and Central America. He has been in leadership roles for the Republican Party in two states, most recently serving two terms as Chairman of the Franklin County Republican Party. Involved in web publishing since 1996, he is the publisher of The Franklin County Journal. He has been an Amateur Radio Operator since 1988, getting his first license in Germany, and is a past volunteer with both Navy and Army MARS, Military Auxiliary Radio Service, and is also an NRA-certified firearms instructor.

This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: What do we make of Biden’s performance? It's not good