With apologies to an old television comedy, the week that was in America was no laughing matter.
On Wednesday, President Biden asked a crowd whether a dead lawmaker, Indiana Republican Jackie Walorski, was in the audience.
“Jackie, are you here? Where’s Jackie? I didn’t think she was — she wasn’t going to be here,” Biden said.
Walorski and two aides died in an August car crash. At the time, the White House issued a condolence statement in the president’s name.
The next day, it was Vice President Kamala Harris’ turn to play the village idiot. Make that the global village idiot.
After touring the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea, the vice president forgot whose side we’re on.
“The United States shares a very important relationship, which is an alliance with the Republic of North Korea,” Harris said. “It is an alliance that is strong and enduring.”
A crucial run-up to elections is the battle to set the terms of the debate. Poll after poll shows that inflation, the economy, crime and immigration are at the top of most voters’ lists.
This is bad news for Biden and his party because they have no answers for any of those problems, most of which they created or allowed to fester. And time is not on their side, with signs suggesting everything could get worse before Election Day.
In that case, their only hope is the shiny object theory of politics, which involves trying to distract voters’ attention from the core issues. And so at every level, Dems are campaigning on Donald Trump, Jan. 6, and abortion.
Or as Biden puts it, MAGA, MAGA, MAGA!
That might work in selected swing districts, but even with the help of Big Media and Big Tech, Dems won’t be able to hide the fact that at home and abroad, America faces a heap of trouble.