WORDS: 667 —  I generally like Biden and because of his years in politics combined with a human empathy I find him perfect as the followup President to the completely chaotic Trump years.  He will provide a measure of calm, traditional, and steadfast governance the country needs right now… even if he doesn’t get all the things done that he promised.  Maybe his role is simply to right the ship and the next person sets the course.  But being Mr. Warmth domestically doesn’t mean being the Trump Apologist to the world.

It seems Biden’s speech to the attendees of the international climate community in Glasgow yesterday included the following apology…

“I shouldn’t apologize, but I do apologize for the fact the United States, the last administration, pulled out of the Paris Accords and put us sort of behind the eight ball a little bit.”

No question I think Trump has been, and continues to be, the most singular clear and present danger to the security of the nation, and should take responsibility for all the shady and illegal subterfuge against democracy and the Constitution.  BUT…. it’s one thing for a U.S. president to admonish the ills of a previous administration.  That’s politics, and that’s American domestic politics.  I do NOT agree in any sense that an American president needs to apologize to any other country for the policies of a former president, much less our actions as a nation.  Never.  I do not recall that Biden ran on the premise of being the Trump Apologist to the World.

Now, of course I know where Biden is coming from and I do realize his empathic nature to seek positive relationships and I accept that is his strength.  But when a president deals with foreign powers he acts as an emissary of the American people, representing the personification of all that is American morality, adherence to human freedoms, and proponent of American democracy.  His presence in essence, is the carrying of our flag forward which represents the spirit that is us.  Just as the flag is never dipped in the presence of other nations.. nor shall our president lower his/her head to any international leader beyond accepted protocols.

Trump was inept… but that is only for domestic consumption.  A sitting president should never apologize to the international community for the policies, good or bad, of a duly elected predecessor.  This singular issue is my greatest objection to Obama when he went on his “world apology tour”, apologizing for all of America’s international policies that made people suffer.. from Cuba, to Japan and our using the bomb, Vietnam, etc.  Sure, he wanted to redefine a “new” American future.. but groveling to the international community is not the way to do that.  America should never “grovel” internationally.  Now.. accepting a measure of responsibility for outcomes, especially as it relates to human suffering, is one thing.  Our policies often represent a “here & now” of the current moment to impose a policy to rectify an immediate concern.  There’s nothing wrong in accepting a responsibility for certain outcomes even decades later… but we should never apologize to the international community.  I think one of the most appropriate responses that all of the Free world can certainly understand, if not readily identify with, is what Biden himself stated back during the 2020 election… “Democracy is sometimes messy and requires a little patience.”.  I rather like General Milley’s response on that now infamous phone call to his counterpart in China to assure them China was not going to be attacked… “Democracy can be sloppy.”

My last post  discussed the lack of visionary “heroes” and loss of any unified collective American will, spirit, and moral compass.  This Biden apology simply adds to that idea of a diminished American pride.  It appalls me to seem like I am defending Trump.. but in fact I am defending that American pride we once had, and my continued faith in our Constitution.  I mean, if our own leader doesn’t see it then who does?