President gave a speech yesterday, August 26th, a little after 5PM. If you haven’t watched it, you should pull it up on whichever video provider you use. I had a few takeaways.
- It quickly became apparent that Biden was reading off a teleprompter. One teleprompter. I can see how it would be preferential to look at the camera instead of using three teleprompters to move your head left and right. Different optics, right? He was talking to the American people and not the reporters. How do I know though? Biden had that 1,000 yard stare from the start. He also squinted at the teleprompter a few times. His tone and cadence were also at times flat. Not that big of deal on one front because it is an important speech. However, I can guarantee you that Biden did not write that speech and I question how much input he had into it. I think a politician of over 50 years should be able to give heart felt condolences to the country without assistance of the teleprompter. And for some reason I can’t verbalize right now, a teleprompted, scripted call for a moment of silence just rubs me wrong.
- The most significant thing happened right after he completed his teleprompter in chief phase of the speech. His first words off script were, “They instructed me on who to ask questions from.” And then he proceeded to ask for the first reporter off an actual written list. It is very disconcerting to realize the people surrounding Biden don’t believe he has the smarts and/or sense to be able to pick who asks what. But my biggest question is, “Who are the “They” that has the power to “instruct” the President of the United States on anything much less something as mundane as which reporter can ask a question?”. I firmly believe we have a right to know who Biden believes can instruct him. I am sure he would say it was just a poor choice of words but I would disagree. Biden threw it out there as a throw away joke line, but jokes are too often rooted in truth.
Random Thoughts 