BY BILL JUNEAU
There is some real hustle among the liberal news media to demonstrate the resolute and able acuity of President Biden as he participated in a G-7 meeting and then had a one-on-one with Russian strongman, Vladimir Putin, in Geneva, Switzerland, longtime site of history-making summits.
But though the one-sided media is trying its best to portray Biden as the world's alpha dog, there is no circumventing the reality show put on by the gaffe-ridden, slow-witted Biden, and the mean, but smart Putin whose popularity with the people of Russia is notable, although in America the former KGB agent is not exactly admired.
So what are the facts? Biden was protected from any annoying inquiries from the world press. For the record, nothing really happened to solve problems, reduce tensions or change the state of global affairs during his time overseas. He was at the G-7 roundtable, but showed no brilliance in leadership; blew off royal protocol by arriving late to meet the queen of England and spoke to President Putin for about three hours with no headline news coming out of the talks. Putin denied any cyber security breaches and Biden warned the U.S. has hackers, too, who could be called on to get back at the Russians. Biden came home on Air Force One and waved to the fawning media, which cheered his performance as a job well done.
The first globe-trotting visit for America's 46th President commenced on Friday, June 13th, with participation in the G-7 meeting of officials from seven economically strong nations, along with guest officials from various countries, in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. Biden was true to form, and lived up to his title as the Lamborghini of Gaffes. But mostly his confusion was harmless, and even helped lighten the atmosphere, although his bumbling likely did little to bolster his reputation among fellow leaders.
The G-7 got going as the hosting Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, introduced participants at the roundtable, and that included the formal introduction of a guest, Cyril Ramaphosa, of South Africa. And as the group began delving into global concerns, Biden "ahemed," and interrupted the conversation noting that President Ramaphosa needed to be introduced, indicating that Boris Johnson had blown it by overlooking him. "And the president of South Africa is President Ramaphosa," said Biden.
Prime Minister Johnson, somewhat irked, quickly interjected: "As I said earlier, this is President Ramaphosa."
"Oh, you did?" said Biden. "Yes, I did.....I certainly did," said Johnson. Participants had a good laugh at Biden's memory gaffe, and the befuddled Biden himself then demonstrated his good nature and joined in for a spot of laughter.
G-7 officials represented seven of the largest and wealthiest countries with the most advanced economies in the world. Summits of G-7 groups, and sometimes eight, have been held annually since early 1970s to focus upon global concerns and solutions.
The 2021 G-7 two day meeting concluded on the following Sunday. A joint communique was issued which summed up accomplishments, stressing the need for drastic action to end the pandemic and to counter China.
In a Biden press conference after G-7 talks, Biden hastened to tell newsmen and women of discussions pertaining to potential mutual help by America and Russia for Libya. President Biden told of the possibility of working with Russia to provide "vital assistance to Libya, a population that's really in trouble."
On at least three occasions he spoke of the plight of Libya. But there were puzzled looks from reporters and staffers, and President Biden was reminded that he was mistaking Lybia for Syria, which was the target of potential assistance. Reportedly, he received a good deal of needling on twitter for his faux pas, but in the end it all got straightened out. It was a Biden gaffe, which is not unusual when Joe Biden is at the mike.
Following G-7, the President headed for tea and a tete a tete with Queen Elizabeth at the 1,000- year- old Windsor castle.
Attired in a bright pink floral outfit, the monarch warmly greeted the smiling Biden who was wearing his aviator sunglasses and was a bit late to the scheduled meeting. Unfortunately, the American President overlooked the protocol required when in the presence of English royalty. Wearing sunglasses is not proper when meeting the queen, and the gaffe drew criticism. But then, the President with his shades and the 95-year-old Queen of England had a pleasant and private talk over tea, away from irritating newsmen whose presence might put a damper on an open conversation.
Arriving at the Heathrow airport, Biden told newsmen in his stumbling, horse whispering style, of his visit with the Queen. "We had a great talk. She wanted to know what the two leaders that I -- the one I'm about to meet with, Mr. Putin, and she wanted to know about Xi Jinping from China, and we had a long talk," Biden explained.
"I don't think she'll be insulted, but she reminded me of my mother," he added. (Hey Joe, conversations with British royalty are traditionally not for public consumption, and violations are considered a breach of trust.) From the United Kingdom, he headed to Geneva and a meeting with Vladimir Putin of Russia, for which, according to his wife, Jill, he had spent many hours in study and preparation. He is completely on his A-game, she advised reporters, and ready to go toe-to-toe with Mr. Putin.
Presidents Biden and Putin met for several hours of discussions and afterwards, contrary to past summits, held separate news conferences. One can only imagine the befuddled Biden on stage next to Putin and being asked questions by newsmen without any desire to protect the American President from being showcased as incompetent--and adrift.
Biden advised newsmen that he had told Putin that Russia was to refrain from cyber attacks on 16 entities. He gave a list of "off limit" targets to President Putin, he said. He offered to give the list to reporters at the press conference, but he dug into his pockets and said he could not find it at that time. But he emphasized that Russian cyber attacks on the sixteen were an absolute no no.
Learning of the 16 spots which are "off limit" to Russian cyber attack has prompted various TV reporters to wonder if attacks on entities not on the list are permissible. Perhaps one day these media mouths might actually put Biden on the spot by asking him that.
At his news conference, one reporter asked him if he was, looking back on their discussions, confident that Putin has now changed his attitude for the better. The innocuous question seemed to annoy the President, and he scolded the CNN reporter for asking negative questions based on inaccurate facts. Biden told the newswoman to get it straight: he "hoped" that Putin would hear him and change his attitude for the better, but that he was not "confident" that he would change.
The two world leaders remained miles apart on the subject of cyber attacks and ransomware, with Putin adamantly insisting Russia was not responsible for cyber attacks on America and did not interfere in the 2016 or 2020 elections. American intelligence agencies have said that Russia is not telling the truth.
According to reports from the Associated Press, Biden and Putin have agreed to return their nation's ambassadors to their posts in Washington and in Moscow.
The leaders apparently did not discuss, and if they did, did not agree to the release of Paul Whelan who has been imprisoned in Russia for espionage and is serving a 16-year sentence. Arrested in 2018, Whelan, a former Marine, insists that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, and that he was in Russia to attend a friend's wedding--and was set up.
However the meeting must have accomplished something, because Biden has apparently changed his opinion of Putin from being a "killer," to being a "worthy adversary," and he reportedly nodded in the affirmative to a reporter's question, "did he trust Putin." Biden's staffers have said that the press has misinterpreted the President's nod, as it was a response to another question.
Putin said that he and President Biden have agreed to begin negotiating on nuclear talks. He said that he considered the summit "efficient and substantive." Biden has said that he thinks "the last thing that he (Putin) wants is a Cold War."
Americans saw their confused President in action as he violated protocols, made numerous gaffes, told of his trust for Putin and failed to obtain any commitment that would ease tensions between the nations.
Seeing his performance at the summits, a former White House physician to Presidents Obama and Trump has sent Biden a letter demanding that he take a cognitive test as Americans need to know if their President is competent. All in all, it's pretty clear that with his diminished acuity and lack of finesse, he is certainly no star on the world stage.
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