But we Americans know better

Of course, Joe Biden campaigned largely from his basement while running for president of the United States. Many in the media, including The Washington Times, referred to him as “Hidin’ Biden” as a result. He’s already spent 28 percent of his first year as commander-in-chief in his home back in Delaware.

So, it comes as little surprise that he spent his first year in office hidin’ and holding fewer press conferences than any of his five immediate predecessors in their first year in office. You’d have to go back to Jimmy Carter’s presidency to find a president who gave fewer media interviews than Joe Biden – Biden gave just 22 media interviews last year (less than two per month).

So, when Biden recently held a rare news conference in the East Room of the White House, it was a “big (expletive) deal,” which is what Biden loudly whispered to President Obama (and to the country on “live” national TV) during a signing ceremony for Obamacare in 2015.

Although Biden usually calls on reporters from a list pre-approved (by his staff) and has often said he will get in trouble if he called on reporters his team did not approve in advance, he apparently threw caution to the wind. He took his first question from a reporter who, after detailing some of the most challenging issues facing our country, asked Biden if he “overpromised” to the American people about what was possible during his first year in office.

“I didn’t overpromise,” Biden said, “but I have, probably, outperformed what anybody thought [would’ve] happened.”

And President Biden is right. He’s outperformed what we feared would happen.

He said he would “shut down the virus, not the economy.” Yet, it’s the economy that has effectively been shut down by rising inflation, supply chain issues leading to bare shelves, and rising unemployment. The virus has flourished as more Americans died in 2021 from the virus than in 2020.

He said, “I don’t think [vaccine mandates] should be mandatory,” and then proceeded to dictate an unconstitutional employer mandate regarding the vaccine. Forty-five million Americans were threatened with the possible loss of their jobs, not to mention the untold cost to struggling small businesses that employ nearly one-half of all Americans.

He promised he would bring the country together, explaining how his “whole soul” was in uniting us. With the exception that Americans are united in their dismal approval of Biden’s presidency, 67% of Americans believe the country has grown more divided during Biden’s first year in office. He has stoked an “us” versus “them” mentality in nearly every policy advanced by his administration. Remember how he addressed the unvaccinated in our country: “We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin.”

We were told “no new taxes” for Americans making less than $400,000, but we knew better. Out-of-control government spending – just look at his $5 trillion “Build Back Better Act” – will necessarily raise taxes on many middleclass households (according to the leftleaning Tax Policy Center). And recordhigh inflation is taxing lower-income Americans (which he promised during the campaign to help the most).

We were promised that our exit out of Afghanistan would be done “responsibly, deliberately and safely.” We knew that an administration that would prioritize political correctness in our military over combat readiness and more concerned with the “optics” would likely lead to all hell breaking loose in hot spots like Afghanistan. And it did. American service members were killed, $80 billion of American military weaponry fell into the hands of terrorists, and innocent Afghani citizens were executed in the streets amid the chaos.

And don’t even get us started about how we left hundreds, many say thousands of Americans, behind enemy lines in Afghanistan, after promising, “We’re going to stay until we get [all Americans] out [of Afghanistan].”

Biden also promised, “[I will] end the opioid crisis.” But we knew better. How can you have an open border with Mexico, allowing a surge of illegal drugs to flow into our nation, and end the opioid crisis at the same time? You can’t. That’s why we have reached an all-time high opioid death under Biden. (Border agents say that only about 10 to 15 percent of illegal drugs are confiscated).

And remember when Biden said, “I will not … use the Justice Department as my vehicle to insist that something happen.” But we knew better after seeing how the Justice Department surveilled President (then candidate) Trump’s phone calls and conspired against him in both his campaign and his presidency. Instead of what Biden promised, his DOJ went after Georgia’s election integrity laws and ordered the FBI to target parents (as “domestic terrorists”) when they spoke up at school board meetings regarding Critical Race Theory and mask mandates.

You see, millions of us knew better. We knew this would happen.

And that’s why, sadly, Biden is right – he has “outperformed” what anybody thought would’ve happened. But not in a good way, and he’s just getting started.

Louis R. Avallone is a Shreveport businessman, attorney and author of “Bright Spots, Big Country, What Makes America Great.” He is also a former aide to U.S. Representative Jim McCrery and editor of The Caddo Republican. His columns have appeared regularly in 318 Forum since 2007. Follow him on Facebook, on Twitter @louisravallone or by e-mail at louisavallone@mac.com, and on American Ground Radio at 101.7FM and 710 AM, weeknights from 6 - 7 p.m., and streaming live on keelnews.com.