Puppetmasters and Persistent Blunders

With Biden's competency in question: Who's really pulling strings?

With so many of all political stripes now questioning President Joe Biden’s competency, it makes more sense than ever to critically examine the competency of his closest advisers.

These are the people acting as a filter and funnel for information that reaches the president. They can largely deteremine what Biden does and doesn’t find out about. They are responsible for translating and implementing any of Biden’s resulting directives, when he may not be able to clearly communicate his true intentions—whatever they may be.

A week before the October 7 Islamic extremist terrorist attacks on Israel, Biden National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan was publicly bragging that the Mideast was quieter than it had been in two decades, and that he’d had to spend less time managing trouble in the region than any of his recent predecessors.

“Although the Middle East remains beset with perennial challenges, the region is quieter than it has been for decades…we have de-escalated crises in Gaza,” he stated.

It’s difficult to imagine a more out of touch assessment of one’s own work and progress.

Read on for details.

Just days after Sullivan’s assessment, the Islamic extremist group Hamas launched a terrorist attack against Israel killing at least 1,400 people. The resulting escalation and war continues today: the most serious and deadly disruption in the region in many decades.

It’s not Sullivan’s first international lapse with devastating consequences under the Biden administration. He was one of the brains behind the botched US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Thirteeen US troops and more than 100 Afghans were murdered as the Islamic extremist terrorist Taliban retook the country in August of 2021.

It’s a fair question for observers to ask: How do those who prove radically wrong on so many important fronts continue to hold the confidence of those in power? Is their role of exaggerated importance under a president that, by many accounts, cannot call the shots himself?

Sullivan, a lawyer, has been part of mis-assessments with arguably deadly consequences for a decade.

He was a key broker in President Obama’s much-criticized July 2015 Nuclear Agreement with Iran, the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism. Sullivan and supporters of the deal insisted it would help ensure Mideast peace and stability.

They were wrong.

As part of the deal, the US quietly flew $400 million in cash to Iran, with no ability for outside watchdogs to check chain of custody to verify that none was stolen along the way. Additionally, critics said that cash, along with billions of dollars worth of sactions relief included as part of the deal, would undoubtedly fuel Iran’s terrorist activities against Israel and the West.

Indeed, Iran is said to be the force behind the Islamic extremist terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah, which have become increasingly aggressive towards Israel in recent months. Analysts say without the backing of Iran, the terrorists wouldn’t be capable of making the moves they’re making now.

Sullivan was a top adviser to the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign which launched a damaging propaganda campaign against Donald Trump, falsely claiming Trump colluded with Russia and its president Vladimir Putin.

As part of the effort, Democrats hired operatives who passed along false intelligence from a Russian source to the FBI. Trump’s candidacy and much of his presidency was mired in the allegations until costly investigations ultimately disproved them. But no major figures were held to account for the false accusations.

As a top deputy to Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State, Jake Sullivan was a major figure behind the failures that led up to the September 11, 2012, Islamic extremist terrorist attacks in Benghazi, Libya that resulted in the murders of US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and 3 other Americans.

Documents later revealed that Sullivan was integral in the ensuing coverup of the terrorist nature of the attacks. He was part of the effort to falsely tell the public that the attacks were “spontaneous” and unforseen.

In fact, Ambassador Stevens had warned State Department headquarters of the impending attack, the terrorists had followed an exacting timeline they had laid out publicly, and Stevens had begged the State Department for additional security—but was repeatedly denied.

Further, officials who were part of US military assets insisted they could have helped with rescues over the many hours of the Benghazi assaults, but say they were forced to stand down.

Later, a former deputy assistant secretary of state under Clinton told me that Sullivan was one of the Clinton officials present at a “document sorting” session in the basement of the State Department ahead of subpoenaed Benghazi-related documents being turned over to Congressional investigators.

That official, Raymond Maxwell, said he observed and even briefly took part in the session, and that the goal was to separate out any “embarrassing” material.

No authority ever questioned Maxwell about what he’d witness, nor did they investigate the “sorting” session.

It makes sense to believe that, in his current condition, it’s likely that Biden relies even more heavily than ever on advice from Sullivan, perhaps leaving him free to implement key policy moves.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen

For an administration looking to place the best and brightest, observers may find the appointment of Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary as equally baffling.

In 2021, Yellen joined several Federal Reserve and Biden officials in incorrectly describing America’s inflation spike as “transitory” at a time when a large body of economists correctly said that it obviously wasn’t.

Despite that crucial misread, she apparently retained the full confidence of the Biden administration. Earlier this year, she said she “regretted” using the “transitory” description.

In recent days, Yellen was criticized after a television news interview where she seemed to bat down concerns about skyrocketing grocery prices by stating that she goes to the grocery store “every week,” and insisting she has not been shocked by the cost of food.

It’s the responsibility of the Secretary of the Treasury to devise and recommend US economic and tax policy, respond to fiscal challenges, and manage the debt.

There are few positions that are more important to get right, especially if the president lacks proficiency in economic matters.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg

In 2021, shortly after being appointed to the cabinet level post as Treasury Secretary under President Biden, Pete Buttigieg quietly took a lengthy, two month long paternity leave, without announcing it to the public before hand.

While he was away, America became embroiled in one of the most serious supply chain crises in memory: a problem that would fall under Buttigieg’s purview. He was also absent as an infrastructure bill directly related to his stewardship was stalled in Congress.

“As you might imagine, we’re bottle-feeding, and doing it at all hours of the day and night,” Buttigieg said in a later television news interview.

President Biden relies on Buttigieg to oversee 13 federal agencies, including those that manage air travel, rail travel, and highway travel.

If the president isn’t capable of making his own assessments as to how well that job is being performed, it could prove problematic.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

An explicit assignment Biden gave to Vice President Kamala Harris was to manage the escalating US border crisis as illegal immigration spiraled out of control under his presidency. Protecting the nation’s borders is also under the job definition of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Like Sullivan, Mayorkas and Harris are also lawyers.

Each apparently continues to retain Biden’s confidence as they’ve presided over and facilitated what is arguably the most failed and dangerous border policy in US history.

Is Biden in a condition to fully understand the impact his border policies are having and how well his surrogates are performing? Does he have the wherewithal to institute major personnel or assignment changes, if warranted?

The list goes on.

While nobody is perfect, it could be argued that none of the figures named here would be able to retain positions in corporations that have fiduciary duties to shareholders and customers. Officials serving in private industry tend to be under constant scrutiny and evaluation. A failure to perform, whether accidental or willful, is not generally rewarded with continued employment.

Yet, somehow, these political figures and appointees persist in holding among the most influential and powerful positions in the world. Use the same people who have made critical mistakes on many fronts, and it should be no surprise that it keeps producing poor results.

Reliance on incompetent politicos takes on added significance if the man at the top of the food chain is, himself, short on competence.