When Biden came to Rome empty-handed, it showed that the United States really couldn't do it

Text/Walking Stuka

On October 29, Air Force One landed at the Rome airport in Italy, and Biden and the first lady stepped off the plane, at this moment, his heart was heavy. As planned, he should have arrived in Rome the day before and had a good talk with Pope Francis; but he eventually postponed the talks and went to Congress to beg the grand masters to put aside the party and allow him to travel to Italy for the G20 summit with a decent big infrastructure strategy and bill. However, Biden's last efforts failed.

When Biden arrived in Italy, CNN, the Associated Press, the Daily Beast and other media reported on Biden's fiasco in Congress. That morning, Biden presented a $1.75 trillion climate framework agreement in Congress and called on lawmakers to support another supporting bill, the $1 trillion infrastructure bill that has been shelved. At the meeting, Biden admitted that the United States is in a crisis of diplomatic credibility, and if he goes to Italy empty-handed, the prestige of the United States will be weakened; he even uses the words "the whole world wants to know if the United States is okay" to beg the big bosses to raise their hands and pull him; finally Biden left a sentence :Either let the United States continue to lead the world, or let the world surpass the United States."

House Speaker Pelosi also cheered for Biden, describing the round of voting as a vote of confidence in Biden in Congress and calling on Democrats to "not embarrass the president", and even made major concessions to the bill, eliminating some of the core provisions proposed by Biden; although the self-styled "progressive" Democrats were angry, Democrats representing "moderates" wanted to pass the infrastructure clause first; CNN commented that Biden's announcement of the bill before the trip was a big gamble." He either went to see other leaders after a major legislative victory or left empty-handed. ”

After difficult negotiations and compromises, Biden finally got a result on Air Force One: Democrats gave up voting and did not embarrass Biden too much, but Biden still got nothing.

Biden has just handed over the worst economic report card since the recovery of the epidemic, his approval rating has plummeted from more than 60% half a year ago to about 40% and most importantly, four months ago he went to Europe with the slogan "The United States is back", and then gave Europe a series of sticks: from the withdrawal of Troops from Afghanistan to the pit of NATO, to the formation of "AUKUS" pit the European Union, some European scholars frankly said, "For Europe, this is a sobering four and a half months." They have now recognized that the continuity of U.S. first policy is much stronger than they thought. ”

According to the original plan, Biden wanted to participate in the G20 summit with a $1 trillion infrastructure plan and a $1.75 trillion climate framework agreement to prove to the world that he could both take care of the country and lead the world; but now the rest of the world does not care: everyone knows that even if Biden brings these two bills, the United States' leadership responsibility for the world will be only empty commitments; and more and more countries will realize that there is a country that is more qualified and responsible to become the new leader than the United States.

The United States as a "lighthouse" has dimmed for many reasons, and partisanship is only one of them; in the final analysis, the United States is originally built on the basis of colonial plunder, and "cheating, lying, and stealing" is the real "American spirit."

Biden pleaded with congressional masters to prove that "the United States can do it", if the United States really can, then there is no need to deliberately prove itself; when the United States can't do it, no matter what method can prove that the United States can do it; when Biden comes to Rome empty-handed, it means that the United States really can't do it!