Write opening sentence — make it catchy. When President Joe Biden appeared at a sideline event at the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia, he had a familiar friend at his side. End opening paragraph.
Increase reader curiosity. In fact, it’s an old friend who’s made a number of appearances by his side during his presidency — so many appearances that it has many wondering whether Biden has the mental wherewithal to carry on as president.
Introduce the facts. During the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment event on Monday, Biden was spotted carrying…
Wait, sorry. Silly me. Here I was, actually typing out the cheat-sheet I used to guide me through my commentary pieces. What an embarrassment; airing this stuff out makes me look unprofessional and incompetent.
Imagine if our president did something like this. Oh, wait — that’s exactly what I was going to talk about when I interrupted myself! Quite the coincidence, indeed. Embarrassment all around.
So, yes, back to introducing the facts: On Tuesday, Biden was at the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment event with a sheet of paper in his hand.
Getty Images, which got a picture of the sheet, described it as a “document outlining proceedings” at the event. It turned out to be a little more than that, however.
Your daily Joe Moment: Biden’t manual of instruction and cheat sheet of what to do at Bali G20. Remarkably detailed block letters step-by-step for the leader of the Free World: pic.twitter.com/bpfGUKa2Ua
— Bashkarma? (@Karmabash) November 17, 2022
Here’s a list of the instructions on the card:
Does it concern you that Biden needs a cheat sheet?
- YOU, President Widodo [Indonesia], and Prime Minister Kishida [Cambodia] will take a photo directly before the event starts.
- YOU will sit at the center, front tables alongside President Widodo and President von der Leyen [President of the EU].
- Photos will be taken of the leaders seated around the table.
- President Widodo delivers remarks (5 minutes) and introduces YOU.
- YOU will deliver opening remarks (5 minutes), then introduce President von der Leyen.
Biden accidentally CAUGHT again taking list of commands from his handlers like a puppy:
“YOU… will take a photo”
“YOU will sit”
“YOU will deliver opening remarks” pic.twitter.com/70ZJ3uSrXr
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 16, 2022
I WILL mock President Biden (2-3 paragraphs more) and then deal with the serious implications of these “cheat sheets” (rest of the piece)
So, yes, apparently the putative leader of the free world needs to be told the leaders of other major regional and supranational powers before sitting down and doing things. This is basically a game of “The Sims,” only with your character being the president of the United States — and a dimming bulb, at that.
At the very least, it wasn’t a teleprompter. Those couldn’t be any easier, yet … well, look:
BIDEN: “Help turbocharge the emer—the ener, the, the—excuse me—turbocharge the emerging global clean ener—clean energy economy.”
“I was reading their quote. Sorry.” pic.twitter.com/3XFbJN9BqU
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 11, 2022
Joe Biden finishes reading a sentence from the teleprompter with “…end of quote. Repeat the line.”pic.twitter.com/haS5pIldDh
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) July 8, 2022
The problem, of course, is that this isn’t the first time such a cheat sheet has made an appearance:
Biden uses cheat sheet with officials’ names and pics as he visits Louisiana to tour Hurricane Ida damage https://t.co/cZSOHRYBSJ via @newscomauHQ
— robynne morton (@mortonrobynne1) September 4, 2021
Biden used cheat sheet while doubling down on unscripted message to oust Putin https://t.co/gb4XYFuybB pic.twitter.com/wTIYeyq26Z
— New York Post (@nypost) March 28, 2022
Biden had to have “I was not articulating a change in policy” written verbatim on a notecard so he wouldn’t screw it up… and he still screwed it up pic.twitter.com/OvEwlHQVry
— Jake Schneider (@jacobkschneider) March 28, 2022
It’s bad enough when he gets caught with these things at domestic events without other foreign heads of state present. G20 summits, however, are globalized pressure cookers, where preening world leaders try to establish a pecking order.
If you don’t think weakness at one of these things matters — especially in the age of increased journalistic access, cellphones and social media — witness Canadian Prime Minister Justin “Peoplekind” Trudeau getting humiliated by Chinese President Xi Jinping on camera:
BREAKING: Chairman Xi dresses down Justin Trudeau like a junior employee for leaking their private conversation to the media. Trudeau can barely walk after pic.twitter.com/QlRtbiBSIg
— Jack Posobiec ?? (@JackPosobiec) November 16, 2022
You feel bad enough for Trudeau that you wish someone could have shared a dose of “toxic masculinity” with the guy, just so he had a shred of any masculinity.
At the very least, however, Trudeau didn’t have a cheat sheet to make the abject disgrace that much more acute. In Biden’s case, it’s hard to see how a confrontation with Xi would go, but one gets the feeling he’d need some sage tutelage to get through it. (“You WILL NOT call President Xi ‘Corn Pop’ or a ‘lying dog-faced pony soldier.’”)
When Joe Biden ends up looking weaker on the global stage than Justin Trudeau, there’s an issue. Not only that, it yet again confirms what the media dare not speak, but which we already know: This is a man on a precipitous mental decline who can easily be taken advantage of by the rest of the world. And yet, he says he still wants to serve in the White House for another term.
End with a pithy zinger that sums up the piece. At least, that’s what his cheat sheet is apparently telling him.
