News consumers learned something important last week.
Either U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is superfluous or Joe Biden is.
This realization came as we learned Austin was missing for a few days and no one appeared to notice.
The giant, inertia-filled Pentagon stayed open and colonels continued to make coffee just like always, in the absence of the person that is ostensibly in charge of running it.
Fox News is on the case and tell us, "The Pentagon is facing mounting backlash from members of the media and more over their failure to immediately disclose that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized on New Year's Day.
"Neither the National Security Council nor President Biden were aware Austin was hospitalized for multiple days, according to reports."
And the "acting" secretary of defense "remained on vacation in Puerto Rico."
While Austin was still hospitalized.
What does the term "chain of command" mean when it appears none of the commanders are communicating with each other?
To summarize: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is in the intensive care unit of a hospital. Unless he’s under heavy sedation — and who knows? He may have been — Austin should know where he is.
The acting secretary (Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks), doesn’t know Austin is hospitalized, doesn’t know where he is and she remains on vacation in Puerto Rico.
Meanwhile for our supposed commander in chief Joe Biden, among the many things he didn’t know last week is that of two top officials in the Pentagon, one is in intensive care and the other is off the mainland and evidently no one is in charge in their absence.
It almost makes you wish for a reappearance of Al Haig, so someone could claim to be in charge.
If the manager of your local Walmart was going to be gone for a few days he would certainly tell the assistant manager to take charge in his absence and would probably notify corporate of the temporary change. And the biggest threat he faces are supply chain glitches.
Our troops are under periodic attack in the Mideast, global shipping is repeatedly attacked in the Red Sea, and the man who is in charge checks out for a few days and none’s the wiser.
Do you see a problem here?
Evidently what passes for Pentagon leadership holds Joe Biden in such low regard that he’s not kept in the loop on developments at the very top of the chain of command.
This demonstrates either indifference or incompetence, and we are having trouble deciding between the two.
A real president would demand resignations.
Now. Joe Biden will worry about spicy food and irregularity.
Naturally the looters in Congress and the regime media are all in a temporary uproar.
They will huff and puff and tweet and we guarantee you nothing will change.
And that’s not just the evaluation of your humble columnists.
Secretary Austin himself, a portrait of arrogance and incompetence, informs us, "But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure."
In other words, the public can just go pound sand.
Michael Reagan, the eldest son of President Reagan, is a Newsmax TV analyst. A syndicated columnist and author, he chairs The Reagan Legacy Foundation. Michael is an in-demand speaker with Premiere speaker's bureau. Read Michael Reagan's Reports — More Here.
Michael R. Shannon is a commentator, researcher for the League of American Voters, and an award-winning political and advertising consultant with nationwide and international experience. He is author of "Conservative Christian's Guidebook for Living in Secular Times (Now With Added Humor!)" Read Michael Shannon's Reports — More Here.