All hail your new unquestioned leaders: the unelected career mediocrities at the CDC.
That was the message out of the White House today during the daily press briefing. When asked about the possibility of endorsing new lockdowns in response to the non-crisis that is the COVID Delta variant, deputy White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre let it be known that the White House would back whatever the CDC recommended.
How’s that for leadership?
Why even bother electing a president at all? Let’s just get rid of Congress as well. Better to be ruled by unelected bureaucrats who couldn’t cut it in the private sector than have actual, accountable representation at the federal level. These lauded civil servants can even tell us when we can leave our houses, all under the faux guise of expertise.
This is nuts, and it’s the kind of thing that would normally get a politician laughed off the national stage. Of course, Joe Biden is a Democrat, and the press love being told what to do by the CDC, so there will be no reprisal for this total abdication of duty. Instead, this will be spun as “following the science,” a phrase of authority I see nowhere in the Constitution.
Here’s the thing with bureaucrats. To the extent that they should exist at all, and most shouldn’t, they exist to be told what to do and advise. They do not exist to make sweeping, rights-crushing decisions about who can and can’t go eat a restaurant. That Biden is trying to defer to these people in that way shows how completely unfit for the job he is. Leaders are elected to lead. If they can’t do that, they should step aside.
Of course, this is really about dodging responsibility. To operate as a leader is to take on the risk of possibly failing and owning the consequences of that. From these ridiculous new mask recommendations to now deferring on lockdowns, Biden is doing everything he can not be the last one holding the bag if things get worse. Democrats want to crush you while claiming it wasn’t them who actually crushed you.
I do not think the bait and switch will work, though. Voters are going to remember this inane abdication of leadership in 2022, and Democrats are going to pay the price for it. Very few people are going to tolerate new lockdowns or even the suggestion of such outside of deep blue areas. And even in those cases, I bet patience is running thin.