My mother was as tough as an old bar of iron. Anytime I worked up the guts to ask her, “Why”, she’d stab me in the chest with her bony finger and hiss back, “Because I said so, that’s why!” And I’d instantly plop back down into my lowly place—but at least she respected me enough to answer my question, which is more than I can say for Joe Biden.

As deplorables watched in dumbfounded disbelief, the Biden administration oversaw the largest surge in immigration in U.S. history: More than 8 million immigrants crossed the border, many with criminal records and violent gang affiliations. America’s foreign-born population now makes up a record 15.2% of the population, surpassing the previous high of 14.8% in 1890. The influx was so astronomical and the impact on cities was so devastating that even the agitprop media very, very occasionally acknowledged that it was just possible that maybe, perhaps something a little odd might be happening at the border.

Obviously, the policy was manifestly insane and did lasting damage to America and its standing in the world. But what really irked many of us deplorables was the administration’s utter disrespect for us: they increased our population by several percentage points with people they knew nothing about, yet deemed the American electorate unworthy of an explanation.

There was never a presidential address from the Oval Office laying out the case for an open border. Biden never went on a Sunday show and argued for it. No intense presidential press conference where Biden’s feet were held to the fire. Nothing. Ever. 

And that’s how it was with every controversial decision.

Deplorables wondered how anyone could think it’s fair for men to compete in women’s sports, particularly after seeing all the videos of mediocre male athletes crushing elite female competitors. But Biden never explained why he proposed a rule that would extend Title IX protections to “transgender” athletes, or why he signed an executive order that allowed them to compete in women’s sports.

Deplorables also wondered why the administration slow-walked civil rights investigations into colleges allowing nightmarish harassment and threats against Jewish students after the October 7th attack. It was a disgraceful, national embarrassment. The need for swift federal action to protect the basic rights of Jewish students became painfully apparent after the cluelessness of the presidents of our most elite colleges was revealed during congressional testimony. And yet, again without explanation, the administration dragged its feet.

Why didn’t Biden enforce sanctions against Iranian oil, which netted the leading state sponsor of terrorism about $35 billion annually?  Why was Biden so desperate to restart talks on another disastrous nuclear deal with Iran? Why did the Biden administration halt new approvals of clean burning liquified natural gas exports, jeopardizing nearly a million American jobs? Why did they return $6 billion in frozen Iranian assets to the mullahs a month before the October 7 attack on Israel? Why? Why? Why?

Looking back, it’s apparent that the administration’s reticence was strategic, and actually kind of brilliant. And it can be traced back to one of the first, and most shameful, of Biden’s debacles: the chaotic Afghanistan withdrawal.

When, in August 2021after 20 long years of war, Biden precipitously decided to abandon Afghanistan, Americans were appalled by the deadly incompetence of their government. When the president faced hostile questioning from Fox News, he penitently bowed his head in mid-blather and stopped speaking for several seconds. It instantly became clear to everyone that our doddering president was too senile to explain his decision.

And somewhere in the White House, a lightbulb went off over the head of one of the bright, young Ivy League grads on his staff, and a governing strategy was born: Because everyone now knew the president didn’t have the mental capacity to explain his decisions, the administration was free to do whatever inexplicable thing they wanted, and no one could expect an explanation. And that’s how it went for the next three years.

Because the Democrats still bitterly cling to all their inexplicable policies, they must pick another insentient person in 2028 from whom no one could reasonably expect an explanation for any loopy decision: I give you AOC, the next Democrat candidate for president.

Peter Merkl blogs at pmerkl.co.

Image: DonkeyHotey, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons, unaltered.