Legendary Christian writer C.S. Lewis gave us an analogy to help explain otherwise inexplicable moments such as this.
Tolerance, Lewis once wrote, “parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.”
In a clip posted to the social media platform X on Tuesday, Israeli journalist and White House correspondent Neria Kraus asked President Joe Biden whether he thought he could secure a hostage deal before the end of his term, prompting a reply from the octogenarian president that should make decent people everywhere long for the not-too-distant day when Biden’s reign of flippancy will come to a merciful end.
Do you stand with Israel?
“Do you think that you can get hit in the head by the camera behind you?” the president replied.
Yes, he actually said that.
To allay any confusion on the reader’s part, the president did not make that comment as a show of concern. For instance, had Kraus’s head appeared poised to collide with a camera, and had Biden spared her the collision by warning her of it before proceeding to answer her question, then he would have come across as human.
Instead, the next words out of the president’s mouth revealed his true intention.
“All right. Thank you all,” he said, thereby signaling the end of question-and-answer time.
In other words, Biden asked Kraus about the camera as a show of disdain for her and her question.
I asked President Biden if he thinks that he can get a hostage deal done by the end of his term. He answered, commenting on the number of cameramen in the room: “do you think that you can get hit in the head by the camera behind you?” pic.twitter.com/B3DCJoHdaw
— Neria Kraus (@NeriaKraus) November 12, 2024
Much has been written about Biden’s cognitive decline — so much so, in fact, that it hardly bears repeating.
By contrast, we have paid little attention to a toxic element in Biden’s personality that manifests from time to time. Namely, the president has a flippant streak.
For instance, recall Biden’s unfathomably callous “no comment” when asked about the lethal August 2023 wildfires in Maui, Hawaii.
Likewise, remember the creepy smile he flashed when told that former President Donald Trump had characterized himself as a political prisoner under the Biden regime.
In short, the president’s flippancy — perhaps more than any other aspect of his character — has shaped his failed administration.
Kraus asked him about the hostages seized by Hamas at the outset of its ongoing war against Israel. Clearly, she expected the president to treat that subject with the seriousness it deserves.
Of course, a president who worked hard to bring peace and to serve the country he loved — a serious man like Trump, for instance — would not rest until he reached the sort of deal Kraus described.
Conversely, a flippant man would treat his job flippantly. He might, for instance, spend most of his presidency on vacation. Then, when forced to at least give the appearance of working, he might treat serious questions with disdain.
Biden gives the impression of being a truly miserable man who conceals his deep unhappiness by trying to be funny at inappropriate times. Remember: Flippancy parodies merriment.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has failed the entire world, including the people of the Middle East.
But we should not pretend that that failure stems primarily, or even largely, from the president’s cognitive decline.
Instead, we should view Biden’s catastrophic presidency at least in part as an outgrowth of his flippancy.
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