You just cannot make this stuff up … and no, this is not a satirical piece from The Onion.
You may recall that President Biden declined the traditional invitation for the President of the United States to have 20-plus minutes of free airtime in conjunction with the Super Bowl. That would have provided him with an opportunity to sell whatever message he had to one of the largest television audiences ever. Ah! Maybe they were concerned about CAUSING a national disaster if they unleashed him for so long – at least a disaster from the perspective of Team Biden.
Regardless, Biden passed up a golden opportunity to sell his snake oil policies and rose-colored-glasses view of his accomplishments. Most politicians with messages to sell would have jumped at the chance. We are right to be suspicious of why the obviously aging Biden took a pass.
That decision was called essentially boneheaded by a number of Democrat cheerleader-pundits, including James Carville, David Axelrod, Joe Scarborough and Michael Steele. Of course, the reason was obvious. Biden’s handlers were concerned that he would demonstrate his cognitive decline in one (or more) of those “senior moments.” From what we have seen so far, that might be considered good judgment.
Weeeell … This is where the story switches from fear to farce. Instead of a primetime address to the nation, Biden opted for … (are you ready for this?) … a scripted message on social media about … (brace yourself) …” shrinkage.” No, it was not dealing with his latest medical examination. He even gave it a name … “shrinkflation.” After the failure of his “Bidenomics” branding, one would think they would be a little more careful.
This was not about a plan to shrink inflation. That would have made sense. Rather Biden was using the presidential bully pulpit to rail against the ever-decreasing quantity of food in the retail packages. Recognizing that he was putting out his message coincidental to the Super Bowl, Biden expressed his complaints in terms of what we commonly call junk food – the stuff that is not good for us, but we love it anyway. He expressed his ominous concerns from the White House viewing room next to a pile of snack foods. I assume it was supposed to look like he was ready to watch the game.
(Incidentally, the most prominent package in the front was Oreo cookies, which is number one on the dieticians’ hit list – and my favorite junk food. In fact, the table next to Biden looked like my pantry. But I digress.)
This White House video appeared on Tic Tok. TIC TOK? Isn’t that the Chinese owned social platform that can be used to spy on us – a platform that we are advised against using and Biden has banned for government workers? The answer to the question is “yes.”
Then there is the subject itself. Of all the things Biden could have used his bully pulpit to address, why the reduction in content of retail food packages? If he wanted to subtly remind the American people that he is an elderly person, that is the subject to choose. That is what old people talk about. It is not a GenZ topic. That is because we older folks have been talking about shrinking content for more than 50 years – back to the days when public discourse first focused on “the incredible shrinking Hershey bar.”
Biden had no policies, proposals or Executive Orders to address the problem he raised. But he was very firm and forceful in his condemnation of food manufacturers for “pulling a fast one” on the public – just as only an old person would describe it. He looked squarely into the cameras and told the food companies to … “stop it.” Not even the creation of a new bureaucratic commission to investigate the problem. He did not assign Vice President Harris to be the Shrinkflation Czar. Just, “Stop it.” (Methinks that was similar to what he told Vladimir Putin when the Madman of Moscow invaded Ukraine.)
Like many of Biden’s efforts to get ahead on an issue – such as Bidenomics, the Hur Report and claiming Trump is also old – this one has a backwash. It reminds folks back home of the larger problem – inflation. While he seems to be saying you are paying more for less, consumers will hear “paying more” and that is just what Biden should not be reminding folks of these days.
Perhaps it is only an analyst like me who would have noticed something odd about the video. It was rather short, BUT it was sliced into even shorter segments – or “cuts.” That suggests that Biden was not getting out more than a sentence or two before they had to stop shooting. He was either flubbing or he could not do impromptu for more than a short spurt. Was Biden using his teleprompter? For most politicians, the Biden video would have been one-take off the top of their heads.
It is hard to understand how a guy with all the staff and professional help he has could possibly have produced such an embarrassing – but funny — video. I am not sure what the goal was, but what came across was a grumpy old man complaining about the number of Oreos in the package. Biden might as well have said, (think weak raspy voice and shaking a finger) “In my, day sonny, we had a lot more chips in one of those bags.”
Washington has his farewell speech to his troops. Lincoln has the Gettysburg Address. Roosevelt has the “day in infamy speech.” Reagan had the “tear down this wall” speech. And now history has Biden’s “Shrinkflation Address.”
This video could have been performed on Saturday Night Live without any editing. – and it probably should have been.
So, there ‘tis.