A domestic dispute was broadcast nationally this week: the President versus his White House.
In a 60 minute interview from CBS News, the power struggle between the President of the United States and the officials he is meant to direct was painfully evident.
When President Biden was asked specifically if US forces would defend the island of Taiwan, his clarity was impeccable. “Yes, in fact if there was an unprecedented attack,” he commented before the audio trailed off. The news segment clarified that “after this interview, a White House official told us US policy has not changed. Officially the US will not say whether American forces would defend Taiwan.”
The irony of the cutaway is fierce. The chief executive official of the United States of America was silenced by his own team... and this is not a first.
Meghan McCain correctly tweeted when Biden declared COVID to be over, a declaration promptly rejected by his press secretary: “It doesn’t help our president if his staff is constantly undermining what he says in his interviews. He is the commander in chief - either the buck stops with him and his leadership or we have a serious problem,” wrote McCain.
Even CNN’s Stephen Collinson agrees, commenting, “Biden is now the commander in chief and can say what he wants -- until the clean-up operation kicks into action.”
Both are correct. The White House has swallowed the president.
And we are fools if we wait for salvation in the next election. The problem in D.C. is bigger than our votes because it's facilitated by those whose names never appeared on a ballot.
The body of the federal government has grown so large as to swallow its own head.
There is only one solution as big as this problem: calling for a Convention of States.
While the domestic squabbles continue in America’s most public home, we can advocate for an end to this madness from our own. Only a Convention of States called to limit the power of the federal government will return the chief executive office in this nation into a position with accountability and transparency.
Until then, we can expect unaccountable officials to wear the pants in this House.
Help us call for an Article V convention to rein in the power of all three branches in the federal government. Sign the petition below.
