President Joe Biden called Fox reporter Peter Doocy a “stupid s.o.b.,” sans the abbreviation.
Biden had balked at answering questions about Ukraine, so Mr. Doocy asked him about inflation: “Do you think inflation is a political liability ahead of the mid-terms?”
“That’s a great asset: more inflation,” Biden mumbled into the hot mic. “What a stupid . . .”
Now, had I said that, I would hasten to explain that I was being sardonic. Of course inflation is a liability. Dubbing it a “great asset” was certainly sarcasm. It could be nothing other. Inflation is a horror show.
But the negative characterization of Doocy that immediately followed undermines that Irony Interpretation. Does it sound ironic? And if the insult is earnest, does it not suggest that the preceding declaration about inflation is not only earnest, but in the Contempt Mode that Democrats have been adopting to criticism in recent years?
Of course inflation is great!
For them.
After all, inflation does help a few at the expense of the many. It helps insiders at the expense of the outsiders. This is ancient wisdom.
Insiders in government gain through inflation, getting to “spend first,” while we on the outside — in society — suffer from decreased purchasing power.
After the event, Biden contacted Doocy. “It’s nothing personal, pal.”
But the objective issue is whether Biden was being sarcastic about inflation.
While we may argue over who will have the last word on monetary policy, it was Doocy who had the last laugh . . . at himself: “nobody has fact-checked [Biden] yet and said it’s not true.”
But then, fact-checkers ain’t what they used to be.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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