Opinion The 10 best things Joe Biden did in 2022

[cigaretteman]

By Marc A. Thiessen
Columnist |
December 27, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. EST

This week, I offer my annual lists of the 10 best and 10 worst things the president did this year. Since President Biden gives me so much to criticize, we’ll start with the best things:

10. He acted to prevent a crippling national rail strike​

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It wasn’t exactly Ronald Reagan firing striking air traffic controllers, but Biden did get Congress to pass bipartisan legislation forcing rail worker unions to accept the overly generous contract his administration had negotiated, avoiding a strike that could have crippled our economy and exacerbated inflation.

9. He is sending B-52s to Australia to counter China​

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Building on last year’s historic trilateral security agreement with Australia and Britain — known as AUKUS — to help Canberra build nuclear-capable submarines, Biden announced plans to deploy up to six nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to a dedicated air base in northern Australia to help counter Chinese hegemony.

8. He launched a “full-court press” against China’s domestic semiconductor industry​

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Biden blocked U.S. companies from selling chips or semiconductor equipment to China. He also cracked down on China’s “Thousand Talents” program to recruit U.S. science and technology experts, issuing export control rules that prohibit U.S. citizens from supporting China’s advanced chip development — cutting off the flow of Silicon Valley expertise. This will severely curtail China’s ambitions to develop its own cutting-edge semiconductor industry.

7. He signed the first bipartisan gun legislation in decades​

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Following the school shooting in Uvalde, Tex., Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, co-sponsored by Sens. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), that protects the rights of lawful gun owners while cracking down on criminal misuse of firearms — including incentives for states to implement “red-flag” laws; increased funding for mental health and school safety; added scrutiny of gun buyers who are under 21 or domestic abusers; and stronger penalties for straw buyers and gun traffickers.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/12/27/best-things-biden-did-2022/

 

[cigaretteman]

6. He secured extradition of the terrorist charged with bombing Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 190 Americans​

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Libyan intelligence operative Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud — suspected of building the explosive device used in the 1988 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, is the first terrorist linked to the attack to face justice in the United States.

5. He kept Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations​

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President Donald Trump listed the IRGC in 2019 as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign after he withdrew from President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal. Iran demanded that Biden delist the IRGC before it considered returning to compliance with the deal. Despite his misguided efforts to revive that agreement, Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in April that the IRGC would remain on the list and that the decision was “absolutely final.”

4. He won support for Finland and Sweden to join NATO​

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While he must still manage Turkish intransigence, Biden got both NATO allies and a 95-1 bipartisan majority in the Senate to support the admission of the two Nordic nations to the Atlantic alliance — a major blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who opposes any NATO expansion.

3. He killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri​

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Of course, Zawahiri was living openly in downtown Kabul thanks to Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. But 11 years after opposing the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, Biden ordered the drone strike that took out bin Laden’s right-hand man and successor. He also took out Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in northwest Syria and resumed full ground operations alongside our Kurdish partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have kept a check on the Islamic State in the region.

2. He declared the United States will defend Taiwan​

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Not once, not twice, but four times since taking office (most recently in September), Biden has vowed that the U.S. military would defend Taiwan if Communist China attacked. Beijing is on notice: The policy of “strategic ambiguity” is dead (notwithstanding White House aides who tried to walk back Biden’s comments each time). It is U.S. policy to defend Taiwan against unjust aggression.

1. He saved Ukraine​

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Biden’s handling of Ukraine tops both my best and worst lists this year. Here is the best: After Russia invaded, Biden rallied our allies to support Ukraine’s self-defense — providing arms, money, intelligence and diplomatic support that stopped Putin from seizing Kyiv. At the start of the conflict, no one thought Ukraine could survive; today, Ukraine’s courageous armed forces are on the offensive, retaking territory Russia unlawfully seized. For all the flaws in his Ukraine strategy, Biden deserves credit for saving a free and independent Ukraine.

One accomplishment that does not make a compilation of the good things Biden did but deserves grudging admiration nonetheless: Despite presiding over the worst inflation in 40 years, the worst collapse in real wages in four decades, the highest gas prices on record, the worst crime wave since the 1990s and the worst border crisis in U.S. history, Biden turned in the best first midterm performance of any president since John F. Kennedy (except for George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks). That is an impressive achievement.
In my next column, I will review the 10 worst things Biden has done this year.

 

[Pete Malloy]

That was a waste of words!

 

[ConvenientParking]

My guess is based on that list, Marc thinks the only mistake we made regarding Iraq was withdrawing

 

[TheRealHerky]

Created the worst inflation in 40 years.
Killed 13 American Solders in a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Embarrassed the US with his gaffes and dementia.

Thats the nice things I can think of.

 

[Speedway1]

That was a waste of words!

Dude has got to create something to keep his job.

 

[pablow]

He got Britney Spears back from Russia.

 

[FAUlty Gator]

I didn’t realize Ukraine/ Russia was over. I bet the dope who wrote that gave W all kinds of shit for “Mission Accomplished”.

 

[Tom Paris]

Created the worst inflation in 40 years.
Killed 13 American Solders in a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Embarrassed the US with his gaffes and dementia.

Thats the nice things I can think of.

Holy crap. Please explain how he created inflation. Here and globally. Feel free to explain how he got service members bombed in Afghanistan.

 

[blhawk]

That was a waste of words!

You're a waste of cells

 

[Huey Grey]

He got Britney Spears back from Russia.

Better deal than Trump trading 5,000 Taliban soldiers for nothing.

 

[your_master5]

The only thing Biden has done remotely well is not shitting his pants in public. Everything else has been a disaster.

 

[ConvenientParking]

I didn’t realize Ukraine/ Russia was over. I bet the dope who wrote that gave W all kinds of shit for “Mission Accomplished”.

I looked him up after my post. He may have helped write the speech for Mission Accomplished.

 

[sabula]

Created the worst inflation in 40 years.
Killed 13 American Solders in a botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Embarrassed the US with his gaffes and dementia.

Thats the nice things I can think of.

"Embarrassed the US with his gaffes and dementia?". That is hilarious. Embassasing himself and the US on the world stage was Lying Donnie's full time job. And he did it superbly. Total laughing stock to all the world... 'cept his loving buddies Kim and Putin.

 

[sabula]

I looked him up after my post. He may have helped write the speech for Mission Accomplished.

Is that the speech Lying Donnie gave where he claimed he got rid of covid,?

 

[hawkeye54545]

He got Britney Spears back from Russia.

20 year old Britney Spears or today's Britney?

I might have crawled across broken glass and lava back in the day to get a chance at her when she was 20.

 

[abby97]

He secured our border, he stopped fentanyl from killing our children, he lowered inflation and interest rates, he lowered the crime rate, he is working to make America energy independent, wait.............................

 

[Huey Grey]

He secured our border, he stopped fentanyl from killing our children, he lowered inflation and interest rates, he lowered the crime rate, he is working to make America energy independent, wait.............................

Great FoxNews buzzwords you've put together there.

 

[SA_Hawk]

Better deal than Trump trading 5,000 Taliban soldiers for nothing.

Biden gave the Taliban an entire country to set up new operations and torture women.

 

[SA_Hawk]

His biggest accomplishment was not dying and sticking the country with Kamala.

 

[lucas80]

That was a waste of words!

Do you create handles to give your other handles pity likes?

 

[lucas80]

The CHIPs act should be top 5 along with Infrastructure.

 

[TheRealHerky]

Holy crap. Please explain how he created inflation. Here and globally. Feel free to explain how he got service members bombed in Afghanistan.

If you aren't smart enough to figure this out for yourself, I'm not smart enough to explain it to you. Unless you are a paid shill or on the public dole and that is clouding your ability to think for yourself.

 

[abby97]

Great FoxNews buzzwords you've put together there.

It's called reality.

 

[ConvenientParking]

If you aren't smart enough to figure this out for yourself, I'm not smart enough to explain it to you. Unless you are a paid shill or on the public dole and that is clouding your ability to think for yourself.

Lol you sound super old. The public dole lol. Did you just awaken from cryogenic slumber perhaps?

 

[ConvenientParking]

Is that the speech Lying Donnie gave where he claimed he got rid of covid,?

Naw the guy who wrote the op-ed in the OP was a speech writer for Donald Rumsfeld (may he be tortured by demons for eternity) and GWB from 2001-2009. Which basically makes my first post ITT genius. Not that neocons are hard to spot. We're bombing them for their own good! Then we'll build schools where we can teach them how to adapt to our genius modern ways instead of living in their mudhuts or whatever shit lives they probably had before we taught them to be more like us.

 

[l.todd]

6. He secured extradition of the terrorist charged with bombing Pan Am Flight 103, which killed 190 Americans​

Return to menu
Libyan intelligence operative Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud — suspected of building the explosive device used in the 1988 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, is the first terrorist linked to the attack to face justice in the United States.

5. He kept Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations​

Return to menu
President Donald Trump listed the IRGC in 2019 as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign after he withdrew from President Barack Obama’s 2015 nuclear deal. Iran demanded that Biden delist the IRGC before it considered returning to compliance with the deal. Despite his misguided efforts to revive that agreement, Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in April that the IRGC would remain on the list and that the decision was “absolutely final.”

4. He won support for Finland and Sweden to join NATO​

Return to menu
While he must still manage Turkish intransigence, Biden got both NATO allies and a 95-1 bipartisan majority in the Senate to support the admission of the two Nordic nations to the Atlantic alliance — a major blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who opposes any NATO expansion.

3. He killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri​

Return to menu
Of course, Zawahiri was living openly in downtown Kabul thanks to Biden’s disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal. But 11 years after opposing the mission that killed Osama bin Laden, Biden ordered the drone strike that took out bin Laden’s right-hand man and successor. He also took out Islamic State leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in northwest Syria and resumed full ground operations alongside our Kurdish partners, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have kept a check on the Islamic State in the region.

2. He declared the United States will defend Taiwan​

Return to menu
Not once, not twice, but four times since taking office (most recently in September), Biden has vowed that the U.S. military would defend Taiwan if Communist China attacked. Beijing is on notice: The policy of “strategic ambiguity” is dead (notwithstanding White House aides who tried to walk back Biden’s comments each time). It is U.S. policy to defend Taiwan against unjust aggression.

1. He saved Ukraine​

Return to menu
Biden’s handling of Ukraine tops both my best and worst lists this year. Here is the best: After Russia invaded, Biden rallied our allies to support Ukraine’s self-defense — providing arms, money, intelligence and diplomatic support that stopped Putin from seizing Kyiv. At the start of the conflict, no one thought Ukraine could survive; today, Ukraine’s courageous armed forces are on the offensive, retaking territory Russia unlawfully seized. For all the flaws in his Ukraine strategy, Biden deserves credit for saving a free and independent Ukraine.

One accomplishment that does not make a compilation of the good things Biden did but deserves grudging admiration nonetheless: Despite presiding over the worst inflation in 40 years, the worst collapse in real wages in four decades, the highest gas prices on record, the worst crime wave since the 1990s and the worst border crisis in U.S. history, Biden turned in the best first midterm performance of any president since John F. Kennedy (except for George W. Bush after the 9/11 attacks). That is an impressive achievement.
In my next column, I will review the 10 worst things Biden has done this year.

Are you also going to post his column of the 10 worst things?

 

[fsu1jreed]

Holy crap. Please explain how he created inflation. Here and globally. Feel free to explain how he got service members bombed in Afghanistan.

MAGA = mental illness

 

[notlongago]

"Embarrassed the US with his gaffes and dementia?". That is hilarious. Embassasing himself and the US on the world stage was Lying Donnie's full time job. And he did it superbly. Total laughing stock to all the world... 'cept his loving buddies Kim and Putin.

Is there a contest to see who can interject trumps name into most irrelevant thread, or are you that obsessed?

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

"He saved Ukraine"...... talk about jumping the ****ing shark.

 

[ConvenientParking]

"He saved Ukraine"...... talk about jumping the ****ing shark.

I think you meant counting chickens?

 

[sabula]

Is there a contest to see who can interject trumps name into most irrelevant thread, or are you that obsessed?

I will call Lying Donnie out any day, all day when the issue being discussed fits his incompetence also. Lest we ever forget his incompetence, treasonous acts, lies, racism and general buffoonery. So yep, gonna keep reminding anyone who will listen how terrible of a person and "leader" he was. He did declare as a candidate for the presidency again, in case you missed it. So he is fair game all day long.

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

I think you meant counting chickens?

Sure..... you could go that route if you feel its on going.



"The idiom "jumping the shark" was coined in 1985 by Jon Hein in response to a 1977 episode from the fifth season of the American sitcom Happy Days, in which Fonzie (Henry Winkler) jumps over a shark while on water-skis. The phrase is pejorative and is used to argue that a creative work or outlet appears to be making a stunt in a seemingly exhaustive attempt to generate elevated attention or publicity to something that was once perceived as popular, but is no longer."




2 years ago Ukraine was one of thr most corrupt, racist, countries on the planet. In 2 years they will be back to being one of the most corrupt, racist places on the planet. There are like 4 countries in the world Ukraine could have gone to war with where they were not considered a bunch of racist nationalist, Russia happens to be 1 of the 4. Enjoy being the darling Ukraine, there will be a day we look back and think about sending such a place such vast amounts of money.

 

[TheCainer]

If you aren't smart enough to figure this out for yourself, I'm not smart enough to explain it to you. Unless you are a paid shill or on the public dole and that is clouding your ability to think for yourself.

So in other words, you can't explain it.

Got it.

 

[ConvenientParking]

l be a day we look back and think about sending such a place such vast amounts of money.

We are sending Ukraine weapons mainly, defense contractors (mostly already wealthy Americans) are getting the money. Did we ever reflect on supporting Pinochet (or many other brutal dictators friendly to us)? Did we actually learn anything from Vietnam or did we allow hysteria about terrorism to manipulate us into thinking invading Iraq was just and necessary?

 

[Whiskeydeltadeltatango]

We are sending Ukraine weapons mainly, defense contractors (probably mostly Americans) are getting the money. Did we ever reflect on supporting Pinochet (or many other brutal dictators friendly to us)? Did we actually learn anything from Vietnam or did we allow hysteria about terrorism to manipulate us into thinking invading Iraq was just and necessary?

Seems to me like you know your answers. Politicians love distractions and war is a great distraction.

 

[Tom Paris]

If you aren't smart enough to figure this out for yourself, I'm not smart enough to explain it to you. Unless you are a paid shill or on the public dole and that is clouding your ability to think for yourself.

This means you have no answers. None of you ever do…at least honest and coherent ones.

 

[Tom Paris]

I will call Lying Donnie out any day, all day when the issue being discussed fits his incompetence also. Lest we ever forget his incompetence, treasonous acts, lies, racism and general buffoonery. So yep, gonna keep reminding anyone who will listen how terrible of a person and "leader" he was. He did declare as a candidate for the presidency again, in case you missed it. So he is fair game all day long.

He will also vote for him again.

 

[notlongago]

I will call Lying Donnie out any day, all day when the issue being discussed fits his incompetence also. Lest we ever forget his incompetence, treasonous acts, lies, racism and general buffoonery. So yep, gonna keep reminding anyone who will listen how terrible of a person and "leader" he was. He did declare as a candidate for the presidency again, in case you missed it. So he is fair game all day long.

Well thats a sad, pathetic way to live. But have at it.

 

[notlongago]

We are sending Ukraine weapons mainly, defense contractors (mostly already wealthy Americans) are getting the money. Did we ever reflect on supporting Pinochet (or many other brutal dictators friendly to us)? Did we actually learn anything from Vietnam or did we allow hysteria about terrorism to manipulate us into thinking invading Iraq was just and necessary?

you dont need to be wealthy to benefit from weapons supplying. Allocate some disposable funds to defense ETFs