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This column reflects the opinion of the writer. Learn about the differences between a news story and an opinion column.

Unforced errors

As a left-leaning independent, I find it fascinating to do autopsies on political mistakes to try to determine what caused them. Ego is always a safe answer, as in the case of the Ted Cruz Excellent Adventure to Mexico while his constituency fought record-breaking cold and its related hardships.

And then there’s Joe Biden’s willful blindness to appoint a serial Twitter assaulter in Neera Tanden to head the Office of Management and Budget. It wasn’t enough to ignore her unpleasantries toward politicians and supporters of all stripes. The president placed Sen Bernie Sanders in a position to oversee Tanden if she won confirmation. That gesture was the epitome of arrogance. Then when Biden finally sees his pick of Tanden will go nowhere, he decides to re-attack Syria to bring the fear of more war back to the public’s awareness.

This is all a result of letting political parties choose their presidential nominees. We had two bad ones. Joe Biden was just more palatable to most Americans. Sorry Q-Anon. I’ll deal with the issues of political parties at another time.

Manuel Palazzo

Richland

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