Joe Biden joined an online world climate change summit this past week, and the image he projected was quite reminiscent of Obama’s tan suit. While dozens of other world leaders appeared alone on their screens and mask-less, Mr. Biden was the only statesman actually wearing a mask. If it was meant to signal some kind of virtue, it backfired. As every other leader in the world projected an air of confidence — not to mention, a measure of common sense — Biden just ended up looking ridiculous.

Redstate writer “Bonchie” reported on the ridiculousness, calling it a “clown show” and pointing out the terrible image it projected in the face of participating in a call that included despots like Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin.

Biden appeared in a Zoom call with other international leaders, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping. This was a moment to show American power and greatness. Instead, Biden stumbled his way through wearing a mask, the only person on the call to do so.

There are 17 people on that call. Only Biden chose to wear a mask, while sitting alone on a remote video call, after being vaccinated. Does he not realize how stupid this makes us look? You can imagine how much Putin was laughing inside after staring across at our president making an absolute clown of himself.

I whole-heartedly share my colleague’s perplexed outrage. Although I find it helpful for historical purposes to depict the Biden administration as masked and weak, for the present moment on the world stage it is an utter abomination.

Seeing Biden in a mask, alone, on a computer screen reminds our enemies that the American will is rotting from the inside. They’ll never defeat us militarily, but they may not need to. Images of our own president tell guys like Putin all they need to know about the future of America as it stands for now: we will defeat ourselves with our own feebleness, and the proof is in the feebleness of the man we send to represent us on the worlds stage.

Surely other hostile leaders around the world are well aware of Biden’s failing mental energies, probably more so than the average American. They likely have a lot of intelligence that we don’t have access to, as mere citizens of our own country. One can almost see it in the way Putin sneers when he is talking about or addressing the current president. Biden is unwell, most likely not really in charge, and he’s such a pansy he wears a mask that obscures his face when sitting alone on a Zoom call.

The fragile left wing would like to paint Biden and his insistence on wearing masks (even though he is vaccinated, as is everyone at the White House, by this time) as “responsibility,” but that is the kind of assessment one makes when they have never actually had to bear responsibility for much in their own lives in the way of leadership. You don’t have to be a genius to know that as a leader, projecting an air of strength and confidence is as much a part of effective leadership as is setting a good example.

Humility is certainly a part of intelligent leadership, but humility is a private endeavor. True humility projects strength, because it allows one to understand their small place in the in the world and in the story of time, and that knowledge brings an innate understanding of human nature. Humans respond to strength and confidence. Thus, the humble leader casts an air of unwavering confidence when dealing with other leaders. I hate to sound cliché, but the best of the best in this respect was The Gipper himself.

There is no area of life where the idea of “humble weakness” is a successful one. Not one place can you find an example of weakness being rewarded with respect.

Parents who cannot withstand the wrathful tantrums of their children and constantly acquiesce to their demands will end up with grown children who are selfish, indecisive, and unproductive. It takes no energy at all to raise a naughty child. It takes a concerted effort to teach a child to respect your parental authority. Weakness ends up being a losing proposition for both parent and child.

Dog owners know well that strength and respect are vital to a well-behaved animal. Many of us have anxious dogs, and if we’ve been their sole caretaker, ten times out of ten, that dog is anxious because the owner is anxious or the owner is treating the dog like a person. Dogs don’t want to be treated like equals. They want a pack leader. In our home, our dog has a healthy respect (and love) for everyone but my 13-year-old daughter, who is convinced that speaking sternly to the dog or scolding the dog or being aggressive with the dog in any way is hurtful to the dog. She loves that dog to death. But she’s the only person the dog shows a disrespect for, and that’s because she hasn’t yet figured out how to project an air of confident leadership.

At work, you may view your constant willingness to defer to others as humility, but it will be perceived as weakness, and you’ll soon find yourself wondering why everyone else gets all the accolades while you stay stationary. Again, humility is a private endeavor that informs a public confidence. In the workplace, public “humility” sends out an energy that screams, “I am too weak to defend my position.”

Pick a corner of life: work, the playground, the gym, prison, spending the summer with your rambunctious cousins…whatever the area in life, the principle is the same. Establish respect by projecting confidence — the kind of confidence that comes from the lessons of private humility.

Joe Biden is a weak leader who can’t even bring himself to show his face on a call with the leaders of other cultures, for which face-to-face communications are a vital part of the culture of respect.

And that will be Biden’s legacy…a frail, masked man alone on a computer screen, cutting deals to lower America’s beef consumption, so that other nations who hate the very existence of freedom will like us more.