Column By Mike Bibb
“And my uncle, they called him – Ambrose, they called him Bosie – and he became an Army Air Corps [pilot] before the Air Force came along, he flew those single-engine planes as reconnaissance over war zones. And he got shot down in New Guinea, and they never found the body because there used to be a lot of cannibals – for real – in that part of New Guinea”
President Biden speaking at the United Steelworkers Headquarters in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, April 17, 2024
From the files of “You Can’t Make This Stuff Up”
Oh boy, just when you thought President Joe couldn’t get more wacky, he comes up with his “Uncle Bosie was eaten by cannibals during World War II” tale.
To think, he – and his followers – want four more years of this jabbering baloney.
We’ve become accustomed to Joe spinning wild stories and fictitious narratives, only they seem to be increasing in frequency. The Uncle Bosie exaggeration was also repeated in Scranton in the course of his brief campaign swing in Pennsylvania.
As usual, Joe mixes facts with an equal portion of make-believe. Guess he thinks it enhances the account by causing it to sound more authentic and out of the ordinary.
He’s right about that. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard, or read a story of an American soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine being eaten by cannibals in WWII. That is until Joe informed us his uncle, Ambrose Finnegan, was the stew-du-jour on some Indonesian island tribe’s dinner menu.
Apparently, the Army Air Corps didn’t know either. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reported Finnegan’s death was the result of the aircraft’s dual engine failure before plunging into the ocean, with three of the four occupants being unrecoverable. – USA Today, April 18, 2024
The plane was actually a Douglas A-20 Havoc twin-engine light bomber.
It wasn’t a small, single-engine, single-seat reconnaissance plane shot down over New Guinea as Joe told us. Nor did the island natives feast on Uncle Boise’s remains.
In reality, I would suppose Uncle Bosie was one of those three unfortunate souls who were lost at sea.
How well did Joe know Uncle Bosie? As it turns out, he may have never met him.
Joe was born on Nov. 20, 1942. Uncle Bosie went MIA – presumably, crashing into the sea on May 14, 1944. That would make Joe about 1-and-a-half years old at the time of Boise’s incident.
Considering Uncle Boise was already stationed 10,000 miles away in Indonesia, the two could have been total strangers. Even if Joe was a 1-year-old when Uncle Boise may have been stateside rocking him in his arms, does he still recall fond memories and details of his uncle’s demise?
Facts often have a way of interrupting an amusing b.s. session. How Joe managed to concoct such an imaginative fabrication, or thought he had to, only he knows. Why he couldn’t tell the story as it actually happened – without adding all the superfluous hooey – would not have detracted from the tragedy of the event.
Then again, that’s Joe. He’s been spinning yarns and whoppers for so long it’s doubtful he knows when he’s doing it. The situation has reached a point that believing anything he says has to be run through some kind of fact-or-fiction-checking apparatus.
Remember the infamous Corn Pop character who terrorized Joe’s local neighborhood during his teens and early 20s? Everyone lived in fear of Corn Pop, unsure when he might erupt and go on some kind of maniacal tangent, inflicting harm and injury to people and pets.
Everyone, except Joe.
One day, as the story goes, Joe told Corn Pop he’d had enough – “You might cut me with that knife” said Joe, “but I’m gonna wrap this six-foot chain around your head before it’s over!”
Recognizing Joe’s sudden arousal to retaliate and dole out his own brand of hurt, Corn Pop backed off.
After things cooled down, they became friends – maybe sharing a chocolate chip ice cream cone; Joe’s favorite to this day.
Then, there was the time he barked at a high school teacher, assuring the guy’s I.Q. was no match to his. Later, Joe admitted he made a mistake. He didn’t know what the man’s I.Q. was, but the nation and world were beginning to realize what Joe’s might be.
This has been the pattern for nearly his entire 50-year political career in Washington. One contrived fantasy after another. Some are more entertaining than others, but each is outlandish in their own way.
All of this is comical and maybe expected when Joe was a U.S. Senator. Perhaps, believing it was a vote-getting ploy and the people enjoyed it.
Now, however, he’s President of the United States and the folksy anecdotes are beginning to wear a little thin. Not everyone appreciates the humor, particularly when they look around and see things aren’t so rosy.
This might help explain why both Joe and Kamala were dropped from Time Magazine’s list of “100 Most Influential People in 2024.”
When the liberal media no longer has confidence in the leadership capabilities of our two highest elected officials, then it’s obvious more than just conservatives and independents are concerned over the direction the country is heading.
Joe and Kamala have seven months to right the ship. So far, it doesn’t appear they possess the skills, brain-power, or inclination to accomplish the task.
They do have enough political cleverness to engineer a scheme to detain former President Donald Trump within the justice system long enough to restrict his campaign appearances.
Maybe, Joe can think up some entertaining observations about that contrived fiasco, while continuing to remind us what a wonderful job he’s doing.
After all, he’s the “Great Uniter,” and divider at the same time!
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
