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In a brutal allusion to the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, Matt Taibbi declares in a paywalled Racket News post that “The emperor has no brains.” He’s referring to Joe Biden. Less tartly, Byron York observes in his Examiner column “With raging wars and an addled president, it’s a perilous moment.” They both cite Biden’s public statement in the Amazon (White House transcript here, video below).

According to Biden, “History is literally watching us now.” It sounds like one more misplaced use of “literally” for emphasis. If the statement is true in some respect, however, it wouldn’t be in the sense that Biden’s speechwriter intends. As Biden wanders off into the forest, what we have here can serve as a metaphor for the curtain falling too slowly on the alleged Biden presidency.

One enthusiastic account of Biden’s Amazon appearance provides this background:

During brief remarks from the forest, Biden sought to highlight his commitment to the preservation of the region. He said the US was on track to reach $11 billion in spending on international climate financing in 2024, a sixfold increase from when he started his term. Poorer nations struggling with rising seas and other effects of climate change say the US and other wealthier nations have yet to fulfil their pledges to help.

“The fight to protect our planet is literally a fight for humanity,” he said.

Biden’s administration announced plans last year for a $500 million contribution to the Amazon Fund, the most significant international cooperation effort to preserve the rainforest, primarily financed by Norway.

The US has said it has provided $50 million, and the White House announced Sunday an additional $50 million contribution.

Can we rescind that “$50 million contribution” come January 20? The account gives us hope:

Biden’s trip was significant, but “we can’t expect concrete results from this visit”, said Suely Araujo, former head of the Brazilian environmental protection agency and public policy coordinator with the nonprofit Climate Observatory.

She doubts that a “single penny” will go to the Amazon Fund once Trump is in the White House.

Memo to DOGE: Our escape from the Twilight Zone of the Biden presidency should include reneging on that $50 million commitment and any unspent balance of “international climate financing.”