Tuesday President Joe Biden made the most important speech of his presidency. Americans and the world watched as he threw away his one chance to rise above his tragic withdrawal from Afghanistan and bring Americans together after 20 years of war.

No one expected him to be Winston Churchill rallying the British after Dunkirk nor Abraham Lincoln consoling the nation after the slaughter at Gettysburg, nor did anyone expect something like Ronald Reagan’s eulogy at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier a decade after the tragic Vietnam War. But he could have at least been straight with us.

Instead of speaking to a nation in pain, President Biden made this speech all about himself. He dodged and weaved, blamed others, and even claimed our evacuation from Afghanistan was a great success, while most everyone else saw it as an unmitigated disaster.