A dark week for Joe Biden. In the face of the provocations of North Korea and Russia and the slide in inflation, To the parliamentary shipwreck Of a major electoral reform, Joe Biden convened Friday to praise one of the rare successes so far of his presidency, a master infrastructure plan.

“There’s a lot of talk of frustration with the things we haven’t accomplished, and I would add that we will get a lot done,” said Joe Biden of the White House, as behind him scrolled through pictures of somewhat dilapidated bridges.

What the Democrat did was vote in the fall on $1.2 trillion in investments in roads, bridges and the Internet, a historic sum that benefited even from the support of some Republican lawmakers. But the reminder of this undeniable success carries with it something almost heart-wrenching. While ratifying the text with great fanfare on November 15, Joe Biden invited Senator from Arizona, Kirsten Sinema, to speak to praise the text. On Thursday, the same Kirsten Senema in a few words, in the Senate gallery, buried a key election law that Joe Biden promised to protect access to the ballot box for African Americans against restrictions imposed by some conservative states in the South.

Attacks on Trump

This text is emblematic of the aberration that Joe Biden seeks: In two recent speeches, the president has issued warnings of an unprecedented danger to American democracy. And he launched unprecedented violent attacks against his predecessor, Donald Trump, and against the opposition in general.

So there is no hope, for this electoral reform project, of rallying Republican parliamentarians to reach the “super majority” of 60 votes needed in the Senate. So the Democratic Staff devised a procedure to impose a simple majority – with 51 votes they control and 50 votes for the opposition. But Kirsten Senema rejected this maneuver, like another moderate Democratic senator, condemning the reform itself.

Challenge the duty of vaccination in the private sector

Also on Thursday, the Supreme Court Cancellation of the obligation to vaccinate Which the president wanted to impose on the big companies. And the White House realized that after an intense diplomatic ballet with Russia, the risk of a new conflict in Ukraine had by no means been raised.

Black Day in a Heartbreaking Week We starkly mentioned that Joe Biden, who invested just under a year, made big promises with little wiggle room.

His control of Congress hangs by a thread, and he has to deal with a Supreme Court that Donald Trump has made so conservative.

On the economic front, inflation is at its highest level since 1982. The US has broken the record for the number of people hospitalized with Covid-19, a new wave that is emptying store shelves, and facing recurring shortage problems from the start of the pandemic.

The ghost of a mid-term defeat

North Korea on Friday conducted its third missile test this year, another provocation as the United States has just imposed new financial sanctions.

And what about the polls that confirm, one by one, the president’s unpopularity? Most opinion polls give a confidence rate of about 42%.

“The program doesn’t end in a year. On Friday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki promised to include the economy, the fight against the pandemic and climate change, and the fight for civil rights.

But if Joe Biden had fewer weapons to fight, he would also have less and less time. In the fall, he will face historically difficult midterm legislative elections for the incumbent power, and could lose control of both the Senate and House of Representatives.