When Joe Biden first nominated Cornell law professor Saule Omarova to be comptroller of the currency, our Douglas Andrews called it “an indication that Soviet communism is alive and well within today’s Democrat Party.” Even though she has withdrawn her nomination, that indictment remains no less true. Biden was still going to put a Soviet in charge of regulating U.S. banks.

Naturally, President Unity blamed the withdrawal on Republicans. “Saule would have brought invaluable insight and perspective to our important work on behalf of the American people,” he said in a statement. “But unfortunately, from the very beginning of her nomination, Saule was subjected to inappropriate personal attacks that were far beyond the pale.”

What were those “inappropriate personal attacks”? Questioning things like Soviet-born Omarova’s 1989 degree from Moscow State University on a Lenin Personal Academic Scholarship. Challenging statements like the one she made about the phony gender pay gap in the U.S.: “Say what you will about old USSR,” she declared a couple of years ago, “there was no gender pay gap there. Market doesn’t always ‘know best.’” Wondering if the best person to regulate banks is someone who once called banking a “quintessential a**hole industry.” And disagreeing with her assertion that “we want [oil and gas companies] to go bankrupt if we want to tackle climate change.”

Omarova’s fellow Soviet, Elizabeth Warren, decried all the “sexism” and “racism,” declaring her mendacious characterization of Republican criticisms “pages straight out of Joe McCarthy’s 1950s Red Scare tactics.” Another Senate comrade, Sherrod Brown, got the memo, slamming the “red scare McCarthyism.”

It’s not a “red scare” if the threat is actually red.

During her hearing, she insisted, “I’m not a communist.” But forgive us if we and a great many others aren’t convinced because we still detect strains of communism in her training and statements.

In any case, the real reason Omarova’s nomination was withdrawn is that Democrats would ensure it was defeated. Just before Thanksgiving, five Senate Democrats alerted Biden that her nomination was dead in the water because of their own reservations about the aforementioned positions she has taken. Democrats control the Senate only by virtue of Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote, so they couldn’t afford even one defection, much less five. When those Democrats couldn’t be won over in recent days, Omarova withdrew because her nomination was “no longer tenable.”

This doesn’t mean Biden’s going to nominate someone good for the role. It just means he may have to choose someone less radical. But doesn’t that go to the heart of his very raison d'être?

Scranton Joe was supposed to restore calm and moderation and a steady hand at the helm of government. Unity was right around the corner. Instead, he’s governing as Bernie Sanders with less mental ability and more hair plugs. He’s spending the nation into terrible inflation and supply chain problems that would make the Soviets proud. He’s nominating literal Soviets for important positions. He’s fomenting racial discord, implementing authoritarian “health” policies, and generally pushing policies so far left that the 2012 version of Barack Obama would blush.

The red flag isn’t Saule Omarova. It’s Joe Biden.