Blood On Your Hands

I am not going to pussyfoot around anymore:  Everyone who voted for Biden along with all who made his election possible have blood on their hands. 

Those of you who voted for Biden knowing his policies, inadequacies, and mental condition, I can at least acknowledge that you knew what you were doing and acknowledge if not accept that you hate America that much.

But those of you who voted for Biden without thought or independent inquiry into him, his record, his policies, his mental state, for you there is no excuse.  You failed in your responsibility as an American and as a voter.  You just did what you were told, whether by media or Twitter or friends on Facebook who said that you must (1) hate Trump and (2) vote for Biden.

The deaths of the brave 13 above are the first military deaths in Afghanistan in 18 months.  They died as a result of a fiasco orchestrated by our senile president.

The deaths of these young men and women are on your hands as are the deaths of all the others who died in the Kabul bombing Thursday and who have yet to die, but surely will, as we leave them stranded, leave the Taliban and its allied terrorists with our military equipment and our biometrics and the names of our allied Afghanis who fought for us – now they will die because of us.

“Oh,” you say, “this is all Trump’s fault.”  NO, it is not.  Yes, he negotiated a U.S. pull out with the Taliban, but that pull out came with strict sanctions.  And, at the time of the actual pull out there would have been a plan:  American civilians out first, then our Afghani allies, then refugees, then the military.  Only a complete idiot would do that in reverse, yet that is what Biden has done.  And you will recall that Biden has reversed nearly everything else Trump did while in office, so Biden could have reversed Trump’s Afghanistan policy as well.

This is all on Biden.  And his advisors (who have been more concerned with advancing various socialist agendas than with the safety, security, and international standing of our country).  And on all his supporters and all of those including the media and its misleading half-truths that helped lead to Biden’s election.  It is on his wife and family who had to know his mental condition yet encouraged him to run for President of the United States of America and put the country and the lives of all of us in it at risk.  And it is on everyone who voted for Biden or in any way aided in his election.

I am not feeling able to forgive you.  You owe America an apology.  Think about that as you continue to watch the demise of what was once a great nation.

Biden won’t take responsibility but perhaps you can. 

And, if this nation is fortunate enough to make it to the next election without first becoming a completely authoritarian regime, then please do your job as Americans and research for whom you cast your vote.  For your ignorance and malleability are a huge part of the problem.

Are You OK With Your Vote?

Friends and others who voted for Biden:  is this really what you voted for:

      ·        Abandoning America and American allies in Afghanistan and lying about it and about the numbers we are leaving behind;
·        Showing weakness, lack of credibility, lack of honor, lack of trustworthiness on the world stage;
·        Lots of talk about human rights, but actions that belie any real concern;
·        Huge increases in the national debt, inflation, energy and gas prices;
·        Varieties of shortages;
·        Policies that disfavor small business and individual initiative;
·        Extended, if not permanent, entitlements, often based on race or other identity group characteristics;
·        Open borders;
·        No transparency and divisive polices based on political favoritism and based in socialist philosophies;
·        Promotion of racist programs such as CRT than engender disdain if not hate for American history and ideals;
·        Censorship of independent thought and increasing government control over individual thought and action to the detriment of our First Amendment freedoms;

      ·        Acceptance of an obviously senile president with his hand in control of our nuclear arsenal?

Do you accept or ignore daily headlines such as this morning’s from CNN - headlines that are already out of date as the situation in Afghanistan grows increasingly dire by the minute?

Is all of the above what you voted for?  And if not, where are you?  

You were certainly vocal in your hatred for President Trump.  Your current silence is deafening, but more importantly it is frightening.  It is frightening on many levels, especially as it seems to reflect either your complete disengagement from the world or your total lack of ability to think about what is going on.  Moreover, it leaves America without the concern and defense of its citizens; it leaves those who would see this country completely remade into something else with a green light to do as they please.

It sure looks like your “concern” for America that you constantly proclaimed (often quite offensively) during the Trump presidency was not any sort of actual informed concern at all but rather just what you thought (I believe little thought was involved) saw as the “in-crowd” thing to do.  Perhaps you were simply accepting and parroting what you were told without question or thought.  Perhaps you might ask yourself “why?”

How about actually seeing what is going on and thinking for yourself?  Then tell us, with as loud a voice as you berated Trump and his supporters, if you are OK with the man you placed in the White House.  Tell us if you are OK with the destruction of America and Her ideals that he is fostering. 

Speak up.   Because soon it may be too late.

This is the End

Biden is not a competent president (and maybe not even a legitimate one).  But he is presiding over the end of America as we know Her.

Too many seem to have given up on Her honor and Her soul.
(Do I need to remind you of the details of how Biden and the Left have sullied these?  I have been warning you since this blog began over 4 years ago.  If you remain unaware you are blind, deaf, dumb and fully brainwashed by the soulless Left.)

            “Your eyes are open but you can't see
            Your mouth is moving but you don't speak"
                        -from “This is the End (For You My Friend”), full lyrics below

But what is currently happening in Afghanistan ought to wake you up.  Biden has betrayed our allies and deserted our American citizens; he has put a permanent stain on America’s honor and credibility around the world.  And he has overnight made the world a much more dangerous place.  This is not the behavior of a President (or of anyone) who has any love for or belief in America and Her ideals. It is a complete dereliction of presidential duty and responsibility.

Those of you who are silent, if you have any independent spirit left, at least say farewell to all you know.

It may not happen overnight (though it might), but this is the end, for you my friend and our country.

 

Some of my notes from today:
        Some of today’s Afghanistan headlines:          

      ·        US military starts withdrawing from Afghanistan as Americans remain trapped
·        Americans Abandoned in Afghanistan
·        Biden Decides Against Extending Evacuation Timeline After Taliban Threatens ‘Consequences’
·        Biden Admin Confirms 4,000 Americans And Their Families Have Been Evacuated, Potentially Thousands Still In Afghanistan
·        House Dems: It Is ‘Not Possible’ To Evacuate Americans And Afghan Allies From Afghanistan By August 31st, ‘Deadline Must Be Extended’
·        Afghanistan debacle upends Biden's upcoming summit with Israel's Bennett
·        Pelosi praises spending bill advancing as ‘great day of pride’ for US amid Afghanistan crisis
·        Why President Biden Just Made The Next 9/11 More Likely
·        The Biden Administration's Descent Into Unreality
·        8 Months In, Biden's Cascade of Failure
·        Biden pours salt into wounds of relations with Europe at G7 meeting
·        Can the U.S. Recover From the Afghanistan Debacle?

       ·        Biden reveals admin relying on bloodthirsty Taliban sticking to its word on crucial deadline

       ·         Arizona AG warns of potential border threat from terrorists freed by Taliban in Afghanistan    

       Notes made while listening to Biden speech this afternoon:

      ·        Begins with infrastructure and voting bills, praising those who are furthering the Left's socialist agenda, before turning to Afghanistan.  Praises himself. 
·        “If the Taliban cooperates, we will continue til Aug. 31” (does he really think the Taliban is cooperative when it beats Americans trying to get to the airport, goes house to house to find and “take action” against American collaborators?) 
·        “We are continuing our efforts.” Does he understand that “our efforts” are too little too late? 
·        Then he justifies (again!) his decision to pull out but does not address the disaster his failure to have a plan or to listen to experts has created for Americans, Afghans, and the world. 
·        Leaves without taking any questions.

This Is The End (For You My Friend) Lyrics

from album: For Blood And Empire (2006) by Anti-Flag
Songwriters: Christopher Lee Barker / Patrick C. Bollinger / Justin Cathal Geever / Christopher Mark Head
This Is the End (for You My Friend) lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Music video:  LINK 

Seems every station on the tv
Is selling something no one can be
If every page was torn from the magazine
Would cash still drive the media machine?
The products, damage and pursuit are endless
Identity can leave you selfless

We will not witness this anymore
This is the end for you my friend
I can't forgive, I won't forget
On and on, we sing our songs and
On and on, the wars wage on and
On and on, we sing our songs for more
For more

Your eyes are open but you can't see
Your mouth is moving but you don't speak
A blitzkrieg of images to break your will
I hope you choke on every pill

We will not witness this anymore
This is the end for you my friend
I can't forgive, I won't forget
On and on, we sing our songs and
On and on, the wars wage on and
On and on, we sing our songs for more

We will not witness this anymore
This is the end for you my friend
I can't forgive, I won't forget...

This is the end for you my friend
I can't forgive, I won't forget
On and on, we sing our songs and
On and on, the wars wage on and
On and on, we sing our songs and
On and on, the wars wage on and
On and on, we sing our songs and
On and on, your wars wage on and
On and on, we sing our songs for more
We sing our songs for more

“Joe is Joe”

Fox interviewed people in Los Angeles about the crisis in Afghanistan.  One man told Fox News: "Obviously the people in charge should be held responsible."  But he added: "Joe is Joe … You’re not gonna get rid of the Joe just 'cause of a bad decision."

And therein lies the problem.  Joe is Joe.  We just accept him and his “bad decisions.”  We ignore the fact that this is far more than a “bad decision.”

Joe is lying to us.  Just this morning we learned that the White House readout from his phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron omitted an impassioned plea from Macron for the U.S. to share in the moral responsibility to protect Afghan nationals that are in danger.

Who called Biden out on this?  Not the American news media or the American people but rather the British news.

Indeed, who in this country is calling Biden out on any of his “bad decisions”?  Sure, a few Republican leaders whom the media is likely to paint as extremist for doing so.  But where is the press?  Where are the people?  Or has this country simply decided to accept that “Joe is Joe” and let him be while they go about the mundane tasks of their daily lives?  Do they not see that the very essence of those lives are changing dramatically under Joe’s “leadership” of bad decisions?

So, we’re “not gonna get rid of the Joe just 'cause of a bad decision."  OK.  But at least look at the ramifications of some of these bad decisions.  They include: an open border crisis; institutionalization of the hatred of identity politics using indoctrination and flawed theories like CRT; politicization of Covid; encouragement of silencing of opposition voices and hence weakening the First Amendment; energy dependence and higher gas and energy prices; highest inflation perhaps ever; weakened economy; rising crime; and, of course, Afghanistan.

Regarding Afghanistan, the President is for the most part secluded, perhaps in the same basement where he hid during the presidential campaign.  He pops out, perhaps when his handlers demand or drag him to the door, and gives an incoherent speech or interview that has no connection to the reality of what is happening in Afghanistan. 

He made a “bad decision”, one that he believes is the best that anyone could have made.  Rather than getting civilians out first and then military, he without warning pulled the military.  There was chaos.  The Taliban immediately seized the country, reinstituting their Sharia rules and terrorist behavior.  They seized American equipment and weapons. 

Today the Taliban mocked us with this photo of Taliban warriors recreating the iconic Iwo Jima photo – in both pictures the uniforms and arms are American but the flag being raised in the new photo is that of the Taliban.  Terrorism experts are telling us that the dangers of terrorist acts have hugely increased as a result of the Taliban takeover.  This takeover is seen worldwide as a victory for the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and terrorism and as an embarrassing defeat for America.

As Afghanistan fell, Joe started sending troops back in.  But at that point the embassy was closed and personnel were huddled at the airport.  Americans and American allies can’t get through Taliban check points to get to the airplanes waiting to evacuate them.  Today they were told not to come to the airport and also that we could not come to rescue them. 

Joe touts the few Americans who have been airlifted out, ignoring the 15,000 or so who remain (the administration says they have no estimate of how many Americans are in Afghanistan).  

As the Taliban was asserting its power which includes subjugation of women and complete intolerance of alternate lifestyles, Joe was celebrating World Humanitarian Day.  His mental competence apparently does not include an understanding of the word “irony” or “hypocritical.”

So, sure, Joe made a “bad decision,” but it does not, it cannot end there.  Every decision has consequences.  This one is abandoning Americans, turning Afghanistan back to terrorists, embarrassing America on the world stage, and acting with dishonor toward those whom we used to help us while there (e.g. Afghani translators) and toward the Afghani army and people who came to depend upon us.

I suspect most Americans believed we should get out of Afghanistan, but there were better ways to do it.  Trump’s plan included leaving some special forces there to ensure this debacle didn’t happen.  I think nearly anyone could have come up with a better plan than Joe for the actual withdrawal, beginning with removing civilians before the military.  There was no immediate rush – Americans were not being slaughtered.  It could have been planned and executed with more time and thought.  But it wasn’t and, again, Joe believes it is all good.

So, how many “bad decisions” will it take before the people decide that they are “gonna get rid of the Joe”?  I know if this were Trump, we would already have several investigations underway, an impeachment in progress, and serious talks about the 25^th Amendment as well as demands for his resignation.  Note, those Trump impeachments and investigations were all nothing but a waste of taxpayer money, as is the continuing investigations of Jan. 6 even though the FBI has found “scant evidence” of any coordination and “no evidence that Trump or people directly around him were involved in organizing the violence.”

But that was Trump and this is Joe.  "Joe is Joe … You’re not gonna get rid of the Joe just 'cause of a bad decision."  But what you are going to “get rid of” is America as the shining beacon of democracy and freedom.  Complacency can easily become misery and despair.  Let Joe be “Sleepy Joe” if you want, but America and Americans need to wake up and confront what is going on.

Ask yourself if America can survive another 3 ½ years of Joe’s “bad decisions”. Ask yourself if you care.  And if you do, ask yourself what you are going to do about it.

Joe’s World

Welcome to Joe’s World, a place totally disengaged from reality.  Now even acknowledged by CNN, ABC, NBC, and other members of the mainstream media (aka the Democrat propaganda machine).

Anyone who has watched President Biden over the last few days has got to see how disconnected he is from reality, and especially from the reality of what is happening on the ground in Kabul.  Today in his rambling press conference he told us there is no problem getting to the Kabul airport to be airlifted out. 

Meanwhile, the media tells and shows us that the Taliban has set up checkpoints around the airport that may or may not let people, including Americans, through.  They show us the Taliban going house to house searching for American allies whom they beat or worse, they show us indiscriminate whippings taking place outside the Kabul airport.   Military and security officials state that Americans are being beaten, yet Biden tells us that no one is impeded as they make their way to the airport.

ABC’s Afghanistan correspondent Ian Pannell stated that “It just seems the reality and the rhetoric are miles apart. I’m not quite sure what advice the president is receiving. But the truth on the ground is that these people who are in fear of their lives can’t get through.”

The President told us that Al Qaeda is no longer in Afghanistan.  Barely an hour later, a spokesman for the Defense Department stated, "We know that Al Qaeda is a presence as well as ISIS in Afghanistan."

Biden states we will get all the Americans out, but he has no idea how we will do so or how many Americans are in Afghanistan.  He won’t put up a secure perimeter around the airport.  He will not allow our troops to go outside the airport to rescue Americans or the Afghanis who aided our troops as translators and others.  Britain and France are doing this, but not Joe.   

Biden says that “any American who wants to come home we will get home.”  But then he says he “cannot promise what the final outcome will be.”   Perhaps he thinks that just saying everyone will get out will simply make it so.  It will not.

But beyond the lies spouted to create his fictional narrative that all is well in Afghanistan and that he is some sort of a hero for creating this mess (he stated the pull out could not have been done better than this), what was truly frightening when I watched today’s press conference (as well as much of the Stephanopoulos interview with him yesterday along with reading the transcript of the omitted parts of that interview) is the more general rambling dissociation that Biden seems to have.

Biden is truly disengaged from reality.  But I don’t know if it is lies or lack of mental competence.  Either way, it is embarrassing to see this behavior in the President of the United States of America.  And it is frightening.  To me he seems like a senile old man that I wouldn’t let near my kitchen stove for fear of some disaster, yet this is the man who has his finger on the button of our nuclear arsenal.  Think about that for a minute, especially those of you who wrung your hands for four years because Trump had that access, crying that the world would end.

Biden, like a cranky old man, decided to pull out of Afghanistan and so he did.  Period.  His mission was accomplished.  But it was done so without a plan, without thought, without listening or hearing the advice of his own experts, without any concern for the survival of American citizens and their allies.  This is not the behavior of a competent president of the greatest nation in the world.

Like a child, or like an adult with an infantile mind, Biden just did what he felt like - apparently without any thought. This is truly dangerous behavior for an American President.

So where is everyone who was so concerned about every daily word and gesture of President Trump?  Have you lost interest in America?  Are you ashamed that you voted for this sad excuse for a world leader?  Are the voices in your heads telling you “Walk on by, nothing to see here”?

If the past 8 months have not already convinced you that the mind of our current president is not up to the task, then certainly this Afghanistan debacle should persuade you.  Joe may or may not be a nice guy, but he is not competent to hold office. 

This country is in crisis.  Not because it is not woke, but because its President is asleep at the wheel.  His world, and his alleged leadership, is disconnected from reality.  As such, he is destroying America if not the world.  And too many Americans seem to be willing to just close their eyes and let him do it.

Now is not the time to turn your back on America like Joe seems to be doing.

Putting on a Show is Not Leadership

Just an update from this morning’s post regarding Afghanistan and Biden.

So Joe flew in from vacation, gave a speech that did not address the real issue, and flew back out again.  Back to a vacation that seems to be more important to him that his job as leader of this country.  And so we go back to black out silence from the White House.

The speech was off point.  Biden’s assertive claim that “the buck stops here” was meaningless in light of the fact that he took no responsibility whatsoever for the disaster of this pull out. 

Rather, Biden (as predicted) blamed everyone but himself:  Trump, the Afghan military, the Afghan leaders, even the Afghan people themselves.  Perhaps even the people of America as he seemed to think we needed some sort of schooling about the history of American involvement in Afghanistan.

Trying to deflect from the real issue, Biden presented this crisis as if it were about the choice to stay in Afghanistan or pull out.  That is a different question from the issue of the actual circumstances of the pullout itself.  (Or, maybe he doesn’t really understand what today’s issue is)

Since the beginning of our involvement in Afghanistan the American people have been divided on whether or not we should be there and if so, how long we should remain.  Four presidents have presided over that question.   Previous presidents have worked to decrease the size of our military presence there.  Trump had a plan to pull out our troops which he was doing slowly, and with a plan that included severe response if the Taliban acted to take over the country.  Every former president’s plans regarding Afghanistan have been met with criticism, but they have not resulted in the ruinous consequences that we are seeing today.

While Biden can point to other presidents as having some responsibility for what happened throughout America’s time in Afghanistan, he cannot place blame for the actual manner in which the pull out was handled on those prior administrations.

Biden alone made the decision to fully pull out at this moment.  He can do that as president, even against the advice of his own military advisors.  While he focused on the question of whether or not we should remain in Afghanistan and spent most of the time defending his decision to pull out, that is not the issue today.

Biden’s decision to pull out ended the pending question of whether or not we should remain in Afghanistan. 

The current issue is the atrocious lack of planning and foresight of the Biden administration in carrying out that pull out decision. 

Biden’s pull out began in the middle of the night with no warning to our Afghani allies.  The Taliban acted in a way that was apparently predictable to most military and foreign affairs experts.  Those predictions were carried to Biden, but he either did not understand or ignored them and simply pulled out with no plan.

This calamitous pullout is catastrophic for human rights in Afghanistan – for women, children, LGBTQ+, and others.  It is a death sentence for many Afghanis.  It is a gift to terrorists such as Al Qaida. 

Biden in his speech asserted his concern for human rights in Afghanistan – yet at this point and with the Taliban in control, it will be close to impossible for him to do anything for those rights.

Biden also said we would get both our personnel and our allies out, from the airport.  Does he understand that the airport is not yet secured and that there is only one road into the airport which is controlled by a Taliban roadblock?  Does he know that many whom he says we will fly out are not at the airport having been told by his administration to shelter in place?  Does he even know there is no plan?

Biden gave a speech full of tough words and crocodile tears and statements of his concern for human rights and assertions of what a great leader he is.  He put on a show that I think the American people are smart enough not to fall for.

I think that Biden has no real idea at all what is going on and he has no plan (never had a plan) for the actual pull out that he decided to order.  He belatedly floats in from vacation, gives a speech that ignores the real issue and deflects blame on everyone but himself, and floats back off to who knows where.  He claims to be a humanitarian, that humanitarianism is the core of his foreign policy, but ignores that the manner in which this pull out was executed is devastating for any humanitarian cause.

The situation in Afghanistan is frightful, the horribly executed pull out is the cause, and the blame for that falls entirely upon Biden – yes, the buck for that does stop with him, if only he would acknowledge that.

I am left with the same question that I had when I wrote this morning’s post:  Do we even have a President?  At this point my answer is:  Certainly not a competent one.

 

Do We Even Have a President? A Rant.

As I write this our President is still in hiding.  The press secretary has closed her press office for a week.  Democrats continue to simply point a finger at the previous administration for every failure of the current Biden administration.  Indeed, as noted in my previous post, blame seems to be the only thing this administration does well.  This morning, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the failure of the Afghan military is to blame for the Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan.

As America and the world fall apart around us, I wonder what the Biden voters are thinking?  How do they feel when they learn that the people we abandoned in the middle of the night in Afghanistan are clinging to the final aircraft leaving Kabul and then falling to their death from 1000 feet in the sky?  How do they feel when they learn that gunfire at the airport involving our military has now resulted in at least two deaths?  How do they feel when our woke Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley tells us that terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda will now reconstitute themselves far more quickly than expected and in less than 2 years?  What about the Afghani women and children to whom we gave education and hope who now will be faced with the harshness of Sharia law for their progress?

Do you even know that this embarrassment that some experts call the worst blunder in American international history is even going on?  Where is the outrage?  You certainly had plenty over every word out of President Trump’s mouth.  Or are you now just too busy wondering if your neighbor is wearing their mask when they have visitors inside their own house?

Those of you that are old enough must be feeling some of the same as you did in 1975 during the final pullout from Vietnam.  Or doesn’t it matter any more just so long as we don’t have Donald Trump for president?

The terrorist threat is back.   Not from your neighbor who opposes vaccines and mask mandates but from the new power of the Taliban combined with our open borders.  You who voted for Biden were so afraid of Trump – do you feel safer now?

But you have all seemingly gone into hiding with our supposed President.  Do you have any idea how Biden is absolutely destroying this country beyond any hope of repair?  And now he is doing the same to the world.

Good luck when you can’t buy gas or food or other necessary or nearly necessary consumer goods; when inflation is so high that your paycheck becomes close to worthless.  Good luck when the big government entitlement and other help programs run out of money because no one is working or able to pay the taxes they require.  Good luck when your primary value in life becomes hate rather than tolerance for anyone who thinks, looks, or is in a different identity group from you.

And as to the world and America’s place in it:  Biden’s handling (or mishandling) of the Afghanistan withdrawal has put us in peril with both our allies and our enemies.  The allies will never trust us again, and the enemies know that if they just are patient, we don’t have the stamina to finish the fight and they can win whatever battle they have with us in the end.

Perhaps you don’t know what is going on.  Afterall, while the Taliban can still post on Twitter and other social media, Trump along with other conservative voices are banned.  You are fed only what supports the party line; contrary facts and expert voices are excluded.  Pelosi banned questions from Republican Congress people to experts about what is happening in Afghanistan.   Even the facts you are given by the administration and the mainstream media are often distorted.  But perhaps you don’t care.  You got rid of the “evil orange man” and so all is well.

I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are clueless about what is going on.  So, here are some current news pieces you may not have seen.  I hope that you will read and think about them and perhaps take a moment to speak up.  At least take the time to say a prayer for the American lives that were and are being lost in Afghanistan apparently for nothing and for the Afghanis who stood by us and helped us while we were there and whom we are now abandoning to the Taliban.

From former U.S. Navy SEAL Rob O’Neill, who killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011 :

“This is the worst loss in American history. Our most popular president has vanished. Prove me wrong.”

“Everything Democrats touch turns to s**t. Prove me wrong.”

“My friends who died for no reason would be disgusted with this administration.”

“Have any of our generals and admirals resigned out of disgrace yet?”

“We’ve heard more from The Taliban than we have from the most popular president in our history. Anything @PressSec ?”

“People are being killed trying to evacuate Kabul. But don’t worry… Jen Psaki will tell us what’s actually happening once dips**t goes to sleep.”

“Do I have this all right?: Our border is wide open, China’s biological weapon is surging, we closed our pipelines but opened Russia’s, the Taliban is back in charge, we are defunding the police and people with penises are women. What did I miss?”

“Joe Biden opposed the raid to kill bin Laden. At least he lost Afghanistan in 7 months.”

“Remember when people held hands and jump to their deaths out of the twin towers? Neither does @POTUS”

From Kurt Volker, expert in U.S. foreign and national security policy with some 30 years of experience in a variety of government, academic, and private sector capacities.  “Afghanistan’s End Portends a Darker U.S. Future” LINK  

NY Time Guest Opinion “Biden could have stopped the Taliban, He Chose not to” LINK

The New Yorker – “Does the Great Retreat from Afghanistan Mark the End of the American Era?” LINK

From USA Today,  “Biden's Afghanistan horror: A well-intentioned miscalculation with disastrous, predictable results”    LINK 

“Please America, don’t miss this one lesson from Afghanistan” LINK 

The Blame Game

Biden dismantled Trump’s Afghanistan withdrawal plan yet according to the White House, the dangerous failure in Afghanistan is Trump’s fault. 

This blame game shouldn’t surprise us.  After all:

·        Biden dismantled Trump’s border controls yet according to the White House, the border crisis is Trump’s fault.

·        Biden canceled Trump’s policies that led to energy independence, yet according to the White House, the huge rise in the cost of energy is Trump’s fault.

·        Biden’s economic policies that are a reversal of Trump’s have resulted in the highest inflation in years, yet according to the White House, the rise in inflation and consumer prices are Trump’s fault.

·        Biden denigrated Trump’s operation Warp Speed that gave us the Covid vaccine, then blames Trump for not enough vaccinated individuals.

·        Biden supports defunding the police, then blames Trump for rising crime in cities where police where defunded.

Indeed, as Biden creates crisis after crisis, asks the Taliban to be nice, and then leaves on vacation with undisclosed visitors, the White House continues to blame Trump for any and all problems that the country faces. 

And worse, the media goes along with it.  Remember the unforgiving and unending questions that the press would throw at Trump and his press secretary.  The press covering Biden can’t seem to ask a follow-up question – not even about his love for ice cream cones that is not that far from the typical topic of questions presented.

Does the American citizen get any in-depth coverage of the activity of this administration?  No.  Do we get any in-depth coverage of foreign affairs?  No.  Do we get full or in-depth coverage and statistics about Covid, the delta variation, and the effectiveness of mask mandates, vaccines, etc.? No. 

We are fed pablum.  Like babies (or senile presidents perhaps). 

And how many people really stop to ask the "why?" for the many conclusions that they are fed daily?  Or is it just easier to blame Trump and then sit back while the world falls apart around you?

Vaccine, Masks, Science, and Freedom

 Covid.  It’s political.

Let’s begin with the honest statement that no one knows everything about Covid-19.  Our knowledge, whether the typical “man on the street” or a medical professional specializing in virology, is ever evolving as more and more data is compiled about this virus, its origins and its mutations.

Actually, this evolutional knowledge is not atypical for any science-based inquiry.  Imagine if knowledge about diseases remained static – we would still be bloodletting, treating toothaches with cocaine, recommending smoking as a cure for asthma, drinking energy drinks containing radium, and considering bathing or handwashing as a bad medical practice. 

And so, just as our medical knowledge generally as well as about specific diseases has and continues to evolve, so does our knowledge about this very new virus, Covid-19.  Anyone who claims to have the absolute answer to anything about Covid is either ignorant, overly impressed with themselves, or lying.

I, like many, try to be well-informed about this virus, but it is incredibly difficult to obtain a full body of what is known about Covid to date.  Many questions that one might ask do not have answers or relevant data readily available.  And yes, it seems like the information that is generally provided to the public is carefully selected to support the narrative that is being pushed.

               VACCINES AND VACCINATIONS

For example, we know that both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals are being infected, especially with the Delta variant.  We also hear that the new spike is to be blamed on the unvaccinated.  But there are several additional questions that leave one without answers, for example:

·        What percentage of this new spike in cases is serious (e.g., place the infected individual in the hospital) and what percentage of those infected die?

·        What is the death percentage due to Delta Covid for the vaccinated who have been infected and what is the death percentage for those unvaccinated who have been infected?

·        Since the vaccinated apparently are asymptomatic when infected, do we really have an accurate number of the percentage of vaccinated who become infected and how does that affect the claim that most of the new infections are in the unvaccinated?

·        If vaccinated people get an asymptomatic form of Covid, then aren’t they actually the most likely spreaders?  And if that is the case, why are the unvaccinated being labeled the evil pariahs of this pandemic?

·        And are the answers to the above, along with much other information, important to one’s ability to make decisions about receiving the vaccine or supporting mandatory vaccination?

                MASKS

Masks are another issue about which everyone seems to believe that they hold the one and only correct view.  Those opinions include: that masks are totally ineffective; that they protect the wearer from getting sick; that they only protect an infected wearer from spreading the disease; and many other points of view.  Again, there are questions and uncertainties.

We do know that Covid spreads via air particulate.  So if an infected person breathes out, they are likely breathing out spreadable Covid viruses.  My understanding of masks is, that like any other barrier, they may stop some of what might otherwise pass through the plane where the mask is.  A steel barrier probably stops everything.  No barrier stops nothing.  Masks, from N95 to a single piece of cloth may stop some particulate to a greater or lesser extent.  To me it seems reasonable that a particular barrier’s effectiveness would be the same regardless of the direction (in or out) of the particulate.

But this is the same as for any airborne disease.  It’s like a rainstorm.  If I go out without an umbrella, I am going to get wet.  If I use an umbrella, I will likely get less wet, but depending on the size of the umbrella and how it is made as well as the extent and severity of the rain, I am going to get at least a little wet and maybe even soaked.

If one accepts that analogy and also puts one’s political affiliation aside, I think that we could all agree that some wearing of masks might be reasonable.  But it does not necessarily follow that mask mandates are required or even that they are wise. 

A person, whether vaccinated or unvaccinated, can assess their risk factors, both to themselves and others.  If they believe that masks do provide at least some protection from becoming seriously infected with Covid and if they are concerned about being infected, then they can choose to wear a mask in situations where they feel they may be at risk.   If they believe that they may be infected and able to spread the disease, then they may choose to wear a mask, or they might simply choose to self-quarantine or take other measures to protect others.

The seasonal flu is an airborne virus and can be quite serious or even deadly to some people.  Many people get an annual flu vaccine, many others do not.  During flu season some people do not change their behavior at all, others do more handwashing or social distancing, some decline handshaking or avoid places where they think they might be especially at risk, some even choose to wear a mask during flu season.  There is no “one size fits all” mandate about the flu, just as there is no mandate for any other contagious or possibly deadly disease. 

                WHAT’S REALLY GOING ON

So why the mask mandates and mask resistance?  Why the call for every citizen to receive a currently experimental vaccine along with a call for vaccine passports and second-class citizenship status for those who are unvaccinated?  Why the daily news stories of the horrors of being sick with Covid without stories of the many who experience little if any discomfort from the virus?  Why the daily fearmongering about Covid?  And why, if all of this is so important for citizens, are border crossers exempted from any testing or vaccination requirements while somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of those crossing and being bussed throughout the country turn out to be Covid positive? 

The answer is that this is a political game that is being played, and while it uses Covid as its game piece, in the end it has little to do with Covid.  

So who are the players in this game?  We have Dr. Fauci and other “scientists” who assert their current theories (anyone who has followed this knows those theories can and have changed and reversed) as if they are absolute fact that must be believed (if you don’t believe them, you are name called as some sort of neanderthal or – oh horror – one of those deplorable conservatives).  

Social media is in the game as it wields its power as censor so that the masses will be delivered only the one “correct” view (that being the view that the social media gods, who are not scientists or doctors, decide is correct). 

The political leaders are of course in the game.  The Democrats, being the party of big government, along with the Socialist Left who believe that government should make all your decisions for you, are of course playing for the mandate and ultimate control over you, your family, your schools, and your body.

The Republicans respond by asserting that government mandates are an overreach and a violation of your freedom, that under our Constitutional government you have control over yourself, your body, your family, your schools.  

The party minions go to battle:  The Left asserting that anyone who does not comply with their demands (vaccine, mask, closures, etc.) is evil and un-American.  The far-Right goes beyond opposing mandates to opposing even the idea of an individual choosing to wear a mask or mask their child. 

This is just crazy.  For the record, I oppose the mandates.  Note that I was for the initial 3 week or so absolute shutdown to slow the spread (not to rid us of the virus).  But after that I believe that we, as free Americans, can make our own decisions about how to live in a world with Covid just as we are free to make our own decisions about the many other ways that we live our lives.  Our decisions have consequences, and we have to live with them, but they are our decisions, not the government’s to make.

Personally, I wear a mask to protect myself in those situations that for me seem to be overly risky.  I make those decisions based on what I know about myself, my health, and the particular situation in which I will be participating.  I believe that every other adult can make those decisions for him or herself and that parents can make those decisions for their children. 

I don’t consider those who see the situation differently to be wrong or crazy or anything else.  I might note that I would make a different decision, but that would be mine and their decision is theirs, and we will both live with the consequences.  I do know that I am sick of being considered as some sort of outcast or pariah by both sides – when I do less than what the Left would mandate or when I do more than what the Right does in its resistance.

                SO WHO WINS THIS POLITICAL COVID GAME?  

In the end I think it is a test of how far we Americans are willing to relinquish our individuality and freedom, of how far we are willing to place those sacred freedoms in the hands of another – of those in power with their own agendas which may or may not be reconcilable with ours. 

Relinquishing one’s freedom to another, even (especially) when one is in fear, whether scientifically justified or not, is a slippery slope because once you give it up you are unlikely to get it back.  And once you have given up one piece of your freedom it becomes easier for those in power to take the next and the next and the next until you have no freedom left.

So, think carefully about where you stand on mandates and masks and vaccines.  When you are given “facts” ask questions, ask for the rest of the facts and the data underlying those facts and alleged conclusions.  Science is not static, but using it to create confusion and fear and to support universal mandates can result in a very static loss of freedom.

 

Feeling Like an Ex-Pat in My Own Country

 The term “ex-pat” is short for ex-patriot, an individual living and/or working in a country other than his or her country of citizenship, often temporarily and often for work reasons.  Ex-pats, while usually having chosen and enjoying their life abroad, still very much consider themselves citizens of their homeland and generally experience some level of homesickness for it.  They often get together with other expats from the same country to celebrate traditions of their homeland or otherwise enjoy aspects of their homeland that are missing in their current country of residence.

In today’s world I often feel like an ex-pat in my own country.  While many of my fellow citizens feel similarly, I am sure that many others are not really aware of the depth of irreversible change that is taking place, and which will leave us with not an improved America but with a very different country entirely. 

The progressive Left agenda is more than just some typical political posturing and gamesmanship.  Today’s progressive and socialist Left would like to see America as we know it completely dismantled and re-established as some sort of socialist utopia.  America is already changing its character and essence into a truly different place, and that is why many are feeling like homesick expats – strangers in a strange land homesick for their homeland.

I am not talking about some nostalgia for an America of yesteryear.  This is not a desire for an America that never changes or does not work to cure its deficiencies or constantly evolve.  Rather, it means a desire for exactly that America – the America with the core values that has allowed it to ever evolve forward, closer to the ideals of its founding and its Constitution, the ideals that have allowed it to be the beacon of freedom to the rest of the world for the past 245 years.

So many of what one often cites as characteristics of America and as those things which make her unique and great are being cancelled and replaced by very different characteristics.  Those new characteristics or values are encouraged by the Left along with their handmaidens the mainstream media and big corporations.  These changes are all interrelated and while each alone affects some aspect of America, when all become intertwined they eat out America’s heart and soul.

What is being cancelled and how is it being replaced? I have created two charts which only begin to suggest the changes that are occurring.  These charts suggest some of the characteristics of America and its people that are being cancelled – the characteristics of the America that I and other expats here are homesick for. 

Of course some, especially the woke Left and their minions, are thrilled to see these many changes.  Others of us are terrified as we see these many interrelated elements creating a new America, one without our traditional freedoms and values, one that will require an authoritarian structure for whom most of us will be required to relinquish our individuality as we essentially become its slaves. 

While the below charts only scratch the surface of the upheaval that is taking place in America, they perhaps give a sense of its extent.  America is not evolving or growing but being destroyed in order to serve some sort of reimagining by the Left (reimagining being the appropriate word here because this has all been imagined before – by every failed or failing socialist or Marxist regime that has ever existed). 

As I look about me and see a very different America emerging, I realize that I am an ex-pat in my own country.  The problem is, I did not choose to move here, I don't like it, and I cannot go home.

Individual and Societal Characteristics in America Today

Part 1:  Aspects that emanate from something external to the individual (e.g. inherent/constitutional rights, the State, the mob)
Being Cancelled	Being Encouraged	Examples/Effect of Change
Inherent Rights (rights that belong to the individual and cannot be taken by the State)	State granted rights (The state owns the right and can choose to grant it or how to grant it and can take it away)	E.g.: Entitlement programs or amount of those programs: housing & rent assistance, social services,
Rules that apply equally to all	Rules apply depending on the situation and who is involved	E.g: Leaders not following own rules; favored victim classes excused from what are legal violations for others
Regulated borders	Open borders; immigration laws not enforced	Loss of identifiable and unified country; no control over who enters and why
Choice	No Choice (in goods or beliefs)	E.g.: Certain points of view cannot be posted on social media, are disinvited from college campuses, are fired because of beliefs
Equality (Equal opportunity for all, but results might not be equal)	Equity (Equal results for all)	Requires some form of discrimination to achieve the desired result; the State (as opposed to the individual) determines what the result will be; eliminates motivation & competition
Uniqueness of Individual	Group identity	Causes dissention as groups are defined as victims or oppressors; labels people based on external characteristics
Rights require responsibility	Rights without responsibility	Entitlement and little motivation to work or to contribute to country, society or the greater good
Meritocracy	Mediocrity	Socialism.  Destroys the Individual and fulfillment of one’s abilities
Acknowledge and learn from history (good & bad)	Cancel and deny history	Judgmental; repeat old mistakes; denies respect, pride, understanding for how the country overcame negatives and for those who came before
Freedom of speech and thought	Cancel or limit & attack opposing ideas/theories/suggestions	Stymies the ability to progress with new ideas and innovations; does not allow challenges and suggestions that can improve theories
Decisions based on fact and logic	Decisions based on emotion and self interest	Irrational and inconsistent outcomes; often not best for the country as a whole or for the greater good

 

Individual and Societal Characteristics in America Today

Part 2:  Aspects that are internal to the individual and contribute to the individual’s values and approach to life
Being Cancelled	Being Encouraged	Examples/Effect of Change
Selflessness	Selfishness	Loss of belief in something greater than self; little respect for human life; no concern for the greater good
Faith in something beyond self	Self-gratification is prime consideration and glorification	While superficial appetites are gratified (e.g. gender fluidity, sexualization of women and children, legalization of traditional vices), there is an emptiness in the soul; decline of religion
Respect for elders and experts	Everyone is an expert, believing they are as knowledgeable as anyone on a subject and so can and should be able to run it	Hampers ability to learn because no belief that the one from whom one is learning is any more knowledgeable than the self (or their ability to Google)
Individual responsibility	Victimhood	Blaming others for one’s pain and predicament does not allow for personal growth, does not allow one to move forward as an individual
Rewarded for one’s own labor	All share in rewards even if they did not contribute	Contrary to the moral of the children’s store of The Little Red Hen, this encourages laziness and mediocrity
Self-reliance	Reliance on State	Diminishes the ability to take pride in and feel rewarded by one’s own accomplishments; creates dependency on State and underclass of those who are dependent
Acceptance of reality of imperfection with goal of every improving towards (unattainable) perfection	Belief in possibility of utopia	Everyone’s utopia is different and all utopias require authoritarianism
Critical thinking	Superficial solutions to problems while questions, deep thought demeaned	Without critical thinking individual cannot realize own true and full potential