“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.