Poor Joe

  I have to say I have never been much on foreign affairs. Other than getting along with the other nations in the world I don't see much use in concerning myself with their affairs. Should the United States be the moral conscience of the world? It's certainly a role I have been told that we fill. You could say that began in 1914 when we entered WW1. The Germans had invaded Belgium and rumors of atrocities were filtering out of Europe. Then, they began sinking American merchant ships. Announcing a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare they then sank the Lusitania. Wilson did not want to enter the war but was pressured and felt he was left with little choice. WW2 was just a continuation of WW1. It was also the last declared war the United States has fought. It could be argued it was the last war in which we could declare victory. From Korea going forward I believe that is the case. Our involvement in those conflicts has centered around appeasement, promises and commerce. The promises are the moral ground upon which we stand. And today, as far as Afghanistan goes, I believe we abandoned that promise, that moral high ground for the first time. It wasn't a strategic withdrawal, it was an abandonment. Basically we just threw down our weapons, packed a light travel bag, and left. 

 I listened to what Biden had to say. At least I listened to the written responses he was reading from as he shuffled the stack of papers he had. A few times he invoked Harry Truman with the buck stops here quote. I suppose that made him feel "empowered" as this woke bunch like to say. I listened as he said I could see no other way forward other than chaos. Perhaps that is a reflection of his home life, there has certainly been chaos there. He certainly couldn't be said to exercise any control over that. Forty seven years a Senator and his only accomplishment was taxing social security recipients. The second time social security was taxed it was Biden, as VP, that cast the deciding vote! The buck stopped with him, although I haven't heard him bragging about any of that. But Biden insists he is in contact with the Taliban, negotiating with them. He admitted receiving many warnings, many messages, many concerns about this action, but yet deciding to just run away was the proper course of action. 

 Now that the buck has stopped with Biden, and moral obligations discarded, what is our course forward? As I said I have never really concerned myself with foreign affairs. I do believe in an old adage, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. It's advice going back a thousand years or more. Biden questioned what value does Afghanistan have to America? He questioned if we should have ever cared  a bit about any of that. He asked, what if the Taliban had gone to Yemen would we have gone there and never entered Afghanistan? If the communists in North Korea hadn't crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea we wouldn't have gone there either! We did so in response to a United Nations agreement to end hostilities. We had given our word and we had  a moral obligation to fulfill that word. For a President to start talking about what ifs' just exposes his weakness. It's the " at this point what difference does it make" attitude all over again, A prevalent theme for the Democratic party it would seem. Apparently Biden has decided, the buck stops there, that Afghanistan doesn't matter at all. We are leaving as fast as we can and the devil take the hindmost. We won't expand the circle of defense around the airport for fear of upsetting the Taliban, that what Joe said, not me! 

 Following each conflict we have been involved with since Korea, America has lost face. Certainly those that served in those conflicts feel that way, certainly the family members that lost their loved ones feel that way. Indeed following Vietnam service members themselves were vilified and blamed, the buck was stopping with them, those that were simply following the orders of their superiors! And today with this Afghan debacle Insult has been added to injury. The world is laughing at us, at the incompetence of this President. The very party that installed him in office admits that he is wrong. They were well aware of his weakness when they put his name on the ballot. It was his malleability that was the appeal. He is certainly being controlled, of that I have no doubt. He is being told what to say, when to say it and how to say it. It's obvious enough. He isn't able to answer questions that he hasn't been provided a script for. The medications are working I'd say. He walks to the podium almost robotically and reads his script. Easily flustered and confused the person in his ear guides him, calms him down. Just say, the buck stops here, Joe! It makes you look strong, believe me. Insist that you made a decision. Then take your ball and go home, back to the basement. You will be brought out when we need you for public relations purposes or when we need to blame someone for the mess. You will be replaced soon enough. Poor Joe. Just another part of the plan in my opinion. The only question I have is, how long will Kamala last?