We live in perilous times. Our leadership is worse than incompetent. Instead of trying to make our country work and failing, our leadership seems determined to DELIBERATELY tear our country to shreds. Perhaps our Supreme Court still maintains some vestige of sanity (a five to four majority, at best), but the majorities in Congress and that pair in White House seem to have lost their wicked minds.
The latest debacle is particularly damning. Even a sympathetic news median cannot figure out how defend President Joe Biden. When Biden ordered the abandonment of Afghanistan, he did not even bother to make certain all the Americans had gotten out. In fact, before he bothered to withdraw American civilians and the Afghans who had risked death to help America in Afghanistan, he ordered the only people who could be trusted to protect them out of the country. We can only guess what the Taliban will do, but the lives of tens of thousands of people are now at risk. These fall into four basic categories
- Americans, especially military contractors.
- The Afghans who helped Americans pacify Afghanistan.
- The Afghans who converted to Christianity. See THE TALIBAN IS IN POWER: BOB BURNEY ON THE TERRORS OF THE TALIBAN.
- Anyone else the Taliban feels like persecuting.
Biden began the debacle by abandoning Bagram Air Base. Bagram is critical because Afghanistan is a landlocked nation far from the ocean. Without Bagram, we cannot easily provide American ground forces close air support. A B52 bomber could fly in and drop a load of bombs from 30,000 ft (That’s not close air support.). Cruise missiles could be used to destroy fixed targets, but attack helicopters and the A-10 need to operated from some place within the country. That was Bagram. Therefore, all those troops we are sending back into Afghanistan are at a huge disadvantage. They are outnumbered, and they cannot call for help from above.
Think of the firemen and the police who went into the World Trade Center almost 20 years ago. Most probably had no idea how dangerous it was to go into those two towers. They just knew it was dangerous and people had to get out. So, they went in to help. If anything, the situation in Afghanistan is even more dangerous. Will the Taliban sense weakness and attack? With Biden in charge?
Since they won the last election, have the Democrats done anything right, for the good of our country? Consider some of the things our Democratic Party leadership has accomplished here of late.
- COVID-19 vaccines. Biden has tried to claim credit for the COVID-19 vaccines, especially getting people vaccinated. However, before the election Democrats made a point of saying they did not trust the vaccines because they were produced by the Trump administration. Now Democrats, using the Delta variant as an excuse, want to bring back masks and social distancing. Another economic lockdown and dubious episode in election security can’t be far behind.
- Economy. Democrats are paying people not to work. Reckless, unnecessary government spending, including the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and the Senate passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure bill, is leading to surging inflation. Typical of Democrat wasteful vote-buying is a giant food-stamp expansion (The Democratic Food-Stamp Boom). Democrats even have this huge “human infrastructure” they would pass along strict party lines. They would abuse the budget reconciliation process to render the filibuster in the Senate meaningless.
- Energy. Thanks to the efforts made by the Biden administration to stifle oil production in America, gasoline prices have gone up. So, Biden has requested that OPEC increase its production? That’s a solution?
- Civil Rights. Promoting transgender “rights” the Biden administration wants biological boys in female restrooms and participating in female sporting events. Promoting indoctrination in Critical Race Theory, which is just plain racist, the Biden administration would even bring racism into our military.
- Border Crisis. The Biden administration is letting anyone across the border. Nations have borders because the people inside those borders have shared beliefs. The people inside can generally get along with each other well enough to live in peace. In USA that even means we don’t have half the population enslaved by the other half. Well, it seems the Democratic Party misses the good ole days.
- Demonizing the Police. In addition to defunding police departments, Democrats have made it so unpopular to be a policeman that there are not as many people seeking to be policemen. Of course, Democrats have not stopped at demonizing the police. Are you a white male? Well, that automatically makes you a racist and a sexist, unless you have have become a Democrat.
Anyway, I am not going to try to list all the nonsense the most divisive and corrupt politicians our country has ever known have accomplished. All I am going to say is that if the people who voted for corrupt, power mad Democrats don’t come to their senses, they will have to live with the wreckage of our country for the rest of their days and know in their hearts who is to blame. If half of the American people will not support and defend the Constitution, then our system of government cannot work.
References
- Here’s Joe Biden’s report card after six months in the White House
- High Gasoline Prices and Biden’s Confusing OPEC Request on Oil Production
- Democrats Got What They Wanted With Joe Biden: An Autopen In The White House
- Biden-allied group warns: Voters are largely clueless about POTUS’ accomplishments
- Pro-Biden Group: Voters Mostly Clueless About Joe Biden’s ‘Accomplishments’
- Fifty Great Things Biden Has Accomplished in less than half a year in office: Saturday’s GNR
- Biden Can’t Stand Prosperity
- Left Behind: Billions in U.S. Equipment for the Afghanistan Taliban to Use Against… Us
- Report: Taliban Overrun Bagram Air Base; Numerous ‘High Value’ Prisoners, Al Qaeda Members Freed
- Reports: Bagram Air Base Surrendered to Taliban, Imprisoned Terrorists Released
- Biden authorizes 5,000 troops for Afghanistan amid Taliban advance
- Biden Deploys More Troops To Afghanistan To Protect ‘Those At Special Risk From The Taliban Advance’
- White House: ‘Significant Number of Americans’ Remain in Afghanistan, Chaos Erupts at Airport
Citizen Tom 
So much for the Biden admin following the “Trump plan”.
“Exclusive: Ex-Trump aide lays out Afghan withdrawal plan that Biden scrapped”
https://justthenews.com/government/security/biden-ignored-plan-carefully-withdraw-afghanistan-top-trump-aide-says
@artaxes
Thanks for the link.
Thanks for the reblog! Much appreciated.
Reblogged this on ARLIN REPORT……………….walking this path together.
Thanks for the reblog. Much appreciated.
Anytime!
Reblogged this on boudica.us.
Biden and the rest of the Junta are a symptom of the problem. Afghanistan was the culmination of 20 years of American corruption and hubris finally driving the people to such exasperation that they welcomed their former oppressors back as liberators. The military defeat we suffered was the end result of decades of dumbing-down, politically-correcting, and corporatizing the armed forces. Domestically we’ve lost our freedoms after steadily giving them up for 30 years along with the cultural rot that set in about the same time.
The fact is that ALL of this was not only predictable, a lot of us actually predicted it. But so-called Conservatives, Christians, Libertarians,and Constitutionalists all turned and looked the other way; or joined in to profit off the decay like a bunch of vultures. The only way we can win back the nation now is if the leadership on the Right begins to admit that we were responsible for letting this happen and start taking some concrete measures to set things right.
@The Night Wind
I told you so?
Whose to blame?
There are two big problems with nation building.
1. When we occupy a nation, we have to be careful to avoid propping up an unpopular, corrupt government. The locals give legitimacy to their government. We cannot impose a democracy.
2. We have to make a long term — 40 year — commitment.
We failed to do both of those things. I don’t think most people understood just how difficult nation building could be.
Trump recognized we are not capable setting up a democracy in Afghanistan. That includes hanging on for another 20 years. In fact, our administration of Afghanistan had become corrupt. So, Trump decided to cut our losses and engineer a withdrawal, an extremely difficult manuever. When the Biden administration executed the withdrawal, they botched it. They did everything wrong, and they are still doing everything wrong.
So, whose to blame? For going into Afghanistan and trying to build a new nation? I think most had good intentions, but I have no doubt some defense contractors just saw dollar signs.
For botching the withdrawal (still ongoing)? The people who put the Democrats in power.a
Tom,
Affter reading your post, I wrote a post titled: Biden’s Hastey vs. Diligent Plans Lead to…? which in my opinion is the root cause of what we are now experiencing.
https://rudymartinka.com/2021/08/18/bidens-hasty-vs-diligent-plans-lead-to-king-solomon-blog/
Regards and goodwill blogging.
@Scatterwisdom
You are being to kind to the Biden administration, I think.
Afghanistan was lost (finally) by the Administration that granted legitimacy to the Taliban, and stood by while they broke the agreements.
@Constitutional Insurgent
I think there was a bit more to it. I think ordering our troops to abandon Bagram involved more than just standing by and doing nothing. Still, perhaps I don’t understand. What do you mean by granting legitimacy to the Taliban.
The previous Administration entered negotiations with the Taliban, and excluded the Government of Afghanistan [at the behest of the Taliban. We acceded to their demands [including releasing 4600 prisoners back onto the battlefield], while the Taliban reneged.
@Constitutional Insurgent
Well, that was not legitimizing the Taliban. That was giving up and conceding they would win.
Frankly, I fear Biden and the Democrats deliberately created the current situation. Nothing they have done makes much sense otherwise. Only Americans who hate this country and our enemies are happy with anything they have done.
We’ll disagree with what constitutes legitimizing. But it’s just as feasible that the Trump Administration set up Biden with an untenable position; no actual plan for withdrawal….unobtainable goals….dismissing the AFG government in ‘negotiations’.
I don’t traffic in notions of who hates or loves this nation.
@Constitutional Insurgent
Curious response. Given Obama’s track record, the notion Biden would treat the government of Afghanistan with any respect is laughable. Nevertheless, Biden was trying to undo everything Trump had done. So, he could have gotten cozy with the Afghan government and put more of the Taliban in prison.
So long as Biden had Bagram Air Base, he had a great deal of flexibility. Biden ordered the troops out.The Afghanistan military was not nearly as powerful as Biden claimed, but Biden deprived it of the American contractors it needed to maintain its air force, which gave it a significant operational advantage over the Taliban. So, it is fairly obvious Biden boxed himself in.
Do I traffic in notions of who hates or loves this nation? I am retired military. It was my job to kill the people who hate my country enough to war against it.
Since I retired I have learned that my country’s internal enemies are more dangerous than its external enemies. However, until these enemies take up arms against this country, ethics requires me to use the political process to defeat them. Still, because of their words and deeds, I think it obvious many members of the Democratic Party hate this country. I make no apologies for stating what is obvious.
The curiosity comes full circle. I’m perplexed at how you are seemingly cool with the previous Administration not only negotiating with the Taliban, but excluding GIRoA at their behest…but want to denigrate the current Administrations level of respect. And ‘putting more of the Taliban in prison’ [after we compelled the release of nearly 5000 last year, also at the behest of the Taliban] would have violated the terms of Trump’s peace deal. Yet, you have concern with ‘undoing’ what trump had done. Perplexing.
Look, I get it. Partisan narrative demand that you blame your political opposition for everything…but it can often at least be done with reason and common sense…levying critique where it’s warranted.
I too retired from the military [Army], and still serve in the capacity as a deploying Contractor….but the wars I’ve fought in, weren’t against anyone who ‘hated my country enough to war against it’ [Taliban & Iraqi’s. Rather, they wanted us to not occupy their respective nations.
I agree with you that holding BAF until our withdrawal was complete, would have helped with the current chaos [not that it would have mitigated the inevitable]…but that was McKenzie’s call as the CENTCOM CDR. I wouldn’t expect any POTUS to weigh in on the detail of how many airheads to staff.
You also shouldn’t make apologies….I certainly haven’t asked you for any…..but I find the notion fascinating, of assigning an emotional perspective to another person/party.
@Constitutional Insurgent
I voted for Ted Cruz. Then I voted for Donald Trump. Trump was not perfect. I did not like everything he did, but he got the job done, and he stood up to incredible opposition from the Democratic Party and the news media. Trump earned respect. Joe Biden is just crooked. It is obvious he has taken graft, including from enemy nations.
I don’t know exactly know why Trump had relatively little respect for the Afghan government, but I imagined he considered it a mercenary operation, bought and paid for by the USA. We were propping up the Afghan government. So, as a practical matter, the existence of the Afghan government depended upon us. Biden abrupt abandonment of the Afghan government demonstrated that perfectly.
If Biden was not involved in the decision to abandon the Afghan military and Bagram Air Base, that is incompetence. If a general took that decision upon himself, he should be fired for criminal negligence.
The decision to keep or withdraw from BAF is not a POTUS-level decision…it rests with the GCC. He could have have overruled or demanded it…but the bottom line, is that is what McKenzie gets paid for. If you want to level criticism [and I think it’s warranted]…should it not be at the appropriate target…as opposed to merely the political scapegoat?
Biden ‘abandoned’ the Kabul regime four full months after the Trump agreement stipulated. Hardly abrupt. The existence of NO OTHER government should EVER depend on us.
I have zero interest in either major party, nor it’s figureheads. Respect or critique should be reasonable and based on facts in evidence. At least to me…but I realized long ago that I’m in the distinct minority.
@Constitutional Insurgent
I have no idea what the GCC is. Undoubtedly, the government has cooked up new a acronyms since I retired in 1994. The Constitution, however, still makes our president the CINC. That is where the buck stops.
Sorry, McKenzie and the CENTCOM staff.
And you’re correct about the buck stopping, but you also know that each political camp only tries to hold the other accountable. Which realistically reduces the buck stopping, to a quaint theory.
@Constitutional Insurgent
Each side should not try to hold the other accountable? It is a sin if they do? Our system is designed with checks and balances. We want them to hold each other to account.
What matters is that the Biden administration has created an outrageous mess, and they are trying shift the blame while telling us that the buck stops with the president. The Biden administration habitually lies.
It may not be possible to impeach Biden and remove him from office, but every effort has to be made to halt the Democrats’ agenda. These people are so incompetent many have reached the conclusion they are deliberately trying to wreck the country. I think they are just crooked, but I cannot read minds.
No…..I said each side ONLY holds the other accountable. Rarely, if ever, it’s own.
Not true.
Afghanistan was lost when Bagram Air Base was abandoned.
While it may have been inevitable that without any presence of US military the Afghan army
would collapse, the current disaster is sqarely on the hands of the Biden administration.
The Biden administration had no problem reversing and demolishing any of Trump’s achievements like the border wall, energy independence, reviving the Iran deal etc.
No one put a gun to Biden’s head forcing hin to pull out of Afghanistan. He wanted to pull out and he completely f+++ed up the implementation of the withdrawal. So he owns the disaster completely:
Here are the reasons for the current disaster.
The Biden admin tore up the agreement with the Taliban.
The original withdrawal was planned for May, just before the fighting season starts.
The Biden admin chose to pull out in summer when the Taliban is at full strength.
As long as Bagram Airbase was in American hands the US could fly in Ttroops and equipment very quickly any time it needed to do so.
Unlike Bagram Airbase the Afghan airport is completely exposed and hardly defensible. The US and its allies are completely at the mercy of the Taliban.
The Biden admin abandoned Bagram airbase, pulled out the military before the civilians could be pulled out and it left a huge amount of weapons and the finest military equipment behind.
So, the Taliban have in essence ten thousands of hostages and all the weapons and equipment.
The Taliban have all the leverage while the US and its allies have none.
AFG was lost when we embarked upon the folly of nation-building. Bagram was and remains, irrelevant to that. My other comments on BAF are in response to Citizen Tom. You probably want a Biden cheerleader, if you want to argue the remainder of your post.
@Constitutional Insurgent
You essentially classified me as Trump cheerleader.
Not quite sure where you are coming from, but it seems you want a pox on everyone’s house. I suppose that is not unusual for Libertarian, but it is not very nice.
No…..I was responding to artaxes, who’s post was more political screed than anything else.
If my response was not clear in being to him/her…then that’s my fault for lacking clarity.
@Constitutional Insurgent
Frankly, I don’t care whether you are Biden cheerleader or not.
I didn’t expect anything. Cool down. It’s nothing personal.
I viewed your statement as false and what you call a screed are arguments backing up my view,
You said: “Afghanistan was lost (finally) by the Administration that granted legitimacy to the Taliban, and stood by while they broke the agreements.” (A)
Now you are saying: “AFG was lost when we embarked upon the folly of nation-building.” (B)
Seems to me that you are saying “Project Afghanistan” failed because of nation building (B) and the Trump admin put the final nail in the coffin of the project (A).
The project could have possibly been saved by changing the goals of the project to something different from nation building. The blame for failing to do so goes to Bush/Obama.
The distinction of putting the final nail in the coffin goes clearly to the Biden admin.
Cool down??
That’s a fair analysis, excepting that fact that the conditions for withdrawal [not the manner, which is awarded to Biden] were set entirely by the previous Administration.
@Constitutional Insurgent
You are aware that the Biden admin saw itself not bound by these conditions?
This is evidenced by the fact that the Biden admin tore the agreement between the Trump admin and the Taliban apart.
The Biden admin could have chosen at any time a different course of action. It did not.
The Biden Administration moved the withdrawal date. That doesn’t constitute “tearing up the agreement”. Other than the date, it followed the Trump “plan”.
@Constitutional Insurgent
The withdrawal date was an essential part of the agreement.
According to the New York Post, these are the key points of the agreement.
• The US will draw down its forces to 8,600 troops from about 12,000, and close five bases, all by mid-July. Remaining troops will be withdrawn by May 2021.
• The Taliban will prevent militant groups from using Afghan soil to threaten the US and its allies.
• The Afghan government will release up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners in exchange for 1,000 Afghan security forces held by the Taliban.
• The US will work to remove Taliban members from sanctions.
• The Taliban and the Afghan government will start negotiating a comprehensive cease-fire in March.
See https://nypost.com/2020/02/29/us-and-taliban-sign-historic-peace-deal-to-end-18-year-war/
The fact is, that the Biden admin unilaterally ignored an essential part of the agreement. Call that what you want but it proves that the Biden admin saw itself not bound by the agreement. Therefore, failure to change course is a deliberate decision by the Biden admin.
The Biden admin did also not follow the “Trump plan” in other ways.
As Trump stated, he intended to pull out civilians first and then the military.
He stated also, that he intended to leave no equipment and weapons behind.
Bottom line:
The Biden admin saw itself not bound by the agreement with the Taliban and it saw itself not bound by any plans of the prior admin.
This is a catastrophy of the Biden admin’s making.
And, as an addendum…….why should he have changed course and continued to prolong this national travesty?
@Constitutional Insurgent
Perhaps, because there are other ways of not losing Afghanistan without the stupidity of nation building?
Perhaps…..if there was a national security threat resident in Afghanistan worth our permanent presence. The Taliban does not meet that definition.
@Constitutional Insurgent
Now you’re shifting the discussion from “Why Afghanistan was lost” to “Why should we keep Afghanistan anyway?”
That’s a discussion worth having but not this time.
Good Bye.
Nope. Afghanistan was lost for the reasons I already mentioned. That’s why my last post was an addendum. Bye bye.
Re your assertion that the commander in chief is not responsible, but the “GCC” can call the shots unilaterally….you are showing your ignorance. All military defer to the commander in chief. They can’t even correct him if he lies outright, they just have to try and shine that turd.
We know a lot of people who have served in Afghanistan. One person we had to text to make sure he made it back (he did). I’m at our sons commissioning at the moment. While friends of ours are saying they wasted their lives (imagine losing your legs in Afghanistan and watching what’s on the news now).
As much as Biden (and others like Constitutional insurgent) has attempted to blame Trump, this is Biden’s monumental folly. It is the worst imaginable. For anyone with an exceptionally low IQ, or too little grasp of the obvious, we had four years to watch how Trump operated and he never would have let this happen, if for no other reason than his own ego couldn’t stand it.
Good grief….can you understand the nuances behind ‘deicison-maker’ and ‘responsible’?
I’ve served in Afghanistan. Neither Trump nor Biden, or their handling of this 2 decade travesty….impresses me.
@Constitutional Insurgent
If you are not depressed by the mess Biden has made, then ….
I’m depressed by the entire 2 decade affair and the squandering of our blood and treasure.
@Constitutional Insurgent
Take it up with the Devil and Taliban. There is no perfect way to defend freedom.
Yet, fighting the Taliban has zero to do with defending freedom. It was a needless distraction from the tangible threats we still face.
So therefore, I hold the political elite accountable.
@Constitutional Insurgent
You have the right to do so, but fighting the likes of the Taliban does have something to do with defending freedom. So, you are not necessarily right to do so.
We elect men and women to lead us. If we are wise and conscientious about who we vote for, we may get lucky and select the best among us. Whoever we elect won’t be perfect.
Was putting our armed forces into Afghanistan the best use of scarce resources? I doubt the wisdom of the nation building idea. I am still amazed we managed to keep so many of our troops in hostile territory in the middle of Asia surrounded by hostile powers for so long. No other military force could have pulled that off.
Biden’s stupidity or treachery, I don’t know which, is going to get a lot of people killed. Focus your ire on that.
The Taliban did not endanger our freedom, and was not worth the lives and limbs of our countrymen. My ire is focused where the blame lies, across 4 Administrations……not merely the one holding the bag at the end.
@Constitutional Insurgent
The Taliban just hosted the 9/11 terrorists. No big deal.
As I said, putting our forces in such a difficult spot and then trying to build Afghanistan into a nation, was probably too bold. I doubt Bush thought it would take 40 years, but I suspect it would have taken at least that long, and the region seems too difficult for a long term project like that. Yet we were doing it. What if we had turned Afghanistan into a stable democratic state? With a military commitment smaller than we have in S. Korea?
What if, what if?
Poor framework for a foreign policy, especially if it doesn’t go the way you imagine it might.
@Constitutional Insurgent
Foreign policy and military actions depend upon “what if”. Ever played chess? You look at your options and anticipate how your opponent might respond. Chess is much simpler.
Somewhat true for foreign policy actions; but Responsible parties don’t fight someone else’s civil wars for upwards of 40 years (or even 20)…..on what if’s.
@Constitutional Insurgent
The enemy of my enemy is my friend. When the Taliban helped terrorists attack us, they became our enemy. That has not changed.
They’ve been elevated above tangible threats for 20 years. We’ve been fighting someone else’s civil war, and we should be ashamed at the squandering of American lives.
But to your premise, since the Taliban was also fighting ISIS-K……they’re our friend?
@Constitutional Insurgent
To the extent ISIS was more dangerous. Think about it. During WWII, Stalin was an ally. That changed quickly after the war ended.
We removed the Taliban from power due to them hosting AQ within their borders. That was the mission.
Propping up corrupt Satraps while fighting the Taliban, Haqqani and a host of lesser militias……was not.
But using that premise, we should have invaded KSA as well……
@Constitutional Insurgent
We had other ways of dealing with KSA.
If only we had actually dealt with them……but we shelved our 9/11 interests to continue prop up a fundamentalist autocracy (sound familiar?), as a counterweight to Iran.
Some retribution for financing 9/11……
@Constitutional Insurgent
We can argue over what might have been. However, what we did do was not done with great and insurmountable incompetence until Biden took over. That man has made a huge mess. We need to get rid of him and anyone else who bears responsibility.
I disagree on two counts….I have been arguing over what has been, distinctly. I haven’t brought up what might have been, you did.
We labored under insurmountable incompetence for two decades. The SIGAR reports have borne that out. I recommend reading at least the summaries, if you’re not familiar with them. Criminal misuse of our lives and tax dollars…….for two decades.
None of this takes away from Biden’s current errors, but blaming only the political opposition, when 4 Administrations bear near equal responsibility….is not something I can stoop to.
You’ll have your chance to vote out Biden in 2024. I don’t imagine McKenzie will be around that long.
@Constitutional Insurgent
Everything is relative. America’s governing elites are corrupt. They busy them living like kings at our expense.
Compared to those who preceded us, Americans are corrupt. Our educational standards, especially those related to Christian teachings, stink. Hence, when we allow our leaders to buy us off with “other people’s money,” we don’t give it a second thought.
Biden has taken the corruption to the next level. He is either thoroughly incompetent, or he is working for foreign powers. That is one reason I think the news media is having trouble covering for him. Even those people realize what Biden has done in Afghanistan is not in their own best interests.
Dealing with the corruption of America’s elites has relatively little to do with Afghanistan. Corruption stems from what people believe. I noticed your post, https://libertasandlatte.wordpress.com/2015/09/21/the-constitution-and-religion/. You thought Dr. Ben Carson wrong when he objected to the possibility of putting a Muslim in the White House. Carson made the blatantly obvious observation that Islam is “not consistent with the Constitution”.
You said:
The Federal Government, that is, Federal officials, cannot apply a religious test, but what we do in the voting booth has nothing to do with prohibition of a religious test.
Government corruption is endemic in some parts of the world. It has become a big problem amongst our governing elites. Thus, we have Joe Biden in the White House. Do you want to get rid of that corruption? Then like everyone else, you need to look into a mirror. Before we can hold anyone else accountable to high standards or morality, we must be define what those standards should be, and we must hold ourselves accountable.
In the past, Americans upheld Christian moral standards. If you think Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism or the standards of any other religion are compatible with the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, that is because you don’t know any better. Like myself, you were not taught. Unlike myself, you probably have not read the Bible.
Consider. The Bible is the only book the multitudes who have never read it claim to understand. Satan is quite good at deceiving people. You say Satan doesn’t exist? Well, that too is a deception.
If everything is relative…then what is Biden’s ‘corruption’ measured against in terms of ‘next level’? The last Administration, the one before that? I feel safe in saying, having a decent grasp of American history, the corruption that can be proven as attributable to Biden….utterly pales when measured against many past Administrations. That renders it a subjective statement, and opinion. Cool…but not persuasive.
And indeed, you can vote as you wish [I certainly never claimed otherwise, so why inject that?]….you can vote for whoever represents your values, be they Christian, Muslim or Pastafarian.
I have no problem with discourse on religion and it’s impact [for better or worse] on society and government…..b but I try to limit that to those who seem a bit open-minded….as that tends to be more intellectually productive.
I also attempt not to disparage someone else straight out of the gate, with regard to their deeply held, personal perspectives. You don’t know me, my background or my upbring; you really don’t even know the breadth of my views on religion….yet you proceed to claim that I ‘haven’t been taught’ [I was], or that I haven’t read the Bible [I have read most of it, albeit a few decades ago]. I’ve also read many of the Hadiths, given the extensive time I’ve spent in the Middle East.
So, what was the value added of those remarks? I get it….you believe that you “know”….because you believe. That’s cool. Asserting that another doesn’t likewise “know”, based on their perspectives [largely unknown to you]…..isn’t ‘very nice’.
@Constitutional Insurgent
I said you probably have not read the Bible. I don’t pretend to know you well, but thinking it is unconstitutional to vote against Islam is silly. You are smart enough to know better. So, I suspect bias.
As practical matter, I would vote for Muslim over a Liberal Democrat. Neither is a good choice, but honorable Muslims are not unheard of.
Biden is likely to get people killed by the tens of thousands. Most corrupt politicians just steal money.
“Biden is likely to get people killed by the tens of thousands.”
Unlikely, but perhaps. That will place him in good standing with the last four Administrations, who squandered American lives fighting someone else’s civil war.
I do indeed have bias, though I have no particular animus against any religious faith. I am biased against those who are not content to live their lives as they see fit, but rather to legislate their beliefs, when they do not have a corresponding secular value. Those beliefs are incompatible with the Constitution [which has it’s roots in a diverse set of foundations, documents and faiths].
And though I try always to be objective….you suspected bias…are you not biased as well?
@Constitutional Insurgent
Think! This is objective? Equating sending soldiers who voluntarily joined the military to implement a war strategy you don’t like to abandoning Americans and allied Afghans to the tender mercies of known terrorists? Seriously?😟
Do I ever propose to legislate my beliefs? Yep! It does not make sense to legislate anything we don’t believe. Shared beliefs are what makes a people a people. That is why the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution, is our nation’s founding document.
You defend the Constitution, but much of the world would not? Should we change to make the Chinese Communists happy?
You said you have an open mind. I make no such claim. Our mind is the path to our heart. So, to avoid contaminating our hearts we must be careful what we put into our minds.
Should we study the beliefs of others? Should we allow others the right to believe what they want and the right to practice their beliefs? So long as they do not violate the rights of others, yes and yes.
Nevertheless, we should each seek the truth, and we should not settle for anything less, especially for the sake of an open mind. If we don’t want our hearts to spew forth sewage, then we should not dwell in heaps of manure.
Are you dwelling in a pile of dung? I don’t know, but much of our society is.
Abandoning Americans????? Why did you invent that? I said no such thing….ever.
I think it’s quite objective to oppose sending a GENERATIONS worth of Americans to fight another country’s civil war. Not the mission of our Armed Forces, and not the mission that we invaded Afghanistan for. You seem to think that it’s a just cause, got it.
I have no idea what you;’re talking about when you invoke Chinese Communists……feel free to clarify, or not.
@Constitutional Insurgent
“Biden is likely to get people killed by the tens of thousands.”
And you start bringing up GENERATIONS worth of Americans to fight another country’s civil war.
You made the comparison. I just showed you what it amounts to.
We obviously had our own reasons for opposing the Taliban. We did not send troops to Afghanistan just to fight in someone else’s civil war. When we use hyperbole that carelessly, we are not being objective.
No, we didn’t send them there to fight a civil war……I thought this was pretty clear when I referenced the original mission. We KEPT them their fighting another countries civil war.
And I agree regarding hyperbole: “Biden is likely to get people killed by the tens of thousands.”
@Constitutional Insurgent
You may as well call WWII a civil war. Hitler had conquered Europe and much of Europe. Hitler had not even attacked. What business did we have helping the Russians? The communists were just as bad.
To keep Taliban from killing or holding thousands hostage, Biden will have to pay a ransom. That will just encourage them.
Ever heard of the Barbary Pirates? That is the sort of people, if not worse, we are dealing with in the Taliban. We went to war with over 9/11.
You want rewrite history? You are not the first.
Let’s see…..WWII was nation-states invaded by nation-states; AFG……decidedly not in terms of the intrastate conflict.
I think we’re done here. I have some other, more rational-minded people to converse with online. Thanks.
@Constitutional Insurgent
Afghanistan is actually quite tribal. When we went in there, we just helped the tribes that did not like the Taliban.
We did the same by helping the Russians fight the Germans. Their conflicts go way back.
All good points. Keep the faith, and keep reminding us what needs to change. J.