Good Lord! Can Los Angeles sink into Third World status any more?
The supply of white racist hate crimes clearly exceeds the supply. But that's okay. Every false charge is compiled and saved in the minds of progressives as proof that their political foes are actually racist enemies. No correction of the record can ever shake that belief in their own moral superiority.
America might have to stand in line to lock Hillary Clinton up. Tip to Instapundit.
Let's hope this is a sign of developing rule of law in Iraqi voting: "The leaders of Iraqi political parties and blocs participating in the upcoming elections signed on Sept. 15 an electoral conduct document
under the auspices of President Barham Salih and Prime Minister Mustafa
al-Kadhimi. The code consists of principles and rules aimed at
controlling the behavior of political parties during the election
period." Both are required for democracy rather than mere tyranny of the majority.
I find it hard to believe that even Vice President Harris could through incompetence ef up our southern border as badly as the Biden administration has effed it up. Tip to Instapundit.
A Custom-made C-RAM dome to protect Seoul--by 2035? So North Korea is expected to last that long?
Do carriers still rule the seas? "Still, nothing lasts forever. Inevitably some new technology will upend the standing order and the time of the carrier, like all weapons, will come to an end. It is vital that the United States, having invested in the carrier concept more than any other country, be realistic about when the sun finally sets on the platform." Good question. You know my view.
The largest, most capable, and last Saar-class ships in the Israeli navy. Remember, you can pack more into small hulls when you only have to leave port to be in your area of operation.
The Red Cross offers a course on treating traumatic wounds, which can be from violence or accident: "The 135-minute FAST course, which became available last month, is geared toward students grades 9-12, aiming to teach them skills that could save a life if they ever face an emergency situation." In Army magazine I proposed a joint military-civilian program for exactly this as the core of an initiative to help the military recruit in urban areas and other traditionally low-volunteering areas of the country. The side benefit is more people capable of treating wounds quickly in their home towns.
So, does it mean we could make 17 AABONE long-range fighters because of this decision? "Air Force Global Strike Command has retired the last of 17 B-1B bombers from its inventory, leaving a fleet of 45 aircraft that will serve until the new B-21 stealth bomber is ready for duty, the command announced."
Oh what BS. Some people try to argue that any pet issue is really a national defense issue. But they never actually seem to want to pay for direct national security costs.
Thoughts on Germany's election. I pay little attention to Germany given its weakness and refusal to actually be an effective NATO ally now that Germany isn't on the front line. Which annoys the Hell out of me. But given Germany's central role in two world wars and a Cold War, maybe I should simply be grateful.
The Army is seeking cheap hand-held anti-drone weapons, including electronic warfare and kinetic versions: "The five drone busters are Northrop Grumman’s XM1211 30mm Proximity Round, the Smash Hopper from Smart Shooter, Flex Force’s Agile Small Deflection Precision Stabilized Weapon System, IXI’s DroneKiller and the DroneGun MKIII from Drone Shield." That's fine. But I worry about burdening infantry with even more gear to carry and an air defense mission that distracts from their primary mission of close combat with the enemy. Which is why in Army magazine I proposed air defense drones to fly combat air patrol over the infantry to protect the troops from swarm drone attacks and free them for their primary missions.
I guess we'll just leave off the part of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and occupation and annexation of Ukrainian territory as a reason why Ukraine and NATO have reasons to bolster Ukrainian military capabilities: "The Kremlin warned on Monday that any expansion of NATO military infrastructure in Ukraine would cross one of President Vladimir Putin's "red lines", and Belarus said it had agreed to take action with Moscow to counter growing NATO activity." Russia prefers its neighbors to be weak and vulnerable to Russian attack and influence. And honestly, when will the media stop pretending that Russia didn't invade the Donbas? "Separatists", indeed. The "separatists" have more tanks than the British, French, or Germans, if memory serves me. The Russians are lucky that being paranoid bastards isn't a NATO red line.
So, the old Soviet reactor 4 at Chernobyl in Ukraine might spontaneously restart fission? Uncontrolled fission? Via Instapundit.
Landing a spacecraft on a landing pad that you spacecraft's engine thrust creates as it approaches the surface. It really is the 21st century, after all.
Biden was assured that no math would be involved. Or reading, writing, or even remaining awake after 4:00 p.m.
France has a deal to sell warships to Greece: "The leaders of Greece and France are expected to announce a major, multibillion-euro deal in Paris on Tuesday involving the acquisition by Greece of at least six French-built warships, Greek state ERT TV reported." Which bolsters Greece's role in NATO's Plan B in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in case Erdogan takes Turkey fully rogue and out of NATO.
I'm horrified that this even needs to be stated, but I guess I'll take victories where I can: "When U.S. Central Command authorizes strikes against groups like ISIS-K or al Qaida in Afghanistan, they won’t be negotiating with the Taliban about where and when they can drop bombs." But I guess this is considered standing up for America, now. Baby steps, people. Baby steps. But remember, the Taliban won't be negotiating with America on where and when the Taliban can claim an American strike killed everyone in a wedding or destroyed baby formula factories.
How did the Afghanistan military collapse? Well, one, Biden was insanely off the mark when he called the Afghanistan military “as well-equipped as any army in the world”. Don't trust him for anything. And two, we designed the Afghanistan military to rely on air power for resupply, reinforcements, medical evacuations, and firepower after putting it in bases, cities, and outposts, and abandoning the road supply lines to the Taliban. That worried the Hell out of me five years ago. And after doing that, America stopped providing that air support and stopped the logistics that sustained Afghanistan's nascent air capabilities. So yeah, what a shock Afghanistan's security forces collapsed when we skedaddled from Afghanistan and the Taliban massed and attacked with Pakistan's support.
This exercise took place in Michigan: "In mid-2021 the U.S. Airforce expanded its emergency operating capabilities by holding a training exercise on a state highway where two air force SOCOM (Special Operations Command) C-146A twin-turboprop transports and four reserve (National Guard) A-10s practiced landing and taking off from a stretch of highway. Both the C-146A and the A-10 were built for this sort of thing and during the Cold War the USAF joined other NATO air forces in practicing this sort of thing in Europe. This was the first time such training took place in the United States during peacetime. The air force is preparing to quickly send some combat and support aircraft to new hot spots emerging in Africa and other areas where speedy response with small numbers of aircraft could make a big difference." Interesting that the exercise is intended for AFRICOM. Although a road near the South China Sea would no doubt be appropriate, too.
In the face of rising Chinese naval power this is not highly comforting: "Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday wants the Navy to become the most diverse military service in order to be competitive in the 21st century." Diversity is fine. And good, even. But it does not automatically make the Navy more effective in its core role of gaining control of the seas. And sadly, measuring diversity is easier than measuring effectiveness in fighting. So guess which one in practice gets more attention? I'd rather see more enthusiasm for fighting and winning at sea. Otherwise, the Navy could be the most diverse military service ever to get its ass kicked.
Rebel and Islamist violence in the Philippines is fading.
F-35 production will reach 156 per year in 2023 and remain there for the entire production run.
Task Group Greyhound: "The Navy has created a new task group on the East Coast to ensure it has
ready destroyers that can deploy on short notice to counter the Russian
submarine threat in the Atlantic Ocean." Well, a hunter-killer group is nice, if I'm reading the intent correctly. But what about convoy escort.
Maybe this is accurate in its assessment of Milley's motivation. But given the training and longstanding practice, why did Milley see the need to remind subordinates of the chain of command? As I noted, I wasn't worried about military personnel obeying unlawful orders that would initiate a war. Besides, my desire to get rid of Milley centers on the Afghanistan debacle and not the discussion with subordinates about the nuclear chain of command. And I think Democrats like Pelosi might need to read the article more urgently given their apparent belief that a "button" can initiate a nuclear war. Although Milley's judgment seems cloudy even on this narrow issue given that TDS rather than the record of behavior seems to have driven worries about Trump initiating a war with China.
Is Democratic ... excessive caution ... over the Xi Jinping Flu going to inflict massive collateral damage on the largely Democratic-run cities they rely on for support?
Economics for Democrats: When I buy a coffee and donut with a credit card, it costs me $3.00 because I borrowed the money for it. But when I pay the credit card bill that includes that $3.00 loan, suddenly it is free. This actually explains a lot.
Why would the Taliban agree to such a pathetic loser request from losers skedaddling as fast as they can? "In the final days of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a top American general met Taliban leaders in Qatar and warned them to keep their forces out of Kabul for a few more days or else face the threat of U.S. airstrikes."
Yes, the technical aspects of the Afghanistan withdrawal were impressive. But don't use that fact as evidence that Biden's Afghanistan policy was impressive or a success. And don't use the technical expertise of the military to excuse their atrocious leadership in this entire skedaddle debacle. Remember, not one senior leader resigned to stop the debacle. Not one even leaked that it would be a disaster in order to prevent the debacle. Shame.
Thank you to whoever did this: "Unidentified aircraft hit a base run by Iranian-backed militias in Syria's eastern province of Deir al Zor near the Iraqi border where Tehran has in the last year expanded its military presence, residents and military sources said on Monday."
Defying Chinese territorial claims at sea.
Hey, that's fun! "How badly unvaccinated Republicans are misinformed, in one stat[.]" Now do African Americans and Hispanics! And then do Democrats before Biden won the election--and explain how Science! changed that.
Shirley, Jen Psaki can't be this ignorant--or convinced you are--can she?
It is plausible that Milley's call to the Chinese were based on intelligence that the Chinese were worried about an American attack for some reason: "Milley said in testimony before the Senate
Armed Services Committee the calls were generated by 'concerning
intelligence' that caused American officials to believe the Chinese were
worried about an attack on them by the U.S." But what were we worried they'd do? Unless we worried that they'd launch a preemptive strike, didn't America risk revealing American intelligence sources that generated that concern? And then there is this: "'I am certain, President Trump
did not intend on attacking the Chinese and it is my directed
responsibility — and it was my directed responsibility by the secretary —
to convey presidential orders and intent,' Milley said in his opening
remarks." Was Milley trying to calm down the Chinese? Or was he trying to calm down Speaker Pelosi who actually did bizarrely think Trump might nuke China? Who was the crazy person Milley was trying to manage? I'm relieved if this is what happened. Of course, this just means Milley shouldn't be court martialed. He should still be purged from the military for going along with the disastrous Afghanistan skedaddle debacle. The flag officers say they didn't recommend leaving. Where were the protest resignations of senior officers when it might have stopped our defeat?
Masks--and the rules for wearing them--are for the little people.
Hungary threw Ukraine under the Russian natural gas bus. Germany started the trend, of course by working with the Russians to build a pipeline to bypass Ukraine so Russia can deliver gas directly to Europeans without having to go through pipelines that cross Ukraine.
I sure hope I don't have to wait for any of these new chip fabricating plants in Arizona to start producing to get my transmission repaired. Tip to Instapundit.
So it was impossible to make a state in Afghanistan? That is why a government that killed jihadis every day was doomed? Then why, pray tell, are so many Democrats advancing the line that the Taliban will be restrained because they have the responsibility to govern Afghanistan? So they can govern? Which requires a government? I just don't grok nuance.
One American state defends against China.
A tour of Iran-related Middle East news. Also, ISIL in Iraq is evolving more into a criminal gang. Let's see if the jihadi victory in Afghanistan changes that trajectory.
South Korea and Japan are spending record amounts on defense, including advanced weapons, in response to North Korean nuclear threats and China's rise in power and ambitions. And: "What threatens Chinese military domination the most is the quality and quantity of the South Korean and Japanese air and naval power. Both nations are buying F-35 fighters and building their own submarines and aircraft carriers. Combine this with the military forces of other nations confronting Chinese aggression and expansion, a coalition that now includes India, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and American forces in the West Pacific, and you get a better idea of the Chinese predicament." I've long noted that predicament.
How is it possible for Democrats--"up to" and including the president--to remain insanely outraged about a "whipping" incident that did not happen? How can our enemies not think they have a window of opportunity? Tip to Instapundit.
It's bad enough that social media sites censor anyone who isn't progressive. Now one is censoring those who criticize an increasingly fascistic socialist dictatorship? Tip to Instapundit.
The "adulting" survey (when you are doing things adult do) is very middle class-oriented. I'm honestly shocked it isn't being slammed as racist by the usual progressive, woke suspects. I always considered myself to be an adult when I took responsibility for my finances. So 19.
Keep in mind that the "worst day in U.S. Army special forces history" was a battle that defeated the attacker attempt to annihilate the small base. And saved more lives by capturing plans for another assault the next day.
When Biden was elected, the debate among conservatives was how long Biden would last before Harris became president? I assumed 2+ years to allow Harris to run two more times, for nearly 10 years of potential office. But Harris has become toxic with her personality and lack of evident competence. Which perhaps shouldn't be a shock given her face plant during the Democratic primaries. If even Democrats disliked her and rejected her so completely, how could all Americans gain confidence? So I began to wonder if Democrats would try to keep Biden in office until 2024 when they could dump Biden into retirement and Harris into oblivion as the ambassador to India (sorry, India). But the idea that Biden could make it that long is increasingly far-fetched. Could Democrats get rid of Harris soon in order to replace her with a more plausible would-be president and then ease Biden out even before the 2022 Congressional elections? Would that be seen by Democrats as the only way to avoid a shellacking in the 2022 elections?
To be fair, Biden said he couldn't remember if the military told him America should remain in Afghanistan. Which is totally believable: "President Joe Biden's top military officials on Tuesday testified that ahead of the chaotic exit from Afghanistan in which 13 American troops and scores of civilians were killed they recommended keeping troops in the country past August. That directly contradicts earlier comments by the president that he was never advised to keep troops in the country."
Germany is committed to a military presence in the Indo-Pacific region? "Germany launched its Indo-Pacific guidelines last year, emphasising its concerns about global supply chains and the security of its maritime trading routes." I'd be much happier if Germany was committed to a military presence in the Baltic Sea to sweep the Russians from that body of water in case of war. But Germany has its head up Russia's Baltic Sea pipeline too deeply to inhale Russian natural gas for the Germans to do that, I guess.
American conservatives haven't "turned on the U.S. military". Conservatives have turned on the senior officers. So this is just BS: "Conservative leaders and pundits must stop their political attacks before it is too late." If conservatives don't trust the military maybe the problem is that the military brass forfeited that trust, and not that conservatives noticed it. The military had best pay attention before the children of those conservatives stop enlisting. Or does the top brass think it can replace those volunteers who fight and die for America with victims studies graduates? Or maybe the left thinks it can just draft those red state young people while the blue state victims studies graduates are exempt?
China's stealthy, missile-armed modern "PT boats".
I'm so old that I remember we had to praise health care workers and bend our behavior to keep from overwhelming hospitals: "New York Governor Kathy Hochul decided to continue disgraced Gov. Andrew
Cuomo’s vaccine mandate for all healthcare workers. In a trend seen
across the country, not all healthcare workers are willing to comply.
The potential impact in New York hospitals is so significant that Hochul
announced she had signed an executive order to alleviate the possible staffing shortages. According to the text of the order, Hochul has declared a statewide emergency and invoked her powers under the State Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan." The Democrats have always been at war with Eastasia healthcare workers.
Milley is simply trying to hide his responsibility for losing the Afghanistan War by passing the buck to past leaders: "And outcomes like this are not determined in the last five days, the last 20 days or the last year, for that matter." Of course mistakes were made over the last twenty years. That is what war is. A series of mistakes by both sides. You aim to make fewer and less lethal mistakes than the enemy. And right up until this year, despite that long history of making mistakes, no American leaders before Biden actually lost the war! This needless defeat is on this administration and this administration's military leaders. Milley's effort to avoid his responsibility by pretending a statement of reality is an excuse for his fatal mistake is revolting. Oh, and Milley threw the State Department under the bus, too.
"Europe" lacks a unifying vision? Thank God for that. Don't let the Eurocrats exploit the Biden administration to force a unified state on Europeans who have no vision for that imperial vision. Note that the author of that initial pro-EU article tries to link Europe's lack of military capacity with America's impatience with Europe's failure to pay for defense by suggesting an EU military is the answer to both sides' wishes. If "Europe"--that is, the EU bureaucracy--is interested in defending itself it will spend more on NATO. If "Europe" only wants power, it will spend its efforts on giving the EU the authority to build its own military apart from NATO.
Milley is kind of right about this: "As for military lessons learned, Milley said removing American advisers from accompanying Afghan army units three years ago played a role in the demoralization of that force. “You can’t measure the human heart by a machine." That was definitely a mistake by the Trump administration. Force protection took precedence over fighting and winning. But I think Milley makes too much of it to excuse this year's decision go bug out. After all, military leaders have said that the speed of Afghanistan's collapse rather than the collapse after we pulled out was in question. We knew enough about the "human heart" to predict a collapse. We just thought we'd get a "decent interval" between withdrawal and defeat.
The modified FREMM frigate design for the Navy. And this is encouraging: "The Navy has reportedly been considering the possibility of hiring a second shipyard
to produce a batch of these frigates in the future to help prevent
delays in delivery or even accelerate production, as well as support
America's shipbuilding industry." We want cheaper but still lethal frigates because numbers matter to win despite losses. And if you want numbers you need more building capacity.
The Chinese Communist Party is suddenly cracking down on its technology sector: "Just a few years ago, China’s technology companies used to seem immune to regulation. Their CEOs were idolised. Almost every STEM student in China wanted to work in consumer tech, not hardware. The government favoured these companies, which never would have gotten so big without it. They were allowed to grow in a nurturing policy environment with no competition from overseas tech giants, enjoying what Tiffany Wong, a consultant at China-focused research firm Sinolytics, calls an 'experimental Wild West period of growth.'" The Chinese tech sector is discovering that the CCP power to let them thrive is also the power to throttle them and bend them to CCP service. To grow rich was certainly glorious, comrades! But to give more of your riches to the party is required for our glory! Can China's tech lords withstand this assault and instead curb the power of the party-controlled state? Or shall it be the figurative rice paddies for them if they don't comply? As the article concludes, "The message is clear: to survive, big tech must make China’s priorities their own." Well, not China's priorities--The Chinese Communist Party's priorities.
How can Austin say this? "'The
fact that the Afghan army that we and our partners trained simply
melted away — in many cases without firing a shot — took us all by
surprise,' Austin said. 'And It would be dishonest to claim otherwise.'" Simply withdrawing predictably shook the fragile state's morale. Abandoning them by denying that state air support logistics support shook it fatally.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but one thing I'll defend our top brass against is the charge they lied to the American public about how we were doing in war. Public statements that are more positive are designed to sustain our troops' morale in an ongoing war whose outcome is in doubt, and to encourage our allies' people. I assume that in private more accurate assessments were given. So this avenue of attack is wrong, assuming I'm right about private advice. Certainly the public silence of our top brass in the face of Biden's determination to skedaddle out of Afghanistan by the 20th anniversary of 9/11--confirmed in recent testimony to Congress--can be read in that light. Although I still think that public resignations of top officers to highlight the looming and imminent disaster--ordered by a president with questionable lucidity--would have been appropriate. It was a matter of losing a war. This wasn't a mere policy issue where the impulse to salute and carry out civilian orders is absolutely the course of action.
While the LCS has low survivability, it is at least armed and fast: "The Navy is considering the viability of using the Independence-class
variant [of the LCS] that is headed to the Pacific to move Marines around islands and
archipelagos for EABO. Instead of containers filled with mission gear,
Marines could pack into the mission bay below the flight deck of ships
like Kansas City, as they head to islands to set up bases where they
could fire anti-ship missiles." And the LAW proposed to move Marines with anti-ship missiles around the Pacific would not be more protected. This is a fine test of how an APD-style ship could work, as I argued for in Proceedings.
Austin is 100% right about this: "The Joint Chiefs chair became more blunt as the hearing progressed,
saying on at least two occasions that the end of the war in Afghanistan
had been a 'strategic failure,' despite the fact that the noncombatant
evacuation that ended in late August was a 'logistical success.'" This runs counter to the attempt by Biden's slavish defenders to conflate the two things in order to hide the strategic failure of losing the Afghanistan war behind the technical skills evident in the evacuation.
Well, yes: "Sky News host Rita Panahi says too many feminists have abandoned the
core issues of women’s rights and are just 'pushing a far-left agenda'." I've long said that feminists are simply the women's auxiliary of the Democratic Party--which is increasingly left-wing based on the push of the Twitter activist vocal and hateful minority. If feminists were truly focused on woman's rights they'd be the most vocal "war on terror" advocates in the West to protect women from Islamist oppression.
China is not inspiring fear and bended knee among its neighbors with its increasingly bellicose posture: "Fumio Kishida, a former foreign minister who has called for Japan’s missile defenses to be beefed up, was elected ruling party leader on Wednesday, assuring him of becoming the nation’s next prime minister." It couldn't happen to nicer increasingly nationalistic socialist party.
Libya. And Turkey and Russia. Oh my.
If leftists believe racial diversity good, why do leftists say minorities should be put away in their own "safe spaces" apart from other people? How is it possible to ignore how racist this is despite the veneer of "woke caring"? Segregationists who time traveled from the 1950s to today could be forgiven for thinking they won the argument. Ef these neo-racist leftists. They disgust me.
The Zumwalt test beds with advanced missiles. But unfortunately an example of this serious problem: "Experience with the DDG-1000, the Seawolf SSN, Ford class carriers and LCS (3,000-ton littoral combat ship) indicates that the navy has not yet fixed its fundamental inability to design and build new ships. The navy plays down how serious this problem is but the seriousness of the problem is only made worse by the Chinese success at building new ship classes much more quickly and on budget."
Defunding (and defanging) the police to prevent the rare killing of unarmed African-American males leads to a lot more dead African-American victims of crime. Please adjust your opinion of how much you "care", accordingly.
Inflation: Say goodbye to the "(Single) Dollar Tree". Tip to Instapundit.
So where is China's (mythical) genetic planning ability? "China is in the grip of a power crunch as coal supply shortages combined
with strong power demand from manufacturers, industry and households
push coal prices to record highs and trigger widespread curbs on usage." What is really funny is that China decided to punish Australia by cutting off China's imports of Australian coal. The story oddly implies Australia is at fault for that fact. But it gets better. Part of the problem is that the Chinese Communist Party wants to look good on climate issues to get them past a big meeting, so is arbitrarily screwing the Chinese people for that false glow of green: "China is hosting a U.N. environmental
conference next month where emissions will be a topic of discussion.
They are anxious to show that they are actually curbing emissions when
they never actually do that. To not produce some good numbers to show
the UN would be a political embarrassment." But one official line is that it is a trade struggle with foreigners. And the power outages are predicted to last through this year, well beyond the conference. What are the reasons? Is there a more serious problem? How much of China impressive GDP growth is a facade. Is this a Potemkin Country? When the facade crumbles, what will be left? Russia is a shadow of its former apparent Soviet self on GDP. I don't think China is anywhere nearly as bad as the USSR. But how bad is it?
Behold Biden's unifying presidency that embraces all Americans: "The president is telling Texas and other border states that the federal government will neither protect them nor allow them to protect themselves." Is there nothing this administration touches that it doesn't ef up?
Loose lips sink chairmen of the joint chiefs of staff? Or it should. Does Biden think he is uniquely immune to Milley's self-serving leaks to book authors? Via Instapundit.
Other than its weight, nothing has matched the ancient M2 heavy machine gun.
Turkish generals are apparently willing to resign when they don't like government military military policy: "Turkey was rattled last week by reports that five generals serving on Syria-related missions were seeking to resign, including the head of a command center in charge of all Turkish operations in Syria and two others at the helm of commando forces that are deployed in Syria on a rotational basis." Do the generals anticipate defeat and want to either avoid tainting their reputations? Or are they trying to affect policy?
Well, good! "The United States said Wednesday it was imposing sanctions on Hezbollah financiers in coordination with Qatar, a US ally that has kept cordial relations with Iran." As long as this isn't just a ploy to take something from Iran with the plan to give it back as another concession to Iran for another fantasy nuclear deal.
Well, Iran would like to own Azerbaijan: "Iran’s army put its wary neighbors on notice Thursday that it's about to conduct a wide-ranging military exercise near its northwestern border amid long-simmering tensions with Azerbaijan." But an exercise in that region could be intended to prepare for cross-border attacks into Iraq to attack Iranian Kurds who sought refuge there.
The Philippines is using women coast guard crews to evict Chinese naval militia efforts to claim Filipino territory. Good. Film it live, too: "Filipino fishing boats and coast guard vessels should broadcast live on video all their encounters with Chinese vessels and ships." Do the Chinese want to be seen harming women? Honestly, it isn't sexist if it is an effective method of defending territorial integrity. The Philippines is outgunned. Wage an information war as the first line of defense.
Another misleading defense of Biden over Afghanistan: "Senior Pentagon officials said Wednesday the collapse of the Afghan government and its security forces in August could be traced to the 2020 US agreement with the Taliban signed in Doha that promised a complete troop withdrawal." Yes, Trump's deal was foolish. I'm not going to play the game of whether Trump would have executed it better. But Biden claiming the deal tied his hands is false. Biden altered the deal on the withdrawal timing, after all. So don't tell me the deal with the Taliban is the only Trump policy Biden was unwilling to reverse.
I believe there is a Chinese curse about wishing for things: "America should fear China's growing military might, a senior Chinese air force official boasted, ominously inviting his U.S. counterparts to a meeting 'in the sky.'" China is far stronger than they used to be. Chinese officials may dangerously over-estimate how strong they are, however.
The Turks and Ukrainians jointly poke Russia with a stick: "Ukraine on Wednesday signed a memorandum to establish joint training and maintenance centres for Turkish armed drones, a statement on President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's website said." Russia has to worry this is just the start.
Again, Milley is right that having skedaddled with our footprint down to the Kabul airport, trying a muscular response to stay after August to evacuate more of our people and allies would have required a major ground fight to achieve: "To stay into September could have meant committing up to 25,000 more American service members to reopen bases and retake Kabul from the Taliban, said Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He added it was always the intention to evacuate the civilians through Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul and not use Bagram." And it was worse than that, in my opinion.
Make America Soviet Again! FFS, people, this is what we get from the "moderate" Biden.
The "bipartisan" spending bill is bad enough. But I fear it is too good to be true that Democratic infighting might derail the obscene inflation-inducing "infrastructure" spending spree:
Can Germany provide leadership to Europe? Of course not! I mean, the Germans claim that certain ... ah, unpleasantness in the last century ... precludes Germany from paying to defend Europe. How could Germany possibly be trusted to lead Europe?
If China builds an enduring presence in space, the stars might just go out. And as an aside, I can't believe the Winter Olympics in 2022 will be held in China given its atrocious human rights and pandemic record.
Democrats turning against blue collar people has been the issue that has pissed me off at a personal level about Democrats more than anything else. Yes, I'm disgusted at their broader foreign and domestic policies. But I once at least respected them for a stated commitment to blue collar people and freedom of speech.I may have thought they were wrong about whether their policies helped blue collar people, but they at least seemed to care. Since 2016 the Democratic Party has stopped pretending it is anything but a party of the well-connected laptop class that despises the grubby people who work with their hands. Well, modern art "artists" excepted. They will always have a place in the castle.
Huh. Is it too much to hope that we will finally see justice in the conspiracy to tie Trump to a Russian plot to hack our 2016 election? Democrats are pushing us to banana republic status. I hope we can arrest this before irrecoverable disaster strikes America.
No! Way! "All women have been banned from studying or teaching in any public
university in Afghanistan, and the students from Kabul University have
been sent home, according to the Washington Post." As I've observed:
Being ruled by insecure, credentialed mediocrities. Wrong and inept is no way to staff an administration. Biden himself coveted the presidency to prove wrong the people who thought he "wasn't good enough" in 1988, 2008, and 2016, only to prove just how right they were. Tip to Instapundit.
North Korean missiles and the coming Kim She Reign.
So Bernie Sanders is complaining that 2 Democratic senators are preventing 48 from doing what he wants. Actually, it is 52 senators preventing 48 from doing what Bernie wants. But like the original Bosheviks, Sanders wants you to think he is part of the majority. Funny how that works. What is really annoying is that in 2020 Democratic primary voters rejected Sanders. But Sanders is essentially driving Biden's policies. How can one senator defy the will of Democratic primary voters, not to mention all Americans?
To protest the police killing of a couple dozen unarmed Black men in a typical year--in circumstances that may or may not indicate the police are in the wrong--2020 BLM riots and the undermining of police may have led to more than 2,164 additional African American murder victims in 2020 over 2019. I just have to believe that responses other than the demonization and defunding of city police forces could have reduced the couple dozen deaths without adding more than 2,000. Something matters to some people. I'm not sure if it is Black lives. Tip to Instapundit.
Domestic terrorism--but we can't say she was inspired by the Taliban victory in Afghanistan, at least.
Unless there is a secret U.S.-Russian agreement for Russia to turn against China, I see little excuse for rewarding Putin with money-making natural gas exports that harm our eastern Europe friends in NATO and Ukraine: "The Trump administration and Congress held up completion of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline with sanctions on the companies that were building it. The Biden administration has stopped enforcing the economic penalties, effectively allowing Russia to make the pipeline operational." So our laws are just optional for enforcing? All I know for sure is that if Trump did this he'd be impeached by now.
One thing that frustrates me with a lot of conservatives these days is the ridiculous RINO fixation. Republicans love Sinema and Manchin these days but hate Romney and Cheney. But the latter obviously have better Congressional voting records for Republicans than the former. Conservatives really need to build a big tent majority by accepting 70% conservative Republicans who at least vote for Republicans to organize their house in Congress and largely vote for Republican issues. Stop the purity test. Let the Twitter Guards on the left keep that purging mania for themselves. Surely the barely Democratic-controlled Congress married to a Democratic president and a compliant media show the dire alternative to that misguided purity if it throws elections to Democrats, right? Right?!
Pushing back against Russia's stealth Belarus Anschluss in Poland: "A $30 million U.S. Army command and control headquarters in Poland is among the projects being proposed to support the military’s expansion in the country, which has emerged as a focal point for coordinating allied defense efforts along NATO’s eastern flank."
It's only fair given that Taiwan is a better member of the international community than communist China could ever be: "The United States remains committed to expanding Taiwan's space for international participation, a senior U.S. diplomat said at an event with Taiwan's foreign minister that was also attended by the deputy U.S. ambassador to the United Nations."
Pushing back: "An Indian company entered into a $700 million deal Thursday to build a strategic deep-sea container terminal in Sri Lanka, officials said, in a move seen as countering China's rising influence in the region."
After decades of hearing how women were every bit as important and equal as men, suddenly women have been canceled by the government which has glossed over woman-ness to "increase Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination among people who are pregnant[.]" Tip to PJ Media.
Huh: "Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued new directives to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers instructing them that migrants being in the country illegally 'should not alone be the basis' for apprehending and deporting them." Now issue a DOJ directive that says people who entered the Capitol Building on January 6th "should not alone be the basis" for prosecuting them.
What could possibly go wrong? "There is deep international concern over Mali's discussions with the controversial Russian private military company, the Wagner group, but many Malians feel the Russians cannot replace French troops soon enough." The Malian government would prefer a protector that doesn't ever mention that corruption is a problem.
I wish I could say this is a baseless worry:
When I heard a Marine was under investigation for this incident I was outraged. But, "However, the US marines have shot down his claims, and he is under investigation for appearing at a political event." The former should be investigated if he lied. Although perhaps he was at that spot and feels part of it because he could have been the one to hold the child. Or maybe the child was handed to him and he should have worded it better. So maybe he exaggerates. As for the latter charge, that's BS. He wasn't in uniform and he wasn't being political. If he can be charged, what about Colonel Vindman at the first BS political event called an impeachment?
Huh: "People with left-wing economic political views had higher rates of anxiety disorder symptoms/People with liberal economic views tend to be higher in neuroticism and lower in conscientiousness than their conservative counterparts/The relationship between threat sensitivity and political ideology may be more complex than previously thought." Via Instapundit.
If Russia is bluffing about their nukes, of course Russia can't go through with this offer: "Russian President Vladimir Putin is no longer interested in a joint freeze of nuclear weapons production with the United States, according to a senior Russian envoy who protested American inspections requests and a recent agreement to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia." The offer alone reinforces a bluff. Withdrawing it adds to the bluff: Oh no! Russia is going to keep building nukes that totally work! And Russian conventional weakness would be highlighted. Maybe America should work on bluffing a little harder.
And also, imposing sanctions makes it harder to pretend losing the Afghanistan war is a good thing: "Democratic leadership in the House blocked a GOP-led measure to sanction trade between the Taliban and China, with the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee citing opposition to any move that could anger the Afghan terror group, according to congressional sources briefed on the matter."
I admit that I felt some worry that Australia was going wobbly under economic pulls: "Nearly 10 years ago, Australia thought it was on the cusp of a beautiful friendship with China: It was opening up its economy to Beijing, wanted to teach Mandarin in schools and invited the Chinese president to address parliament." But China blew it with their bullying that overstated China's trade importance: "These days, Australia is buying up nuclear-powered submarines to fend off Beijing, barring the country from key markets and bristling at its relentless attempts to coerce Australian politicians and media." As an aside, I remain confused about whether the nuclear sub design will be American with British help or British with American help.
How many Democrats had an orgasm when they read the article title? "Georgia votes in election shadowed by ex-president's arrest".
Remember that the original protests were anti-Iran: "Hundreds of Iraqis marched in the center of Baghdad on Friday to mark two years since mass anti-government protests erupted in the Iraqi capital and southern provinces calling for reforms."
Huh, I guess the woke accusation that African Americans can be white supremacists is correct! "In an unexpected turn of events, this week authorities in Georgia revealed they believe a Black woman is behind the 'racially charged' notes that have been terrorizing her neighborhood." Is it really "unexpected"? The supply of white hate truly is insufficient to meet the leftist demand.
Still they piss on us and try to tell us it is a warm spring rain: "Millions of Americans are disgusted by the way the withdrawal from Afghanistan was handled, but not Senator Elizabeth Warren. During a recent appearance on MSNBC, she described it as an 'amazing undertaking.'" She said, "We should be proud of President Biden and proud of our military." Oh, Hell no. As I keep repeating, don't let them confuse you into thinking the technically proficient military evacuation means that the Biden policy to needlessly lose the war was brilliant. Remember, the idiotic civilian policy meant that the huge numbers of people evacuated are overwhelming just random people who managed to get close to the airport rather than an evacuation of our local friends and allies. I'm not proud of Biden. He disgusts me. And the people blatantly lying about this failure are repulsive.
About that "transitory" inflation: "The Labor Department just released the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures index (PCE), which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred metric for monitoring inflation. It shows a 4.3 percent rise in consumer prices from August 2020 to August 2021, with prices rising 0.4 percent last month alone."
Exactly: the media and its leftist allies have always been at war with Eastasia maverick legislators voting their conscience rather than following their party's line. What is also true is the leftist view that if a majority of Democrats across the country want progressive policies (and I don't accept that is true outside of the Twitterverse), then Democrats in Congress who represent their own voters who reject progressive policies must ignore their constituents to march in lockstep with their progressive brethren. The left doesn't want rule-of-law democracy, the left wants the tyranny of the Twitter majority. Biden ran as a moderate. But he's just the meat sack vessel for the radical leftists:
I've honestly stopped caring about city dwellers discovering that the politicians they've consistently voted into office have the power to ruin their lives. Enjoy.
"Let's go Brandon!" Remember, Democrats normalized this kind of crude disrespect for the POTUS. Enjoy.
The Soviets infiltrated the Biden administration. Thirty years too late to benefit the now defunct USSR. But not too late to harm America.
Oh, if the things the Chinese Communist Party does to people doesn't move you to oppose those monsters, eating dogs is common in China despite official denials.
What the heck are the Chinese doing over there? "The US has said it is 'very concerned' by China's 'provocative' actions
after Taiwan claimed some 93 Chinese military planes had flown into its
air defence zone in the past three days." Mind you, this doesn't mean the Chinese violated Taiwanese territorial air space. The difference between that and an air defense identification zone (ADIZ) pushed well forward of national air space is often lost in news stories. Although to be fair this article does explain the difference deep into the story. Kudos on that. But as for the incidents, moving aircraft into the ADIZ does provoke defense concerns and military reactions. Which can get dangerous. Why is China doing this at such a level now?
I've noted before that my readership collapsed to a quarter of its size or less after Twitter and Facebook kind of destroyed the blogosphere. But I recently listened to someone who said that getting attention requires drama and someone in danger. Whether it is a foe DESTROYING our country or something or someone else; or a friendly person WRECKING someone on the other side with a single Tweet. I don't do that. I like to say that you come here for perspective. But people these days seem way more polarized in the extremes. So maybe that explains part of the decline. The people have spoken, damn them. Oh well. Such is life with a First World Problem. I'll still plug away. Until I don't, I suppose.
