Rep. Waltz: Future U.S. Soldiers Will ‘Have to Fight Their Way Through Our Own Equipment ... to Deal with al Qaeda 3.0’
(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. is in a worse position to deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan in the future than they were before 9/1, because the terrorist group is now armed with equipment furnished by the U.S. that was meant for use by the Afghan Army, Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) warned on Tuesday.
Waltz said that the intelligence community has been clear when they briefed the Biden administration and congressional leaders that “Taliban taking over means Al Qaeda 3.0 comes roaring back. Except now we're in a worse position than we were before 2001.”
“We have no bases in the region,” the congressman said at a House GOP press conference on Afghanistan on Capitol Hill.
“Our local allies are being hunted down as we speak, and as you've heard today, the Taliban are going to be armed to the teeth so that when future American soldiers have to go back in to deal with the problem, and deal with the incompetence of this administration, how many are going to die now, because they’re going to have to fight their way through our own equipment, our own damn equipment, to deal with al Qaeda 3.0,” he said.
“Are we going to have another Pulse nightclub? Are we going to have another San Bernardino? Are we going to have another 9/11 because of that incompetence? This Congress is going to lead. Our offices right now are operation centers calling gate guards, calling Kabul airport, guiding people through, telling them how to avoid Taliban checkpoints, our own Congress,” Waltz said.
“It's unbelievable the lack of leadership. So I 100% agree that blood is and will be on Joe Biden's hands and this Congress will hold him accountable,” the congressman added.
Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said some GOP lawmakers have personally helped talk people through how to get out of Afghanistan. He also asked who is advising President Joe Biden and questioned whether the president has been “intentionally deceptive.”
There are many people up here who’ve gotten 100, 200, 300 people talked through the wire or across the border out of Afghanistan, so I give you guys a big shout-out. Afghanistan is a beautiful country, if you take the Taliban out of it. The people that I worked with when I was there are amazing.
I served in one of our nation's tier one units doing some pretty amazing things when I was over there. I was there when Pat Tillman was killed. I will never forget for as long as I live that flag-draped coffin going through a cordon of some of our nation's most elite warriors and there wasn't a dry eye.
I have other friends that are not with us. I see their children in my town because I serve the community of Fort Campbell. I have to look them in the eye when I'm back in my district. Let me say this to every Afghan veteran. Your service was not in vain. Your service was not in vain.
To those children, those Gold Star children and families, your sacrifice protected America from a terrorist attack for 20 years. What happens from now on is on Joe Biden. Just as my colleagues have said, the blood of Americans are now on his hands. The blood of our allies are now on his hands. My colleagues have said a lot of things. I won't be redundant.
One of the points I want to make, I want to ask is who’s advising this president? Because what the president is saying, we all know it's inaccurate. He said the other day no one advised him not to pull out. We know that's blatantly false. Mark Milley has been saying don't pull out. Add to the force. So who is telling this guy it's okay to pull out? Or is he being intentionally deceptive? Or does he really even know what's going on?
He said the Afghans don't want to leave, remember that in his press conference? There are already 18,000 that had applied, 53,000 family members that had applied. He said the Afghans don't want to fight. Guys, gals who served with these guys they're warriors, aren't they? They want to fight, but when you walk away in the middle of the night in Bagram Airfield and they show up and go hey, where did the Americans go?
You’d think they have a will to fight? Do you think they’re going to get-- feel like they are supported by us? This is the kind of war where they fade into the background in order to survive. Cause Not like me, when I left to go to Afghanistan, my family stayed home. Their family is in the country. They don't want them beheaded.
So they -- when we abandoned them, they pulled back. They want to fight. It’s a lie to say they don't. Who is advising this president or is he being intentionally deceptive? We need to know.
Rep. Ronnie Jackson (R-Texas) said the United States has “betrayed” its Afghan allies.
Look, I made multiple trips to Afghanistan during my time on active duty. I walked around that hospital at Bagram, and I saw the consequences of what was going on. I saw the sacrifices that took place. I saw people that would never come home to their families again because they died on foreign soil. I saw people that lost their arms, their legs that paid an incredible price for what was going on.
We betrayed these people now. When I say we, I mean the Biden administration’s betrayed these people. We’ve betrayed all that they worked so hard for. I will speak as a doctor that serves on the armed services committee and doctor that served in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. I will tell you right now that we need a commander-in-chief. We do not have a commander-in-chief and we’ve not had one from the beginning here.
People say all the time, they’re like, there will be time for finger pointing later. We need to happen next right now, and I agree with that, but you know what? We are at the very beginning of this crisis that Biden has created. He cannot handle it. He is not prepared for this. He is not cognitively fit to be our commander-in-chief right now.
That’s being evidenced every single day more and more. We need him, and we need his team to resign. We need them to let somebody else step up to the plate and lead this operation, somebody with the will and the cognitive ability to make this happen and is competent in doing so. We need a commander-in-chief.
FLEECED! How aid billions were squandered in Afghanistan: £4 million on Tuscan goats for the cashmere trade, £120 million on Dubai villas for corrupt politicians and £400 million on aircraft left to rot
Hannity: Biden clearly lied
Tucker: You don't see this everyday, in fact you never see it
Osama bin Laden’s prophetic statements about Joe Biden
In 2010, Osama bin Laden, despite living in hiding, was still the brains behind al Qaeda. And, while he may have been completely evil (anyone who revels in killing civilians to advance his goals is evil), he was no dummy. He was, instead, an acute observer of Western culture—especially American culture. That’s why it shouldn’t be surprising that, a year before he was killed, he was writing letters to his followers planning future murder attacks. Nor should it be surprising that he characterized Joe Biden as a moron.
In 2011, despite Biden’s protests against doing so, Barack Obama finally ordered a mission to kill Osama bin Ladin. Not only did the SEALS successfully carry out that mission, but they also recovered a treasure trove of documents from bin Laden’s safe house in Pakistan.
One of those documents, which was made public in 2012 but was forgotten until today, saw bin Laden explaining to a subordinate why, while both Obama and General Petraeus were jihad targets, it would be a mistake to kill Biden. According to bin Laden, Biden was such an idiot that his stepping into Obama’s shoes as President would be fully as damaging to America as any terrorist attack:
Giving his reasoning for attacking Obama, he says: ‘Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make Biden take over the presidency for the remainder of the term, as it is the norm over there.
‘Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the US into a crisis.’
Those words appear very prophetic in light of Biden’s seven months in the White House. During that time, his physical capabilities seem to have diminished before our eyes. He’s gone from being vaguely loopy to appearing like a drugged-up automaton. As Biden demonstrated during his interview with George Stephanopoulos, he frequently becomes completely incoherent:
STEPHANOPOULOS: I-- I think a lot of-- a lot of Americans, and a l-- even a lot of veterans who served in Afghanistan agree with you on the big, strategic picture. They believe we had to get out. But I wonder how you respond to an Army Special Forces officer, Javier McKay (PH). He did seven tours. He was shot twice. He agrees with you. He says, "We have to cut our losses in Afghanistan." But he adds, "I just wish we could’ve left with honor."
BIDEN: Look, that’s like askin’ my deceased son Beau, who spent six months in Kosovo and a year in Iraq as a Navy captain and then major-- I mean, as an Army major. And, you know, I’m sure h-- he had regrets comin’ out of Afganista-- I mean, out of Iraq.
He had regrets to what’s-- how-- how it’s going. But the idea-- what’s the alternative? The alternative is why are we staying in Afghanistan? Why are we there? Don’t you think that the one-- you know who’s most disappointed in us getting out? Russia and China. They’d love us to continue to have to--
It’s not just Biden’s verbal nonsense, though. Either on his own initiative or acting as a puppet for the unknown persons pulling his strings, Biden managed in seven months to tank the economy, destroy America’s energy independence, wipe out our immigration laws, dramatically increase racial tension in the country, put America on a totalitarian track with masks and vaccines, and sign off on dramatically increasing our nation’s already overwhelming debt.
Of course, the pièce de résistance was his handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. First, he managed to do it bass-ackwards, pulling out the military before extracting civilians, allies, and weapons. He also forgot to tell our European allies.
Thus, while leftists insisted that Trump was the outlier whom everyone hated, it was Biden who managed to get himself held in contempt by England’s Parliament, a first for an American president. Biden has also been lying steadily to the public, so much so that members of his own administration, anxious to escape his now toxic miasma, are refusing to go along with it.
As I said, bin Laden may have been evil but he was also smart. He had the measure of Biden and fully understand that a living Biden was much more dangerous to America than a martyr to a jihadist assassination.
Image: Osama bin Laden by Hamid Mir. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Everything Is Not All Right
In case you haven't noticed, the Biden Administration is a dumpster fire of seeming incompetence and dementia. I don't believe that is by accident, and I believe those calling the shots wish to do harm to the United States. A brief review of the Biden family's financial dealings in China begs the question of a compromised or even installed presidency. Even the staunchest of corporate media allies have at times brought themselves to question the mental health status of Joe Biden, which has led to the assertion that the lights are on but nobody's home. And given the projection on display during the Trump Administration, any recognition of the current state is met with a dose of leftist "whataboutism." Accusations of poor mental health or incompetence are chalked up to retaliation in the current political climate.
Surely there is a puppet master pulling these strings? Joe Biden didn't bother to campaign for office and yet raked in more votes than any candidate in history by a wide margin, after all. This is just one of the primary drivers of skepticism in the legitimacy of the Biden administration and for the aware conservative escapes rationale.
Currently, the situation at our southern border is a nightmare with record numbers of migrants overwhelming infrastructure and bringing new variants of COVID along with cartels smuggling drugs and human capital across. The current administration seems to have no response, and what's more, no concern. The swift deterioration of conditions and withdrawal in Afghanistan has enabled U.S. persons, weapons, and intelligence to fall into the hands of the Taliban, undoing 20 years of stalemate in a month's time. The push for COVID vaccines and rejection of natural immunity is driving a record silent super-spreader event across the country. Inflation is running rampant as supply shortages are met with an overabundance of stimulus dollars injected into the bank accounts of American taxpayers. Just eighteen months ago we touted energy independence, and now the Biden Administration is begging OPEC to make up for artificial shortfalls in supply that are driving exorbitant fuel prices. Meanwhile, local school boards, government agencies, and corporations continue to double down on racist and divisive social policy designed to drive a wedge down the spine of society. This is not business as usual.
Scott Adams of Dilbert fame would often describe the Donald Trump leadership style in terms of the Big First Demand. He would describe a negotiating tactic in which Donald Trump would throw out extreme first demands so that he could set the margins of the conversation and bring participants back to a happy middle ground. The Biden Administration, and more specifically the American Left, has taken a piece of this playbook and deployed a familiar but very different rhetorical strategy called the Motte and Bailey. In the Motte and Bailey, extreme first demands are thrown out until pushback is received, at which time they retreat to a more sane middle ground. The difference between this and the Big First Demand strategy of Donald Trump is that the big first demand is actually the goal of Motte and Bailey. The retreat is only temporary, to allow scrutiny to die down before returning to an extreme position, such as the promotion of CRT in primary school education. Their extreme assertions call for a radical revolution, and conservatives would do well to take them seriously. When the Biden Administration fails to act in the face of an overwhelming crisis it is not by accident. It is setting the stage for a radical revolution.
Conservatives have a tendency to play a mental game where they rationalize that the public is going to have an epiphany and that the latest display of ineptitude or malfeasance will be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back and wakes up the herd. They overestimate the herd. There is a concept in psychology called normalcy bias that explains why people have a tendency to downplay serious threats like natural disasters and creates a failure to act in the face of crisis. Those under the spell of normalcy bias will ignore the severity of a situation and justify to themselves that their circumstances are just another in a series of life challenges that will pass. Those who attempt to sound the alarm in the face of these circumstances are merely overreacting. The inaction that results from normalcy bias leads to poor outcomes as appropriate preparation measures are ignored and responses are delayed. The incremental nature of our deteriorating circumstances is a potent but detrimental combination when paired with normalcy bias.
In all of this insanity, where is the Republican Party? There seem to be two possible responses: Republicans either hope to stay silent and allow for the Biden Administration to self-implode by 2022, or they are complicit in allowing the rapid decline of the United States. There really is no middle ground. Famed Nixon economist Herbert Stein, the father of actor Ben Stein, theorized that if something cannot go on forever, it will stop. This has come to be known as Stein's Law. The question remains, which will cease first, the absurdities of the Biden Administration, or the United States itself? The time for normalcy bias has passed.
Brian Parsons is a digital marketing consultant by trade, a proud husband and father, saved by grace & an unabashed paleoconservative. You can follow him at WithdrawConsent.org or find his weekly opinion column in the Idaho State Journal. Gab, MeWe, Email
Why Joe Biden can't resign, or be removed — or die
See also: Can the Biden presidency last much longer?
In the wake of the Afghanistan debacle, demands have arisen in Congress for President Biden to resign or to be removed via the 25th Amendment. Elements of the formerly pro-Biden media have joined in the condemnation.
Many silent Democrat office-holders likely want Biden out, as they fear that the systemic incompetence of his administration will bring them down come 2022.
But Joe cannot resign or be fired. The Democrat high command will not let either happen, no matter the short-term political cost.
On the surface, that makes little sense. Joe's resignation or removal would not alter Democrat control of the presidency and Congress. If Joe leaves, Kamala Harris becomes president. She is incompetent, too, but no more so than Joe, and is on board with the administration's radical agenda.
So. Why can't Joe quit the office or be removed?
Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states: "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided." The current Senate is equally divided with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans.
As soon as Kamala Harris takes the presidential oath, the vice presidency is left vacant. In that case, a tie vote means that the legislation, resolution, or confirmation under consideration fails.
A Senate chamber without a vice president puts Mitch McConnell in the catbird seat. He can kill all Democrat initiatives, including any nomination to refill the vice presidency.
The Democrat agenda goes up in smoke. The 3.5-trillion-dollar budget reconciliation bill is blocked. The For the People bill is blocked. The Green New Deal is blocked. Packing the Supreme Court is dead. As is any attempt to scuttle the filibuster or grab guns.
Therefore, the Democrats will keep Joe in office. Even if he's reduced to talking gibberish and eating Jell-O. Kamala also stays where she is, and the Democrat dream of fundamental transformation remains alive.
OK. But what if Joe Biden dies? This 78-year-old man is certainly at risk. When Joe was three decades younger, in 1988, he suffered two brain aneurysms. Doctors at the time gave him a 50-50 chance of surviving.
"He's not a healthy guy," said Dr. David Scheiner in 2020. Dr. Scheiner was concerned about Biden's potential for a stroke. Biden receives treatment for an irregular heartbeat and high cholesterol. Joe has also undergone surgeries for gallbladder and partial prostate removal, and on his sinus and nasal passages to treat sleep apnea.
If Joe dies, Kamala automatically vacates the vice presidency. The Democrats again face the throttling of their agenda. Mitch again rules.
The Democrat high command are not stupid. Indeed, as they proved during the last presidential election, they are quite willing to do whatever needs to be done. We must assume they have contingency plans in place.
If Joe were to expire while addressing the United Nations or during a live press conference, that would be one thing. His death must be acknowledged and the consequences accepted.
If Joe passes while out of sight of the public, that is something else. The something else would probably go like this:
His body is secretly transported to Camp David or the family compound in Delaware. His sudden disappearance is explained by announcing that an assassination plot (by Islamic terrorists, or better, by white supremacists) has just been discovered. The president will remain at an undisclosed location until the threat is neutralized.
Biden's existence and whereabouts can be easily faked, so the pretense could be kept up a while. Also remember that a president need not actually sign a bill for it to become law (if Congress remains in session ten days after passage).
With Joe presumably alive and Kamala able to break Senate tie votes, the Democrats have a window of about sixteen months to enact their agenda. Only recalcitrants Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema stand in the way. The party that plays the hardest ball ever seen will go to work hard on those two.
The window ends Jan. 3, 2023, when the new Congress convenes. Almost certainly the GOP will control the next House, and the Republicans stand an increasingly good chance to take back the Senate. If not passed, the Democrat agenda is truly dead as of that date.
While the window remains open, Joseph Robinette Biden must remain president. Whether he serves honorably or dishonorably, whether coherently or incoherently, whether alive or dead.
HOW MANY OF AMERICA'S HOMELESS COULD HAVE BEEN HOUSED WITH $82 BILLION? HOW MANY SCHOLARSHIPS COULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED?
Steve Daines Demands Accountability for $82 Billion in U.S. Military Equipment Seized by Taliban
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) demanded accountability for the $82 billion in U.S. military equipment stolen by the Taliban in a letter written to President Joe Biden Friday.
Daines wrote to Biden:
I write regarding the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan which has put American lives at risk and triggered a preventable humanitarian crisis. Taliban militants are now threatening innocent civilians and restricting evacuee movement using U.S. military equipment, which they obtained through a hasty withdrawal of U.S. forces. This matter requires your immediate attention.
The Montana conservative noted that the American government has provided $82.9 billion in equipment, supplies, services, training, and funding to the Afghan National Army, Air Force, Special Forces, and Police. Daines noted that the equipment includes:
- Aircraft (AC-208, C-130, PC-12, A-29, UH-60, CH-47) Vehicles (HMMWVs, Light and Medium Tactical Vehicles, Mobile Strike Force Vehicles)
- Communications and intelligence equipment (aerostats and tower-based ISR, integrated radio architecture and network enterprise, cellular exploitation, Scan Eagle drones)
- Improvised explosive device countermeasures (bomb suits & helmets, Valon VMH3 mine detectors, EOD MMP-30 robots, blasting cap test sets)
- Clothing and organizational equipment (boots, helmets, blankets, and sleeping bags)
- Ammunition, fuel, and replacement parts
Daines continued in his letter:
According to one Administration official, “everything that hasn’t been destroyed is the Taliban’s now.” Under normal military protocols, an accidental equipment mishap can trigger an automatic investigation and can have career-altering consequences for ordinary service members. Who in your Administration will be held accountable for this profound and preventable loss?
Daines demanded that Biden tell the American people how the federal government will prevent the Taliban from using taxpayer-funded military equipment seized by the Taliban.
“I ask you to explain to the American taxpayer your plan for preventing this equipment from being used for terrorist acts, propaganda, and funding; and to mitigate sensitive equipment from falling into the hands of our adversaries for intelligence or reverse-engineering purposes,” Daines concluded in his letter.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
Poll: Biden Job Approval Underwater in Majority of States
President Joe Biden’s job approval is underwater in most states, according to the CIVIQS rolling job approval average.
Thirty-seven states show the president with a 50 percent or higher disapproval rate. This is compared to only 12 states that show the president with a higher approval rating. Meanwhile, only one state, Colorado, polled at an even tie with 46 percent.
The seven-month rolling average of the president’s job approval is now at 50 percent disapproval compared to only 43 percent approval, with seven people expressing no opinion.
Broken down by age groups; 18-34, 35-49, 50-64, and 65 plus, all have a negative opinion of Biden as well.
The CIVIQS rolling job approval average had 89,425 responses from January 20 to August 20.
The poll numbers are shown after the president botched the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving thousands of Americans, Afghan allies, and vulnerable Afghans trying to evacuate.
The United States has sent thousands of troops back into Afghanistan to help with a quicker evacuation. Multiple reports show that the Taliban terrorists have been going door to door searching for journalists and political opponents in the now conquered Kabul.
Biden waited days to address the nation, causing the president to be slammed from both sides of the aisle. Biden ended up flying back and forth from his long vacation getaway to the White House to address the nation.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) blasted Biden in a statement saying that this is the “worst foreign policy disaster in decades.”
“President Biden’s poor judgment produced the worst possible outcome in Afghanistan in only a matter of weeks. He has done long-term damage to America’s credibility and our capabilities,” the Republican leader added.
Follow Jacob Bliss on Twitter @jacobmbliss.
FLEECED! How aid billions were squandered in Afghanistan: £4 million on Tuscan goats for the cashmere trade, £120 million on Dubai villas for corrupt politicians and £400 million on aircraft left to rot
Hannity: Biden clearly lied
Tucker: You don't see this everyday, in fact you never see it
Osama bin Laden’s prophetic statements about Joe Biden
In 2010, Osama bin Laden, despite living in hiding, was still the brains behind al Qaeda. And, while he may have been completely evil (anyone who revels in killing civilians to advance his goals is evil), he was no dummy. He was, instead, an acute observer of Western culture—especially American culture. That’s why it shouldn’t be surprising that, a year before he was killed, he was writing letters to his followers planning future murder attacks. Nor should it be surprising that he characterized Joe Biden as a moron.
In 2011, despite Biden’s protests against doing so, Barack Obama finally ordered a mission to kill Osama bin Ladin. Not only did the SEALS successfully carry out that mission, but they also recovered a treasure trove of documents from bin Laden’s safe house in Pakistan.
One of those documents, which was made public in 2012 but was forgotten until today, saw bin Laden explaining to a subordinate why, while both Obama and General Petraeus were jihad targets, it would be a mistake to kill Biden. According to bin Laden, Biden was such an idiot that his stepping into Obama’s shoes as President would be fully as damaging to America as any terrorist attack:
Giving his reasoning for attacking Obama, he says: ‘Obama is the head of infidelity and killing him automatically will make Biden take over the presidency for the remainder of the term, as it is the norm over there.
‘Biden is totally unprepared for that post, which will lead the US into a crisis.’
Those words appear very prophetic in light of Biden’s seven months in the White House. During that time, his physical capabilities seem to have diminished before our eyes. He’s gone from being vaguely loopy to appearing like a drugged-up automaton. As Biden demonstrated during his interview with George Stephanopoulos, he frequently becomes completely incoherent:
STEPHANOPOULOS: I-- I think a lot of-- a lot of Americans, and a l-- even a lot of veterans who served in Afghanistan agree with you on the big, strategic picture. They believe we had to get out. But I wonder how you respond to an Army Special Forces officer, Javier McKay (PH). He did seven tours. He was shot twice. He agrees with you. He says, "We have to cut our losses in Afghanistan." But he adds, "I just wish we could’ve left with honor."
BIDEN: Look, that’s like askin’ my deceased son Beau, who spent six months in Kosovo and a year in Iraq as a Navy captain and then major-- I mean, as an Army major. And, you know, I’m sure h-- he had regrets comin’ out of Afganista-- I mean, out of Iraq.
He had regrets to what’s-- how-- how it’s going. But the idea-- what’s the alternative? The alternative is why are we staying in Afghanistan? Why are we there? Don’t you think that the one-- you know who’s most disappointed in us getting out? Russia and China. They’d love us to continue to have to--
It’s not just Biden’s verbal nonsense, though. Either on his own initiative or acting as a puppet for the unknown persons pulling his strings, Biden managed in seven months to tank the economy, destroy America’s energy independence, wipe out our immigration laws, dramatically increase racial tension in the country, put America on a totalitarian track with masks and vaccines, and sign off on dramatically increasing our nation’s already overwhelming debt.
Of course, the pièce de résistance was his handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. First, he managed to do it bass-ackwards, pulling out the military before extracting civilians, allies, and weapons. He also forgot to tell our European allies.
Thus, while leftists insisted that Trump was the outlier whom everyone hated, it was Biden who managed to get himself held in contempt by England’s Parliament, a first for an American president. Biden has also been lying steadily to the public, so much so that members of his own administration, anxious to escape his now toxic miasma, are refusing to go along with it.
As I said, bin Laden may have been evil but he was also smart. He had the measure of Biden and fully understand that a living Biden was much more dangerous to America than a martyr to a jihadist assassination.
Image: Osama bin Laden by Hamid Mir. CC BY-SA 3.0.
Everything Is Not All Right
In case you haven't noticed, the Biden Administration is a dumpster fire of seeming incompetence and dementia. I don't believe that is by accident, and I believe those calling the shots wish to do harm to the United States. A brief review of the Biden family's financial dealings in China begs the question of a compromised or even installed presidency. Even the staunchest of corporate media allies have at times brought themselves to question the mental health status of Joe Biden, which has led to the assertion that the lights are on but nobody's home. And given the projection on display during the Trump Administration, any recognition of the current state is met with a dose of leftist "whataboutism." Accusations of poor mental health or incompetence are chalked up to retaliation in the current political climate.
Surely there is a puppet master pulling these strings? Joe Biden didn't bother to campaign for office and yet raked in more votes than any candidate in history by a wide margin, after all. This is just one of the primary drivers of skepticism in the legitimacy of the Biden administration and for the aware conservative escapes rationale.
Currently, the situation at our southern border is a nightmare with record numbers of migrants overwhelming infrastructure and bringing new variants of COVID along with cartels smuggling drugs and human capital across. The current administration seems to have no response, and what's more, no concern. The swift deterioration of conditions and withdrawal in Afghanistan has enabled U.S. persons, weapons, and intelligence to fall into the hands of the Taliban, undoing 20 years of stalemate in a month's time. The push for COVID vaccines and rejection of natural immunity is driving a record silent super-spreader event across the country. Inflation is running rampant as supply shortages are met with an overabundance of stimulus dollars injected into the bank accounts of American taxpayers. Just eighteen months ago we touted energy independence, and now the Biden Administration is begging OPEC to make up for artificial shortfalls in supply that are driving exorbitant fuel prices. Meanwhile, local school boards, government agencies, and corporations continue to double down on racist and divisive social policy designed to drive a wedge down the spine of society. This is not business as usual.
Scott Adams of Dilbert fame would often describe the Donald Trump leadership style in terms of the Big First Demand. He would describe a negotiating tactic in which Donald Trump would throw out extreme first demands so that he could set the margins of the conversation and bring participants back to a happy middle ground. The Biden Administration, and more specifically the American Left, has taken a piece of this playbook and deployed a familiar but very different rhetorical strategy called the Motte and Bailey. In the Motte and Bailey, extreme first demands are thrown out until pushback is received, at which time they retreat to a more sane middle ground. The difference between this and the Big First Demand strategy of Donald Trump is that the big first demand is actually the goal of Motte and Bailey. The retreat is only temporary, to allow scrutiny to die down before returning to an extreme position, such as the promotion of CRT in primary school education. Their extreme assertions call for a radical revolution, and conservatives would do well to take them seriously. When the Biden Administration fails to act in the face of an overwhelming crisis it is not by accident. It is setting the stage for a radical revolution.
Conservatives have a tendency to play a mental game where they rationalize that the public is going to have an epiphany and that the latest display of ineptitude or malfeasance will be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back and wakes up the herd. They overestimate the herd. There is a concept in psychology called normalcy bias that explains why people have a tendency to downplay serious threats like natural disasters and creates a failure to act in the face of crisis. Those under the spell of normalcy bias will ignore the severity of a situation and justify to themselves that their circumstances are just another in a series of life challenges that will pass. Those who attempt to sound the alarm in the face of these circumstances are merely overreacting. The inaction that results from normalcy bias leads to poor outcomes as appropriate preparation measures are ignored and responses are delayed. The incremental nature of our deteriorating circumstances is a potent but detrimental combination when paired with normalcy bias.
In all of this insanity, where is the Republican Party? There seem to be two possible responses: Republicans either hope to stay silent and allow for the Biden Administration to self-implode by 2022, or they are complicit in allowing the rapid decline of the United States. There really is no middle ground. Famed Nixon economist Herbert Stein, the father of actor Ben Stein, theorized that if something cannot go on forever, it will stop. This has come to be known as Stein's Law. The question remains, which will cease first, the absurdities of the Biden Administration, or the United States itself? The time for normalcy bias has passed.
Brian Parsons is a digital marketing consultant by trade, a proud husband and father, saved by grace & an unabashed paleoconservative. You can follow him at WithdrawConsent.org or find his weekly opinion column in the Idaho State Journal. Gab, MeWe, Email
Why Joe Biden can't resign, or be removed — or die
See also: Can the Biden presidency last much longer?
In the wake of the Afghanistan debacle, demands have arisen in Congress for President Biden to resign or to be removed via the 25th Amendment. Elements of the formerly pro-Biden media have joined in the condemnation.
Many silent Democrat office-holders likely want Biden out, as they fear that the systemic incompetence of his administration will bring them down come 2022.
But Joe cannot resign or be fired. The Democrat high command will not let either happen, no matter the short-term political cost.
On the surface, that makes little sense. Joe's resignation or removal would not alter Democrat control of the presidency and Congress. If Joe leaves, Kamala Harris becomes president. She is incompetent, too, but no more so than Joe, and is on board with the administration's radical agenda.
So. Why can't Joe quit the office or be removed?
Article I, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states: "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided." The current Senate is equally divided with 50 Democrats and 50 Republicans.
As soon as Kamala Harris takes the presidential oath, the vice presidency is left vacant. In that case, a tie vote means that the legislation, resolution, or confirmation under consideration fails.
A Senate chamber without a vice president puts Mitch McConnell in the catbird seat. He can kill all Democrat initiatives, including any nomination to refill the vice presidency.
The Democrat agenda goes up in smoke. The 3.5-trillion-dollar budget reconciliation bill is blocked. The For the People bill is blocked. The Green New Deal is blocked. Packing the Supreme Court is dead. As is any attempt to scuttle the filibuster or grab guns.
Therefore, the Democrats will keep Joe in office. Even if he's reduced to talking gibberish and eating Jell-O. Kamala also stays where she is, and the Democrat dream of fundamental transformation remains alive.
OK. But what if Joe Biden dies? This 78-year-old man is certainly at risk. When Joe was three decades younger, in 1988, he suffered two brain aneurysms. Doctors at the time gave him a 50-50 chance of surviving.
"He's not a healthy guy," said Dr. David Scheiner in 2020. Dr. Scheiner was concerned about Biden's potential for a stroke. Biden receives treatment for an irregular heartbeat and high cholesterol. Joe has also undergone surgeries for gallbladder and partial prostate removal, and on his sinus and nasal passages to treat sleep apnea.
If Joe dies, Kamala automatically vacates the vice presidency. The Democrats again face the throttling of their agenda. Mitch again rules.
The Democrat high command are not stupid. Indeed, as they proved during the last presidential election, they are quite willing to do whatever needs to be done. We must assume they have contingency plans in place.
If Joe were to expire while addressing the United Nations or during a live press conference, that would be one thing. His death must be acknowledged and the consequences accepted.
If Joe passes while out of sight of the public, that is something else. The something else would probably go like this:
His body is secretly transported to Camp David or the family compound in Delaware. His sudden disappearance is explained by announcing that an assassination plot (by Islamic terrorists, or better, by white supremacists) has just been discovered. The president will remain at an undisclosed location until the threat is neutralized.
Biden's existence and whereabouts can be easily faked, so the pretense could be kept up a while. Also remember that a president need not actually sign a bill for it to become law (if Congress remains in session ten days after passage).
With Joe presumably alive and Kamala able to break Senate tie votes, the Democrats have a window of about sixteen months to enact their agenda. Only recalcitrants Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema stand in the way. The party that plays the hardest ball ever seen will go to work hard on those two.
The window ends Jan. 3, 2023, when the new Congress convenes. Almost certainly the GOP will control the next House, and the Republicans stand an increasingly good chance to take back the Senate. If not passed, the Democrat agenda is truly dead as of that date.
While the window remains open, Joseph Robinette Biden must remain president. Whether he serves honorably or dishonorably, whether coherently or incoherently, whether alive or dead.
HOW MANY OF AMERICA'S HOMELESS COULD HAVE BEEN HOUSED WITH $82 BILLION? HOW MANY SCHOLARSHIPS COULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED?
Steve Daines Demands Accountability for $82 Billion in U.S. Military Equipment Seized by Taliban
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) demanded accountability for the $82 billion in U.S. military equipment stolen by the Taliban in a letter written to President Joe Biden Friday.
Daines wrote to Biden:
I write regarding the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan which has put American lives at risk and triggered a preventable humanitarian crisis. Taliban militants are now threatening innocent civilians and restricting evacuee movement using U.S. military equipment, which they obtained through a hasty withdrawal of U.S. forces. This matter requires your immediate attention.
The Montana conservative noted that the American government has provided $82.9 billion in equipment, supplies, services, training, and funding to the Afghan National Army, Air Force, Special Forces, and Police. Daines noted that the equipment includes:
- Aircraft (AC-208, C-130, PC-12, A-29, UH-60, CH-47) Vehicles (HMMWVs, Light and Medium Tactical Vehicles, Mobile Strike Force Vehicles)
- Communications and intelligence equipment (aerostats and tower-based ISR, integrated radio architecture and network enterprise, cellular exploitation, Scan Eagle drones)
- Improvised explosive device countermeasures (bomb suits & helmets, Valon VMH3 mine detectors, EOD MMP-30 robots, blasting cap test sets)
- Clothing and organizational equipment (boots, helmets, blankets, and sleeping bags)
- Ammunition, fuel, and replacement parts
Daines continued in his letter:
According to one Administration official, “everything that hasn’t been destroyed is the Taliban’s now.” Under normal military protocols, an accidental equipment mishap can trigger an automatic investigation and can have career-altering consequences for ordinary service members. Who in your Administration will be held accountable for this profound and preventable loss?
Daines demanded that Biden tell the American people how the federal government will prevent the Taliban from using taxpayer-funded military equipment seized by the Taliban.
“I ask you to explain to the American taxpayer your plan for preventing this equipment from being used for terrorist acts, propaganda, and funding; and to mitigate sensitive equipment from falling into the hands of our adversaries for intelligence or reverse-engineering purposes,” Daines concluded in his letter.
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.
Poll: Biden Job Approval Underwater in Majority of States
President Joe Biden’s job approval is underwater in most states, according to the CIVIQS rolling job approval average.
Thirty-seven states show the president with a 50 percent or higher disapproval rate. This is compared to only 12 states that show the president with a higher approval rating. Meanwhile, only one state, Colorado, polled at an even tie with 46 percent.
The seven-month rolling average of the president’s job approval is now at 50 percent disapproval compared to only 43 percent approval, with seven people expressing no opinion.
Broken down by age groups; 18-34, 35-49, 50-64, and 65 plus, all have a negative opinion of Biden as well.
The CIVIQS rolling job approval average had 89,425 responses from January 20 to August 20.
The poll numbers are shown after the president botched the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, leaving thousands of Americans, Afghan allies, and vulnerable Afghans trying to evacuate.
The United States has sent thousands of troops back into Afghanistan to help with a quicker evacuation. Multiple reports show that the Taliban terrorists have been going door to door searching for journalists and political opponents in the now conquered Kabul.
Biden waited days to address the nation, causing the president to be slammed from both sides of the aisle. Biden ended up flying back and forth from his long vacation getaway to the White House to address the nation.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) blasted Biden in a statement saying that this is the “worst foreign policy disaster in decades.”
“President Biden’s poor judgment produced the worst possible outcome in Afghanistan in only a matter of weeks. He has done long-term damage to America’s credibility and our capabilities,” the Republican leader added.
Follow Jacob Bliss on Twitter @jacobmbliss.
I served in Afghanistan as a US Marine, twice. Here’s the truth in two sentences
What we are seeing in Afghanistan right now shouldn’t shock you. It only seems that way because our institutions are steeped in systematic dishonesty. It doesn’t require a dissertation to explain what you’re seeing. Just two sentences.
One: For 20 years, politicians, elites and D.C. military leaders lied to us about Afghanistan.
Two: What happened last week was inevitable, and anyone saying differently is still lying to you.
I know because I was there. Twice. On special operations task forces. I learned Pashto as a U.S. Marine captain and spoke to everyone I could there: everyday people, elites, allies and yes, even the Taliban.
The truth is that the Afghan National Security Forces was a jobs program for Afghans, propped up by U.S. taxpayer dollars — a military jobs program populated by nonmilitary people or “paper” forces (that didn’t really exist) and a bevy of elites grabbing what they could when they could.
You probably didn’t know that. That’s the point.
And it wasn’t just in Afghanistan. They also lied about Iraq.
I led a team of Marines training Iraqi security forces to defend their country. When I arrived I received a “stoplight” chart on their supposed capabilities in dozens of missions and responsibilities. Green meant they were good. Yellow was needed improvement; red said they couldn’t do it at all.
I was delighted to see how far along they were on paper — until I actually began working with them. I attempted to adjust the charts to reflect reality and was quickly shut down. The ratings could not go down. That was the deal. It was the kind of lie that kept the war going.
So when people ask me if we made the right call getting out of Afghanistan in 2021, I answer truthfully: Absolutely not. The right call was getting out in 2002. 2003. Every year we didn’t get out was another year the Taliban used to refine their skills and tactics against us — the best fighting force in the world. After two decades, $2 trillion and nearly 2,500 American lives lost, 2021 was way too late to make the right call.
You’d think when it all came crumbling down around them, they’d accept the truth. Think again.
War-hungry hawks are suggesting our soldiers weren’t in harm’s way. Well, when I was there, two incredible Marines in my unit were killed.
Elitist hacks are even blaming the American people for what happened last week. The same American people that they spent years lying to about Afghanistan. Are you kidding me?
We deserve better. Instead of politicians spending $6.4 trillion to “nation build” in the Middle East, we should start nation building right here at home.
I can’t believe that would be a controversial proposal, but already in Washington, we see some of the same architects of these Middle Eastern disasters balking at the idea of investing a fraction of that amount to build up our own country.
The lies about Afghanistan matter not just because of the money spent or the lives lost, but because they are representative of a systematic dishonesty that is destroying our country from the inside out.
Remember when they told us the economy was back? Another lie.
Our state of Missouri was home to the worst economic recovery from the Great Recession in this part of the country. I see the boarded-up stores and the vacant lots — one of which used to be my family’s home. When our country’s elites were preaching about how they had solved the financial crisis and the housing market was booming, I watched the house I joined the Marine Corps out of sit on the market for two years. My dad finally got $43,000 for it. He owed $78,000.
The only way out is to level with the American people. I’ll start. With the two-sentence truth about what we are seeing in Afghanistan right now:
For 20 years, politicians, elites and D.C. military leaders lied to us about Afghanistan.
What happened last week was inevitable, and anyone saying differently is still lying to you.
Cole County native Lucas Kunce is a Marine veteran and antitrust advocate. He is a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.
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