The Greatest Victory Since Napoleon Left Moscow Roger Kimball

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/america/2021/09/the-greatest-victory-since-napoleon-left-moscow/

Maybe someone should hire Joe Biden to teach philosophy, or at least be in the classroom. You don’t have to be Ludwig Wittgenstein to appreciate the important philosophical lesson that our understanding can be bewitched by language. This can happen in a number of different ways, many of them illustrated daily by the President of the United States.  One lesson revolves around the unpalatable truth that saying something is so does not make it so. Joe Biden gave a sterling illustration of that lesson the other day at one his weirdest press conferences to date.  His withdrawal from Afghanistan, he barked madly at the cameras, was an “extraordinary success.” 

Yes, he really said that.  It was a success more or less in the same sense that Napoleon’s withdrawal from Moscow in 1812 was a success, that is to say, it was so extraordinary a success that it was an abject failure.  It was not quite so bad as the withdrawal of Maj. Gen. William Elphinstone from Kabul in 1842, perhaps—the only European to make it out alive from that debâcle was a badly wounded army surgeon—but it was certainly nothing to brag about.  

It will be many years before we get a full and accurate measure of the repercussions of this humiliating event. It has gravely damaged the already tottering administration of Joe Biden. It has disconcerted our friends. It has emboldened our enemies.  And it is marked another waypoint on the “melancholy, long, withdrawing roar” of American power.  

The world has been especially stunned by two things the Biden administration left behind in Afghanistan.  The first was the huge armory of military hardware and supporting matériel. Estimates of the value of that gift to the Taliban have varied widely from many hundreds of millions to $80 billion. Whatever the figure, it was a lot.   

According to one assessment, the US left scattered in seven Afghan army garrisons across the country, from Kabul and Kandahar to Herāt, Mazār-i-Sharīf, and Kunduz, 22,174 armored Humvees, 42 pickup trucks and SUVS, 64,363 machine guns, 162,043 radios, 16,035 night-vision goggles, 358,530 assault rifles (the real ones, not the “assault rifles” that Joe Biden warns about in the United States), 126,295 pistols, and 176 artillery pieces. There was also plenty of ammunition to go along with all of that loot.

NEW COLUMNIST AT THE WSJ?

BlackRock’s China Blunder George Soros  September 7, 2021

Pouring billions into the country now is a bad investment and imperils U.S. national security.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/blackrock-larry-fink-china-hkex-sse-authoritarianism-xi-jinping-term-limits-human-rights-ant-didi-global-national-security-11630938728?mod=opinion_lead_pos5

Xi’s Dictatorship Threatens the Chinese State George Soros- August 14, 2021

In his quest for personal power, he’s rejected Deng Xiaoping’s economic reform path and turned the Communist Party into an assemblage of yes-men.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/xi-jinping-deng-xiaoping-dictatorship-ant-didi-economy-communist-party-beijing-authoritarian-11628885076?mod=article_inline

Complete the wall … around Biden By Edward R. Zuckerbrod

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/09/complete_the_wall__around_biden_.html

Let’s hope Joe Biden has finally gone a fib too far: taking to the airways with false indignation to harangue us for daring to question his execution of the lethally inept Afghanistan “retrograde” action he engineered along with his Team of Trivials. Biden’s purpose of course was to obscure the fact that he’d blithely and needlessly thrust fine, dedicated troops into a tactical straightjacket that could logically have had no other result than multiple casualties; perhaps though in the process causing some heretofore tightly shut eyes to be pried open concerning the character and abilities of our overmatched chief executive.

If there is any degree of justice in the world, across this nation, many self-anointed sophisticates are staring at the yellowing diplomas hanging on their walls, contemplating how someone so demonstrably smart and accomplished could have been so utterly misguided in his/her 2020 assessment of presidential fitness.

It’s unfortunate that we don’t have the voter equivalent of a remedial safe-driving course.

Somehow, someway, over his many years of feeding at the public trough (and multi-national deals) Mr. Biden has succeeded in cultivating the image of an amiable, even-tempered spinner of yarns, whose repertoire of self-aggrandizing tales served — at least in his mind — as parables illustrating deeper truths. And if, in pursuit of his overarching message, the factual bases of these stories were suspect, then what of it? Underneath it all, Joe’s a good egg, don’t you know, so why don’t we just let it slide?

That protective aura: of a good-natured, basically decent guy despite his obvious intellectual shortcomings and weird personal peccadillos, made — along with Covid-19 and its concomitant voting irregularities — Biden, the un-Trump, and his presidency possible. But it’s also catapulted one of the biggest liars in American public life into a position he can’t successfully navigate through the copious shoveling of BS.

New January 6 Stories That Complicate the Media Narrative What really happened? The story just keeps getting weirder. By Adam Mill

https://amgreatness.com/2021/09/06/new-january-6-stories-that-complicate-the-media-narrative/

The Associated Press reported in August that Robert Reeder, a Maryland man, pleaded guilty to “parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building.” He argued for leniency because, “he is a registered Democrat who wasn’t a supporter of former President Donald Trump.” So why did he join the incursion into the Capitol building? Because, he says, he was an “accidental tourist” with nothing better to do.

But an online group that calls itself Sedition Hunters recently tweeted a picture it says shows that same “accidental tourist” attacking a police officer. Curiously, the “accidental tourist,” who didn’t support Donald Trump, happened to be wearing a red “MAGA”-style hat. His attorney argued in court, “Mr. Reeder is not politically active, is not and has never been a member of any right-wing or anti-government or extremist group and has, unfortunately, been publicly grouped with many others (whose) views he abhors.”

The story reminds one of John Sullivan, a Black Lives Matter activist who infiltrated the January 6 incursion to encourage violence, bully police officers, and generally stoke mayhem. While many of the trespassers remain locked up without bail, Sullivan mysteriously received pre-trial release.

But there’s more. As I’ve written before, the January 6 event has a statistically anomalous count of suicide victims among police officers. Additionally, one officer’s widow has now sued two men she says inflicted a grievous head injury on her husband, possibly leading to his suicide. Her complaint claims, 

Open-source intelligence materials found at https://seditionhunters.org/insider-1107/ appear to depict Defendant [Taylor F.] Taranto throughout the Capitol Insurrection engaged in other unlawful acts. In addition, and upon information and belief, said website appears to show Defendant Taranto with the weapon used to assault Officer Smith. Upon information and belief, the weapon appears to be the Ka-Bar TDI ‘self-defense’ cane.

What Did the Capitol Celebrity Cops Do to Roseanne Boyland? After eight months, we finally have an answer to who shot Ashli Babbitt. Next question: Who killed Roseanne Boyland? By Julie Kelly

https://amgreatness.com/2021/09/06/what-did-the-capitol-celebrity-cops-do-to-roseanne-boyland/

The most violent clashes between police and protesters on January 6 occurred inside and outside the west terrace tunnel. The tunnel leads to doors that open into the Capitol building; according to federal documents, “the Lower West Terrace Door was heavily guarded by U.S. Capitol Police and [D.C. Metro Police] personnel, who had formed a defensive line to prevent unauthorized access into the U.S. Capitol via the tunnel.”

Dozens of people have been arrested and charged with various offenses, including assaulting police, for their conduct at the tunnel that afternoon.

It also is the location where Roseanne Boyland lost her life. The Georgia woman was one of four Trump supporters who died on January 6. While her death was ruled an accidental drug overdose by the highly political D.C. Medical Examiner’s Office—the chief officer refers to January 6 as “an unprecedented incident of civil insurrection”—new court filings and video footage raise plenty of questions about what actually happened to Boyland.

And congressional testimony by Officers Harry Dunn and Aquilino Gonell, the two U.S. Capitol Police officers who have become media celebrities for their near-death accounts of January 6, should raise eyebrows about their potential involvement in the death of Roseanne Boyland.

A sworn statement in a motion filed last month in the case of Jacob Lang provides jaw-dropping details on police behavior in the moments before and after Boyland, 34, died.

Phillip Anderson, a protester who was near Boyland when she passed out, accuses law enforcement of using “excessive force” and spraying a highly noxious gas on protesters in the west terrace tunnel. Anderson told the court that Lang, who’s been behind bars since January awaiting trial, saved his life on January 6.

“I do not know what type of gas the officers used, but I know for sure that it was not tear gas,” Anderson said in an affidavit signed August 22. “After the officers sprayed this gas at me, I could not breathe for longer than a few seconds. This gas caused me to collapse, where the police then proceeded to push others on top of me. There were many others who collapsed because of these toxins, as I did. The police continued . . . hitting me and others. One of the people that fell in the crowd was a woman by the name Roseanne Boyland.”

Police pushed the mob, most of whom had been doused with the toxic gas, out of the tunnel as bodies tumbled on top of one another. Boyland was crushed and lost consciousness. Anderson said Boyland grabbed his hand but her firm grip quickly “loosened.” Several people attempted to administer CPR “while the police officers hit them over the head repeatedly.”

The International Puzzle of Trust and Deception Incomprehensible American cluelessness about Afghanistan. Dr. Shmuel Katz

https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/09/international-puzzle-trust-and-deception-dr-shmuel-katz/

The United States controls the NSA and many other intelligence agencies. This fact on its own makes it incomprehensible that the current US leadership had no clue about what was happening in Afghanistan. The rumors are that they wanted it to unfold in a certain way for a variety of reasons. But it’s more likely that they have over played their hand with this last move.

This recent event clearly seems to be part of an intentional plan to weaken the United States. Let’s look at the following recent problematic policy changes – Open borders, energy dependence, inflation, decimated military, defunding the police, population control, limits on flow of information, indoctrination in the schools, rewriting of history, racial unrest, gender confusion, selective implementation of laws, undermining US international standing, etc.

This overall situation forces a serious question: Can the United States be trusted under these circumstances?

Good people must wake up if they want to have a free and democratic republic in the United State or in any other free country across the globe!! Independence, freedom, and self-reliance are imperative to be able to run a stable country. Terrorists and their supporters should not be trusted, as they will break any promise or agreement when they feel strong enough to do so.

Therefore, people must understand that giving away national treasures – or even simple assets of value – will never appease unreliable operatives with malicious intentions!! Eventual durable peace and reconciliation will be possible only if a solid long-term education of mutual respect and recognition is implemented in all educational institutions and media outlets. In addition, terror infrastructures must be dismantled, and incitement and misinformation must be stopped.

Notable & Quotable: Tearing Down Princeton Free speech, but only to supply students ‘with the tools with which they can tear down this place.’

https://www.wsj.com/articles/notable-quotable-tearing-down-princeton-11630965255?mod=opinion_major_pos4

Dan-el Padilla Peralta, associate professor of classics, in a video shown at Princeton University’s freshman orientation:

When I speak about the privileges that we have I am particularly intent on one of those privileges. This is the privilege—especially for those of us who have the benefits of tenure—to exercise free speech. But I don’t mean free speech in the masculinized, bravado sense . . . I envision a free speech and an intellectual discourse that is flexed to one specific aim, and that aim is the promotion of social justice, and an anti-racist social justice at that.

And in order for that work to be realized richly and capaciously it behooves all of us who are on the faculty to think about ways in which we can provide effective mentoring to our students—instruct and guide them about the institutional peculiarities of Princeton and Princeton culture—but not with a view to habituating them into a practice of assimilation or indoctrinating them in the belief that somehow this is the best damn place of all, but in order to supply them with the tools with which they can tear down this place and make it a better one.

Our Friends the Taliban Biden is relying on the group with ties to al Qaeda. Good luck.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/our-friends-the-taliban-biden-administration-al-qaeda-haqqani-network-afghanistan-11630954075?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

The Taliban claimed Monday to have conquered the last major opposition to its takeover of Afghanistan, routing remnants of the former Afghan military and others in the Panjshir Valley. No doubt the abandoned U.S. military equipment helped. Let’s hope the Talibs feel grateful—because the Biden Administration plans to depend on them for years to come.

The White House hopes Americans forget about all this as it focuses on domestic affairs. But this is one of the more extraordinary political transformations in U.S. history. The Taliban, the sponsors of Osama bin Laden and killers of Americans for 20 years, have overnight turned into a courted U.S. partner.

“A new chapter of America’s engagement with Afghanistan has begun. It’s one in which we will lead with our diplomacy,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken declared recently, almost as if he was announcing a triumph like the fall of the Berlin Wall. “The military mission is over. A new diplomatic mission has begun.”

Mr. Blinken says the U.S. will now work with the Taliban to get the remaining Americans and Afghan allies out of the country, and he’s optimistic. “The Taliban has committed to let anyone with proper documents leave the country in a safe and orderly manner. They’ve said this privately and publicly many times,” said the Secretary of State.

Larry Elder Is the School-Choice Champion California Needs, Former Dem Senate Leader Says By Caroline Downey

https://www.nationalreview.com/news/larry-elder-is-the-school-choice-champion-california-needs-former-dem-senate-leader-says/

Conservative radio host Larry Elder has emerged as the favorite among the Republicans challenging California governor Gavin Newsom in the upcoming recall election. The fire-breathing right-wing radio host is not just appealing to staunch conservatives, however, he’s also earned an unexpected endorsement from California’s former Democratic Senate leader, Gloria Romero.

A champion for school choice, Romero plans to abandon the Democratic ticket on September 14 in favor of a candidate she believes will be a champion for the impoverished black and Hispanic children who have been abandoned by the Newsom administration.

Hailing from South Central Los Angeles, Elder has walked the walk when it comes to advocating for education freedom, Romero said in an interview with National Review. Elder’s father, a janitor who earned a GED as an adult, instilled the wisdom of “hard work wins” in his sons, a credo that the Republican contender believes goes hand in hand with school choice.

“School choice benefits children of parents who preach that education and hard work are key to upward mobility,” he wrote in a July editorial defending the policy.

Sometimes called the “fourth branch of government,” the California teachers’ union has a monopoly on education that is holding students hostage, Romero claims. As to why school choice hasn’t made inroads in California, she blames “the spinelessness, the lack of a backbone, and fear” that Democratic elected officials have had in responding to this “800-pound gorilla in the room.”

Beholden to the massive public education bureaucracy, which accounts for nearly half of the state’s annual budget, Democratic lawmakers have historically squashed any attempts at school reform, preventing lower-income African-Americans and Hispanic children from securing a higher-quality education, Romero, who is Hispanic, asserted.

“You’re looking at a war chest that no other special interest in California can even command. It’s unparalleled. That’s where they get the money to smash down and frighten Democrats to shut up and stand down when it comes to education reform,” she said.

Romero and Elder have pointed to surveys showing tremendous support for school choice among African American and Latino parents. Yet their pleas are ignored by the Democratic Party, which colludes with the teachers’ union to avoid relinquishing their power.

There’s Nothing The U.S. Can Do To Affect Global Temperature

https://issuesinsights.com/2021/09/07/theres-nothing-the-u-s-can-do-to-affect-global-temperature/

Despite zero evidence that human greenhouse gas emissions are harming Earth, the Democrats, cheered by the media, continue to enact energy policies they say are necessary for saving our world. But all they’re doing is increasing energy scarcity, which forces prices higher, and ignoring facts that don’t fit their narrative.

America’s worst energy policy offender is California, where the ever-eager-to-mandate-and-forbid ruling class is outlawing automobiles that burn fossil fuels, halting electricity generation from conventional sources, and executing a war on gas stations.

It’s all so entirely pointless. California’s humanity produces only about 1% of all global greenhouse gas emissions. If the state fell into the ocean tomorrow, as some have predicted it will (it won’t), the world thermometer wouldn’t be moved one bit.

The story is the same for the entire country.

“Here’s the most important fact about the Green New Deal: It wouldn’t work,” says the Heritage Foundation’s Nicolas Loris. “Ultimately, fully implementing the Green New Deal would have no meaningful impact on global temperatures.”

Yet if enacted, the law would nevertheless “bring huge changes to our country,” Loris continues, as it “is a wish list for big government spending, expansive government control, and massive amounts of wealth distribution.” It would also allow progressives to implement their twisted definition of “social justice.”

“This deal would fundamentally change how people produce and consume energy, harvest crops, raise livestock, build homes, drive cars, travel long distances, and manufacture goods,” says Loris. But “even if Americans were on board with this radical change in behavior and lifestyle, it wouldn’t change our climate.” 

How can he make such a statement? Because his colleague Kevin Dayaratna ran the numbers – and put them before Congress during a 2017 House committee hearing.