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Who’s Telling Biden Not to Answer Questions? He woulda been a good president if stuff just stopped happening Jim Treacher

Posted By on August 31st, 2021

https://jimtreacher.substack.com/p/whos-telling-biden-not-to-answer

Kanye just dropped an album, war rages in the Middle East, a hurricane is hitting Louisiana, and everybody hates the president.

Welcome to 2005.

Again and again, Joe Biden keeps telling us he’s not supposed to answer questions. “They told me not to answer questions.” “I’m gonna get in trouble if I answer questions.” Over and over, the most powerful man in the free world insists he’s not the one in charge.

He did it again over the weekend:

“I’m not supposed to take any questions, but go ahead… I’m not gonna answer Afghanistan now.”

Why isn’t Joe Biden supposed to take any questions? Who’s telling him not to take questions, and what’s the rationale? (We all know the real reason: He’s an idiot. But his own aides can’t say that.) What happens to him when he disobeys? Is this sort of thing normal for a POTUS to say? Shouldn’t he be the one to decide whether or not he takes questions?

And why don’t any of these reporters want to know? Their whole purpose for being there is to ask the president questions. Shouldn’t they wonder why he’s expressly telling them he’s not “supposed to”?

If my job was to follow the president around and write down what he says, and he told me he’s not supposed to take questions, I would ask why not. Wouldn’t you?

Just kidding. Biden is a Democrat. That sort of self-righteously aggrieved hectoring is reserved for Republicans in power.

In Joe’s defense, he’s a busy guy with a lot going on right now. Just look at how he was able to multitask as he paid his respects to the 13 Marines who died because of his incompetence:

Nicholas Fondacaro @NickFondacaro
It’s true. Joe Biden checked his watch during the dignified transfer of the servicemembers killing in Afghanistan at the airport. You can see him jerk his left hand to pull the watch out from under his sleeve, then look down at it.

ENVIRONMENT AND JUNK SCIENCE Comments turned off

Hurricane Ida’s Climate Resilience Lesson Spending to protect against extreme weather beats green boondoggles.

Posted By on August 31st, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hurricane-ida-climate-resilience-lesson-new-orleans-louisiana-11630358067?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

“Government can’t command the tides, but it can protect people from them.”

The pictures of Hurricane Ida’s wreckage across Louisiana are grim, and the storm isn’t over. But the good news is that New Orleans appears to have weathered the tempest as well as could be expected thanks to its post-Katrina flood-protection investments. This is a reminder of how hardening infrastructure against unpredictable Mother Nature pays off.

Ida slammed into Louisiana’s Port Fourchon on Sunday as a Category 4 storm with wind speeds of 150 miles an hour and one to two inches of rain an hour. Its winds tie it as the fifth strongest storm to hit the U.S. mainland. Such heavy winds and precipitation will inevitably cause flooding and damage buildings.

But the bigger worry going into Ida was that a catastrophic storm surge would breach New Orleans’s levees and submerge the city as happened 16 years ago to the day during Hurricane Katrina. Clocking in as a lower-grade Category 3 storm when it made landfall, Katrina killed some 2,000 people and caused an estimated $125 billion in damage. New Orleans took years to recover.

Yet Louisiana and the feds have since spent $14.5 billion on bolstering flood walls, levees and drainage systems. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reinforced pumping stations to withstand 205 mile-per-hour winds and established redundant power systems to operate them if the electric grid fails, as it did Sunday.

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Last Flight From Kabul A day that will live in infamy as thousands are left behind.

Posted By on August 31st, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/last-flight-from-kabul-afghanistan-joe-biden-antony-blinken-11630361902?mod=opinion_lead_pos3

The last American troops left Kabul on Monday—before the Aug. 31 deadline as the Taliban and President Biden had insisted—ending a 20-year conflict but also diminishing the hope of escape for tens of thousands of Afghan interpreters and others who helped America. The frantic evacuation flights managed to get many out, but this was a shameful day in American history, no matter how much the White House wants to spin it otherwise.

Aug. 31 was the arbitrary deadline Mr. Biden set when he thought he would be able to boast on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 that he had ended a “forever war.” He refused to extend the date despite pleas from NATO allies and knowing the date was too soon to evacuate the deserving. Mr. Biden nonetheless told Americans that he would evacuate all Americans who wanted to leave.

His deadline meant that the evacuation failed as much as his withdrawal strategy did. An unknown number of Americans—perhaps a few hundred—weren’t able to leave on the last flights. Nonprofit groups estimate that as many as 60,000 Afghans who fought or assisted the NATO mission were left behind.

Many are in hiding amid reports that special Taliban squads are searching for the names on lists they may have acquired in the willy-nilly U.S. withdrawal. Many will be tortured and killed, and their families too.

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Notable & Quotable: Jim Webb on Kabul ‘We should look at the calamitous blunderings in Afghanistan as an opportunity to demand a true turning point.’

Posted By on August 31st, 2021

https://www.wsj.com/articles/jim-webb-afghanistan-withdrawal-debacle-american-founding-constitution-accountability-11630357157?st=wcdqzs63qmahfv6&reflink=article_email_share

Former Sen. Jim Webb (D., Va.) writing for the National Interest, Aug. 29:

In a perverse way, perhaps we should look at the calamitous blunderings in Afghanistan as an opportunity to demand a true turning point. Americans know that a great deal of our governmental process is now either institutionally corrupt or calcified. . . .

Even the very best among those who come forward to serve often find that the good they came to do is stultified by distracting debates over the very premise of why the American system of government was created and whether the icons of our past were truly motivated by the words incorporated in our most revered documents. The military itself is increasingly being used by leftist activists as a social laboratory to advance extreme political agendas. Congressional oversight leans heavily toward social issues, with too many members struggling without success to focus on accountability at the very top when, for instance, good people at the bottom have to implement poorly conceived plans that might kill them.

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Did Biden fall asleep during meeting with Bennett? Social media storm erupts after video is posted on Twitter of the US president seemingly taking a snooze during remarks made by the Israeli prime minister.

Posted By on August 30th, 2021

https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/08/29/did-biden-fall-asleep-during-meeting-with-bennett/

Video posted on social media Saturday, which showed United States President Joe Biden seemingly falls asleep during a meeting with Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, had users speculate whether that was indeed the case.

Footage was posted on Twitter by Knesset member for Likud Galit Distal Atbaryan. “For some reason, the Israeli media itself fell asleep and did not notice this historical moment,” she wrote. “I thought that you should know about this. The man fell asleep and simply does not care.”

ISRAEL, WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Amb. Dore Gold The U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan: Will International Terrorism Now Be Empowered or Defeated?

Posted By on August 30th, 2021

https://jcpa.org/article/the-u-s-withdrawal-from-afghanistan-will-international-terrorism-now-be-empowered-or-defeated/

Defending his withdrawal decision, President Joe Biden claimed that al-Qaeda was “gone” from Afghanistan. Yet at the same time, the American and British security establishments spoke of al-Qaeda’s continued presence in the country.
A UN report to the Security Council, submitted in June 2021, stated that “despite expectations for a reduction in violence, 2020 (the year of the U.S.-Taliban agreement on withdrawal) emerged as the most violent year ever recorded by the United Nations in Afghanistan.”
A common Western assumption is the hope that withdrawal would reduce the hostility of the Taliban and their allies. But this is a misinterpretation of what motivated jihadist groups. In the Middle East, withdrawals strengthen their motivation.
The Israeli experience was identical: when Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza, Hamas won the Palestinian elections and took over Gaza from Fatah. Rocket attacks on Israel, after the Gaza withdrawal, increased by 500%.
To defeat the jihadist forces it was necessary to accompany withdrawal with actions that left no doubt that what happened was a defeat for them.
But it does not seem that President Biden will pursue such a strategy, leaving the West with an empowered al-Qaeda to fight against in the years ahead.

In a stunning statement last Friday in which he defended his withdrawal decision, President Joe Biden claimed that al-Qaeda was “gone” from Afghanistan. In other words, since the U.S. had set the goal of preventing Afghanistan from again becoming a platform for al-Qaeda to strike at the U.S. and this goal had been reached, it was reasoned, then, that all American forces could be safely withdrawn. The glaring problem was that Biden did not have the backing of the American security establishment.

An hour after Biden spoke, the Defense Department Press Secretary, John Kirby, stated, “We know al-Qaeda is a presence in Afghanistan.” A Defense Department report to Congress issued on August 17 plainly stated, “The Taliban continued to maintain its relationship with al-Qaeda, providing safe haven for the terrorist group in Afghanistan.” Roughly, at the same time, the Taliban released 5,000 prisoners from Bagram air base, which included al-Qaeda and ISIS operatives. In short, the Taliban and al-Qaeda were tightly linked.

ISRAEL Comments turned off

The Failed State of Lebanon to Combat ‘Normalization’ with Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh

Posted By on August 30th, 2021

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/17693/lebanon-normalization-israel

“Normalization” with Israel is not what is plaguing Lebanon. The Lebanese who are dying for lack of medication could not care less about “normalization” with Israel.

“Unfortunately, they sentenced me to 10 years in prison, but they sentenced the Lebanese people to life in poverty and humiliation. The military court in Lebanon did not give me any opportunity to defend myself. The court did not inform my lawyer in Beirut even of the trial date. It did not inform me personally of anything. The least that should have been done was to inform me of the date of the trial so I could defend myself.” — Dr. Jamal Rifi, sentenced to 10 years in prison for treating Israeli Arabs at the request of the Palestinian Authority, arabsaustralia.com, August 24, 2021

The case of Dr. Rifi is yet another example of the blind hatred in Lebanon and other Arab countries towards Israel. These countries are so blinded by their hate for Israel (and Jews) that they are even prepared to punish a physician who helped Palestinians living in Jerusalem. It can be fairly said of these Arabs that they are willing to fight Israel to the last Palestinian.

There is a further ironic twist to this fiasco. While most Arab countries are turning a blind eye to the deepening crisis in Lebanon, there is one country that appears ready to help the Lebanese people: Israel.

One day after the court verdicts were issued against Dr. Rifi and the other two Lebanese, Moshe Arbel, a member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) called on Minister of Health Nitzan Horowitz to provide the Lebanese health system with emergency humanitarian assistance in light of the public health crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the political and economic crisis in Lebanon.

It is no wonder that Lebanon — which is dominated by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorist militia — has become a failed state and is on the brink of collapse. A country that prioritizes fighting “normalization” with Israel over rescuing its own people from disaster will never be able to recover from its chronic illness of bigotry and hate.

The financial and economic crisis in Lebanon is dragging the country towards mayhem at a quickening pace, according to various reports. Lebanon is running out of critical medicines and is witnessing fuel shortages. The economic collapse has stripped the national currency of most of its value and left four out of five Lebanese citizens below the poverty line.

The World Bank has described the crisis as among the worst in over a century.

The crisis, however, has not stopped the Lebanese authorities from again displaying their hostility towards Israel. Instead of devoting its energies to solving the economic crisis and end the suffering of its people — not even to distract their people from problems they are clueless how to fix — the failed Lebanese government is busy combating “normalization” with Israel.

WORLD NEWS Comments turned off

Radical Islam and the clash of civilizations By Abraham H. Miller

Posted By on August 30th, 2021

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2021/08/radical_islam_and_the_clash_of_civilizations.html

The Biden administration will go to great lengths to downplay the significance of the debacle in Afghanistan. But no amount of wishful thinking or meaningless creations like over-the-horizon capabilities will deny the reality that the loss of Afghanistan has implications for the conflict with radical Islam far beyond Afghanistan’s geographic borders.

Culture is the primary context in which statecraft takes place. It is a concept that runs through the works of the late Professor Adda Bozeman, who understood that diplomats often talk past each other because the culture and linguistic context in which they operate mean different things.

To properly understand the meaning of the current catastrophe, it is necessary to ask the most fundamental question, which is not how is this playing in Peoria, but how is this playing in throughout the Islamic world? The Biden administration can spin the collapse of Afghanistan endlessly, but no amount of press conferences will change the perception within Islam of America’s defeat.

We in the West believe in the triumph of an ineluctable future that will be a vast improvement over the past. When our progress toward that future is limited or regressive, we become impatient. In non-western societies, however, it is not the future that is looked toward, but a golden past that needs to be resurrected.

Since centuries have elapsed without that resurrection, time is perceived differently. The rebirth of a golden past is inevitable. All that is required is to have faith and patience. Twenty years might seem like an endless war to Americans, but to Muslims it is a grain of sand in the measure of time. If the Taliban had to resist another twenty years, if they had to sacrifice another generation to be rid of the infidels on their land, they would have done so.

For Islam, the choices are not the ones the Biden administration has articulated, a choice between leaving and a war without end. The choice is between resurrecting the golden age of Islam or ceding victory to the infidel. It is not a choice.

MY SAY: Comments turned off

MY SAY: REP. BRYAN MAST (R-FL DISTRICT 18) A GREAT AMERICAN

Posted By on August 30th, 2021

Brian Jeffery Mast (R-FL-District 18)

Before entering politics Rep. Mast served in the U.S. Army for more than 12 years, earning The Bronze Star Medal, The Army Commendation Medal for Valor, The Purple Heart Medal, and The Defense Meritorious Service Medal. While deployed in Afghanistan, he worked as a bomb disposal expert under the  Joint Special Operations Command. The last improvised explosive device that he found resulted in the loss of both of his legs.

After his recovery Brian subsequently received a degree from Harvard University and volunteered to serve alongside the Israel Defense Forces to show support for the freedom Israel represents throughout the Middle East and the world.

Yesterday on Fox News, Maria Bartiromo referred to his injuries.

His response-the finest example of American exceptionalism, courage, and patriotism.

“Oh that’s just a scratch compared to the sacrifice of others.” rsk

NATIONAL NEWS & OPINION Comments turned off

After Afghanistan, U.S. Still Doesn’t Know Shiite From Shinola As our skittish media hounds and politicians gnash their teeth over Afghanistan, less hysterical countries are acting calmly in their national interest. By Ilana Mercer

Posted By on August 30th, 2021

https://amgreatness.com/2021/08/29/after-afghanistan-u-s-still-doesnt-know-shiite-from-shinola/

With the American media as master of ceremonies, our pundits and politicians—all partners in the neocon-neoliberal joint venture in Afghanistan—are barking mad over the images coming out of the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, and the reality these optics portend.

Naturally, media “reporting” from Afghanistan is nothing but an unremitting sentimental gush, aimed at creating a state of heightened emotions. 

The children, the children! The translators, the translators! Americans held hostage behind enemy lines! exclaimed every “macho” personality at Fox News. The same litany runs on a continuous loop. 

Forbes reporters dissolved into puddles of tears at the sight of U.S. Air Force pilots bringing in planeloads of young, strong, military-aged men, unfreighted by women and children. 

On August 20, about 5,700 people had been flown out of Kabul. Only 169 were American. “Make no mistake,” slobbered Forbes, “lifting six times more people than an aircraft is designed to seat is a heroic achievement of logistics, skill, and sheer grit.” 

I see a medal of commendation in the future of the Empire’s pilot, who commandeered a U.S. Air Force C-17 to airlift 800 Afghan passengers from Kabul to Qatar. 

War: The Health of the State—And the Statists 

So, who exactly are those “trapped” Americans living in Afghanistan? 

What are they doing in such inhospitable climes, in a country most of whose inhabitants hated the American presence? And what is their business in Afghanistan? The incurious moron media have never asked. 

My guess is that U.S. citizens in Afghanistan have hitherto lived within Army-erected green zones, paid for by American taxpayers.