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The Biden Legacy in One Photo
President Joe Biden just concluded his Thursday press conference on the deadly suicide bombing in Kabul. With 12 Marines and more than 90 Afghans confirmed dead, the mood should have been somber. This was beyond somber; it was funereal.
Biden quietly mumbled his way through the speech at a glacial pace, expressing sadness at the deaths. The words promised vengeance but his tone was complete resignation. The loudest moments were the repeated clearing of his throat. An exhausted 78-year-old incapable of performing his duties and failing miserably when he tries.
To his credit, the President actually took questions from three handpicked journalists then two others. During the last question, he bowed his head on his hands for several seconds in silence. He briefly finished his remarks and wandered off the dais peppered by shouted questions left unanswered.
This is the state of American leadership at all levels in Washington. Complete and utter defeat.
Something has to give. Soon, one way or the other, it will.
Published in Foreign Policy, Islamist Terrorism, Military, Politics
But giving credit… he said words and stood up straight!
So no.
No.
You blamed Trump for something that was not his fault and demanded his second impeachment.
And you stand by that.
Refresh my memory, folks. In August of 2013 were Ricochetti still sniping at each other, blaming the election of Barack Obama on Republicans who had criticized John McCain, even if they had voted for him? Were we doing this to Romney critics in August of 2017? Is this really what you want, that once the GOP has chosen a presidential candidate everyone has to be uncritically supportive no matter what? I just wonder if the 2016 nominee had been Jeb Bush or John Kasich, would all of Ricochet have cheered and refrained for voicing any criticism? If you guys want a site where only positive things are said about Republicans, I suspect the party has a web site that does that.
Almost
How quickly they forget. Orange Man Bad!
I can’t decide if I’m more angry or embarrassed right now. Or sick.
I was watching live. When I saw him do that, I was just stunned. This is not the same Biden from say as VP and before. This man is not all there.
He’s always been pretty weak in the head, and he’s been weak in the body too for at least a few years. It wasn’t as noticeable before because he wasn’t so much in the forefront, and in the past the media was able to cover for him better too.
Well, he’s always been a dunce, but he was quick with the words and connected with the audience. He was not withdrawn and stumbling, and he never put himself into a physically disconcerting position like that in the picture.
Sorry to jump late into the fray, but I think your criticism of Jon is unfair. It seems from memory that Jon was a Trump skeptic during the run up to the 2020 election and thereafter grew to be something of a Trump supporter while still occasionally expressing concerns along the way. Maybe he supported impeachment, I don’t know? Are we excommunicating everyone who ever held a view we disagree with? I hope not because that would be pretty stupid. I think supporting impeachment (either of them) was a foolish position for anyone to take. If Jon supported impeachment, I disagree. But so what? What good does it do to beat him up about it now?
I don’t know how it can be productive to beat a Trump voter about the head over an opinion he expressed that you don’t like. Good grief, this is not Bill Kristol we’re talking about here. This isn’t the crazy crew over at The Bulwark or The Dispatch or wherever the grifters hang out these days. This is not some NeverTrump grifter shamelessly calling himself a Republican while endorsing every possible Democrat. It would be nice if we could stop lining our own people up against the wall and take a moment to mourn together the diminished position to which our nation has fallen and level our criticism where it belongs…the hacks in the Biden administration, including old Joe himself, who brought us here. In the meantime, #Trump2024, if we still have a nation under the Constitution by that time.
I’d advocate for the removal of the US Defense Secretary, the removal of the Joint Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, at least the Censure of President Biden. The Damage is significant in multiple ways aside from the acute debacle.
I remember exactly where I was and what was going on when I first learned about 9/11. When I saw, I immediately thought of the 1993 bombing of the twin towers and Al-Qaeda and OBL. My roommate at the time actually dropped out of school and joined the Marines to go fight in Afghanistan to help bring about an appropriate response and some justice. I recall the spirit of the times and even when Richard Gere was openly booed by a NY crowd for making soft comments. It was inconceivable that it would end like this. Begging for Taliban assistance for protection and groveling for permission while setting up to abandon Americans and allies. Buying our surrendered fuel back from the Taliban to fly aircraft out of Kabul. Surplus standby passengers falling off the aircraft taking off, etc…
I suppose one could say it’s in line with what the modern Progressive Left brought about with ISIS in Iraq, Benghazi, the dreadful Iran catering, inviting Russia in the Ukraine, and the blaming of America for all ills in the word… however this is still shocking and upsetting to me.
I watched some of the Fox News coverage leading up to the speech, but I didn’t see the speech itself. One of the people Fox interviewed said that the tragedy was that if we had kept or simply reopened Bagram, we could have moved the entire rescue operation to that base. It was perfect for what was needed–it could even accommodate the private planes that were coming to help. It was far better protected and fortified.
Did anyone ask Biden why he ordered the military to just walk away and leave that base and its $85 billion of military equipment for the Taliban?
I just can’t get this out of my head. I can’t imagine why he would do such a thing or why our military leaders didn’t laugh at him and say, “Forget it, Mr. President. That’s a ridiculous thing to do.”
Seems to be what happens when people start thinking that electing Democrats won’t really hurt anything.
Yes it is. Not the same in the “step in the same stream twice” sense, but this is yes, the very same man. Pundits have been calling him “Slow Joe” for literally decades because he hasn’t been all there for literally decades. He just fools some people.
Always has.
I checked out of that argument four years ago — with a little help from my friends. Did you mean Trump critics in 2017? Time flies, I get it.
What difference, at this point, does it make?
Agreed. Heaven and Paris know that I have had my differences with various folks around here, but this place is better than just about any other (a few come to mind, but those serve different purposes), and has in fact gotten much better since 2016 — and so have I (he said humbly). I know I have missed a lot.
[Edit: Here’s me having a go at Bill Kristol on his third-party nonsense in 2016 https://ricochet.com/333363/archives/kristol-springs/ ]
My opinion — your mileage may vary — if you still think votes matter, you slept through about three months that matter. Hope you have that on Tivo.
The “base” pretty dutifully followed the “establishment” in those cases; the difference is that when the “base” decided they wanted Trump, the “establishment” didn’t reciprocate.
Among other issues, I think there’s a difference between criticizing certain decisions – the idea of nominating Harriet Miers to SCOTUS for example – versus saying someone is “loathsome” etc.
Really? Did you notice what many of them said/wrote about Trump?
I watched the interview replay – it was quite a bump to watch Biden put his head in his hands like that on the podium. It was odd.
As for the rest of it, the justification for the action, the simultaneous “it was my call” kind of thing and the “it’s on Trump, he had the same plan” kind of thing, is flatly embarrassing. It’s not a question of the whether or not there was a plan to get the troops out, it’s how it was done, and how it’s being done.
By the CiC. He owns those lives, just as if he had sent them in harm’s way himself. It could have been completely different, without what amounts to a hostage situation for thousands of people, and showing to the world of the people who hate America that yes, the giant can be quite easily knocked down, and he won’t get back up again and crush you.
Maybe he put his head in his hands when it actually became clear to him that all of this is on him…. This isn’t something he can blame on Trump, or the Afghanis, or the R’s in congress. This is ALL HIM
And for what it’s worth, the last thing Jon was doing by mentioning Biden actually took questions was praising him. Some of the Trump fanboys need to lighten up…..every single thing isn’t about your idol.
If Biden gets the 3 AM phone call, I wonder if they can even wake him . . .
Or at this point if they’d even bother.
Just my opinion, but I haven’t been happy about Trump’s plans for Afghanistan either. He and Biden both suffer from Bush Derangement Syndrome (BDS), and neither could see that we had succeeded in Afghanistan. Both of them have been complaining about Afghanistan for fifteen years at least, and this year, they were “finally going to get us out” because they could say “it’s been twenty years.”
I say that as someone who has admired just about everything else Trump has done. But I think he has had a blind spot when it comes to Afghanistan, and I’ve been frustrated by it. And I imagine this was at the heart of the conflict with John Bolton too. I’ll bet Bolton was a Reluctant Trumper, and then an Enthusiastic Trumper, which is why Bolton joined the Trump administration in the second or third year. But then they must have collided on the subject of Afghanistan, and Bolton became a Never Trumper overnight. I wouldn’t let my profound disagreement with Trump affect my overall opinion of him as president the way Bolton did, but I think I understand it.
The tragedy here is that after twenty years of the presence of the most advanced military in the world–those billions of day-to-day interactions between the Afghans and our outstanding, generous, kind, intelligent, funny young people–half the country had become very western. Our military “ambassadors” really did win over hearts and minds.
For centuries Afghanistan was the bar room and overnight inn that sat in the middle of a barren mountainous location that everyone had to go through to get somewhere else. The country was already far more sophisticated than its location would suggest it should or could be. It was a protectorate of Britain as recently as 1919. It was ready to advance technologically and socially, and today it is nowhere near as backward as it was twenty years ago. Our military presence and work did release many thousands of young people from the domination of the Taliban.
As is true of Iran, the real problem is the conflict between the westernized young people and the fundamentalist Muslim old people. We have seen this phenomenon in Egypt, Iran–in fact, hundreds of other once-backward countries where people and technology from western nations have moved in. We may not have built nations, but we definitely built cultures.
The people being killed this week in Afghanistan because they were ever friendly to Americans really are our friends. They have iPods and hopes and dreams, Disney+ on their tablets, and contacts all over the world.
The young people in our military are the best of us. Of course they are angry about what is happening to the Afghans they have come to know over the last twenty years. We need to respect that, be grateful for it, be proud of them, and listen to them.
I’ll leave my thoughts and ask a question:
I believe out of all the Democrats running for president, “they” (not sure who they are but I believe this is who is running our country) wanted him because of control. They kept him in the basement, out of the spotlight, away from cameras and questions during the campaign. First red flag. When he was “out”, he seemed confused, easily put off, gave short, canned answers. There was never confidence or strength shown – just conviction of him being the ‘right person for the job’. Second red flag. Any other candidate would have been better than this (well maybe not Cory Booker…..).
The extreme radical policies that we’ve seen rapidly unfold, social norms, censorship, school policies, a stand down military for racial screening – this is all bizarre and not America. I have never felt less confident in our safety, security, and standing on the world stage than now. I don’t think whoever is in charge (and it’s not Biden) has our country’s well being in mind.
So who are “they”, and what can be done to get America back up on its feet?
Well, . . . not to join the pile-on, but Bill Kristol gets space on Ricochet. So does Jonah. So . . . the grifters hang out HERE, too. A management decision I would probably overturn where Kristol is concerned.
I’m not sure if it’s fair to say that that he fools some people. Pundits have fooled some people on Slow Joe’s behalf. (Including the execrable Kristol.) But if those people ever actually used their own critical thinking skills in evaluating Slow Joe’s performance, they wouldn’t be fooled. Too many people rely on the TV to tell them what to think.
Heh. Yeah, but . . . he’s a nasty, racist, corrupt human being who finally got the position he always wanted though stealing an election. But some cosmic karma has cursed him with an addled mind combined with a moment in history that will forever be his legacy. So he can’t even enjoy his stolen election.
It’s like a Greek tragedy. And this is only the first act.
Also – to Marci comment #53, I think Trump saw the no win in the Middle East. He supported Israel, but met with other leaders in the area to find common ground. Trump’s plan as he has stated was to draw down, based on conditions that the Taliban had to meet, first civilians, then hardware, then military in an organized fashion. We learn that we were paying the Afghans to fight. Lots of money. They were letting us keep the peace, but the current president gave no conditions and a date. The first sign of trouble, the Afghan president flees.
So in 20 years, the thugs bided their time and were ready to go. Radical Islam is patient. So now what was accomplished. I think Trump saw the writing, but wanted to leave a small keep the peace force and make sure all were out safely. I think he wanted the other Middle Eastern countries to address the radicals among them. It’s going to get uglier – and could be a step to WWIII – God forbid.
I don’t know. But I never saw him respond so slow and put himself into a fetal position like that. He used to have quick responses, perhaps too quick and his mouth would say stuff he didn’t mean to. Go back to that video where he was essentially bribing the Ukraines and giving them one hour. See how quick off the cuff retorts they were. No, there is something different about him. It may not be dementia as I’ve been saying. It may be something like Parkinson’s.
Trump also likes to talk and then shift gears. He’s always angling for a better negotiating position. It might even be likely he would not have pulled out. He set the pull out date after the election so he would not get beat up during the election. He had four years to pull out and didn’t. I lean to the likelihood that Trump would never have pulled out.
If you are referring to me – and I think you are. I’m not going to lighten up. Especially not after reading that insipid comment.
Trump is not my idol. I care about this country, and he happened to be a much greater President than Biden is and he was just President for the last four years, so there will always be references to him in American history. Every defense of Trump is not ‘fanboy’ behavior.
And no, we aren’t over it. It’s not going away. Too bad for people like you and Jon, who want to move on and forget and settle into your new role as an American serf.
I didn’t say Jon was “praising “ Biden. I questioned how pundits on our side are ever so gracious giving “credit” for the most basic of things. I searched for sarcasm, and found none.
No. This is annoying and too many do this kind of thing. It’s not as though Jon is unable to express himself bluntly or forcefully, excoriating his enemies on these pages.
And lighten up? Did you read his essay on January 6th ? Still no retraction or apology.
Lighten up! I just got started.