Tag: Afghanistan

Ricochet Editor-in-Chief Jon Gabriel is in for Jim on this Good Friday edition of the podcast. Join Jon and Greg as they cheer Ron DeSantis for calling out GOP leaders over many years for making conservative promises to voters and then failing to follow through on them. They also unload on White House spokesman John Kirby for trying to blame President Trump for the Afghanistan withdrawal debacle and for claiming he didn’t see any chaos during the withdrawal operation. Finally, they react to the expulsion of two Democrats in the Tennessee legislature for leading an extended disruption on the floor of the chamber earlier this week and they address the dubious explanations from Democrats about what really happened.

You might need something stronger than a martini as Jim and Greg dig into three big stories today. First, they respond to the congressional testimony of former CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, who said our top officials knew from the start that COVID likely came from a lab leak and then knowingly pushed a false narrative that the virus naturally occurred. And the maddening truth doesn’t stop there. Then they tackle the gut-wrenching testimony of a U.S. Marine Corps sniper stationed at Abbey Gate on the day of the terrorist attack during the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews says he and others had the bomber spotted and were ready to take him out but they never had permission to fire. And his frustration grew even more when no one in our government wanted to hear his story. Finally, Jim dissects California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s condemnation of Walgreen’s for refusing to sell abortion-inducing drugs in states where the retailer might get sued. Jim explains how Newsom frequently ignores the most basic responsibilities of governing and how he tries to distract his constituents from his terrible record.

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul’s vow to get answers on the Biden administration’s debacle in Afghanistan. McCaul says the administration has been stonewalling on providing documents on how U.S. intelligence was so wrong on the advance of the Taliban, the deadly attack on U.S. service members outside the Kabul airport, and much more. They also shudder as a new report shows the U.S. is dangerously deficient in producing new weapons to replace the many munitions we’re sending over to Ukraine. In other words, if the U.S. got involved in sustained military action, we could run out of key weapons in less than a week. Finally, they shake their heads as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s solution to the wave of street vendor robberies is to tell them not to conduct business in cash.

It’s media day in our year-end Three Martini Lunch awards and Jim and Greg have plenty to say about how things were covered – if they were covered at all.  Specifically, they look at the stories the mainstream media covered far too much, the ones they conveniently ignored because they didn’t fit their narrative, and they highlight what they saw as the best stories of 2022.

Join Jim and Greg as they serve up three crazy martinis today! First, they dig into the curious case of the GOP congressman-elect who calls himself George Santos, after the New York Times discovered that multiple parts of his personal story appear to be fabricated. And all Santos can offer in reply is the pathetic claim that it’s all a political attack. They also shudder as the Taliban bans women from attending university in Afghanistan and all the U.S. can say in response is that this might damage the Taliban’s standing in the international community.  Finally, they react to Stanford University’s “Elimination of Harmful Language Initiative,” which wants to end our use of words like American, ladies, guys, and many more words and phrases constantly used without any ill intent.

Join Jim and Greg as they continue their week of special podcasts. Today, they take a grim look back at August 2021 and the disgraceful, chaotic, and deadly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. They walk through the Biden administration’s missteps before, during, and after the Taliban took control of Kabul. They also recognize the heroism of U.S. veterans who refused to leave their Afghan friends to the brutality of the Taliban and worked feverishly to get them out of the country. And they examine the ways that America’s perceived weakness around the world has impacted events throughout the world.

Member Post

 

Make no mistake. Ayman al-Zawahiri was evil, the Al Qaeda mastermind involved in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the USS Cole, and embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. News of his demise, no matter the cause, is welcome. Everyone who implemented or was behind the decision to take him out should be thanked […]

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Join Jim and Greg as they cheer the CIA drone killing of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Afghanistan and recount the horrors he helped to inflict over the years. But they also wonder just how much Al Qaeda has reconstituted in Afghanistan. They also note the signs of a fraying relationship between the U.S. and Ukraine and whether the Biden administration is looking to end the war while Zelensky refuses. And they shake their heads as Trump endorses “ERIC” in the Missouri Senate race, since Eric Greitens is a scandal-ridden cancer on the GOP who could easily lose the general election and Eric Schmitt is a strong conservative who would win easily in November.

Back in January, more than a month before Russia invaded Ukraine, former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman joined the 3 Martini Lunch to explain why he thought Russia and Iran were the most immediate threats to American national security in 2022.

In addition to expecting Putin to invade at that time, Lieberman details the Iran threat and explains why China is less of an immediate danger to national security but is probably our greatest long-term problem. And he takes us inside partisan groupthink that is on full display in Washington.

Member Post

 

This article is thoughtfully written by Hank Black who lost a son in Niger in 2017.  He terms it “Niger Syndrome.”  I agree with him.  We’ve totally lost the bubble on what the military is to do and the value of our own while doing very thing we’ve asked of them.  CRT and climate change […]

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Ash Wednesday: A Day of Converging Realities

 

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday. Seems appropriate, although I can’t tell you why …not exactly.

Today, after tying up a few loose ends, I rolled off the Afghanistan evacuation team I’ve been a part of since September. My work was done, even though the work of the team is not. There wasn’t anything more I could do to help.

I’m really sad. There are still so many families waiting to be rescued.

Emails from Strangers

 

I get emails from strangers.

No, not the junk mail we all get. I swear I will never contribute to another campaign. Once you’re on one list, something happens, like rabbits multiplying, and suddenly you’re on everyone’s list. Even from members of the California ruling elite, none of whom I would ever vote for, listen to, or consider helping fix their flat tire if I were to recognize one of them standing on the side of the road, their arms folded, a stern face standing as if expecting that one of their imaginary minions would of course immediately stop to assist his or her or they highness out of their predicament.

No, not those kinds of emails. These emails are from Abdul or Zahra or Naseem. They too would like my help, but they’re not asking me to make an online donation, or to vote for them in the upcoming election.

Join Jim and Greg as they serve up three bad martinis to close out the week. And two of them come from President Biden’s interview with NBC News. First, they react to Biden calling Lester Holt a “wise guy” for asking the president to explain why he said inflation would be temporary. They also cringe as Biden essentially calls his military leaders liars for suggesting he was caught flat-footed by the unravelling of Afghanistan. And they shudder as the prosecutor’s office in Loudoun County, Virginia, hires a convicted sex offender without doing a background check.

Join Jim and Greg as they share three martinis with former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who was also the vice presidential nominee for the Democrats in the 2000 presidential campaign. They discuss why Lieberman sees Russia and Iran as the biggest immediate threats to U.S. national security and his blunt assessments of how the Biden administration handled the withdrawal from Afghanistan and how it is approaching Iran . They also discuss why communist China is not as high among imminent threats on Lieberman’s list. And Lieberman offers his reaction to Senators Manchin and Sinema standing up against the rest of their party on the filibuster and describes what it was like for him to stand alone on the Iraq War, opposing a public option on Obamacare and more.

It’s media day in our year-end Three Martini Lunch awards and Jim and Greg have plenty to say about how things were covered – if they were covered at all.  Specifically, they look at the stories the mainstream media covered far too much, the ones they conveniently ignored because they didn’t fit their narrative, and they highlight what they saw as the best stories of 2021.

 

Jim and Greg are back for the third round of their prestigious Three Martini Lunch Awards. Today, they discuss the worst scandals of 2021, with Jim choosing an international mess of epic proportions and Greg opting for a national security crisis much closer to home. Then, they reveal their choices for the best and worst political theater of 2021.

 

Join Jim and Greg as they welcome research from a left-leaning firm showing that a growing number of Latino voters are very concerned that Democrats are embracing socialism and other far-left positions – and it is translating into more Latino support for Republicans. They also sigh as President Biden yet again claims there was no better way to withdraw from Afghanistan. And Jim is briefly left speechless as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says the Congressional Budget Office score of the latest massive spending bill is “fake.”

 

Hang on … I’m on a Call

 

I hadn’t remembered the date of the Ricochet post before I logged in today. It was September 11th. Kind of perfect.

The post was entitled “Waiting for a Call.” Two weeks later, the phone rang. Yes, maybe a little melodramatic. I’m feeling melodramatic lately.

But on September 11th, I felt betrayed. I wasn’t alone. There were thousands of others just like me who love this country, and who have always taken deep comfort in the notion that we stood for something … for freedom, honor, and courage. And that we could trust that we, as a country, operated under a certain presumed code of honor.

On Thursday, Jim and Greg will welcome their first-ever guest into the 3 Martini Lunch. Don’t miss it! Today, join Jim and Greg as they welcome the news that President Biden is withdrawing his Marxist nominee to be Comptroller of the Currency. They also fume as the Biden Administration is more than a week late in issuing a report detailing who exactly got evacuated from Afghanistan and what the vetting process was like. And they pound the table as at least one school in the Los Angeles Unified School District allegedly vaccinated students and told them not to tell their parents.