Month: August 2021

Afghanistan Crisis May Harm Joe Biden’s Agenda In Congress, And His Public Opinion Support

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The Afghanistan Crisis over evacuations may harm Joe Biden’s Agenda in Congress.

After accomplishing so much in his first seven months in office, there are Democrats now who are alienated from Biden, on the issue of infrastructure, with moderates and progressives with different views on timing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure bill, which has gained Republican support, and the Human Infrastructure bill, with no Republican support.

The issue of Voting Rights legislation is also in trouble, as Arizona, Texas, Georgia, Florida, and other states are setting up voting barriers for future elections.

Afghanistan, and the way Joe Biden has dealt with it, has also made some Democrats highly critical of the failure of the Biden Administration to plan removal of Americans and Afghans who helped the war effort on a timely basis, rather than the total chaos and anarchy now occurring at Kabul Airport.

Joe Biden’s public opinion support on his Presidency and on Afghanistan policy has been high, but now there is danger of that support collapsing.

And there are Republicans and right wing talk show hosts who are calling for Joe Biden to resign, or that he should be impeached, although there is no chance of any success on impeachment or conviction, and clearly, no possibility of resignation.

But the situation in Afghanistan muddies the waters dramatically!

Republicans Are Responsible For Afghanistan, NOT Joe Biden Nor Barack Obama!

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Republicans are trying to make “Political Hay” on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, blaming Joe Biden and Barack Obama, but the evidence shows that it is THEIR party that is responsible for the debacle!

It was George W. Bush who authorized the invasion of Afghanistan, pushed by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.

It was Cheney and Rumsfeld who promoted taking attention off Afghanistan, by going to war with Iraq, which made the Afghanistan War a lost cause years ago.

It was Donald Trump, who made a deal with the Taliban to withdraw, and considered seriously inviting them to Camp David for a summit. This was the reason why National Security Adviser John Bolton was fired by Donald Trump in 2019!

It was constant Republican pressure in Congress, controlled in the House of Representatives in 2011 and after, and in the Senate after 2015, that prevented total withdrawal under Obama, although Joe Biden had been a clear dissenter on that issue.

It is now Republicans who are ready to abandon our Afghan allies, who helped US troops, as they promote Islamophobia, and have no concern about the danger to women and girls under Taliban rule.

One must realize that Republicans have been misogynists for a long time, and show little concern or regard for women’s rights!

Time For “Hard Ball” On Vaccinations And Masks In The Midst Of A Threat To Human Health And Safety!

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With the fall term of school beginning, and with many Republican state governors being willing to sacrifice children’s lives on their mantle of “libertarianism”, it is time for the federal government to play “hard ball” on the issue of vaccinations and masks!

The threat to human life and safety is alarming, and it is going to cause a new wave of massive death, as school boards defy dictatorial state governors who are only interested in scoring points on the US Government’s responsibility to insure that America can overcome this COVID-19 Pandemic!

This crazy concept of “freedom” to do whatever the hell you want, and no concern for anyone else, is the downfall of civilization, as we clearly have demagogues exploiting insecurities and stupidity of many Americans!

Any parent against masks is being an abusive parent, who refuses to believe science, when students must be given vaccinations for measles, mumps, rubella and small pox in order to attend public schools!

Already, many naysayers have gotten sick and died, and said before they passed away, that they wish they had used their common sense, rather than believe right wing talk hosts, and corrupt preachers, and Facebook!

Evil Fox News Channel Hosts Tucker Carlson And Laura Ingraham Promote Nativism Against Afghan Refugees!

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Evil Fox News Channel Talk Show hosts Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham are spreading fears about the move to save Afghan interpreters and other Afghans who worked for the United States during the Afghanistan War, and now face retribution from the Taliban monsters who have gained control of Afghanistan again.

They feel no loyalty to those who sacrificed their safety to help the US military, and they feel no compassion for the women and girls who face horrifying treatment from Taliban soldiers and the government, who want to destroy all the gains women have made in the past 20 years.

These two monsters have no compassion, no empathy, no sense of loyalty to those who made a difference to American soldiers for the past generation.

The concept that such despicable, disgraceful hatemongers are allowed access to influence nativism, racism, and Islamophobia, and be so well paid as they promote hate and division, is an example of freedom of speech gone amuck!

Republican Hypocrisy As Usual, Now On Afghanistan!

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Republicans in Congress are utilizing hypocrisy, as usual, now on Afghanistan.

Donald Trump signed an agreement in late 2020, insuring the end of US involvement by May 1, 2021.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Taliban leadership, and signed the agreement.

Donald Trump spoke as late as late June to a crowd, bragging about the fact that he had arranged for the end of US involvement in Afghanistan.

But now, both Trump and Pompeo, and innumerable others in the Republican Party, are accusing Joe Biden of betrayal.

In late June, 56 percent of Republicans in public opinion polls endorsed getting out of Afghanistan, along with about 70 percent of Democrats and Independents.

Trump signed the agreement to withdraw, and Biden followed up on it, with a delay until August-September 2021.

Biden had been against staying in Afghanistan, while Vice President under Barack Obama, so it is a long standing viewpoint.

This does not mean that Joe Biden is not to be criticized for lack of timely planning to assure the safety and ability of Afghans and their family members who worked with the US military forces, and women who had seen great strides, but wanted to leave, also to be able to flee.

But when Florida Senator Rick Scott, a true scumbag, says the 25th Amendment should be used to remove Biden, one is tempted to say where were you when Donald Trump was demonstrating corruption and incompetence? Why did you NOT vote to convict Donald Trump on impeachment charges as a threat to American democracy?

The issue of Afghanistan is being used simply as a political tool by the conservative right wing, when they could not care less about Afghans who helped us, and Afghan women.

In fact, the Republican Party has no concern for women’s rights, in Afghanistan, or in America!

Tragic First Year Foreign Policy Nothing New In American Presidency!

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The tragic events in Afghanistan continue a tradition that in most Presidencies, first year, there are events which affect the historic role of Presidents in American history.

We have the Bay of Pigs Fiasco (Cuba) in 1961 under President John F. Kennedy.

We have the conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam, and the sudden tragic exit from the embassy in Saigon in 1975 under President Gerald Ford.

We have the attack on the World Trade Center, and the tragic exit from terrorism in Somalia in 1993 under President Bill Clinton.

We have the September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon under President George W. Bush.

And now we have the horrifying situation in Kabul, Afghanistan going on under President Joe Biden, similar in many ways to the exit from Vietnam in 1975.

The Age Issue In American Politics Endangering Change—Dianne Feinstein, Stephen Breyer!

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A growing crisis in American government is the rapidly aging political class, with a larger number of members of Congress being past 80 years of age, and Supreme Court Associate Justice Stephen Breyer reaching the age of 83 today, August 15.

This is particularly notable with California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who is past 88 years of age, and is clearly demonstrating signs of dementia in many public situations.

Age discrimination is illegal, but once someone reaches past the age of 80, the danger of dementia and other medical issues multiplies, and the issue of Feinstein and of Breyer is alarming, even though so far Breyer shows no signs of decline.

But no government position with such responsibilities should be in the hands of an egotist who never knows when it is time to “pass the baton”, and clearly, Feinstein needs to resign, and Breyer needs to move in that direction before the midterm elections of 2022.

If Feinstein died in office, with the California gubernatorial recall election coming up in September, there is the danger that an extremist Republican hanger-on could end up becoming Governor, and then being able to pick a Republican to replace Feinstein, and making the US Senate switch to the Republican party.

And if Breyer died after an unfortunate majority of the Senate possibly returning to the Republican Party, no replacement would be likely, similar to the Merrick Garland situation and Barack Obama in 2016!

This is intolerable, and there needs to be an understanding that past age 80 or early 80s, it is time for public office holders to leave and allow someone else to replace them, as no one is indispensable, despite their egos!

Asians Most Rapidly Increasing Ethnic Group In America, Transforming American Society!

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The final US Census Bureau figures show the fastest growing ethnic group in America are people of Asian ancestry, transforming American society.

That population grew by more than one third since 2010, the final figure being 35.5 percent!

This includes mainland Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Hawaii.

20 million people identify as Asians, and another 4 million identify as Asian mixed with another racial group. And a half percent identify as Pacific Islander or Hawaiian, or in combination with another racial group.

So 7.2 percent of the total American population now is in this category.

The most prominent Asian groups in numbers are as follows: India, China, the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Native Hawaiian, Guam, and Samoa.

End Of Afghanistan War Becoming Horrific Human Tragedy!

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America has been engaged in Afghanistan since September 11, and the sacrifice of life and treasure has been a horror!

2,448 American military personnel have died, and 20,000 have been wounded.

About 241,000 Afghans have died, with 71,000 being civilians.

America has spent many billions of dollars on a war that has lasted longer than any war in American history!

But now, as America is withdrawing, the Taliban, who harbored Al Qaeda, leading to September 11, are rampaging as they take over most of Afghanistan in rapid order, and are ready to slaughter anyone who cooperated and worked with the US and NATO forces!

The progress of women in the past 20 years is about to end, and many women being slaughtered or forced back into subjugation, as women’s rights are destroyed!

We must do everything humanly possible to help those who worked for the US and NATO forces, and try to save whatever women can be taken out of Afghanistan, but clearly, there will be many tragic stories and victims!

This is a time of tears and mourning, but America cannot, endlessly, sacrifice to build a nation state in Afghanistan, which helped to bring about the downfall of the Soviet Union in the 1980s!

Major Accomplishment On Infrastructure Legislation: A Landmark Moment!

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Yesterday, August 11, saw the Bipartisan Physical Infrastructure legislation pass the Senate with 19 Republicans joining the 50 Democrats, with the votes by the Republicans ignoring Donald Trump’s anger that what he could not accomplish is being done now under Joe Biden!

And the more expansive proposed $3.5 trillion legislation for expansion of the social safety net, which has not been seen since the 1960s, was voted 50-49 in a “reconciliation” vote, straight party line Democratic votes only.

If both of these pieces of legislation go all the way to adoption after the Congress returns later in August and into mid September, it will be a landmark moment in American history!

Joe Biden is on the way to being the most progressive President since Lyndon B. Johnson, although Barack Obama made valiant efforts that fell short, due to Republican opposition.

With Biden having great congressional experience that Obama did not have, there is optimism that he will be able to overcome opposition that Obama was stymied by for his last six years, and “reconciliation” is, fortunately, the method that might bring about the more expansive infrastructure legislation.