Afghanistan

An Amazing Week For Joe Biden And Democrats!

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The past week has been an amazing time for Joe Biden and the Democrats!

Many are saying it is the best week of Joe Biden’s Presidency, and accomplished by “Reconciliation”, meaning just on a party line vote in the US Senate.

All Democrats were finally united, and Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie breaking vote against united Republican Party opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act, taking action on climate change, taxes, and health care.

While this is much less than the proposed “Build Back Better” proposals of a year ago, it is still seen as a major piece of legislation, and many observers have declared that, along with earlier legislation, it makes Joe Biden in many ways the most accomplished President on passage of major bills since Lyndon B. Johnson!

But also, in the past week, there was major job growth of more than a half million, double what was expected, and the job losses in the pandemic have now been totally wiped out!

The veterans health care legislation, to deal with exposure by millions of veterans to burn pits during their military service, finally was passed after a temporary reversal by many Republicans, but forced by criticism to reverse their negative votes.

Also, the successful elimination of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri by action of the Central Intelligence Agency in Afghanistan was a significant action, for which the President gains kudos.

Also, gas prices have dropped for six weeks, and more than a dollar over that period, so in many areas below $4 a gallon.

And finally, the decision of Kansas voters to insure abortion rights remain in their state constitution is a major victory that will have an effect on the fight to overcome the Supreme Court’s horrendous decision in Dobbs V Jackson Women’s Health Organization on June 24!

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.

Donald Trump Obsesses On An Election He Lost, And Endangers America On COVID 19 And National Security

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Donald Trump is wasting his last two plus months in office obsessing on an election he lost, undermining faith in American democracy at a time of America being endangered by the COVID 19 Pandemic, which he refuses to relate to, or care about the massive loss of life, now 250,000 men, women, and children after only 8 months.

Trump is also a danger to national security, with his reckless plan to attack Iran, and withdraw troops precipitously from Iraq and Afghanistan, undermining the fight against terrorism worldwide, and angering even many Republicans.

It has made this transition the most dangerous and tense since 1932-1933 (Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover), and 1860-1861 (Abraham Lincoln and James Buchanan).

Joe Biden faces a series of crises even greater than Barack Obama faced after his election in 2008.

Donald Trump Uses Independence Day To Promote A Culture War Rather Than Unite Us!

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President Donald Trump spent Independence Day promoting a culture war, rather than uniting us on our national patriotic holiday.

He demonstrated that promoting the retention of Confederate statues, monuments and symbols is more important than convincing Americans of the need to wear masks and promote public health and safety.

He applauds the law enforcement community and the military, while ignoring the horrible record of law enforcement toward racial minorities. He also claims that evidence of Russian payments to the Taliban in Afghanistan to kill American soldiers is a hoax, rather than stand up to Vladmir Putin as part of promoting national security and protection of Americans fighting overseas.

As with his Inaugural in 2017, Trump promotes darkness, pessimism, fear, conspiracy theories, and demonstrates his total lack of understanding of totalitarian leaders who undermine American democracy.

He does not even know what Fascism is, when he speaks about “left wing Fascism”, when any expert who is not a right wing extremist knows that Fascism refers to right wing totalitarianism, such as Benito Mussolini of Italy, Adolf Hitler of Germany, Juan Peron of Argentina, and Francisco Franco of Spain, among others. While all of them might at some point seemed to appeal to so called “Socialists”, all worked to undermine, persecute, and torture and kill those groups on the Left, all of which vehemently opposed them.

Donald Trump’s aim is only to divide and conquer, and to spread lies and deceit, including making his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton out to be a monster, a crook, an extremely corrupt and tainted person, much like he is now attempting to portray Joe Biden as the same. And the reason for this is that both Clinton and Biden are connected to Barack Obama, which brings out the total, maniacal, and racist hatred of Trump for his predecessor.

Half Of Nightmarish 2020 Completed, With Half To Occur: What Is Next?

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Half of the year 2020 is gone, and it has been an horrific six months:

The impeachment trail of Donald Trump, where his Republican Party refused to recognize the danger he presents, and his being in office since early February has been a series of disasters.

The outbreak of the Corona Virus Pandemic, with Trump not taking it seriously from Day One onward.

The economic collapse, which has caused the second Great Depression, but affecting a population three times larger, and no ending to be seen, with so much more desperation, homelessness, and hunger as the result.

The racial discord which has developed over the George Floyd murder by police in Minneapolis, and Trump inciting more racial animosity.

The refusal of Trump to protect Americans in combat, and labeling the bounty paid by the Russians to Taliban fighters to kill Americans in Afghanistan, as a hoax.

Five nightmares and four months to Election Day, 125 days from today, and then 78 days to Inauguration Day!

Will America survive intact over the next 203 days is the issue, extremely worrisome!

The health, safety, and lives of Americans is at stake!

The Insult Of Considering Inviting The Taliban Terrorists To Camp David Around The September 11 Commemoration Anniversary

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Just as the 18th anniversary of the September 11th attacks was about to be reached, Donald Trump decided he would invite the Taliban terrorist group which harbored Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda to peace negotiations at Camp David.

Camp David, where Dwight D. Eisenhower invited Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union.

Camp David, where Jimmy Carter invited Menachem Begin of Israel and Anwar Sadat of Egypt.

Inviting the Taliban, who have no intention of making peace, and only want to suppress women and deny music and other modern ideas of civilization, is an insult to all those who died on September 11.

Thankfully, after an American soldier was killed by the Taliban, Trump abruptly changed his plans, but it led to a breach with National Security Adviser John Bolton, leading to his either being fired or resigning.

No one is trying to defend Bolton, who is a serial hawk responsible to a great extent for the Iraq War, and wants to go to war with Iran and North Korea without any thought.

But on this issue of the Taliban, for once, John Bolton was correct, and what the President has done by even considering dealing with the Taliban, is an insult to the nearly 3,000 victims of September 11, and the 2,500 military who have died in Afghanistan since 2001, along with about 20,000 wounded!

The Growing Threat To Mike Pence On The 2020 Trump Ticket

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It has been fascinating to watch Vice President Mike Pence squirm and try to keep a poker face every time he is seen behind President Donald Trump.

It is clear to any perceptive observer that the Trump-Pence team is a “shot gun marriage” of convenience, with the evangelical right wing loving the overly puritanical Mike Pence and his wife Karen, who promote anti gay prejudice, and show no compassion or empathy toward those less fortunate. This fits perfectly with the Christian Right, which is only interested in making money and promoting hypocrisy, as they go after gay rights and women’s rights with a viciousness totally unlike the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Pence has kept his mouth shut and his thoughts to himself, as far as we can discern, but the news that Pence apparently sided with former National Security Adviser John Bolton, just fired, in his opposition to the crazy idea to invite the terrorist Taliban of Afghanistan, who harbored Al Qaeda before the September 11, 2001 attacks, to Camp David for a peace accord, is astounding.

So there is apparently a breach between the President and the Vice President, rarely public news in the history of the relationship of Presidents with Vice Presidents.

And just this week, rumors that Ivanka Trump, the President’s daughter, and Jared Kushner, his son in law, were lobbying for Pence to be replaced on the 2020 Presidential ticket by a woman, now seems to make more sense that Pence is starting to resist the craziness of his boss.

Of course, Pence denies he disagreed on the Taliban and Camp David, but since Pence is such a good liar, manipulator, and total religious hypocrite, it will be interesting to see what happens in the next year between Trump and Pence, and the odds of some news of a breach getting out to the public, seems quite likely.

Military Invasion Of Venezuela The Wrong Thing For America To Promote

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The situation in the South American nation of Venezuela is horrendous, with massive starvation and suffering, under a horrible dictator, Nicolas Maduro, and his refusal to allow food and medical aid to come in from next door Colombia.

There is no question but that Maduro must be removed from office, but that is not through US military intervention directly.

The United States has used military force in Central America and the Caribbean on a irregular basis since the time of Theodore Roosevelt, and helped to overthrow the South American Chilean government of Salvador Allende in 1973 during the Richard Nixon Presidency, although in that situation, no US troops were sent in, simply collaboration with military generals.

But the changes in government promoted by the US invariably led to more harsh right wing dictatorships, and have undermined the relationship of the United States with its neighbors in Latin America.

Many foreign nations have withdrawn recognition from the Venezuelan government, and Juan Guaido, the leader of the National Assembly, has been declared the de facto interim President by that body.

Economic pressure and attempts to win over the military are appropriate by all nations which love freedom, but the worst possible action would be to send in military forces, which would incite civil war, and likely make America the villain, and cause a long intervention and the loss of many lives, both Venezuelan and American.

But it seems as if Donald Trump, Mike Pompeo, and John Bolton are bent on military action, just as they seem to be moving in that direction regarding Iran.

So we could have two massive wars as the 2020 Presidential and Congressional elections come upon us next year, just as with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld and unwise, and unsuccessful military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq, which have undermined America, and cost a great amount of treasure, both human and capital.

The Temper Tantrum Of Donald Trump Must Face Democratic Discipline As A Lesson Of What Is Coming

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The shutdown of the US government over the Christmas holidays is truly “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.

Donald Trump is showing just how much of a toddler’s behavior we have to deal with in the Oval Office, and he must face Democratic Party discipline and taught a lesson of what is coming.

Trump will not get his way, will not be allowed to waste taxpayer money in such a reckless way, when a proposed Mexico Wall will have no effect on national security, as there are other ways to protect the border in a more technological manner than a wall which cannot be accomplished in many areas of the 2,000 mile boundary between the US and Mexico.

Trump’s portrayal of the danger of terrorism at the border is preposterous on its face, and instead, he should be changing his plan to leave Syria and now Afghanistan abruptly, when the true terrorist threat of ISIS and the Taliban is being encouraged by Trump’s decision to take rash action on withdrawal of troops.

Leaving both Syria and Afghanistan is a dangerous move that not only affects US national security, and encourages a future Al Qaeda type attack on the American homeland, but also on Americans and other friendly nation nationals in the Middle East over the long haul, as just occurred with two young women slaughtered in Morocco in a brutal ISIS manner.

Withdrawal also encourages Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Syria’s mass murder dictator, and endangers Israel, as it allows expansion of Iranian influence. One can be critical of Israel’s government and its policies, but still be concerned at any threat to its security and survival.

Also, leaving Syria put the courageous Kurdish minority which has fought bravely alongside the US and other allied nations in the cross hairs of the Turkish government, which plans a blood bath to slaughter them, and prevent their establishment of their own nationhood, and this should not be allowed to happen.

If Trump is permitted to win this battle, then constitutional democracy in America and worldwide is threatened.

And Democrats and loyal Americans must make Trump’s Presidency a nightmare, which forces him to resign from office, or convince sensible Republicans that he must be told his time is up, a la what happened with Richard Nixon in 1974 at the end of the Watergate Scandal.

Trump must be taught his limits or the nation is endangered long term.

The Destruction Of The “Special” Friendship, Relationship, And Alliance Between The US And Great Britain For A Century

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Ever since the beginning of the 20th century, the United States and Great Britain have had a “special” relationship and friendship, and became allies in 1917 when the US went into World War I.

Theodore Roosevelt was very close to Great Britain in the first decade of the 20th century, and Woodrow Wilson was a known “Anglophile” in his writings and scholarship during his years as a professor and university president before he ran for public office.

While the alliance during World War I did not survive in the 1920s and 1930s isolationist period, we were still friendly toward our former mother country.

Then in World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill became great allies and friends, as both nations fought against Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.

After World War II, the United States became the leader of the free world democracies, and allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the British fought in the Korean War, the Gulf War, and in the War on Terror after September 11 in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While the British did not send troops into the Vietnam War, they have always been perceived as our closest friends in the world, alongside Canada.

But now, Donald Trump has openly criticized the British government and its leader Theresa May, and Trump is the most unpopular American President ever in modern times by every measure.

This is a very sad situation, and it is clear that we have just witnessed the destruction of this special friendship, relationship, and alliance between the US and Great Britain.