Afganistan Hearings
There were a few things from the two days of hearings that did not get much coverage and deserve review.
It was revealed the Taliban offered the United States a chance to secure the entire city of Kabul while exiting the country. Think about that. We could have held the city while we orderly transported our citizens and supporters to the airport for evacuation. We could have avoided the chaos, the deaths and the upheaval that went on.
When asked why we didn’t do it, General McKenzie said we didn’t have the troops. Did he ask for them and was he turned down?
Just another example of the failed leadership, all the way to the top, that we had here. Whoever said “no” owns the outcome and blood that flowed.
General Milley said he knew six years ago that the war in Afghanistan was “stalemated.” So the General in charge did nothing to change it? Was it just he was unable as the lead military person to convince two administrations we needed to do something? Was he lacking a strategy? Plan? What was he doing with the lives of our warriors who were serving there?
Another example of how he failed us and why he must resign.
When Secretary of Defense Austin was asked why we didn’t withdraw people earlier, he said they tried but the State Department said no. So again this administration messed up. Did Secretary of State Blicken pay a price for a decision that cost us lives, respect and world standing?
Then think about this that should be headlines on every news show. The testimony, under oath, was that the Pentagon knew within a short period that the U.S. drone strike that killed civilians, including seven children, in Kabul in August did not involve ISIS fighters.
They knew and never told us?
The administration used it as a tough guy approach and our ability to strike without resources on the ground? They didn’t concede it was a mistake until a newspaper started producing documents?
Now we know the truth and no one pays for misleading us? No one pays for the wrongful killings? No one pays for lying? We allow the President and administration to walk away without answering questions about this?
The media being so biased is failing us as a free nation.
The Spending Bill(s)
The drama of which or any spending bills will pass today is in the balance as of this writing.
Speaker Pelosi just reassured us at her conference we would get both bills today.
Senator Manchin just spoke to reporters and said he could not get on board “yet” as the spending was too much.
As exasperated as the progressives are with Senators Manchin and Sinema, the senators are equally back to them. The President who caused this, as you may recall when he came to the White House Lawn with the bipartisan team of senators to announce an agreement on the infrastructure bill; only to walk back into the oval office and announce (to appease the progressives) it was tied to the additional $3.5 billion spending plan.
That shocked the bipartisan team and we never got back on track.
Now Manchin, who we have long said backs down, said this:
“Respectfully, as I have said for months, I can’t support $3.5 trillion more in spending when we have already spent $5.4 trillion since last March [2020]. At some point, all of us, regardless of party must ask the simple question — how much is enough? If there is one final lesson that will continue to guide me in this difficult debate ahead it is this: America is a great nation but great nations throughout history have been weakened by careless spending and bad policies. Now, more than ever, we must work together to avoid these fatal mistakes so that we may fulfill our greatest responsibility as elected leaders and pass on a better America to the next generation.”
Now how much sense does that make to you and me? Progressives, not so much.
What I don’t understand is this.
We have more job openings than people to fill them.
We are spending more to support people not to work than ever.
We have inflation looming to the point that even the Fed Chair sees it now.
Do we really want to throw $5 trillion more into the market?
Speaking of inflation, if you didn’t see it before just take a look at what Dollar Tree said…The $1.00 forever store is going to change policy and sell things for $1.25 and $1.50.
Proving again “free” is not “free” when the government spends your money, borrows from your future and creates an artificial market.
Covid Update
Isn’t it funny that when we had that outbreak in Florida it was national news headlines over and over?
Now with no lockdowns, mask mandates, school closures, or business limitations, the Florida wave has crested and fallen dramatically in recent weeks. The virus has declined dramatically there while growing elsewhere.
Coverage? Zero.
What happened was hospitalizations fell dramatically (Chart at bottom of this blog) shorty after Governor DeSantis actively promoted monoclonal antibody outpatient clinics, an early treatment that has been shown to significantly reduce hospitalization risk. (When Biden seized control of the supply and unexpectedly slashed Florida’s allocation, the governor arranged a private purchase from GlaxoSmithKline to meet demand.)
One more thing, the U.S. covid death rate will exceed 700,000 this weekend. Let’s see how it is covered by the media.
On The Border – Really – I think
Homeland Security announced Wednesday that it has formed a task force to “rebuild” the Remain in Mexico policy the Trump administration used to solve the last border surge.
At the same time, the Department said it still intends to issue a new memo canceling the policy, officially known as the Migrant Protection Protocols, “in the coming weeks.”
What?
The confusing — and seemingly conflicting — announcements come as Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tries to battle a court ruling that ordered him to restart MPP. The judge said he must act in “good faith” to revive the program. Mr. Mayorkas’ critics have accused him of slow-walking the restoration, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is leading the lawsuit seeking to get the secretary to get a move on.
With Friends Like This
It continues to amaze me how the Trump appointees continue to write books and turn on him. We told you about the book by Stephanie Grisham that is coming out. Here’s a “leak” from it:
In her book, titled “I’ll Take Your Questions Now,” Ms. Grisham claims that Mr. Trump berated her frequently and even requested that an unnamed young, female press aide visit his cabin on Air Force One just so he could ogle her rear end. She said Mr. Trump’s temper was “terrifying.” “I should have spoken up more,” Ms. Grisham writes. “The truth was that pretty much everyone eventually wore out their welcome with the president. We were bottles of milk with expiration dates.”
And in the current administration we can’t get people to resign for lying, people dying and failed polices.
Have A Great Weekend. Cancel the Cancel Culture.
Florida’s Covid Chart:
