Joe Biden wants Americans to remember his exit from Afghanistan as the “biggest military evacuation” in history. Sorry, Joe. War doesn’t hand out participation trophies.
The president’s original exit plan — and his cascading contingency plans — were so bungled that heads may need to roll. Quite possibly, President Biden should be removed from office.
We saw a president seemingly disconnected from reality on the ground. He tried to reassure America of his experience and judgment, but came across as overwhelmed. Just weeks before the exit, he assured us the Afghan military would hold until the exit was complete. In the fog of that colossal miscalculation, he then told us that, despite what he said before, he knew it was actually “inevitable” that leaving Afghanistan would be “messy.”
This wasn’t the only time that the president gave us two different messages. He said this would not be like a scene from the exit out of Saigon. He assured us he would leave in an orderly fashion and no one would be left behind. His press secretary bristled when a member of the news media characterized Americans as “stranded” behind enemy lines. She said no one was “stranded” because President Biden would be working to get them out even after the military presence ended on Aug. 31.
Stand by for horrific scenes ahead as the Taliban hunts down those left behind — not to rescue them but to kill them or take hostage.
Look, it gives me no joy to say this, but the proper recourse now is for Congress to examine this embarrassment. Was our military intelligence and execution really this FUBAR? Is our commander in chief as diminished as he appears?
I hope the Nevada delegation puts party politics aside and stands united in calling for answers. It’s the only way now to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan.
WHOA!
In case you missed it, take a look at the next step toward the vaccination state.
In a custody battle in Chicago, the judge asked the mother if she was vaccinated against COVID-19. She said “no” because her doctor advised against it.
The judge then ruled that she could not see her son until she got the vaccine.
Whoa!
ONE MORE THING
— Has anyone else turned on the wrong burner and cooked absolutely nothing for 20 minutes?
— When you read “Lord of the Rings” as a teenager you wanted to be an Elf, because they were powerful and immortal. When you read it as an adult, you just want to be a Hobbit and live in a hole.
— When the car in front of me is driving slowly down the main drag, I move a bit to the side so the car behind me can see it is not me.
(Sherman Frederick is a longtime Nevada journalist and member of the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame. He is co-founder of Battle Born Media. You can reach him by email at shermfrederick@gmail.com, or by phone at 702-525-2440.)
The answers to your questions are: yes and yes! The entire withdrawal seemed FUBAR from the start and our President seems to display rapidly increasing confusion and diminishing coherence. This leads us to another stressful circumstance in which this ineptitude we witness may lead to the removal of Biden but then we are left with Harris. Although, ultimately it doesn’t matter who sits behind the desk in the Oval Office we know all the players that pull the stings behind the scenes will remain the same.
“Has anyone else turned on the wrong burner and cooked absolutely nothing for 20 minutes?” You mean today?