Yes, mistakes happen, however egregious and inexplicable.
Yes, miscalculations are made, however brain dead and misinformed.
Yes. I might be able to get past those. As Smokey sang, “You’ve made mistakes, too…” As have I. Yes, I’m crying. Ooh. Baby, Baby.
But I will not accept or tolerate an unwillingness to acknowledge and own mistakes and miscalculations. President Biden screwed up, royally, and in a way that is lastingly damaging to the United States. But starting with his post-travesty address on Monday, he has yet to accept any blame for this fiasco, and in fact has doubled-down on his absurd position that no mistakes were made and no part of the exit strategy and execution could have been improved. He said, “The buck stops here.” But then he tried to pass the buck like it was a kidney stone.
He said chaos was inevitable, He’s right. But there are varying quantum levels of chaos. And his myopic bungling resulted in the most needle-pinning amplitude of chaos that should have been anticipated and avoided.
So, here we are. The United States of America is at the mercy of the Taliban. The United States of America is dependent on the honor and good will of the Taliban. Up to 15,000 Americans are for the moment stranded in Fuckfuckistan. Countless Afghan interpreters and their families who risked their lives for us remain in imminent mortal danger. Afghan women and girls are again chattel. This is a strategic and moral failure.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Wednesday admitted we are helpless. The first job of an American president is to ensure that we are never in a helpless position. Biden ran on “competence.” I’m not saying he is incompetent. But I am flat out saying his handling of this exit was and remains incompetent.
Humanitarian issues are all that matter at the moment. But the resulting political fallout will alter our entire political landscape. Biden is now officially a one-term president. Perhaps he would have been anyway, voluntarily, given his age. But the Dems are now in an untenable position looking ahead to 2024. Whether it’s justified or not, Kamala Harris is unelectable. And if she does not win the nomination, there is no Democrat bench strength behind her. The nut-job wing of the party will prevail, and it will be roundly rejected in the general election.
But here’s what is worse. Until Biden screwed this pooch, there was at least a plausible chance that the GOP would ultimately move away from The Insanity That Is Donald Trump and the Sycophants That Are Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott. Now there’s no reason to, and strategically every reason not to. Biden just handed them a gift that will keep on giving.
Major fuckup, then majorly compounded by a failure to take responsibility for the fuckup.
I will not whitewash it.
