You didn’t really expect the Taliban to behave like anything other than the Taliban, did you? And they’re calling the tune at this square dance in Kabul. Aleman left.
This all could have and should have been both predicted and avoided. Deflective partisan attempts to rationalize this fiasco are just that—deflections. Yes, we had to get out of Afghanistan. We all get that. True, there is no good time to end an endless war. Roger. Yes, chaos was inevitable amidst an exit and evacuation. Nobody’s arguing otherwise.
But Biden apologists have been reduced to this twisted spiral of pretzel logic. They argue that because some chaos was inevitable, that then any steroid strength quantum level of chaos and lack of planning should be acceptable.
I can’t go for that. No. No can do.
Then like dyed-in-the-wool football fans, they contend that we can still pull this one out of the fire. Hey, let’s hope so. No American should want us to fail further. There are lives—lots of lives—at stake. But let’s extend their faux football analogy. If a team somehow rallies to win after their quarterback throws four early interceptions to put his guys in a 28-0 hole, those four brain-dead picks were no less four brain-dead picks.
Biden telegraphed this. And the Taliban took it to the house.
And that’s why this fuckup can not honestly be described as anything other than a fuckup. We are helpless right now. The United States should never be helpless. The first objective of any American president must be to make sure our country is never in a helpless position. We are dependent on the “honor and integrity” of the Taliban.
You didn’t expect the Taliban to behave like anything other than the Taliban, did you?
No reprisals? Death sentences are already being issued to our Afghan interpreters and their families. The Fog of War has descended on the Kabul Airport. Folks are shooting, and nobody really knows who’s shooting at whom. That Special Immigration Visa (SIV) program initiated to try to get our Afghan friends out of that hell-hole? Nah. Now those folks won’t be allowed to get into the airport even if they somehow manage to get to the airport.
Oh, and if terrified Afghans somehow manage to head-fake the Taliban, now they also have to juke ISIS-K. Which I presume is even nastier than ISIS A through J.
Even our own staffers—our own staffers—from the now-abandoned U.S. Embassy in Kabul currently have no way to reach evacuation points.
The world is taking note. You can’t count on us.
“Fiasco.” Look up the actual dictionary definition.
But enough about depressing foreign developments. We don’t have to look all the way over any large stretch of water to get depressed (and embarrassed). Our own house is like a rabbit cage that hasn’t been cleaned in a month.
Congrats. We are now once again averaging 150,000 new COVID cases per day, up 200 percent from a month ago. And Delta Dawn will turn your ass to Delta Dusk.
Any encouraging signs? Maybe this one. School districts and other local jurisdictions around Texas are now telling Abbott to go screw himself with a rusty chainsaw.
And as a legal and practical matter, there’s not one thing he can do about it.
Hey, it’s in the dress code. And we ALL know you don’t dare jack with the dress code.
But, sadly, keep an eye on what’s going on in Iraan. It’s a horror show that could easily be repeated all over our state, and in a matter of days.
Just one more thing before I jump over to the sports side. Don’t let the door hitchya, Cuomo.