White House, Kirby face backlash from military veterans for defense of chaotic Afghan pullout

 Kirby works for a man who looks us in the eye and tells us things that he and we know are blatantly false with not a trace of shame. TD

MSN

"A retired Marine who executed many civilian rescues from Afghanistan offered a blistering rebuttal to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby and his presentation of the Biden administration's after-action report, calling the retired admiral's presentation "a national tragedy." 

"Kirby held an at-times confrontational press conference Thursday where he defended the Biden administration's withdrawal as largely successful and noted the after-action report's purpose was "not accountability." 

 "The purpose of the document that we're putting out today is to sort of collate the chief reviews and findings of the age. 

""For all this talk of chaos. I just didn't see it. Not from my perch," Kirby said later in the presser, adding that at one point in the evacuation, planes were departing Hamid Karzai International Airport every 48 minutes with Afghans and Americans alike aboard."

Well, there was the sudden unannounced bugout and the leaving of vast stores of military equipment; the bodies falling from transport planes and the explosive that killed a dozed US military personnel. Was there nothing about this entire failure that would lead Admiral Kirby to resign on principle father than defend it before the world? TD

Pompeo torches Kirby after White House shifts blame to Trump for deadly Afghanistan withdrawal

Romney Admits Trump Did Many Things ‘A Lot’ Better Than Biden but Still ‘Absolutely’ Won’t Vote for Him

  The Epoch Times 

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Reuters that he disagreed with the way President Trump expressed his views on NATO ally spending, but noted: “Russia didn’t invade anybody when he was president, and if he’s president again they won’t.”

"Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said that former President Donald Trump made many wise decisions as president and can win in 2024 but the Utah Republican insisted he would “absolutely not” vote for him over President Joe Biden due to “character” and differences on foreign policy.

"In an appearance on CNN’s “The Source” program on Wednesday, Mr. Romney said that, if the election were held today, President Trump “would probably win.”

"He said there are “a lot” of things President Trump has done better than President Biden, adding that “Joe Biden has made extraordinary mistakes on the immigration front. It’s embarrassing how bad he’s been.”

"Mr. Romney didn’t elaborate but his remarks come as the country is in the throes of a border crisis of historic proportions. Some estimates indicate that around 10 million illegal immigrants have poured across the border since President Biden took office.

“ 'And Donald Trump did a lot of smart things when he was president,” Mr. Romney continued, adding that he’s “aligned with many of [President Trump’s] domestic policies.” . . .

The Deadly Manipulations of the Anti-Israel Mob

 Seth Mandel – Commentary Magazine 

The claim that Israel is carrying out a genocide of the Palestinians is meritless, but its proponents already know that. This is what is known as Holocaust inversion, whereby some person or persons seek to lessen the historical judgment on Nazi Germany by assigning to its victims an equivalent judgment. It is a rhetorical tactic—one not without consequences, as the death of Aaron Bushnell reminds us.

   "Everyone knows blood libels have consequences for their intended targets, but Aaron Bushnell’s suicide shows how deadly they can be to anyone who believes them.

"Bushnell, a 25-year-old active-duty cyber-defense specialist in the Air Force, self-immolated in front of the Israeli embassy on February 25. His reason for doing so—and for broadcasting it as it happened—is important not for the content but for the evidence of how pro-Hamas activists across the country have manipulated Bushnell and so many others.

“I will no longer be complicit in genocide,” Bushnell said, referring to “what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers.”

The claim that Israel is carrying out a genocide of the Palestinians is meritless, but its proponents already know that. This is what is known as Holocaust inversion, whereby some person or persons seek to lessen the historical judgment on Nazi Germany by assigning to its victims an equivalent judgment. It is a rhetorical tactic—one not without consequences, as the death of Aaron Bushnell reminds us.

That Bushnell was in the U.S. military is key to his post-suicide beatification by activists. His friend Levi Pierpont, who served with Bushnell and who left the force last year as a conscientious objector, eulogized Bushnell in the Guardian with this proclamation: “Aaron is by no means the only United States military member who has felt complicit in the military’s violence, powerless to change anything, and stuck waiting until the end of a four- or six-year contract. There are thousands of military members similarly distraught, having thoughts of taking extreme actions to escape something that feels inescapable.”

How Can Biden Stay In Now?—Part 2

  Commentary Magazine

But Joe Biden is not getting younger, and it’s doubtful he’s going to get more skilled—or that he will show a kind of focus and energy that will calm American fears he cannot do the job. Actually, it’s more than doubtful. It’s actually getting to the point where it’s unimaginable. 

. . ."Well, it turns out they just held onto that information until today (Sunday), for a second-day story that is maybe even more devastating than the first. Lisa Lerer and Ruth Igielnik report: “Widespread concerns about President Biden’s age pose a deepening threat to his re-election bid, with a majority of voters who supported him in 2020 now saying he is too old to lead the country effectively.” That’s a majority of Biden’s own voters. I’m not talking about a majority of the country.

"So what does the country say? Fully 45 percent of all voters say flatly that Biden is “not capable of handling the job of president.”

"OK, let’s play this out. You might object, and reasonably, that this question just gives Trump voters a different way of saying they don’t want or like Biden. Reasonable! But wrong. Voters were asked the same question about Trump, and logically that would have given Biden voters a chance to express their dislike of Trump in similar fashion by saying he too, at 78 and mixing up things at rallies and the like, is not capable. But only 19 percent say it, compared to the 45 percent who say it about Biden. Remember, these are the same people being asked the same question about both men." . . .

How Can Biden Stay In Now? Part One

 John Podhoretz; Commentary Magazine   

“In the poll, only 83 percent of voters who say they chose Biden in 2020 plan to vote for him this year, whereas 97 percent who voted for Trump plan to vote for Trump again.

"There’s a scene in the peerless animated comedy Monsters Inc.—a cable-news special report featuring Dr. Frasenberger, who looks like a giant pencil. “It is my professional opinion,” he begins calmly, “that now is the time…TO PANIC!!!!!” If I were a Democrat today, or a Never Trumper, I would be Dr. Frasenberger. Because now is the time TO PANIC!!!! if you don’t want Donald Trump to be president.

"The release early Sunday morning of a New York Times-Siena poll of the presidential race showing Trump up by 5 points nationally not only confirms the undeniable evidence over the past six months that Trump has pulled into a measurable lead in the presidential race outside the margin of error but also that things are getting worse and worse for the president as the year 2024 progresses.

"There is literally no good news for Biden in this poll. Let’s break it down.

"First, the simple practical math. NYT-Sienna confirms results we’ve been seeing for months now. It features Trump winning by 4 nationally—and remember that even in victory in 2016, Trump lost the popular vote by 3 points. Trump has not historically done well in national polling. If you go back and add up the number of days in the 2016 and the 2020 electoral races, you find that Trump led in the poll averages on exactly 5 days out of 600—and never for a single day against Biden.

"Now get this. On October 18, 2023, Biden and Trump were tied in the RCP average of all polling. Since that day, 135 days ago, Trump has led. Every single day. Not by a huge amount, mind you—his largest margin came on January 26, when he led by 4.3 points. As I write, his lead is 2.3 points. Still, the point stands. It may have taken him 8 years in presidential politics to achieve it, but Trump is now a steady polling favorite." . . .

Why GA Judge Won’t Disqualify Fani Willis

David Catron; American Spectator  In two months, Judge McAfee has to face the voters in overwhelmingly Democrat Fulton County.

His behavior in the courtroom suggests that he lacks the courage to do so 60 days before he faces Fulton County voters. He isn’t corrupt, but he may be a coward. 

"Any rational person familiar with the behavior of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis during the prosecutorial misconduct hearings that finally ended last Friday has probably concluded that her conduct has created the “appearance of impropriety.” This, according to defense lawyers for former President Trump and several co-defendants, is sufficient to disqualify Willis and the Fulton County DA’s office from prosecuting the RICO case they launched last August. Indeed, defense attorney Harry MacDougald cited six examples of actual conflicts of interest, any one of which is sufficient to disqualify Willis and her office. Yet it’s unlikely that it will happen.

"Why not? The decision must be made by Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who said on Friday that he would rule on the motion to disqualify Willis and her office in about two weeks. Unfortunately for the defendants, McAfee is a temporary appointee to the bench who must face Fulton County voters for the first time about 60 days after his ruling. Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp appointed him last year to complete the term of retiring Judge Christopher S. Brasher. According to McAfee’s campaign website, his election will take place on May 21. Fulton County, which includes Atlanta, is overwhelmingly Democratic and its voters will be less than pleased with the judge if he disqualifies Willis and her office. 

"Further complicating matters is the fact that McAfee once worked in the Fulton County DA’s office and was supervised by none other than Fani Willis, according to a report in the New York Times. This presumably explains his weirdly passive response to her disruptive courtroom antics during her February 15 testimony. He allowed her to ignore questions, accuse defense attorneys of lying and imply that they represented a threat to democracy. McAfee’s supine attitude doesn’t bode well for disqualification. Nor do the questions he asked defense attorneys during closing arguments. Here’s how he responded to an attorney who questioned Willis’s claim to have repaid Nathan Wade back in cash for all his monetary gifts:" . . .

Birdbrains watch Trump own them in court; An innocent man cannot rely on his innocence to win. He must fight back

 Don Surber (substack.com)

"All that explains why Democrats are running on crazy indictments. They laughed when they finally had a mugshot of him. President Trump got the last laugh on that one. He likely will have the last laugh on all of the court cases."  DS

"MSNBC talking head Joyce Vance is panicked. Trump is winning in court, the one territory that liberals believe they still own.

"She wrote, “The legal landscape in three of the four criminal cases against Trump continues to shift in his favor this week, following the Supreme Court’s decision to hear the presidential immunity appeal in the D.C. election interference case, creating at least a two-month delay for Trump.’

"Democrats know they are stuck with FJB. Their plan was to tar Trump as a criminal. No president before was charged with criminal activity while president. Democrats have indicted President Trump four times on a total of 91 counts.

"They also filed two civil lawsuits. One charged him with fraud even though there was no victim. The other charged him with defamation for saying he did not rape a woman who never filed rape charges. The awards are incredibly over-the-top in size. The judge awarded the woman who wasn’t raped $83 million — $83,000,000.

"The Democrat plan is twofold. One to tarnish his reputation and the other is to hurt his campaign by tying him up in the courts. They creamed their pantaloons when they finally got a mugshot of him. That backfired, as I observed in August, days after the mugshot appeared:

The Hill reported, “Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) shared a video of him laughing at the mugshot photo and saying, ‘We got you, and more to come . . . Clown, thug, crook, criminal.’”

The tweet is here.

Shortly afterward, the congressman realized the error Democrats made.

. . . 

It's up to us; It was YOU!

 It's up to us - American Thinker

. . ."Pretending to be worried about offending the few, they lose concern for the many. Well, we the many are the ones who make the world work. Push us out altogether and the structure collapses. Then the leeches and parasites have no one and nothing to pick at, pick on, or pick over." . . .

"Some years ago, Ann Coulter commented about the TV series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit: "The scripts involve the sort of real-life crimes that are a lot more common since our country has become 'diverse,' such as child rape and incest. But the child-rapists are never diverse, as they are in real life. No, the perps are always blond, blue-eyed American men. In fact, the modern American white male is the least rapey, most gentle, protective, chivalrous creature God has ever created."

"This has been obvious to anyone interested in the truth for, oh, six decades or thereabouts. People who can think follow facts to logical, reasonable conclusions. They don’t force-fit reality to a template based on doubtful assumptions that produce silly rules and policy, such as the presumption of police racism that led to the prohibition on profiling. We all profile as a matter of course. To profile is to think, to narrow a search universe. When you look for a lost sock, you ignore panties and pencils.

"The Left, sticking to social justice templates and assumptions, refuses to acknowledge reality that doesn’t fit. So it's up to conservatives to re-establish law and order by using common sense and following facts to reasonable, lawful conclusions. The time's fast coming when America will rip itself apart if reasonable people don't stand up to injustice and stupidity masquerading as social justice.

"I don't know how legally to keep the Idiot Left out of office, but disaster follows wherever such people run things.". . .

Related: The Brutal Wielding of the Mis/Dis Information Club

. . ."Perusing these results leads to an unambiguous conclusion: The term represented eight straight years of blaming you. The messaging was consistent: Your understanding of the matter—whatever it was—was flawed. The Obama White House never erred. Oh no. You presented some defect, some flaw in your understanding. You’d been watching Fox or listening to Rush Limbaugh, so you’d gotten it wrong. It was not them.

"It was you."

While Pledging to Defend Taiwan from China, Biden Shifted on Taiwan Independence. Here’s Why That Matters. |

 Council on Foreign Relations (cfr.org)

. . ."President Biden’s embrace of strategic clarity is a welcome and overdue adjustment to U.S. policy, but a critical corollary to that shift should be clear messaging that such a commitment would not be operative if Taiwan were to provoke a crisis by unilaterally declaring independence." . . . 

"On Sunday evening, President Joe Biden made headlines when he asserted in a 60 Minutes interview that the United States would come to Taiwan’s defense if China were to launch an unprovoked attack. His embrace of strategic clarity, however, was not his most notable comment on Taiwan, since this was the fourth time that Biden has articulated such a commitment. Instead, the comment that will raise more alarms in Beijing was Biden’s statement that “Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence…that’s their decision.” While this comment might seem innocuous, it would mark a significant shift in U.S. policy.

"Since the United States severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan (formally the Republic of China) in 1979 and established formal diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China, U.S. policy has been to not support Taiwan independence. The State Department’s website currently notes, “we do not support Taiwan independence,” and Secretary of State Antony Blinken used the same language in his major speech outlining the Biden administration’s China policy.

"In this regard, the Biden administration’s policy is the same as its predecessors. In the 1982 communique between the United States and China, the Reagan administration stated it had no intention of “pursuing a policy of ‘two Chinas’ or ‘one China, one Taiwan’” (i.e. it would not support Taiwan independence)." . . . 

UPDATED: The Greatest Trick Evil Has Ever Done Is Convince the World That It Is a Victim –

  PJ Media

If the people living in Gaza wanted peace, Hamas would not have been elected into power for almost 25 years. If Hamas wanted peace, they would not have taken billions of dollars of aid and spent it making tunnels, rockets, and military facilities underground.

"In the first days after October 7, I wrote multiple articles predicting that the world would rapidly forget the depraved horrors of that day and replace them with images of Hamas as victims who should be pitied. I encouraged everyone to never forget the atrocities that were committed by Hamas, atrocities that they videotaped with pride: the raping and dismemberment of women, the beheadings of babies, the beheading of a man with a garden hoe, the many murders and kidnappings. I reminded readers that while the world would probably start talking about all the Gazans who hate Hamas and are victims, Hamas was repeatedly elected as the leadership of Gaza by over 90% in every election since 2005, and the streets of Gaza were filled with tens of thousands of Gazans dancing on October 7. Gazans who were supposedly "not supportive of Hamas" were publicly celebrating the horrors of Hamas.

"I made a detailed case of why we must view Hamas as a modern incarnation of Amalek, whom we are commanded to destroy completely. I begged that each one of us not get lost in anger or vengeance. I wrote that we must utterly destroy Hamas, but that we should never take joy in that task, lest we lose our own humanity.

"I received countless emails and phone calls after that email. Most told me that I was too kind, that we should never mourn any of the Gazans we need to kill, and that we should carpet bomb all of Gaza quickly. People were enraged and wanted vengeance, and I had long talks encouraging them not to get lost in a quest for vengeance. There were even some people who walked out of our synagogue’s services because I preached that we cannot allow ourselves to feel joy in what must be done to Hamas.

"But that was five months ago.

 "Now, we have had five months of the world media bombarding us about the "victims of Gaza," the need for more aid to those "poor victims," and how abusive the IDF is for going into the residential areas of cities in Gaza. We are hearing repeated calls, including from Jews, that we should just stop the war before Ramadan out of respect for their holiday, despite the facts that they attacked on a Jewish holiday and that Ramadan is actually an Islamic holiday of war.  . . ."

UPDATED 3/3: Douglas Murray: "Israel Must Secure Victory At Any Price"

No...Israel must never win no matter the evil they fight against.

Biden Would Go Further Left - Just look at where he has already been

The American Spectator | USA News and Politics   . . ."Well, if you think he has been far left in his first term, it will get worse if Biden wins a second. A lot worse.

"For his entire first four years in office, Biden has been looking ahead to his next four years. To win another term, he needs as much broad public support as possible. So, as far left as he is now, we can only assume that this has been Biden at his most balanced. How much Biden needed moderates is shown in 2020 exit polling: Liberals made up just 24 percent of voters, and Biden won 89 percent; moderates made up 38 percent of voters, and Biden won 64 percent.

"Based on Biden’s fall in support, in 2024 he will see his moderate support drop and his liberal support increase. Furthermore, he will have run his last race. What moderate support he managed to retain he will never need again. But he will need the Left to govern.

"The dynamic of diminishing overall support for presidents in their second term and Biden’s increasing dependency on the Left to govern will only intensify Biden’s leftward lurch.

"Gallup terms presidents’ decline in support the “second-term curse.” Looking back to Harry Truman, Gallup polling found that only Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton did not lose support in their second terms. To this general trend, Biden will add his own.

"If Biden wins reelection, he will certainly have seen the Left play an even larger role in that victory than it did in 2020. He will owe it. As his second term goes on, we can expect Biden’s additional attrition in support to come from the center and the Right. That leaves him only the Left.

"So, Biden will start a second term more beholden to, and dependent on, the Left; and as it goes, he will become even more beholden to, and dependent on, the Left for his support. This cycle of debt and dependency with the Left will become self-reinforcing: The more left he goes, the more support he will lose from the center and the Right." . . .

Biden's worth is that of a dependable tool; nothing more. TD 

Biden:

Board AF1, take nap.
Wake up in place called Brownsville.
Read large teleprompter message, "It's all Trump's fault".
Board AF1, ask who people in green uniforms were, told they "strap" illegal aliens, express horror, take nap.
Wake up, call a lid, hit beach, take nap. pic.twitter.com/exvsDieaVW

— Border Patrol Union - NBPC (@BPUnion) March 2, 2024

Obama:  McKay to Tucker: It’s Obama’s World

Big Names Mentioned on the Chopping Block at CNN, As Ratings Continue to Flounder

Will CNN cease to be a left-wing haven? If anything, expect CNN to try to mimic MSNBC more. With that on the table, perhaps going bankrupt is the best option. Next, what about MSNBC?

RedState

...CNN not only finished behind rivals Fox and MSNBC, but was the 10th most-watched channel on cable, getting beat by Hallmark, The History Channel and INSP, a South Carolina-based channel founded in the late 1970s by the Christian televangelists.

"That fall from grace has coincided with CNN's anti-conservative obsession, which always existed to some extent but greatly accelerated during the Trump administration. With the ouster of yet another CEO in Chris Licht, who was blamed for the problems despite them predating his arrival and being created by the remaining on-air "talent," a new sheriff is in town, and he's known for cutting costs. 

"On that front, according to a new report, many of the network's big "stars" could face large pay cuts—or worse." . . .

 Ratings Implosion: CNN’s Entire Primetime Lineup Fails to Equal the Audience of One Fox Program – RedState

"To clarify, this is not the ranking in all of cable television ratings, this is only among the cable news programs. Now, let’s take a look at the very top of this list, and here is where things become especially embarrassing.

"The top-rated program was 2022’s overall leader in cable news, “The Five.” That panel show logged 3,469,000 viewers, in line with its average figures. What is the standout statistic is this: That audience figure for the one-hour broadcast surpasses all of CNN’s primetime lineup! Beginning at 5 p.m., with “The Lead,” all the way through the 11pm hour with “CNN Tonight,” the combined audience of those shows did not total as much as Fox drew – for just the 5 p.m. hour." . . .