President Biden: The NEW one and only politics thread

Matt Gaetz Senior picture.

 

That damn robot arm stole half their jobs.

 

In Memphis, sanitation workers became some of the best-treated city employees after they won their strike in the wake of MLK’s assassination. Now any time a proposal is made to privatize garbage service there, the local civil rights community comes out very aggressively against it. I wonder how many other cities have a similar timeline?

 

"Biden's decision to effectively end the Afghan War." Right.


Donald Trump signed a treaty with the Taliban committing the United States to withdraw all troops by May 1, 2021 on condition that they no longer attack American and allied forces in the country. He did this with zero consultation with the Afghan government and over the objections of the Pentagon. Remember how we used to hear that it was foolhardy to commit to a hard date because at that point all they had to do was wait us out? He did it anyhow.

So Biden comes into office bound by this treaty. He can repudiate it, break yet another treaty, continuing to shred our reputation as a good faith negotiating partner while attempting to protect the existing government and the more modern Afghan people, for instance the tens of thousands of educated Afghan women, understanding that would mean war. He's tried to split the baby. I think his preferred plan, if he could swing it, would be to substitute Iran into our role as mediator. They are a neighboring power, Moslem, emphatically not tools of the U.S., and could stand by in a peacekeeping role that would give them face and status in the region, and Biden allowing them to do so would help our relations with Iran as we try to coax them back into diplomatic relations. He'd catch hell about it at home, of course, but he's going to catch hell no matter what happens at this point, and Iran might be able to keep the Taliban from going full 1980's.

The Afghan government is negotiating with the Taliban in a luxury hotel in Doha. Many of their representatives are one time Gitmo detainees who have yet to return to Afghanistan since their release and they have no idea how massive the changes have been since they left the country. The Taliban has observed the truce, with few instances of violence against U.S>/Allied forces. Instead there is s steady campaign of assassinations of government officials, journalists, teachers and professors, and any other liberal voices who have become known. This is particularly true if the above mentioned people are female, they are more heavily targeted. There are twenty years worth of educated females in Kabul, and God help them when the Taliban takes back power. The Afghan government is trying to negotiate a power sharing arrangement and a slightly more liberal Taliban state but I have little hope for anything but a bloodbath once the U.S. leaves. One woman at that negotiating table was shot in her third attempted assassination attempt and showed back up after a break in negotiations wearing a cast after being shot through the shoulder. Guts.

We couldn't be out by May 1 if we wanted to, not without a Saigon style run for the helicopters leaving everything behind for the Taliban to grab. Biden's trying to string it out, withdraw as much equipment as possible and destroy much of the rest in place, hoping for something to break on the diplomatic front, hoping that the Taliban won't immediately go back to IED's and mortars and snipers on May 2. He won't be that lucky, I fear.

 

Because it’s not 2021 without things getting worse for Matt Gaetz:

 

Trump’s decision. Have a nice day!

 

Do we not remember that Trump wanted to meet with Taliban representatives on Sept. 11, 2019?

 

From a veteran's viewpoint, I don't care who gets the credit or the blame.
It's time. Many of the people stationed in harm's way weren't even born on 9-11.

 

My son was born the day of the Iraq ground invasion, which means he turned 18 last month and has never lived a day of his life in a country that wasn’t functionally at war.

We ought to do more to provide refuge for the ones we know are about to be slaughtered. But it is time to come home. We can’t want a decent country for them more than they want it for themselves.

 

Fuck, I’m 50. Vietnam, the Cold War, the gulf war, whatever the fuck we’re in now is called, we’re always in some sort of shit. That’s what pays the military bills.

 

Even After Jan. 6, GOP Senators Still Think They Can Claim the Mantle of Law and Order

 

Things are stressful in MAGAland.