Articles: Politics

The phone video footage of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) being followed into a restroom and verbally harassed was disturbing to anyone who believes in the American tradition of free and open, reasonable debate without intimidation. The lack of serious revulsion and condemnation of this behavior by the senator’s Democratic Party colleagues, or even President Biden, reflects the ruthless “win at all costs” environment of our governmental bodies, also reflected in the tacit support for extreme urban violence over the past year.

It is time to put an end to Diplomacy Amateur Hour at the White House and State Department. The stakes are simply too high.

During the 2020 presidential campaign, candidate Joe Biden emphasized a return to professional diplomacy as one of the central principles of his foreign policy.

Now, following a string of diplomatic debacles in his first six months in office — Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s terrible performance with Chinese diplomats in Anchorage, President Biden’s weak, scripted meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva, Biden’s destruction of America’s energy independence while allowing Europe to be subjected to potential Russian energy blackmail, and, of course, the Afghanistan troop withdrawal mess, which left behind hundreds of American potential hostages — the Biden administration is in the political crosshairs to deliver a string of major diplomatic successes to keep America secure and the world from exploding.

Over the past six months, the world has edged closer to nuclear war than it has been since the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Doomsday Clock is ticking toward midnight. The global power balance has been dramatically reshuffled, and the potential for disastrous miscalculation hasn’t been so high in 80 years. The match and fuse for this is instability — an exaggerated sense of U.S. weakness and lack of capability and resolve — that could lead to huge, aggressive military miscalculations and mistakes by our enemies. The Biden administration has set the table for such a catastrophe.

Joe Biden is losing critical wars he may not even understand he’s fighting.

Nearly 100 years ago, two events — the weak Chamberlain government agreement at Munich and Franklin Roosevelt’s cognitive impairment at Yalta — helped set the stage for the geopolitics of the 20th century. This year, the weak U.S. administration at Anchorage and Geneva and President Biden’s decisions on Afghanistan have set the stage for future, dangerous conflicts in the 21st century. But the Biden administration evidently doesn’t understand those conflicts — asymmetric wars, in which an apparently weaker opponent (“them”) uses unconventional tactics to weaken the political, economic and militarily stronger (“us”) to win.

The instant triumph of the Taliban in Afghanistan is one of the biggest foreign policy, military and intelligence fiascos in American history. It demands a broad and sweeping review and house-cleaning, beginning with the immediate resignations and replacements of the secretaries of State and Defense, along with the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the first six months of the Biden administration, these advisers repeatedly have proven to be incompetent and even dangerous to U.S. national security.

The United States narrowly passed China on the final day of Olympic competition in the gold medal count. The tight finish is an apt metaphor for what’s happening on the global stage. America is still in the lead, but China is a serious and growing threat.

Republicans have begun to push back against “critical race theory.” It’s about time.

Critical race theory is the centerpiece of one of the most cynical “progressive” political strategies ever seen in America, which will undercut the significant racial progress made over the past 50 years. Those experiencing the most serious losses from these destructive ideas will be American Blacks, Hispanics and women.

President Biden likely hoped that his first address to a joint session of Congress would come across as a leap toward a progressive vision for America. He spoke of building infrastructure, helping families and creating jobs; of rebuilding alliances to create a safe and secure world. His advisers envision a “Biden Boom,” based upon an unprecedented level of federal spending. He spoke of “fairness” in taxing the rich and America’s corporations to finance this vision.

But Joe Biden has been around a long time and has seen politicians try and fail with such policies for 50 years. In the recesses of his mind, he must have an inkling of what lies ahead.

The Republicans in Congress are on the verge of enacting a historic tax reform program that will lead to radical change in California politics. The law taking shape will eliminate much of the federal deductions for state taxes and mortgage interest. California voters initially will react with fury, but when the dust settles, they will then turn on state and local governments to ask how all this tax money is being spent and who approved these programs and taxes.

The year’s end is a time for reflecting on the past year and preparing for the new one. Most people are looking forward to moving past COVID-19 and its lockdowns and returning to “normal life.” But, for Joe Biden, still popping Champagne corks after the Electoral College vote, 2021 may be creeping up to become his worst nightmare. America was severely broken and fundamentally changed during 2020 and it will take a long time to fix it — a job that President-elect Biden is unprepared to handle.