Politics

I’m not going to lie, the past few weeks seeing the spectacular fall of former disgraced governor Andrew Cuomo after being the toast of the town last year has been somewhat satisfying. This time last year, he was writing his acceptance speech to receive his Emmy Award for his amazing performance playing a leader in the middle of a once in a lifetime pandemic. Celebrities like Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro, Whoopi Goldberg and Rosie Perez fawned over their MVP: ‘Most Valuable Politician’. It is quite something to revisit some of their revolting speeches.

It was supposed to be a welcome break from serving as the Biden administration’s stooge. Instead of being the mascot for the Biden administration’s busted border policy, Kamala Harris would get a pleasant little trip to Singapore and Vietnam, to shore up her foreign policy experience just in case, God forbid, the Democratic party has to actually rally behind her as president. But instead of gaining experience, Harris has to worry about US diplomats being shot with a laser beam, or something. Yes, that’s right, the latest incident of Kamala’s ill-starred vice presidency is an outbreak of Havana syndrome. US State Department officials announced that it was investigating a 'possible anomalous health incident’ in Hanoi, the preferred euphemism for the mysterious disease.

In the weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Americans came together in a spirit of grief, resolve and shared national pride. It didn’t last long, but this potent energy animated the US military’s mission and a new generation of recruits who signed up to ‘do their part’ in the wake of the tragedy. Twenty years later, it is not the same military. As an institution, its impunity, hubris and access to unprecedented financial spoils have led to corruption and mediocrity at the top. The exploitation of all-volunteer forces to fight protracted wars of choice without proper care and attention to their consequences has left veterans jaded and skeptical of the value of their service in a system that continues to fail them.

Fresno, California In the heart of California’s Bible belt, over a thousand people filled the Paul Shaghoian Concert Hall Sunday afternoon for Larry Elder, the radio host and candidate for governor. Ongoing scandals and calls to withdraw did not dampen Elder’s first campaign launch in the Central Valley. He vowed to repeal vaccines and mask mandates if elected governor, prompting a standing ovation from the audience. ‘Larry for king!’, yelled one supporter. ‘I don't drink coffee, I drink tea,’ Elder said. ‘When I become governor, assuming there are still mandates for vaccines and mandates for face masks, they will be repealed before my first cup of tea.

You actually can spell ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organization’ without ‘America’, as it turns out. You can also, however, spell ‘North Atlantic Treaty Organization’ without, say, ‘European Union commissioner Ursula von der Leyen’. And right now, that seems like the more pressing of these two anagrammatical bombshells. Both the United States and Europe have spent the last week reprising what by now ought to be played-to-death roles. America made another clumsy move in the Middle East without cluing in our Nato allies, and the Europeans complain about it into the roar of a C-130 engine.

Joe Biden emerged from his cave, saw his shadow, and told us there will be three more years of winter. That winter, descending on America’s position in the world, was on public view at Biden’s Friday press conference about Afghanistan. Standing behind him was the Vice President, the secretary of defense, the secretary of state and the national security adviser, a stark contrast to the sad photo of Biden alone on a video call from Camp David with those advisers. Why have them stand there, mute? To convey to the public that the administration was united...and to convey to his advisers that they were all on this sinking ship together.

Don’t let this relatively Fauci-free week fool you. The Biden administration is still laser-focused on the coronavirus. In fact, as reporters waited anxiously to ask the President about stranded American civilians in Kabul and Afghans falling from Air Force planes, Baghdad Biden stumbled through a teleprompter address about vaccines and left without taking a single question. America is back! In his brief remarks, the President assured the American people that he would stand tough against the Taliban. Oops sorry, scratch that. The President assured us that he would stand tough against Republican governors. See, these red state politicians are 'setting a dangerous tone', according to Joe.

It’s a national disgrace, a catastrophe nearly two decades in the making. In a just society, everyone involved would be severely punished, but in the fallen state of modern America there will be no consequences, only more humiliation. Cockburn refers, of course, to Twitter, that monstrous invention where America’s politicians, journalists, ‘experts’, and ordinary people compete with one another to see who can be the most profoundly pathetic, unimpressive, and cringeworthy. Naturally, the ongoing debacle in Afghanistan allowed every player to put in their best performance.

This evening, President Joe Biden finally addressed the American people from the White House on Monday after Afghanistan fell into the hands of the Taliban. The speech should have been given much sooner. We did not hear publicly from the President for three days as the Taliban seized Kabul, the US Embassy was evacuated, and Afghani president Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Biden finally left Camp David for the White House on Monday morning amid mounting pressure. He did not take questions from the press and will return to Camp David on Monday evening. Trotting out the President for a 10-minute scripted speech and then sending him back on vacation doesn't exactly inspire confidence in the commander-in-chief.

The American right nominally has the support of half the country, but it is its own persistent self-inflicted curse that it appears far weaker and smaller than that. Despite having more than 70 million voters, the right struggles to get them outdoors holding a sign for virtually any cause. At the drop of a tweet, 5,000 liberals can be mustered in almost any city for even the most insane of causes: abolishing police, abolishing Trump, abolishing the internal combustion engine, pretty much anything. If you can think of it, a liberal has probably marched over it. Conservatives, on the other hand, are rather languorous even for important issues and those that directly impact their lives. Cities turning into vast homeless camps? Illegal immigration?

The prodigal son returns without his pants. Hunter Biden, the male heir of the 46th president, was caught hanging brain with a prostitute, again. The creeps over at the Daily Mail obtained the video which was recorded in January 2019. In a chyron, Fox News described the footage of Hunter as ‘new’ and ‘shocking’ — but frankly it’s neither. In the clip, Hunter recounts how he lost a laptop filled with his raunchy sex tapes while passed out in a pool. According to the Daily Mail, the conversation occurred after Biden and the unidentified woman had sex. So romantic. And you thought your pillow talk was awkward. 'They have videos of me doing this. They have videos of me doing like fucking crazy [expletive] sex [expletive],' Biden said in the video.

Isn’t it odd how progressives constantly emit platitudes like words matter, yet can never resist a chance to indulge in hyperbole of the highest order? On Friday’s Real Time with Bill Maher, former navy officer and current MSNBC crank Malcolm Nance made the absurd claim that 40,000 people stormed the Capitol on January 6. Though conservative pundit Ben Shapiro aggressively rebutted this falsehood, Nance did not back down. So what if he was lying? Insisting that ‘40,000 people’ entered the Capitol sounds a lot more dramatic — or melodramatic — than ‘1,000 people’ and it helps bolster Nance’s asinine storyline. The late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (a Democrat) used to say, ‘You’re entitled to your own opinions, but not to your own facts.