“There’s no Team America for Trump. Not once did I see him do anything to put America first. Not once. Not for a single second.”
Fiona Hill, former Senior Director for Europe and Russia at the United States National Security Council, about the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis and her belief that former President Donald Trump exacerbated the tension
“All this did was say to Russia that Ukraine was a playground,” Hill added, noting Trump’s admiration for Putin and his disapproval of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). She also highlighted Trump’s longstanding pushback against Ukraine as he relentlessly tried to obtain incriminating information on President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter. The controversy surrounding Ukraine was a major component of Trump’s first impeachment trial.
“[O]nly Donald Trump could stand in that way. Only Donald Trump and what he says and how he says it could prevent Republicans from winning the majority. If he makes this about November of 2020 or January of 2021, that could cost the Republicans the Senate.”
Frank Luntz, Republican pollster, stating the Republican Party could regain control of both houses of congress during this year’s midterm elections, if Donald Trump doesn’t interfere
Luntz also said, “If you look at the polling data, and you do the focus groups, you talk to independents as I have done. I find it difficult to see any other conclusion than Republicans winning control of the House and winning control of the Senate in November. Now a lot of stuff can change. And I know that we don’t know what’s going to happen in Ukraine. But Republicans should win both of those based on what’s happening right now and what we know is going to happen in the coming months.”
“Those who attack my initiatives and create the appearance of impropriety are quite literally dream killers. They have canceled the hopes and dreams of children by trying to cancel me.”
“So now his accountants have fired him and investigations draw closer to him and right on cue, the noise machine gets turned up. Fox leads the charge with accusations against me, counting on their audience to fall for it again. And as an aside, they’re getting awfully close to actual malice.”
Hillary Clinton, in a speech during the New York State Democratic Party convention
Clinton was apparently making a connection between the legal troubles of former President Donald Trump and the FOX News network’s repeatedly negative coverage of her.
“These nine families have shared a single goal from the very beginning: to do whatever they could to help prevent the next Sandy Hook.”
Adam Lanza had used a Remington firearm to kill 20 children and 6 educators at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut in December of 2012. Koskoff also noted, “It is hard to imagine an outcome that better accomplishes that goal.” The families went up against the 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which made it nearly impossible for gun makers to be held responsible for the use of their products in criminal acts.
Remington Arms will pay the 9 families $73 million to settle the lawsuit. It is the first time a U.S. gun manufacturer has been held liable in a mass shooting and a legal outcome that could open the door to future lawsuits against gun makers.
“Not only do we have the DC jail which is the DC gulag, but now we have Nancy Pelosi’s gazpacho police spying on members of Congress, spying on the legislative work that we do, spying on our staff and spying on American citizens.”
“It was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election from one administration to the next.”
McConnell added, “the issue is whether or not the RNC should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views than the majority. That’s not the job of the RNC.”
He added: “Looking after creation is an education (process) in which we must engage.” He also cited a song by Brazilian singer Roberto Carlos in which a boy asks his father why “the river no longer sings” and the father responds that “we finished it off”.
Francis also reiterated some key themes of his papacy, condemning excessive spending on armaments, defending the rights of migrants, and condemning ideological rigidity by conservatives in the Church.
I hate to be so personal, but Hawley is one of the worst human beings, and a self egrandizing con artist. When Trump goes down I certainly hope this evil will be layed in the open for all to see, and be ashamed of. https://t.co/3LirLgeuMz
— Adam Kinzinger (Slava Ukraini) 🇺🇸🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@AdamKinzinger) February 2, 2022
Pence added, “Look, I understand the disappointment many feel about the last election. I was on the ballot. But whatever the future holds, I know we did our duty that day.”
Rep. Brendan Boyle condemning Sen. Ted Cruz for apologizing to Tucker Carlson recently about calling the January 6 rioters “terrorists”.
Wow! What a sniveling little weasely coward Ted Cruz is. That begs the question: is @tedcruz the single biggest coward in DC? Or just one of the biggest? Tough call.
Pigeons fly as a policeman guards residents praying outside the Shah-e Doh Shamshira mosque during the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Fitr in Kabul on Aug. 30, 2011. Photo by Erik de Castro/Reuters
Hyenas are one of the oldest species of canine on Earth. Indigenous to Africa and more closely related to felines, they exist in four subspecies: spotted, brown, striped and aardwolf. Despite these slight differences, hyenas are carnivorous creatures. They’re also basically scavengers; waiting until a larger animal dies or is severely incapacitated before ripping it to pieces. And – depending on the victim – they leave little behind, except horns, hooves and tails. All subgroups of hyena boast another attribute – they can’t be tamed. They’re not like domesticated dogs, which have become one of humanity’s truest non-human companions. The hyena mindset is too rudimentary to allow it to sit and stay. They’re just too savage and wild to conform to human-induced pleasantries and commands. You really don’t want one as a pet. Hyenas just need to be left alone.
Afghanistan is a hyena. It’s savage and wild. We really don’t need it as an ally. Unlike a domesticated dog, it doesn’t return the love. We just need to leave it alone.
This landlocked pocket of mountains sits at the crossroads of Asia and the Middle East; languishing in another realm, a universe unto itself. Its current borders were established in the 19th century, but Afghanistan bears an ancient history. Its geographic location made it a principal feature of the storied Silk Road, which carried travelers and traders between Southern Europe and China. Excavations throughout Afghanistan prove that humans populated the region as far back as 52,000 years ago; when Neanderthals were the dominant bipedals. Archaeologists have shown that more stable, urbanized societies began developing by 3000 BCE. With its history closely tied to neighboring countries, such as Iran and Pakistan, the Afghanistan of millennia ago was part of two of the earliest and largest civilizations on Earth – Indus Valley and Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is notable for evolution of one of the first writing systems in the world.
For almost as long as its relatively modern existence, Afghanistan has been subjected to one barbarous onslaught after another. It fell to the Achamenid Empire, after Darius I conquered it around 515 BCE. Alexander the Great stormed into the region around 330 BCE and defeated Darius III. The Maurya Empire took control of most of the region where it further entrenched Hinduism and introduced Buddhism. A variety of successive conquerors and empires descended upon Afghanistan and surrounding areas. Islam arrived in the 7th century CE via Rashidun Arabs coming from the Byzantine Empire. In 1221 CE, Mongols invaded Afghanistan under their founder Genghis Khan who oversaw unbridled destruction of towns and villages.
All of these invaders had to battle a common enemy: Afghan tribesmen, gangs of nomadic and uncultured warriors who had little more than determination and grit as guiding forces. Even when the British first arrived in the 1830s – hoping to annex Afghanistan and protect the latter’s position as a vital trade route from the Russian Empire – they were confronted with bands of ruthless fighters. Great Britain tried three more times to conquer Afghanistan, resulting in a 1921 treaty to…well, leave them alone!
The most recent invasion attempt came with the former Soviet Union in 1979. While the Soviets had been able to swallow up much of Eastern Europe throughout the 20th century, the seeming backwater of Afghanistan proved to be more formidable than others. The Soviets may have easily overrun such nations as Hungary, but Afghanistan tribesmen fought harder than even the great Russian bear anticipated. The United States likes to claim it helped Afghans defeat the Soviets and drive them out before they could mark a full decade of their presence. But one thing remained certain. Afghanistan just couldn’t be tamed; that is, it couldn’t be conquered.
Afghanistan’s remote location has made it as difficult to study as it has been to conquer.
U.S. involvement in Afghanistan is only recent; dating to the 1980s. Before then, most Americans couldn’t point it out on a globe of the world. Many probably still can’t.
But in the modern schemes of geopolitical events, the fact the U.S. promised to help Afghanistan rebuild after defeating the Soviets and then failed to do it gets lost in translation. It’s this failure that led to the rise of the Taliban in the 1990s. The Taliban rejuvenated antiquated views of how the world should function, including a more brutal version of Islam – which is akin to evangelical Christianity: narrow-minded and filled with more hate than love. What infrastructure remained in Afghanistan collapsed, and women became relegated to a status one step above cattle, driven from schools and forced to walk around dressed like beekeepers. It was this bloodthirsty atmosphere that spawned the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which in turn, culminated in a 20-year occupation of this ragged bunch of mountains and its disoriented tribal factions by the U.S.
And, as of August 31, we’re gone. The U.S. has left the region; exiting as a construction company forgoes building a skyscraper in quicksand. It’s not that America is wimping out and giving up. We’re tired of this place. Just as some people can’t pinpoint Afghanistan on a map, some Americans were surprised to know we were still there.
And now, we’re gone. Good riddance!
I have no qualms about leaving. Afghanistan wasn’t worth the trouble. The U.S. couldn’t maintain its place over there. We can’t always be the ones to protect people from themselves. We’ve spent trillions of U.S. dollars (taxpayer dollars) and have nothing much to show for it. The Afghan Army, for example, surrendered to the reborn Taliban as soon as the Americans started leaving. All that time, effort and money spent to train the locals to fight against the more brutal elements of their own society evaporated. It’s like training nurses to work in the emergency room and then watch them pass out at the first sight of blood.
So what now? Nothing! Once we beat back the Taliban and helped move Afghanistan into the 21st century, the Afghan people should have been able to take control at that point. Instead tribalism and that vehement version of Islam swarmed over the country.
Afghanistan donned the hyena mentality once again. But that seems to be its true nature. It’s wild and can’t be tamed.
Chief Writing Wolf 