Americans didn't want to be in Afghanistan, but we did not want to be defeated.
In the wake of Biden's debacle, his administration and its defenders are offering up all kinds of excuses. The worst of these is that they "inherited" a bad deal from Trump. Not only have they done away with lots of other things, including international agreements (see Central America), that Trump negotiated, but the fact is that the negotiations with the Taliban began under Obama -- and they were far worse than anything Trump did. (Remember the Beau Bergdahl prisoner swap -- 5 Taliban generals for one deserter?) Trump, at least, dropped the MOAB before negotiating, and broke off talks when there was violence.
It's really demoralizing to think of the U.S. suffering this kind of humiliation. It places us all in danger, and our allies as well. I wondered last night whether the American moment really is over -- how much we are at risk of future attacks, and whether the freedom we have taken for granted is doomed to fade in the face of growing Chinese power and the machinations of other rival powers.
The answer, per Charles Krauthammer, is that decline is a choice. Now, it's true that there are many Americans pushing for decline -- all the wokesters, and the BLM protesters, and the Antifa kids, and the college professors, and the media types, and Hollywood. In short, the intellectuals, the culture brokers, the elite.
But there are many of us who will refuse to accept this defeat -- and who will turn our energies, instead, to building an opposition, and holding Biden, and the media that supported him, accountable for this failure. More than that, we are going to replace his odious administration with a true pro-American one. It may be a return of Trump; it may be another candidate; but it is going to happen.
The first step is the California recall. Then the midterms. Then 2024.
We are coming.
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
