Does that make you a dumbass? Because you sound like one.Perhaps because you sound like a Bircher?
Afghanistan - what a mess by Biden and Trump...
- Thread starter ribbont
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No kidding. No way bots are as dull as the drivel that fills these boards.
Lol. 18/19 bellwether counties. No audit from anywhere.
I have broad shoulders . . . I can take the blame . . . .
Yeah, it starts that way . . . and over time becomes something of a love letter regarding the US government. We get all kinds of services that we take for granted, at a fraction of the cost that we'd be paying to private providers . . . who likely wouldn't provide the services under any circumstances.
If this is the Deep State that others complain about . . . then sign me up to be a sheep.
I am loving the book. The problem with the US government is it doesn't have a good process for tooting its own horn, I am not far into the book and that is obvious. I just started a new thread on it because the section on the USDA is online.
He mentions the group that recognizes innovation inside the government and how it receives no press (drawback to listening to it on walks, some details such as the group's name I don't have). But the group observed that most of the winners were first-generation Americans. The explanation they provide is that people who come to America from failed nation-states appreciate a government and work to improve it. In America, we take government so much for granted many of us hate it.
The book is making it clear the US government does one hell of a lot that never gets into front-page news. The only time it makes front page news is when something goes wrong which leads to the WRONG perception that all the government does is wrong. The section on the Hanford cleanup is incredible.
We WILL have a long thread on this book when I'm done (unless you want to start it before).
Oh, so far my favorite quote was something like knowledge is bad for a worldview. I think we all create worldviews as a shortcut to make the world simple and easy like relativity. I believe the real world is messy and complex like quantum mechanics. If one wants to keep a worldview that everything is handled by relativity one better never read about quantum.
I'm just using the book as a means for responding to the "government is bad" and "less government is better, no government is best" mentalities I see here all too frequently. So have at the new thread.
I was floored at the description of the USDA as the "Department of Science". And the description of the DOE as the "Department of Risk Management".
BTW, [spoiler alert] later in the book there's a chapter on NOAA and one of the central themes is why don't people follow up tornado warnings with life-saving action. The story there is incredible . . . and may explain a bit why folks don't get vaccines.
I'll probably give the book a read. I don't have much interest in books about the Trump Administration (not much we don't already know or suspect), but it sounds like Lewis' book is more than that.
Its entry point is the lack of respect that the Trump administration had for its responsibilities as leaders of the governmental departments, but it is more of a primer regarding what the government actually does, and lauds some of the people who've provided those services . . . at a fraction of what those services would likely have cost if provided by the private sector. Reading this book, it's pretty clear that the whole notion that financial incentives are what primarily motivates people is pretty darned ludicrous.
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I used to write Medicare hospital payment regs and joked there was an entire industry of health lawyers earning double or triple what I did who were dependent on finding our mistakes.
CNN's Facts First searchable database - CNN
Search CNN’s Facts First database for fact checks related to the U.S. economy, mail-in voting, coronavirus, police reform and more.
www.cnn.com
Ahhh . . . spouting nonsense again.CNN's Facts First searchable database - CNN
Search CNN’s Facts First database for fact checks related to the U.S. economy, mail-in voting, coronavirus, police reform and more.www.cnn.com
Got it.
Lol libs. People blame Obama more than Trump.
www.pbs.org
Here’s who Americans blame for U.S. failures in Afghanistan
The chaotic evacuation of more than 120,000 Americans, U.S. allies and Afghans from Kabul seems to have cost President Joe Biden significant public approval as the nation nears the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
www.pbs.org
LOL dbm . . . that article concludes by saying that more Americans are concerned today about domestic terrorism than international terrorism.Lol libs. People blame Obama more than Trump.
Here’s who Americans blame for U.S. failures in Afghanistan
The chaotic evacuation of more than 120,000 Americans, U.S. allies and Afghans from Kabul seems to have cost President Joe Biden significant public approval as the nation nears the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Congrats! You've gotten some attention . . . .
A
anon_6hv78pr714xta
Guest
I thought his idea near the beginning of the book, that the US government is the largest manager of risk that has ever existed in the history of the world was pretty eye opening.
In corporate risk management settings, does anyone know if there is analysis/discussion of the costs and benefits of decentralizing vs. centralizing risk management? Because that's what the political fight over more/less government could be analogized to, I think.
One thing to be careful of with Lewis is that he often simplifies the story so much to create a protagonist for his story that he doesn't really do a great job of telling the other side of the story. That makes for an easy read and easier to teach subject, but robs the issue of realistic complexity.
And we thought they care (not really).
news.yahoo.com
Poll: Republican support for Afghan refugees wanes as Trump, Fox News promote anti-immigrant claims
Republicans have become more skeptical about whether refugees fleeing Afghanistan should be allowed to come to the United States, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.
Or maybe just easily swayed . . . .And we thought they care (not really).
Poll: Republican support for Afghan refugees wanes as Trump, Fox News promote anti-immigrant claims
Republicans have become more skeptical about whether refugees fleeing Afghanistan should be allowed to come to the United States, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.
According to Congressman Mullin, Biden is a Liar who "has blood on his hands"...
www.foxnews.com
Rep. Markwayne Mullin: Biden admin lying about Afghanistan, president 'has blood on his hands'
President Biden "has blood on his hands" regarding the Afghanistan crisis and the Democrat's administration has been lying to the American people, a member of the House Intelligence Committee asserted Friday after returning from the region.
“Somebody is going to repost the lie that Biden looked at his watch during the ceremony, despite the 45 min video from CSPAN (which wasn't edited to score political points) clearly, shows that the vans have driven off and the ceremony has ended before Biden looks at his watch? Are you going to repeat that lie as well...”
I assume you now know that it wasn’t a lie about President Biden checking his watch. This ceremony wasn’t good for him.
Did Biden Check Watch Multiple Times During Transfer of Fallen Soldiers?
During the dignified transfer of U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan, U.S. President Joe Biden appeared to glance at his watch.
www.snopes.com
Probably not true he was checking his watch - he probably was checking to make sure he'd washed the blood off his hands.“Somebody is going to repost the lie that Biden looked at his watch during the ceremony, despite the 45 min video from CSPAN (which wasn't edited to score political points) clearly, shows that the vans have driven off and the ceremony has ended before Biden looks at his watch? Are you going to repeat that lie as well...”
I assume you now know that it wasn’t a lie about President Biden checking his watch. This ceremony wasn’t good for him.
Did Biden Check Watch Multiple Times During Transfer of Fallen Soldiers?
During the dignified transfer of U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan, U.S. President Joe Biden appeared to glance at his watch.
Rescue groups: US tally misses hundreds left in Afghanistan
Veteran-led rescue groups say the Biden administration's estimate that no more than 200 U.S. citizens were left behind in Afghanistan is too low and also overlooks hundreds of other people they consider to be equally American: permanent legal residents with green cards. As for green card...
Falls under W t F (?!?) :
www.foxnews.com
Get them out to a third country and then vet them if that's the issue! What the hell is wrong with these people at State...
www.wsj.com
State Dept blocking private rescue flights from leaving Afghanistan, organizers say: 'Blood is on their hands'
Fox News has learned from individuals engaged in the ongoing private rescue efforts of those abandoned in Afghanistan by the Biden administration that the State Department has been putting up roadblocks obstructing their efforts.
Get them out to a third country and then vet them if that's the issue! What the hell is wrong with these people at State...
Majority of Interpreters, Other U.S. Visa Applicants Were Left Behind in Afghanistan
The U.S. still doesn’t have reliable data on who was evacuated from Afghanistan, a senior State Department official says.
www.wsj.com
Blinken is what's wrong with them.Falls under W t F (?!?) :
State Dept blocking private rescue flights from leaving Afghanistan, organizers say: 'Blood is on their hands'
Fox News has learned from individuals engaged in the ongoing private rescue efforts of those abandoned in Afghanistan by the Biden administration that the State Department has been putting up roadblocks obstructing their efforts.
Get them out to a third country and then vet them if that's the issue! What the hell is wrong with these people at State...
Majority of Interpreters, Other U.S. Visa Applicants Were Left Behind in Afghanistan
The U.S. still doesn’t have reliable data on who was evacuated from Afghanistan, a senior State Department official says.
Bidens Lies:
nypost.com
6 lies Joe Biden told about Afghanistan
The Post Editorial Board brings the receipts on President Joe Biden’s biggest lies on Afghanistan, the Taliban and his utter failure to evacuate Americans, reporters and Afghan allies.
nypost.com
Taliban STOP six planes of evacuees from leaving Afghanistan
The Taliban is blocking the take off of at least six planes chartered to evacuate hundreds of people seeking to flee Afghanistan, a top Republican revealed on Sunday.
Where's all that "leverage" the Biden Administration has been telling us about?Taliban STOP six planes of evacuees from leaving Afghanistan
The Taliban is blocking the take off of at least six planes chartered to evacuate hundreds of people seeking to flee Afghanistan, a top Republican revealed on Sunday.www.dailymail.co.uk
I guess I should have asked: How many pallets of cash will Joe send to the Taliban?
At least we have Someone making an effort to rescue American Citizens from Afghanistan... :
www.dailymail.co.uk
Pictures show first American family rescued from Afghanistan by land
A US citizen and her three young children have become the first Americans rescued by land through government-led efforts since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan.
Surely they will give Joe credit for what he already left there? Shows what this libs in charge think of money. They left pallets of it in Afghanistan. It’s no problem to leave. They can print more.
OK, patriot,
Tell us what Biden could've done to finish the job Trump started. It's also refreshing to see you didn't say a word about what Trump did before Biden came aboard.
Why doesn't this surprise me... 😣😡:
www.foxnews.com
State Dept trying to steal credit for rescue of 4 Americans from Afghanistan, organizer says: 'Total lie'
The organizer of a private mission to rescue an American mom and her three children from Afghanistan says the U.S. State Department is now trying to insert itself into the story of her evacuation, despite playing little to no role for much of the rescue effort.
Taliban STOP six planes of evacuees from leaving Afghanistan
The Taliban is blocking the take off of at least six planes chartered to evacuate hundreds of people seeking to flee Afghanistan, a top Republican revealed on Sunday.
Looks like McCain had Blinken figured out:
McCain’s 2014 attack on ‘dangerous’ Tony Blinken reemerges amid Afghan exit chaos
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is facing fire from critics circulating what they say was a prophetic warning from the late Sen. John McCain that Bliken was “dangerous” in 2014.
nypost.com
He may very well be the true architect of this disaster...
China Weighing Occupation of Former U.S. Air Base at Bagram: Sources
Building on friendly relations Beijing has secured with the new Taliban government in Afghanistan, China is now considering new ways to expand influence and embarrass the U.S.Similar threads
