Let’s be fair to Blinken and Biden - they’re not the only professional class screwups in the administration. Janet Yellen, Jake (Scarecrow) Sullivan, Little Peter Buttigieg, Lloyd Austin, etc definitely deserve to be mentioned. This entire crew shares credit for the colossal failure of the administration. The broader picture is that the policies pursued by Biden (and his Dem allies) such as DEI, open borders, trans surgeries for minors, boys playing girls’ sports and sharing girls’ locker rooms etc are viewed as repulsive 🤮 to normal people. That’s why red pills 💊 are flying off the shelves in stores throughout blue states. Job well done by Joe, destroying the Dem party!
As a 26-year veteran of the US Foreign Service, I can only shake my head in dismay that this clown show represented our country on the world stage for four years...
Only one query, re ‘the last minute Gaza ceasefire arrangement, obtained thanks to the merger of the Biden and Trump negotiating operations’…. Biden’s team had months to land this, I’m thinking the outcome of the ‘merger’ is heavily weighted in Trump’s favour. Could be wrong, obviously, but from where I’m standing this is what it looks like to me.
Biden could have gotten the ceasefire a year plus ago if only he’d had the guts to tell Netanyahu that, if he didn’t sit down and STFU, the charitable American gravy train would come to a halt.
It took Trump’s envoy, Witkoff, to do this last week.
There are some things we can do to try and change the likely outcome of this ceasefire, which is that Israel will not complete all the ceasefire phases.
This is Trump's deal, or at least he believes it is. If the deal makes him happy, he'll likely want to see it continue. If he gets more good feelings from those supporting the ceasefire, than those who are unhappy with it, we can pretty much count on which side a narcissist will favor.
We need to encourage an on-going campaign to send praise, along with "thank yous" to Trump, on Inauguration Day and every day thereafter. Let him feel the love. He may decide he likes it. Encourage the idea of him deserving a Nobel Peace Prize because he will have earned it, unlike Obama. Flattery has never had a higher calling. We owe it to Gaza, to humanity, and even possibly to Trump, to give it our best try.
Bibi the Evil Monster isn't going to be so easily deterred from his genocidal ambitions. He's trying to out-Hitler Hitler and the US (Biden, Blinken and their entourage) has enabled him every step of the way. Miriam's deep pockets are a goad to Trump further fulfilling the Zionist psycho-killer rampage. Trump knows his benefactors are all on the side of this criminal madness and won't want to disappoint. Bibi the Yahoo will be brazenly accusing Hamas of violating one thing or another and the "cease fire" will cease to exist.
Trump wants his inauguration tomorrow to be the exact opposite of the one in 2016 and he’s going to get it. My prediction: it’s all downhill from there. He’s made no secret he backs Israel and will no doubt be autographing some bombs and asking Mrs. Adelson to join him. Blinken and Biden and BiBi have no use for diplomacy (maybe they consider it a waste of time) and sold their countries’ honor to use sadist force. The US and Israel will never recover the respect they once had and no one - even if every image is erased from TicTok - will ever forget.
I could see many other recent presidents giving Netanyahu a free hand to commit genocide that Biden and Blinken did.
What truly sets them apart as foreign policy disasters is escalating tensions to the brink of war with Russia and China.
Russia is our only peer in number of nuclear weapons. They do not have enough conventional weapons and troops to defeat the US or even NATO without the US in a conventional war.
Therefore, if we start a war with them and they perceive that they are losing beyond recovering, there is a good chance they will launch nukes, starting a chain reaction of retaliation that would leave most people on the planet dead (or wishing we were).
China cannot take and hold land outside of its region. However, despite our air and technological superiority, they fought the US to a draw in Korea.
Today, they still have the advantage in number of troops, but are at least our near-peers in tech, so if we fight them on their turf, they would very likely win.
Even the neocon warmonger George W. Bush tread lightly on Russia and China, but the Biden/Blinken team provoked them with the frenzy of someone who bumped into a hornets' nest.
Saying stuff like "near peer" at this point in the race is a bit dated. China has surpassed the US in more aspects of power than ones where it has yet to do it. Their competition in tech and industry is largely other Asian powers (eg Taiwan in chips, Korea in ships), and very rarely any more the US or Europeans. China has demonstrable momentum in the categories US still fancies there's a chance to "lead" (AI, chips, biotech, finance, VC, aerospace). On the unglamorous hardware that fights wars, like drones or missiles, ships, armored vehicles, sundry supplies of all kinds - it's not even close. The question is whether a way can be found to have Taiwan play the part of Ukraine (and without the benefit of receiving supply from its sponsors in wartime!) /rant off ... sry
Satanyahoo lies all the time and everyone knows it. Why suddenly give credit to more unhinged remarks who are clearly aimed at internal Israhell consumption?
The Biden administration and the embarrassments that are Blinken, Sullivan, Austin and others in key foreign policy and defense positions will inevitably lead to books that will essentially be updates on Halberstam’s great “The Best and the Brightest”. One has to feel sorry for a truly competent man such as Bill Burns who was trapped in the middle of this mess, while trying to serve his country.
Halberstam described how supposed establishment elite geniuses made huge mistake after huge mistake, all rooted in their collective hubris, with the result being the national catastrophe called Vietnam.
The new books on the incompetence of Biden and his elites will be every bit as damning as “The Best and the Brightest” is.
This was brilliant: ". . . Biden mumbled about having harnessed the strength of America 'to solve problems through diplomacy wherever possible.' Apparently the places where this was deemed 'possible' turned out to be rather limited, as Biden’s presidency was marked by a striking abdication of diplomacy — particularly under the leadership of one Antony Blinken, whose tenure as Secretary of State confirms that spending decades as a learned foreign policy 'professional' is often the best preparation for screwing up anything diplomatic."
So much to criticize of the Biden administration. But now lefties have to deal with the Trump administration. That's where my focus will be as should yours imho
I am optimistic about about Trump's foreign policy. His first administration probably had the best foreign policy in my lifetime. Not a very high bar though I will say and it definitely wasn't perfect. But I am concerned about the USA's continued subsidization of Israel. I'm an isolationist in 90% of cases. If a country is unable to defend itself without sucking the welfare tit of the USA than they do not deserve to be a country.
I would not precisely say this sort of commentary is pointless (objective information has been transmitted after all), but the analytical part is determined by so much government opacity as to effectively be so. The Chinese government is exemplarily diplomatic in its discussions of what concerns it regarding the US. However, what the Chinese government actually does is, not surprisingly, a far more eloquent story. It has effectively created a parallel universe of industrial and high tech champions, which gives it the greatest measure of genuine sovereignty and independence seen in the world today vis a vis America's self-assigned mandate to consummate global unipolarity. My only remaining question, fastidiously ignorant as I am in such matters, is how far China's autonomy extends to its banking sector? Seeing as it seems to have been significantly spared the viral Western financial crisis of 2008, it appears its autonomy is genuinely significant (which, in turn, begs the question, how much is the West allowed to invest in the aforesaid, at an individual or indeed corporate level, perhaps enough to make it a good hedge, but obviously not controlling?).
Let’s be fair to Blinken and Biden - they’re not the only professional class screwups in the administration. Janet Yellen, Jake (Scarecrow) Sullivan, Little Peter Buttigieg, Lloyd Austin, etc definitely deserve to be mentioned. This entire crew shares credit for the colossal failure of the administration. The broader picture is that the policies pursued by Biden (and his Dem allies) such as DEI, open borders, trans surgeries for minors, boys playing girls’ sports and sharing girls’ locker rooms etc are viewed as repulsive 🤮 to normal people. That’s why red pills 💊 are flying off the shelves in stores throughout blue states. Job well done by Joe, destroying the Dem party!
Let's not leave out erosion of First Amendment rights, and the self-immolation of the entire public health apparatus.
🤣🤡🤣
As a 26-year veteran of the US Foreign Service, I can only shake my head in dismay that this clown show represented our country on the world stage for four years...
And how is the useful idiot doing?
Spot on analysis, Michael.
Only one query, re ‘the last minute Gaza ceasefire arrangement, obtained thanks to the merger of the Biden and Trump negotiating operations’…. Biden’s team had months to land this, I’m thinking the outcome of the ‘merger’ is heavily weighted in Trump’s favour. Could be wrong, obviously, but from where I’m standing this is what it looks like to me.
Biden could have gotten the ceasefire a year plus ago if only he’d had the guts to tell Netanyahu that, if he didn’t sit down and STFU, the charitable American gravy train would come to a halt.
It took Trump’s envoy, Witkoff, to do this last week.
There are some things we can do to try and change the likely outcome of this ceasefire, which is that Israel will not complete all the ceasefire phases.
This is Trump's deal, or at least he believes it is. If the deal makes him happy, he'll likely want to see it continue. If he gets more good feelings from those supporting the ceasefire, than those who are unhappy with it, we can pretty much count on which side a narcissist will favor.
We need to encourage an on-going campaign to send praise, along with "thank yous" to Trump, on Inauguration Day and every day thereafter. Let him feel the love. He may decide he likes it. Encourage the idea of him deserving a Nobel Peace Prize because he will have earned it, unlike Obama. Flattery has never had a higher calling. We owe it to Gaza, to humanity, and even possibly to Trump, to give it our best try.
Bibi the Evil Monster isn't going to be so easily deterred from his genocidal ambitions. He's trying to out-Hitler Hitler and the US (Biden, Blinken and their entourage) has enabled him every step of the way. Miriam's deep pockets are a goad to Trump further fulfilling the Zionist psycho-killer rampage. Trump knows his benefactors are all on the side of this criminal madness and won't want to disappoint. Bibi the Yahoo will be brazenly accusing Hamas of violating one thing or another and the "cease fire" will cease to exist.
Good idea.
Let's hope it works, because I don't trust the Israelis at all.
Trump wants his inauguration tomorrow to be the exact opposite of the one in 2016 and he’s going to get it. My prediction: it’s all downhill from there. He’s made no secret he backs Israel and will no doubt be autographing some bombs and asking Mrs. Adelson to join him. Blinken and Biden and BiBi have no use for diplomacy (maybe they consider it a waste of time) and sold their countries’ honor to use sadist force. The US and Israel will never recover the respect they once had and no one - even if every image is erased from TicTok - will ever forget.
The United States is dropping the pretense of being anything other than an empire.
Biden and Blinken are simply accelerating the process.
True enough, but it's an empire in seriously bad decline.
I can only hope and pray that Netanyahu is blowing a bunch of hot air in an attempt to keep his government together.
Competing for his place in History as MOST FASCIST, GENOCIDAL U.S. Administration
Why are you even allowed on this venue? You are inept and and and not worth the time
Then don't read it.
And yet . . . here you are, giving Michael clicks & comments.
I want news not opinions!
Then don't read op eds, you fuckwit
Thank you
I could see many other recent presidents giving Netanyahu a free hand to commit genocide that Biden and Blinken did.
What truly sets them apart as foreign policy disasters is escalating tensions to the brink of war with Russia and China.
Russia is our only peer in number of nuclear weapons. They do not have enough conventional weapons and troops to defeat the US or even NATO without the US in a conventional war.
Therefore, if we start a war with them and they perceive that they are losing beyond recovering, there is a good chance they will launch nukes, starting a chain reaction of retaliation that would leave most people on the planet dead (or wishing we were).
China cannot take and hold land outside of its region. However, despite our air and technological superiority, they fought the US to a draw in Korea.
Today, they still have the advantage in number of troops, but are at least our near-peers in tech, so if we fight them on their turf, they would very likely win.
Even the neocon warmonger George W. Bush tread lightly on Russia and China, but the Biden/Blinken team provoked them with the frenzy of someone who bumped into a hornets' nest.
Saying stuff like "near peer" at this point in the race is a bit dated. China has surpassed the US in more aspects of power than ones where it has yet to do it. Their competition in tech and industry is largely other Asian powers (eg Taiwan in chips, Korea in ships), and very rarely any more the US or Europeans. China has demonstrable momentum in the categories US still fancies there's a chance to "lead" (AI, chips, biotech, finance, VC, aerospace). On the unglamorous hardware that fights wars, like drones or missiles, ships, armored vehicles, sundry supplies of all kinds - it's not even close. The question is whether a way can be found to have Taiwan play the part of Ukraine (and without the benefit of receiving supply from its sponsors in wartime!) /rant off ... sry
Having Taiwan play Ukraine with China would lead to a lot of dead bodies and money wasted on killing them.
China is beating us at capitalism. I don't want to kill people for a business advantage.
We would be better off trying to figure out how to cooperate with them as we did in the 70s when they were their most virulently communist.
Satanyahoo lies all the time and everyone knows it. Why suddenly give credit to more unhinged remarks who are clearly aimed at internal Israhell consumption?
The Biden administration and the embarrassments that are Blinken, Sullivan, Austin and others in key foreign policy and defense positions will inevitably lead to books that will essentially be updates on Halberstam’s great “The Best and the Brightest”. One has to feel sorry for a truly competent man such as Bill Burns who was trapped in the middle of this mess, while trying to serve his country.
Halberstam described how supposed establishment elite geniuses made huge mistake after huge mistake, all rooted in their collective hubris, with the result being the national catastrophe called Vietnam.
The new books on the incompetence of Biden and his elites will be every bit as damning as “The Best and the Brightest” is.
Love your writing style, Michael.
This was brilliant: ". . . Biden mumbled about having harnessed the strength of America 'to solve problems through diplomacy wherever possible.' Apparently the places where this was deemed 'possible' turned out to be rather limited, as Biden’s presidency was marked by a striking abdication of diplomacy — particularly under the leadership of one Antony Blinken, whose tenure as Secretary of State confirms that spending decades as a learned foreign policy 'professional' is often the best preparation for screwing up anything diplomatic."
So much to criticize of the Biden administration. But now lefties have to deal with the Trump administration. That's where my focus will be as should yours imho
"should"? 😐
I am optimistic about about Trump's foreign policy. His first administration probably had the best foreign policy in my lifetime. Not a very high bar though I will say and it definitely wasn't perfect. But I am concerned about the USA's continued subsidization of Israel. I'm an isolationist in 90% of cases. If a country is unable to defend itself without sucking the welfare tit of the USA than they do not deserve to be a country.
I would not precisely say this sort of commentary is pointless (objective information has been transmitted after all), but the analytical part is determined by so much government opacity as to effectively be so. The Chinese government is exemplarily diplomatic in its discussions of what concerns it regarding the US. However, what the Chinese government actually does is, not surprisingly, a far more eloquent story. It has effectively created a parallel universe of industrial and high tech champions, which gives it the greatest measure of genuine sovereignty and independence seen in the world today vis a vis America's self-assigned mandate to consummate global unipolarity. My only remaining question, fastidiously ignorant as I am in such matters, is how far China's autonomy extends to its banking sector? Seeing as it seems to have been significantly spared the viral Western financial crisis of 2008, it appears its autonomy is genuinely significant (which, in turn, begs the question, how much is the West allowed to invest in the aforesaid, at an individual or indeed corporate level, perhaps enough to make it a good hedge, but obviously not controlling?).