Grieving, September 11, 2021

 Grieving, September 11, 2021

What grieves me most this day, twenty years after terrorists attacked our nation, is not the fact that it took so long to find and kill Osama bin Laden or the fact that the 9/11 mastermind, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, is still in Guantanamo navigating his prosecution, or the fact that American oil interests drove Middle East foreign policy resulting in thousands of soldiers' deaths without a desirable outcome. 

What grieves me most is that domestic terrorists attacked our nation's capital on January 6, 2021, under the leadership of an insurrectionist President Trump and the seditionist Republican Party that continues to hold representation for an uneducated and deplorable population of Americans who risk everyone's freedom and national security for their convoluted notion of individualism. 

America is hanging by a thread, where seventy-five percent of the population is held hostage by a twenty-five percent minority of extremists. The labels other than domestic terrorists and traitors are too complicated. 

Biden Leadership through the Storms

An Essay

I witness President Biden during the Afghanistan withdrawal, Covid, and the hurricane disaster is a steady hand. He didn't plan to have a two-year term, and he may not pursue one. There is no backup as Vice President Harris appears to be a dud.

What Democrats need is a leader beyond the Biden administration, which is not forthcoming. I only know one Democrat leader in Ohio, Senator Sherrod Brown. I have no idea who my local party leaders are. I am a citizen with unknown representation, and it is not as if I am not an activist. I asked Senator Brown to consider my books on the Presidency and economics. He thanked me for the letter and asked for a donation to the Democratic Party. No more donations. Read my books and comment first.

First, I will address President Biden's approach to Afghanistan.

Then, I will address the performance of his Executive staff and Department heads.

Next, I will address the Republican leadership's response.

Second, I will address Biden's approach to COVID.

Then I will address the performance of Health and Human Services.

Then, I will discuss the Republican Governor's approaches.

Third, I will address Biden's approach to natural disasters,

specifically, Hurrican Ida.

Then, I will discuss the Republican's response and roles during the disaster.

Biden's Afghanistan Performance

1. He made the correct decision to withdraw on August 31.
2. He was consistent and honest about it.
3. Lacking is a global strategy to address terrorism from places like Afghanistan, and there are many.

Republican's Afghanistan Performance

1. Donald Trump bailed without proper preparation.
2. Trump negotiated with the Taliban and undercut the sitting Afghan government.
3. Trump set a withdrawal date of May 1, and that was too soon.
4. George Bush and Republicans led the U.S. into a war in Afghanistan to eliminate al Qaeda and pursue Bin Laden.
5. Bush defeated al Qaeda, and Obama finished Bin Laden and recommitted to nation-building.
6. Trump mandated a withdrawal from Afghanistan.
7. When Biden withdrew, Republicans sniped.

Biden's COVID Approach

1. Biden advanced the speed and rate of COVID vaccine development and deployment.
2. Biden promoted mask-wearing and safe-distancing.
3. The healthcare response to COVID improved under Biden with heavy resistance and balking by Republican governors.

Republican COVID Performance

1. Disaster
2. Lying and misinformation
3. Unnecessary deaths and a threat to the nation

Biden Ida Hurricane Relief

1. Steady-hand competence

Southern Governors Performance

1. COVID complicates relief and magnifies the trouble.