Let's Hope Supply-Chain Issues Don't Become A National Security Problem
Today I am revisiting a nightmare. Perhaps it is the situation in Ukraine and Taiwan which caused me to think about this again, or perhaps it was reading an article entitled: "A Normal Supply Chain? It's 'Unlikely' In 2022." The article takes a big-picture look at the issue from all sorts of angles, but ends rather inconclusively. The COVID-19 pandemic changed a whole lot of consumer behavior, businesses made the wrong assumptions at the start of the pandemic, but we may never go back to the "old normal" again since some of these changes may become permanent.
But one passage in particular caught my eye:
Even as Tesla last week announced record profits amid overwhelming demand for its electric cars, the company said sales would be hurt by difficulties in the supply chain -- not least due to continued shortages of computer chips.
The chip shortage has limited the production of cars worldwide, while stymying makers of medical devices and a vast range of electronic gadgets. The U.S. commerce secretary, Gina M. Raimondo, recently described persistent chip shortages as an "alarming" threat to American industry.
Congress is actually trying to address this issue to some degree, via a bill tackling China and trade. The bill would (among many other things it would do) essentially subsidize American companies to set up chip fabrication plants domestically, to avoid supply-chain issues in future from impacting things like automobile production lines (which has proven to be a major driver of inflation, due to the fact that there are fewer cars to buy).
New cars and electronic devices (whether medical or for entertainment) are one thing. But there's a much more important side to this problem which I don't believe I have seen addressed yet -- the consequences for military production.
Which reminded me of my previous nightmare. That's a proper use of the word, since when I first wrote about this possible problem it was for a Hallowe'en column (where I always try to come up with scary stories that predict nightmarish futures). The premise was an American on a train, travelling through some unspecified country in Eastern Europe, talking with a spooky old woman who made a rather chilling prediction for the future of America -- that all shipping across the Pacific Ocean would one day come to a complete halt. The most nightmarish thing about the story, when re-reading it today, is that the crone admitted she didn't know why shipping would stop, but tossed out a few possible reasons, beginning with: "Perhaps there is a huge epidemic which comes out of China." But the reason why wasn't important (as prophetic as this nightmarish guess was) -- what was important were the repercussions:
"Now, all of a sudden, this pipeline of goods stops. Imagine this." I was doing precisely that, and I didn't like what I saw.
"The children of America have no toys. The adults of America have no consumer electronics to play with. You are forced to buy only American cars. All the goodies just stop coming." Her intensity was beginning to make me nervous.
"But that is not the worst of it, not by a long shot," she continued. "You may not be aware of it, but every so often some well-meaning member of your Congress introduces a bill to mandate that American military equipment -- fighter jets, naval vessels, missiles; all the high-tech weaponry in your arsenal, in other words -- be made entirely in America, with parts made entirely in America. These Congressmen are well-meaning, but they are foolish. You can mandate that a fighter jet is 100% 'made in America' but all you will be doing is guaranteeing that you will not build any more fighter jets. Because the basic building blocks of your electronic warfare machines -- transistors, chips, relays and all the rest of it -- simply are not made in America any more. Where are they made? For the most part, across the Pacific."
Now I was really getting scared. This was a whole different dimension to the problem.
"So. Pacific shipping stops, perhaps because of a pandemic outbreak of disease, perhaps for some other reason. Supply lines for consumer goods stop. The shelves in the stores are bare. Supply lines for your military stop. America has foolishly made herself dependent on 'world trade' not only for toys at Christmas, but also to maintain her military might. And now it has stopped. And you cannot just start it up again immediately, because all the machines which manufacture these items have also left America long ago. You are faced with not just starting up production lines, but actually starting production for the machines with which to start those production lines."
Now I was really beginning to sweat.
"But the worst is yet to come. China's economy is in deep trouble because of this disruption, and so they need all the hard currency they can get. They begin dumping their massive reserves of U.S. dollars on the world market to prop up their own economy. Americans finally realize what all the talk of a 'trade deficit' truly means, as the dollar's value crumbles. The next step is the world oil markets stop trading oil in dollars, and switch to Euros instead. This further accelerates the decline of the dollar, until the U.S. can't even afford to buy trade goods overseas, even if it were possible to ship them. Europe remains fairly stable, since the Euro is now backing oil, but America's economy is destroyed. Gasoline sells for $10 a gallon in America, then $20, then $40."
She was now scaring the living bejesus out of me, I fully admit.
"And because you have been quite publicly stating for the past few years that your Army is 'broken' and 'overstretched,' and now that the world sees your economy in a flaming wreckage, countries around the world are emboldened to make military moves they've been thinking about for decades. Not only are you incapable of making new war equipment, but you cannot even afford to fuel the equipment you already have."
She glanced at me, and I wasn't sure whether she was taking pity on me at this point or not. "This is one of the places where details are not clear. Perhaps China will attack Taiwan. Perhaps India and Pakistan will throw nuclear weapons at each other. Perhaps Russia will attempt to grab oil fields to its south. Perhaps it will be Israel versus all the Muslim nations. But whoever lights the match, it will end in flames and disaster."
Now do you think "nightmare" is an appropriate word?
With Russia on the verge of invading Ukraine and China making belligerent moves towards Taiwan, does such a scenario sound all that far-fetched anymore?
Computer chips are the lifeblood of the economy in the 21st century. Everything is now computerized, from toasters and coffee makers and doorbells on up. Most of these use off-the-shelf general-purpose chips. A few such as automakers and electronic device manufacturers design their own proprietary chips (which is an expensive process). But almost all of them use some generic chips somewhere -- and that definitely includes military hardware. Such as the shoulder-fired anti-tank missiles we just shipped to Ukraine, for instance. Or the smart bombs we used in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (and continue to use to this day).
Some of the top-secret specialized chips the military requires -- I assume; I am basing this on no real knowledge -- must be being produced domestically. It wouldn't do much good to create a new stealth plane or missile with the key chip being a top-secret design if we farmed the manufacturing of that chip out to China, would it? But most military devices -- especially the ones that would be used up quickly if we had to supply a war effort -- also use generic chips that are manufactured almost entirely abroad. Across the Pacific, in most cases.
In World War II, after Pearl Harbor, America suddenly needed a whole lot of tanks, fighter planes, and bombers. The automobile companies quickly retooled their assembly lines and began making them. They could do this because the technology (by today's standards) was relatively primitive. Today this likely wouldn't even be possible in any sort of timely manner. Remember back at the start of the pandemic how long it took to get a few domestic factories up and running just to make medical masks? And a mask is a pretty simple thing to make, when compared to a computer chip or a shoulder-fired missile launcher.
While it is still completely unrealistic to somehow mandate by law that all fighter jets be "100% made in America," part of the discussion about subsidizing a domestic generic computer chip market should really be the military use of such items and what a supply crisis might mean to national security. America not being able to buy as many new cars as they'd like is one thing, but America not being able to replace fighter jets (or even night-vision goggles or shoulder-fired missiles) might eventually become a much more serious problem. Which is why, nightmarish though it may be, people in Congress and the Pentagon should really be considering some worst-case scenarios here.
-- Chris Weigant
Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant
Good thing we don't have to go to war with Japan again. The manufacturing capability we would need to make weapons to use against Japan would be in Japan.
@andy,
that issue would also have a pretty big impact were there armed conflict with china.
JL
We get some components from abroad but the vast majority of the US weapon systems are built domestically, both components and final assembly. Germany and the UK are the largest foreign suppliers.
Global chips are interesting. It's not just who produces the most but what they produce. China makes huge quantities of chips but it's mostly low level stuff. The more complex chips are split between Taiwan, Korea, Japan, the US and Europe, though China is ramping up as fast as it can. Taiwan and Korea are the big two but not that far ahead of the US, Japan and Europe as a whole.
An attempted invasion of Taiwan would be interesting. It would screw everyone including China. China would lose access to high level chips like processors and cell/wifi transmitters but everyone else would lose access to a lot of the chips that connect them.
Yes, that lady on the train was an excellent column.
However, I handicap the chance that Putin invades Ukraine at 20%, tops. Putin and Russia would lose a lot more than they'd gain -- not just crippling sanctions but body bags and an Afghanistan-like guerilla conflict right on it's border and a Europe united like during the Cold War.
I handicap China invading Taiwan at 0%, and it's not because the Xi is more peaceful than Putin but because they don't have the amphibious capability now and they won't have it until the end of this decade. They simply cannot invade, period.
The only WW3 scenario anyone is contemplating is China versus the West.
America's Navy can completely cut off the natural resources that China must import. Whatever they can bring in via land routes won't sustain their economy.
America's Air Force is superior in both quality and quantity and no competent Commander-in-Chief would even contemplate a land invasion of China.
Also, the Chinese nuclear arsenal of 300-350 warheads (we and Russia have 6,000 each) cannot all be fired at the U.S. because a lot of their missiles don't have the range.
So relax. For a decade our military-industrial complex has been hyping China as the next big threat, but China is no threat and is going to be in a world of hurt before you know it.
As they say, the two largest air forces in the world are the US air force and the US Navy...
But China should be concerned about everyone's sudden desire to diversify tech production.
[5]
How do you figure that, MtnCaddy?
Demographics, Lady-- that's the ticket! In 1970 there were 7 Chinese workers to each retiree but before long that ratio will be closer to 2:1. (FYI Europe, Russia and Japan are all in the same situation whereas America is still growing due to, yes, immigration.)
Thanks to the One Child Policy there are millions of Chinese males who won't find a bride, and everyone hates the rampant corruption.
China's export economy is dependent on demand for it's goods and they aren't going to be able to produce enough to both sustain their population and support a large military.
Oh, and oil will continue to be traded in dollars, not euros, yuan or rubles.
So, CW, kick back and smoke a blunt. Ain't nothing to be freaked about.
... and you too, Bashi!
While I agree that 100% American probably isn't going to happen. We should at the very least move back to the position we had when we first allowed off shore products into the military chain of "allies only" (obviously stated in many more words).
Unfortunately, as China first improved non-chip based electronics parts production the world became comfortable with using those parts, I mean what could go wrong... right? China has long employed creeping colonialism to get to where they are today, be it in industry, economics, or territory expansion.
As I like to point out to my peers in my IRL world, it is great to aspire to producing 100% of "chips" in the US (and yes 100% of "sensitive" purpose built chips are already made here) it does you no good if you and your allies are not manufacturing the other required PCB components. I have long advocated that we should work with our allies to establish a "security stockpile" of these basic manufactured parts by requiring each country to manufacture the basic parts for PCB assembly that they excel in and share the "wealth".
Even if we could solve the electronics problem, we have another larger issue no one touches on in these articles and it is one Donald "king of debt" Trump, and his high holiness of the Republican Party, St Ronnie of Raygun could not solve, China buying our national debt... it is not like they are the largest holder of our debt or any thing ( and yes Michale the Dems also participated. So go ahead and provide JL and Liz with your flood of important differing viewpoints and your "facts" ).
Let's ass-u-me for one second that we solve the electronics issue, I would ask how does one conduct hot combat operations when ones economy is in the tank?
How does one fight a war when your enemy sells off your national debit? Just asking for a friend...
@GT
( and yes Michale the Dems also participated. So go ahead and provide JL and Liz with your flood of important differing viewpoints and your "facts" ).
Since you already concede the point, it really doesn't make sense to provide all the facts you already acknowledge... :D
Congrats.. You hit upon exactly how to limit discussions on issues...
Simply acknowledge the facts as they have been laid out and we don't have to go thru a litany of back and forth about that particular subject, eh? :D
We are in complete agreement, so what's left to discuss, eh? :D
But let me ask you one question..
When we get into a shooting war, do you REALLY believe that one holding another's "debt" is going to amount to a hill of beans??
REALLY???
My guess is you have never really been in the military during a shooting war, eh?? :D
Well, since everyone agrees with me on this Supply Chain issue, I would like to visit a couple other issues..
Namely, Joe Biden's racist and sexist SCOTUS nominee process...
But first... A little bit of gloating.. :D
Yesterday, I was reveling in how BAD Democrats have been losing over and over again the last couple months..
So, lo and behold, I crawl out of bed and what do I find over at RCP?? :D
It Sucks To Be a Democrat Right Now
If ever there was a year for freedom-loving people to run for office, 2022 is that year at all levels of government.
If you’re a Democrat, things are going very, very badly for you. And it’s not going to get better.
According to a recent McLaughlin and Associates study, 65 percent of likely voters believe that the United States is on the wrong track. That’s hardly surprising considering the multitude of poor decisions the fascists in charge have made since taking power.
The McLaughlin study also showed that Joe Biden’s approval rating has crumbled to 41 percent, which is high compared to Quinippiac’s 33 percent. NBC poll numbers were so bad that noted corporate propagandist and regime cheerleader, Chuck Todd, who masquerades as a journalist for that network, admitted that Biden’s numbers put Democrats in the “shellacking” range for the midterms. Todd noted that the overwhelming majority of voters think Biden is “no longer seen as competent and effective.” Of course, it’s been many decades since anyone in their right mind saw Biden as anything resembling competent and effective. But it is noteworthy that others are catching on.
For some perspective on how bad Biden’s numbers are for the fall, in 2010 Obama’s approval rating was down in the mid-40s. In those midterms Democrats lost 63 seats in the House and seven in the Senate. Now take Biden’s numbers, which are anywhere from five to 12 points worse than Obama’s and you get the picture. In short, Grandpa Dementia is the proverbial albatross around the necks of Democrats who were already wearing concrete boots and standing on the edge of a watery abyss.
https://amgreatness.com/2022/01/31/it-sucks-to-be-a-democrat-right-now/
While it may be a real shitty time to be a Democrat...
It's a really REALLY great time to be a patriotic American... :D
I haven't had this much fun since President Trump gave the mighty finger to Democrats and moved the US Embassy to Jerusalem where it belongs.. :D
But while everyone is focused on the federal elections—and with Trafalgar’s Congressional Generic poll showing Republicans with a nearly 14 point lead, it does look like a wipe out at that level—we shouldn’t forget the state and local level opportunities this fall. In the 2010 midterms Democrats lost 680 state legislative seats and six governorships as Republicans also picked up six state attorney general races and six secretary of state races.
In short, Biden’s terrible numbers and a midterm wipeout at the federal level have implications at the state level as well for Democrats in 2022. There are 36 gubernatorial races with key pick up opportunities in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania among others. There are 30 attorney general races, with Wisconsin and Michigan also having pickup opportunities and 27 secretary of state races this year, with key pickup opportunities as well in Wisconsin and Michigan.
2022 is going to be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year for the Democrat Party...
Like I have said... Ya'all probably would have been a LOT happier if Democrats hadn't cheated.. Ya'all should have let President Trump take his rightful place in the Oval Office.. Then you would be looking forward to the time President Trump legitimately left office instead of looking forward to the time President Trump RETURNS to the Oval Office.. :D
Lose, live and learn, eh? :D
@cad,
America's Air Force is superior in both quality and quantity and no competent Commander-in-Chief would even contemplate a land invasion of China.
Unfortunately we have a NO COMPETENT Commander In Chief...
I always like reading your ignorant military pronouncements, cad..
From someone like me who has actually been there and done that in the US Military and civilian LEO, it cracks me up to read ignorant blowhards like yerself who read something on a web site and all of the sudden they think they actually know something.. :D
Let's talk Whoopi... :D
What Whoopi said was factually accurate...
Her transgression was going against the Progressive Democrat orthodoxy...
It's going to be interesting to see if Whoopi sticks to her guns or recants ala Winston Smith and conforms...
Be her own person, show that she has a pair or allow herself to be indoctrinated in Progressive Democrat group-think..
Stay tuned...
Red wave alert for Senate Democrats
In 2021, Democrats were looking at a favorable Senate map and the possibility of extreme GOP challengers. In 2022, the dismal political environment for Democrats may trump it all.
President Biden’s weak approval ratings, compounded by ugly Democratic divisions, have increased the likelihood of a significant Republican wave election this year. Biden’s job approval rating at the one-year mark is just under 41 percent, according to the RealClearPolitics average, the second-lowest of any president in the modern era. Republicans now hold a 3-point advantage on the generic ballot per RCP, a position that’s similar to the party’s commanding positions in the midterm elections of 2010 (when they netted five Senate seats) and 2014 (when Republicans regained the Senate majority, winning nine Senate seats).
The worst-case scenario for Democrats could mean four or more GOP Senate pickups, moving into the bluer parts of the map. That would entail Republican pickups in Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada, the three most favorable states on the map, holds in the two GOP-held states Biden carried, along with an upset in New Hampshire or Colorado. This is the “wave scenario” that’s looking more likely. Adding insult to injury, the Senate map gets downright brutal for Democrats in 2024, with the party defending seats in Republican-friendly West Virginia, Ohio, and Montana, along with other swing-state challenges. It’s a formula for Democrats to sink into a long-term Senate minority, unless Biden starts tending to the interests of his most vulnerable members.
https://www.nationaljournal.com/s/716324/red-wave-alert-for-senate-democrats/?unlock=H32599Y82QS6VWYG
WOW... It really is going to be a BRUTAL year for Democrats, eh?? :D
Couldn't happen to a more deserving Party..
Aren't ya'all glad you have me here to make sure ya'all get the facts, the whole facts and nothing but the facts?? :D
OK, OK.. Yer getting a lot more than "nothing but the facts".. :D
It's just my full-service fact provider process at work.. :D
Georgetown Law Students Stage Sit-In, Demand Dean Fire Ilya Shapiro
https://tinyurl.com/3d6nkdd9
As I read thru the words and statements of future US leaders, I am reminded of the immortal words of Tommy Lee Jones in UNDER SEIGE...
"My god, what a bunch of pussies!!"
:epic eyeroll:
"If we want to cry, is there a room we can go to cry in??"
My gods!!! Are there actually people who are REALLY that sensitive all the time that they actually NEED a place to go break down and cry???
Are those REALLY the kind of people that ya'all want representing ya'all's beliefs???
SERIOUSLY????
And, in the WHO COULD HAVE POSSIBLY PREDICTED THIS... OH... WAIT department..
Lockdowns only reduced COVID-19 mortality by .2%, study finds: 'Lockdowns should be rejected out of hand'
The Johns Hopkins University study also found that shelter-in-place orders reduced COVID-19 mortality by 2.9%
https://www.foxnews.com/us/lockdowns-reduced-covid-19-mortality-by-2-study-finds-lockdowns-should-be-rejected-out-of-hand
The hysteria and the fear-mongering of Democrats' bogus COVID panic agenda is being laid bare for all to see..
And laugh at!! :D
Lockdowns during the first COVID-19 wave in the spring of 2020 only reduced COVID-19 mortality by .2% in the U.S. and Europe, according to a Johns Hopkins University meta-analysis of several studies.
"While this meta-analysis concludes that lockdowns have had little to no public health effects, they have imposed enormous economic and social costs where they have been adopted," the researchers wrote. "In consequence, lockdown policies are ill-founded and should be rejected as a pandemic policy instrument."
The researchers – Johns Hopkins University economics professor Steve Hanke, Lund University economics professor Lars Jonung, and special advisor at Copenhagen's Center for Political Studies Jonas Herby – analyzed the effects of lockdown measures such as school shutdowns, business closures, and mask mandates on COVID-19 deaths.
"We find little to no evidence that mandated lockdowns in Europe and the United States had a noticeable effect on COVID-19 mortality rates," the researchers wrote.
So, Democrats got together and said, with one voice...
"Let's totally decimate our economy... Just for kicks..."
:eyeroll:
My guess is you have never really been in the military during a shooting war, eh?? :D
Golf Foxtrot Yankee...
You only have one more left before I take the gloves off.... You want to make this personal COPD-man?, We can... or we can just keep it political up to you...
Now onto previous points...
Since you already concede the point, it really doesn't make sense to provide all the facts you already acknowledge... :D
I have conceded nothing, you as per your usual have tried to twist my words.
Simply acknowledge the facts as they have been laid out and we don't have to go thru a litany of back and forth about that particular subject, eh? :D
So are you AK my OP? Even if we could solve the electronics problem, we have another larger issue no one touches on in these articles and it is one Donald "king of debt" Trump, and his high holiness of the Republican Party, St Ronnie of Raygun could not solve, China buying our national debt... it is not like they are the largest holder of our debt or any thing ( and yes Michale the Dems also participated. So go ahead and provide JL and Liz with your flood of important differing viewpoints and your "facts" ).
Can't figure that one out really....
We are in complete agreement, so what's left to discuss, eh? :D
We are not... and there is plenty...
When we get into a shooting war, do you REALLY believe that one holding another's "debt" is going to amount to a hill of beans??
Do I really need to explain the economic mechanics of a hot conflict ( err... I mean a pew..pew..pew.. war) to you? Serious question to you...
If you want to play your usual party over reality go ahead and flood the space... otherwise man up and answer up with non opinion based "facts"
@GT
My guess is you have never really been in the military during a shooting war, eh?? :D
Golf Foxtrot Yankee...
You only have one more left before I take the gloves off.... You want to make this personal COPD-man?, We can... or we can just keep it political up to you...
Now onto previous points...
Oooooo Take the gloves off...?? That means yer going to type with TWO hands?? :D
Seriously, dood.. Do you HONESTLY think that someone's DEBT is going to be an impediment in a shooting war??
Hell, even if you ignore the common adage "All's Fair In Love And War"....
If we have a blood feud going and you acquire my "debt" (say $200 that I owed someone else) do you HONESTLY believe that is going to make ANY difference when the bullets start flying between us!!???
Com'on dood.. NO ONE who has worn the uniform of this great country could EVER believe that "debt" is of any real concern..
Because MY response to you owning my debt would be the SAME response that the US would have to China owning US debt..
"Take that debt and shove it up yer arse!!"
Com'on!! I *KNOW* you are smarter than that...
I have conceded nothing, you as per your usual have tried to twist my words.
Sure ya did..
You conceded that Democrats are up to their eyeballs in the issue... NO different than Republicans..
We are in complete agreement on that point.. So, there is no need for me to (as I am wont to do) provide a plethora of facts proving the point..
Because you have already conceded the point..
We are not... and there is plenty...
Fine... Then go ahead..
Do I really need to explain the economic mechanics of a hot conflict ( err... I mean a pew..pew..pew.. war) to you? Serious question to you...
Do I really need to explain that economics between the two combat'ing parties doesn't mean squat when missiles are flying..
Again, I am re-evaluating my assessment of your intelligence..
"Oh gee... We owe China a hundred bucks.. Maybe we SHOULD'NT bomb them back to the Stone Age.."
SERIOUSLY, dood??? Do you HONESTLY believe that's a factor?? :eyeroll:
If you want to play your usual party over reality go ahead and flood the space... otherwise man up and answer up with non opinion based "facts"
Somethings are totally self-evident and shouldn't require any "facts" to prove the case..
Yunno.. Sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Water is wet.. Women have secrets.. "Debt" doesn't mean squat when the missiles start flying..
But hay.. If you want to actually discuss the point and you have the time... :D
Far be it from me to actually dissuade you from helping me up my comment count.. :D
Bring it.... :D
I mean, I would MUCH more prefer to discuss Biden's totally racist SCOTUS nominee selection process..
But I am sure you and I are totally on the same page with regards to that...
So a trip thru military expertise sounds like a pleasing distraction.. :D
@GT
Yer such a tease... :^/
BLM ‘Week of Action’ Teaching Students Nationwide to Affirm Transgenderism, Disrupt Nuclear Family
Students across the country as young as kindergarten-age are learning that “everybody gets to choose their own gender” and are receiving kid-friendly lessons on disrupting “Western nuclear family dynamics” as part of this week’s national Black Lives Matter at School Week of Action.
The activist-driven curriculum for the Week of Action, which kicked off Monday, is based off the 13 “Black Lives Matter Guiding Principles.” Those principles include a commitment to restorative justice, being transgender affirming and queer affirming, creating space for black families that is “free from patriarchal practices,” and “the disruption of Western nuclear family dynamics and a return to the ‘collective village’ that takes care of each other.”
Black Lives Matter at School offers kid-friendly versions of the 13 principles designed for elementary and middle-school students.
The Week of Action also includes a list of four national demands: end zero-tolerance discipline policies; mandate black history and ethnic studies; hire more black teachers; and fund counselors, not cops, according to a “starter kit” on the Black Lives Matter at School website.
In the starter kit, New York City kindergarten teacher Laleña Garcia, author of a children’s book about BLM principles, writes that while “discussing big ideas with little people” it is necessary to “consider age-appropriate language so that our students or children can grasp the concepts.” For example, she suggests not talking about police violence with “our youngest children.”
https://tinyurl.com/na6z9a83
Democrats trying to indoctrinate children with their twisted ideology...
Washington Commanders
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Leaked documents raise new questions about Biden admin's preparation for Afghanistan withdrawal: report
Report said meeting took place on Aug. 14 at about 3:30-4:30 p.m. ET
The Biden administration’s handling of the withdrawal from Afghanistan faced new scrutiny on Tuesday after a news outlet said it obtained leaked notes from the White House Situation Room that showed "just how unprepared" it was to evacuate Afghan nationals who assisted Americans during the conflict.
Axios first reported on the alleged leaked documents and said they showed how many "crucial actions" the U.S. was lining up just as Kabul began to fall to the Taliban. Emily Horne, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, downplayed the weight of these documents and told the website that although she could not comment on these particular items, "cherry-picked notes from one meeting do not reflect the months of work that were already underway."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/leaked-documents-raise-new-questions-about-biden-admins-preparation-for-afghanistan-withdrawal
The beginning of the end of the Democrat Party as a viable political Party...
Enjoy yer minority status for the next 20 years, Demcorats...
goode trickle,
( and yes Michale the Dems also participated. So go ahead and provide JL and Liz with your flood of important differing viewpoints and your "facts" ).
Hmmm ... not sure what to make of that, gt.
Should Joshua and I surmise that to be some sort of insult?
Should Joshua and I surmise that to be some sort of insult?
"Most likely. Bet it's something nice, though.."
-Ace Ventura
What Whoopi said was factually accurate...
You say stupid shit on this blog but this is one is way up there. Not much a student of history...
[29]
Since 29 December I've scrolled through troll spew and I don't get annoyed by anything besides that it sucks all the oxygen out of Weigantia. But I sometimes glance at your stuff and with the exception of your occasional excellent forays into political humor this is the best comment I've ever read of yours!
As a former Accounting student I was always bothered by this very issue and you've just offered a well thought out solution.
Respectfully, Brother Don...
With OD you often act like you don't understand English and thus fail to address the point being raised. And you rage against the problem of big money in politics as though that means OD has to be the solution, a logic that escapes the rest of us. This is why I gave up on you.
But then you come back with this level of thinking! Give me more!
I'm sorry that you're so obsessed with OD because you could be a quality contributor down here instead of the Fredo of Weigantia soft and sweet and couldn't hurt a fly.
You ain't getting anywhere with OD, amirite? Give it up, Dawg...
TAKE THE VACCINE, Don!
@Bashi,
You say stupid shit on this blog but this is one is way up there. Not much a student of history...
Really???
Explain how "Jewish" is a race.. Go ahead... I'll be around...
Jewish is a religion, not a race... It's like 'muslim' being a race.. It's not.. It's a religion..
DUH....
Feel free to be completely embarrassed by how full of shit you are.. :D
Since 29 December I've scrolled through troll spew and I don't get annoyed by anything besides that it sucks all the oxygen out of Weigantia. But I sometimes glance at your stuff and with the exception of your occasional excellent forays into political humor this is the best comment I've ever read of yours!
In other words, cad reads EVERY comment he claims he "ignores"...
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
And for the Democrat Propaganda Network???
Jeff Zucker out at CNN after failing to disclose ‘consensual relationship’ with colleague: ‘I was wrong’
'I was required to disclose it when it began but I didn’t,' Zucker said of the 'consensual relationship' in his memo
https://www.foxnews.com/media/jeff-zucker-cnn-failing-to-disclose-consensual-relationship-colleague-i-was-wrong
The hits just keep on coming!!! :D
Can things get ANY worse for Democrats this year???
DH,
If we spent half the money we spend to blow up the world on making the world a better place to live we would not need to spend very much of the other half on blowing up the world.
So, what you are saying is that if we don't spend money on weapons then no one else will spend money on weapons and then we will all be safe. :D
PLEASE tell me that you are NOT that naïve??
I am not surprised that cad buys into that utter BS, being he is military-ignorant and all..
But seriously... There is a very good and valid reason why we spend so much on weapons and defense...
Your position needs to have a HUGE helping of reality...
Michale,
Hitler dedicates an entire chapter in Mein Kampf and quite clearly spells out that's it's about race. The "Aryan" race. The mistake many make about Nazis is they are only racist against Jews. They were racist against everyone but particularly hated the Jews to which that chapter goes quite in depth...
But continue with your Juvenile ignorance...
@Bashi,
Really???
Explain how "Jewish" is a race.. Go ahead... I'll be around...
Jewish is a religion, not a race... It's like 'muslim' being a race.. It's not.. It's a religion..
DUH....
Feel free to be completely embarrassed by how full of shit you are.. :D
I don't think you are stoopid and moronic enough to actually subscribe to the NAZI interpretation of "race" in this context..
But just in case you are...
Even if you take into account the NAZI desire to create a different "race" a "MASTER" race, it would STILL have been based on the caucasian race.. So, it would STILL be the same "race" as the "race" that can also ascribe to the jewish RELIGION... In other words, you don't have to be of a certain or specific race to be jewish.. Just like you don't have to be of a certain or specific race to be a muslim...
Religious identity is NOT, nor does it have ANYTHING to do with racial identity...
Race issues, in the context of Democrat and Democrat Party racism, is an issue of DIFFERENT races..
With regards to the Holocaust, race.... in the context of Democrat and Democrat Party racism..... never entered into the equation...
The Holocaust was never about race.. It was about Hitler and the Nazi's attempt to scapegoat a RELIGION..
Not a race...
Much like the Democrat Party's successful attempts to scapegoat black Americans.. Which, in THAT context, WAS about race...
I look forward to watching you attempt to dig yerself out of this total BS hole you have dug yourself into..
:D
@Bashi,
So, you ARE going to be a Nazi and adopt the Nazi viewpoint..
I wish I could say I was surprised..
Hitler dedicates an entire chapter in Mein Kampf and quite clearly spells out that's it's about race.
The fact that Hitler WANTED it to be about race or may have even actually BELIEVED it was about race is not relevant to the facts..
The fact that you ascribe to be like Hitler is sad...
The "Aryan" race.
There is no Aryan race.. Aryan race is caucasian race...
The Aryan race is an obsolete historical race concept which emerged in the late 19th century to describe people of Indo-European heritage as a racial grouping. The theory has been widely rejected and disproved since no anthropological, historical or archaeological evidence exists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_race#:~:text=The%20Aryan%20race%20is%20an,historical%20or%20archaeological%20evidence%20exists
Once again..
I have the FACTS...
You channel Hitler.. :eyeroll:
Judaism is a religion.. Those who ascribe to that religion are called 'jewish'.. And they can be of ANY race possible..
Jewish != race..
This is fact..
The fact that YOU think jewish is a race simply means you are as stoopid as Hitler...
Again, a fact that I am not at all surprised by...
Washington Commanders
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA
Washington Commies!!!!!
Yea!!!! That's the ticket!!!
BBBBWWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
The Washington Commies
Their home stadium? The Commode
BBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA
At a Washington Football Team Marketing Meeting..
"We have to get rid of our Washington Redskins name.. It's not politically correct!!"
"How about Washington Commies!!!???"
"Yes!!! Perfect!!! That's the ticket!!!"
BBBWWAHAHHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Wonder who in the right mind wants to play for the Washington Commies!!! :D
As usual you have it completely backasswards. It's about the Aryan "race". By modern standards would we consider that a race? No, we would consider it an ethnicity but they did at the time and used the word race to describe it.
Caucasians can be "racist" against other Caucasians just ask the Irish or Italians during the 50s. Asians can be "racist" against other Asians just ask Koreans and Chinese about the Japanese during WWII.
It's kind of like when you are called a troll. You are not really a classic troll as you post more than anyone replying (you troll yourself?). But they still use troll because there is not a better word. Same with racism. It's really "ethnicitist" but as that is not a word, we use the word "racism" to describe it...
As usual you have it completely backasswards. It's about the Aryan "race". By modern standards would we consider that a race? No, we would consider it an ethnicity but they did at the time and used the word race to describe it.
YOU claimed it was a race.. I simply proved you wrong..
Then you agree with me and pretend you were agreeing with me all along.. :eyeroll:
Caucasians can be "racist" against other Caucasians just ask the Irish or Italians during the 50s.
Only STOOPID caucasians... Irish and Italian is a NATIONALITY, not a race..
Anyone who says they are racist against a nationality is a moron who has no clue what racism really is..
Asians can be "racist" against other Asians just ask Koreans and Chinese about the Japanese during WWII.
Again, you are talking NATIONALITIES and trying to pretend they are different races..
You are acting like a moron here Bashi...
It's really "ethnicitist" but as that is not a word, we use the word "racism" to describe it...
And you are a moron for doing so..
The Holocaust was about ethnic cleansing.. NOT racial cleansing..
NOTHING you have described involves racism whatsoever..
The mere fact that morons like to PRETEND it's about race does not mitigate the fact that anyone who pretends the Holocaust was about race is a moron..
It's just the same old Democrat proclivity to change FACTS to conform with their moronic ideology...
Yawn.
I accept your concession...
Yer off yer game a LOT today Bashi... :D
I accept your concession...
Thanks, I glad you conceded...
While I know that Hitler talked of his dream of the “master” race and purging the “impure” races, his misguided concept of what defines “race” does not make it true. I think we can all agree that he was wrong about a lot of things, after all.
Nor does the fact that most race-hating organizations include Jews as acceptable targets of their hatred make “Jewish” a race. Let’s be clear, persecution is never enjoyable regardless of the reason given for it! But that doesn’t make the Aryan race an actual race. However, the Nazi’s view that Jesse Owens was inferior because he was black is racist. See how fun this is!
That said, who gives a flying’ fart if Whoopi’s opinion is correct or not? With everything else going on in the world… we are focusing on what Guinan thinks about how terrible the Nazi Party’s programs were??? That’s so productive!
Thanks, I glad you conceded...
Ahhh The old I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I rebuttal..
I see you have been taking debate lessons from Vick..
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Russ,
While I know that Hitler talked of his dream of the “master” race and purging the “impure” races, his misguided concept of what defines “race” does not make it true. I think we can all agree that he was wrong about a lot of things, after all.
EXACTLY...
Hitler thinking the Holocaust was about race does not make it so..
That said, who gives a flying’ fart if Whoopi’s opinion is correct or not? With everything else going on in the world… we are focusing on what Guinan thinks about how terrible the Nazi Party’s programs were??? That’s so productive!
Ooooo Upvote for the Trek reference!! :D
Anyone see the new episode of RESIDENT ALIEN??
It's hilarious!! :D
The Holocaust was about ethnic cleansing.. NOT racial cleansing..
Then explain why gays, those with mental retardation and the physically deformed were sent to the camps despite being white? Hitler put many blond haired, blue eyed Jews to death to purify the Aryan bloodline.
Black Lives Matter 'delinquent' on financial disclosures, risks tax-exempt status, California AG warns: report
Black Lives Matter Global Network has tens of millions of dollars in the bank, it said in impact report published in early 2021
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/black-lives-matter-california-tax-directors-deliquent
And the Democrat Party's woes continue to pile up..
The terrorist Wing of the Democrat Party has no life left in it.. :D
It's all being exposed for the CON that it is.. :D
We usually think of racism as the hatred for a specific race of people. But the Nazi’s did not hate you for being black…they hated you for not being WHITE! Any reason to hate others in order to make yourself feel superior worked for them!
We usually think of racism as the hatred for a specific race of people.
At least, those of us who have more than two brain cells to rub together...
As that is a very good definition of a racist.. A person who hates people of other races SOLELY because they are of another race...
Any reason to hate others in order to make yourself feel superior worked for them!
Kinda sounds like the Democrat Party, eh?? :D
A person who hates people of other races SOLELY because they are of another race...
A person is free to hate their own race just as they can any other. Jews are Caucasian, other than Sammy Davis Jr and others who convert. Nazi hatred was focused internally at other members of the Caucasian race.
A person is free to hate their own race just as they can any other. Jews are Caucasian, other than Sammy Davis Jr and others who convert. Nazi hatred was focused internally at other members of the Caucasian race.
And, as such, racism (as it is commonly defined) had nothing to do with the Holocaust.
Caucasians can be "racist" against other Caucasians just ask the Irish or Italians during the 50s.
Asians can be "racist" against other Asians just ask Koreans and Chinese about the Japanese during WWII.
I still think that is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time... :D
[10]
I have long advocated that we should work with our allies to establish a "security stockpile" of these basic manufactured parts by requiring each country to manufacture the basic parts for PCB assembly that they excel in and share the "wealth".
Great idea except for the fact that doing so would cost money, money that can go into another tax cut for our millionaires. Trickle down and stuff.
Russ,
That said, who gives a flying’ fart if Whoopi’s opinion is correct or not? With everything else going on in the world… we are focusing on what Guinan thinks about how terrible the Nazi Party’s programs were??? That’s so productive!
It's important because it shows perfectly how much politics (Left *AND* Right) has come to influence and interfere with facts and reality and history...
Anyone with more than 2 brain cells to rub together knows for a fact that the Holocaust had nothing to do with real and actual racism...
But throw politics and bigotry into the mix???
And everything get's frak'ed up beyond recognition..
So it is with Democrat "science"... It's ALL politics..
@cad
I have long advocated that we should work with our allies to establish a "security stockpile" of these basic manufactured parts by requiring each country to manufacture the basic parts for PCB assembly that they excel in and share the "wealth".
You have??
PROVE IT... Show me the comments where you have advocated this...
You can't because you are lying thru your tooth...
You are military-ignorant, never having served and now yer just trying to act like you actually know something.. :eyeroll:
Great idea except for the fact that doing so would cost money, money that can go into another tax cut for our millionaires. Trickle down and stuff.
You DO realize that the VAST MAJORITY of millionaires made so by politics are all Democrats, right???
Once again, yer blatant hypocrisy is exposed for all to see...
You are military-ignorant, never having served and now yer just trying to act like you actually know something.. :eyeroll:
Kind of like you...
[10]
Tell your friend that the Chinese hold a relatively small fraction of our national debt. Social Security being the big player in that respect.
IF THEY "call in" their portion they'd be devaluating the value of their holdings, financially cutting their own throat. And it would have no effect on Murica's ability to kick their butt.
Again, China can't invade Taiwan and even if they could American Air power would sink the invasion flotilla lickity split.
For those of us who grew up in a much simpler and less heavily-populated world, this type of prognossis gawdam near takes all the sting out of nearing the end!!
As of last year, China held around 15% of our debt. Japan had about 18%. That may have changed with all the spending this year...
[20]
Golf Foxtrot Yankee...
You only have one more left before I take the gloves off.... You want to make this personal COPD-man?, We can... or we can just keep it political up to you...
Dude, if you wanna eff up any troll simply scroll through the spew -- no peeking not a word! and do not acknowledge troll. Period.
I've no idea if troll has addressed, insulted or even complimented me because I don't waste a moment reading spew. Trolls will post anything to get you to pay attention to them.
Don't take the bait. Troll is too shameless and stupid for you to reach or convince so why are you wasting your time?
Ignoring trollery probably won't make them go away. But don't feed the trolls by completely ignoring them is your best revenge.
[20]
Golf Foxtrot Yankee. Did you serve in our military? I defended democracy for the Army at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert -- where it hit 117° the month I arrived.
MAKE SINEMA'S LIFE HELL UNTIL SHE BREAKS!!!
-AOC TO SCHUMER
SUCK MY WHAT???
-SCHUMER TO AOC
AOC demands Schumer make life 'as difficult as possible' for 'obstructionist' Dem until she submits
AOC tells Schumer to make Sinema's life 'as difficult as possible'
Moderate Democrats continue to clash with the Democrats' progressive lawmakers
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/aoc-tells-schumer-make-sinemas-life-as-difficult-possible
Don'tcha just LOVE Democrat Civil War?? :D
@cad
Dude, if you wanna eff up any troll simply scroll through the spew -- no peeking not a word! and do not acknowledge troll. Period.
You mean, like you just did???
BBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You made the exact same claim about Don's comments and yet you got caught reading them!!
So, yer proven to be a liar...
I defended democracy for the Army at Fort Irwin in the Mojave Desert --
BBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Now I KNOW you are full of shit...
As of last year, China held around 15% of our debt. Japan had about 18%. That may have changed with all the spending this year...
So, I spank your ass and even had RUSS on my side and now you want to go off on an irrelevant tangent?? :D
Kind of like you...
Except my military and LEO bona fides were established over a decade or so by none other than the late CW hisself..
Yer just pissy cuz I spanked yer ass over your claim about nationalities being race and even got Russ on my side.. :D
Ignoring trollery probably won't make them go away.
That's not what you claimed before.. You claimed that if you ignore me, I would go away...
And yet.. I am still here.. :D
You got CAUGHT in another lie, dood!!
BBBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
But don't feed the trolls by completely ignoring them is your best revenge.
How good is your advice when you can't even follow it yourself!!
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Tryharder tryhard...
Looks like the Democrats just lost the Senate Majority.. :D
Democratic US senator’s stroke threatens Biden agenda
https://www.digitaljournal.com/world/democratic-us-senators-stroke-threatens-biden-agenda/article
@Bashi,
I accept your concession..
Here, let me save you the trouble..
"I know you are but what am I!"
-Bashi
There... Yer covered.. :D
Yer still smartin' over confusing racism with nationalism, ain'tcha.. :D
@cad...
I am going to start calling you 'Kevin'...
We had a Kevin here about 10-12 years ago..
He too LOVED to announce how much he was IGNORING me..
He went on and on on a DAILY basis how much he ignores me..
Kinda like you do.. :D
BBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA
If you have to declare victory, you have already lost...
Whatever you have to tell yourself to make it thru your depressing and on-going losses.. :D
That's some grade A tryhard stuff right there...
I realize the hurt you are going thru that's behind your stiff upper lip there Bashi...
If it will help, I can expand on all of your losses more?? :D
I mean, let's face it.. You have a PLETHORA of losses I can choose from.. :D
But machs nichts..
As usual, you will eventually run away to lick yer wounds.. :D
That's more tryhard than a squeaker on COD...
Pathetic.
No, it's pathetic how you always lose all the time.. I mean, com'on Bashi...
Nationalism = racism?? How could you be so daft as to even THINK such a thing is valid??
Oh wait.. Let me guess.. You didn't... right???
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I hate to gloat at your losses so much, Bashi.. But ya make it so damn easy!! :D
Run away, Bashi.. Run away...
And, of course, you must realize that I am simply forcing you to stay... :D
I am in complete control of your posting!!
BBBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
You post when I say to post...
BBBBWWAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
With all these juvenile taunts, do you draw a trophy in crayon and stick it on your fridge every night?
Look dear, I won the internet!
That's nice, honey...
Yer becoming like cad, Bashi..
A kept Weigantian™.. :D
With all these juvenile taunts, do you draw a trophy in crayon and stick it on your fridge every night?
Says the kid who responds to each and every one of my "juvenile" taunts..
BBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
PWN'ed!!! :D
And how many posts are you going to tomorrow? More or less than today? Going to bring in some of today's posts to reply? Because we are definitely not living rent free in your head...
Heh...
The fact that you care so much about my postings shows who is in whose head.... :D
"I know you are but what am I!"
-Michale
Except I never said that... Try harder, Bashi... :D
But you'll have to try harder tomorrow.. :D
My time tonight belongs to my lovely wife.. :D
See you tomorrow, Bashi...
If you dare to show up...
BBBWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
With you, I don't need to...