I predicted yesterday that Joe Biden would react to his abject failure in Afghanistan by lying his wrinkly old ass off, because that’s what he always does. He’s been in Washington since Watergate, and he’s never thought of a lie that’s too big to tell.
I just didn’t predict that he would be so cold-blooded about it. When he finally got around to speaking about it yesterday, he sounded a hell of a lot like his predecessor:
“So what’s happened? Afghanistan political leaders (sic) gave up and fled. The Afghan military collapsed, sometime (sic) without trying to fight. If anything, the developments of the past week reinforce that ending US military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision.”
Then he shuffled off without taking questions and went back to his vacation at Camp David:
Why were those reporters even there if he wasn’t going to take questions from them?
Biden was MIA as the Taliban took advantage of his ineptitude, so he put in a brief appearance to read off a teleprompter for a few minutes. It wasn’t a speech, it was proof of life.
If Joe Biden’s worst enemies wanted to concoct a scenario to make him look stupid, arrogant, and out of touch, they couldn’t have done any better than he just did.
Let’s, as they say, unpack this: First Biden assured us that pulling out of Afghanistan was the right thing to do because their military was so strong. Everything would be fine because they could handle it themselves, he said. Now he tells us that pulling out of Afghanistan is the right thing to do because their military is so weak. Everything is awful but it’s not his fault.
You’re supposed to believe both things, without question, or else you’re a MAGA-head insurrectionist who hates America. So what if he was utterly wrong? So what if he’s lying about it now?
Biden made a confident prediction that was completely wrong, and a month later, he’s justifying his disastrous decision by saying the exact opposite. He’s a screwup and a liar, and a lot of people are going to suffer and die for it.
The whole world is watching how stupid and dishonest our leadership is. Biden is proving that the United States can’t be trusted, and if anything he’s even worse than his predecessor. What a disgusting mess.
Biden promised to restore our place on the world stage. Is this what that’s supposed to look like? Just another hollow lie from a cynical old man.
Donald Trump once said of John McCain: “I like people who weren’t captured.” Maybe you liked that, but I didn’t. Now Joe Biden is saying that he likes countries that weren’t captured.
This clown was supposed to be better than Trump?
Of course, all this assumes that Biden even knows what the hell he’s saying. I’ll grant that it’s possible he lacks the cognitive function to realize that he’s lying. But either way, what he’s saying isn’t true.
The indefatigable Drew Holden has assembled another meticulously detailed thread proving just how wrong and dishonest the Biden administration has been on Afghanistan. Everything they said would not come to pass is now happening, even faster than anyone could have predicted:
Biden and his lackeys assured us that pulling out of Afghanistan would bring about peace. Brace yourself for all the peace you can handle.
And how many Americans are stuck in Afghanistan? How are we getting them out? Are we getting them out?
This is what our moral, ethical, and intellectual betters have wrought. With experts like those, who needs experts?
Natasha Bertrand @NatashaBertrand
NEW: DoD officials say they urged State for weeks to act faster. State officials say they were operating based on intel that suggested they had more time. Intel officials insist they long predicted possibility of rapid Taliban takeover. Blame game begins: https://t.co/XRkeBwXvEfNow China is making moves on Taiwan. American weakness abroad has consequences, whether you like it or not.
Kyle Smith asks a good question:
“Remember when the press spent an entire week in a lather about President Trump’s lies about the size of his inauguration crowd? How should we react to far more consequential lies, lies that result in the mass rape of little girls and the mass torture and beheadings of men?”
You can support the US withdrawal from Afghanistan without making excuses for the misery and death that’s already resulting from Biden’s astonishing incompetence. There was a good way to do it, and this as far from good as I can imagine.
John Podhoretz asks another good question: “Did Cuomo really resign?” The disgraced NY governor certainly isn’t acting like he’s on his way out. I’m trying to remember any public official ever giving two weeks’ notice before. They usually get the hell out right away, don’t they? But Cuomo hasn’t even submitted a letter of resignation, and the state legislature has suspended his impeachment proceedings.
This guy is crazy enough to try to pull a George Constanza:
Are we really supposed to count on Andrew Cuomo’s sense of integrity and honor? If he doesn’t leave office a week from now, what then?
Oh, and his stupid brother Fredo is back on the air, apparently. Good luck with that, CNN.
The Squad and their fellow communists have made a lot of noise lately about cancelling rent. Like, as a concept. Here’s just one example of their moronic rhetoric:
So it should come as no surprise that last year Rep. Pressley earned $5,000-$15,000 from a rental property in Boston.
But that’s different, you see. She’s one of the good guys! Now shut up about it, you racist sexist.
It’s never too early to start planning how you’re going to make the holidays as miserable as possible. Why not make this year’s Thanksgiving celebration a vax-only event? That’s what Slate.com is proposing. Sure, if you’re vaccinated you have nothing to worry about, but where’s the fun in that? The holidays are all about bringing people together so they can ostracize outsiders. What better way to congratulate yourself on your superiority than to shun people who are no danger to you?
It could be worse. You could live in New Zealand:
Or ‘Stralia:
Here’s the thing, though: What??
Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is now on Amazon Prime. It’s one of my favorite shows ever and I haven’t seen it since it was on the Sci-Fi Channel, back when it was still called the Sci-Fi Channel.
The conceit of the show is a bit tough to describe, but I’ll try: Garth Marenghi is a self-styled master of horror who brags that he’s written more books than he’s read. He’s along the lines of Stephen King and Clive Barker, but somehow even more egomaniacal and less talented. This show, released in 2004, is presented as a retrospective of an ‘80s horror/medical drama called… well, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. That show is one of the worst things you’ve ever seen, but Marenghi is so dementedly self-serious that he thinks it’s a work of genius. Clips of the “lost classic” are interspersed with current-day interviews with the cast members, who are all in complete denial about their artistic and commercial failure.
Within this fictional universe, Marenghi wrote and directed every episode of Darkplace. He also starred as Dr. Rick Dagless, who was every bit as self-obsessed, sexist, and bigoted as his creator, and a lot more violent.
Everything about the “original” show is awful: bad acting, bad writing, bad editing, bad blocking, bad camerawork, bad sets, bad lighting, bad music, bad dubbing, the works. It really does have the look and feel of a production put together by people who have no idea what they’re doing, which you can only make purposely funny if you really know what you’re doing.
If you’re a fan of Richard Ayoade and Matt Berry, they got their start on this show and they’ve never been sillier.
A few years ago, Darkplace co-creator Matthew Holness — who played Marenghi, and Marenghi-as-Dagless — wrote and directed a horror film called Possum. I haven’t seen it, but based on the trailer, it looks like Holness plays it straight this time:
That’s Sean Harris, the baddie in the last few Mission: Impossible movies. This one’s going on my watchlist.
Anyway, as a horror fan, I found Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace completely hilarious. Unfortunately, the show got terrible ratings and only six episodes were ever made. I don’t think even the British knew what to make of such a bizarre concept. Maybe they saw a satire of bad TV and thought it was just plain bad TV. Either you’re on the Marenghi wavelength or you’re not. I am.
In other Amazon streaming news, Brotherhood of the Wolf is finally online. It’s one of the better French-language horror/martial arts/historical costume dramas I’ve ever seen, but until now it wasn’t streaming anywhere. You can rent or buy it in French, but I won’t tell anybody if you opt for English. If you liked Marc Dacascos in John Wick: Chapter 3, he kicks even more ass in this one.
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I think Team Biden were trying too hard to create a success story so that, when he's a part of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 ceremony - and there surely will be one (Rudy and Joe on the same stage should be a hoot!) - there would be Good News about how the Afghanis have seen the light because Joe was such a foreign policy whiz.
He'll be most disappointed that his Big Guy 10% isn't coming through on this deal.
I didn't know you were a horror fan JT - what are some of your favorite horror books/films?