Upstream

posted by David Prentice at American Thinker 

Andrew Breitbart had a maxim, that politics are downstream from culture.  Thanks to Trump, his team, and a once-in-a-lifetime realignment, we find ourselves on the positive side of this equation.  We find ourselves upstream, in a positive move that is unique.  Historic, and breathtaking.  Clearly God-sent.

Consider the remarkable transformation that is happening.  So many extraordinary changes since the election.  Epic changes toward the renewal of American ideals and positive events concerning America.  Even though Trump has not taken office yet, the trajectory of events is moving faster in a good direction than one might have considered.  It is true that the left is still squealing, still in power, still violent, still crazed (particularly war-crazed), and the battle against them and their ugly machinations is far from over.  But for now, there has been a palpable sigh of relief in this country, and the rest of the world will likely follow suit.

The leftist spell over the nation is fading.  Don’t let their confused, destructive actions as they exit power destroy your hard-earned faith in the future.

We are in a historic era, one that has the potential to redefine our country for the better.  Our culture has been, and is being affected deeply in remarkable ways.  Start with the Trump team to understand this.  A formidable and diverse group has joined with each other to save this country and its culture from decline and the radical leftists causing it.  Many of Trump’s allies are former Democrats.  Yet they agree a threat has come from the radical left that jeopardizes our future.  They will fix that.

Joining the Trump team is a remarkable group of doctors, lawyers, influencers, businesspeople, intellectuals, and normies; normies including most of the blue-collar workers of America.  We are caught up together in this movement.  All wanting to renew the American dream and American ideals.  It’s not just a political realignment; it’s a cultural shift.  A shift empowering what once was considered normal, while disempowering the radical left power structure and their crazed malignant ideas.

The destruction of the power of the mainstream, or legacy media, highlights this shift.  Simply put, they have lost credibility with a large majority of Americans.  They self-immolated with their lies, and their moronic attachment to the crazed hard left.  They brought this upon themselves by pretending to be journalists.  They were simply leftist activists pushing narratives to benefit their own skewed beliefs rather than reporting news.

The charlatan leftist journalists are flailing.  Fortunately, being overtaken in their influence by the new media: Podcasters by the hundreds who give out solid information, meaning they actually report news backed by truth.  Posters in the hundreds of thousands on X and other platforms are doing the same thing.  Most of the above lean right and are part of the MAGA movement.  Their success is proof that our culture has moved to the right.  Upstream of politics.

The left has owned culture for far too long.  They have staked out their positions of power and held them undeservedly.  Their influence has been negative, destructive, and simply put, awful.  They have earned scorn, because their ideas were horrid.  The consequence of these ideas has been a cultural disaster, have hurt far too many individuals, and have put our country at risk.

The good news:  They are still confused, still believe they don’t have to change, and are stubbornly holding on to their power that has vanished.  It’s been fun to watch them wallow in their past, as they pine for their previous power and influence.  Cheer for them to stay in the same ideological rut they have been in for decades.

Most in the MAGA movement wanted the chance to disenfranchise the left.  Well, here is our big chance.  We need to take advantage, and now.  We need to be successful in making America great again.  Trump and his team are laying the framework for greatness.  They can accomplish most of the things they ran on.  DOGE.  MAHA.  Taking power from the bureaucracies and the corrupted three letter agencies.  Opening the energy spigot, sealing the border, deporting illegals, deregulating, encouraging the economy to boom, taming the beast of inflation.  These will be wonderful accomplishments.

But the most important accomplishment lies with all of us.  America cannot be great without its citizens aspiring to greatness.  It was John Adams who said: “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”  He didn’t mean morals that were fake or self-righteous.  He was speaking about the great principles that make life full and exciting.  Most of the founders understood that.

This, and only this, will make America great again.  Meaning, most of us need to incorporate the ideals that made us strong in the past, to make us great again.   A simple concept, yet one that can be oh-so-difficult to implement.  Our first principles were life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  These are deeply spiritual principles.  Live life fruitfully and abundantly.  Use liberty to better yourself in every way you can.  Pursue happiness in its highest forms.  Adams implies these constructs are moral and religious and will honor God by pursuing what is good in His eyes.

This is what made America a great nation.  The character in the American people that formed a social and economic bond with one another.   Ascending in the many ways a culture strives for, knit together in goodness.  We became a nation of entrepreneurs, a nation of great ideals, great scientific advances, great advances in wealth, in education, in morals, one that raised families that impressed all these wonderful values on their children.

As a proud Trump supporter who never wavered, let me say this loud and clear.  I think he will fulfill his promises.  The framework for making America great again.  But the finest work is what all of us as individuals will accomplish with this opportunity.  If we think he’s going to do it all for us, he (and we) will have failed.   Because without great citizens, America will not be great again.  Ever.

Let me suggest the following:  Honor God with your actions.  Use the American work ethic to become a better version of yourself.  Aspire to excellence in every way you can.  Better your character, better your circumstances.  Be generous.  Be intellectually curious.  Be inventive.  Use the classical virtues as a guide.  And be adventurous and creative.

These are the things that made us great as a nation.  They are also what will make us great again.  They are part of God’s great principle of life.  They are the things He would have us do to live life abundantly.

Our culture will only be great if we take this opportunity to overflow with the goodness life offers us.  If we do not grow using our liberties, we become lazy shadows of what is offered.  Only by aspiring and achieving the goal of becoming better individuals, a better citizenry, will we stay upstream of politics.  Staying upstream is the best thing we can do. 

Only then can we become great again.

X22, And we Know, and more- Jan 5

 

Ep. 3539a - [CB][WEF] Just Destroyed Their Green New Deal Narrative, Prepare For The New Economy

0:00 / 0:00

15 seconds

15 seconds

0:00 / 0:00

15 seconds

15 seconds

0:00 / 0:00

15 seconds

15 seconds

0:00 / 0:00

15 seconds

15 seconds

0:00 / 0:00

15 seconds

15 seconds

0:00 / 0:00

15 seconds

15 seconds

Biden Is Going To Destroy As Much As Possible On His Way Out The Door

posted by Derek Hunter at Townhall 

Ever see a drunk asked to leave a nice restaurant? It doesn’t have to have been in person, you’ve likely seen it in a movie or a TV show; something where the person is asked nicely, but forcefully, to leave and they cause a huge scene as they walk to the door – knocking over drinks, bumping into people, being very loud, etc. That guy is Joe Biden. The current President of the United States and his administration are going to go out like a destructive drunk and it should lead not only to the destruction of his legacy, but a dramatic change of the transition period in the future.

Remember when the Obama administration was ending and there were a whole bunch of political appointees – people whose jobs should have ended on January 20, 2017 – who moved to non-political jobs so they could stay in various departments and undermine the incoming Trump administration? 

The Biden administration appears to be trying to do that with ideas, bad ideas. “The State Department has crafted plans to distribute staffers from a shuttered office accused of censoring conservatives to a new internal ‘hub’ that will coordinate its activities,” reports the Washington Examiner. “The Global Engagement Center, the office that Republicans accused of working with groups aiming to demonetize right-leaning media outlets in the United States, shut down in late 2024 upon lawmakers agreeing to no longer fund it. However, in a non-public letter to members of Congress on Dec. 6, the State Department outlined its plans to “realign” more than 50 GEC officials and tens of millions of dollars in funding to a hub purporting to counter foreign interference, documents show.”

There was an agreement to shut this censorship machine down and the people the deal was struck with simply started moving it around and calling it something else. 

Maybe Biden doesn’t understand or know that this is happening, but he is still responsible for it. 

The sale of the materials to build the border wall were simply made out of spite – an angry man lashing out at anyone in his line of sight. He’s throwing every penny not nailed down at Ukraine, and God knows what else. 

Now we get word that Joe is officially blocking the sale of US Steel to Nippon because, well, “national security.” What national security? Who knows?

Nippon is a Japanese company, not a Chinese one. Japan is an ally, not an enemy. Nippon has the resources to help rebuild a faltering company and has pledged to do so. Still, Joe blocked it. The New York Times described it as “an extraordinary use of executive power, particularly for a president who is just weeks from leaving office. It is also a departure from America’s long-established culture of open investment, one that could have wide-ranging implications for the U.S. economy.”

In a statement Biden said, “As a committee of national security and trade experts across the executive branch determined, this acquisition would place one of America’s largest steel producers under foreign control and create risk for our national security and our critical supply chains.” He’s never explained how. 

Nippon couldn’t physically remove the steel factories from the US, nor could they refuse to act in America’s interests, should we have an emergency that required steel immediately – every business in the country is subject to the Defense Production Act, which gives power to the feds to take control of pretty much any business in an emergency. 

CBS reported “Trade Representative Katherine Tai, who is a CFIUS member, had concerns about the deal's impact on labor, and was opposed to the deal,” which is odd considering her domain is trade, not unions. Of course, she’s been cozy up with the “other suitor” in this deal, Cleveland Cliffs, which has offered a much lower priced deal with significantly less investing. The CEO of US Steel, David Burritt, called what Biden did “shameful and corrupt. He gave a political payback to a union boss out of touch with his members while harming our company’s future, our workers, and our national security,” on Twitter, adding, “Our employees and communities deserve better. We needed a President who knows how to get the best deal for America and work hard to make it happen. Make no mistake: this investment is what guarantees a great future for U. S. Steel, our employees, our communities, and our country.”

One is coming, and those jobs can still be saved.

Undoing this blockage, along with all the last-minute destruction Biden is inflicting on his way out the door should be a day one priority of President Trump. Of course, he can’t claw back money already in Ukraine, he can’t undo pardons and commutations, but he can reverse Biden’s job-killing decision on US Steel and he can the censorship regime Biden is trying to embed deep in the government.

Then we need to have a serious discussion about limiting what any President can do in the ultra-lame-duck three months after an election timeframe. If our political leaders were angels, we wouldn’t need to worry about it. But they’re that drunk guy being asked to leave a restaurant who simply refuses to do the right thing and leave with some dignity.  

🎭 𝐖𝟑𝐏 𝓓𝓐𝓘𝓛𝓨 𝓗𝓾𝓶𝓸𝓻, 𝓜𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬, 𝓐𝓻𝓽, 𝓞𝓟𝓔𝓝 𝓣𝓗𝓡𝓔𝓐𝓓

 

Welcome to 

The 𝐖𝟑𝐏 𝓓𝓐𝓘𝓛𝓨 𝓗𝓾𝓶𝓸𝓻, 𝓜𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓬, 𝓐𝓻𝓽, 𝓞𝓟𝓔𝓝 𝓣𝓗𝓡𝓔𝓐𝓓 

Here’s a place to share cartoons, jokes, music, art, nature, 

man-made wonders, and whatever else you can think of. 

No politics or divisive posts on this thread. 

This feature will appear every day at 1pm mountain time. 

The West Does Not Even Know That It Is Committing Suicide

by Alan Joseph Bauer at Townhall 

Certain trends threaten the very existence of Western nation states that we have taken for granted for the past several hundred years.

A friend once told me a story that occurred just prior to the 1967 Six Day War. Israel took a group of officers and tasked them with determining what Israel needs to do to win the upcoming war with Egypt, Syria and other Arab states. Egypt’s Nasser had been on the warpath and the only question was when hostilities would begin. The officers determined that the most important task for Israel was to wipe out Egypt’s air force. Without air cover, all of the invading armies would be open to attack. Israel determined the optimal moment to attack and preemptively wiped out Egypt’s Russian-supplied air force. The outcome was that after six days, Israel had added the Sinai peninsula, the West Bank,  and the Golan Heights.

If the U.S. were to take a bunch of geniuses and similarly lock them in a room and ask what the West needs to do to remain viable, it would probably make some very important observations and suggestions. Two might include the following:

The first would be to get birth rates up. One of the major drivers for bringing in large numbers of illegal aliens and causing social instability, increased crime and lower wages is because the locals are not producing enough kids. All Western countries other than Israel are well under the accepted 2.1 children per woman for the population size to remain as is. In the U.S., all of the growth in population is due to uncontrolled immigration. More people entered the U.S. via the southern border than were born in U.S. hospitals last year. Let that sink in. Governments have very few real buttons to push to make the people bring more babies into the world. Sure, they can offer tax breaks and subsidize education and other expenses. But the prospect of not sleeping for a few years and changing one’s life patterns may simply outweigh any potential handouts. Increased religiosity tends to lead to more children. Ultraorthodox Bnei Brak is one of the poorest cities in Israel and it also is home to the largest average family size in the country. The final way to get the people to make more children is to create an economic and security environment where people feel comfortable bringing more children into the world. The parents’ income can cover expenses and war and famine seem distant. The Baby Boom period included incredible post-war confidence.

Another recommendation is dealing with Islam. I remember after 9/11, there were discussions as to whether American Muslims themselves could police their brethren to prevent “radicalization” and future attacks. Based on continuing attacks by Islamic terrorists and the never-ending anti-Israel and anti-Western protests that often turn violent, the answer is no. Like most religions, Islam would appear not to be monolithic. I can attest that when we traveled to Dubai last year, we were treated with respect and kindness. Israelis are not welcome in many Muslim countries, and even the ones that do have relations with Israel are often quite unfriendly. Egypt and Jordan have never been major vacation destinations for Israelis, except for southern Sinai which has very good scuba diving. Israelis used to flock to Turkey; today, there are no flights between the countries, and their leader is Hamas’ biggest cheerleader. What will be the future of Islam and the West?

Since Islamic institutions cannot regulate their members to prevent harm to other Americans or Westerners, then the government will have to step up its game to keep its citizenry safe:

1. Eject anyone from a Muslim country who in any way violates his or her visa—from jaywalking on up.

2 Eject anyone from a Muslim country who participates in protests demanding Sharia replace the local laws and customs. Foreigners do not benefit from Constitutional protections on freedom of speech. Anyone found to support “intifada revolution” or the like should be given an expedited one-way ticket back home.

3. Local Muslim populations need to be monitored and infiltrated by law enforcement. While the U.S. has been a bastion of freedom of religion, it has never faced a religion that has expressly stated its desire to destroy the democratic nature of the Republic. No branch of Christianity or Judaism has as a plank demanding the takeover of the U.S. government and converting it into a religious theocracy run solely according to its religious tenets. Tough times require tough measures. My grandparents in New York, as alien residents, had to have their papers on them at all times. On the Sabbath, when one is generally prohibited from carrying things outdoors, my late grandfather put his documents in the band of his fedora in the event that he was stopped by a cop.

The same suggestions for the U.S. would normally apply to Europe. But Europe is lost. It’s like those few seconds when we saw the second plane approaching the World Trade Center tower. The impact had not happened yet, but everyone knew what was about to happen. Europe could eject its problematic Islamists and encourage the pursuit of traditional values. But as we see in England, the Labor government will not even allow for an investigation into the recruiting and sexual abuse of hundreds of thousands of white British girls at the hands of Pakistani men. Europe does not have the moral fortitude or belief in its own past and institutions to fight for its future. Le Pen, Reform and AfD will all come to power, but through a combination of too little/too late and EU bureaucratic hurdles, the countries will not be able to right the ship in time. I am not a prophet and I hope that I am wrong. But I think that Europe is too far gone. Look at the violence and hatred in Germany against the locals on New Year’s Eve. It will only get worse as the countries don’t have the internal fortitude to throw out trouble makers and use deadly force to end the rioting. The “right-wing” Meloni in Italy has not stopped the boats or ejected illegal aliens from her country.

The U.S. can still change course. It will have to remove Muslims who wish to make the U.S. a Sharia state, and it will have to monitor Muslim citizens and institutions. There is no alternative. It does not sound very American to have the FBI putting listening devices in American mosques or educational institutions. But burying 3,000 citizens killed by Islamic terrorists does not sound very American either. It’s either one or the other.

Islamic supremacism will not change. Just last week, Recep Erdogan said that Jerusalem still belongs to Turkey because it was part of the Ottoman Empire so many years ago. As long as there are Islamic supremacists, then there will be violence to gain control of the West. Either we can fight it or we had better start learning the Koran.

President Trump Appoints Morgan Ortagus as Deputy Special Presidential Envoy for Middle East Peace

posted by Sundance at Conservative Treehouse 

Morgan Ortagus is a very special kind of obvious Intelligence Community asset who always eats in the kitchen of the State Dept Restuarant.  Ortagus reeks of tradecraft when you are around her. A convert to Judaism having married Jonathan Weinberger (2013), another dual passport holding IC asset (foreign govt) and former vice president of the Center for Global Innovation Policy, Mrs Ortagus is deeply entrenched with the Israeli intelligence community and political lobby.

Those IC credentials (specifically USAID/CIA) are what brought Morgan Ortagus to be spokesperson for the U.S. State Dept under the tutelage and alignment with former CIA Director turned Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.  This is the deep kitchen crew; DEEP, as in VERY DEEP.

Without any doubt whatsoever, this appointment was demanded by President Trump’s Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, deep state and AIPAC Senate control agent, Lindsey Graham, some very key and influential donors connected to AIPAC, and the one figure that I predict will be first dispatched by President Trump, national security adviser Mike Waltz.  This aforementioned crew all hold an agenda to support those who eat in the kitchen.

President Trump likely cannot call out the kitchen diners without seriously disturbing the network that keeps the Deep State operating. Instead, he references them by saying, “These things usually don’t work out, but she has strong Republican support, and I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing it for them. Let’s see what happens.”  Where “strong Republican support” means the elected officials, majority funded by AIPAC.

A remarkable statement to witness within the announcement; literally jaw-dropping when you know specifically what President Trump is inferring.

[SOURCE]

This announcement is the type of honest code speak that pushes the boundaries of getting a person assassinated.   President Trump is figurately blinking S.O.S. as he types into his device (stares into the camera).  I’m not joking about this.   President Trump literally calls attention to Morgan Ortagus “intelligence” background, and you only need to see USAID in her resume’ to understand what that means in relation to her conversion to Judaism.

Only a small number of Americans understand the relationship between the U.S. State Dept (DoS) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  However, as more people understand how these two agencies operate, then people have a much more accurate context for how both agencies are viewed by the rest of the world.

Almost every deployed CIA operative has a cover profile within the State Dept.  The foreign service missions of the DoS and CIA are so enmeshed there is literally no way to separate the functions of their agencies. [Go back to the Benghazi Attack for an operational reference] CIA/DoS have to be viewed through the prism of connection.

To better understand this concept, I use the following metaphor:

♦ The U.S State Dept and CIA operation is like a restaurant. The Dept of State is the front of the restaurant, with the Secretary as the Maitre D’. The CIA is the back of the restaurant, the kitchen. The CIA Director is the Chef.  The consulates are the wait staff. USAID are the food runners. The Dept of Defense are the bus boys.

The tables and chairs are assigned by the Maitre D’ according to their value.  Countries viewed as more important get the best tables.  The menus offered to each nation are completely different.  Israel has a table in the kitchen.  To get the best experience, tips (bribes) are required for everyone, from the parking valets outside, to the sommelier, to the server.   Currently, Ukraine is the biggest tipper.

On the oversight aspect the Senate Foreign Relations Committee is the control mechanism to approve/install the Secretary of State. The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is the control mechanism to approve/install the CIA Director.  Everything therein and thereafter is a system of pretending it is something else.

The Dept of State (DoS) is so large there’s no way of addressing the inherent institutional corruption.  The Secretary of State can control a small portion of DoS operations, but that’s usually only the geopolitical stuff we see discussed on television, in print media or in press conferences.  The business functions of the DoS take place within a network of carefully guarded silos, all under the control of the Intelligence Community.

I will admit this obviously forced appointment and the extreme reluctance visible in the announcement that accompanies it, is just stunning to me. I totally get what President Trump is saying, but I had no idea how limited he feels he is on the issue. Wow, just wow.

Last point, this also makes President Trump’s response to the Musk situation that much more understandable.

Now… Keep a close eye on Tom Cotton!

Senate Panel Secretly Investigates Allegations Against Pete Hegseth, Demands More Information

Sarah Arnold reporting for Townhall 

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth’s confirmation remains in jeopardy as the Senate panel quietly seeks additional information following damning sexual misconduct allegations made against him in 2017. The former Fox News host is now facing heightened scrutiny after new details emerged, prompting further investigation into his background and jeopardizing his chance to work alongside Trump. While Hegseth’s supporters argue that the accusations are baseless, the Senate committee’s decision to request more information signals that his confirmation could be far from certain, with some members voicing concerns over the potential implications of the allegations. As the confirmation process unfolds, all eyes are on the Senate panel’s next steps in a contentious and closely watched event.

According to communications, the Senate Armed Services Committee’s Secretary of Defense committee leaders, Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.),  are requesting to view documents from the Monterey County District Attorney's Office and Concerned Veterans for America, a group Hegseth previously led. They have also asked for more information regarding Hegseth’s financial records and tax returns relating to his time as CEO of Concerned Veterans for America. 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), who is also part of the committee, wrote a letter saying that "in light of recent reports," he is asking "that prior to scheduling any confirmation hearing, the Committee ensure that Concerned Veterans of America (CVA) and the Veterans for Freedom (VFF) preserve and produce all financial records and correspondence, particularly concerning credit card transactions, relating to Peter Hegseth's tenure at these organizations to the Committee for review."

The allegations against Hegseth have created a serious hurdle for him, as he can afford to lose only the votes of three Senate Republicans when his confirmation comes up for a vote in the coming weeks. With pressure mounting from Republicans and Democrats, the accusations have given GOP senators pause. As the confirmation vote looms, many wonder whether the allegations, that have no sound evidence, will cost him the support he needs to secure the position. 

Hegseth has until Jan. 6 to provide the requested documents to the Senate Armed Services Committee, just over a week before his public confirmation hearing on Jan. 14.

A 2017 police report says that an unidentified woman has claimed she was sexually assaulted after meeting Hegseth at a hotel bar in California. However, Hegseth has denied such accusations and has insisted that the encounter was consensual. No charges were filed, and Hegseth has vehemently defended his character, calling the claims unfounded. There is no additional evidence of the woman’s claim other than the report. 

Hegseth paid the woman as part of a settlement agreement, which he says was only done so out of fear his career would be ruined if her allegations were made public.

Washington DC Will Retain Flags at Half Mast During President Trump Inauguration

Sundance reporting for CTH 

When Joe Biden recently awarded Liz Cheney the Presidential Award for Outstanding Citizenship, we previously said, “whoever is the architect behind this is digging deep into a very dark place for our nation.  The one thing I am certain of, is that as a country we need to be prepared for some very unAmerican activity in the next year or more.  The Marxist and Communist movements within our nation are going to counter the 2024 election result with every tool in their playbook.”

The intent of the outgoing administration is to purposefully antagonize President Trump.  The announcement to keep the USA flags at half-mast for 30-days to recognize Jimmy Carter is simply one more dig.

[Source]

Asked about Trump’s post at the Friday briefing, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House would not consider reversing or reevaluating the half-mast plans. [LINK]  The professional political left love their optics.

PRC’s Hyper-Aggression Foreshadows Conflict with Taiwan and U.S.

 The U.S. faces growing threats from extremists, global unrest, and China's aggression, with Beijing's militarization demanding urgent action to protect security and allies.

As the terror attack in New Orleans indicates, there is a surfeit of threats that the U.S. confronts within its borders and abroad. It demonstrates that Islamic violent extremists have the ability to launch an attack within this country. In all likelihood, the attack was aided directly or indirectly by Biden’s open borders and reorientation of counterterrorism policy and bureaucratic resources from DOJ, DHS, and the FBI from Islamic fundamentalism to other purported threats.

The ongoing war in Ukraine, the consequences of the horrific attacks against Israel on October 7, 2023, and the fall of the Assad regime in Syria all reveal that we are living at a time of great unrest in world politics.

At the same time, the strength of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) threatens U.S. national security because it targets the American people and U.S. national security interests, which include Taiwan and the Republic of the Philippines, a U.S. treaty ally, and the other states bordering the South China Sea (SCS), as well as our other treaty ally, Japan, in the East China Sea.

As we have warned in these pages, the pace and scope of the PRC’s actions must be described as hyper-aggressive. Each week there is new evidence of Beijing’s hyper-aggression, and this week was no exception. In late December, PRC air and naval forces from the Southern Theater Command staged “combat readiness patrols” around the disputed Scarborough Shoal, 118 miles from Luzon and thus well within the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). These actions were not the PRC’s only display of military might in the SCS in 2024. In a worrying development, the PRC has employed its constructed military bases on Subi, Mischief Reef, and Fiery Cross Reefs to deploy forces within the EEZ of the Philippines. A PRC submarine drone was found in Masbate, well within the Philippine archipelago, and an indication that at least one PRC submarine is operating nearby. It would not be a surprise if PRC submarines were regularly operating within the territorial waters of the Philippines, violating its sovereignty, on Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions and preparing for war against the Philippines and the U.S.

Likewise, it was revealed this week that on December 22, three PLA Navy (PLAN) and three Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) warships conducted joint operations in and through the Miyako Strait (Kerama Gap) between Miyako and Okinawa—the gateway for the PRC to enter the western Pacific Ocean. This unprecedented demonstration of PRC maritime power was led by the 10,000-ton CCG Zhaotuo-class cutter “2901,” which is over twice the size of each of the PLAN’s three Type 054A/Jiangkai II-class frigates. The presence of this small armada of warships and cutters also demonstrated the PRC’s ability to conduct a maritime blockade. The size and capabilities of these CCG warships are formidable. They must be considered as military vessels in any consideration of the military balance between the PLAN and the U.S. Navy. When they are, the balance is even more of an imbalance in favor of the PLAN and against the U.S. Navy.

If these actions were not enough evidence, there was the much-publicized launching of the PLAN’s first Type 076 amphibious assault ship, the Sichuan. At over 40,000 tons, equipped with a double island and a longitudinal flight deck, the Sichuan is, according to PRC press, the “first of its kind in the world equipped with electromagnetic catapult and arresting technology, allowing it to launch manned and unmanned combat aircraft in addition to helicopters similar to an aircraft carrier.” This “light aircraft carrier” is also able to deliver an amphibious combat battalion and represents another tool in the PLA’s amphibious arsenal.

These events are alarming in themselves, but such coercive actions employed against the Philippines and Japan must not be viewed in isolation. They must be measured as progressive steps to evict U.S. power from the region while preparing the battlespace for aggression against allies like the Philippines and Japan, partners like Taiwan, and the U.S. itself. The PRC’s actions must not be seen in isolation but as a unified and coherent strategy, which is being realized day after day.

Once we understand that the PRC is a hyper-aggressive state that unceasingly employs coercion against the U.S., its allies, and partners—and, indeed, it even does so against its erstwhile allies like North Korea and Pakistan—the U.S., its allies, and partners are left with only two decisions: either respond defensively to this aggression or suffer the consequences that Beijing intends to mete out against its adversaries.

Moreover, it comes straight from the horse’s mouth. General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Xi Jinping’s New Year’s Eve address was openly pugnacious as well. Notably, it was a continuation evinced in his address from the previous year. In his address, he stated that the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family. That no one can sever family bonds, and no one can stop China’s reunification.

So, not for the first time, what Xi did was, first, claim Taiwan; second, attempt to legitimate his aggression against it; and third, Xi warned the world that it will aggress against Taiwan—a question of when, not if.

Xi’s comments, year after year, are clear warnings of the aggression that is to come, building upon the increasingly coercive measures the PRC is employing against Taiwan on a weekly basis. The actions of the PRC in the South and East China Seas and the continued rapid militarization of its military might must be seen as part of the CCP’s hyper-aggression across many theaters in the Indo-Pacific, as well as an indicator of the power projection that Xi and the CCP seek to expand around the globe.

The U.S., its allies, and Taiwan must be especially vigilant at a time of increasingly open bellicosity from the PRC. The PRC’s aggression occurs daily, and so its certainty is established. It will escalate unless it is deterred. Biden chose not to meet the threat, and so he is leaving U.S. national security in a worse position than it was four years ago. It now falls upon the Trump administration to address squarely and with dispatch.

https://amgreatness.com/2025/01/05/prcs-hyper-aggression-foreshadows-conflict-with-taiwan-and-u-s/

On His Way Out, IG for Afghanistan Drops Truth Bombs

 On His Way Out, IG for Afghanistan Drops Truth Bombs

David Strom for HotAir.com

AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File

For 12 years, John Sopko has been leading a lonely effort to bring accountability to the Afghan reconstruction effort as Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction. 

Unfortunately, "accountability" and "government effort" are like oil and water--they never mix. 

As his job winds down, he is putting together his final report--the last of literally hundreds released over the years. Throughout that he time his reports detailed failures and even lies told by high-level officials, NGOs, and even generals to Congress and the American people. As important as those reports are, it must be frustrating to have been a Cassandra whose fate it was to foretell the truth and be ignored. 

This passage by Special Inspector General John Sopko applies to far more than the U.S. experience in Afghanistanhttps://t.co/xfij9oRFzxpic.twitter.com/miPHvfa5bV

— Nick Schwellenbach (@schwellenbach) January 2, 2025

In a much-muted but still important opinion piece in The New York Times, Sopko drops some truth bombs, which, I hope, do not land with a thud, unexploded. As he makes clear, his criticisms of the failures we have seen in Afghanistan are not unique to that effort, but emblematic of how business is done in government. 

But a perverse incentive drove our system. To win promotions and bigger salaries, military and civilian leaders felt they had to sell their tours of duty, deployments, programs and projects as successes — even when they were not. Leaders tended to report and highlight favorable information while obscuring that which pointed to failure. After all, failures do not lead to an ambassadorship or an elevation to general.

They also aren’t good business for the contractors on which the U.S. mission relied to manage and support programs and projects. For contractors, claiming success, whether real or imaginary, was vital to obtaining future business. So spending became the measure of success. (The same, of course, is true in Washington, where unspent allocations are tantamount to failure, leading to budget cuts.) Accountability for how money was spent was poor. One general told us that he faced a challenge: How to spend the remaining $1 billion from his annual budget in just over a month? Returning the money was not an option. Another official we spoke to said he refused to cancel a multimillion-dollar building project that field commanders did not want, because the funding had to be spent. The building was never used.

As one former U.S. military adviser told my office, the entire system became a self-licking ice cream cone: More money was always being spent to justify previous spending. Old staff departed, new staff arrived with “better” ideas, and new iterations of the same old solutions were repeated, for years.

You see the same dynamic all the time in government spending--politicians and bureaucrats tout their funding of transportation projects, proving they are doing something. But at the same time, they point out the need for even more funding, because the problems persist. If only if we had MORE money, success would be just around the corner. 

Scenes of panic and chaos played out at the airport in Kabul as crowds of people desperate to escape Afghanistan rushed onto the tarmac.

Some clung to the sides of planes, even as one taxied down the runway, in a bid to flee the Taliban.https://t.co/pAgoGW7tospic.twitter.com/4YGQd2iEzk

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 16, 2021

Biden is doing the same going out the door--look at how much I have spent! Pete Buttigieg articulated this perfectly:

I'm confident that a century from now, future Americans will look back on the work we’ve done—much as we look at the Hoover Dam—and see how the Biden-Harris Administration's "Big Deal" for infrastructure made big things possible. pic.twitter.com/SQEjzm8Mi6

— Secretary Pete Buttigieg (@SecretaryPete) December 31, 2024

The Hoover Dam, except no dam, but a nice bonfire fueled with cash. Same thing. 

In government, nothing succeeds like failure--the bigger the problem, the more urgent the need, the more money will flow out of the spigots. You spin your previous efforts as "successful" but underfunded and anything can be justified--especially since nobody wants to be tainted with the stench of failure. 

Official statements across successive U.S. presidential administrations were, in my view, often simply untrue. Just six days before the Afghan government collapsed, the Pentagon press secretary declared that Afghanistan had more than 300,000 soldiers and police officers, even though the special inspector general’s office had been warning for years that no one really knew how many soldiers and policemen were available, nor what their operational capabilities were. As early as 2015, I informed Congress that corrupt Afghan officials were listing “ghost” soldiers and police officers on rosters, and pocketing the salaries.

Important information for measuring the success of initiatives was — at times deliberately — hidden from Congress and the American public, including USAID-funded assessments that concluded Afghan ministries were incapable of managing direct U.S. financial assistance. Despite vigorous efforts by the U.S. bureaucracy to stop us, my office made such material public.

Special interests are a big part of the problem. President Dwight Eisenhower once warned of the growing influence of a “military-industrial complex.” Today, there are multiple complexes: development and humanitarian assistance, anti-corruption and transparency, protection for women and marginalized people, and many others. These are all good and noble causes, to be sure. But when it came to Afghanistan, organizations under these umbrellas, whether because of altruism or more selfish motivations, contributed to the overly optimistic assessments of the situation to keep the funds flowing. Self-serving delusion was America’s most formidable foe.

In other words, all these people lied to keep the money flowing. And for anybody naive enough to think that NGOs--nonprofits--aren't just as motivated by the almighty dollar and willing to lie to get it, look at Afghanistan. These organizations are no less liable to corruption than any big multinational corporation, or POTUS for that matter. 

Sopko's bottom line? These failures were not special to Afghanistan but inherent in how the government does things. The problem wasn't just that Afghanistan was too tough a nut to crack--of course it was--but that everybody involved in cracking that nut had an incentive to keep the grift going. 

In Afghanistan, the office of the special inspector general was often the only government agency reliably reporting on the situation on the ground, and we faced stiff opposition from officials in the Departments of Defense and State, USAID and the organizations that supported their programs. We were able to do our work only because Congress granted us the freedom to operate independently. Inspectors general for the military, State Department and USAID, however, do not enjoy such autonomy. If we are going to fix a broken system that puts bureaucrats and special interests ahead of taxpayers, the first step is to make all federal inspectors general as fully independent as my office has been.

Ultimately, however, if we do not address the incentives in our government that impede truth-telling, we will keep pursuing projects both at home and overseas that do not work, rewarding those who rationalize failure while reporting success, and burning untold billions of dollars. American taxpayers deserve better.

You should read his entire piece--I haven't even touched on his findings regarding Afghanistan itself. He lays out why the failure was inevitable and how it was foreseen. 

But what he brings to the table that is unique is his inside view of how government processes made that failure inevitable, even if Afghanistan could have been reformed. 

Sent from my iPad