Photo: AP
Top Three Takeaways – August 17th, 2021
- Clinging to a wing. How desperate would you have to be to cling to the wing of an airplane? Unimaginable, right? That’s exactly what Islamic terrorism is. Unimaginable. For those who died as they fell from the wing of a US C-17 yesterday, along with those running alongside the aircraft, to them clinging to a wing was better than not. That’s a level of desperation we can’t relate to but it’s the reality on ground in Afghanistan as it’s collapsed under terrorist rule. For those falling from the wing of an aircraft, it was viewed as the better option than waiting to be beheaded. Their fall is sadly reminiscent of how far American credibility has fallen. The President of the United States can’t say a collapse of a country won’t happen, only for it to less than a month later and retain any credibility. This is why there was an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council called without the United States. In the opening remarks of Security General Antonio Guterres...the world is following the events in Afghanistan with a heavy heart and deep disquiet about what lies ahead. All of us have seen the images in real-time of chaos, unrest, uncertainty and fear. Much lies in the balance... On July 8th President Biden stated this The Taliban is not the south—the North Vietnamese army. They're not—they're not remotely comparable in terms of capability. There's going to be no circumstance where you see people being lifted off the roof of a embassy in the—of the United States from Afghanistan. It is not at all comparable. Well, he’s right that it’s not comparable. This takeover happened much faster. Importantly, this isn’t the first time. As Robert Gates, President Obama’s defense secretary, Obama’s mind you - stated multiple times, including in his memoir, Joe Biden has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades. So, what we’ve witnessed in Afghanistan, the inaction to aid Cubans, with eliminating sanctions against China and Russia - our own southern border... It’s all par for the course for the guy who has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades. The problem is the guy is the President of the United States. Perhaps an honest news media interested in vetting a Presidential candidate would have brought this extraordinary flaw out to the forefront for consideration prior to Americans making him Commander-in-Chief. Instead, our country’s credibility and our safety is left clinging to a wing.
- Visiting Florida. You’ve experienced the traffic, you’ve guessed it was the case and now we know. Nearly as many people are visiting Florida today as they were before the pandemic. According to Visit Florida, total tourism in the second quarter was only 2.2% lower than 2019’s record rate. That included a record setting quarter for domestic travel as more Americans visited Florida in the second quarter than in any prior in Florida’s history. National news media loves to take cracks at us, so do Floridians interested in similarly politically motivated reasons, however more people are moving to Florida than anywhere else and those who aren’t, are visiting us - in record numbers.
- Showtime for the school board showdowns. Four o’clock this afternoon the Florida Board of Education meets to determine next steps, aka, punishment for Alachua and Broward County School Districts over their mask mandates without parental opt out in violation of state law. While the most likely outcome appears to be a limited cut in funding equaling the salaries of the administrators of the illegal policy, a bigger question is emerging. Lawlessness. As has often been said, if you don’t like the laws, vote for people who will change them. But rather than waiting for the next election cycle, Broward and Alachua’s school districts are in unchartered territory by deliberately breaking the law. Here’s the irony of the bodies who are supposed to inform our children as to what laws are, breaking them. If they can’t be trusted to abide by the law, how can these school districts be trusted to teach them? There needs to be accountability for the sake of our children, parental choice and actual science...but also for law and order. If school districts are allowed to break the law, what’s next?