America held hostage, day number... oh, who cares?
The flailing Biden Administration and the media propping it up make the Carter era look like a time of American vigor and resolve.
Mar. 26 - Yesterday I wrote that “Joe Biden is a weak, dithering, loud-mouthed boor, presiding over an administration of responsibility-averse, low-intelligence ideologues.”
It was the kind of sentence one writes, re-reads, and wonders whether one isn’t maybe being unduly harsh.
A few hours later, Joe Biden and his administration allowed the U.N. Security Council to pass a pro-Hamas resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza without making it conditional on the release of the hostages—including American citizens.
“"Weak and dithering,” I now concede, was unduly gentle.
I’m old enough to remember what was even contemporaneously (1979-80) called “the Iranian hostage crisis.” Updates led every newscast, and we always knew what “day” of the crisis it was because a lot of (most? all?) television news programs and newspapers made sure we knew:
Fast forward four decades: has the phrase “Gaza hostage crisis” even been used?
There are only six Americans still being held—I had to look it up, I thought it was eight—but the fact that this is something all Americans don’t know off the top of their head—that we can’t name the six Americans who have been held hostage since October 7—which is how many days ago?—tells you all you need to know about Joe Biden’s commitment to those hostages. About his administration’s commitment. About the media’s concern for their welfare.
The families of the hostages were invited (by Congress) to the State of the Union address, at which the President vowed, “I pledge to all the families that we will not rest until we bring their loved ones home.”
Great symbolism and an easy applause line. Hope you liked them, because that’s all you get.
Do you think Joe Biden hasn’t rested since March 8?
The most helpful thing he could do to get the American hostages home safely would be to say that until they were returned, America would back Israel unconditionally, arm it to the teeth, and veto any Security Council resolution calling for anything but the immediate handover of those hostages.
All America had to do in the U.N. Security Council yesterday was veto the resolution on the grounds of it not making the ceasefire conditional on the release of all hostages.
That would have been the rational act of a strong and confident superpower.
Instead, America abstained—thereby guaranteeing passage of the resolution—and then blamed the abstention on the resolution not having condemned Hamas.
In other words, we abstained not because the resolution didn’t call for the action we wanted, but because it didn’t contain mean enough words.
What kind of petulant bullshit is that?
It’s not the clear-eyed realpolitik of a superpower, but the pouty bitchiness of a middle school mean girl.
From Politico:
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the resolution that passed fell short of Washington’s goals, noting that “certain key edits were ignored, including our requests to add a condemnation of Hamas. And we did not agree with everything in the resolution.” Still, she observed, “we fully support some of the critical objectives in this non-binding resolution. And we believe it was important for the council to speak out and make clear that any cease-fire must come with the release of all hostages.”
It wasn’t important to emphasize that a cease-fire come with the release of hostages. It was (and remains) important that a cease-fire come after the release of hostages. And only after.
But “ohmygod, the humanity it’s a genocide in gaza women and children are dying there must be a ceasefire now!”
To paraphrase Goodfellas: “Still holding hostages? Fuck you.”
“But the IDF is—”
“Not holding hostages. Hamas is. And as long as they are, fuck you.”
“But innocent Palestinians—”
“Should insist that Hamas handover the hostages to end the siege, and until then fuck you.”
See? It’s not hard. Hamas does not get to make demands. They don’t get to dictate terms. They don’t even get to talk until they hand over the hostages.
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists” used to be a cliché—one of those things you almost didn’t need to say or explain because everyone understood it.
Maybe someone can explain it to Joe Biden.
On this date in 1997, thirty-nine members of the Heaven’s Gate cult were found dead after an apparent group suicide. They had gathered together, downed phenobarbitol-and-vodka cocktails, lain down to die, and died.
The idea behind this was that physical death would liberate them from their bodily containers and enable to them to board the alien spacecraft that was hiding behind the Hale Bopp comet. The spacecraft would then take them to the Kingdom of Heaven.
The grisly news of 39 suicides produced a treasure trove of jokes. For example:
Q. Why did the Heaven’s Gate Cult commit suicide?
A. They just wanted to keep up with the Joneses.
March 26 is the birthday of Marcus Allen (1960), Curtis Sliwa (1954), Martin Short (1950), Vicki Lawrence (1949), Steven Tyler (1948), Diana Ross (1944), Bob Woodward (1943), Erica Jong (1942), James Caan (1939), Alan Arkin (1934), Leonard Nimoy (1931), Sandra Day O'Connor (1930), Tennessee Williams (1911), and Robert Frost (1874).
It's Independence Day in Bangladesh.
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