Joe Biden Just Made the World a More Dangerous Place

The Great Destroyer

My contributions to Naked Dollar have long been sporadic because I only write something when I think I have something to say that isn't already being said by a thousand other people. This doesn't happen every day. So what could I possibly add to the debacle in Afghanistan?

Since everything is so chaotic, and developments are happening literally by the hour, I don't see enough people considering the medium and long-term ramification, and they are not pretty.

The short version is that Joe Biden has made the world an immeasurably more dangerous place than it was a month ago.

What we can look forward to in the medium term is this: the Taliban will keep some number of Americans as "guests," saying it's for their own "safety." Then, they will create a special new "exit visa" that the American government will have to pay to extract each guest. Ten million a head. Or a hundred million. Perhaps a billion? The Taliban follow the news, and they know full well that Biden is about to spend trillions of dollars of money he doesn't have. What's another hundred billion or so?

He will pay it, of course.

But here's what comes after. 

The Chinese and the Russians will start bidding aggressively for the Taliban's affections. Their largesse will not come with strings attached like gender equity mandates. “Want to make sex slaves out of 12-year-old girls? Have at it, Mustaffa…”

The Taliban, not being stupid, will play these two powers off each other to maximize their riches. This is on top of the billions Joe Biden will have already sent over in ransom (perhaps even on palettes).  To the highest bidders, the Taliban will also auction off the most desirable American weapons of war, especially those “smart” systems with our proprietary software management programs. Everything will be reverse engineered down to the last screw and line of code.

Eventually, either China or Russia will become the Taliban's key strategic partner. My money is on China, because they are eyeing Afghanistan's mineral wealth, particularly the lithium deposits and critical rare earth minerals that are important elements in technology products. They will build Afghanistan all sorts of nice things in exchange for lots of strategic resources that a bunch of stone age tribes couldn't care less about, but that we, and the Chinese, care a great deal about. 

But that's not even the bad part. China has demonstrated its clear interest in destabilizing the West by any means possible (same with Russia, should they come out on top). They do not view us as partners in growth. They are communists, so everything is zero sum. The problem is that militant Islam also wants to destabilize the West. Interests are aligned.

So, here's how it plays out. China will quietly encourage 9-11-style attacks on the West, but this time, it won't be box cutters. The Taliban/ISIS/al Qaeda - whomever it is, but let's face it, they're all basically in bed together where the West is concerned - will be able to choose from a robust set of tactical options. Want some bio weapons, perhaps some anthrax? How about some high-tech drones to deliver the anthrax down Broadway? Or maybe use some “cyber weapons” to attack America's infrastructure? 

It's a perfect scenario for China, because Muslim extremists will be more than happy to take credit. China will lurk in the background, claiming ignorance. Everyone will know their involvement, but it won't matter. The Western media will cover for them, just like they've covered for the Wuhan Virology Lab and the WHO. Joe Biden, if he's still president, will firmly do what he's told by all the monied interests like Nike, the NBA, Hollywood, etc., and deny China's culpability. (And let's not forget that $1.5 billion investment in Hunter's "hedge fund"). 

But it's not just China. 

The rest of the world, too, has taken Joe Biden's measure and found him wanting. A weak man, years beyond his even-then-limited mental capacity. Feckless, yet stubborn. Committed, like Obama before him, to an American decline that he not only sees as inevitable, but necessary, desirable even. Thus, he has deliberately created an immense and sudden vacuum in the state of global affairs, and nothing could be more dangerous.

(Worth remembering: in the early sixties, Khrushchev took Kennedy's measure when they met in Vienna, and that gave us the Cuban Missile Crisis.)

Plans are being hatched by bad people everywhere. China will no doubt send "peacekeeping" troops into Taiwan, annexing it as they have Hong Kong. Iran is casting a malicious eye towards Israel. North Korea? Who knows what they might pull in the face of an America withdrawing from the stage. Even smaller players like Cuba and Venezuela must be considering ways to make mischief. 

Not all scenarios will play out, but some will, and the result will be violence and American lives lost, followed by less freedom in the world. Worse, we will not be able to rely on our partners. They are spitting mad over the way we handled Afghanistan and will not readily follow us into the breach next time.

We are entering a very, very dangerous time in human history, one that could have been avoided altogether if not for the ineptitude and moral failings of someone the majority of America willingly voted for. 

Joe Biden, the Great Unifier, has become the Great Destroyer.

Pro Tip: buy stock in defense contractors.

Democrats Have a 2024 Problem

Will Joe Biden run for a second term? There have been mixed signals, to say the least.

But can he?

Any reasonable observer understands that Biden's cognitive abilities are declining rapidly. He is being run by committee, behind the scenes. By 2024, who knows how badly things will have deteriorated? Plus, the "Committee" won't get away with hiding him in his basement a second time.

But don't tell the Committee any of this, because their actions suggest they are going for it. How do we know? Because of the constant stream of negative articles about Vice President Harris, clearly leaked from 1600 to Politico and other Dem-friendly outlets.

It's a fascinating dynamic: a U.S. president, or his staff, throwing his own veep under the bus.

What's going on here?

What follows is speculation, but highly plausible nonetheless.

Think back to the primaries. Biden was circling the drain, running an awful campaign, when James Clyburn came to the rescue in South Carolina. He and other party leaders decided nominating Bernie was suicide, so they suddenly rallied around Biden as the safe, anodyne choice. 

But this support didn't come without a price, and that price was a black running mate. The Congressional Black Caucus wanted a way back to 1600, and Biden seemed unlikely to serve two terms. They would only have to wait four, or, maybe even less. If Biden's mental state declined too much, the 25th Amendment could be brought to bear.

Either way, the path back to power seemed clear. 

The Committee isn't happy with any of this, particularly talk of the 25th Amendment, so they have set out to make Harris unpalatable, and it's been a very effective campaign. Harris's numbers are even lower than Biden's, very unusual for a V.P.

Of course, Harris hasn't helped her own cause. She seems woefully out of her depth, and it's not as if the vice presidency is a particularly hard job. It comes with practically zero actual responsibilities, and yet Harris is widely disliked across the political spectrum, a non-starter to lead a 2024 ticket.

But the Committee is insane if they think they can carry the senescent Biden through another campaign. Should I add he will be 81? Ronald Reagan was 69 when questions were raised by Democrats about whether he was too old to serve.

So, if not Biden, and not Harris, who?

Yes, it's early, but it's a fascinating question. 

Elizabeth Warren? She will be 75, not to mention she's prickly and unlikeable, no matter how many beers she has (see: Hillary Clinton). 

Bernie? Not a chance. He will be 82, and party elders won't feel any differently about him next time.

Bloomberg? He will be 82, and will have no appetite to be embarrassed a second time. It's the links for Mike.

How about Buttigieg? I'll give that a maybe. At least he's not a member of the Democrat gerontocracy. But he seems like a lightweight, and does anyone even know he's a cabinet member? (He is.)

The Obama years decimated Democrat ranks, having lost nearly one thousand federal and state elected positions. Worse, they were left with near zero moderates. Those remaining lean hard left, and there won't be much appetite for that after Biden's unpopular descent into wokeness. 

There are a couple of exceptions. There's Joe Manchin, of course, but Dem primary voters would hate him. Maybe Kyrsten Sinema? But is the country ready for an openly bi-sexual president? You tell me.

In short, this thing is wide open. My bet is that some relatively unknown Dem governor will pull a Jimmy Carter and come out of nowhere, because someone has to be nominated.

Or...

Senior party members like Chuck Schumer, along with Dem money men, climb the mount and and knock on the Obama's doorbell and beg Michelle to run, explaining she has to to save the republic, particularly if Orange Man Bad is in the picture.

Yeah yeah, I know. Political predictions are hazardous for your health, particularly ones three years out, but it's a parlor game, and the Naked Dollar is playing.

Tell me who takes it in the comments.