It is no longer morning in America.  Now many are mourning America.  Primitive Taliban savages just routed allegedly American-trained Afghan forces, waltzing across Afghanistan in a matter of days.  Resistance — and the erstwhile Afghani government — collapsed like paper lambs because the Afghan forces did not believe in their cause, and the government didn't, either.  Much as those in charge of the U.S. no longer believe in American exceptionalism and the founding principles on which their nation was proudly built, and because of which it succeeded beyond any other in human history.

The Biden administration claims that the Afghanistan fiasco is in no way a repeat of the Saigon surrender of '75, even though it looks remarkably like that very thing, replete with frightened and betrayed souls falling from aircraft, one of which appeared to be the same exact model of helicopter that we saw fleeing Saigon in April of 1975.  When it's raining people, literal hangers-on who have tragically lost their grip on their last chance for life and liberty, you know things aren't right.

Yet U.S. secretary of state Antony (Winken) Blinken (and Nod) rejected any comparisons to the U.S.'s frantic and chaotic pullout from Vietnam over 45 years ago.  "This is not Saigon," he said on ABC.  Good one.  You got us there.  No, it's technically Kabul...but other than that, it's Saigon '75.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani wasn't any more forthcoming, as he quickly boarded a plane and fled the country, after which he posted on Facebook that he had left to "avert bloodshed in the capital."  Yes, his bloodshed.  He did not tell anyone where he went.

As the American flag was lowered from the $700-million U.S. Embassy, America's esteem was likewise lowered, around the world and probably even at home.  And President Biden fled his country's capital, going on a particularly ill timed vacation at Camp David in Maryland.  Is it just me, or does it seem that Biden being president of the United States is akin to Elmer Fudd being head of the NRA?

U.S. allies are questioning our trustworthiness, commitment, and credibility.  Enemies of America are questioning our toughness and resolve.  Both Biden and the head of U.S. Central Command have essentially begged the Taliban to act with decency and not interfere with the evacuation of American personnel and their friends from the airport in Kabul.  ("The Old Man and the Plea"?)  Taliban fighters in Kabul have started confiscating firearms from the city's residents, perhaps giving the Biden administration ideas for use here at home.

The Taliban have also taken over Afghanistan's presidential palace, though, tellingly, Democrats seem far less upset about this actual insurrection than about the actions of a few hundred people who sauntered through the American Capitol Building on January 6, after being ushered in by Capitol Police.  Moreover, the Biden administration apparently managed to accidentally reveal the existence of a secret CIA facility in Doha, Qatar.

Every day, it's another blunder.  One conjures up images of the Carter and Obama administrations, only to realize that they were slightly less incompetent than the current one. 

Is there a large bunker basement at Camp David in which Biden can hide?         

Who is in charge of the United States?  Who, as Winston Churchill once asked the English parliament prior to World War II, is in charge of this "clattering train"?

Who is in charge of the clattering train?
The axles creak, and the couplings strain.
For the pace is hot, and the points are near,
and Sleep hath deadened the driver's ear:
And signals flash through the night in vain.
Death is in charge of the clattering train!

Photo credit: YouTube screen grab (cropped).

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.