You know what is a positive difference for me in the last 7 months?
Going to bed at night with peace of mind knowing we have competent people in charge. Knowing I don't need to worry that an angry tweet could start WW3 or ruin bonds we have built with our allies for generations. Knowing compassion is flowing from the top down.
Afghanistan appears to have be absolute horrific disaster and while Bush began the invasion and Obama continued it, Trump appears to have set things in motion at the end of his regime to make it a very difficult quagmire for Biden. I am not sure the best choices were made by Biden in the end but he was left with few alternatives it seems. Did the Afghanistan experts know it would fall apart like a house of cards?
My heart is very heavy for the people of Afghanistan, especially the women and young girls. It appears bleak and is heartbreaking.
As you likely have noticed, I tend to look for light in dark situations and I have found some in this one. We have now helped educate a generation of young women. An entire generation of young women have tasted freedom, been allowed to create and dream, learn new ways of thinking and understand what is possible. Their minds have been filled with science and math, reading, writing and technology. You can't take their education away from them. The younger men will now also understand women are capable of great things and some of those men will raise their daughters differently. My hope is that these beautiful young women will find a way to create a better Afghanistan. The world needs to continue to tell their stories and make their presence felt and known. They must not be forgotten as the globe shifts their focus to other matters. I believe now that if Afghanistan is to change in a positive direction in the future, it will in some way start with the women there this time.
@walden-ponderer This is me also. I always encourage people to do their homework, research and make the best decision based on the person running. As an Independent, I found I was registered as a Republican by the college aged voter registration person... because when I was asked and said "Independent" one lady was gonna shoo me on through.. while the young man said... register as a Republican so you can see all of your choices.. if you go as an Independent ... your choices may get limited... I did not understand that? But my quick read of his Energy and sincerity made me say ok. I have not regretted it at all... because it lets me see all the bs the GQP is up to.... and I took great delight in going in and voting in long lines at our little town hall to cast my vote for Stacey Abrams against Pretty boy Kemp as well as other Democrats and one Libertarian...and then.. for Joe Biden and VP Harris.
@lynnventura I'm so happy you shared this. My heart thanks you.
In Florida election 2000, friends of mine, one registered Independent and wife a Democrat, found her vote didn’t count due to technicality, but his did, same technicality. All this crap needs to stop. Since then I stayed Independent, until I needed to be a part of primaries. It doesn’t mean I am blind. Many democrats voted for an R governor in Hawaii twice because there was not a good D choice. There are less and less McCain thumbs down moments though. The powers that donate are very great in current circumstances.
@jeanne-mayell We need a LOVE button!!!! What we focus on we create more of! I have been focusing on seeing more and more people wake up and vaccinate and take precautions to help get this surge under control. Here in NW Ga ? We need all the Love, Light and Focus to shine Healing on it we can get!
Regarding what I wrote about Afghanistan, I wanted to add that while I am trying to find some light, I am not being naive. It is Biden's watch that this horrible collapse happened under. Many feel betrayed and understandably so. It is a dark and horrible unraveling which is occurring. This will weigh heavily on Biden. It will weigh heavily on all our troops who have served in Afghanistan and lost so much. It is a colossal failure for the US, our allies, the nation of Afghanistan, the NGO's and non-profits who have tirelessly devoted themselves to help lift up a nation and make a positive change, the educators and aid workers.
My prayer and hope right now is that we can get every one of our civilians, diplomats and troops home safely. That we can get as many people and their families who have helped the US and her allies over the last 20 years safely out.
May positive seeds created from the past 20 years be safeguarded until such time the highest and greatest good can take root and grow into a bountiful garden of healing and love. May love, hope and light find a way to stay with the youth and those young girls who had such dreams...and all who gave dearly over so many years.
May there be blessings which manifest one day, ones we simply are incapable of comprehending right now.
May positive seeds created from the past 20 years be safeguarded until such time the highest and greatest good can take root and grow into a bountiful garden of healing and love. May love, hope and light find a way to stay with the youth and those young girls who had such dreams...and all who gave dearly over so many years.
This. All of this.
This will not be a popular opinion, but I would like to remind everyone that the order for the complete withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan by Q2 2021 was given by the Orange One, not Mr. Biden. Granted, Mr. Biden could have rescinded that order, but after 20 years of little to no progress in liberating the country save for a few pockets around Kabul (after both the former USSR and UK failed in their (also decades-long) attempts to do the same), it seems to me that this was the right move. Did we waste 20 years, hundreds of lives and billions of dollars? Yes, but we did the same thing in Viet Nam and Korea. Do we continue to "throw good money (and soldiers) after bad"? In my opinion, no. At 20+ years, the Afghan conflict has been the longest war that the US has been involved in. It began under Bush 43; it was wrong headed then, and would be even moreso to continue. Do I feel badly for those who will suffer under the Taliban? Of course, but given that Kabul fell literally within hours of our troops' withdrawal, how much progress did we really make?
@lovendures As much as I would like your visions to come true for Afghanistan it will never happen. These tribal wars have been going on for centuries and will continue for centuries to come. Other countries can't change things. It didn't help that Trump had 5000 Taliban prisoners released last year and many of those are now it's top leaders. This is not Biden's fault and after as many people are rescued as possible, our attention needs to focus on saving our own democracy.
The collapse of Afghanistan happened under Biden's watch, but it wasn't necessarily his fault. Perhaps miscalculating that the entire country could fall to the Taliban in ONE WEEK, but honestly, I'm not sure anyone, even experts, could have anticipated that.
45 tied Biden's hands. Either leave (and remember the agreement was to leave in May, Biden pushed past that) or increase troops and send more. Biden wasn't willing to do that.
It was going to be messy no matter what. To add insult to the suffering of the Afghans, the GOP is already scrubbing its website (the RNC, specifically) of all traces of praise it heaped on 45 for his "deal" with the Taliban. Because facts don't matter to them they are now engaged in a quicky revisionism so they can start to blame Biden. But that's who they are. No surprise there.
If we learn anything, it is, hopefully, that we suck at foreign involvements. We just make things worse. And most of them are really about money -- who profits. What good could we have done with a trillion $$ wasted, and as someone on my Twitter feed pointed out to me, what good could the 2500+ who died have done with their lives. Hopefully wiser use of of our valuable resources, financial and human, will be part of The Great Turning. Afghanistan has certainly been an unraveling.
If you want a super interesting take on the Afghanistan situation, reading Josh Marshall's Twitter feed, or his articles on TPM.com.
Peace and love everyone. Prayers for the Afghan people. xoxo