THE PERILS OF PELOSI

Nancy Pelosi is traveling throughout Asia. This is a tradition by congressional representatives during their August vacation. They travel the world, at Tax Payer expense, supposedly spreading good will throughout the world. It is actually frightening to realize that all over the world people of the caliber of Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi represent the face of America. We can be absolutely sure of two things. One, no one is intimidated by either of them. Second, many are having difficulty taking us seriously. I mean with over 300 million people this is the best we got?

Now Nancy Pelosi is going to Taiwan for no apparent reason. Perhaps Paul needs some more Asia contacts to fill out his portfolio. China is responding by threatening to shoot down her plane. Even Republicans are backing Pelosi’s decision to visit Taiwan, because they don’t want to let China pressure us. But no one is asking the most important question. Who thought this was a good idea in the first place? If you lived on Taiwan, would a visit from Nancy Pelosi be worth risking getting attacked by China?

We all better hope that China does not do something stupid like try and shoot down her plane or use this as an excuse to attack Taiwan. But history tells us this is exactly how wars start. Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. He was the assumed heir to the throne of Austria Hungary. As a result, Austria Hungary declared war on Serbia. The entire world began choosing sides and the result was World War I.

Archduke Ferdinand was almost killed in a hunting accident the year previously. Some speculate that if that happened World War I could have been avoided. The point being that the Archduke’s decision to visit Sarajevo, where he was not exactly welcomed, resulted in his assassination. In retrospect, his decision to take this vacation was probably not a particularly good choice.

The bigger problem here is that China made Pelosi’s trip a big deal, she went anyway, and now China has lost face. They obviously chose to not shoot down her plane, but they will not ignore this. The only real question is how and when they will pay us back for this very public slap in the face and how we will respond.

The United States policy toward Taiwan has always bordered on insanity. We agree that Taiwan is part of China but want this resolved peacefully. The people in Taiwan consider themselves to be an independent democracy and it is unlikely they have any interest in becoming part of China. The people in Hong Kong can provide first-hand evidence on why that would be a really bad idea. This means at the same time Nancy Pelosi is saying Taiwan is an important ally and an independent democracy we are also saying Taiwan belongs to China. Failing to make a decision is a decision, almost always the worst decision.

It would be reassuring if we had mature, responsible, experienced adults with character in charge of making these extremely important decisions. Instead, we have Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, and Chuck Schumer. Perhaps the only good news is that the trip by Pelosi received strong bi-partisan support from Republicans. The better news is that Republicans have a good chance of taking over in November. The best news is that China needs us more than we need them. Their economy is fueled largely by products sold in the U.S. and elsewhere. Trump understood that. The question is whether anyone was listening and paying attention.

While this was happening, Joe authorized a drone strike in Kabul to kill the alleged head of Al Qaeda. He then bragged about how this puts a final nail in the Al Qaeda coffin. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. The reality is that the Taliban offered Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations a safe haven, again, in Afghanistan. The Biden Administration knows Al Qaeda is far from dead. The State Department issued a worldwide travel alert to U.S. citizens over an Al Qaeda terror threat and Washington apparently is prepared to close its embassies and consulates throughout the Muslim world over security concerns. What a remarkable way to celebrate the elimination of a threat.

US issues global travel alert over Al Qaeda threat, prepares to close embassies | Fox News

This isn’t funny anymore. Most of us are well aware of the damage done to our economy by placing someone like Joe Biden in the most important office in the world. Unfortunately, as bad as things are economically, we may pay a much higher price internationally.

The only good news about the Perils of Pelosi is that her time in office is rapidly ending. It is a bad movie, with some really ugly scenes, but like all movies, the end is coming sooner than you think.