Bill Maher recently made a video declaring Americans are “silly people.” Perhaps so, but it may be that we are actually a good people, poorly led. The emergency that we face at this very moment, Americans and allies trapped in Afghanistan, requires that We the People demand emergency measures be taken immediately.
For directly and deliberately lying to the American people regarding Afghanistan and the existence of Al Qaeda there; for the statement that every contingency was prepared for in a reckless withdrawal of American troops before American citizens and allies; for not consulting NATO allies of this intention; for declaring NATO support of such a move; for closing Bagram airfield precipitously; for allowing American arms, aircraft, and every other war materiel to be deliberately left behind for use by enemies of America; for abandoning a new 1.5 B embassy; for relying on the enemy for the safety of Americans rather than our own military; and for violating the Oath of Office to faithfully execute the laws of the United States – The President of the United States must resign immediately.
For having full knowledge of the above, including allowing billions of dollars of equipment to fall into enemy hands; for stating that American troops cannot escort citizens and allies to safety because of a lack of military resources – The Secretary of Defense of the United States must resign immediately.
_For having full knowledge of the above; for failing to use the military to protect Americans and American allies now in harm’s way; for stating that the military was unprepared for so swift a collapse of the Afghan government; for stating that the military cannot protect an embassy and airfield at the same time – The head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must resign immediately.
For relying on the armed enemy to escort American citizens and allies to the Kabul airport for evacuation rather than the United States military; for negotiating with a designated terrorist organization, the Haqqani Network working with the Afghan Taliban, as if the legitimate government of Afghanistan; for bureaucratic slow-walking of Special Immigration Visas; for requiring paperwork for allied evacuation that invited retribution by the enemy; by accepting a timetable for evacuation by the enemy; by complicity and concurrence with the above – The Secretary of State must resign immediately.
Amendment XXV of the United States Constitution:
Section 1: In case of the removal of the President from office or his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2: Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon the confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress
The Presidential Succession Act of 2020, after the Vice President, who cannot refuse to become President:
The Speaker of the House – Nancy Pelosi
The President Pro Tempore – Patrick Leahy
The Secretary of State – Anthony Blinken
The Secretary of the Treasury – Janet Yellen
The Secretary of Defense – Lloyd Austin
The Attorney General – Merrick Garland
Since hours and days matter in this emergency, Congress should address the situation immediately and prepare to offer assistance to whoever is Commander-in-Chief. Only in this way will the American people have confidence that the emergency is being handled with all due care by its elected and appointed representatives.
The reality is that the We the People have been poorly led. Four or more American Presidents have misunderstood and/or mismanaged our nation’s interests in the Middle East. They have been supported in incompetence by some in the Department of State, the Department of Defense, and our intelligence agencies. George W. Bush entered a long-term quagmire in the Muslim world he did not fully appreciate; Barrack Obama purged the military of its finest fighting officers thereby weakening our national defense; Donald J. Trump sealed the fate of Afghanistan in negotiating with terrorists who cannot ideologically share power; and Joseph R. Biden deliberately led the nation in a humiliating defeat, encouraging possible future attacks upon the nation and our allies.
America’s moral authority, the coin of the realm, cannot wait for a future repair. The actions taken in the next few days will either validate that it exists or that it does not. Pressure from We the People must alter the current course. If moral authority does not exist, what has been lost is what it represents – an infinitesimal point of light in the darkened void that is the barbarian nature of humanity.
We the People must step to the plate urgently with courage and conviction. We are the ultimate Sovereign. A deliberately malignant federal executive branch must be dealt with by the Constitution through the People. New elections will eventually be held and hopefully, we “silly people”, according to Bill Maher, will think carefully about who is a proper President of the United States and who can be trusted to keep this tiny light a beacon for the world.
