By Michael Schwarz September 12, 2024 at 8:15am
A basic summary of Americans’ contempt for their repellent ruling class boils down to three sentences:
Establishment politicians and other regime operatives view everything through the lens of power. They never assume any responsibility. They never suffer any consequences for their failures.
On Wednesday — the 23rd anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States — White House National Security Council communications adviser John Kirby demonstrated the mind of a well-placed regime toady when he accidentally included Fox News in a “reply all” email chain that featured a message dismissive of what he called “a ‘handful’ of vets” critical of President Joe Biden’s botched 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal.
“Obviously no use in responding. A ‘handful’ of vets indeed and all of one stripe,” Kirby wrote.
In other words, Kirby apparently believes that he may safely ignore the concerns of veterans who disagree with him.
Furthermore, he told White House staffers that they should do likewise.
The incident originated in an email inquiry from Fox News. That inquiry included quotes from four veterans who offered scathing criticisms of the 2021 Afghanistan debacle.
White House staffers on the National Security Council received the inquiry via forwarding. Then, Kirby responded with a dismissive message intended for those staffers only, but he hit “reply all,” which meant that Fox News, the original sender, also received his message.
Does the White House owe veterans an apology?
“Clearly, I didn’t realize you were on the chain,” Kirby later wrote in a follow-up email to a Fox News reporter.
Too late, of course, for we now know what the communications adviser really thinks.
The veterans quoted in the original Fox News inquiry were Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida; Mark Geist, an author, Marine veteran and member of the security team that fought in the 2012 Battle of Benghazi; Stuart Scheller, an author and former Marine court-martialed for publicly criticizing U.S. military leadership over the Afghanistan withdrawal; and Chad Robichaux, a former Force Recon Marine who served in Afghanistan.
Earlier this week, Republican Rep. Mike McCaul of Texas, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, released a report criticizing the Biden administration both for the Afghanistan withdrawal itself and for subsequent attempts to deflect responsibility.
Then, at a White House press conference on Monday, Kirby — with shocking chutzpah — tried to blame former President Donald Trump.
Geist described Kirby’s performance at the press conference as that of a dishonest warmonger.
“In the press conference, John Kirby delivered a one-sided presentation of facts and falsehoods regarding the recent House Report on Afghanistan. I’ll start with where Mr. Kirby finished, which was likely the only thing he said that was completely true: they pulled out of Afghanistan because they wanted to start and fund the war in Ukraine, fully aware that the American people would not tolerate being involved in two wars again,” Geist said.
Scheller spoke to what one could only describe as Kirby’s cravenness.
“I am proud that I identified the mistakes and poor planning in real time. It still pains me that it cost me my career. John Kirby, a former Navy admiral, represents the morally weak military officer class willing to parrot narratives for individual advancement. These politicians in uniform demonstrate, time and time again, that they are terrified of honest assessments of failure,” Scheller said.
Meanwhile, Robichaux identified both the administration’s failure and its consequences.
“The fact is that Biden and [Vice President Kamala] Harris chose to go against the advice of their Joint Chiefs, military, and intelligence advisers, abandoning Afghanistan and giving up the most strategic military stronghold on the global landscape — Bagram Air Base, which sits between Iraq, Iran, Russia and China. Worse, they did so before evacuating Americans or our allies. We left behind 20 million women and girls to be sexually enslaved. We left billions of dollars in sensitive equipment and technology,” Robichaux said in part.
They wanted to pivot to Ukraine. They lie in the service of their own careers, and they abandoned millions of Afghan females to sexual enslavement. These are among the criticisms to which Kirby wrote “no use in responding.”
“Retired Rear Admiral Kirby’s comments are appalling, but sadly not surprising. The Biden-Harris administration has consistently disregarded our veterans, servicemembers, and Gold Star families over their botched withdrawal from Afghanistan,” McCaul wrote in a message that the House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority posted Wednesday to the social media platform X.
CHM @RepMcCaul: “Retired Rear Admiral Kirby’s comments are appalling, but sadly not surprising. The Biden-Harris administration has consistently disregarded our veterans, servicemembers, and Gold Star families over their botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. https://t.co/OUVyZdViZG
— House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority (@HouseForeignGOP) September 11, 2024
The irony, of course, is that an admission of catastrophic failure on the part of Kirby and the Biden administration, followed by a public request for forgiveness from the families of service members killed during the botched Afghanistan withdrawal, would have elevated those White House officials in the estimation of ordinary Americans.
Indeed, we are so unaccustomed to accountability that a gesture of that kind would have distinguished those officials from the rest of the repellent ruling class.
It did not happen, of course. And it never will as long as we allow them to continue getting away with prioritizing politics and power.
Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
Michael Schwarz holds a Ph.D. in History and has taught at multiple colleges and universities. He has published one book and numerous essays on Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and the Early U.S. Republic. He loves dogs, baseball, and freedom. After meandering spiritually through most of early adulthood, he has rediscovered his faith in midlife and is eager to continue learning about it from the great Christian thinkers.
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