What did our government do this weekend while Israelis and at least nine Americans got murdered with more kidnaped and/or raped by Gazans in their medieval and barbarous invasion? President Joe Biden was on top of it — if “it” refers to the ribs cooking on the grill.
The deadliest days for America’s strategic ally in 50 years and the loss of nine Americans apparently didn’t put a dent in Biden’s appetite:
While Hamas holds Americans hostage, Joe Biden is enjoying a picnic with a live band pic.twitter.com/0xqRDwyuoR
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) October 8, 2023
Scott Taylor, a former Virginia Republican congressman, added: “Given recent events, and certainly with the news of many Americans being held hostage in Gaza, I think I would have canceled the White House BBQ with the live band.”
“This weekend, several Americans were killed in Israel and several more are still being held hostage by Hamas. Today, Joe Biden called a lid at 11:34 a.m. and is having a barbecue,” political commentator and podcast host Benny Johnson posted. The term ‘calling a lid’ is used by political reporters to mean that the president will not be making any more public statements or be available to the press for the rest of the day.
C.J. Pearson, a conservative activist and commentator, added: “There are American hostages being held captive by Hamas and Joe Biden is currently having a barbecue at the White House. The case for impeachment couldn’t be more strong.”
The most stunning part of this isn’t the barbecue, although that’s bad enough. It’s the pre-noon lid on any updates from the White House. Americans got killed by an Islamic terrorist group-cum-government in Gaza, while others got seized as hostages within the last 48 hours. And the White House didn’t even leave open the possibility of briefing reporters on developments for the rest of the day?
Were the ribs really that good? Or was it the band? I’m old enough to remember when the American media reviled George W. Bush for playing a round of golf the day after a bus bombing in Israel while issuing a statement condemning the attack. That was in August 2002, eleven months after the 9/11 attacks, and the bus bombing was no match for the scale of the Hamas invasion over the last few days. The White House didn’t call a lid at noon on that day, either. And yet the media made such a big deal of Bush’s “Now watch this drive” that the then-president gave up golf during the remainder of his presidency.
Do you expect them to do the same with Biden’s “Now watch these ribs” moment?
However, that wasn’t the worst response from the administration this weekend. That came from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who huddled with our barely-ally Turkey to spitball on the war Gaza declared on Israel. And Blinken’s bright idea is to grant Hamas and Gaza a reprieve from the military response they provoked with their barbaric war against civilians in Israel:
Turkish Foreign Minister @HakanFidan and I spoke further on Hamas’ terrorist attacks on Israel. I encouraged Türkiye's advocacy for a cease-fire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas immediately.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) October 8, 2023
Please note the odd format of the tweet. Blinken or his team deleted this tweet this morning without explanation, after having it up for more than twelve hours. They seem to have belatedly realized just how much cowardice this statement contained, with appeasement dripping from every syllable, almost like barbecue sauce drips off the ribs and chicken at Biden’s Israel Is Burning Staff Appreciation Day.
Fortunately, everything is forever on the Internet, thanks to Ducky:
— Ducky ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@thatjerkme) October 9, 2023
And also our good pal Mary Katharine:
— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) October 9, 2023
Perhaps the deletion this morning indicates some level of shame over Blinken’s cowardice. The more likely explanation is that the State Department got so much flak over it in the past 24 hours that they decided to bury it — even though this was an official statement on a government account. Those should not be deleted, however, especially not in the gutless manner in which it disappeared without any explanation. Did Blinken change positions, or does he merely want everyone to stop talking about it?
Perhaps both, and for good reason. We don’t call off police responses to get hostages released, and we don’t call off military responses over hostages either. To do so incentivizes more hostage taking, a rock-solid truth that this administration has spent the last couple of years ignoring, especially in regard to Iran. The majority of the hostages still alive — if any are still alive — are Israelis, but the Israeli government isn’t waiting around for hostage negotiations.
The Israelis know the hostaging game, and know not to play it. Unlike Blinken and Biden, they’ve also read Kipling’s “Dane-geld,” perhaps especially the part about a “rich and lazy nation,” which describes Biden’s national security policies to an unfortunate T.
Gaza has launched a war on Israel. Not Hamas, which is simply their chosen government, but Gaza. Their subjects are dancing in the street over the raping, kidnaping, and slaughter of women, children, and the elderly civilians of nearby Israeli communities. They have long been all-in on Hamas’ vision of a Thousand Year Reich built on the bodies of millions of Jews, and this time they mean to achieve it. The only way to fight this is to fight it as we fought Nazi Germany in 1944-45 — by destroying everything of use to the regime, to defeat it utterly, and to force its supporters into either utter capitulation or destruction — with that being their choice, not the Israelis. There is no way for Israel to peacefully co-exist with a Hamas regime or the populace that supports it.
If this administration can’t figure that out, they need to resign and allow Americans to be led by more serious people in more serious times. I may have more on that later, too.
Update: YGBFKM.
After hosting a party last night at the White House while Americans remain held hostage by Hamas, Biden has called a lid at 11:51 am. He's MIA.
"We will not be seeing the president today."
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) October 9, 2023
The White House has called a lid before noon.
We do not expect to see or hear from President Biden for the rest of the day.
— Jacqui Heinrich (@JacquiHeinrich) October 9, 2023
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