Stupid Questions

I never cease to be amazed at how many news people, regardless of their network or political affiliation, suddenly become experts on the crisis du jour and ask ridiculously stupid questions during news conferences.

The thing that got me riled up on this topic* over the last week or so was the insistence by news reporters during the daily White House press briefings on obtaining an absolute guarantee from the Biden administration that EVERY SINGLE AMERICAN in Afghanistan would be whisked home to safety. This was usually accompanied by the stern outrage of the chattering classes at the realization that our government doesn't actually know how many Americans there are in Afghanistan.

This is an admission of their stupidity, not the government's incompetence.

How many Americans are there in Afghanistan? Let's see ...

The Defense Department knows how many military personnel are there because they sent them there on orders, feed them, house them, and pay them. The State Department knows how many of its personnel are there because they send them there as official representatives of the US government. The CIA knows how many of its personnel are there because they know everything, ha, ha. Civilian firms working for the government under contract know how many people they have in the country because they're billing Uncle Sam (quite exorbitantly, in most cases) for every one. 

But that's not all the Americans in Afghanistan.

There are also unknown numbers of miscellaneous aid workers, NGO** representatives, missionaries, volunteers, news reporters, tourists***, and other such people running around the country. Why are those numbers unknown? Because the State Department recommends, but does not require, unofficial visitors to foreign countries to register with the local embassy in case of emergency ... like, for example, a Taliban takeover that necessitates evacuation of Americans.

But of course, being Americans who value their personal freedoms above all else, many of those people won't register with the embassy, because they're not fearful sheep blindly following the dictates of a tyrannical government. Of course, when they need to be rescued, it's a different story. 

For all the chaos and bungling of the first day or two of the exodus, there is now a highly-professional airlift underway, executed by the world's finest Airmen† and protected by the world's finest military. I doubt that any other nation on earth could have pulled off an operation of this magnitude ... without the loss of a single American life. Indeed, as Matthew Dowd, who was the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney ticket in 2004, commented earlier this week, more than 20,000 people have been evacuated from Afghanistan without a single loss of an American life, while in the same period of time, 5000 Americans died from Covid-19 and another 500 from gunshots on the streets of the United States.

I wish a lot of media people who like to hear themselves talk, but don't know what they're talking about, would just shut the hell up, starting with everyone at Fox News and OANN and including self-important clowns like Chris Cuomo on CNN.

That's all. I just felt this needed a rant.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* There are a lot of things, actually, this is just the one that has me pissed off at the moment.

** NGO =  "Non-Governmental Organization," such as the Red Cross.

*** Yes, believe it or not there are people stupid enough to travel as thrill-seeking tourists to dangerous regions.

† I have been very proud to be an Air Force veteran this week.