Biden should admit agreeing with Trump. Plus: Focusing on late night. And, how does Pelosi feel?

By Gary Abernathy

Biden should acknowledge agreeing with Trump

President Biden is announcing plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Sept. 11 – the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of 2001 – in what amounts to a completion of a withdrawal plan begun by former President Donald Trump.

In a story today, the Washington Post acknowledges as much: “…Biden is pursuing a goal he actually shares with Trump: ending the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan by a date certain. Although Trump failed to withdraw all forces on his watch, he set a May 1 deadline that Biden is now leveraging, extending the deadline by only a few months.”

Trouble is, the story notes, Biden will likely portray the move as something he was able to accomplish that Trump didn’t. But “…Democrats acknowledge privately that Trump started the process that Biden is now finishing,” the Post reports.

Biden has focused much of his agenda on undoing everything Trump did. That’s his prerogative, and Trump took pretty much the same approach in regard to his predecessor, Barack Obama.

But Biden ran for president on the theme of being a bipartisan politician who would bring America together. As part of that, he could say, “I disagree with almost everything President Trump did. But I do agree with him on ending our involvement in Afghanistan, and I am therefore completing the mission he started and bringing our troops home.” Why not?  

Newspapers demean themselves with comedy focus

I continue to be amazed at major newspapers that insist on recapping the juvenile antics and jokes from late-night television. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy dumb humor as much as anyone. Give me a festival of films by Mel Brooks or Jerry and David Zucker and I’m set. But serious newspapers demean their own product and purpose when they insist on pointing to late-night comedy as commentary deserving of our attention in their pages – as though it hits at the heart of what’s happening in our world, as opposed to going for the quickest laugh or, these days, carrying water for progressives and liberals at everyone else’s expense.

Burning Chauvin trial question: How does Pelosi feel?

Speaking of syrupy coverage of one side as compared to the other, USA Today has a feature with this headline: “Nancy Pelosi on the impact the Chauvin trial has had on her.”

Right. That’s what America has been asking when it comes to the death of George Floyd and the trial of the police officer accused of his murder. How does Nancy feel?

Here’s a sample: “Though she has not watched a lot of the trial, Pelosi said she has followed news accounts and kept abreast of developments. The testimony has made her angry as well as sad as she identified with the anguish and a feeling of helplessness she said bystanders must have felt as Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck in May.”

So, she hasn’t really be paying attention, but USA Today needed to do a prominent feature story on the topic anyway. Pelosi feels angry. And she feels sad.

Can you imagine a similar sympathetic profile on how GOP leaders Mitch McConnell or Kevin McCarthy feel about the trial? Me neither.

Also unbelievable is that the feature includes two pictures of Pelosi in her private office, and in both photos she’s wearing a mask – even though no one appears to be within 10 feet of her, let alone six feet, judging by the pics. It’s like watching news reporters do standups with their masks on. Why do we even publish pictures of people when they’re wearing masks? Pictures are supposed to help identify people, not show us what they look like with their faces covered. We live in bizarro world.

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