Philosophical Apprentice comments.

Mr. Stephens is like his fellow Neo-Cons: David Frum, Bill Kristol and David Brooks. They have an appetite for War, yet have no actual experience, of what being a soldier is like, not to speak of a cultivated ignorance of what battle might be-

These men are not Ernst Jünger and his notorious celebration of combat in ‘Storm of Steel’. But men whose ignorance of the realities of war, leaves The Reader wondering: about the whole of their World View, based on what other instantiation of their ignorance of the human world?

Mr. Stephens’ thought experiment that wonders about the question of : How Will Joe Biden Be Remembered in 50 Years? Is realized in these four paragraphs:

…

What will matter in 2073 is whether he reversed the global tide of democratic retreat that began long before his presidency but reached new lows with the Taliban’s victory in Afghanistan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. If Biden can turn it, it will be a historic achievement. If not, much darker days will lie ahead.

He has a real chance.

On the positive side, there is last week’s announcement of 31 M-1 Abrams tanks for Ukraine, unlocking German Leopard 2 tanks to be sent as well. The decision brings Ukraine a significant step closer to eventual NATO membership, to which it has more than earned the right.

Then there’s the apparent end of attempts to revive the Iran nuclear deal and a visibly tougher posture by the administration toward Tehran’s misogynistic tyrants, including, last week, the largest-ever joint military exercise with Israel.

And there is the president’s repeated public statements that the U.S. will defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. Had Biden failed to say so, the island would be in even graver danger than it is now. Closer defense ties to Japan and Australia reinforce the point.

…

A favorite Neo-Con trope is decline and decadence, here carefully tinctured in ‘the global tide of democratic retreat’ and ‘31 M-1 Abrams tanks for Ukraine, unlocking German Leopard 2 tanks’ are the point of focus of a possible view of Biden in 50 years?

Look at, and marvel, at the remaining cast of characters, that are the brought on stage to buoy this blatant War Mongering. The jaundiced reader might think of the political/historical monstrosities of @anneapplebaum, featured in Neo-Liberal/Neo-Con publications, in a circumspect and reductivist way? Yet Stephens offers this collection:

Franklin Roosevelt, Lend-Lease, trans-Atlantic unity in the face of Russian aggression, Finland and Sweden and NATO membership, But Biden, like F.D.R., Ukraine, Vladimir Putin, Iran, Taiwan, Chinese invasion,

For just a rhetorical moment Stephens offers this ;

It’s time to arm Ukraine with the arms it needs to win quickly — including F-16s — not just to survive indefinitely.

North Korea, Middle East, …

Another segue into political hysteria!

…Air Force Gen. Mike Minihan, head of the Air Mobility Command, sent a memo to his officers with a blunt warning: “I hope I am wrong,” he wrote about the prospect of the United States getting into a war with China. “My gut tells me we will fight in 2025.”

The final paragraph:

In 50 years, they’ll know. Biden’s sentence could be, “He defeated Trump, and then he defeated Putin, Khamenei and Xi.” Or it will be, “He defeated Trump, but then he came up slightly but fatally short.” Time will tell.

Philosophical Apprentice