A STUNNING REMINDER – OVERNIGHT:  While we examine our election results and decide how quickly to spend our nation into bankruptcy, China is quietly building a military force that will make all our domestic concerns irrelevant.  This is a reminder that there's a real world out there.  From the Jerusalem Post and Reuters: 

The Chinese navy is the largest maritime force on Earth, boasting a total of 355 vessels, the US Defense Department revealed in a recent report.

China's navy, known as the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), has 355 ships and submarines, with an estimated 145 major surface combatants.

The navy is also readying its ability to carry out long-range precision strikes against land targets and enhance its anti-submarine warfare, further strengthening China's global power projection capabilities, the report noted.

And this number is only expected to grow in the future, with the Defense Department anticipating the Chinese fleet to grow to 460 ships by 2030.

In addition to the world's largest navy, China also possesses the world's largest standing army and the third-largest air force. This is in addition to the country's noted nuclear capabilities.

The report is significant as it comes amid tensions between China and nearby Taiwan, which has long claimed independence as its own state, though this independence is denied by mainland China.

For over a year, China has made numerous incursions on Taiwanese airspace, culminating in the largest one ever on October 1. Later that month, the US and Canada sent warships into the Taiwan Strait, an act condemned by China.

On Friday, China went further in fighting against Taiwanese independence, stating that anyone who supports Taiwan's independence would be criminally liable for life. This is the first time that China has spelled out concrete punishment for people deemed to be pro-Taiwan independence.

COMMENT:  China is on the march.  The United States, by contrast, has just suffered a humiliating setback in Afghanistan, and is governed by a weak, pro-socialist, pro-appeasement administration.  The situation is precarious, to say the least.  Our policy on defending Taiwan is not clear, raising the grim possibility that a terrible misunderstanding can launch us into another war.  Does anyone in Washington care?  Maybe Biden can name Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez as special adviser to the President on Wisdom.  That's pretty much where we're at.

November 6,  2021