Old Joe and the Salem Slut

Old Joe and the Salem Slut

It was April 14th of this year when U.S. President Joe Biden announced his plan for a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, marking an end to a 20-year war commonly regarded as the ‘Forever War.’ His goal: to have all remaining U.S. troops withdrawn from Afghanistan by September 11th, the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Biden assured American citizens that the withdrawal would be “responsibly, deliberately, and safely” carried out. Previously, the withdrawal date was set at May 1st, a negotiation made between former President Donald Trump’s administration and the Taliban. Move on to July 8th, and Biden announces that the withdrawal date has been moved forward to August 31st. This comes after reports stating that the Taliban are at their strongest military state since 2001. He also promised that “the likelihood there’s going to be the Taliban overrunning everything and owning the whole country is highly unlikely.”

Now, a month after the withdrawal, the Taliban is in complete control of Afghanistan - and President Biden is not taking any responsibility. His administration made promises that they weren’t able to keep, and now they are deflecting the blame on others. On August 19th, Biden said that “if there are American citizens left” after the August 31st withdrawal deadline, “we're going to stay until we get them all out.” About two weeks later, it was estimated that up to 200 Americans were left behind following the withdrawal. Biden’s response; “90% of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave.” He also added that “most of them were dual-citizens, anyway,” a slap in the face for those who were unable to safely evacuate the Taliban-controlled country.

Having been advised several times about the instability in Kabul, especially since the Taliban began their offensive operations in May, President Biden brushed it off when he was notified on August 15th that the Taliban had successfully taken control of Kabul just hours after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Biden conceded that “this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated.” Following this, he then pointed his wrinkly finger to the Afghan army, saying that he had instructed his team to prepare in the event of a takeover. Another swift shift in blame by the commander-in-chief of our country.

None of Biden’s actions are justifiable. In fact, it’s quite embarrassing to see the U.S. president shifting the blame away from him and onto those who don’t have the power and military that we have. It would have been far better if Biden would own up to his mistakes, rather than point the finger towards someone else.

Joe Biden didn’t invent finger pointing however. Actually, it dates way back to early 1692 where it was put to use extensively by a young Salem girl named Abigail Williams. Beginning in February, the Salem witch trials wreaked havoc among the townsfolk. Reverend Parris, the minister of Salem’s church, spreads the word of God and Christianity. He struggles to make a name for himself in the town, as many dislike him. Just when he starts to build himself in the town, he becomes a controversial figure. One night, he caught Abigail, his neice, dancing around a fire in the forest with many of her friends. Among the group was Parris’ daughter, Betty, and Tituba, his slave. When the girls discovered that Parris had caught them, they all dispersed throughout the forest, leaving only Parris, Abigail, and Betty - who was now screaming uncontrollably. When Salem found out, all hell broke loose. This was not a good sign for Abigail.

Infuriated and concerned for his daughter’s well-being, Reverend Parris demands Abigail tell him the entire truth of what went on in the forest, hoping to find the reason behind Betty’s erratic behavior. What does Abigail tell him? The half-truth. She says to Parris; “Uncle, we did dance; let you tell them I confessed it.” Following this, Parris enlists the help of Reverend Hale of Beverly to release Betty from the Devil’s hands. Upon his arrival, Hale begins to interrogate Abigail and the rest of the girls in hopes of finding out whodunnit. One of the girls pointed towards Abigail, and this is where the finger pointing began. Instantly going on the defense, Abigail claims that she was not conjuring spirits in the forest, rather that it was Tituba. In doing so, Abigail prompted both Parris and Hale to begin their radical interrogation of Tituba, resulting in a beaten confession by her that she does indeed work for the Devil.

Over 300 years later, President Biden followed in Abigail Wiliams’ little steps, pointing the finger towards the people of Afghanistan rather than owning up. Though these instances are years apart, you can see that they have similar aspects in which both Biden and Abigail were accused of something, followed by both of them placing the blame on someone else.