Biden/ Nero/ Hitler

In a brutal nine days in July 64 AD, 71% of Rome was burned to the ground. I have not been able to locate an exact death total but estimates are that hundreds of people died and thousands more were made homeless. Since then, it has been argued and debated about whether emperor Nero himself started the fire, had the city torched or even possibly it was the work of the Christian minority living in the city. Regardless, one iconic image is one of Nero paying the violin while Rome burns in the background. Even Bugs Bunny made reference to this. “Be it ever so crumbly, there is no place like home. Nero, he was the emperor and he fiddled while it burned.” (If my memory serves me correctly) We will likely never know the truth behind all the theories and conspiracies. What we do know, however, is what transpired in March of 1945.

With the Third Reich teetering on the edge of defeat, Adolf Hitler published what has been called the “Nero Decree.” Of course, this relates to Rome’s 64 AD burning and the intended destruction of Germany on the orders of Uncle Adolf. He wrote:

RE: Destruction Measures within Reich Territory

Our nation’s struggle for existence forces us to utilize all means, even within Reich territory, to weaken the fighting power of our enemy and to prevent further advances. Any opportunity to inflict lasting damage on the striking power of the enemy must be taken advantage of. It is a mistake to believe that undestroyed or only temporarily paralyzed traffic, communications, industrial, and supply installations will be useful to us again after the recapture of lost territories. During his retreat, the enemy will leave behind only scorched earth and will abandon all concern for the population.

I therefore command –

1. All military traffic, communications, industrial and supply installations as well as objects within Reich territory that might be used by the enemy in the continuation of his fight, either now or later, are to be destroyed.

2. It is the responsibility of the military command posts to execute this order to destroy all military objects, including traffic and communications installations.

The Gauleiters and Commissioners for Reich Defense are responsible for destroying the industrial and supply installations, as well as of other objects of valuable; the troops must give the Gauleiters and Commissioners for Reich Defense the assistance they need to carry out this task.

3. This command is to be transmitted to all troop commanders as promptly as possible; orders to the contrary are null and void.

Adolf Hitler.

In response, even ardent Nazis like Armaments Minister Albert Speer weren’t too enthusiastic about this order. Ten days after this order was published, Speer responded to Hitler. Among other things, he said, “On hearing these words I was deeply shocked.” Apparently, in closed conversation, true to form, Hitler rambled on about that since Germany showed itself to be the weaker nation, that the future belonged exclusively to the stronger nation of Russia. Of course, it was total insanity that Hitler was willing to sacrifice the survival of the German people because they lost a war Hitler should not have started in the first place.

The point here is that it takes a special kind of megalomaniac to decide that he/she would rather see their country fail and suffer than to see it succeed with new leadership. Enter President Joe Biden. Many times in the past, I have written that I do not particularly like Hitler comparisons. Mainly because they are completely wrong or inaccurate. The only other Hitler comparison I made in the past was that Biden and Hitler were similar in that after the bombings of so many German cities, Hitler refused to go to those cities and talk with the survivors. He was not man enough to face the consequences of his actions and the effects they had on the German people. Out of sight and out if mind was an unofficial mantra. Similarly, when we look at the debacle that is our southern border, Biden, much like Hitler, refused to go and see the turmoil he created. All the crime committed by illegals similarly is ignored by the President. So, in this way, my comparison is spot on.

Now as we look at Hitler’s Nero decree and his sick desire to punish the German people for his own foibles, we can look at the last several months of President Biden’s presidency and look at his own, indeed significantly smaller in scope, Nero Decree. When Trump secured funding for the border wall, he had thousands of pieces of the wall constructed and waiting to be installed. In an effort to foil Trumps border wall plan in his second term, President Biden recently decided to start selling those pieces of the border wall at pennies on the dollar. His hope is apparently to cause disruption and delay in Trump’s plan and of course to force him to spend even more money to purchase material that was purchased once already.

Biden has commuted the sentences of 1500 people, some obviously very questionable, he has commuted the sentences of 37 people on death row at the federal level and just yesterday (as of this writing), by executive order, has ended future offshore oil and gas drilling along most of the nation’s coastline. The purpose of this is clearly to make it more difficult for Trump to, as he says, “Drill baby, drill.” At stake is close to 625 million acres of coastline being prevented from future oil and gas drilling. If that sounds like a lot, it is. This land covers all of the Atlantic Coast and eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific coast from Washington to California and parts of Alaska’s Northern Bering Sea. Fox News reported that Trump’s incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote, “This is a disgraceful decision designed to exact political revenge on the American people who gave President Trump a mandate to increase drilling and lower gas prices. Rest assured, Joe Biden will fail.”

It was also reported just this morning that the Biden administration has transferred 11 GITMO detainees to Oman. And you guessed it, each of them has ties to Al Qaeda. At least one of the men transferred was a bodyguard for Osama bin Laden. According to one news report, a lawyer for the men transferred said, “They want to live their lives. They want to get married. They want to have kids. They want to get a job and have normal lives.” Pretty sickening stuff. Just like the millions of people that have poured across the border under Biden only want a better life. This transfer will only leave 15 detainees at GITMO. Another report stated that the US government is in negotiations to swap Americans detained in Afghanistan with one or more GITMO prisoners. Unfortunately, Biden’s list goes on.

To me, it is sad that on his way out, it seems as though President Biden is hell-bent on making life as miserable as he can for the new tenants of Pennsylvania Avenue. What is lost in the process is his destructive behavior and how his choices affect all Americans. I do not believe he has our best interests at heart. Or more likely the case, whoever is really in charge at the White House does not have our best interests at heart. Yeah, I get it. Biden has certainly become that crotchety old “get off my lawn guy.” He is angry and unforgiving that he was unceremoniously thrown out of the race by his own people. This much is clear. He did not go willingly. But his actions at the end of his term, this 11th hour as they say, raise serious questions and issues the next administration will have no choice but to contend with.

Now here is just one question I have. It is clear that President Biden is working under diminished capacity. This cannot be denied. He forgot a kid’s name while singing him happy birthday the other day for crying out loud. My question is this. If it can be shown that Biden is indeed diminished, can any of his “11th hour” actions be considered legitimate and/ or legal?

THE VIEWS OF SUBMITTED EDITORIALS MAY NOT BE THE EXPRESS VIEWS OF THE ALABAMA GAZETTE.