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President Biden gave yet another disastrous press conference on Friday, Aug. 20 showing yet again how far out of touch with reality he is regarding the situation on the ground in Kabul. While foreign policy seldom intersects with politics in Richmond, this fiasco is a rare exception.

Virginia is home to numerous military installations, such as Fort Pickett Army National Guard Training Center in Nottoway County, tens of thousands of active-duty personnel and their families as well as myriad contractors, non-governmental organizations and other groups who have been working in Afghanistan.

When Virginians see the disaster in Kabul unfolding on TV, it’s not just a foreign policy fiasco for President Biden — it’s a real impact on our family, friends and neighbors. Make no mistake, it is a disaster.

While other nations have been able to leave the airport to rescue their nationals, our troops remain trapped behind barbed wire, impeding us from saving our countrymen and allies.

Furthermore, we can disagree over the conduct of the war and the timeline for withdrawal, but no one can defend the way the Biden administration handled the final departure.

Virginians are rightly angry to see weapons they paid for with their tax dollars in the hands of America’s enemies.

The departure represents a fundamental difference between Republicans and Democrats. Like the Democrats in the House of Delegates, President Biden tried to implement an idea with no plan.

Virginia House Democrats tried repeatedly to pass ideas into law over the past two years, with disastrous results.

I voted on bills, not ideas. “Knock wood” is not a plan. We need to end one-party rule in Richmond and Washington.  The disaster in Kabul is what happens when we have Democrat-only rule. It’s time for it to end.

Democratic hypocrisy on law enforcement funding

House Democrats are back in their districts, singing the praises of the new budget bill just passed allocating federal COVID funds.

Among them is Delegate Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg), who has been praising himself and his colleagues for the funding they got for law enforcement while spending two years making their jobs harder.

What liberals leave out is that they voted against a $5,000 bonus for every sworn law enforcement officer in Virginia, a pay raise that I was proud to support as your delegate.

Every bill Democrats supported shortchanged some members of our law enforcement community.  Murder rates are going up in Virginia to levels not seen since the 1990s. That must stop. If we’re serious about fighting gun violence, we will adopt proven solutions like Project Ceasefire permanently, not just in a stopgap fashion.

Hypocrisy is nothing new for these Democrats, but they can’t be allowed to get away with claiming to support police when they’ve spent years bashing them.

Del. Tommy Wright can be reached via email at DelTWright@house.virginia.gov or (804) 698-1061.