This section includes shorter statements and pieces that I wish to express.
I thought that Flux was a marked improvement since the last series. Although Chris Chibnall was still outrageous enough to do things like showing us the Doctor's mother (well, that's basically who she was) the story felt tighter and was more interesting. We were introduced to a variety of different characters and were rewarded over the span of six episodes by learning more about both the characters themselves and how they related to the plot. I disliked how the villains were defeated in such an effortless way, perhaps giving a slight exception to the Sontaran plot. But it was nice to finally have something that felt more like Doctor Who after the awfulness of the last two series. Hopefully this trend will continue for the remainder of Jodie Whiitaker's run.
The VA Governor's race has narrowed immensely over the last week. Most of the polls have the two main candidates tied or have McAuliffe +1. The FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics polling aggregates both have Youngkin in the lead, by a slim margin. However, this new lead is largely because of a recent Fox News poll which favoured Youngkin +8. Although Virginia is a relatively blue state — in recent history, at least — Biden's national unpopularity will only help Republicans. This is relevant in Virginia, given that even in the state alone, Biden is still underwater.
Based on this, I would say the race really could go either way. If I had to put money on either side, I would just put it on Glenn Youngkin, but I don't think he would win by any margin you could call big. If Youngkin wins, it will lead to some amount of in-fighting within the Democrat party. This will include criticism from progressives on Biden not being able to motivate Democrats with a strong progressive agenda, and moderates will respond by accusing the progressives of scaring centrist voters away, citing last year's Congressional elections. I think the GOP will be happy either way, providing they can, at worst, lose by a close margin to McAuliffe. So we'll see what happens on Tuesday, and we'll see about any potential Party fallout after election night, but those are my predictions for now.
I'm really glad to see that this announcement has happened. The AUKUS security alliance is very much needed to counter the threat of China, as well as to emphasise that threat of China in Western political discussion. Also, it will generate jobs in the UK, which is a nice bonus. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.
I believe it is Joe Biden's fault. While he was following on from Donald Trump's deal with the Taliban, which was announced last year, it was his poor execution of it that is to blame for the crisis we see today. Biden ignored advice from his generals to make the poor decision, and it cost him greatly.
This is the first major blow to his Presidential authority, both domestically and internationally. It will take a large foreign policy success for him to regain international trust. America will only care if their troops suffer: Biden's decision represents a betrayal of American troops, and he will have to work to regain the trust of the American people.
I don't think this is Presidency-ending for Biden, despite some Republicans calling on him to resign. It would take a lot more than that to get him out of office so early on in his Presidency.
END OF ENTRIES