Jump to content

Tuco

Legacy Members
  • Posts

    3497
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by Tuco

  1. What frequently gets lost in these discussions is that we are way too focused on the US element of it. There was an article today that talked about how the Taliban had retaken Kabul "20 years after US troops had driven them off." That is fucking nonsense. US troops didn't invade Afghanistan. US troops didn't drive the Taliban out of Kabul. Does anyone remember the Northern Alliance? They did the heavy lifting. We supplied them and bombed the shit out of their adversaries, but we had a relatively trivial ground force at the time, fewer than 300 troops on the ground, per Bob Woodward's Bush at War. Why is that important? Because if you are going to talk about the success of the Taliban you should probably asked what they hell happened to their main opposition, the opposition which prevented them controlling all of the country even prior to 9/11, prior to the US giving them anything. Well, perhaps instead of worrying about which US President to blame, we should discuss the Afghani President and how he fucked up support from the Northern Alliance factions. From an WaPo article a couple of weeks ago. Full article in the spoiler. TL, DR: In 2014, the Presidential race was between Ghani (Pashtun) and Abdullah (supported by the North). Ghani won a tight race. He then started undermining his opponents, including firing a popular governor in the North, replacing him with a Southerner. In the attempt to consolidate his control of a US-propped up government, he inadvertently undermined and alienated the significant factions who were otherwise inclined to oppose the Taliban. Now he is the President of jack shit. So, when assigning blame, let's just all agree to say "fuck President Ghani" before worrying about Trump or Biden. And if there is a lesson there for America, it's that power over the government is pointless if the country goes to shit.
  2. I'm not exactly sure what the intent of this post is. If it is some rebuttal of me saying the Dems are without morons or moronic positions, it appears to be misplaced. I've been involved in party politics and certainly recognize there are morons on my side. The Democratic Party needs to improve, both at the national and state level. But, with that in mind, reflexive both-siderism is just stupid and lazy. Recognition of Democratic flaws is not a defense of both-siderism. Rather, It is the obscuration of any flaws, Republican or Democratic, with some fucked nihilism that just states that it doesn't matter who is in charge on the issue. The fact is it does fucking matter, not because of the parties but because of the policies and philosophies they espouse. If someone wants to be critical of Democratic polices, cool, let's have that discussion. But when a reflexive defense of Republican fuckery is 'well, yeah, what above the Dems...I don't know what they did, but I'm sure it's bad", it completely neuters the attempt to hold our politicians accountable for their persistent failures.
  3. Are you so lazy you’re crowdsourcing your both-siderism? You recognize that Republicans are dogshit on the issue, and your first thought is to inquire what the Dems can be criticized for? You tell us, how are the Dem controlled leg fucking it up? What’s the email chain news saying?
  4. Rush Limbaugh had a tail. The medical name is pilonidal cyst, but you know that thing would wag a little whenever he heard about kids getting shot.
  5. Putin's Russia is corrupt, anti-gay, anti-Muslim, white, and has coopted the Church to advance the State. Putin kills journalists and imprisons protesters. Putin is the Republican ideal. Remember the Russian mercs the US killed in Syria in 2018? They were part of the Wagner Group, which is basically a white supremacist militia with military contracts. WW3 isn't between nations, it's between Facebook groups...a series of civil unrest. Social media has been a great tool for finding common ground with people in other countries. But, inevitably, it will weaken the loyalty to the country and strengthen loyalty to sociopolitical comrades wherever they may be.
  6. That seems like a solid pick for a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land.
  7. If “critical race theory” has proven one thing, it’s that the wording was never the issue with “black lives matters.” It’s not a issue of marketing or finding the right slogan. Many Americans are going to push back on the idea that racism needs to addressed. Period. There is no magical way to explain it to them.
  8. That's too bad. He could really use the practice.
  9. I'm going to go out on a limb and say this guy isn't very strong at math.
  10. The dude already paid a million to become ambassador. Now he’s out 1.8 M because he...check notes...trusted Pompeo. What a dipshit.
  11. Talk about a distillation of the rich-kid entitlement. He feels he earned the right to be governor because Daddy was in politics. The political class is aristocratic. Even W was never stupid enough to say it out loud.
  12. The "why weren't we prepared" tactic has been the approach the GOP Reps have been taking. This was the statement from my current shitstain Rep. Don Bacon: Say you support the cops. Blame the cops for not being prepared for it. Be non-specific on where the violence originated. McConnell has already said no. This thing isn't going through the Senate. If I were the Dems, I would absolutely call their bluff. "You want an investigation into what Pelosi knew? Sure, why not. Go ahead and try to blame an 81 year old politician for not adequately directing the police. Any other requests we can accommodate before your party buries this for obvious reasons? I'll give you a fucking pony if you want; you still ain't going to allow it to happen."
  13. Sure, like Frazier v Ali, if people gave a shit about douchebags.
  14. Nothing says high roller orgies like the Embassy Suites. I guess the kid probably enjoyed the pool.
  15. I really enjoyed the one on Greek history. Turns out the prof is some guiding star for neocons. Goes to show that what is interesting in the classroom can be bullshit in the real world.
  16. Write in the bear. That's a talent Californians need in Sacramento.
  17. Because everyone wants their own cops. In the case of the Postal Service, it's the Postal Inspection Service which has been involved in law enforcement for decades. As far as it being "covert," it is described in 2019 Annual Report, which is public, so I don't really think Matt and his band of merry morons have really uncovered anything. From the annual report: Is it likely they've overstepped their charter? Sure. Is there opportunity to consolidate with other law enforcement agencies to reduce overlap and confusion? Almost certainly. Are the Lizard People using it to pick out victims from Nana's 93rd birthday celebration? I'll never tell.
  18. I had not noticed this: FARA violation? yep, easy one there money laundering / wire fraud? makes sense, either through Fraud Inc or through Toensing making false statements / obstruction of justice? makes sense, the dude can't say hello without lying campaign finance violations? Um, that's not just Rudy anymore. It's possible it's carry over from Fraud Inc, but that was pretty small amounts and I thought prior to Rudy being hired by them. It's also possible it is an interpretation of him soliciting "a thing of value" for Trump's campaign in the form of an investigation from the Ukrainians. It's possible it's something more.
  19. And the FBI never generated anything actionable when they announced they were reopening the investigation on Hillary's emails. It was the investigation, not the evidence, that mattered.
  20. https://www.thedailybeast.com/joel-greenberg-letter-written-for-roger-stone-says-matt-gaetz-paid-for-sex-with-minor “I did see these acts occur first hand...” In case this story didn’t have enough ick factor.
  21. On the first part, you are right. I misread it and it does materially change what you were saying. But I still think you are running with typical Republican talking points about the liberal wealthy controlling academia and culture. Your basic premise allows one to easily jump to "scientists are fabricating climate change research because Soros" bullshit. But, there isn't really any factual claims there, so it's pointless to debate.
  22. I could believe that the FBI would refuse Hunter's hard drive. (That's what she said...) If it's not relevant to a criminal investigation and Rudy is portraying it as Hunter's property, I don't believe they would have the right to actually do anything with it.
  23. Reform the police is also pretty nonspecific. Tell me the version that actually indicates we are pulling money out of police departments and into programs to deal with root causes. Whether are not you agree with that policy shift, it is fundamentally different policy than the "reform the police." We've reformed the police many times. But their scope and budgets continue to grow.
  24. First of all, the "highest reaches of academia" are not in the top 0.1% of the wealthiest people in the country. You pivoted from making "coastal elites" about economic inequalities to making it about higher education. GOP messaging is effective. Secondly, do you really think "Latinx" was conceived at the "highest reaches of academia"? Are you thinking that some university president just made that shit up? I could certainly see it getting birthed at some academic conference on language and feminism. I don't really know where it originated. First place I saw it was in a proposed changes to Dem Party bylaws in Nebraska. I had not seen in "the media" prior to that I don't really give a shit about it one way or the other. When I think about it, I try to use gender neutral terminology like, "actor" instead of "actress", or "server" instead of "waitress." But I do recognize that is different than creating a new word to push gender neutrality. I also recognize that such efforts do tend to annoy some people - white, black, Latinx, whatever - which costs votes. But I hate a Roman named Status Quo.
×
×
  • Create New...