by William Skink
The politics of tragedy are moving quick as partisans seek to take advantage of the carnage to attack their political opponents. At Intelligent Discontent, Pete Talbot intertwines comments from the great boogeyman, Donald Trump, with a statement from Ryan Zinke in a post titled Zinke and Trump and AR-15’s. Here is the quote from Trump that Talbot uses:
When it comes to Radical Islamic terrorism, ignorance is not bliss – it’s deadly. We need to tell the truth, also, about how Radical Islam is coming to our shores. We are importing Radical Islamic Terrorism into the West through a failed immigration system — and through an intelligence community held back by our president … I don’t want them in our country.
The problem with calling out Trump when he erroneously conflates a failed immigration system (with which Obama has deported more illegals than even Bush) with Radical Islamic Terrorism is that, with Hillary as their nominee, Democrats have zero credibility. And that will make attacks like this one from Trump quite effective:
Donald Trump on Monday demanded that Hillary Clinton return $25 million the Clinton Foundation reportedly received from Saudi Arabia.
“Crooked Hillary says we must call on Saudi Arabia and other countries to stop funding hate,” Trump posted to Facebook. “I am calling on her to immediately return the $25 million plus she got from them for the Clinton Foundation!”
…
“Saudi Arabia and many of the countries that gave vast amounts of money to the Clinton Foundation want women as slaves and to kill gays,” Trump wrote in a separate post. “Hillary must return all money from such countries!”
Democrats can mock and ridicule and shame Trump supporters till they turn blue in the face, trying desperately to smear local Republicans with his words, but because Democrats don’t have the courage to oppose “Crooked Hillary”, too many of Trumps attacks will be both accurate, and effective.
Lost in all this is the actual truth behind America’s special relationship with Saudi Arabia. To get that truth a great place to start is Bitter Lake, a fascinating documentary by Adam Curtis.
America has been entangled with the Saudis for over half a century, especially the Bush family. And that relationship will continue to thrive under the coming Clinton regime.
Pete Talbot concluded his post by linking to a little pep-talk from a former CIA officer suggesting it’s critical to listen to one’s enemies. I know, I puked in my mouth a little bit to. From the link:
“If I learned one lesson from my time with the CIA, it is this: Everybody believes they are the good guy,” Fox said in a video shared by AJ+ on Facebook Monday.
When it comes to the Islamic State militant group, Fox says the public conversation is “more oversimplified than ever” and encompasses stories “manufactured” by a small minority of powerful people who remain in power by “convincing the rest of us to keep killing each other.”
She believes understanding comes with listening.
“The only real way to disarm your enemy is to listen to them,” she said. “If you hear them out, if you’re brave enough to really listen to their story, you can see that more often than not you might’ve made some of the same choices if you’d lived their life instead of yours.”
I don’t disagree with the sentiment, but honestly, fuck the CIA. If one were to read just Russ Baker’s Family of Secrets and David Talbot’s The Devil’s Chessboard one would understand that much of the global carnage that has killed millions and put us on the precipice of another world war stems from what the CIA has done under monsters like Allen Dulles and George Bush, Sr.
Because too many Americans–Democrats and Republicans alike–are blinded by American Exceptionalism and ignorant of this dark history, that small minority of powerful people will continue manufacturing oversimplified stories (read: propaganda) to keep the rest of us killing each other.
And to show how little difference there truly is between The Donald and Killery, they’re both getting a big hard on for bombing ISIS:
HILLARY CLINTON AND Donald Trump reacted to the Orlando shooting with evidence that they can agree on at least one thing: bombing people. Both candidates called for an escalation of the U.S.-led bombing campaign against ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
“We have generals that feel we can win this thing so fast and so strong, but we have to be furious for a short period of time, and we’re not doing it!” Trump complained on Fox & Friends Monday morning.
“Are you saying hit Raqqa right now?” asked host Brian Kilmeade. “We’re going to have to start thinking about something,” Trump replied.
Along the same lines, Clinton suggested during her post-Orlando speech Monday afternoon that “We should keep the pressure on ramping up the air campaign.”
JC
there were some server issues with the blog today, so if you commented it may not have shown up and I don’t have it in the spam filter.
Lizard, just so that the record is clear, Pete *did* oppose Hillary Clinton. Other than needing a handy foil for your rants, I don’t understand why you have such a hard time getting that.
no, he supported Bernie, which isn’t the same thing as opposing Hillary. those who actually oppose her won’t vote for her under any circumstances. I haven’t heard that from ID writers, so unless clearly stated, I’m going to assume lesser evilism is the prevailing mentality over there.
In a winner take all system, it is mere convenience, and rings hollow, to say that support for one is not opposition for another. Like wise, opposition against one is support of another. So for all your protestations, your own logic and words show you a Trump supporter. That’s not an accusation. It’s just an observation of the what is clearly obvious, according to you.
You can assume all you want, but all you’re doing is using Pete as a handy antagonist for fiction.
Put plainly Liz will go to the polls and leave the presidential boxes empty. Pete will support the party no matter how vile the candidate may be.
To me that’s the difference.
Or vote third party or write-in candidate… but yeah, the party box for prez will be empty
Hence, support for Trump. Remember, it’s winner take all. Now, a write in vote for Sanders (which I myself am still considering) may establish one’s moral cred to whatever God that one believes in. It certainly doesn’t play out as moral to the rest of us. Opposition is exactly defined by it’s binary compliment. Not Hillary = Trump. Bernie equals not Hillary. It’s a hypocrisy to claim that Pete Talbot didn’t oppose Clinton *enough* by advocating and agitating for Sanders, and to then turn around and oppose Clinton and hide from the exact support of Trump that weak sauce affords.
Look at those self-righteous wanks who still blame their vote for Bush ala Nader on the rest of us. They waffle, they wail about the stolen election in Florida, but refuse to take the responsibility that was claimed by the very Nader voters in Florida for Gore’s defeat. Some, known to us all, will even claim that some dark shadow group picked the election and so we are all stupid for even considering the authority of the role they had, the numbers, their efforts in it. They have no responsibility, only the authority to keep us all honest. And since they’ve shed even that onto us. It’s all our fault for what an undeniably un-opposable force has done. We are at fault because we opposed an 8 rule of President Cheney.
This is the same damned thing. Bernie supporters, Trump supporters, Clinton opposers all ‘believe’ that Hilary Clinton is not the appropriate candidate to be the President of the United States. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, right? Unless that enemy doesn’t agree with me enough, right? And then, when my enemy wins, I get to blame someone else, hording authority and shedding responsibility. That’s a terrific tactic for blogging, I guess, but it doesn’t work to defend the pretense of moral superiority.
Let me put it another way, a simpler way. Some y’all are claiming that by not vehemently opposing Hillary we are choosing the lesser of two evils. Bad on us. Perhaps, and it is possible, some are claiming that we are choosing the greater of two evils. They probably ought to prove that. but still. Fair enough. A choice will be made. No one has the authority given them to remove themselves from the consequence of the choice, because it will be made. By claiming that “I am not party to this choice”, one is exactly handing their choice to others and then complaining that the choice was evil. Hey, that was the choice y’all made. So evil reigns. Hey, y’all might have picked a lesser evil, but you gave that choice up to the rest of us. So as one goes through their day pointing fingers at everybody else for their troubles, the rational will look at them and say ” The fault is yours, asshole. You chose the coward’s path, and trusted me with your choice. I tried. What did you do save hide under the covers, hoping I’d bring you something better and then whimpering when I didn’t?”
If the office of president merely distracts us while the real business of government is conducted elsewhere, then the entirety of your lengthy comment is wankery.
All hail King Kailey, who brings to us another heaping helping of 100% bloviation!
A viewpoint you apparently can’t argue with, Steve, which is why you would have made among the worst of politicians. What I am attempting to discuss is democracy, and more to the point, how it fails. When Conspiro or yourself keep bloviating about how powerless the people are, well then, that’s true wankery. Words meaning nothing shared only to promote you own self-importance. And you actually have the tiny grapes to call me “King”?
I trust you know that both Mr. Kelly and I understand “democracy,” representative government, etc.,we are actually pretty smart about those things. What you don’t seem to get is that whacking your Johnson against a chain link fence does no damage to the fence, but makes the Johnson useless.
Wait a minute here! I get it now. You’re doing Newtonian physics on me again. Whack that Johnson hard enough, the fence disintegrates. Silly me. I stepped into your field of expertise.
Trust nothing, Conspiro. That’s what you say. And no, I don’t think you or Kelly understand democracy, have any respect for it or even desire it one small amount. YOu want your own importance to be lauded. Bully for you, twit.
And you really should keep your onanistic fantasies to yourself, thought-cop.
Big surprise that Sputnik is reporting that the U.S unleashed its Apache helicopters against Daesh in Mosul this week:
Yep, another occupation. Doesn’t matter if its Hillary or Donald. If both say it is ok, and Obama thinks it’s ok, then its ok to escalate in Iraq.
The quagmire that never ends. 4 more years… 4 more years…
Sick and crazy neocons have us surrounded. Not much news on NATO troops moving into Romania. And, just for good measure, ” …the alliance will formally approve the deployment of four “robust” multinational battalions in Poland as well as the Baltic states of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia.” http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2016/06/14/470439/NATO-Romania-Jens-Stoltenberg-Baltic
Hillary’s Quote: “Those under FBI scrutiny shouldn’t be able to buy a gun”.
They can run for President under FBI investigation, but can’t own firearms.
I guess the only one who can buy a gun is the one holding it to the FBI’s head. I see a major game of chicken coming down the road…
Keep pimping Trump, Skink.
I’ll pimp for him Pete. Regarding the Trump Quote.
“A new report shows that more than 90 people have been killed on American soil in attacks by radical Islamists since the terror attacks on September 11, 2001.
A report developed by the New America Foundation and Syracuse University chronicles all of the murders committed by Islamic extremists over the last 15 years putting the number at 94 after Sunday’s deadly attack by an ISIS sympathizer in Orlando. The same report says 48 people have been killed on American soil by other types of extremists.
The report includes the attacks perpetrated by Islamic terrorists in Los Angeles, Seattle, Fort Hood, Little Rock, Boston, Oklahoma City, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, San Bernardino, and Orlando. The majority of those attacks have occurred under President Obama, taking 91 lives.”-Washington Free Beacon
That wasn’t the only shooting on Sunday. http://www.vox.com/2016/6/13/11923290/orlando-shooting-gun-violence-us
I am an Adam Curtis fan also!
Tony Cartalucci has a great take on Orlando too. http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2016/06/us-terrorism-hits-orlando-not-just-for.html#more
Pointing out the obvious here, but because of the electoral college it really doesn’t matter who people in Montana choose to vote for, or not vote for, when it comes to President of the United States. It would be great if when voting for President of the U.S. it was one person, one vote, add ’em all up and see who wins…but it’s not. Not even close. In essence, modern presidential elections in the U.S. seem to be all about appealing to, and turning out the 20% of undecided voters in a handful of 8 or 12 states. God Bless America.
Yes but I like that Bernie addressed just that in his net cast, Matt. He called for a 50 states strategy and the Bernie dialer is open source and an amazing tool.