So while the Republicans are chanting USA, the camera swings to some Democrat who is just sitting there looking disgruntled. What’s wrong with that guy. He’s our congressman, and he doesn’t want to say USA? Goodbye, middle America.
That’s what they’re afraid of.
Okay fine, but, what other President could… negotiate with the Taliban?! Wait… What the fuck? Am I reading that right? It’s says we’re negotiating with the Taliban now? That’s a thing? Okay.
What other President could negotiate with the Taliban? None, that’s who. Certainly Clinton would not have done that.
The Obama administration reportedly had a lot of secret negotiations, and the Taliban were willing to have talks in a neutral Muslim country (Qatar). However, the Karzai government pushed back at the time. Republicans in Congress pushed back once it became public and everyone backed off.
However, it was those talks that then lead to further talks in 2015, but those didn’t pan out either. Hopefully, we’ll get there eventually, because the only way to peace in Afghanistan is through negotiated settlement, not through brute force war.
The problem is that we can’t stay forever, and we can’t eradicate the bad people. Eventually we will leave, and there will still be bad people. Unless we plan to reduce the country to a pile of rubble and start over, we can’t win a war of occupation, and we should never have tried.
I imagine Obama recognized that and spent a lot of effort on finding a way out. It’s not surprising he didn’t do it in his first term, because being the guy who lost both wars might have cost him the election. He really missed an opportunity, though, by not withdrawing during his second term.
Just a reminder.
Richard Holbrooke started the process during Obama’s first term. There was a lot of resistance, but he insisted this was the only thing that was going to work. He started making progress, but then he died. After that the whole process fell apart.
(There’s a podcast called Serial that delved into this a bit, the podcast covered Bowe Bergdahl but it explored the war as well. Recommended.)
Yep. It was all essentially a cover for racism, pretty much.
I am shocked. Shocked!
Well, not that shocked.
It’s so through-the-looking-glass absurd that the party of Putin appeasement and “half of us would be OK with Trump suspending an election” gets to still play offense on “patriotism” and “American-ness”, that my head will explode if I type anymo…
BOOM
A-fucking-men.
That one guy in the back is just Gabe from The Office.
Yes it’s absurd but that’s the world we live in. If we didn’t live in that world then Trump wouldn’t have been elected.
Forget about the whole Russia interference stuff, this goes way before that. Democrats spent too many times trying to rely solely on the image that they are the adults in the room and their stances are right even though it takes 5 minutes to explain the nuances to why their stances are the better long term reason. Meanwhile republicans took advantage of that fact and gave quick slogans and massive negativity to convince the masses to cut their own noses off to spite their faces and the democrats refused to respond in a meaningful manner so they could remain “the adults in the room”. That has nothing to do with Russia, that has everything to do with how PR works and how critical optics, strategy, and picking your battles are.
From “The Official State of the Union Poll” being run by a Trump SuperPAC:
Americans don’t need negative choices!
Here’s another beauty of a question from the poll:
3. Do you believe President Trump delivered a visionary speech of always choosing American Greatness?
“other, please specify” – incoherent, rambling, borderline criminal in several parts.
Hey, “historic” doesn’t have to mean good!
Trump still benefits from the lowest bar in US political history – anytime he doesn’t drool, scream or actively praise Putin, the media praises him.
He’s still lousy at this, and he didn’t announce anything of import. It’s only ‘historical’ in that he didn’t actually precipitate a constitutional crisis during the speech, as many feared he might.
