The US do not pursue humanitarian objectives or the wishes of others, it pursues objectives determined by its own power considerations (and practical). That leads the US to consider different positions at different times. In Afghanistan the initial position was to hunt down Al qaeda. Move forward a couple of years of absolute and utter confusion and failure and the position and objectives were different, and it was all Saddam and Iraq. Move forward again and the US now support the very same elements in Syria that you initially went into Afghanistan to root out. (Not that Assad is better – but there must be some peace movement in Syria to support.)
Now the US has a long history of being opportunistic and Kissinger famously said America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests. Now add to this that America is spending more on military than the next top ten countries combined. The Trump administration increase of defence budget of 80 Bn. is more than Russia spend in total (61 Bn.). It’s more than the estimated 60 Bn. that free college would cost the US taxpayers. Any more justification to this order or blaming others for this is madness. It’s a situation owned by US policy makers and all the rest of us can do is hope and try to persuade you Americans to vote in less insane people next time. Like Socrates99 says the time to do that is the dem primaries.
Hey theres a pretty good insurgency in the Dems that's not so useless. The most important votes people can cast these days is in the dem primaries. Otherwise it's often a choice between corrupt candidate number 1 and corrupt candidate number 2. Lately though you do get someone uncorrupted running in a primary.
Unfortunately only a subset of voter (which are a subset of citizens, which are a subset of people in the US) vote in primaries, This doesn't always reflect what will happen in the general.
The US do not pursue humanitarian objectives or the wishes of others, it pursues objectives determined by its own power considerations (and practical). That leads the US to consider different positions at different times. In Afghanistan the initial position was to hunt down Al qaeda. Move forward a couple of years of absolute and utter confusion and failure and the position and objectives were different, and it was all Saddam and Iraq. Move forward again and the US now support the very same elements in Syria that you initially went into Afghanistan to root out. (Not that Assad is better – but there must be some peace movement in Syria to support.)
Now the US has a long history of being opportunistic and Kissinger famously said America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests. Now add to this that America is spending more on military than the next top ten countries combined. The Trump administration increase of defence budget of 80 Bn. is more than Russia spend in total (61 Bn.). It’s more than the estimated 60 Bn. that free college would cost the US taxpayers. Any more justification to this order or blaming others for this is madness. It’s a situation owned by US policy makers and all the rest of us can do is hope and try to persuade you Americans to vote in less insane people next time. Like Socrates99 says the time to do that is the dem primaries.
I largely agree with this, I just think its cantankerous nature up front is misguided and simplifies complex motives into base features that is convenient for you morally. In reality our foreign policy, even in a cynical nature is more complex than you give it credit for and has been for a long time. Essentially the idea is to align other's agendas to ours so that policy can be win win. It hasn't been the greatest record thus far but has been better than any other previous empire/hegemony that I know of in history.
Moving it back to the 2020 election, I found another reason to dislike the Booty-judge!
Buttigieg said:
“in two areas: one was energy—a lot of time doing the math around the economics and the business side of climate change and coping with changes in the way our country is going to get our energy going forward. The other thing I did was economic stabilization. I would go to distressed areas around the world, and try to shore up the private sector.”
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/12/pete-buttigieg-mckinsey/603421/
"Shoring up the private sector" generally translates to "helping flog state assets to rent-seeking banks" or "introduce new and creative ways of ripping off local government".
It wasn't funny when the IMF tried it in the 80s and 90s, and certainly isn't funny now.
Yeah that is disgusting behavior showing horrible weak ego & weak character. I won't vote for that guy. **** lessor of two evils. If that's who the American people of the left nominate they deserve Trump.
I just hope that you don't know anyone who will be adversely affected by Trump's policies then. Anyone who refuses to vote in an election is just as culpable (if not more) than those who do.
Yeah that is disgusting behavior showing horrible weak ego & weak character. I won't vote for that guy. **** lessor of two evils. If that's who the American people of the left nominate they deserve Trump.
Meh. I found Biden standing up to this troll quite refreshing. As the webcaster admits later in the video, the voter was trolling Biden earlier about his age and physical fitness. This webcaster is a staunch Bernie supporter who hates Biden so his perspective on this exchange is going to tend towards heavy bias. I was cheering for Biden in this exchange.
Meh. I found Biden standing up to this troll quite refreshing. As the webcaster admits later in the video, the voter was trolling Biden earlier about his age and physical fitness. This webcaster is a staunch Bernie supporter who hates Biden so his perspective on this exchange is going to tend towards heavy bias. I was cheering for Biden in this exchange.
You don't need to endorse Biden to applaud someone standing up to Republican whataboutism talking points. If the US national news media had treated Trump and his campaign's lies and BS like this from the start, Trump probably would not have won the election. Being polite to Trump, and as the webcaster ironically says "reluctant to call people liars" is what allowed Trump to flourish in 2016.
You don't need to endorse Biden to applaud someone standing up to Republican whataboutism talking points. If the US national news media had treated Trump and his campaign's lies and BS like this from the start, Trump probably would not have won the election. Being polite to Trump, and as the webcaster ironically says "reluctant to call people liars" is what allowed Trump to flourish in 2016.
My favorite part was when he called the guy "Jack"... like when he says "malarkey" it reminds you of what a feisty old codger he is.
I mean he could have been more thoughtful, polite and conciliatory... like Obama would have been... but that guy was a troll and he was asking for it. I do notice that Biden becomes enraged whenever someone says anything negative about his family.
I just hope that you don't know anyone who will be adversely affected by Trump's policies then. Anyone who refuses to vote in an election is just as culpable (if not more) than those who do.
Trump is easy to beat, if Democrats keep nominating idiots it's my fault? They'll learn or they'll lose. Let it burn. Sometimes you need more pain to learn lessons.
If you don't vote, whatever happens is partially your fault. That's simply how not exercising your right to vote works. What's more, if you really think that people will suddenly wake up and start voting rationally en masse simply because you don't like the options available, I have any number of famous bridges to sell you.
So, uh, Brooklyn Bridge or Tower Bridge? I suppose that if you have ample means and can afford to sit through another term of the opposing term, you do whatever makes you happy. Just make sure that you don't regret it afterwards, eh?
Yeah, the supreme court will be lost for 20 years. Ruth isn't going to last another term.
If nothing else, Trump needs to be gone for this. We don't need another Kav.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
