Exactly.
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PoliGAF 2012 Community Thread
- Thread starter AlteredBeast
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Exactly.
True. Iraq's in a precarious position. The palpable tensions foreshadowed a substantial deterioration once American forces were withdrawn. And the sectarian fissures have recently inflamed with a vengeance.
That you've focused on a narrow region of the globe instances one of the primary problems with American foreign policy. Not that it's unique to you. Americans are bewitched with the region. Nearly everyone's guilty of unduly concentrating on the Middle East and it's periphery. Nonetheless, if you think Obama's performance in the Middle East and its periphery is exemplary, his performance in other regions is markedly better. As I noted yesterday, he's performed reasonably well at improving bilateral relations with Russia. Moreover, our "pivot" towards Asia, although it still receives insufficient attention, indicates a strategic cognizance that's been absent for a while. Certainly, he lacks a North Korea policy, but that's forgivable. It's an insuperable problem; everyone is flummoxed. Notwithstanding, I cannot label his FP a roaring success. The escalation in Afghanistan was his most consequential decision, and he committed a colossal mistake.
Yet growth is still positive at over a 2% annualized rate. That hardly qualifies as fucked.
speculawyer
Member
The 90 day warranty period has expired.
There are still issues but the place is more stable than Mexico.
speculawyer
Member
Yeah, holy smokes I'm REALLY glad that guy wasn't elected. He hasn't met a war that he doesn't want us involved in. McCain really could have been a disaster.
Yet another mega fail by Mittens. Calls Stimulus a failure at college that took money from stimulus.
How the fuck are these people so incompetent?
How the fuck are these people so incompetent?
That's not the first time he's done this. Though really, this isn't much different from all the congressmen and senators who used Stimulus money and then criticized it.
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
The 90 day warranty period has expired.
There are still issues but the place is more stable than Mexico.
How unstable is modern day Iraq anyway? Some say its pretty much Somalia-like anarchy others say its doing "okay"...
Here's a very interesting poll:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/04/27/472620/nearly-3-in-4-arizona-voters-favor-the-dream-act/
When you've lost a majority of WHITE voters in ARIZONA on IMMIGRATION, you know you're shitbaked.
Of course it isn't that much different, but it's still stupid and utterly incompetent. Does it really take that much effort to check whether or not the factory/college/etc. you're going to appear at will some how make you look bad?
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/04/27/472620/nearly-3-in-4-arizona-voters-favor-the-dream-act/
When you've lost a majority of WHITE voters in ARIZONA on IMMIGRATION, you know you're shitbaked.
Of course it isn't that much different, but it's still stupid and utterly incompetent. Does it really take that much effort to check whether or not the factory/college/etc. you're going to appear at will some how make you look bad?
GDP growth:
Q4'10: 2.3%
Q1'11: 0.4%
Q4'11: 3.0%
Q1'12: 2.2%
This year will be stronger than last. And with it likely stronger job growth; so far this year it's ahead of 2011's pace. Not gangbusters, but quite likely, enough.
Incidentally, consumer sentiment was up again this month. One month aside, it's at a four year high.
The slowdown is something to watch - it could be last year all over again. But it's got to hit the brakes a lot harder to be so.
My future ex-waifu S.E. Cupp is on Real Time tonight. <3
She's as much of a flat Earther as any other right winger on cable news, but she's hot enough that I can overlook her dumbosity.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/class-wa...l-maher-and-panel-over-demonizing-prosperity/
Plus, she's wearing a green dress! Red hair + green clothing = :drool
She's as much of a flat Earther as any other right winger on cable news, but she's hot enough that I can overlook her dumbosity.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/class-wa...l-maher-and-panel-over-demonizing-prosperity/
Plus, she's wearing a green dress! Red hair + green clothing = :drool
DeathbyVolcano
Banned
god, PD, I love you, but shut the fucking fuck up
TacticalFox88
Banned
Don't worry he'll change his mind in 24e hours
Aaron Strife
Banned
Yeah who'd want to put up with four more years of job growth and a biggering economy.
Dan Senor needs to be punched in the face.
speculawyer
Member
So Romney has Bush Foreign Policy people out there campaigning for him. Brilliant. Yeah, that is what the country REALLY needs. More Bush foreign policy. It sucks having the world like us . . . we need to go back to having the whole world hate us. We need more budget busting wars. Campaign with that, Mitt.
Could someone fill me in on why we're refusing to say 'sorry' for blowing up a bunch of Pakistani military?
speculawyer
Member
The whole situation is pretty crazy. It is not talked about much but apparently our supply lines through Pakistan are cut off, we are not giving them military aid, their people go on government TV blaming the US for everything bad in their country, etc.
Let Ahmed Rashid be your guide:
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/20/148605645/ahmed-rashid-pakistan-lurches-from-crisis-to-crisis
Rocket Scientist
Member
So why is PD allowed to spout his nonsense again?
They also launched a fake war and half a million people died, based on exploiting that same boogeyman - earning billions of dollars for the VP's former employer.John McCain and republicans concern trolling over the Bin Laden ad is hilarious. As if this didn't happen
(RNC 08)
Republicans spent a decade exploiting 911 but didn't get Bin Laden. Now they're crying the other guy is trumpeting the success? Deal with it
Wow, a mainstream newspaper actually dabbles in *gasp* journalism!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...-the-problem/2012/04/27/gIQAxCVUlT_story.html
The GOP finally being called out for their antics and none of this "well, both side are guilty" nonsense?
For god sakes, more of this, please.
It's an op-ed. The surrounding paper is still all WaPo, don't worry.
Rocket Scientist
Member
We could say it's a bad idea to alienate the two people he quotes, but I have a feeling they would never have voted for any of his or Democrats' plans in the first place. So, good show.
Holy shit:
http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/mon-april-23-2012-don-mcleroy
Skip to the interview with the tea bagger at the end. This is an actual conversation that occurred in real life. D:
http://www.colbertnation.com/full-episodes/mon-april-23-2012-don-mcleroy
Skip to the interview with the tea bagger at the end. This is an actual conversation that occurred in real life. D:
The Librarian
Banned
What the FUCK at that Arizona law. They're pregnant two weeks before they actually get pregnant? Christ.
Who analogizes Iraq to Somalia? I can understand portraying the situation as "okay." Many are invested in portraying Iraq as a stable, functioning state. Goodness, some even portray Afghanistan positively. But Somalia?
How unstable? It's on the precipice of succumbing to the strife which beset the country a few years ago. And without the presence of coalition troops, the situation is even more problematic. The IISS produced a fairly accurate assessment of the situation. Although, I think they are singularly focused on Maliki while ignoring Iraq's broader institutional predicament. Iraq's federal structure was intended to capture the acquiescence of the Kurds by decentralizing power. But it simultaneously introduced fissures between a few of the provinces and Baghdad. The National Interest published an article on this problem a few months ago.
Bilateral relations have deteriorated precipitously. We're annoyed with their duplicity and toleration of insurgent groups that destabilize Afghanistan. They're incensed at the drone strikes and repeated violations of their sovereignty. Really, our interests in Afghanistan are diametric. So there's little hope of a productive solution. We might cajole them into opening the supply routes. But beyond that, the situation will not improve.
balladofwindfishes
Member
I suspect, with zero evidence to back it up that the strike was deliberate and the US doesn't want to open whatever can of worms they authorized it for. That is to say that group of soldiers was doing something we thought they shouldn't be doing (helping smuggle bad actors, missiles, etc for example), but don't want to publicize. Pakistan gets to cry foul and we don't apologize and take our licks. Both sides knowing why the strike actually took place.
Note that Pakistan never escalated this to "an act of war." Which tells me they considered it a deliberate act of something else.
Like I said, that's idle speculation.
Hey it only took.. four years.
Invisible_Insane
Member
Its so sad that it takes a comedy show to expose these morons. Mainstream media is absolutely pathetic.
Seriously...
I also kind of find it funny that some of these people even still come on Colbert and The Daily Show. Some of them get so schooled it isn't funny. Yet, most of the Republican spectrum refuses to show up on shows like Rachel Maddow, where she disagrees, but doesn't usually embarrass them as much as Jon and Sephen can.
It's plausible. And that's a fairly damning indication of how dysfunctional the relationship's become. That the Pakistani military would initialize hostilities with American and Afghan forces is nonsensical. Either they were attacked, or they were abetting insurgents.
Invisible_Insane
Member
Maddow is perfectly capable of making people look foolish. I think Republicans avoid her show because they can't countenance being exposed as stupid hypocrites in an explicitly liberal environment, but can survive that same abuse in a comedic forum. Jim Cramer is still working, after all.
You mean the part where we give direct aid to a state sponsor of terrorism wasn't sufficient evidence of dysfunction?
I know she's capable of making them look foolish, she just doesn't rip them to shreds like I've seen Colbert and Jon do, but yeah you're right that surviving a comedic forum is much easier. It's still odd that they'd do it. Do they hope to draw in some of the youth crowd? If so, I kind of doubt that works at all.
adamsappel
Member
The Washington Post is so poorly-edited. Even the analogy on that first page is wrong and should have been caught; "While the Democrats may have moved from their 40-yard line to their 25, the Republicans have gone from their 40 to somewhere behind their goal post." That says the Democrats have moved left in their policies, even as the previous line says they are now center-left.
The Post isn't a particularly liberal paper anymore. I stopped reading it in the Bush years precisely because they seemed as rah-rah on war and finance as the conservative papers. They have a slew of conservative columnists and Op-Eds. They take a softer stance on black-related stories, but I think that is more from the city's demographics than ideology.
I feel bad for that guy. What ever happened to ignoring stupid people, rather than giving them platforms?
Whole-heatedly agree with this sentiment. So frustrating because they just feed on that attention.
The guy is not looking for attention, he's looking to dictate what textbooks your kids are going to use.
I don't think ignoring that problem will make it go away.
PantherLotus
Professional Schmuck
Whoops.
Wait, what do you have against the Washington Post?
They seem to be moving further right and becoming less trustworthy. For example, the Washington Post printed that made up "unlike some people" as part of Obama's silver spoon comment.
Further, exposing the nuts and bolts of the "surface" retardation of the right is important. People need to be reminded that these clowns are actually affecting our lives, not just some school district in Bumfuck.
I read it regularly and I haven't noticed it.
They didn't print it, they posted it on a blog, and they corrected that mistake.
Now yeah, that wasn't the proudest moment in the Washington Post's history, but come on, it's one of the most respected newspapers in the history of the world, especially when it comes to investigative journalism.
PhoenixDark
Banned
Many republicans do go on her show, in part because she's a good host. She doesn't yell over people, even when she clearly disagrees with them. I like her a lot
I don't know that I'd say "many." There are quite a few that I remember her saying she wants to have on, but they refuse to. And yeah I'm not sure why, because she is a good host. I like her better than almost every other political pundit I've seen. She's usually cheery and smiling, and she's a gracious host. She isn't yelling and abrasive like some others. That's why I really dislike Ed Schultz. Dude needs to calm the fuck down.
speculawyer
Member
IN THE PAST, many Republicans would go on her show. But after so many of them got their butts whipped, most of them are too scared to go on. She treats people fairly, by letting them speak and not shouting over them or cutting them off. But she will be ready with quotes from your book and clips from your speeches. So now it is only low-level flunkies that will go on.
Bob McDonnell was on Laura Ingrahm's show and said he would go on Maddow. But he has flip-flopped and won't do it. Pussy.
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