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Idiocracy

Hobbes said:
Soleimani hasn't been hiding. He's been in plain sight for at least the last half dozen years and could have been taken out with minimal casualties pretty much any day of the week. And if taking him out was OBL level necessary, the number of casualties really wouldn't have been all that much of a concern. They would happily have hit a commuter train full of civilians if they'd known with 100% certainty that OBL was on board.

So far nobody in the Pentagon has indicated that there was any unusual or imminent threat that necessitated assassinating Soleimani right this instant. Nobody has attempted to spin it as "we just got word of something and had to act before he carried it out," and anyone who thinks that one of the largest armies in the world would have its plans particularly disrupted by one person's death doesn't know anything at all about how such operations are planned within a military structure/hierarchy. Assassinating Ike a week or two before the Normandy landings wouldn't have changed the operation in the slightest.

It has been pretty obvious that Trump has wanted an ace in the hole plan for his re-election and knows that a president-at-war stands an extremely high chance of winning a 2nd term even if they have extremely low approval ratings. The USA has a history of it, and as you can see from my earlier post, he's directly considered the strategy when he accused Obama of using it 8-9 years ago. He's talked about it on other occasions as well. His moves over the last 3 years set the stage for it perfectly. He pulled out of the nuclear oversight deal without any real justification (none of the other international participants felt that Iran was violating the terms and up until 3 days ago when Iran said that they now consider the treaty null and void, all evidence seems to suggest that they adhered to it). He has constantly used belligerent rhetoric when referring to them. He has disengaged/disentangled most of the US forces in the region from what they were doing in Iran, in spite of it being against the advice of just about any military or political advisor and has left the US' allies in precarious positions. He's been setting the stage for this for 3 years now.

Why assassinate Soleimani right now? Two reasons: it stands a very good chance of kicking off escalations in violence that he can parlay into a limited war with Iran in time to give him the necessary boost at the ballot box that will push enough "patriotic" undecided voters to his side; and it's also perfect timing to distract from the impeachment fiasco/proceedings in the Senate. Cable news (and the American public) have the attention span of a fruit fly so he's now able to manipulate the news cycle for the next little while pretty much at will. Nobody will focus on the sham that's about to be perpetrated by McConnel, et al, when they can be distracted with pretty video of cruise missiles being fired from destroyers, or jets taking off from assorted carriers.

It sickens me to think how many lives are likely to be lost over the coming months simply because this piece of garbage wants to win re-election no matter what the cost.
Click to expand...

Hear, hear!
 
Hobbes said:
Soleimani hasn't been hiding. He's been in plain sight for at least the last half dozen years and could have been taken out with minimal casualties pretty much any day of the week. And if taking him out was OBL level necessary, the number of casualties really wouldn't have been all that much of a concern. They would happily have hit a commuter train full of civilians if they'd known with 100% certainty that OBL was on board.

So far nobody in the Pentagon has indicated that there was any unusual or imminent threat that necessitated assassinating Soleimani right this instant. Nobody has attempted to spin it as "we just got word of something and had to act before he carried it out," and anyone who thinks that one of the largest armies in the world would have its plans particularly disrupted by one person's death doesn't know anything at all about how such operations are planned within a military structure/hierarchy. Assassinating Ike a week or two before the Normandy landings wouldn't have changed the operation in the slightest.

It has been pretty obvious that Trump has wanted an ace in the hole plan for his re-election and knows that a president-at-war stands an extremely high chance of winning a 2nd term even if they have extremely low approval ratings. The USA has a history of it, and as you can see from my earlier post, he's directly considered the strategy when he accused Obama of using it 8-9 years ago. He's talked about it on other occasions as well. His moves over the last 3 years set the stage for it perfectly. He pulled out of the nuclear oversight deal without any real justification (none of the other international participants felt that Iran was violating the terms and up until 3 days ago when Iran said that they now consider the treaty null and void, all evidence seems to suggest that they adhered to it). He has constantly used belligerent rhetoric when referring to them. He has disengaged/disentangled most of the US forces in the region from what they were doing in Iran, in spite of it being against the advice of just about any military or political advisor and has left the US' allies in precarious positions. He's been setting the stage for this for 3 years now.

Why assassinate Soleimani right now? Two reasons: it stands a very good chance of kicking off escalations in violence that he can parlay into a limited war with Iran in time to give him the necessary boost at the ballot box that will push enough "patriotic" undecided voters to his side; and it's also perfect timing to distract from the impeachment fiasco/proceedings in the Senate. Cable news (and the American public) have the attention span of a fruit fly so he's now able to manipulate the news cycle for the next little while pretty much at will. Nobody will focus on the sham that's about to be perpetrated by McConnel, et al, when they can be distracted with pretty video of cruise missiles being fired from destroyers, or jets taking off from assorted carriers.

It sickens me to think how many lives are likely to be lost over the coming months simply because this piece of garbage wants to win re-election no matter what the cost.
Click to expand...

Excellent post, Hobbes.  You pretty much explained it all.

Trump claims he?s no politician.  He?s more ?politician? than they all are. 
Not only does he want the glory, but he would stop at nothing to derail/distract from the impeachment proceedings.  This guy is pretty Machiavellian in his own way.
 
He?s a great golfer, too.  How The Donakd woos ?em:

Risky as it is for Republicans to buck Trump politically, Trump has built personal ties with key members of Congress that have cemented their loyalty. Read Trump?s Twitter feed or listen to his rallies, and he comes off as an unhappy man, filled with grievances and self-obsessed. But that scabrous persona isn?t what he necessarily shows Republican lawmakers, nor is it what they care to see. ?Trump has been extremely good at taking care of the parochial interests of members of Congress, and they appreciate that,? former Republican Representative David Jolly of Florida told me, adding that he?s discussed the president with his former colleagues. ?I talked to one member who said, I wish he wouldn?t do these things, but privately, he?s a really nice guy and he?s really good to me.?
Click to expand...

Read all about it:
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/01/how-trump-beat-impeachment/604357/
 
Just in case you ever forget what kind of people the Trump administration has in its ranks

https://twitter.com/ddale8/status/1220837170484797445
 
Looks like it was the other way around:

[tweet]1220826251402862592[/tweet]


Star Trek?s logo inspiration:
[tweet]1220826582157352961[/tweet]
 
L K said:
Absolutely unbelievable.  He?s getting away with this.
Click to expand...

Too many GOP senators are more concerned about their chances of being re-elected if they piss off Trump's base than they are about protecting the constitution, the balance of power between the executive branch and the congressional branch, and the standards for the office of the president in general. Hopefully, it comes back to bite many of them, but, I don't have much hope in that.
 
No surprise...the majority of the "impartial jurors" of this "trial" have decided that they have no interest in hearing witness testimony or in reviewing evidence before they "deliberate" and pronounce Trump innocent. I wonder if the American public will be as disinterested in this sham as they have been about such trivial things as human rights, gender equality, sexual rights, the environment, health care, etc. I'm really, really disgusted at the depths to which a once proud nation has fallen.
 
Bates said:
L K said:
Absolutely unbelievable.  He?s getting away with this.
Click to expand...

Even worse I'm not sure he isn't going to win the next election??? The US is a severely divided Country.
Click to expand...
To be honest...I'll be shocked if Trump doesn't win the next election.  Other than moderate Biden having a decent chance....who do the Democrats really have that can beat Trump.  This country won't elect a radical progressive such as Sanders or Warren.  As well, moderates Pete & Klobuchar are too much of a longshot to get the nomination.  The wild card is Bloomberg; however, right now....it seems like he'd rather just buy airtime than actually go out there & meet people. 
 
OrangeBlack said:
Bates said:
L K said:
Absolutely unbelievable.  He?s getting away with this.
Click to expand...

Even worse I'm not sure he isn't going to win the next election??? The US is a severely divided Country.
Click to expand...
To be honest...I'll be shocked if Trump doesn't win the next election.  Other than moderate Biden having a decent chance....who do the Democrats really have that can beat Trump.  This country won't elect a radical progressive such as Sanders or Warren.  As well, moderates Pete & Klobuchar are too much of a longshot to get the nomination.  The wild card is Bloomberg; however, right now....it seems like he'd rather just buy airtime than actually go out there & meet people. 
Click to expand...

Same here.  The last time everyone thought Hillary was a sure-fire to beat Trump, guess what happened.

Won?t be the least bit surprised at all if Trump wins it all again.
 
hockeyfan1 said:
OrangeBlack said:
Bates said:
L K said:
Absolutely unbelievable.  He?s getting away with this.
Click to expand...

Even worse I'm not sure he isn't going to win the next election??? The US is a severely divided Country.
Click to expand...
To be honest...I'll be shocked if Trump doesn't win the next election.  Other than moderate Biden having a decent chance....who do the Democrats really have that can beat Trump.  This country won't elect a radical progressive such as Sanders or Warren.  As well, moderates Pete & Klobuchar are too much of a longshot to get the nomination.  The wild card is Bloomberg; however, right now....it seems like he'd rather just buy airtime than actually go out there & meet people. 
Click to expand...

Same here.  The last time everyone thought Hillary was a sure-fire to beat Trump, guess what happened.

Won?t be the least bit surprised at all if Trump wins it all again.
Click to expand...

Which do you think he will opt for after his re-election: King Trump, Emperor Trump, or Dictator-for-Life Trump? (I assume that his facility with language -- or lack thereof -- would preclude "Trump Rex")
 
Hobbes said:
hockeyfan1 said:
OrangeBlack said:
Bates said:
L K said:
Absolutely unbelievable.  He?s getting away with this.
Click to expand...

Even worse I'm not sure he isn't going to win the next election??? The US is a severely divided Country.
Click to expand...
To be honest...I'll be shocked if Trump doesn't win the next election.  Other than moderate Biden having a decent chance....who do the Democrats really have that can beat Trump.  This country won't elect a radical progressive such as Sanders or Warren.  As well, moderates Pete & Klobuchar are too much of a longshot to get the nomination.  The wild card is Bloomberg; however, right now....it seems like he'd rather just buy airtime than actually go out there & meet people. 
Click to expand...

Same here.  The last time everyone thought Hillary was a sure-fire to beat Trump, guess what happened.

Won?t be the least bit surprised at all if Trump wins it all again.
Click to expand...

Which do you think he will opt for after his re-election: King Trump, Emperor Trump, or Dictator-for-Life Trump? (I assume that his facility with language -- or lack thereof -- would preclude "Trump Rex")
Click to expand...
Dictator for Life has a nice death knell to the Republic sound to it lol.
 
The idea that America won't elect a "radical progressive", which is basically what Republicans call any Democrat vaguely to the left of Mussolini, is based largely in the same thinking that said Trump couldn't win.
 
In kind of a neat way the whole "Trump thinks the Kansas City Chiefs play in Kansas" thing really is a neat encapsulation of his entire presidency.

1. There are a lot of people who don't know that the city we talk about as "Kansas City" in sports and songs is actually in Missouri and it's not a huge mistake to make...provided that person isn't President of the United States. Of course that doesn't really come to light if...

2. The President, and I think we lose sight of how ridiculous this is, is on twitter making the same stupid mistakes about geography as random idiots. Of course that's compounded by...

3. Any Human being with even a vague sense of humility would say "Ooops, I meant Missouri" or something but for someone who calls himself the world's greatest genius who's never ever made a mistake he deletes the post and tweets out a corrected one, paradoxically establishing what a dullard he is as if his original tweet hasn't already been captured for posterity. This of course leads to...

4. The surreal Orwellian ridiculousness of his sycophantic bootlickers explaining how actually, if you think about it, since Kansas City, Kansas does exist then the fact that the team doesn't play in that city or state doesn't actually make the tweet incorrect.

Living in a world this stupid is really, really draining. 
 
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