A nuanced political position for the North American left to adopt

[sabotabby]

Assad is a fucking butcher and the reports of gassing are real.

American bombs are not going to help the situation.

Even if they did, announcing your military strategy on Twitter is a piss poor idea.

There, it's not that hard, I promise.

Comments

[conuly]

Masterful.

[sabotabby]

And yet it seems so difficult for so many otherwise smart people to figure out!

[conuly]

Here's another one: Our being the world's busybody policeman has not benefited anybody, least of all anybody in the Mideast. But since we're already there, pulling out without a carefully crafted exit plan is not going to improve things.

[sabotabby]

Right????

[lapinlunaire]

A+. Someone should hire you as a political analyst. This is so complex and difficult.

[sabotabby]

Posts like this are exactly why I would never get hired as a political analyst.

[lapinlunaire]

True!

[sabotabby]

How do you like being right, Sabs?

Not at all.

[ebourland]

sigh.

This administration embarrasses me; I hope it does not kill us (or kill anyone).

[sabotabby]

It already has.

[smhwpf]

I went along to a demo at Boston Common this evening against bombing Syria. When I got there, there were about a dozen people there. There were a couple of people waving Syrian flags.

Then I saw the guy with a placard saying "Long live the Syrian Arab Republic", and a picture of Bashar al-Assad. And I overheard someone saying "...the lies about the gas attack".

Then I read the main banner, which said "Stop US terror" on the first line, and on the second "Syria, Venezuela, People's Korea".

Then I left.

Fucking Assad apologists and Kim Dynasty worshippers doing their best to discredit the whole fucking anti-war movement.

At least Mattis, a.k.a. The Last Adult In The Room seems to be gently rolling back Trump's itchy trigger finger.

[kore]

Yeah but Mustache Bolton is wiping out the NSA and nobody knew trump was going to go on Twitter and go BAW BAW MISSILES LOOK OUT RUSSIA and it's looking like a race between Ironsides Bob releasing a "surprise, he's guilty" report and Trump blowing us all up.

Maybe they can just do a Wag the Dog thing especially for Trump. Show him footage from Gulf War 2.0 and be all "This is us blowing those bastards up! Time for your cheeseburgers and diet soda!"

[sabotabby]

That's actually the best solution presented so far.

[conuly]

PLEASE LET US DO THAT.

[sabotabby]

Yeah. Just...do people not think?

I don't think Mattis is an adult. Remember when he was scary? There haven't been any adults in the room, just less shitty children, and a bear is driving.

[ironed_orchid]

Friend on FB was accused of being an Assadist because he doesn't think USA should bomb Syria... as if those are the only two possible sides. Dealing with this level of wilful stupidity is like trying to punch a rainstorm in its non-existent face.

[sabotabby]

At least most of my FB has similar takes. Though largely cause I’m liberal with my use of unfriending these days.

[kore]

BUT BUT SHOW OF FORCE BOMB THEM BACK INTO THE STONE AGE IT WORKED IT IRAQ
....WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT, TOTES WORKED IN IRAQ
WELL ANYWAY IT WORKED IN VIETNAM
AND KOREA
OKAY IT WORKED IN WWII ON THOSE NAZIS

[sabotabby]

MAYBE WE SHOULD START BY BOMBING THE NAZIS HERE

(It won't help Syria either but it'd be at least fun.)

[kore]

WHAT ABOUT FREE SPEECH YOU COMMIE

[sabotabby]

BOMB THAT TOO!

[fidget]

Yeah, I feel the same way, but it seems that I'm arguing with both sides. Then again, most of these people don't seem to realize the existential threat that Putin presents, which is another element of this whole clusterfuck. It's not just OMG RUSSIA!, it's that this guy wants to watch the West crumble, and he's a master at proxy wars. If we get drawn in, we're never leaving because they won't let us. With the Afghan conflict still ongoing, this is going to grind us into the economic dirt -- just like what happened with the Soviet Union whenever they thought that Afghanistan was a good idea. And that's totally leaving out the part that our military would be stretched so thin that we couldn't defend our foreign interests, and possibly, not even ourselves.

And, I'm just going to stop the geopolitical rant here. It's way too nuanced for 2:30 in the morning.

[sabotabby]

I can get the reflexive defence of the Soviet Union from the left back in the day, but the identification of Putin with it just befuddles me. Like, do they have any idea what his politics are? They're not remotely communist.

But yeah, I can't even go to anti-war demos (even though I'm against the prospect of war) because I'll just end up screaming at own side.

[fidget]

No, Putin is the polar opposite of Soviet ideology, save for the fact that he'd like to see another Soviet empire; or, at the very least, a loss of power in the West. Otherwise, no, he's as right-wing as you can get, which explains the American Right all but begging him to march in and take over.

No, really. It's certainly not a majority opinion, but I've seen it more times than I really should have. Ironically, these are the people who are really, really big on calling themselves PATRIOTS!. As out of touch with reality as the Left has become, the Right has, on the whole, blasted off to another fucking planet.

But I'm sure if we start dropping bombs, it'll all be fine.

[sabotabby]

Cause that usually works out well.

[ironed_orchid]

Seriously.

[sabotabby]

Screaming 5ever