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Open thread Nov. 20, 2015

Dan Crawford | November 20, 2015 10:27 am

Tags: open thread Comments (10) | Digg Facebook Twitter |
10 Comments
  • EMichael says:
    November 21, 2015 at 9:19 am

    The Left’s Green Lantern Problem

    Electing a president will never be enough. To truly change America, progressives must start winning down-ballot races—and soon.

    By Suzy Khimm
    November 20, 2015

    “The story of the post-Obama Left began just a few years into his presidency, with the rise of Occupy Wall Street. The 2011 protest movement injected catchy memes like “the 99%” into popular consciousness, and it kickstarted the debate about inequality that’s now at the heart of the 2016 election. But Occupy’s work remained incomplete, partly because its activists never united behind a clear political strategy, and never teamed with others on the left to turn their vision into reality. “We were defeated because we couldn’t learn to work together,” says Winnie Wong, a NYC-based Occupy activist.”

    https://newrepublic.com/article/124249/lefts-green-lantern-problem

    Yep. But is is actually worse than not working together. Progressives eat their own.

  • JimH says:
    November 21, 2015 at 11:00 am

    The people of the middle east complain bitterly about their discriminatory abusive governments.

    But when one of those governments falls, is it replaced by a more democratic and tolerant one?

    No. The complainants become the proponents of a discriminatory abusive government. They seek to use the power which they previously denounced. (Iraq and Egypt come to mind.)

    The most significant problem with middle eastern governments is their populations’ intolerance. Without tolerance how is compromise possible? Without compromise how is democracy possible?

    ISIS is a product of those populations. And it has found willing recruits in the muslim populations in the western world.

    Is the western world required to be blind to the implications of that recruitment? I do not believe that tolerance requires that.

  • JackD says:
    November 21, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    JimH;
    Of course not. What actions, if any do you propose?

  • ilsm says:
    November 21, 2015 at 6:02 pm

    JimH,

    Observations:

    Egypt enjoyed Arab Spring, lasted a while then Moslem Brotherhood made waves that scared Israel and the generals’ take from Camp David largesse (US military aide for Egypt to play nice with Israel. Military coup, implied Moslem Bros were like ISIS!

    Iraq is a sewn together state, partition would put the 2/3 Shiite safe from al Qaeda, and ISIS, who are Sunni terrorists.

    Libya is a mess too many tribes, maybe partition so tribes can have wars and not civil wars.

    Syria is classic Baathists suppressing the Sunni nuts (see Saddam Hussein in Iraq through 1991). Moderates US wants to help are like Mujahedine…..

    Things are quiet in Balkan since NATO busted Kosovo out of Serbia and has a reinforced mechanized brigade 24/7/365 at Camp Bonesteel.

  • JimH says:
    November 21, 2015 at 7:36 pm

    JackD,

    I read that France has too much unemployment and that their Muslim immigrants are not assimilating. The murder of 130 of its citizens by Muslim terrorists should be the last straw.

    France could start by banning immigration from north Africa and the middle east. Then they could force their immigrant population to be distributed throughout the country and require them to adopt western dress. Or they can shove their head in the sand and hope for the best.

    When Muslim terrorists commit mass murder here AGAIN then the US should also ban immigration from north Africa and the middle east.

    In the meantime, traveling to a foreign country to fight along side those making war on US forces or the forces of our allies is treason and should be punished by life imprisonment at hard labor. Neither they nor their family should receive any type of government support after the offender’s conviction.

    Any federal judge who objects should be impeached for abetting terrorism.

    Or we can go on pretending that a religion can not be treasonous enterprise.

  • JackD says:
    November 21, 2015 at 8:12 pm

    Well, that’s a major plan! I understand that the U.S. black population has too much unemployment as is not assimilating; same suggestions?
    Did you notice that some of the French dead and injured were Muslims?
    Traveling to a foreign country to do battle against U.S. forces is already illegal and cause for loss of citizenship. The Constitution forbids unloading on the family of offenders, however.
    You do understand, I trust, that Islam, as a religion, is not committing these acts of violence. Rather, it is people claiming to act in the name of Islam who are doing it and vastly more Muslims than others have been their victims. I assume you are not willing to tar all Christians with responsibility of the acts of violent people claiming to act in the name of Christianity. There have been some of those right here.
    Other than all of that, I suppose there has been a start on a discussion of where we go from here.

  • Marko says:
    November 21, 2015 at 9:35 pm

    Hillary “McCain” Clinton on National Security and the Islamic State

    at the CFR :

    ( no-go if you’re prone to nightmares )

    http://www.cfr.org/radicalization-and-extremism/hillary-clinton-national-security-islamic-state/p37266

  • JackD says:
    November 21, 2015 at 9:53 pm

    What didn’t you like and what, if anything, did you like?

  • Marko says:
    November 22, 2015 at 3:16 am

    I can’t think of anything about Hillary that I like , but she managed to come off as being moderate and thoughtful and all that at CFR. Campaign mode stuff. There won’t be any repeats of her cackling at the thought of Gaddafi being sodomized with a bayonet , for example , at least not until she’s elected.

    I did notice one telling comment , though. She said something to the effect that there was no alternative to a transition in Syria by which the Syrian people remove Assad. Haha. So we’ll let the Syrians have their very own democracy , as long as we get to choose who wins.

  • amateur socialist says:
    November 22, 2015 at 5:27 am

    Blaming muslims for terrorism is like blaming musicians for Ted Nugent.

    To date the most significant terrorist attack here in Austin was committed by a pissed off white guy who flew his plane into a building because he didn’t want to pay his taxes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Austin_suicide_attack

    Wiki calls it a suicide but it was in fact an act of terrorism. A form of violence perpetrated on civilians (check) in hopes of furthering a political agenda (check).

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