Busboy Jefe wrote:
>> So you're worrying about women here losing abortion rights,
>> while you'd ignore the estimated 175,000 in forced labor
>> camps in N Korea?
>
> Is that what this about for you and the right? Labor camps? Funny how
> that's just come up....because all I hear is "He threatened us -- we
> gotta show him who has the bigger dick!"
Fuck me... did I get a promotion and not told?
I speak for myself. Same as you do. Why the
hell else would I speak of wasting their gov't?
It's the same reason I spoke of supporting Iraq,
to be rid of Saddam and his sons. What Iraq or
AfG decides to DO with their freedoms... that shit
is on them. If Iraq somehow manages to become
a true democracy, GBush becomes a hero in the
future history books. Do I think that likely? I'd give
it about a 30% chance... but stranger things have
happened.
> It's endlessly fascinating to me how those who fellate everything
> about America will claim concern about the people in other countries
> while being perfectly fine with the people in THIS country seeing
> rights challenged, safety nets threatened.
And just what HAVEN'T we spoken of regarding
our own problems? We've beat around gays, gov't
intrusiveness, war, politics, crime.... and everything
else over the years. No topic has been avoided and
AJ simply brought up NK.
'Nuff said.
> In an ideal world, I'd see ALL people suffering relieved of it...but
> that's not going to happen, and you'd drive yourself crazy fretting
> over every wrong being committed around the globe.
We don't 'fret' over most shit because it isn't being forced
on us. When a GOV'T says they're gonna wipe your shit
out, that's a slightly different story. We send humanitarian
aid to every corner of this earth. We send doctors, money,
Red Cross, food, gov't money and ALL that shit to Africa,
Romania, etc etc etc. We support half of this country by
those who pay taxes. We certainly can't right every wrong,
but fuck... we get an A+ for trying at least.
So yes, I tend to
> focus on my own backyard first and foremost. Plus it has that added
> benefit of not making us look like hypocrites when we do play World
> Cop...putting aside that we can't even police *ourselves* at this
> point.
That simply isn't true. Our rights (USA) have come
along very nicely. We've got a law for everyfuckingthing.
Who is being discriminated against in this country?
>> Were we on the wrong side of history when we intervened
>> in WWI or II? What language would you have us speaking?
>
> This makes no sense, seeing as I wasn't referring to war. But since
> you brought it up...interesting that you have to go all the way back
> to WW2. Our track record since then hasn't been too good, huh?
Have to think on that one... we walked away in Viet Nam.
We certainly could have obliterated their entire country.
I will NOT say Iraq or AfG was a 'mistake'. We eliminated
the taliban from power in AfG and Saddam from Iraq.
We cannot force freedom or democracy on them beyond
that. And you omit THE MOST important point... our fucking
power. It is our might that discourages many other countries
from being worse than they are. We don't always have to
USE our armies for them to be effective. We brought down
Soviet Russia without warring with them. Our might discourages
Iran from being worse than it is. It has kept China in check,
and NKorea as well.
> I absolutely loved hearing/reading all of the mea culpas re: Iraq when
> the 10 year anniversary came around, especially from our "liberal
> media". Still think history will judge that excursion as anything more
> than a huge blunder?
I consider it taking out the trash. Only time can decide
if it was the right or wrong thing to do. It doesn't
really matter tho, not in the grand scheme of things.
We did the right thing, even if for the wrong reasons.
We wiped out a brutal dictator, we showed that we
ARE willing to stand up for what is right. I can live
with what happened in Iraq, even if it wasn't handled
as well as it should be. And again, if it stays truly
democratic, it was worth every drop of blood shed.
> IF this more than just the latest round of sabre-rattling -- aka we
> give them some $ and/or food, and they back off again...
We should NEVER give them one single dime or one
grain of wheat from this point on. Not one. Every
penny spent on that shithole country has been wasted.
The food, and certainly the money, never reaches the
population.
> IF they truly
> want a fight this time? Then I'm all for Obama using those drones (the
> ones the right love or hate depending on the political points they can
> score with a particular stance) to take out the leadership. Surgical
> strike.
I just finished watching a movie about the Wushu Incident
(Warriors of the Rainbow)... and when the Taiwanese
aboriginies revolted against the new Japanese gov't, the
"savages" were talking about killing a couple of the Japanese
policemen. One said - every time we kill one of them, they
kill off our entire family. If you want to kill them, you must
kill them all. Point being -- if you target a few generals, you'll
likely see massive retaliation. I am afraid for anything to
'work', you'll have to destroy their entire gov't.
> IF. I'm still not convinced this is anything more than the latest
> round of bluster. We cannot afford to make a short-sighted move akin
> to 10 years ago....not that THAT excursion was ever about defense.
To send troops into NK (unless it was decimated, then
we'll have boots on the ground to grab the nukes) would
be utter foolishness. I don't think Obama is gonna go there
at this point.
>> Who the fuck is going to take on N Korea, Iran,
>> or any other rogue country -- if not the US?
> Are you truly naive enough to believe that if NK went the nuke route,
> NO ONE else would step up?
I'm speaking of countries willing to stop it BEFORE
it happens. After the fact, of course... everyone is
willing to step up and play hero.
> Sure, because we can easily compare,say, one guy interfering with
> another guy's wife beating and putting a stop to it with starting yet
> another war in a country.
It ain't about the size of the fight... it's about what
is right and wrong. We're 'sitting here' swapping
opinions, we ain't makin' policy. It's my oPiNiOn
that we should have taken all these efforts that
we're FINALLY doing with NK and Iran, and done
them ten years ago. Why are we just now getting
"super-strict"? It's almost like Animal House and
"Double-secret probation". Bank accounts should
have been frozen a decade ago, trade embargos,
all this other shit we've just now implemented. We
have watched this brute bitchslapping his wife for
years now. And ALL of our presidents have done it.
Every chickenshit one of them just wanted to keep
the lid on long enough to pass it to the next prez.
> Again, I love the selective concern about human rights abuse. Where
> was this concern 10 years ago? 5? This stuff's been going on since,
> what, 1948...NOW we simply must go in with our dick swingin'? That's
> what a "real man" does, right?
Since day fucking one... ten Iraq anniversary years ago,
I've had NOTHING other to say except that we were doing
the right thing in Iraq by wiping out their gov't and killing
every possible one of them. There is NO VARIATION
WHATSOEVER in this, on my part. You cannot deny
that and it makes your statement 100% incorrect. Hundreds
of previous posts will back that up. I've never advocated
ANY PART of the Iraq war other than to free those
people from torture and oppression. I don't want their
oil, their peaceful civilians dead. I don't want to change
their religion or their customs. I asked for NOTHING
except a free people and a democratic gov't. End'o story.