Fourth Turning: Talking Bout My Generation

"You are all a lost generation."
(Vous etes tous une generation perdue)
--Gertrude Stein to Ernest Hemingway

When I was a child in northern Virginia, I remember an old Black man, who carried a very worn Bible in his hands. He was never without that book and his hands were never still, thumbing through the pages, and he would say, "Everything you need to know, every question you can ever ask, is answered right here in this book."

Neil Howe, Prophet

That guy appeared in literature, movies, in various forms, but the mindset, peculiar as it seemed to me as a child, lives on today.  People, some people, want certainty, predictability, authority, and wouldn't it be nice if there were some central depository for omniscience?
As a child, it seemed to me a very bad thing, to think everything you'd ever want to know was in one book. I was wondering about where birds came from, where the stream which appeared in the gulley near my house went to in the summer, why Mr. Welch, next door, had a stroke, what a stroke was, why the sun always went down over the west side of the South Columbus Street and what made the leaves turn colors in the Fall, stuff like that. I also wondered who Joseph McCarthy was.  Mr. Welch, before he had his stroke, didn't seem to like Joseph McCarthy one bit. Mr. Welch would sit on his back porch, his face turning bright red, talking in great agitation to my father about Joseph McCarthy. My father didn't like McCarthy either. He blamed McCarthy for Mr. Welch's stroke, which again, I wondered about.

Obadiah Youngblood, Pink Lake

Justice Antonin Scalia struck me as a person like the old Black man with his Bible, a person with a book. He wanted a single source,  the original Constitution, to contain all the answers and this would simplify all judgments--you had only to look to the original text to know the answer.
We read that Steve Bannon has such a good book, which he has read and re read--"The Fourth Turning" by Neil Howe and William Strauss.

I have not read it.
As I understand it, from Professor Google, it's about how human history occurs in cycles, which is to say, things cycle.
Well, that is profound.
And generations of human beings, exposed to large events, like war, economic collapse, famine, crop failure, are composed of individuals who are exposed to or insulated from these forces and react more or less as you'd expect people to react.

Disciple

Anyway, pop history cum sociology sounds fun and apparently it has captivated Steve Bannon, and not in a good way.
The problem with a man obsessed with a book is what that says about that man.
People brought up Catholic, in the church, sometimes take this route, but this can be seen in Southern Baptists and people subjected to indoctrination in any religious setting before age 6.
The problem is, these people are often looking for a Truth.
And they tend to be angry people. Not sure why these two things are connected. It's a syndrome, things which occur together without a clear mechanism. Maybe, they are just angry other people refuse to see the Truth which appears so clear to them.  I don't know.
I can live without knowing.

But Bannon now finds himself on the receiving end of a miracle: Trump won. And he must feel himself to be a prophet.
So we have radical Islamists in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia and elsewhere. And we have a radical recovering Catholic in the White House.
This should be fun to watch.

Senator Tom Cotton: Consider a Jackass

"Reader, suppose you were an idiot. Then suppose you were a member of Congress. But then I repeat myself."
--Mark Twain

The New York Times today carried a column by Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, which is instructive.  It encapsulates the sort of thinking (if you can use that word to describe what he does) which got President Trump elected, which fuels Rush Limbaugh/Brett O'Keefe and all those who sail with them.

Bear with me...

"After President Bashar al-Assad of Syria once again attacked his own citizens with poison gas, the civilized world recoiled in horror at images of children writhing in pain and suffocating to death. President Trump voiced this justified outrage at a news conference on Wednesday, and the next day he took swift, decisive action against the outlaw Assad regime. But these strikes did more than simply punish Mr. Assad and deter future attacks; they have gone a long way to restoring our badly damaged credibility in the world."

Ain't no Syrian gonna take my wife

+ Wow, there's a lot in here:

1. "Decisive action": We took out 6 crippled MIG fighters which could not be moved because they were damaged and in the shop, after we warned the Syrians of the oncoming attack so they could move the rest of their war planes.  The next day, Assad launched a variety of other air attacks.

2. "Outlaw regime": Well, hardly in Mr. Putin's view

3. "Deter future attacks": See above. One could argue just the opposite. Oh, if that's all you are going to do, I can live with that.

4. "Restoring our badly damaged credibility": Credibility is such a dandy word. Credibility with whom? With the Assad regime? With the Russians? With the Syrians who got barrel bombed the next day? This is one of those I-want-to-believe-so-it-must-be-true things.

5. "In the world": What particular world is Mr. Cotton living in?

I'm so well hung

"It’s hard to overstate just how low the standing of the United States had fallen because of President Barack Obama’s failure to enforce his own “red line” against Mr. Assad’s use of chemical weapons in 2013."

+ Oh, really? Our "standing?" With whom? Translation: I don't like Obama. He was Black and he was born in Kenya.

Of course, when President Obama went to Congress in 2013 to ask for permission to do more, Congress dithered and said NO.

 "I was one of the few Republican members of Congress who supported strikes against Syria then. Because of that, I’ve heard from dozens of world leaders expressing their doubts about the security commitments of the United States."

+ Oh? You are such a hero. You wanted to get us involved in a gun fight in Syria. And because you were such a tough guy, "dozens of world leaders" flocked to your banner, no doubt wishing you were President instead of Mr. Obama, and worried about whether they could trust us to stand up for NATO against Russia because we didn't stand with Syria.

I got credibility

"These doubts originated from surprising places. Of course our longtime Arab allies expressed their misgivings. Yet European and even Asian leaders have privately wondered to me whether the red-line fiasco called into question America’s security alliances in their regions. While far removed from the Middle East, they still depend on the United States and the threat of force to defend our mutual interests."

+ Oh, this is the special, secret, privileged knowledge ploy--what "people" are telling me, which I will now reveal to you about how very shaken our allies like France, Britain and Germany were by our decision to not get sucked into another Middle East quagmire after George W., the gunslinger, was stupid enough to make that mistake once.

"It wasn’t only Mr. Obama’s refusal to act in the moment that undermined our credibility. The fig leaf to justify inaction was an agreement with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to remove Syria’s chemical weapons, which Russia and Syria plainly violated from the outset. Yet Obama administration officials continued to celebrate it as a triumph."

Middle East Tar Baby

+ Ah! We are back to the "it's-Obama's-fault" argument. Mr. Trump launches a transparently cosmetic missile assault on a mostly abandoned air field (having warned the occupants to flee) and now we criticize Mr. Obama for taking ineffectual action?

+ Mr. Cotton, I'll say one thing for you--you've got chutzpah. That's a phrase they might not use in Arkansas: It means you've got the courage of your hypocrisy.

"It’s also worth remembering that Mr. Obama backed down partly because he so badly wanted a nuclear deal with Mr. Assad’s patron, Iran. But his weakness in Syria only emboldened Iran, ultimately producing a worse deal while encouraging Iran’s campaign of imperial aggression in the region, support for terrorism and human rights abuses."

+ What is it about these Southern gunslingers? Now we are into a connection between tolerating gassing and signing a deal with Iran? Well, just look at those dominoes.

After Trump, Moi!

"The world now sees that President Trump does not share his predecessor’s reluctance to use force. And that’s why nations across the world have rallied to our side, while Russia and Iran are among the few to have condemned the attack."

+ Wait, are we really hearing this "fear the turtle" stuff again? Have we not heard this all before? ( Oh, we have to draw that line at Vietnam, or nobody will fear us and the Communists will be emboldened and just run all over us.)

  And what "world" is he talking about?  I've heard people from France to Syria to Israel to China saying they thought the Trump attack was bogus, all show and no consequence and just plain stupid.

"The threat of the use of force — and its actual use when necessary — is an essential foundation for effective diplomacy. Mr. Obama’s lack of credibility is one reason the United States watched in isolation as Russia and Iran took the lead at recent Syrian peace conferences. It’s also why Iran got the better of us in the nuclear negotiations and North Korea has defied us for years."

+ Oh, so now we are off to the "mad man" theory of diplomacy. Well, President Trump might just be crazy enough to launch our nuclear arsenal against Syria and Russia and North Korea all at once, unless you guys roll over.  The Senator is now in the minds of the Russians, the Iranians and the Syrians. 

Tell me, Mr. Cotton, on what planet do you spend the majority of your time?

"With our credibility restored, the United States can get back on offense around the world. In Syria, Mr. Assad knows that we have many more Tomahawk missiles than he has airfields. So do his supporters in Moscow and Tehran."

+ Uh, actually, I'm not sure Mr. Assad, or even Mr. Trump knows that. In fact, those Tomahawk missiles are pretty expensive ($1 million each) and taking out 6 damaged MIGs is hardly cost effective, ($10 million per crippled MIG) not to mention not a credible threat. On the contrary, it may well reassure Mr. Assad how un-serious we are. On the other hand, using up these Tomahawk missiles is good business for Raytheon, which manufactures them and think of all the Raytheon workers who will be back on the assembly lines.  Maybe we can ship in some coal workers to build more missiles.

"Further, leaders in Iran must now question the risks of being put “on notice” earlier this year by President Trump. After all, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and C.I.A. Director Mike Pompeo are noted Iran hawks. If they recommended decisive action in Syria, the ayatollahs have to wonder if they may be next."

Oh, please doan throw me in dat Briar Patch, Mr. Trump! We are jeez quaking in our boots here in Damacus, Tehran, Moscow and everywhere else!

+ Oh, Please, Mr. Trump, Don't throw me in that Briar Patch!

"It’s also telling that the strikes in Syria occurred while President Trump dined with President Xi Jinping of China. The president has repeatedly expressed his concerns about North Korea and stressed that he expects China to restrain Pyongyang. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has stated that the threat of North Korea is “imminent” and “the policy of strategic patience has ended.” Whatever Kim Jong-un may think, it’s safe to say that Mr. Xi finally takes seriously American concerns."

+ Yaasssirreee! Dem Asians got to know we talk tough. And tough talk to Asians, that's just 'bout da same as launching a nuclear strike. We got 'em back on their heels. Dey fears us now, doan you know!

"Finally, Russia’s geopolitical standing has taken a severe blow. Mr. Putin was powerless to protect his client in Damascus. Moscow now faces a Hobson’s choice of empty words of condemnation or escalation on behalf of a global pariah, which risks further American action. After years of Russian aggression being met by empty American words, the roles are reversed: Russia is wrong-footed and Mr. Putin finds his credibility at stake."

+ Oh, brother Putin is just so damaged! President Trump was so steamed, he gave the Russians advanced notice of the attack and I'm sure that scared the be Jesus out of Mr. Putin. What kind of mad man would do that?  I've heard from so many people, including that lady in the parking lot, how shook Vladimir was by the loss of those 6 broke down MIGs!

"In every theater, President Trump now has the opportunity to press our advantage and protect our interests with strong diplomacy backed by America’s restored credibility. It’s been a long time coming, but friend and foe alike have been reminded that the United States not only possesses unmatched power, but also once again will employ our power to protect our interests, aspirations and allies."

+ Yes, indeed we got a gunslinger now!  You remember that guy in "Dr. Strangelove" who put on his cowboy hat and rode that nuclear bomb out of the bomb-bay doors? That's my hero.

We done showed them Ruskies and we got the whole world taking notice.  I'm just so proud to be an American now, the buttons are popping off my shirt!

I gotta ask:  
1. Is this the best Akansas can do?  I mean, the state of Orval  Faubus was also the state of Bill Clinton and William Fulbright, but has the state IQ sunk so low that this guy really represents what is Arkansas?
2. This warrior was such a leader that after five years in the Army, he advanced all the way from lieutenant to the rank of Captain.  While deployed in Afghanistan he wrote a letter to the New York Times demanding that their reporters be tried for espionage for reporting on an operation in country. He was reminded by his superior officers about something called, "chain of command," but was not rebuked and was awarded a Bronze star for something, maybe for attacking The New York Times. Of note is the fact he went from Arkansas to Harvard and then Harvard Law, which just goes to show that applying to Harvard from Arkansas is like applying to Harvard from Kosovo--they're going to accept you just to see what people from that part of the world are like.

You Say You Want a Revolution?

Bernie Sanders usually started off his stump speech by asking the crowd, "Are you ready for a revolution?"
And the place would go wild.

But the revolution Bernie was talking about was a class struggle, taxing the rich more, and providing more opportunities for the struggling middle class, health insurance, free college education, a stairway to better jobs.

But here is the revolution Mad Dog would offer if he were running. 
When the Republicans realize they control enough state houses and governorships to convene a constitutional convention, when they are drunk with dreams of writing into the Constitution articles forbidding abortion, flag burning, speaking any language but English in public places,  taking the Trump name in vain, making War on Christmas, immigration of non whites, taking the Lord's name in vain, disparaging NASCAR, and another article re-instituting slavery, well the Democrats should just play along, smiling, nodding their way through all this and, once the Republicans have gone out and got good and drunk the Dems could slip in an article which allows states to leave the union and form independent nation states, confederations of their own choosing. 

This should appeal to the Southern states, given their history of having fought a four year war over this in the past. The Dems could frame it: Look, the Lost Cause can still be won in the 21st century.  We agree, divorce should be an option. After all, they're doing it in Europe.

It was, in fact, the example of Europe which moved President Lincoln to cleave to the idea there should be one continental American nation.  Europe had been riven by war and bloodshed for centuries and Lincoln maintained, we needed to avoid all that with an indissoluble union. Of course, later he admitted, that was something of a marketing pitch and the whole war was really over slavery, as he said in his second Inaugural address. 

But, here's the thing: If the six New England states left and invited at least some of the middle Atlantic states, say New York, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and the West Coast states and Illinois, and maybe Minnesota.  We could do pretty well, economically at least, as the New American Union.  

The whole idea of contiguous borders is so 20th century. With people tele-commuting, and with air travel and the internet, you really don't need to be able to reach out and physically touch your countrymen. 

And the Southern states and the Mountain states and the Southwestern states (except for New Mexico), all those "fly over states"  are always grousing about how oppressive Washington, DC is, how that federal government is an occupying power, a distant black helicopter state. They don't like government much, at least federal government. So, let them go.

They could print their own money and put Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee and George Armstrong Custer on it. They could reinstate Andrew Jackson and add the grand dragon of the Ku Klu Klan, if they want to. 
They could be happy without us. 
Well, spiritually. 
Economically, not so much. But hey, it's just money.

Economically, the states which complain most about the oppressive federal tax burden are actually the ones who get the most from it, so let them go and fend for themselves. We won't miss them.

Defense spending as a portion of a state's GDP is highest in states like Mississippi and Kentucky.  We could move all those military bases and factories to New England and California and Illinois. I count the New American Union as having: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, Washington, Oregon, California and New Mexico.  Sweet 16. Others could apply. Maybe some states, like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin could redraw their boundaries to separate red counties from blue counties and the redrawn states could apply to the union. 
Of course, there would be some states we would feel sorry for:  The research triangle in North Carolina, parts of Florida, northern Virginia, Atlanta, Austin Texas, New Orleans. There would be those islands of sanity in a sea of red we just likely could not help. 

Our New American Union would have a Congress free of Mitch McConnell and Trey Gowdy and Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Louie Gohmert.  
Think of that.  
We would not be totally  rid of all the unappetizing trolls--even in Massachusetts there were Trump voters, but we would really change the mix. 
And New Hampshire, which came within a couple of thousand votes of going for Trump, might teeter off into lunacy every so often. But, it might be people in all states would "self deport," and find themselves gravitating not just to walled communities of similar belief, but to states where they feel more at home.

In divorces, a common remark by one or both of the parting spouses is, "I never realized how much you really disliked me."  When people have to stay together, they bite their lips and just suck it up. But when they no longer have to get along, they can say what they really feel.

And I suspect, when we let Texas, South Carolina, Arizona, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Kansas and Indiana go, folks in the  remaining New Union states will heave a great cleansing sigh of relief and say: "Why did we suffer so long? Why didn't we do this years ago?"

Obadiah Youngblood, Tugboat

John Bolton: Dolt of the Day

John Bolton was on Fox News this morning explaining how we got into such a place with Syria.
It's Obama's fault, of course.
Blame it on the Obama-onva.

He served in the National Guard--an expert in military affairs

Mr. Bolton was Ambassador to the UN under some Republican and has had posts in Republican administrations and he lives just outside Washington, D.C., so whenever Fox needs a hit man to say it's all Obama's fault, he's available.

It seems President Obama "let" Mr. Putin put in airbases in Syria in 2013, and now that the Russians have ensconced themselves in Syria, well, it's just all gone to Hell in a handbasket.

What President Obama should have done when the Russians started building those air bases was...
Well, you know.
Something.
Something really effective.
Something bold.
Something manly.

Like what President Trump just did. Calls up the Russians and says, "We are going to precision bomb that air base at Shayrat." So the Russians roll out and the Syrians can't help but notice that, so they hop in their war planes and move them out, all but the six MIG planes in the shop--so the lame planes get blown up.
Trump showed those Syrians. President Assad must be quaking in his Gucci loafers. Oh, Trump is unpredictable. Oh, he is impulsive. He is a wild and crazy guy! Not so impulsive he picked out the "bomb the palace" option from the platter his generals presented him, but he is impulsive in a way the coal miners in Kentucky will like. 
Oh, President Heel Spur is just so fearsome! Eighty-six babies get gassed and he is outraged and takes out six out of service MIG fighters! 

President Putin was not pleased. He says he's not Trump,s best bro no mo. Steel workers in Pennsylvania will be glad to hear that. Pundits on TV are all saying this takes the heat off Trump for his Putin connection during the election campaign. 
Say what?

President Trump knows how to draw a line in the sand.  

I saw that announcement, with the President standing in front of the American flag at Mar-a-largo.  Couldn't help but think President Reagan would have done it better. Peggy Noonan was a better speech writer than whoever Trump has writing his speeches. Or maybe, that's the problem. The same guy who writes his Tweets writes his speeches.  
And Reagan would have gone for a different setting, maybe an American airbase, or even an aircraft carrier, with the wind in his great hair, and the Star Spangled Banner afterwards. (Of course, given the suspicions about President Trump's hair, maybe the aircraft carrier, wind in the hair bit wouldn't be such a great idea.) It's just the idea he's at Mar-a-largo, with booze hounds in the bar, and golf courses as a back drop, sort of detracts from the fearsome warrior image. 
I mean, just the name, "Mar-a-largo."  Doesn't sound all that serious. Sort of like Bali Hai. Sort of evokes images of Polynesian women swaying to ukulele music  in straw skirts with some enormously fat guy singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."  But maybe that's just me.
But I digress. Back to Mr. Bolton.
Mr. Bolton was at Yale Law School with Bill and Hillary Clinton and he never quite got over the fact they became so famous, powerful and rich and he's been marching into Fox studios ever since to show he can be just as famous and influential as the Clinton's.

He knows more than the generals

And President Obama has been just the best target for Mr. Bolton because Obama's Presidency simplified everything. Yes, George W. might have miscalculated a little getting our troops bogged down in Iraq looking for those weapons of mass destruction Mr. Bolton just knew were in the hands of Sadam Hussein. But Obama! Oh, well, just look at the mess he has made.
An all purpose mess.
Why, that gassing of babies--Obama's fault.

And ISIS, well, don't you Obama founded that group with Hillary.
Obama probably had a piece of that child sex trafficking operation Hillary was running out of that pizza place on Connecticut Avenue.
Oh, those two. Just so corrupt.

What Mr. Bolton can't figure out is why President Trump never called him for the Secretary of State post.
Obama probably black balled him.

Gassed Babies Avenged by Cosmetic Air Strike

Those who ignore history are condemned to retweet it.
--David Brooks

Soooo, what did the Syrian airmen do when they noticed all the Russians packing up and leaving the Shayrat airbase? 

Did they not say, "Hey, Boris? Where're you going?"
"Oh, nowhere, Achmed, just getting off the base ahead of the U.S. Tomahawk missile attack, which is due here in about four hours."
"Gee, Boris, do you think we ought to move our airplanes?"
"Well, that's up to you, Achmed.  But I wouldn't leave the keys to your car in that plane you got parked under that concrete arch."

So, President Trump was just appalled by Assad gassing babies to death, so he ordered some precision bombing which took out, what I'm guessing were empty airplane bunkers, but left the runways and Saran gas dumps intact. 
We are now told, by various sources, 6 MIG warplanes which were being repaired were destroyed. Which means? You don't need a PhD to speculate all the working war planes were evacuated before the strike because: WE TOLD THE RUSSIANS THE MISSILES WERE COMING.
The Syrian air force personnel must have been disgruntled about having to run out and move their airplanes on short notice. And the noise of those explosions! My dog went crazy during the thunderstorms in Hampton last night--I can only imagine the poor Syrian dogs near that airbase.
So we had a feel good moment.  Or Trump did. Or maybe all those tough talking, crew cut Republicans you see on Fox News and all the other networks. Oh, we showed them!  We sent a message! Oh, Assad will think twice before disobeying Trump again!  Wow, is Trump tough, or what?

And about those dead, gassed babies: Do you think the babies--beautiful babies--much cared whether they were gassed or blown to bits by barrel bombs? Apparently, this made all the difference to President Trump, the idea of killing beautiful babies with gas.

So what Mr. Trump is saying is: "Oh, you can bomb them, but you just cannot gas them."

But did anyone ever ask the babies?

Oh, and by the way, beautiful babies, you are still not welcomed in the US of A. Well, maybe we'd take in some beautiful babies, but none of those Trojan horse parents.

We have very selective sympathies, here in America. We like cute things.

Senator Corker: Syria's Obama's Fault

One thing you can say for Republicans, they are shameless; they got chutzpah.

It's all Obama's fault. Certainly Congress is blameless.

This morning, the chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, Bob Corker, of Tennessee,  claimed if President Obama had only done some unnamed thing right back in 2013, we would never have had Assad dropping those chemical weapons on those villagers in Syria today.


As Alisyn Camerota pointed out, when Obama made noises about taking military action, the Senate and House told him their constituents had no appetite for spending more America lives or treasure in defense of Syrians and Obama had to settle for getting Russia to get Assad to agree to get rid of his chemical weapons, which, apparently he either did not do or he simply made new chemical weapons.

Doesn't he look good in that uniform?

Back in 2013, Corker was all for taking some sort of military action against Assad, because, as he said this morning, he had been to the Syrian refugee camps, and seen the suffering, but even today he could not really say exactly what military action he wanted Obama to take. If only Obama hadn't been so irresolute. If only he had drawn that red line in the sand and done something, (!) well, then Assad would have taken America seriously. It's all about sending the message. Whatever that may be.


As Richard Russell told Lyndon Johnson, when Johnson asked what he ought to do about Vietnam--Russell said, "You know, you don't really want to be in Vietnam."
LBJ replied, "Well, that's for damn sure."
Russell, "Well, them Viet Cong.  They know that, too."


Every time I hear some simpleton Congressman or neighbor say, "Oh, Obama was so stupid, telling them when we are going to leave! Trump is right. You don't tell them."
Well, Einstein, the point is, they can listen to the news. They know President Obama, President Trump, not a single American President wants to be in their dusty, God forsaken pitiful excuse for a country country. We are going to get out and they will still be  there. We do not need or want their oil. We sure as hell don't have any interest in hanging out at their bazaars watching them stone women to death or chop off hands and heads.  So whether we announce a date or not, they know all they have to do is stay there and they'll outlast us. Memo to American morons: We are not fooling them by refusing to announce a departure date. They do not need a date.


As for Syria, I suppose we could have simply assassinated Assad and left Syria to find a new strongman. Would we then have had another failed Middle Eastern state like Iraq? Whatever, we don't want to be there shoring up Syria as we are failing to do in Iraq.


Well, today, a new Syrian leader  looks more appetizing than having a functional Syria headed by a monster, but then you get ISIS popping up like whack a moles.

So now the Republicans have got out their playbooks and Trump and the Congressional Republicans are all singing, "It's Obama's fault."


I guess those voters in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Ohio are all nodding in agreement.
I would recommend to all of these heartland, rust belt voters the movie "Born on the Fourth of July" or maybe, "The Deerhunter."  It's fine to be low information voters and ignorant and simple, but look what happens to your sons and daughters when the sleaze balls they vote for get into office.

President Trump Says It's Obama's Fault.

You're lucky if you come home in a flag draped coffin. The unlucky ones are quadraplegics in their wheel chairs with their colostomy bags.

Of course, what never gets asked when some lame brain like Senator Corker starts talking is this:  Senator, every few months we see some horrible images on TV of kids gassed, a toddler face down in the sand on a beach after his refugee boat overturned and he drowned, a kid in a hospital with his arm blow off and we get all sympathetic to the suffering of babies and kids and women who are caught in the crossfire of wars.  And we say, "We've got to DO something!" It's terrible watching such suffering.  But the question is: What can we do?  And which of these people on this conveyor belt of death and dismemberment do we decide to step in and help by whacking their attackers?  Syria today?  Boco Harum tomorrow?  The Taliban in Afghanistan the next day?  ISIS in Iraq? Radical somebodies in Libya? Nasties in Somalia or Sudan? 


Beyond sputtering and fuming, do we have anybody who actually has brains enough to say:  let's think about this and do something effective when we can and realize when we cannot.

They Still Don't Get It: CNN and The Message

Aliyson Camerota is just the sort of news woman I want to love: She's liberal; she's articulate and she's pissed off.

She wants us to send a message

But she's not, truth be told, bright enough.
She's very smart, I'm sure in many ways, but she is not smart enough in one way: She has not learned. She clings to concepts without examining them.
And one of the most agonizing, frustrating experiences on earth is to see someone from your team floundering miserably attacking a common enemy.


This morning she had two "experts" on the Middle East to discuss the report that the President of Syria had dropped bombs delivering poison nerve gas against his target village and then he bombed the hospital where the victims were taken.

Send this guy a message.

Ms. Camerota asked each expert to say what they had been brought on set to say: This "sends the wrong message" to "the Middle East."


Ms. Camerota then informed us that:
1. The President of Syria is a monster.
2. The Russians like him.
3. The Iranians like him.
4. The United States should stand up against him, because we are the only potential force for good in Syria and the Middle East.
5. Trump has waved off any role for the United States in opposing, undoing or dethroning the President of Syria. Qui Tacit Consentit.


Ms. Camerota apparently was not listening when Bernie Sanders said the Middle East is a quagmire within a quagmire.

Is he programed to receive?

Pray tell:  what exactly does it mean "to send a message?"
If the President of Syria hears the United States Secretary of State or the President of the United States say that anyone who uses poison gas on his people is a bad man, or should not be in power, how does that change anything?


Just, specifically, what would Ms. Camerota have the United States do about all those monsters who are not in Syria?  Like, for example, Somalia, or Libya or Afghanistan or Pakistan or Niger or anywhere Boco Haram is, or those kidnappers in the cartels of Mexico or in Guatemala or Honduras or Haiti or Bolivia? 

Send him a message? Was he listening?

This could be a summer course at the university: What is the role of a "great power" in the face of evil empires scattered across the face of planet earth? Should we mobilize a fleet of drones to drop bombs on bad guys? Should we send in the Marines? Should we institute a draft and send out our armies of the American way? Should we send some other  mothers' sons in Special Ops units to kill bad guys with our snipers?

Or should we simply invite on our TV set some guy in an authentic Middle East get up and a goatee to say that we are, in our silence, "sending the wrong message?"

I think they're trying to send a message.