It’s Friday
I’m going to leave an open thread for you here. I was at the ballpark last night and was completely out of touch.
(For newcomers: if the Astros are in town, odds are about 80% that I leave home by 5:00 pm and don’t return until midnight. I do not pay attention to my phone at the ballpark. It seems irreverent to do so.)
So, please feel free to use this entry to talk about Syria, Trump, and any news today. I’ll be home all afternoon but will leave for the ballpark at 4:00 today.
On a day like today, I need constant music. Lyle Lovett works.
1I’m cross-posting this from a comment I already left on a couple other blogs (lawyersgunsandmoney, Maddow blog, etc). Apologies to anyone who might consider this spamming; it’s not intended as such. Just wanted to get this message out:
Syria isn’t actually the point of this latest unConstitutional act (& international war crime). Trumpsky doesn’t give a hot squat about Assad, rebels (of any variety) or, frankly, anyone but himself & his immediate family (to the extent that he sees them as an extension of himself.
The key here, as with all things Trumpsky-related, is Russia, Russia, Russia. Tonight’s action should be understood as PRETEXT. Russia wants those sanctions lifted. Wants that desperately. This is the primary reason Trumpsky was installed in the White House. Trumpsky, unfortunately (for both his Russian puppet-masters & for us) is a ridiculous idiot. He quickly made lifting the sanctions politically less tenable than ever.
Thus, the pretext. Where do we suppose Assad got the chemical weapons he used? From Russia, of course. Trumpsky (after defending Assad as recently as last week) then gets instructed to lob some missiles at a target that will look legit, but not make any real strategic difference on the ground. Got to create the appearance of a “conflict” between Trumpsky & his good pal, the dictator Putin.
Now, send Suckretary of State Tex Drillerson (R – Exxon) to Moscow. Time for the “art of the deal”. What to expect: a dramatic announcement of an arrangement whereby, in exchange for us lifting the sanctions, Putin “helps” us reign in his (other) puppet, Assad. The Trumpsky regime makes a deal, saves the day, avoids a Mid-East war; Trumpsky’s a hero. Greatest President* ever! Poll numbers rise.
This has been the primary end game all along. Trumpsky is made President* & Putin gets the sanctions lifted (& Exxon gets to go ahead with their trillion $ deal with their Russian oil partners).
Quid. Pro. Quo. The fix was in already; all that was required was a pretext to get the US establishment to fall in line. Pay no attention to moose and squirrel.
See treason, say treason. 🙁
2I heard recently-again- Drumpf Dump South does not have a secure room to conduct official business in. Why is this buffoon allowed to stay Potus and make money from it? Why is perjurer Sessions still the Attorney General?
I am afraid this little sojourn into war footing will cause wingnuts to suspend all investigations of Drumpf and wingnuts until 2020 elections at least.
3After closing the door to Syrian refugees, Mr. Trump is suddenly concerned enough about their plight to launch $94 million worth of missles in their defense? We need to demand the survivors are brought here (Texas Medical Center) for treatment and peace.
Also, I consider Mr. Trump’s turning his back on Syrian refugees as a very strong signal to Russia and Assad that he did not care about them. Well, that seems to have emboldened them and green-lighted the horrible resumption of gas attacks in the first place. Did he lauch last night’s attack out of moral disgust or guilt?
4Suckretary of State Tex Drillerson (R – Exxon), that’s their plan, Pretzelogic in Philly, PA.
One by one Donnie’s picks will be picking our pockets. Old Betsy DeVos will suck the life out of funding for public education. The rest of the gang will profit from whatever department they’ve been sent to destroy. Then they’ll leave town, but not before leaving us the bill for the clean-up.
5Typical overreaction as far as I’m concerned. One missile each for the control tower, runway, aircraft, fuel storage and one more for something. Saves $70 million.
6South Dakota’s congressional weasels hold their meet and greet town halls in police stations-Noem’s with only 24 hour notice and Number 3 in the US Senate Marlboro Barbie Thune on a Monday with three days notice. Not much chance of protesters or students or even working folks showing up to listen to Thune lie about stuff.
7Russia was notified in advance, Congress wasn’t. Syria had advance warnings of several hours-time to move a number of planes and stuff to safer places.
One day Assad is safe from harm even after gas attacks, the next we just gotta shoot missiles his way. Assad himself was not the target. Does this make two wars from two wingnut potii against sovereign nations who haven’t attacked US?
8@Miz JJ
Well, a-beat the drum and hold the phone
The sun came out today
We’re born again, there’s new grass on the field
Got a beat-up glove, a home-made bat
And a brand new pair of shoes
You know I think it’s time to give this game a ride
It IS elation for sure!
9The latest in Donnie tantrum GIF:
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/8e5c5e8bd9503bdc4c336e91bbfcb45a2db7fdccf440b43856d4d9bb261886dd.gif
10Given how angry is over Trump’s strike on Syria, I wonder if Putin will release the pee-pee tape?
11Pretzelogic in Philly, PA says: Do you recall that wingnuts claimed Saddam’s wmds were being trucked to Syria while we did nothing to stop them?
According to that logic if Syria had gotten Saddam’s chemical weapons, well the precursors for those weapons were sold to him by American korporations which would make the US complicit it gassing Syria’s kids.
12Story coming out now is we did not bomb the airstrip out of deference for Russia, They can use the strip, I guess the Syrian’s planes can use it, too. The report claims we used cruize missiles that did not crater, they only do minimal damage. Why didn’t we shower them with Charmin? What kind of a message does it send to the bad guys if you pretend anger than end with a pillow fight?
13Forgive me if I chuckle some here- http://www.rawstory.com/2017/04/warplanes-from-syrian-base-hit-by-us-just-carried-out-airstrikes-in-homs/
If you don’t take out the airstrip it is still usable………..
14epo – I sure do remember that wingnut “logic”. Only problem was & is the shelf life of the chemicals/precursors in question. Most likely the weapons Assad used were of much more recent origin (assuming the Russians didn’t drop them themselves).
As for the “message to the bad guys”? See my earlier post again. This message wasn’t FOR the “bad guys”. I believe Malcolm Nance actually used the term “kabuki” in this specific context. The message was for the US establishment, to provide political cover for the Rape-Public-Cons’ treachery.
15e platypus onion, standard Donnie gibberish thus far. If “sending a message” was the ‘plan’ one tactical weapon would have sufficed had it been sent through Assad’s bedroom window.
Whereas if the scuttlebutt is true that Assad is merely a figurehead, then maybe six fired into Syrian Command & Control Centers (if Syria has that many.) One thing never changes with military under authoritarian control. Those guys don’t take a piss without a checklist and prior approval. Taking out their Mommy May I centers would effectively ground their Air Force.
7 total. 59? That’s some mighty expensive live firing practice.
16Meteor Blades (Daily kos)
Apr 07 · 03:53:18 PM
The Tomahawk attack was $80 million worth of geopolitical performance art.
17pretzelogic_ — is cross posting even legal under the Drump administration?
18This is why we can’t fully fund State, EPA, and other, none-bomb-dropping departments; We need the money to go to war in Iran. Syria? Just a warm-up.
19Please note that there are recent refugees in this country (they come from places not under the ban) have been crossing our northern border at an increasing rate. Emma Lazarus must be gyrating in her grave.
20epo says:
the airstrip it is still usable………
Trump”s Schlock & Naw
21Not about Syria but something I heard about this evening. Because at least one major goal is to keep us off balance so we point to this shiny object then that one then this other one and ignore the Big Picture — eg. Tweety’s Money Making Machine.
So yep, it’s confirmed. Tweety has surrounded himself with people who are just as stupid as he is.
N. Korea is getting feisty so what do his generals do? They present him with a number of options, several of which are controversial and most of which are downright terrible.
Like putting nukes back into S. Korea. Yeah, because that won’t send the paranoid boy-king RIGHT over the edge or anything!
The generals are already washing their hands. They all rushed to the nearest microphone to proclaim, “Putting nuclear weapons in S. Korea is a bad idea!”
Gee. Ya think?
I’ll tell you something else that’s a bad idea: suggesting a bad idea to Tweety. He will take the worst possible one and run with it. And, when it goes pear-shaped, he’ll blame President Obama — assuming there’s anyone left to hear him.
And here’s another terrible idea:
putting all the options out on the news channels. Here’s NBC News reporting the option of killing Kim Jung Un and a “covert action” that is being discussed.
So WHY IS ALL THIS NOT CLASSIFIED?!? Do they seriously believe NBC has it and Kim doesn’t?????
Yeah, because President Obama pushed his deliberations and discussions about killing Osama bin Ladin out to the news media before it happened.
22Oh, wait . . . .
@two crows: Indeed. I did have several WTF?! moments over announcing to the world that one of the options presented to the President was to kill Kim Jung Un. Surely, for such an option (not that I think we should do anything so stupid) to work, it’s better if the victim doesn’t suspect it’s coming? The man’s already paranoid; are they trying to goad him into attacking us first? Considering that Kim Jung Un has nuclear weapons, too, that might not be the best idea.
23Susan,
24Hope you’re enjoying the Astros in their latest digs. For me, I can’t watch baseball that requires 10 men to play a 9 man game. Bud should have left Milwaukee in the AL and Houston in the NL. Next, get rid of the DH all-together. Now we’re talkin’ Baseball!
p.s. I really miss the Astrodome. Enron/Minutemaid is cool but the ‘Dome was the 8th Wonder of The Modern World!
Rick-Assad used that airstrip today to bomb the city he had just gassed as a way to mock Drumpf.
25Planet Jupiter is all alone in the east/south east evening sky. Magnificent sight if you get a chance take a look. Hard to miss something that big all alone except for the moon.
26Poison gas is Putin’s favorite weapon; just check out the Chechen Theater incident where Vlad had his guys pump the theater full of gas and killed everyone inside, including hostages.
And I recall reading very recently where someone mentioned a little war incident when investigators get too close to impeachable offenses.
Why am I not surprised?
27Isn’t N Korea propped up (at least verbally?) by dear little Vlad the Puppetmaster too? They are the right flavor, and we, of course, supported the S Koreans, so Mother Russia MUST have picked the North? More smoke and mirrors, and obviously, none of these things are actually on the table-only floating around in the ether for our press corp, afflicted by an unending fascination with ephemeral things, to chase around like so many soap bubbles! Bah! A pox on stupid people!
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