(Hitchens of course is suffering in his own private hell--one where it's perpetually 7:30 AM on Sundays, nothing on HellCable except religious programming, and he can't get a drink.)
all i came to say is that i'm glad you're writing for our side. this stuff would be pretty persuasive for the mouth-breathers were it disseminated on OAN ot the WSJ.
"Hameed McGillicuddy" is the funniest thing I've ever heard since , well, the last funniest thing I've ever heard. Just so happens, you wrote both. Coincidence? I think not !
The worst person in the world is the detestable fuck that sent reporters out to interview the families of what were hopefully the last troops to die in Afghanistan with the instructions" See if you can't get one of the mom's all worked up"
Roy, I don’t know how you come up with these names, but I’m loving every minute of it, lmao.
For me, one minor surprise about the conservative meltdown is not just that the perpetual war hawks are out in full force – that was totally expected – but that the war chickenhawks, who felt it expedient to criticize the war by the late aughts after it was clear things were going badly, have now pulled another about-face and decided the war was good, actually. But I really shouldn’t be surprised, even though that degree of bare-faced shamelessness always pulls me up short. Their only guiding principle is “Does this hurt Joe Biden?”
And the kicker is that it probably won’t. No one gave a damn about Afghanistan for the last 20 years and they’ll forget about it again in another week or two. It’s already been literally blown off the front page by Ida, we’ve got a holiday weekend coming up and football season kicks off right after that.
Yeah, this is primarily an intracene issue for the political/journalist class, but I think the steady drumbeat of “DISASTER!” along with the resurgence of Covid have caused Biden’s approval numbers to slip.
Ha ha, yeah, I noticed the "years of blood and treasure" types suddenly turning into G.I. Joe. It's a legacy of the Old Right, I guess, when Wilson and Roosevelt were warmongers but the architects of our multiple demi-wars were great patriots.
I have absolutely no doubt that the American government and media learned nothing from this war. Our 800+ foreign military bases, our bloated military budget and our military oriented foreign policy will remain unchanged. Of course there are voices bewailing the end of the war - for them and America our military is the ultimate expression of our superiority, despite our losing war after ill-advised war. If only this “crisis in Afghanistan” made us rethink our self-destructive emphasis on our military empire and neglect of our land and people.
Is it me (likely!) or does mocking the fine members of and those adjacent to the Blob® just not work? Having like the mainstream and ignored Afghanistan for, well, twenty-odd years but unlike said media, I've been doing some deep diving to get a clue and I gotta tell, to call our fucking over of that relatively innocent shithole of a nation for well over forty years and counting for no fucking justifiable reason, there's nothing I find conceivably funny. But I'm a dotard and have lived through way too much right wing shitting of nation and world and am cynical and bitter.
That said, a) Roy, as always, did a most excellent channeling job and I'll confess shitting on Hitchens who died without understanding that enabling bad actors is actually bad itself and indefensible always works for me and b) if anyone can find something legitimately amusing, it would be Roy.
Depends on what you mean by "just not work." I don't expect those morons to smarten up. I do expect the rest of us to remember that they are in fact morons.
Normally, usually, I can. But Afghanistan — inexplicably, maybe — is a sore point. Not trying to persuade anyone to agree with me. I accept that it’s just how I feel and doesn’t mean anyone needs to agree.
“Just not work” for me means not amused, except for the Hitchens part. Afghanistan is just that much a sore point. Thought I was clear that it’s me, not you.
As for remembering what complete pieces of shit those so-called people are, there are triggers like 24/7: the Covid shit show, Afghanistan again, climate change, and attack on democratic institutions. I don’t come here for the triggering, I come for laughs and good writing from which I try to learn to write good.
And the fuckers are actually far, far worse than morons. As for the base, dunno that I like moron as much as pathological.
And that's just the right-wing response. You should see MSNBC right now (actually, you shouldn't). Adam Kinziger saying that "only" 20 years in Afghanistan shows we can't stay the course. "Liberal" network invites Republican to criticize Democratic president. I'm sure we can all easily imagine the mirror-image of that happening on Fox.
Oh, and it's all going to encourage ISIS, and nobody can remember what country ISIS came from or what we did to said country that helped create ISIS.
Loved hearing Charlie Sykes offer his sage advice to Biden: "Just take the win on the infrastructure bill and forget about that big-spending reconciliation package." Oh, wait, you're a Republican, aren't you Charlie? And you don't like $3.5 trillion spending bills packed with liberal priorities? Good to know!
What’s their problem? It’s a ten year proposal, they’ll likely get Congress back in 2023, defund the $3.5b bill and remind people that our state is dysfunctional. And now that vote rigging is becoming law, they’ll be running things for at least a good long time.
Again: the characterization “liberal” is conservatives’ slur and is, as is the norm, delusional. Fact is the “liberal” media are establishment and GOP propaganda promoters.
No, it’s the classic slur. No need for any specific reference.
About the only thing that amuses me regarding our Afghanistan shit show is conservatives claims that were there to do what they oppose here eg rights for women and gays.
Have they been liberal since they kicked Phil Donahue off the air (while he was their biggest audience getter) for his apostasy on Afghanistan/Iraq? I know there are people who think Rachel Maddow is extremely left wing, but these people are daft.
Indeed. I loved Rachel Maddow since day one of Air America Radio, but I haven’t watched her for years now, since the show turned into a DNC echo chamber and conversations with Nicole Wallace & Steve Schmidt
I like Maddow and the other MSNBC prime time hosts, but they're as left wing as mainstream media is allowed to get. It's not like they're regularly covering the DSA, let alone the Spartacist League.
It's like a bad dream (as Brother Roso has pointed out) passing by a news channel & seeing the exact same "serious" "foreign policy wonks" on all the shows, doods who have never been right in their entire lives [I mean these chudwinks get "Can I take your order?" wrong 95% of the time].
Why? Because the media is just a cheerleading arm of a vast military imperial edifice, & both parties will always vote for more war, no matter how unstable it leaves the world in actuality...
The idea this would have gone any better under Trump is fucking hilarious.
I'm thinking we need a new word for a military endeavor that drags on for 20 years while accomplishing so little. It would have literally been cheaper to have a soldier burning hundred dollar bills with a Bic lighter 24/7/365 for the last 20 years.
I give you: #scorewar
And God help me, I agree with Peggy Noonan, who argued in the WSJ that we wouldn't be in this mess if Junior Bush had just taken Osama at Tora Bora all those years ago.
Would not have gone better under Trump. Would not have happened under Trump – I feel pretty confident that the whole surrender show with the Taliban last year was designed to set up a failure for 46. Trump knew he could just flip off the T's if he felt like it (assuming reelection), and if not then Uncle Joe would be stuck with a mess he would not step away from (everyone knew Uncle Joe would do dnything it took to get outta Dodge).
Situations like this are infinitely easier if you truly don't give a fuck about anyone but yourself. "Leave? Stay? Whatever, I gotta golf game scheduled for this morning, you guys figure it out."
"And God help me, I agree with Peggy Noonan, who argued in the WSJ that we wouldn't be in this mess if Junior Bush had just taken Osama at Tora Bora all those years ago."
"the pandemonium of the US retreat -- a humbling exercise that confounded everything Biden promised about a stable, honorable US exit -- stained the aura of competence he sold to the country in the last election..."
'scuse me, but did we elect Joe Biden President of Afghanistan? If not, you might want to redirect your blame to the guy who was on the first plane outta town when the Taliban started taking cities.
Hilarious. I'm betting that Hameed McGillicuddy is just an innocent flower grower whose pretty poppies provide the best "hair-on" Beetroot's constituency ever had, too.
I might be too naïve, but I think Hitchens and his cupbearer, Sullivan, were sincere in opposing torture—I've seen no evidence otherwise, and all I need to oppose people is that they be wrong.
I think the need to assume insincerity in an opponent is a crutch, one that might allow me to feel that I must be right because I know _I_ am sincere without ever needing to call my own beliefs and positions into question. Well, no: there were and are sincere Nazis, N.K.V.D. men, Taliban and Da'esh fighters, and Republicans—also some brave ones, and a few in sweet love with someone too.
It's also lazy and unimaginative; I return (as I too often do here) to the man who confronted us 'Kerry 2004' sign-holders at a Manchester, N.H. corner who seemed incapable of believing that we hadn't been paid to do it, the man walked away literally shaking his head in disbelief.
Hitchens defended Team W for liberating Iraq from the awful ex-Reagan ally, Saddam.
The issues with that is: getting rid of Saddam didn’t make things better and defending the war criminals because of his delusion was also something that didn’t age well. There is no excuse for someone in Hitchens’ position to think we go into any country to a) make it better and b) give a shit about making any nation better.
(Hitchens of course is suffering in his own private hell--one where it's perpetually 7:30 AM on Sundays, nothing on HellCable except religious programming, and he can't get a drink.)
I'll be honest- sounds like hell to me. Is there weed?
Or have show to go on.
all i came to say is that i'm glad you're writing for our side. this stuff would be pretty persuasive for the mouth-breathers were it disseminated on OAN ot the WSJ.
"Hameed McGillicuddy" is the funniest thing I've ever heard since , well, the last funniest thing I've ever heard. Just so happens, you wrote both. Coincidence? I think not !
The worst person in the world is the detestable fuck that sent reporters out to interview the families of what were hopefully the last troops to die in Afghanistan with the instructions" See if you can't get one of the mom's all worked up"
Roy, I don’t know how you come up with these names, but I’m loving every minute of it, lmao.
For me, one minor surprise about the conservative meltdown is not just that the perpetual war hawks are out in full force – that was totally expected – but that the war chickenhawks, who felt it expedient to criticize the war by the late aughts after it was clear things were going badly, have now pulled another about-face and decided the war was good, actually. But I really shouldn’t be surprised, even though that degree of bare-faced shamelessness always pulls me up short. Their only guiding principle is “Does this hurt Joe Biden?”
And the kicker is that it probably won’t. No one gave a damn about Afghanistan for the last 20 years and they’ll forget about it again in another week or two. It’s already been literally blown off the front page by Ida, we’ve got a holiday weekend coming up and football season kicks off right after that.
Yeah, this is primarily an intracene issue for the political/journalist class, but I think the steady drumbeat of “DISASTER!” along with the resurgence of Covid have caused Biden’s approval numbers to slip.
Ha ha, yeah, I noticed the "years of blood and treasure" types suddenly turning into G.I. Joe. It's a legacy of the Old Right, I guess, when Wilson and Roosevelt were warmongers but the architects of our multiple demi-wars were great patriots.
I have absolutely no doubt that the American government and media learned nothing from this war. Our 800+ foreign military bases, our bloated military budget and our military oriented foreign policy will remain unchanged. Of course there are voices bewailing the end of the war - for them and America our military is the ultimate expression of our superiority, despite our losing war after ill-advised war. If only this “crisis in Afghanistan” made us rethink our self-destructive emphasis on our military empire and neglect of our land and people.
What was there to learn? The military-industrial complex got their riches. We’ll likely still bomb Afghanistan occasionally al a Yemen.
Is it me (likely!) or does mocking the fine members of and those adjacent to the Blob® just not work? Having like the mainstream and ignored Afghanistan for, well, twenty-odd years but unlike said media, I've been doing some deep diving to get a clue and I gotta tell, to call our fucking over of that relatively innocent shithole of a nation for well over forty years and counting for no fucking justifiable reason, there's nothing I find conceivably funny. But I'm a dotard and have lived through way too much right wing shitting of nation and world and am cynical and bitter.
That said, a) Roy, as always, did a most excellent channeling job and I'll confess shitting on Hitchens who died without understanding that enabling bad actors is actually bad itself and indefensible always works for me and b) if anyone can find something legitimately amusing, it would be Roy.
Depends on what you mean by "just not work." I don't expect those morons to smarten up. I do expect the rest of us to remember that they are in fact morons.
Personally, I can always use a good laugh while you document the atrocities.
Normally, usually, I can. But Afghanistan — inexplicably, maybe — is a sore point. Not trying to persuade anyone to agree with me. I accept that it’s just how I feel and doesn’t mean anyone needs to agree.
Cynical and Bitter, coincidentally my new band name, is also my default setting, so I'm in for whatever Roy's pushing...
“Just not work” for me means not amused, except for the Hitchens part. Afghanistan is just that much a sore point. Thought I was clear that it’s me, not you.
As for remembering what complete pieces of shit those so-called people are, there are triggers like 24/7: the Covid shit show, Afghanistan again, climate change, and attack on democratic institutions. I don’t come here for the triggering, I come for laughs and good writing from which I try to learn to write good.
And the fuckers are actually far, far worse than morons. As for the base, dunno that I like moron as much as pathological.
And that's just the right-wing response. You should see MSNBC right now (actually, you shouldn't). Adam Kinziger saying that "only" 20 years in Afghanistan shows we can't stay the course. "Liberal" network invites Republican to criticize Democratic president. I'm sure we can all easily imagine the mirror-image of that happening on Fox.
Oh, and it's all going to encourage ISIS, and nobody can remember what country ISIS came from or what we did to said country that helped create ISIS.
“Liberal” network is awash in former Republican operatives who apparently are Good Now, Actually, because they think Trump was vulgar.
Loved hearing Charlie Sykes offer his sage advice to Biden: "Just take the win on the infrastructure bill and forget about that big-spending reconciliation package." Oh, wait, you're a Republican, aren't you Charlie? And you don't like $3.5 trillion spending bills packed with liberal priorities? Good to know!
I know, right? And it's not like the thing already was marked down by $2.5 trillion in a cave to the fascisti...oh, wait...
What’s their problem? It’s a ten year proposal, they’ll likely get Congress back in 2023, defund the $3.5b bill and remind people that our state is dysfunctional. And now that vote rigging is becoming law, they’ll be running things for at least a good long time.
Again: the characterization “liberal” is conservatives’ slur and is, as is the norm, delusional. Fact is the “liberal” media are establishment and GOP propaganda promoters.
Here, it's "liberal" in the sense of "Promoting women's rights in Afghanistan through drone strikes"
No, it’s the classic slur. No need for any specific reference.
About the only thing that amuses me regarding our Afghanistan shit show is conservatives claims that were there to do what they oppose here eg rights for women and gays.
Liberals would be anti-abortion if they could drone-bomb it...
Have they been liberal since they kicked Phil Donahue off the air (while he was their biggest audience getter) for his apostasy on Afghanistan/Iraq? I know there are people who think Rachel Maddow is extremely left wing, but these people are daft.
Indeed. I loved Rachel Maddow since day one of Air America Radio, but I haven’t watched her for years now, since the show turned into a DNC echo chamber and conversations with Nicole Wallace & Steve Schmidt
I like Maddow and the other MSNBC prime time hosts, but they're as left wing as mainstream media is allowed to get. It's not like they're regularly covering the DSA, let alone the Spartacist League.
I agree, Maddow is reasonably good, but as far left wing as the mainstream media is allowed to get is not very far to the left of the center
True dat -- the only point of Trump-Russia-Gate was to re-fire the Cold War. Very profitable
It's like a bad dream (as Brother Roso has pointed out) passing by a news channel & seeing the exact same "serious" "foreign policy wonks" on all the shows, doods who have never been right in their entire lives [I mean these chudwinks get "Can I take your order?" wrong 95% of the time].
Why? Because the media is just a cheerleading arm of a vast military imperial edifice, & both parties will always vote for more war, no matter how unstable it leaves the world in actuality...
Well to be fair the NYT has always been up for a good colonial war.
I'm sure they'll all be opening up their second homes (and third, and fourth) to house Afghan refugees.
Although I'm not sure how many Afghans want to be resettled in Aspen and Vail.
2 marks for 'chudwinks'
<curtsies>
Our new arrival Donald Rumsfeld is having quite a different experience.
I'll bet he is. Does he have an asbestos suit?
Nope – didn't work in that industry (unless he was in the board suite).
The idea this would have gone any better under Trump is fucking hilarious.
I'm thinking we need a new word for a military endeavor that drags on for 20 years while accomplishing so little. It would have literally been cheaper to have a soldier burning hundred dollar bills with a Bic lighter 24/7/365 for the last 20 years.
I give you: #scorewar
And God help me, I agree with Peggy Noonan, who argued in the WSJ that we wouldn't be in this mess if Junior Bush had just taken Osama at Tora Bora all those years ago.
Would not have gone better under Trump. Would not have happened under Trump – I feel pretty confident that the whole surrender show with the Taliban last year was designed to set up a failure for 46. Trump knew he could just flip off the T's if he felt like it (assuming reelection), and if not then Uncle Joe would be stuck with a mess he would not step away from (everyone knew Uncle Joe would do dnything it took to get outta Dodge).
Situations like this are infinitely easier if you truly don't give a fuck about anyone but yourself. "Leave? Stay? Whatever, I gotta golf game scheduled for this morning, you guys figure it out."
"And God help me, I agree with Peggy Noonan, who argued in the WSJ that we wouldn't be in this mess if Junior Bush had just taken Osama at Tora Bora all those years ago."
In Vodka Veritas
When did Noonan say that?
For that matter, she opposed St. Ronnie’s build up of the Islamofascists, right?
I had my biggest laff at "Lincoln Center," but that just shows how sophisticated I am, which we already knew. Also "Screamer," which is (chef's kiss).
You’re one of those elite cosmopolitans if you know what I mean.
I want the guy who wrote this story:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/31/politics/americas-afghan-war-is-over-joe-biden-legacy/index.html
To go fuck himself very hard.
"the pandemonium of the US retreat -- a humbling exercise that confounded everything Biden promised about a stable, honorable US exit -- stained the aura of competence he sold to the country in the last election..."
'scuse me, but did we elect Joe Biden President of Afghanistan? If not, you might want to redirect your blame to the guy who was on the first plane outta town when the Taliban started taking cities.
LOL - inorite?
Hilarious. I'm betting that Hameed McGillicuddy is just an innocent flower grower whose pretty poppies provide the best "hair-on" Beetroot's constituency ever had, too.
I might be too naïve, but I think Hitchens and his cupbearer, Sullivan, were sincere in opposing torture—I've seen no evidence otherwise, and all I need to oppose people is that they be wrong.
I think the need to assume insincerity in an opponent is a crutch, one that might allow me to feel that I must be right because I know _I_ am sincere without ever needing to call my own beliefs and positions into question. Well, no: there were and are sincere Nazis, N.K.V.D. men, Taliban and Da'esh fighters, and Republicans—also some brave ones, and a few in sweet love with someone too.
It's also lazy and unimaginative; I return (as I too often do here) to the man who confronted us 'Kerry 2004' sign-holders at a Manchester, N.H. corner who seemed incapable of believing that we hadn't been paid to do it, the man walked away literally shaking his head in disbelief.
Hitchens defended Team W for liberating Iraq from the awful ex-Reagan ally, Saddam.
The issues with that is: getting rid of Saddam didn’t make things better and defending the war criminals because of his delusion was also something that didn’t age well. There is no excuse for someone in Hitchens’ position to think we go into any country to a) make it better and b) give a shit about making any nation better.
Sincerity is irrelevant.
OT, but if all goes well I'm interviewing Roy on an audio livestream tonight at 8pm EST. Listen at http://radi0.ca . Call in at 216-306-0216.