Yea, yea. The Republicans will be anti-war and the democrats will be pro-war right up until military action will further the interests of campaign donors to a sitting republican administration. Then it will flip again.
Obviously this doesn't include the interests of defense contractors. War or peace, republican or democrat, the unchecked, unrestrained, and unaccountable military spending will continue apace.
It's mind boggling to me that we continue to pretend that ideology has anything at all to do with the machinations of our government. Money rules. Special interests rule. Lobbyists rule. Politicians are just their tools.
I feel the only thing that is missing is the hypocrisy of what these republicans people are saying about "America First." If presented with downsizing the pentagon budget, that would be a resounding 0 votes from them. When presented with bringing down drug prices, that's another resounding no from them. They're not anti-war, they're anti-democrat.
I still don't understand how anyone reasoned through supporting the Iraq war. It was such an obvious tragic event. Even Barri and Brett Stephens thought it was a good idea. But when you ask them why? they just can't answer. But many don't learn or don't give a shit because Libya was next. And now Ukraine that I can't believe it will end well. The problem with the anti-war right is that they have little credibility and struggle explaining their position. If there is to be a credible antiwar (not isolationist) movement the left and right will just have to jump into bed together.
“He’s very concerned about those borders halfway around the world. He’s not done anything to secure our own border here at home. We’ve had millions and millions of people pour in, tens of thousands of Americans dead because of fentanyl, and then, of course, we just suffered a national humiliation of having China fly a spy balloon clear across the continental United States.”
Since you started with DeSantis, I thought I would copy the above. Now, please explain to me ANY part of the above you disagree with? I did not hear him say he would stop Ukraine funding, he was simply pointing out that while Joe B was spending a lot of money on Ukraine sovereignty, he was failing at such here at home. I think this is true!
DeSantis referenced Ukraine as a "territorial dispute" and the left-wing media and others went crazy. Maybe a poor choice of words but again, TRUE. Russia is trying to take territory that almost everyone believes they are not entitled to. That by definition is a territorial dispute. All wars I can think of quickly were about territory and taking thereof.
Western propaganda? Now that's an interesting concept. As opposed to Eastern propaganda? What detail is it in my comment exactly that has propagandist elements?
My how quickly you back off when facts enter the arena.
If “Messianic Ideology” means knowing the difference between good and evil, and choosing (to support) the good, then label me a warmonger. And keep telling yourself the West provoked Russia into invading and terrorizing their Ukrainian neighbors.
Author makes no sense historically, but works well for the Beltway Brussels chicken hawks. Up until the 21st Century, the Democrat Party and its academia and media parrots were publicly anti-war. With the advent of Clinton and Obama policies. a 180 degree shift to for US commerce and weapons to go nation building from Sub Saharan Africa to the North Pole. And, the author and the rest of US media go along for the ride of terror and death.
I see the current anti-Ukraine sentiment on the Right as tragic (particularly because I generally agree with conservatives on many - not all - issues). The conflict is as binary as it gets: one nation (Russia) brutally invading another one (Ukraine). All the talk about NATO expansion, Russian concerns, etc. bely one simple fact: no one was threatening Russian territory, no Russian cities were bombed, no Russian children were killed. An autocratic ruler (Putin) decided to restore the old glory of the Russian empire. As simple as that. The fact that Ukraine is far from a model society, rife in corruption, etc., does not change these simple facts - it was not the aggressor, it was a victim.
Right's anti-Ukraine sentiment It is fundamentally about conflating interventions (like Vietnam, Iraq and late Afghanistan) where American troops are directly involved, and the locals are, at least somewhat, ambivalent about the fighting - certainly not able/willing to do it themselves and thus relying on American troops, vs foreign engagements where locals are more than happy to repulse the aggressor and all they require are material resources (money, weapons, etc.). Examples of the latter are American help to Israel (since 1960's) and Afghanistan in 1980's. the difference between Afghan regime in 2022, which was provided with all the weapons that US is now hesitating about sending to Ukraine (Abrams tanks, helicopters, fighters) and which fell in a few days simply because the locals had no interest in fighting for it, and Ukraine, which at the beginning of the conflict had 0 help (Germans promised 2000 helmets, other countries did less) and nevertheless repulsed the initial invasion could not be more stark.
The choice between having a resurgent Russia attack a NATO state like Poland or Lithuania (both were parts of the Russian empire so Putin's logic easily extends to them) and then having to decide whether to intervene or abandon NATO altogether, and providing more support for Ukraine and checking the Russian aggression now should be an easy one. The inability to see it by otherwise reasonable people is, at best, short-sighted.
US became the worst of the Roman Empire When the Beltway stopped the draft and started paying military recruits/ mercenaries six figures a year to travel to fraudulent nation building and commercial exercises from sub Saharan Africa to Eastern Europe.
Let's form up Brigade of a thousand national hero volunteers like Hunter Biden to go to the front lines of Ukraine to be killed. It will be like late term abortions.
if this seems a bit bitter, please understand i was a draftee in the Army in 69.
Fifty- six years ago, I lost my brother in Vietnam- killed in action. The enemy had the support of this gutless anti-war crowd in the war on Ukraine. Putin loves it because he was losing but has new life from the selfish ant- war crowd.
You know, Grafstein tosses a lot of spaghetti at the wall. In this case much of it sticks, but it is such a jumble and mess that it borders on the incoherent.
I know it can be hard to develop a coherent idea for a small weekly publication. You have to try to weave the threads into an idea that is not as simple-minded as your headline or the first couple of paragraphs. Get an editor, Issac. For god's sake, get an editor.
I do think, though, that it's important to remember how quickly things can change on a dime when it comes to conservatives. Many of these same peaceniks were engaging in shocking jingoism when Trump ordered the strikes on Soleimani. I also think Russia is currently a particular blind spot for a lot of conservatives because of all the claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election and the claims of Trump's Russian collusion.
Yea, yea. The Republicans will be anti-war and the democrats will be pro-war right up until military action will further the interests of campaign donors to a sitting republican administration. Then it will flip again.
Obviously this doesn't include the interests of defense contractors. War or peace, republican or democrat, the unchecked, unrestrained, and unaccountable military spending will continue apace.
It's mind boggling to me that we continue to pretend that ideology has anything at all to do with the machinations of our government. Money rules. Special interests rule. Lobbyists rule. Politicians are just their tools.
I feel the only thing that is missing is the hypocrisy of what these republicans people are saying about "America First." If presented with downsizing the pentagon budget, that would be a resounding 0 votes from them. When presented with bringing down drug prices, that's another resounding no from them. They're not anti-war, they're anti-democrat.
Not to say that democrats aren't hypocrites as well...
Re: AUMF
"It was no surprise that, in the lead-up to the Iraq War, it was liberals who opposed it..."
??
420-1 congress
98-0 senate
I still don't understand how anyone reasoned through supporting the Iraq war. It was such an obvious tragic event. Even Barri and Brett Stephens thought it was a good idea. But when you ask them why? they just can't answer. But many don't learn or don't give a shit because Libya was next. And now Ukraine that I can't believe it will end well. The problem with the anti-war right is that they have little credibility and struggle explaining their position. If there is to be a credible antiwar (not isolationist) movement the left and right will just have to jump into bed together.
“He’s very concerned about those borders halfway around the world. He’s not done anything to secure our own border here at home. We’ve had millions and millions of people pour in, tens of thousands of Americans dead because of fentanyl, and then, of course, we just suffered a national humiliation of having China fly a spy balloon clear across the continental United States.”
Since you started with DeSantis, I thought I would copy the above. Now, please explain to me ANY part of the above you disagree with? I did not hear him say he would stop Ukraine funding, he was simply pointing out that while Joe B was spending a lot of money on Ukraine sovereignty, he was failing at such here at home. I think this is true!
DeSantis referenced Ukraine as a "territorial dispute" and the left-wing media and others went crazy. Maybe a poor choice of words but again, TRUE. Russia is trying to take territory that almost everyone believes they are not entitled to. That by definition is a territorial dispute. All wars I can think of quickly were about territory and taking thereof.
Western propaganda? Now that's an interesting concept. As opposed to Eastern propaganda? What detail is it in my comment exactly that has propagandist elements?
My how quickly you back off when facts enter the arena.
If “Messianic Ideology” means knowing the difference between good and evil, and choosing (to support) the good, then label me a warmonger. And keep telling yourself the West provoked Russia into invading and terrorizing their Ukrainian neighbors.
It certainly is a major reversal, and it remains largely unexplained by either side.
Author makes no sense historically, but works well for the Beltway Brussels chicken hawks. Up until the 21st Century, the Democrat Party and its academia and media parrots were publicly anti-war. With the advent of Clinton and Obama policies. a 180 degree shift to for US commerce and weapons to go nation building from Sub Saharan Africa to the North Pole. And, the author and the rest of US media go along for the ride of terror and death.
This quotation from the article says so much:
'41 percent of Republicans support ending the Ukraine war quickly, even if that means ceding some territory to Russia.'
As if it would be America doing this ceding.
I see the current anti-Ukraine sentiment on the Right as tragic (particularly because I generally agree with conservatives on many - not all - issues). The conflict is as binary as it gets: one nation (Russia) brutally invading another one (Ukraine). All the talk about NATO expansion, Russian concerns, etc. bely one simple fact: no one was threatening Russian territory, no Russian cities were bombed, no Russian children were killed. An autocratic ruler (Putin) decided to restore the old glory of the Russian empire. As simple as that. The fact that Ukraine is far from a model society, rife in corruption, etc., does not change these simple facts - it was not the aggressor, it was a victim.
Right's anti-Ukraine sentiment It is fundamentally about conflating interventions (like Vietnam, Iraq and late Afghanistan) where American troops are directly involved, and the locals are, at least somewhat, ambivalent about the fighting - certainly not able/willing to do it themselves and thus relying on American troops, vs foreign engagements where locals are more than happy to repulse the aggressor and all they require are material resources (money, weapons, etc.). Examples of the latter are American help to Israel (since 1960's) and Afghanistan in 1980's. the difference between Afghan regime in 2022, which was provided with all the weapons that US is now hesitating about sending to Ukraine (Abrams tanks, helicopters, fighters) and which fell in a few days simply because the locals had no interest in fighting for it, and Ukraine, which at the beginning of the conflict had 0 help (Germans promised 2000 helmets, other countries did less) and nevertheless repulsed the initial invasion could not be more stark.
The choice between having a resurgent Russia attack a NATO state like Poland or Lithuania (both were parts of the Russian empire so Putin's logic easily extends to them) and then having to decide whether to intervene or abandon NATO altogether, and providing more support for Ukraine and checking the Russian aggression now should be an easy one. The inability to see it by otherwise reasonable people is, at best, short-sighted.
US became the worst of the Roman Empire When the Beltway stopped the draft and started paying military recruits/ mercenaries six figures a year to travel to fraudulent nation building and commercial exercises from sub Saharan Africa to Eastern Europe.
Let's form up Brigade of a thousand national hero volunteers like Hunter Biden to go to the front lines of Ukraine to be killed. It will be like late term abortions.
if this seems a bit bitter, please understand i was a draftee in the Army in 69.
Fifty- six years ago, I lost my brother in Vietnam- killed in action. The enemy had the support of this gutless anti-war crowd in the war on Ukraine. Putin loves it because he was losing but has new life from the selfish ant- war crowd.
You know, Grafstein tosses a lot of spaghetti at the wall. In this case much of it sticks, but it is such a jumble and mess that it borders on the incoherent.
I know it can be hard to develop a coherent idea for a small weekly publication. You have to try to weave the threads into an idea that is not as simple-minded as your headline or the first couple of paragraphs. Get an editor, Issac. For god's sake, get an editor.
I do think, though, that it's important to remember how quickly things can change on a dime when it comes to conservatives. Many of these same peaceniks were engaging in shocking jingoism when Trump ordered the strikes on Soleimani. I also think Russia is currently a particular blind spot for a lot of conservatives because of all the claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election and the claims of Trump's Russian collusion.
Excellent article - thank you