Politics 2014

[Hixter]

I would have thought after a very detailed and thoughtful post on the Russia problem we wouldn't get a simple knee-jerk, Michael Bay-esqe solution.

I can't speak for NoJ, but my little yellow winking guy was there for a specific reason.

[Hixter]

On a related note, if I recall correctly, the coalition tried to kill Saddam Hussein and his sons for a day or two before the full-scale bombing and invasion of Iraq commenced. They thought they had good intel on their locations and used some specialized bunker busters to try to decapitate the regime. Who knows what Iraq would have been like today if the strikes had been successful? Probably about the same as they are today, I'd reckon. I'm a bit of a pessimist.

[KevinG]

I can't speak for NoJ, but my little yellow winking guy was there for a specific reason.

 

Well I wanted to take your statement at face value and not infer anything.  Less I be chided again.

 

I have heard many people say the same thing about how we should assassinate Putin.  And that my friends would be the absolute worse thing we could do.  So joking or not, it needed to be put in context.       

[NoJ]

Back in 2012, there were many Russian citizens loudly protesting the return of Putin to power. Maybe his abrupt demise would be met with less angst than you believe, KG.

[Hixter]

Well I wanted to take your statement at face value and not infer anything.

No big deal. Next time I'll try to remember to deploy dreaded lol and maybe a a jk or two.

[KevinG]

Back in 2012, there were many Russian citizens loudly protesting the return of Putin to power. Maybe his abrupt demise would be met with less angst than you believe, KG.

 

Maybe the people wouldn't be upset that is tough to say.  But surely this would ruffle the feathers of many in the current regime.  

 

Listen assassination it is an easy solution but one that is loaded consequences.  There is no way that any leader of any type would seriously consider assassinating Putin.  It is just plan stupid and foolish.  Hey it sounds like the sexy easy option, but it is not a serious one.  

[NoJ]

"Loaded Consequences" sounds like a tune by the New Duncan Imperials  ;-)

[Mr. Heartbreak]

"Boots on the ground" against ISIS may not sound ideal, but I doubt it has to be tens of thousands of troops. Some serious air strikes and select use of special forces might be able to degrade them sufficiently that the clowns who think of joining up are disincentivized, if that's a word. Then again, that whole 72 virgins thing may continue attracting people to these extremist groups for hundreds of years.

 

EDIT: Looks like Obama is thinking of doing exactly what I posted above, after that address to the nation. I know that a lot of people think we should leave the whole area alone, but not so sure it's a great thing to allow the entire country of Iraq (and maybe some neighboring countries) to become entirely controlled by ISIS.

[lost highway]

I hate to beat a dead horse here, but I felt like something strange was going on in the world when I related to Rand Paul's statement. I think we all have some understanding of the human and financial costs of our last intervention in the area. Say we double down: who will be the new ISIL once they've been smashed?

[ih8music]

So congress approved a nice vague authorization to support the Syrian rebels. Which rebels? Why, the good ones of course!

 

And they're ignoring their responsibility to authorize military force in pursuing Isis, solely for political reasons.

 

I'm a big supporter of the president in most cases, but I hate how this is shaping up. Unless some miracle happens and a true reliable coalition of Iraq & its neighbors shapes up, there's no way we can "win" this not-war from the air.

 

This is either going to be an expensive failure that lasts a year or so, or an even more expensive failure that lasts many many years. We need to stop thinking that we can fix the Middle East with our military. It just isn't going to happen.

[Winston Legthigh]

Probably a wise choice, Scotland. Though this descendant of Scot immigrants harbored romantic notions of an independent Scotland.

[Hixter]

So congress approved a nice vague authorization to support the Syrian rebels. Which rebels? Why, the good ones of course!

 

And they're ignoring their responsibility to authorize military force in pursuing Isis, solely for political reasons.

 

I'm a big supporter of the president in most cases, but I hate how this is shaping up. Unless some miracle happens and a true reliable coalition of Iraq & its neighbors shapes up, there's no way we can "win" this not-war from the air.

 

This is either going to be an expensive failure that lasts a year or so, or an even more expensive failure that lasts many many years. We need to stop thinking that we can fix the Middle East with our military. It just isn't going to happen.

Yep. Although sometimes you can't fix a problem and you just have to punish the people causing the problems -- sort of like we do with prisons.

 

Probably a wise choice, Scotland.

Yep.

[uncool2pillow]

Yep. Although sometimes you can't fix a problem and you just have to punish the people causing the problems -- sort of like we do with prisons.

 

Yep.

Well said.

[IRememberDBoon]

yeah our prisons are so full of folks that really committed bad crimes............

[Hixter]

There are 1.2 million violent crimes per year in the United States. Yes, our prisons are full of people who "really committed bad crimes."

[lost highway]

Roughly half of the people incarcerated in Federal prisons are convicted of non-violent drug offenses.

[Hixter]

Roughly half of the people incarcerated in Federal prisons are convicted of non-violent drug offenses.

Federal prisons hold less than 10% of the nation's inmates. The vast majority of inmates are held in state prisons and local jails; about 20% of their inmates are non-violent drug offenders and a large percentage of 'non-violent' inmates have previous arrests or convictions for violent crimes.

 

It's a travesty if a person with a spotless record is incarcerated for possession of a joint. It's somewhat less so if the person has a lengthy rap sheet and a habit of committing non-violent crimes to pay for their dope.

 

Also, the federal prison system recently began expediting the release of non-violent drug offenders.

[Hixter]

Well, we're bombing Syria. It's not a war, of course. 

 

In other news, here's a chance to watch a future war in its infancy. China has begun rapidly and extensively modifying some of the disputed Spratly islands. What were a couple of concrete pilings pounded into submerged reefs are now large manmade islands. The balance of power in the region will change dramatically when China has airfields, troops, ports and radar facilities so far from its mainland. The Philippines, Vietnam and other nations in the region are getting very nervous, because it won't be long before China has an overwhelming, permanent presence. The U.S. has a much-ballyhooed plan to 'pivot' to the region -- it looks like China has a massive pivot of their own.

 

China killed dozens of Vietnamese in a skirmish over the islands 25 years ago, so there will likely be further bloodshed in the next few years as nations aggressively defend 'their' territory.

[lost highway]

China killed dozens of Vietnamese in a skirmish over the islands 25 years ago, so there will likely be further bloodshed in the next few years as nations aggressively defend 'their' territory.

 

And who are they to go trouncing around sticking there nose in others' business, killing Vietnamese folks?  At least America has never done that, and if we did I'm sure we would have greater military and economic success in the endeavor.  Amiright?

[Hixter]

I expect the United States military to be invited back to Vietnam in the next few years.

[lost highway]

Now that would be wild.  I can see what you mean, though.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/09/26/britain-joins-fight-against-islamic-state-group/20968368/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D536442

Well, I think it's safe to call this a coalition now, with Britain, Belgium and Denmark joining the fight.

I only hope the loss of civilian life is very, very minimal...not just for the obvious human tragedy of civilian casualties, but also for the potential advantage to the ISIS terrorists, as they will milk that for all it's worth.

[KevinG]

Interesting "wins" for Wisconsin in the past week with help of the Supreme Court.  Not only did they remove all bans to Marriage Equality, they struck down Wisconsin's voter ID law.

 

The voter ID law is more of a halt then a full on stoppage, it does remove the restrictions for voters in the upcoming November election.  Which makes the tightly contested race for Governor here even more interesting.  

[lost highway]

It's going to be an interesting political season because everything seems pretty fragmented and undefined.  The old guard GOP is still struggling with the Tea Party, while the right constituency struggles to decide which group represents their values.  Many of the left are disenchanted with Obama's compromises and some of his more questionable decisions.  The right is trying to court women, latinos and gays.... awkwardly trying.  The economy has proven it's truly recovering, but the working class is underpaid- meanwhile most any attempt at raising the minimum wage has been handily shot down by conservative politicians and voters.  We're at war (somewhat) with another nebulous force of ideological maniacs.

 

You can almost imagine all of this boiling down to tough conversations about policy decisions, as opposed to everyone's version of good vs. evil.  I'd like to think everyone can stop feuding about social issues (i.e. let people marry whomever, smoke whatever, and make their own decisions about their bodies) long enough to look at domestic economic policy and our incredibly challenging foreign policy- but I'm sure some obtuse politicians and loud media personalities will polarize the discussion into something stupid.

[Hixter]

This looks promising (Ignore the mistaken assertion that American subs and aircraft carriers already use fusion reactors.):

 

(Reuters) - Lockheed Martin Corp said on Wednesday it had made a technological breakthrough in developing a power source based on nuclear fusion, and the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready in a decade.

 

Tom McGuire, who heads the project, said he and a small team had been working on fusion energy at Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works for about four years, but were now going public to find potential partners in industry and government for their work.

 

Initial work demonstrated the feasibility of building a 100-megawatt reactor measuring seven feet by 10 feet, which could fit on the back of a large truck, and is about 10 times smaller than current reactors, McGuire said.

 

EDIT: I guess this doesn't really belong in the Politics 2014 section, so I'll keep my post on topic and add that Wendy Davis is running a terrible campaign and it would be disastrous for Texas were she to be elected governor.