Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[hack]

He has to be martyred first. You're getting ahead of things.

[THE_WIZARD_]

"The Tap" sounds like a gay bar, so I'd have to refer you to Wiz for further queries.

STFU

[Dr. Strangelove]

imo.. trump is less dangerous than Hillary. Neither party would work with him and he'd be done in 4 yrs. Hillary will blow with the wind and you have no idea what she will do or what you are voting for... she's also more Bush than BO when it comes to the ME.

This is well put. Both Hillary and Cruz are more likely to start a new war in the Middle East than Trump, IMO.

Obama got talked into getting involved in Libya and seems to have regretted it ever since...and Hillary led the charge to pressure him

[Dr. Strangelove]

I've worked in the oil & gas industry since Fall 2011 and cannot agree with Sanders RE: fracking.

The industry is in bad shape right now. The US rig count has hit a historic low since counts were first kept in 1949

http://petroglobalnews.com/2016/04/u-s-rig-count-drops-new-historic-low/

[Dr. Strangelove]

Perhaps Obama will order the declassification of the '28 pages' before he leaves office, long rumored to detail how the 9/11 plotters were assisted by Saudi citizens and even members of the Saudi government.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/12/obama-w-h-making-every-effort-to-review-declassification-of-9-11-report-s-secret-pages.html

[iam416]

Per NR read today, my new approach re ME is to assume it's more of a corrupt, medieval shithole than I can possibly fathom or imagine.

[hack]

I support fracking as long as it ends coal.

[entropy]

I support Fracking... as long as it stays in Ohio, Oklahoma and texas...

[entropy]

I hope they do release the documents. BO has given SA a cold shoulder and if true, he should be thanked.

[hack]

Even Justin Trudeau will sell them weapons. Sadly, that alliance doesn't seem to be in danger of anything save for a post-oil economy.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Per NR read today, my new approach re ME is to assume it's more of a corrupt, medieval shithole than I can possibly fathom or imagine.

Turkey used to be the lone country you could count on to be sensible and competent but is now sliding towards dictatorship under megalomaniac Erdogan. A free press no longer exists in Turkey.

It also doesn't help that we support both Israel and Saudi Arabia in every decision they make.

To a certain degree the Middle East has always been a clusterfuck, but Europe deserves a huge portion of the blame for the constant interference since the start of the 20th century.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Even Justin Trudeau will sell them weapons. Sadly, that alliance doesn't seem to be in danger of anything save for a post-oil economy.

We should be all-in on alternative energy sources just for that fact alone. Supposedly I have heard that if oil prices remain about where they are, the Saudi govt will effectively be broke by 2019-2020. They flooded the market with cheap oil in order to do harm to US shale producers, the Russians, and the Iranians, but did not expect it to drop as far as it did.

The US has been an unwavering Saudi ally for longer than it's been allied with Israel. A lot of people don't realize that.

[Jeff Buchanan]

...... she's also more Bush than BO when it comes to the ME.

I'm not going to defend Hillary Clinton but what do you mean by this?

There was a neocon rational for invading Iraq and toppling Saddam. Bush/Cheney, mostly Cheney, bought into it and acted; the rational to protect US access to ME oil and provide a counterbalance to an emerging Iran, as faulty as it was, was a lot like the rational for the war in Vietnam intended to stop the advance of Communism in SE Asia. Both served the perceived strategic interests of the US at the time these wars were undertaken. Both failed in their respective intent.

Unlike Bush/Cheney, Obama has avoided unilateral action in pursuit of US strategic interests (a neocon staple) seeking instead a broad coalition of actors with similar national goals. He has favored unconventional operations targeted against those who seek to destabilize the region. Moreover, with the advent of a credible threat from non-state actors, US strategic interests in the ME have shifted from one of access to one that seeks to stabilize it. I think we will find in retrospect, that as a world leader, Obama will be considered effective in shaping collaborative efforts among democratic nations with similar interests to that of the US.

You are not likely to see Hillary pursuing independent actions in the ME based on the neocon concept of preserving access there. She is a well schooled pragmatist in this regard and she is a lot less ideological than Cruz would probably be in pursuit of ME policy. Clinton is much more likely to be, like Obama, collaborative in her leadership style if not a little more forceful.

I find Cruz to be an unknown where as I think we know pretty much what course Clinton would take and I'm pretty sure US allies are a lot more comfortable with her in the White House than either Trump or Cruz and my sense is that is especially true of Cruz.

Keep in mind, my view of the candidates for the Presidency is one where we are choosing the lesser of two evils when it comes to the Republican candidate (likely Ted Cruz in a brokered convention) versus the Democratic candidate, certainly to be Hillary Clinton. Then again, I'm not really sure what being a Republican or a Democrat means anymore.

[hack]

We should be all-in on alternative energy sources just for that fact alone. Supposedly I have heard that if oil prices remain about where they are, the Saudi govt will effectively be broke by 2019-2020. They flooded the market with cheap oil in order to do harm to US shale producers, the Russians, and the Iranians, but did not expect it to drop as far as it did.

The US has been an unwavering Saudi ally for longer than it's been allied with Israel. A lot of people don't realize that.

IMO having the world's most important commodity priced in dollars is a significant power lever over the country's rivals. Gonna be tough to make the switch.

[edindetroit]

This is well put. Both Hillary and Cruz are more likely to start a new war in the Middle East than Trump, IMO.

Obama got talked into getting involved in Libya and seems to have regretted it ever since...and Hillary led the charge to pressure him

But Trump is more likely to stupid us into a war.