Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[THE_WIZARD_]

...

[Da Geezer]

Geezer, you can be off-putting despite your apparent intelligence. It's a fault of yours that often stifles useful discourse and sharing of ideas. I don't give a shit about who an essayist or journalist writes for as a means of discrediting them. WTF. Amanpour, "a French elitist and Marxist", give me a fucking break. I find it hard to believe you find that kind of argument useful..... but apparently you do. Even though I might find an essayist's argument weak, a journalist's commentary left or right or one whose opinion I don't agree with, I still listen to it respectfully. Broadens one's perspective. The next step is to deconstruct his/her argument if you disagree with it. Discrediting the person or the source as you attempted to do as a means of dismissing what he/she had to say is weak. You're better than that.

Lets get back to my original post that prompted an informed, respectful discussion from folks I respect here about the presence of a political divide in the US that is widening by what appears to me, among others, as the normalization of extremism on both sides of that divide. Is there a looming civil war? Fuck no and I didn't assert that I personally believed there is one. Mike points out that the loons on each side are small in number and may have an out sized impact on perceptions of the ideological course that America is following. Social media augments what the loons say potential making perceptions more distorted from reality I agree. IOW, I assume Mike falls in the camp of observers of American life who, like me, don't think a civil war is looming. Giglio on the other had would be a 7 on that scale compared to me who is maybe a 4 or 5, talent and Mike a 2 or 3.

Nevertheless, I'd argue that the political divide is wide enough, the two sides, by all appearances, so angry with each other, so intent on making a point along with a scene that shit like January 6th happens. January 6th persuades me to believe the divide is real . If you don't, Geezer, deconstruct the argument Giglio is advancing in his chronology of Stephen Rhodes's long relationship with Oath Keepers and the ideology that group is advancing. BTW, I thought talent did a good job of that. IMO, your effort to do that sucked and added little to the conversation.

Geeze, you might want to have a look at Giglio's bio at the link below. He's substantive, IMO. I thought his interview on Amanpour demonstrated that.

https://www.mikegiglio.com/bio

You knew I'd reply. And I understand your point about me being off-putting.

I was a college debater and our coach was a two-time national champion from the University of Iowa. He would encourage us to begin our polemic by saying " MY GOD, SUCH IGNORANCE" to the other side. Said with a smile.

I come from a different generation in which "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.." was learned on the playground and served us well throughout life. Let's remember that I was the one here who posed the question, "Can any of you progs here name even one accomplishment of the Biden administration?" Now that is not at all subtle, but we found out where the bear shit in the buckwheat, didn't we?

I read the exact biographical info on Giglio you posted before writing my initial post.

I note that you could not come up with an article in which Giglio took a conservative position. ".. give me a fucking break..." is not a persuasive reply to the fact that Amanpour is a French elitist and a Marxist, because both are absolutely true. Giglio is a leftist, and the Atlantic is a leftist publication. That is just true.

And, Jeff, I just disagree with you when you try to posit that the two political parties are equivalent. They just are not. It is fine to virtue signal how open-minded you are, considering carefully all sides of an argument, but I'll bet you haven't watched FOX news. I pointed out that Adam Schiff is as much a conspiratorial nutcase as Stephen Rhoads, the difference being that Schiff has actual power and has the means to know the truth. Rhodes is just a loon howling at the moon. The whole Jan 6 "inquiry" is an excuse for the IC to use the Patriot Act against their political enemies (read all Republicans). That is how you get to an AG saying that parents going to school board meetings are "domestic terrorists", or a Defense Secretary saying climate change is the biggest threat to America.

And I am a 1 on your scale of civil war expectations. Look what the truckers did to the Canadian elites to see what a red v blue civil war might look like. The blue states would starve in a month.

[THE_WIZARD_]

...

[Jeff Buchanan]

Geezer, I thought your response above was fair. A couple of points:

• I said that I don't care about the politics of the presenter. I care about the strength of his/her presentation and if one is presented the strength of his/her argument.
• Given that, why would I go searching for a Giglio essay that expresses conservative values. I took his presentation at face, thought his hypothesis was interesting and wondered how those I respect here might respond if I posted on the implications of a widening political divide as both sides take (IMO) more and more extreme positions. YMMV
• You may be extrapolating that I considered the D and R parties are equivalent based on something I said in that post. Whatever it might have been it's irrelevant. My view is that the D and R party, as far as ideologies they are advancing, are markedly different. Did you mean equivalence in different context?

[Dr. Strangelove]

Geezer, I thought your response above was fair. A couple of points:

• I said that I don't care about the politics of the presenter. I care about the strength of his/her presentation and if one is presented the strength of his/her argument.
• Given that, why would I go searching for a Giglio essay that expresses conservative values. I took his presentation at face, thought his hypothesis was interesting and wondered how those I respect here might respond if I posted on the implications of a widening political divide as both sides take (IMO) more and more extreme positions. YMMV
• You may be extrapolating that I considered the D and R parties are equivalent based on something I said in that post. Whatever it might have been it's irrelevant. My view is that the D and R party, as far as ideologies they are advancing, are markedly different. Did you mean equivalence in different context?

I skipped most of this discussion as it's like sailing between Scylla and Charybdis, but I did want to point out that Christiane Amanpour isn't French. Well, I suppose I can't vouch for the whereabouts of her mother's family back in the 1500's. But as for her actual life, no. Not Fench.

Nor is she a Marxist. Geezer just considers everyone to the left of him a Marxist. That includes Martin Luther, George Washington, and most of the staff at the National Review.

[froot loops]

I do like how he blamed his debate teacher for him being a creep.

[foxhopper]

This is a weird story and I'm really curious about the motives here. I've heard basically nothing about what they think these two were up to.

Two men allegedly impersonated federal agents to get access to Secret Service - CBS News

EDIT: This second story suggests possibly Pakistani Intelligence? Or Iranian? I haven't read confirmation that they were non-citizens

US: Man impersonated agent, claimed ties to Pakistani intel (wvlt.tv)

The demon slaying Winchester brothers finally caught.

In other news a rabid Dem biting fox was hunted down and killed in DC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61031683

[Dr. Strangelove]

First word from Benjamin Hall, who had been Fox's top reporter on the ground in Ukraine until 3 weeks ago when his cameraman and translator both got killed.

[Jeff Buchanan]

I skipped most of this discussion as it's like sailing between Scylla and Charybdis, but I did want to point out that Christiane Amanpour isn't French. Well, I suppose I can't vouch for the whereabouts of her mother's family back in the 1500's. But as for her actual life, no. Not Fench.

Nor is she a Marxist. Geezer just considers everyone to the left of him a Marxist. That includes Martin Luther, George Washington, and most of the staff at the National Review.

First, skimming important works, falling asleep mid paragraph (Wiz) characterizing my posts as "word walls" (talent) or simply scrolling past my most excellent posts leaves you bereft of the knowledge I impart here. Sad. I did like the Scylla and Charybdis analogy though.

Second, yeah, the characterization of Amanpour as an elitist French Marxist marks the "old man" who posted that leagues less informed than I. I can attest to this - while age brings experience and perspective it also brings a flagging memory and foggy details.......Google is my friend.

[iam416]

FTR, that particular post logs in at 0.05Buchanans. Roughly 5% of your standard work. However, it is my understanding that this Ukraine thing remains ongoing so I fully expect at least something approaching a 0.75Buchanans post shortly.

[THE_WIZARD_]

First, skimming important works, falling asleep mid paragraph (Wiz) characterizing my posts as "word walls" (talent) or simply scrolling past my most excellent posts leaves you bereft of the knowledge I impart here. Sad. I did like the Scylla and Charybdis analogy though.

Second, yeah, the characterization of Amanpour as an elitist French Marxist marks the "old man" who posted that leagues less informed than I. I can attest to this - while age brings experience and perspective it also brings a flagging memory and foggy details.......Google is my friend.

Wonderful dissertation J.....zzzZZzzzZZZzzzzz

[THE_WIZARD_]

FTR, that particular post logs in at 0.05Buchanans. Roughly 5% of your standard work. However, it is my understanding that this Ukraine thing remains ongoing so I fully expect at least something approaching a 0.75Buchanans post shortly.

Ye undersell JB at ye own peril...

[Obi-Jon]

Give him credit, Geezer occasionally comes up with good points, much like a broken clock is right twice a day. It's just that he's a Flat Earther. Facts, reality and truth don't matter as he's internalized his positions to the point of cognitive immobility. There is some entertainment value in this, much like when Wiz pontificates poetically over his 6th rate possum wings.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Lots of talk, symbolic action characterize the west's most recent responses to Russian aggression. Short term Putin will obtain some of his objectives and claim victory in Ukraine. This will take a month or 2. Putin knows he can win a war of attrition and terror v. Ukraine and were seeing it unfold right in front of us ...... doing not much of anything other than continuing to rely on the bravery of Ukrainians to do the work NATO and the west should be doing along side them. Disgusted with the cowardice and fear.

Watching Putin's military fuck things up leads me to believe NATO forces could drive Russian forces out of eastern Ukraine, restore Ukrainian control over Crimea and secure free access for Ukraine to the Sea of Azov and Black sea ports. A huge and economically critical bread basket for the world. Allowing this area to be controlled by Russia may be the most catastrophic lapse in strategic planning and defense since Chamberlain claimed, "peace in our time."

Allowing the Russian Navy the ability to control the Black Sea and the critical Bosporus straights is a staggering blunder. It is the world's narrowest strait used for international navigation. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, and, by extension via the Dardanelles, the Aegean and Mediterranean seas, and by the Kerch Strait, the sea of Azov. There may not be a more critical region in the world the control of which by the west assures the strategically important concept of Freedom of Navigation (FON). Protecting FON has been one of the US's strategic missions for centuries ..... and here we are, about to give up a key to assuring it to the fucking Russians. Not good.

A letter to the editor's of the NYTs appeared yesterday afternoon. It asserted that maybe Putin's claim that Russia never wanted to take Kiev but rather to hold in place Ukrainian forces while diminishing their combat capacity is accurate. Meanwhile Putin is preparing to take control of the Donbas and Luhansk regions and create a land bridge SW to Crimea through Odessa. The argument rested on the hypothesis that 190,000 troops was not nearly enough soldiers to take Kiev. 2 or 3 times that would have been required to do that. It's possible but it glosses over the realty that Russia has lost, by some estimates, upwards of 26K killed wounded or otherwise taken out of action along with massive losses of armor and military equipment. A costly feint if it was one. So, No. Putin wanted Kiev to fall, Zelenski to flee or be killed and leave in the aftermath of his war a demolished country. Aside from Kiev still standing and Zelenski still there, Putin has pretty much destroyed the country. As well, he's demonstrated the ability to adapt and change, fall back if you will, but it's a tactical move to obtain a strategically more important goal.

Here it is: a jewel is about to be seized if Russia does, in fact, gain control of what military analysts are calling the strategically important "crescent" of Ukraine that I described above. This is why I continue to advocate for armed intervention on the side of Ukraine by the west, led by NATO. It's a counter-offensive mission not a defensive one, make no mistake. Putin will rattle the nuclear saber. Fuck him. What he fears most is NATO conventional forces kicking his ass. Bring it. My view is that as long as Putin understands he'll risk bringing about Armageddon, destroying himself and Russia if he goes nuclear, he won't. I'm calling for the west to call his bluff. There's way too much at stake to keep standing on the sidelines and letting Putin have his way in Ukraine.

[CGVT]

What he fears most is NATO conventional forces kicking his ass.

And if it comes to that, they will, because as one of my old Vietnam vet friends once told me. "Our shit is better than their shit"

That has not changed