Friday, April 7, 2017

Politics 101

A moment of great danger

Seven Lessons From Trump's Syria Strike

The Long, Lucrative Right-wing Grift is Blowing Up in the World's Face

Before This Is Over, Republicans Are Going to Wish Hillary Clinton Won

"But what makes his newfound compassion ring all the more hollow is that while Trump is ready to bomb a runway for those beautiful babies who are dead, he still won’t let America open its doors to those who cling to life. Refugees from Syria remain on Trump’s banned list, including every “child of God” traumatised by Assad and his barrel bombs, raining fire from the sky.

And forgive me if I don’t accept that this volte-face is quite as complete as the White House would have us believe. How convenient that Trump, under fire for being Vladimir Putin’s poodle, now stands up to him in Syria. How neatly this blows away all those allegations of secret links and election hacking. Yes, there have been ample statements of condemnation from Moscow, but those don’t cost either side anything. The US appears to have given Russia sufficient warning to ensure their men weren’t hit, and Russia used none of its ample capacity to hit back. It all worked out very nicely."  Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian

Trump did not target runways in Syria
[ed. This whole operation fails to pass the smell test (for a number of reasons). I'm still betting on collusion with Russia. Why is he so defensive?]

Publicity Stunts Aren’t Policy

The Spoils of War: Trump Lavished With Media and Bipartisan Praise For Bombing Syria