itt we act disgusted at right wing savages

undo wrote:Why isn't Jacob Wohl in jail?

I've been asking this for months.

https://www.salon.com/2019/09/05/notorious-right-wing-fraudster-jacob-wohl-charged-with-felony/

They have us figured out.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/10/netanyahu-vows-annex-large-parts-occupied-west-bank-trump

That is extremely concerning. As Americans, we are all complicit in what happens to the Palestinian people and should take a strong stance against apartheid and settler colonialism. Israel over the last year has literally defined itself as an ethno-State. The United States should never support a country that denies equal rights and citizenship to minority populations, let alone actively seize land through settler violence and State-supported military occupation.

There is no gray area here, either. Apartheid is fucking wrong. Period.

undo wrote:Republican congressman cheats in election, but they get a do-over with a brand new candidate of their choice.

A Republican who aligned himself closely with President Donald Trump has won a do-over North Carolina congressional election forced after findings of ballot fraud last year.

Dan Bishop beat Democrat Dan McCready and two other candidates Tuesday in the 9th Congressional District, which has been held by Republicans since 1963.

The race was seen as a measure of popularity for Trump, who campaigned for Bishop on Monday in Fayetteville.

The 55-year-old Bishop is a state senator best known for sponsoring a 2016 state law that blocked local anti-discrimination rules protecting LGBT residents. The law was repealed after it prompted a national outcry and boycotts that The Associated Press estimated cost North Carolina $3.7 billion.

Bishop didn’t run in last year’s election, which was scrapped after allegations of ballot tampering by a Republican political consultant.

Conservatives are intentionally naive and stupid. It's so obnoxious. Literally every single anniversary of 9/11 there are a bunch of conservative family members who just flood my timeline with Never Forget and stuff about how united and awesome the country was the day after. That isn't true. I was seven years old when this happened and I developed an acute fear and hatred for Muslim people as a result of uncritically absorbing toxic Islamophobia, which was pervasive throughout America in the aftermath of the attack. This idea that we all sat around just loving each other so much and seeing past religious, ethnic, and racial divisions is a complete fabrication. Conservatives intentionally infantilize themselves in order to continue believing in absurd myths. It kind of drives me nuts but also they are telling on themselves, so whatever.

"I think we should pay our military the same salary we pay professional athletes. I mean, what are they doing? Don't get me wrong, they're fun to watch. But they're not out there fighting for their lives, I mean, give me a break!"

lol can you imagine how shitty the nfl would be to watch if there were over 1.5 million people in the league? And at least half of them were out-of-shape sacks of shit with no talent whatsoever?

For purposes of clarity, this post could and should be much longer than it is. Because I don't want to water down the point I'm going to make or assume that I'm speaking for everyone here. But I could elaborate on this for paragraphs and I don't think I'd be saying anything that everyone here doesn't understand at this point.

Ned, do you ever feel targeted by the average opinion here regarding US military policy, the general degree of "good" that the US military is doing in the world, the average LOPPer's feelings about "support the troops"-American culture, etc.?

I don't want to imply that everyone here agrees about this stuff in exactly the same way but I think it's obvious that this board is out of step with most of the country's opinion about these matters, so hopefully you know what I'm kind of asking here in a general way without getting into all the specifics that I probably should.

Again, there's a LOT more I could type here but there's no end to how long this post could go so I'll leave it at that and say that none of it would be as worthwhile as your honest response (or non-response, if you prefer).

Short answer: nah, not really.

The long versión would probably be book length, and maybe I´ll actually get there someday, but right now I lack the time and clarity of thought to make that happen.

A few stray thoughts:
Regarding this board and opinions:  it helps that they are generally sound opinions or at the very least, opinions arrived at via good faith efforts to understand reality. That´s more than I can say for the legions of Americans who love me without having any understanding of the military, its role, what I do, geopolitics, or much of anything for that matter (well, or those who love me until I start talking politics and they realize I´m a snowflake pussy libtard…  mostly). I think I´m getting more than a good deal, and sometimes I get cheap movie tickets. So if WP wants to tell me to fuck off once in a while it´s not like I don´t deserve it.

Regarding my role in the military:  we just abandoned our ally and gave a foreign dictator the green light to attack them. Couple days later and we´re sending troops to a backwards country run by a murderer because, "they are paying for everything!"  So...  yeah. I question my own role in this shit, and I´m not above admitting that the moral calculus that goes into me doing what I do isn´t insignificant. There´s a few (reasonable at worst, legit good at best) reasons that I can sleep easy at night. First: I have never shot anybody or dropped a bomb on somebody. I started in a role that was technically "combat ops," but that was airborne in a radar, surveillance, air control aircraft and, while there was always the possibility I could be directing an aircraft to lethally strike a target (the fact that I wouldn´t have hesitated has weighed a bit on my conscience at times, but we grow up, we learn) I was extremely lucky that I never had to do that. Since then I have actively put myself in roles that I believe in. That is why I´m a foreign area officer, where the majority of my job consists of using a charming personality, and well crafted speech/writing to promote the naive messages that I believe in: multilateral partnerships and strong alliances work to underpin global security. Also, we´re all awesome and amazing and should basically just hug and/or fuck and/or drink beers together. Also, I like destroying closed minded fucks in arguments when MAGA troop talk rears its ugly head, all the better if I can do it in front of foreign partners and send the message that a very large percentage of us are perfectly fine.

Also, I do not know how to succeed in the real world, and they pay me pretty well, and I´m as greedy as any human when it comes to having nice things and not dying. If there´s a well paying job opening to be a philanthropist or the next Paul Rudd, somebody PM me.

I don't think I have ever personally attacked you because you are in the military.. If I have, I would apologize for that. I am extremely critical of the outsized role of the military within American politics. And of course, I think the bi-partisan foreign policy agenda of the last two or three decades has been an unmitigated disaster. Those are all institutional criticisms though. Obviously the military (and police academies) are also going to attract a certain kind of authoritarian personality as well. But it doesn't surprise me that there are also exceptionally intelligent people working within these institutions. Moreover, it wouldn't surprise me to find that there are also people working within these institutions that are hyper-critical of their own function within society. They are going to represent a tiny minority (because otherwise the institution wouldn't be capable of reproducing itself), but of course they will exist.

Anyways, I am not interested in personally attacking you, Ned. And in so far as we diverge politically, I have never assumed that this was an identitarian difference linked to your military status.

You totally haven´t attacked me. I just wrote it that way to sound funny and stuff.
We´re buds as far as I´m concerned

Really good post, Ned!

Ned Braden wrote:We´re buds as far as I´m concerned

Okay, cool. Same!

https://supportersnotcustomers.com/2013/09/08/soldiers-should-get-footballers-wages/

^ a funny take on this very idea.

Feeling like this story gets grosser the deeper you dig:

https://god.dailydot.com/racist-maga-halloween-costume/

Essentially, MAGA dude is the driver during a fatal hit and run incident, tries to deny/cover up, is caught, misses trial date, and is still out in less than three years just in time to post disgusting photo to social media affirming that he is indeed a sick racist fuck and putting him in the public eye.

Why the fuck is he not in prison? Oh, he lives in this county: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsoctv.com/amp/news/local/large-confederate-flag-flying-in-catawba-co-stirs-up-controversy/663584492
I imagine it’s not too big a stretch to guess that they don’t throw away good, god fearin, racist white folk in jail round these parts for the victimless crime of killing people of color.

Ugh, I hope this fucker goes to prison forever and I hope someone calls child services to have those kids raised in an environment that won’t guarantee they grow up to be sick fucks like their dad.

I have no conception whatsoever of the American television media landscape anymore so when I happened across a Hannity clip the other day about the impeachment hearings I literally couldn't believe it. I was mostly just embarrassed for everyone on the screen but I now understand why I am literally unable to have political conversations with most of my family members. They literally operate in an alternative/parallel universe of misinformation and ice cold takes.

This is such fucking disgusting bullshit and they’re doing it in plain sight
https://popular.info/p/purge-the-vote

i fucking hate this country

https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/liz-crokin-predicts-that-tom-hanks-will-soon-be-arrested-for-involvement-in-occult-pedophilia/

This is what these fucking bastard neoconservatives have wanted for decades. I hope they all burn in Hell for this shit.

Bro.

WP64 wrote:This is what these fucking bastard neoconservatives have wanted for decades. I hope they all burn in Hell for this shit.

What was this about, specifically