tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post7607004538933597147..comments2024-03-28T01:33:22.764-04:00Comments on The DiploMad 2.0: Drawing Inside the (Red) LinesDiploMadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02316439950882822419noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-25986420527896562032013-09-08T15:21:17.515-04:002013-09-08T15:21:17.515-04:00"monkey with a hand grenade".......sums ..."monkey with a hand grenade".......sums it up pretty well.<br /><br />No thought required, no serious people in the White House or Washington who will leash the monkey. No hollywood slebs complaining about peace. <br /><br />The white house Trayvon has toked up, and decided he don't get no 'spect. He is about to show those white-Syrians how tough he is.<br /><br />It will all end well, the monkey is cuddly.Cascadiannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-90760010289575309752013-09-06T22:46:31.846-04:002013-09-06T22:46:31.846-04:00What excuse do Republicans have for throwing away ...<i>What excuse do Republicans have for throwing away a chance to save America from an additional four years of this insanity? </i><br /><br />Eric Cantor maybe? Boehner? Perhaps the 'Hugger From Joisey'? <br /><br />Maybe re-casting McCain as 'Maverick 2.0' or perhaps the 'Beta' version?<br /><br />Thing is, in my humble opinion, the Republican Party (as decided & defined from Washington DC) ought to take some few baby-steps away from K-Street, the polls, the biggie donors and the makers of Tomahawk missiles and F-35 cheerleaders.<br /><br />(Admitting after the $1T spent, the Lightning looks like it might get deployed within the next decade or so. Maybe before the PAK-FA even.)<br /><br />Thing is, again in my humble opinion, we've got some homework we've got to do. Matter of fact, I'd like to see our host's ideas about the "hows we start to do dat?" - maybe amongst us 14 readers who've landed here the million times (kidding Diplomad Sir, you've truly hit the big-time) we can work on strategy.<br /><br />With this SyriaSwamp - now might be a good time to begin speaking amongst ourselves. Obama's managed to get Pelosi and Boehner coupled up for the next <i>Dancing With The Stars</i> - no reason us regular people can't get a pair.<br /><br />ArkieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-9619690166564347102013-09-06T22:12:57.482-04:002013-09-06T22:12:57.482-04:00Am beginning to re-consider the claim that a $20 m...Am beginning to re-consider the claim that a $20 million grant got Obama/Soetoro into Harvard (via Percy Sutton). Is the WH occupant elected or installed? Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-29086686698739382462013-09-06T20:52:31.850-04:002013-09-06T20:52:31.850-04:00Obama's narcissistic behavior began long ago, ...Obama's narcissistic behavior began long ago, does no one remember the "Office of President-elect" sign? This man is so deep in denial he's about to drown. Obama has mismanaged nearly every detail of his administration, which would be amusing if it weren't for all the grief it has caused. Brian Terry, Ambassador Stevens and the others at Benghazi, the IRS scandal, etc., etc., etc. How many people have paid the price for Obama's idiotic policies? Just thinking about his callous actions leave me incoherent with rage. <br /><br />My rage is directed more at the people who put him back into office than at him - you expect a narcissist to have no empathy for anyone other than himself. What excuse do Republicans have for throwing away a chance to save America from an additional four years of this insanity? Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03537894025680289358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-77435754485939539592013-09-06T20:08:31.169-04:002013-09-06T20:08:31.169-04:00I watched his presser, he's done. Oh, we'l...I watched his presser, he's done. Oh, we'll see sound and fury from him and the Dems, but he's done. Regardless, Congress still needs to vote and put all of them on record.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13642228725661059539noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-62641810166307037252013-09-06T18:44:03.074-04:002013-09-06T18:44:03.074-04:00Got a "humorous" McCain, Feinstein, Grah...Got a "humorous" <strong>McCain, Feinstein, Graham, & Associates Senate LLC</strong> back from one of my pals in an email.<br /><br />The 'M,F,G, & Associates Senate' wasn't particularly what I found so much "humorous" so much as the follow-on 'LLC.'<br /><br /><strong>Limited Liability Company</strong> indeed!<br /><br />ArkieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-24222520551323239082013-09-06T14:41:37.919-04:002013-09-06T14:41:37.919-04:00"...and the usual hocus pocus."
The real..."...and the usual hocus pocus."<br />The real hocus pocus is Obama trying to sell the rabbit-in-hat trick that a few Tomahawks flung into Syria will have any meaningful effect(s) on Assad, his opponents, Iran, or any other interested party. His claim that missiles would be a "shot over the bow" is inappropriate at best and ignorant at worst. The phrase, as I'm sure all here know, means that if the instruction to "heave to for boarding" is not followed, bombardment will begin (which Obama has explicitly ruled OUT.) IIRC, Bush 43 issued timely ultimatums (ultimata?) to both Afghanistan (in 2001) to turn over bin Laden, Mullah Omar, et al., and to Iraq (in 2003) for Saddam & Sons to leave the country, prior to initiating military action. Ultimatum with related threat issued + failure to respond as directed = military action to enforce ultimatum seems more like a "shot over the bow" followed by bombardment than a flurry of Tomahawks, period, stop. He is such a buffoon.<br /><br />But, returning to hocus pocus: in the matters of Afghanistan & Iraq, Bush & team worked with U.N., Congress and American public to educate and persuade that these actions were necessary, and at the time they were taken Bush had overwhelming support for his decisions. Rightly or wrongly, Bush made it happen politically (while building up & positioning our forces for maximum effect.)<br /><br />Not quite what Obama’s done here, is it?<br /><br />Hocus pocus, indeed. Guffaw.ColoCommentnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-92106780574718495602013-09-06T14:05:55.395-04:002013-09-06T14:05:55.395-04:00What happens if he decides to shoot back ...?
Tha...<i>What happens if he decides to shoot back ...?</i><br /><br />That's actually one of the few reasons for me to think maybe it's a good thing there's so many Russian ships in the area. Vlad might be a little more amenable to our way of thinking should the Syrians shoot one of their missiles down one of Vlad's stacks.<br /><br />ArkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-56633061910953426272013-09-06T13:57:19.361-04:002013-09-06T13:57:19.361-04:00Looks to me like all that's required would be ...Looks to me like all that's required would be to intersperse about twenty-five or so, <strong>"Ummm"</strong> willy-nilly throughout between the "Frankly" and the ending "in."<br /><br />That's the problem with today's press - when they produce a transcript of what our "Emperor" (remember Napolean's crowning himself?) anyway, "our" Emperor's talking - they leave out the 'umms' - leaving us to figure out what in the dickens Ears was attempting to say.<br /><br />By the way, did the crowd-source translation mention whether his trusty teleprompter was nearby?<br /><br />ArkieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-20137450140426717532013-09-06T13:50:17.372-04:002013-09-06T13:50:17.372-04:00You betcha. There is no higher imperative in the w...You betcha. There is no higher imperative in the world today than covering the presidential bottom. All else falls to the wayside.Akakyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00187471562516416268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-77099577949194928942013-09-06T13:47:51.980-04:002013-09-06T13:47:51.980-04:00"In war the will is directed at an animate ob..."In war the will is directed at an animate object that reacts." Clausewitz, On War.<br /><br />All of this also brings up an interesting question: what happens if Assad does not choose to take an American missile strike lying down? What happens if he decides to shoot back, either directly or through intermediaries? It seems to me that we went down this road a century ago and the results were not good for anyone involved.Akakyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00187471562516416268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-46577377866417978152013-09-06T13:44:40.560-04:002013-09-06T13:44:40.560-04:00But that’s what happens when you elect today’s Dem...<i>But that’s what happens when you elect <strong>today’s Democrats</strong> — a party that either no longer has the best interests of Americans at heart or happens to be the most incompetent herd of maladroits that ever walked an entire country off a cliff. </i><br /><br />Or, yesteryear's Republicans.<br /><br />(Except for our recently acquired Tea Party - or affiliated - Representatives, we need a whole new batch of politicians. The only thing we need to keep from yesteryear is the phrase, <i>Throw the bums out!)</i><br /><br />ArkieAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-31952099883092291272013-09-06T13:40:17.205-04:002013-09-06T13:40:17.205-04:00Help!
Can we crowd-source the translation of this...Help!<br /><br />Can we crowd-source the translation of this paragraph from Obama's press conference this morning in St. Petersburg? The underlying language appears to be English, but the word order and syntax may be garbled for national security reasons . . . . . <br /><br /><br />"Frankly, if we weren't talking about the need for an international response right now, this wouldn't be what everybody would be asking about," said Obama at a press conference this morning. "You know, there would be some resolutions that were being proffered in the United Nations and the usual hocus pocus, but the world and the country would have moved on. So trying to impart a sense of urgency about this, why we can't have an environment in which over time, people start thinking this we can get away with chemical weapons use--it's a hard sell, but it's something I believe in."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-24425401498515666592013-09-06T13:00:46.312-04:002013-09-06T13:00:46.312-04:00Saw Carville blaiming Bush.
Except that in 2002 ev...Saw Carville blaiming Bush.<br />Except that in 2002 every intel agency in the world was saying Saddam had WMD (and some of them to this day still maintain that he had them). Bush went to Congress and got authorization. Bush built a coalition of Nations who were going to contribute blood, talent, and treasure. Bush went to the UN and got a mandate.<br />Obama has been unable to do any of that.<br /><br />Is our entire foriegn policy now based on the phrase "I didn't say that?"KellyJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01342332734935313737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-70731467389881421492013-09-06T12:11:37.306-04:002013-09-06T12:11:37.306-04:00IF you think that Obama hasn't given any intel...IF you think that Obama hasn't given any intelligent, conscious thought to the matter of chemical weapons in Syria over the past year - I suspect that's pretty much true - and IF Obama is acting with little appreciation for how quickly the consequences of an attack on Syria could spin out of control - and I suspect that's pretty much true - then how can you "Honestly [not] know whether Congress should vote yes or no on this matter"?<br /><br />Yes, it's clearly a crappy choice we have now. But the continual, absurd diminishment of Presidential and US prestige we've absorbed thus far is a sunk cost. It cannot be recovered by an incompetent bombing raid on Syria with further unpredictable and embarrassing consequences.<br /><br />For gosh sakes, Senator "Video Poker" McCain is talking about how Obama putting Boots-on-the-Ground in Syria would be an impeachable offense!!!<br /><br />Stop the madness, now.<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-13121902877198687922013-09-06T11:47:48.930-04:002013-09-06T11:47:48.930-04:00Great... by hemming, hawing, and just generally sh...Great... by hemming, hawing, and just generally showing a lack of decisiveness or character, Obama's invited a potential escalation, deliberate or accidental, for if/when he *does* attack Syria.<br />If Obama thought this merited a military response, we should be discussing what *happened* not what *might* happen. This waffling is just disastrous.<br /><br />http://www.news24.com/World/News/4-Russian-ships-head-for-Syria-20130906-2<br /><br />- Reader #1482Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-31634699819213256962013-09-06T11:33:31.989-04:002013-09-06T11:33:31.989-04:00And since when did the world draw any red line?
I...And since when did the world draw any red line?<br /><br />If by "world" Obama meant "United Nations", there's no red line there; Russia & China are seeing to that. The UK by itself (not to mention most other EU nations) is probably not going to let the EU draw any red line it would have to back up, though France has been making some supportive (but uncommittal) noises. Various members of the Arab League seem supportive, but I don't know if there's been any official request from that body.<br /><br />If we're to still take Obama at his word circa 2008 (silly, I know), the US would not be gearing up for any sort of military action absent some sort of official request/order from some significant international body. By his own words, then, even if the US Congress gives him a useful use-of-force authorization, it would still be insufficient for him to do so.<br /><br />I mean, he (didn't) give his (non-)red line remark last year. There's been at least one chemical weapons "incident" before this one, with public debate about whether the (not yet nonexistent) red line had been crossed. Did he even make any inquiries among the "international community" about this very contingency in all the time since?<br /><br />Honestly, I don't know whether Congress should vote yes or no on this matter; it's a crappy choice we have now. But has Obama actually given NO thought to this issue over the past year? THAT's the worst part of this matter; this is possibly a tripping point for even more violence in the Middle East, & our Smartest President Evah(TM) is acting without any apparent thought of the consequences.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-1746589168186100912013-09-06T11:16:51.471-04:002013-09-06T11:16:51.471-04:00"Have we ever had a more absurd president?&qu..."Have we ever had a more absurd president?"<br /><br />I don't know; James Buchanan, who thought it was illegal for the South to secede from the Union and that it was just as illegal for the North to stop the South from seceding from the Union comes pretty close to Himself on the absurdity meter. Akakyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00187471562516416268noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-66101458452239159802013-09-06T10:31:42.711-04:002013-09-06T10:31:42.711-04:00Back in 2008, Barack Obama promised to ‘fundamenta...Back in 2008, Barack Obama promised to ‘fundamentally transform’ the United States. He’s kept his promise. After all, who could have imagined prior to the advent of Obama that a mere 5 years later, a former Lieutenant Colonel of the KGB would be more trustworthy than the President of the United States?<br /><br />But that’s what happens when you elect today’s Democrats — a party that either no longer has the best interests of Americans at heart or happens to be the most incompetent herd of maladroits that ever walked an entire country off a cliff. (http://crockettlives.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/when-fools-and-obama-rush-in/)Bob Mackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13452703873713992208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-47866208590370081562013-09-06T09:05:55.254-04:002013-09-06T09:05:55.254-04:00Very interesting! I had forgotten how important a...Very interesting! I had forgotten how important arms exports are to the Russians. And this explains the gas pipeline background.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-69712376248994980802013-09-06T07:12:50.436-04:002013-09-06T07:12:50.436-04:00Yes.
Put another way, the truth is whatever I say...Yes.<br /><br />Put another way, the truth is whatever I say it is.<br /><br />Benghazi: YouTube video causes riots and the Ambassador got killed. Trayvon Martin, Red Line, following international treaties as long as they point your way but ignoring them when they don't, implementing only the elements of ObamaCare this year that you like, etc etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-51498146205485299582013-09-06T05:03:17.306-04:002013-09-06T05:03:17.306-04:00Those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder also ...Those with Narcissistic Personality Disorder also display behaviour in which they 're-write' occurrences so as to portray themselves in as good a light as possible/so that the outcome, whatever its reality, fits with their ideal of how it 'should have occurred'. They then act so convincingly that this 'alternative reality' is the truth they are often believed, and come to believe it themselves.<br /><br />Sound familiar.Ablehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18109723804885979128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-16270429329630042202013-09-06T00:15:03.316-04:002013-09-06T00:15:03.316-04:00From the Mayo Clinic:
Narcissistic personality di...From the Mayo Clinic:<br /><br />Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for admiration. Those with narcissistic personality disorder believe that they're superior to others and have little regard for other people's feelings. But behind this mask of ultra-confidence lies a fragile self-esteem, vulnerable to the slightest criticism.<br /><br />The african king is mentally ill, and leading the USA towards a potential nuclear war. When do the adults step in?Cascadiannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-72496561691378353972013-09-05T23:11:34.575-04:002013-09-05T23:11:34.575-04:00Backing up his boss, John Kerry announced there is...Backing up his boss, John Kerry announced there is also no truth to the rumor that he wears ketchup red underwear.<br /><br /><br />pmcAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1400985529434569506.post-80293240979733085872013-09-05T22:46:02.948-04:002013-09-05T22:46:02.948-04:00I think he's just so narcissistic that he comp...I think he's just so narcissistic that he completely believes his own bullshit. Interviewing potential Chiefs of Staff, O supposedly told candidates that he wished he could do the job because he could probably do it better than anyone. With the Affordable Care Act, he's simply ignoring the laws in it that aren't convenient for his favored constituents. In his speeches, every 5th word is either "I" or "my" or "me".<br /><br />Warren Buffett likes to say that CEOs who continually mislead others in public eventually begin misleading themselves in private. I think O reached that deadly stage of self-deceit about halfway through his first term . . . . . . Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com