Comments on: Uh, don’t forget the war, guys…

By: ajay

ajay — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:45:15 +0000

You guys really are too young to remember Vietnam, aren’t you? That’s not an insult, just a statement of bemusement. When I was 14, 500 guys a week were getting killed there. And they didn’t have to agree to be sent.

By “guys” Honus of course means real people. You know, American people. There may have been some Vietnamese involved in some way.

By: Susan

Susan — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 20:04:52 +0000

where your argument falls down is the 2004 vote – those folks knew that there were no WMDs in Iraq by that time, that things were getting worse every day there, yet a large number of them voted for bush.

I believe what opened American’s eyes was Katrina. They watched their fellow citizens be neglected for DAYS, and saw bodies floating in dirty water, and realized that their current government was too incompetent to address this situation…… and that opened their eyes to some other things too.

By: Tehanu

Tehanu — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:33:02 +0000

OT, but is anybody taking bets on when good old Levi Johnson quietly un-engages with spawn #2 of Mooseburger?

Now you mention it, I’ve been wondering that too. The baby’s due next month, no? Not a tweet anywhere about the wedding. I don’t blame either of those kids, although she’ll probably be better off if she doesn’t marry the “fuckin’ redneck.” On the other hand, life inside the Palin household may well warp the offspring for life.

By: Turbine Yukon Palin

Turbine Yukon Palin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:03:11 +0000

Douthat has a terrible blindspot about the wars; I get the impression that he didn’t really support the war (which evidence is based on a few mild objections he posted, but nothing particularly apple-cart-upset-y), and right now, he just wants them to go away. Out of sight, out of mind. In one of his more recent bitter posts, he tried to reduce importance of this election by undercutting the significance of the issues facing us today. I was mightily pissed that he didn’t consider two wars a fairly important issue, and something which the Executive branch has a great deal of responsibility for.

And in a lot of ways, this is the worst legacy of Bush II: disaffecting people from what war really is. The “Go Shopping” doctrine. You might win elections with only 51% support of the population, but you simply cannot win wars that way.

One day some of the smarter ones may wake up and realize they’d allowed themselves to get hijacked by the worst elements of their party. Pass the freakin’ popcorn in the meantime.

By: Aet

Aet — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:57:00 +0000

Have to agree: theocons may be intolerant, but only their most emotionally disturbed will hurt anyone (and they might hurt people anyway regardless of what they believe). And while the libertarians might hurt people indirectly by opposing social programs, that is still nothing compared to actively encouraging nations to fight each other.

By: Mooser

Mooser — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:17:03 +0000

Still won’t leave the mooses alone, will you. Can’t we have a bi-partisan effort for America’s largest ungulate, the one the French trappers…oh, never mind.

By: OneMan

OneMan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:07:54 +0000

Dammit, I meant to say that nobody called BS on it because we were collectively still pants-pissing scared of Al Qaeda and don’t forget the 2002 midterms were coming up so nobody in Congress wanted to be labeled “soft on terrorism.” Recall that it was a huge political manipulation to force an authorization vote in October, just before the elections.

The Bushies were totally incompetent at everything except politics. In that, they were pretty fucking brilliant, for a while.

By: OneMan

OneMan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:05:19 +0000

“I still can’t believe everyone didn’t call bullshit on it then.”

The information was out there, it was clear that we were being lied to in real time. I can remember listening to whatshisname, the IAEA inspector guy, telling the UN that the yellowcake receipt was bogus and thinking “well THERE’s a surprise.”

And about Mr. Levi, the former future Mr. Mooseburger, Jr., it cracks me up that he’s about the only guy in history that’s going to have to run away from Alaska to hide from his problems. Just about everybody else living there got there because they were running away from something in the lower 48.

It is to laugh.

By: fauxmaxbaer

fauxmaxbaer — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:41:40 +0000

Pretty much everything smelled of manipulation to me back then.

You mean like how Saddam’s drones were going to fly across the ocean from Iraq and drop chemical weapons on us? I still can’t believe everyone didn’t call bullshit on it then.

By: TheInternets

TheInternets — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 07:43:08 +0000

These are people that think 3 = 1. Thanks for saying what I was thinking.

By: Gary Ruppert

Gary Ruppert — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:44:17 +0000

The fact is, nobody cares about the war except for a few phony soldiers who are traitors and want American to lose to the islamofascists.

By: Basil Fawlty

Basil Fawlty — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:43:32 +0000

Don’t talk about the war!

By: js

js — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:33:16 +0000

Be careful with Obama he might have some wars up his sleeve too. That’s not an endorsement of McCain, I’m just saying your reality check is in the mail.

By: It’s The War, Stupid « phaidimoi logoi

It’s The War, Stupid « phaidimoi logoi — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 06:24:29 +0000

[...] 7, 2008 Brad at Sadly, No! hits a note similar to what I was beginning to think yesterday: “I’ll put it to you like [...]

By: slaney black

slaney black — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:50:39 +0000

Like most stories about Saddam, I didn’t believe the yellowcake story for a second. I don’t know if I had a highly tuned BS detector or it was just the fact that the news came from sources that I thought dubious. Pretty much everything smelled of manipulation to me back then.

Hell, I was for the war (sorry people; fwiw I was drinking pretty heavily at the time, much like Bill Kristol still is) and I didn’t even believe that junk. Amazed the sweet Jesus out of me how the Serious Liberal Press bought all that horseshit.

By: About That Elephant … « Upturned Earth || John Schwenkler

About That Elephant … « Upturned Earth || John Schwenkler — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:28:56 +0000

[...] November 6, 2008, 8:28 pm Filed under: miscellany Via Mona, Brad at Sadly, No! takes the pulse of the Great Conservative Recriminations War, and finds … well, he finds exactly what I [...]

By: Patriarch Brassiere Raqubougsur the Evangelist

Patriarch Brassiere Raqubougsur the Evangelist — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 04:15:03 +0000

When I was 14, 500 guys a week were getting killed there. And they didn’t have to agree to be sent.

Luxury. When I was thirteen 600 men a week were swallowed by pelicans in Suriname after being dropped through trapdoors in phone booths.

By: Honus

Honus — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:58:17 +0000

“I don’t think you guys can begin to understand the sheer amount of damage this did to conservatism’s reputation. Sending people to war for bogus or fictitious reasons is one of the most heinous things any government can do — after all, why should anyone agree to make the ultimate sacrifice if they can’t be sure that their government is telling them the truth? ”
You guys really are too young to remember Vietnam, aren’t you? That’s not an insult, just a statement of bemusement. When I was 14, 500 guys a week were getting killed there. And they didn’t have to agree to be sent.

By: Mooser

Mooser — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:19:04 +0000

If I could pick one faction of the GOP to be forever purged from public life, it would have to be the neocons. As much as the Christian Right and the anti-tax wingnuts bug me, neither of them is as heinous as people whose sole political ambition is to start unjustified wars

Except you can’t. All those factions work together. One supports the other. As long as we have the one, the Christian Right, the other ones will show up.

By: noen

noen — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:34:03 +0000

is anybody taking bets on when good old Levi Johnson quietly un-engages with spawn #2 of Mooseburger?

This would be a perfect time for a young man to sign up with the merchant marines, or maybe a fishing trawler in the Bering Straights.