I'm old to enough to have been a Reagan Republican who voted for Reagan twice. If you had told me that I would be sitting here in 2023 reading that Republicans want to bomb Mexico and defend Russia's military adventurism because it's a "Christian" country I would have told you that you were loony. And, I of course, would have been spectacularly wrong. Sigh.
"When it comes to the cartels, we should treat them like the terrorists that they are," Haley told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "I would send special operations in there and eliminate them just like we eliminated ISIS and make sure that they know there's no place for them."---Nikki Haley
Sorry, we didn’t eliminate ISIS, the Syrian Kurds did, with 2,500 US special operation Troops in support. And how’d that work out for the Kurds?
That’s right, Trump betrayed them to his fellow dictator, Erdrogan in Turkey; who slaughtered them like cattle!
You party has no clue on how to treat our Allie’s, who lay their lives on the line, so we don’t have to. From the interpreters in Afghanistan, who saved thousands of our troop; being betrayed, to our Allie’s in Ukraine, who are fighting for their lives, and democracy; only to be betrayed by the republiCons in Congress, who would rather support a psychopath in Putin.
So sorry, Nikki, you represent a party with no moral compass, or loyalty to those who help us achieve at foreign policy goals, and are willing to lay the ultimate sacrifice in order to do so!
On a slight tangent: Did anyone else get “Michael Dukakis déjà vu” from that militaristic photo of DeSantis? If past is prologue, it won’t serve him well.
IDK, I think international law and treaty obligations MIGHT have had something to do with it... maybe?
The military is not allowed to obey illegal orders, even if they come from the President.
"It's generally called a "duty to disobey," and is empowered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The UCMJ is more concerned about the need to obey orders, but specifies the conditions when military personnel may feel justified in not following them:
If the order is "contrary to the constitution" or "the laws of the United States."
If the order is "patently illegal, ... such as one that directs the commission of a crime." "
Classic GOP: perceive Mexico as a lawless shithole worth bombing but have no sympathy for the innocents who want to leave Mexico for the very reason the GOP wants to bomb it.
In terms of our international standing, I prefer not to be seen the same as Russia when it comes to respecting other countries' sovereignty. We need to be working on that, as our track record is not the greatest. I'm also tired of people thinking about our fentanyl problem as if U.S. citizens are perhaps a little better than trained monkeys. No comparison with the opioid epidemic, and we need to stress personal responsibility all the way. People make choices all the time, both good and bad. Encourage people to make good choices, and to talk to their children about real dangers, when appropriate.
70% of the guns that those dangerous cartels use are purchased through straw buyers in Texas, 20% come from Arizona and 10% from California. Do Republicans want to slow the sales of good, honest American gun manufacturers? I'm sure that Gov. Abbott will have something to say about that.
Vivacious Videk is just a more sophisticated version of "George Santos" or whatever his name is today. He learns from the mistakes of others, but did not understand the need to cover them up before starting his bid to save America from itself, and, incidentally, from Rico T, whom he allegedly is trying to replace as the front-runner for the Grievance Oriented Party's nomination.
Using US military against drug cartels sounds like these GOP candidates misread Tom Clancy's "Clear and Present Danger" as an instruction manual instead of a warning about such operations.
When someone says that climate change is a hoax, the next question has to be "OK, who are the hoaxers"? And "are the great majority of the climate scientists simply wrong, or are they in on the hoax"? For it's one thing to be wrong on an issue. It's another to deliberately promote it knowing that it's a lie (you know, like election fraud).
I know this wasn't the stupidest thing that was said during the debate, but it's always bugged me that those guys never get pinned down when they spew that nonsense. The idea that we would invade Mexico was the stupidest, if only because of the consequences. But advancing such an idea does satisfy the GOP's need for a dopamine rush. It just makes them all tingly inside. And never forget that there are a group of people who will do things that make them feel all tingly inside regardless of the consequences - and they are called children.
The thing they really don’t want to talk about is the US appetite for those drugs the cartels supply. And the drug addiction and mental health services that they keep axing from the budget. And the Big Pharma dollars and gun lobby money.........I could go on.
"This larger Republican shift towards accepting more violent relations with Mexico typifies the GOP’s current phase of policy confusion."
-----
The shift towards violence from the New GOP towards Mexico is only a part of the attitudes being expressed by MAGAdroids in general. Violence has become a major tool in their concept of governance: towards those they don't like on the international stage and, more critically, towards their fellow citizens who they have deemed the enemy for failing to toe the line that the members of the Psychiatric Facility Escapee Caucus created.
The concept of sovereign rights, personal or those of other countries, is anathema to these people. The very idea of entering another country, ally or friend, with the intent to cause any sort of violence targeting a section of that country's citizens, deservedly or not, would, correctly, be interpreted as an act of war and retaliation would be justified.
Violence aimed at those who oppose the fascistic goals of the Apricot Arthropod and his cultists is a de rigueur policy and must be followed to retain one's good standings in the MAGAverse. A failure to attack - physically, mentally and emotionally - is grounds for ostracization.
The New GOP has perverted the old saw that politics is the art of compromise into politics is the art of compulsion.
Like a few other Republican celebrities I could name, Vivek Ramaswamy would have made a clever low rent trial lawyer - though the odds seem about even he'd have ended up being disbarred. His kind of folderol is tailor made for the "Socratic Method" of law school pedagogy, which prizes quick, glib responses to open-ended questions. The idea that this qualifies anybody to make grave decisions of state is, however, transparently ridiculous.
Try to imagine someone like Vivek successfully orchestrating an invasion of Mexico. That's right, you can't.
Sending Troops into Mexico Is Now Mainstream GOP Policy
Watching the gop on any issue - like invading Mexico - is like watching an addict need bigger and bigger doses to get off.
And as with any addict, we can dream about an intervention but until the addict admits there's a problem, there's not much we can do.
I'm old to enough to have been a Reagan Republican who voted for Reagan twice. If you had told me that I would be sitting here in 2023 reading that Republicans want to bomb Mexico and defend Russia's military adventurism because it's a "Christian" country I would have told you that you were loony. And, I of course, would have been spectacularly wrong. Sigh.
"When it comes to the cartels, we should treat them like the terrorists that they are," Haley told Fox News Digital in a recent interview. "I would send special operations in there and eliminate them just like we eliminated ISIS and make sure that they know there's no place for them."---Nikki Haley
Sorry, we didn’t eliminate ISIS, the Syrian Kurds did, with 2,500 US special operation Troops in support. And how’d that work out for the Kurds?
That’s right, Trump betrayed them to his fellow dictator, Erdrogan in Turkey; who slaughtered them like cattle!
You party has no clue on how to treat our Allie’s, who lay their lives on the line, so we don’t have to. From the interpreters in Afghanistan, who saved thousands of our troop; being betrayed, to our Allie’s in Ukraine, who are fighting for their lives, and democracy; only to be betrayed by the republiCons in Congress, who would rather support a psychopath in Putin.
So sorry, Nikki, you represent a party with no moral compass, or loyalty to those who help us achieve at foreign policy goals, and are willing to lay the ultimate sacrifice in order to do so!
Just some thoughts!...:)
On a slight tangent: Did anyone else get “Michael Dukakis déjà vu” from that militaristic photo of DeSantis? If past is prologue, it won’t serve him well.
"for whatever reason the military didn’t do it"
IDK, I think international law and treaty obligations MIGHT have had something to do with it... maybe?
The military is not allowed to obey illegal orders, even if they come from the President.
"It's generally called a "duty to disobey," and is empowered by the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The UCMJ is more concerned about the need to obey orders, but specifies the conditions when military personnel may feel justified in not following them:
If the order is "contrary to the constitution" or "the laws of the United States."
If the order is "patently illegal, ... such as one that directs the commission of a crime." "
https://www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/law-and-life/what-is-a-military-duty-to-disobey/#:~:text=The%20UCMJ%20is%20more%20concerned%20about%20the%20need,one%20that%20directs%20the%20commission%20of%20a%20crime.%22
The Nazis found out at Nuremburg that "I was just following orders_ wasn't a defense.
Classic GOP: perceive Mexico as a lawless shithole worth bombing but have no sympathy for the innocents who want to leave Mexico for the very reason the GOP wants to bomb it.
Is Canada on the list next - for sending cheaper drugs and illicit ones like mifepristone?
In terms of our international standing, I prefer not to be seen the same as Russia when it comes to respecting other countries' sovereignty. We need to be working on that, as our track record is not the greatest. I'm also tired of people thinking about our fentanyl problem as if U.S. citizens are perhaps a little better than trained monkeys. No comparison with the opioid epidemic, and we need to stress personal responsibility all the way. People make choices all the time, both good and bad. Encourage people to make good choices, and to talk to their children about real dangers, when appropriate.
70% of the guns that those dangerous cartels use are purchased through straw buyers in Texas, 20% come from Arizona and 10% from California. Do Republicans want to slow the sales of good, honest American gun manufacturers? I'm sure that Gov. Abbott will have something to say about that.
Vivacious Videk is just a more sophisticated version of "George Santos" or whatever his name is today. He learns from the mistakes of others, but did not understand the need to cover them up before starting his bid to save America from itself, and, incidentally, from Rico T, whom he allegedly is trying to replace as the front-runner for the Grievance Oriented Party's nomination.
Using US military against drug cartels sounds like these GOP candidates misread Tom Clancy's "Clear and Present Danger" as an instruction manual instead of a warning about such operations.
Republicanism has completely morphed from its former iteration, given its newfound affinity for authoritarian governments.
Putin: Good.
Orban: Good.
Netanyahu: Good.
When someone says that climate change is a hoax, the next question has to be "OK, who are the hoaxers"? And "are the great majority of the climate scientists simply wrong, or are they in on the hoax"? For it's one thing to be wrong on an issue. It's another to deliberately promote it knowing that it's a lie (you know, like election fraud).
I know this wasn't the stupidest thing that was said during the debate, but it's always bugged me that those guys never get pinned down when they spew that nonsense. The idea that we would invade Mexico was the stupidest, if only because of the consequences. But advancing such an idea does satisfy the GOP's need for a dopamine rush. It just makes them all tingly inside. And never forget that there are a group of people who will do things that make them feel all tingly inside regardless of the consequences - and they are called children.
The thing they really don’t want to talk about is the US appetite for those drugs the cartels supply. And the drug addiction and mental health services that they keep axing from the budget. And the Big Pharma dollars and gun lobby money.........I could go on.
"This larger Republican shift towards accepting more violent relations with Mexico typifies the GOP’s current phase of policy confusion."
-----
The shift towards violence from the New GOP towards Mexico is only a part of the attitudes being expressed by MAGAdroids in general. Violence has become a major tool in their concept of governance: towards those they don't like on the international stage and, more critically, towards their fellow citizens who they have deemed the enemy for failing to toe the line that the members of the Psychiatric Facility Escapee Caucus created.
The concept of sovereign rights, personal or those of other countries, is anathema to these people. The very idea of entering another country, ally or friend, with the intent to cause any sort of violence targeting a section of that country's citizens, deservedly or not, would, correctly, be interpreted as an act of war and retaliation would be justified.
Violence aimed at those who oppose the fascistic goals of the Apricot Arthropod and his cultists is a de rigueur policy and must be followed to retain one's good standings in the MAGAverse. A failure to attack - physically, mentally and emotionally - is grounds for ostracization.
The New GOP has perverted the old saw that politics is the art of compromise into politics is the art of compulsion.
fnord
Like a few other Republican celebrities I could name, Vivek Ramaswamy would have made a clever low rent trial lawyer - though the odds seem about even he'd have ended up being disbarred. His kind of folderol is tailor made for the "Socratic Method" of law school pedagogy, which prizes quick, glib responses to open-ended questions. The idea that this qualifies anybody to make grave decisions of state is, however, transparently ridiculous.
Try to imagine someone like Vivek successfully orchestrating an invasion of Mexico. That's right, you can't.