Mattis Resignation bombshell

[cookiedough]

[/quote]

Evil only fears superior force.
[/quote]

problem is ISIS does not fear anything IMO since they blow themselves up all the time strapping bombs on their bodies for their almighty.....

[Jess from VA]

Middle East in a nutshell. Not my words.............

Man, I knew it was something like that.  That really clears things up.

This jigsaw of conflicting interests and alliances and faiths certainly makes getting the fok out of there seem like a rational idea.  A lot of people want to kill each other over there, even without our help (and I'm not sure if this is good or bad).

Now Assad is bad, and the Russians are bad, but together they are making war to bring piece to nation in civil war and killing ISIS as well, and that can't be all bad. But it's definitely good if they can do it without our men and materials being used up.  Syria will probably end up being a close ally of the Russians (and that's bad), but the Russians are better than ISIS or the Ayatolla, and probably better for Israel too.

And while dictators are nearly always bad, we seem to forget the stability (brutal or not) that existed under Saddam and Ghadafi and in Egypt, and stability without American lives and money is good, isn't it?

Trump ordered us out (but he's bad).

So Mattis quit (he was good, but then bad for quitting when we need all the help we can get) (but maybe he's a warmonger, and that would be bad)

The democrats (who are always bad), didn't like Mattis at all until Trump disagreed with him (and Trump is worse than Mattis, so Mattis must now be good after all)

And now the government is closed.  (And everyone knows the government is bad, so that is good.  And as long as they are closed, they can't screw anything else up, and that is also good.)  (So Trump is good for closing the government, and the democrats are good just this one time because they helped close the government too.)

For a while, some Federal employees will have to work without pay (and that's bad).  Except Congress already passed a law that will give them back pay whenever the budget gets worked out again (and that's bad too because people should not be paid for not working).  But wait, 21 percent of the country is on some form of Govt assistance, and they don't work either (and that's bad too).

All these out of work people should be made to build a wall on our southern border at minimum wage and meals (which would be very good indeed).  But if we solved that border problem, then the government would have to be opened again (and that would be bad).

Hey, I'm good enough at this to get a job on a TV news station. (these are my words)

Except, I don't want to work anymore, so that would be bad.  But I'm definitely not going down to work on the Wall just because I'm unemployed, as I am NOT on government assistance.  And that's good.   

[¿spoom]

Evil only fears superior force.
[/quote]

problem is ISIS does not fear anything IMO since they blow themselves up all the time strapping bombs on their bodies for their almighty.....
[/quote]
My Plan B is pretty messy  
FWIW, most of ISIS does fear death. Most are not suicidal, they want to live and enjoy a long life of raping and degrading wmen, torturing and killing infidels, and blowing other cultures/religion's stuff up. If that happens to coincide with Islam, it's fine with them. 

[¿spoom]

Middle East in a nutshell. Not my words.............

Man, I knew it was something like that.  That really clears things up.

This jigsaw of conflicting interests and alliances and faiths certainly makes getting the fok out of there seem like a rational idea.  A lot of people want to kill each other over there, even without our help (and I'm not sure if this is good or bad).

Now Assad is bad, and the Russians are bad, but together they are making war to bring piece to nation in civil war and killing ISIS as well, and that can't be all bad. But it's definitely good if they can do it without our men and materials being used up.  Syria will probably end up being a close ally of the Russians (and that's bad), but the Russians are better than ISIS or the Ayatolla, and probably better for Israel too.

And while dictators are nearly always bad, we seem to forget the stability (brutal or not) that existed under Saddam and Ghadafi and in Egypt, and stability without American lives and money is good, isn't it?

Trump ordered us out (but he's bad).

So Mattis quit (he was good, but then bad for quitting when we need all the help we can get) (but maybe he's a warmonger, and that would be bad)

The democrats (who are always bad), didn't like Mattis at all until Trump disagreed with him (and Trump is worse than Mattis, so Mattis must now be good after all)

And now the government is closed.  (And everyone knows the government is bad, so that is good.  And as long as they are closed, they can't screw anything else up, and that is also good.)  (So Trump is good for closing the government, and the democrats are good just this one time because they helped close the government too.)

For a while, some Federal employees will have to work without pay (and that's bad).  Except Congress already passed a law that will give them back pay whenever the budget gets worked out again (and that's bad too because people should not be paid for not working).  But wait, 21 percent of the country is on some form of Govt assistance, and they don't work either (and that's bad too).

All these out of work people should be made to build a wall on our southern border at minimum wage and meals (which would be very good indeed).  But if we solved that border problem, then the government would have to be opened again (and that would be bad).

Hey, I'm good enough at this to get a job on a TV news station. (these are my words)

Nice. I was trying to keep score, but probably look like Homer Simpson thinking about Beeeeeeeer, now.

[Robert]

Great perspective from a great source that is no BS

OPUS 108 RAW Merry Christmas! Our troops are coming Home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_jqm9rk31g


Pieczenik served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State under Henry Kissinger is well-versed in foreign policy, international crisis management, and psychological warfare. He also served under presidential administrations as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H.W. Bush’s White House.

In other words Steve Pieczenik — with his proven history of experience — is the real deal.



If you like the first video this one talks about the Russians influencing elections.

OPUS 107 Russians are Coming NOT!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2Rn5OkFHeQ


This was done in 16 but this is on going, even now. Its a pretty clear yet mild presentation that expressed the seriousness of the situation that our republic was and is up against even now.

US Takeover May Be Near

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ_CYS-KMjM

[Serk]

I love Senator Rand Paul.....

[Gavin_Sons]

I love Senator Rand Paul.....

I don't get how liberals don't want any war but when we decide to pull out of a country and remove ourselves from the equation, suddenly they want war. Would you people make up your freaking minds. I'm sure it is getting very confusing keeping all of this straight. Or do youhave a when to and when not to guide book you follow?

[MAD6Gun]

I love Senator Rand Paul.....

I don't get how liberals don't want any war but when we decide to pull out of a country and remove ourselves from the equation, suddenly they want war. Would you people make up your freaking minds. I'm sure it is getting very confusing keeping all of this straight. Or do youhave a when to and when not to guide book you follow?

 It because the dems can't let Trump get anything done at all costs. They cried when Bush got us in Iraq. They praised Obama when he removed us from Iraq BUT when trump want to get us out Seria they go nuts. Make up your minds. I said this earlier...

  I swear if Trump said it was a bad idea to shoot yourself in the head the dems would do it just to prove the president wrong.

[Moonshot_1]

I see 2 men here with different perspectives of the Syrian situation. Matis sees it from the perspective of the Kurds we are supporting. Our withdrawal will put the Kurds in a difficult position to forge on on their own.

Trump sees it from the perspective of the American citizen. We seemed to have achieved our objective. Why are we still there?

My take is that the Kurds need to forge on on their own. The US cannot perpetually be there. I support the withdrawal of the US troops. I understand that this will change the environment there and could lead to a re-insertion of US troops. But I do believe that the local powers that be must be given the opportunity to resolve their issues. As bloody as that may be.

[Rams]

  I swear if Trump said it was a bad idea to shoot yourself in the head the dems would do it just to prove the president wrong.

This, may be something worth trying......  

Caveat:  Only those who have gone back for seconds on the Koolaide will partake, I hope.... 

Rams

[baldo]

  I swear if Trump said it was a bad idea to shoot yourself in the head the dems would do it just to prove the president wrong.

This, may be something worth trying......  

Caveat:  Only those who have gone back for seconds on the Koolaide will partake, I hope.... 

Rams

No, this wouldn't work. The Dems are too smart for that. Now, if trump wants to show the proper procedure to shoot oneself in the foot, there are plenty of tutorials to be found. ...

[Rams]

  I swear if Trump said it was a bad idea to shoot yourself in the head the dems would do it just to prove the president wrong.

This, may be something worth trying......  

Caveat:  Only those who have gone back for seconds on the Koolaide will partake, I hope.... 

Rams

No, this wouldn't work. The Dems are too smart for that. Now, if trump wants to show the proper procedure to shoot oneself in the foot, there are plenty of tutorials to be found. ...

Admittedly, there is sufficient evidence to support either side of that discussion......

Rams

[baldo]

  I swear if Trump said it was a bad idea to shoot yourself in the head the dems would do it just to prove the president wrong.

This, may be something worth trying......  

Caveat:  Only those who have gone back for seconds on the Koolaide will partake, I hope.... 

Rams

No, this wouldn't work. The Dems are too smart for that. Now, if trump wants to show the proper procedure to shoot oneself in the foot, there are plenty of tutorials to be found. ...

Admittedly, there is sufficient evidence to support either side of that discussion......

Rams

 

[¿spoom]

I love Senator Rand Paul.....

I don't get how liberals don't want any war but when we decide to pull out of a country and remove ourselves from the equation, suddenly they want war. Would you people make up your freaking minds. I'm sure it is getting very confusing keeping all of this straight. Or do youhave a when to and when not to guide book you follow?

 It because the dems can't let Trump get anything done at all costs. They cried when Bush got us in Iraq. They praised Obama when he removed us from Iraq BUT when trump want to get us out Seria they go nuts. Make up your minds. I said this earlier...

  I swear if Trump said it was a bad idea to shoot yourself in the head the dems would do it just to prove the president wrong.

Next, I'll be hearing that walls are bad 
http://www.iamawake.co/the-eu-funded-wall-that-nobody-wants-to-talk-about-turkey-syria/

[Jess from VA]

If we had a border with Syria, we'd definitely have a minefield.

I once drove my El Camino SS from Incerlik AB (Adana) over toward Syria.  The Turks wouldn't let me get to the border.  

From Ankara, I took the El Camino up to the Black Sea then east toward Russia (Georgia), and they stopped me like 50 miles out.

It wasn't like I was trying to defect or anything.      

[¿spoom]

If we had a border with Syria, we'd definitely have a minefield.

I once drove my El Camino SS from Incerlik AB (Adana) over toward Syria.  The Turks wouldn't let me get to the border.  

From Ankara, I took the El Camino up to the Black Sea then east toward Russia (Georgia), and they stopped me like 50 miles out.

It wasn't like I was trying to defect or anything.      

They're probably just racist 

[hubcapsc]

Next, I'll be hearing that walls are bad 
http://www.iamawake.co/the-eu-funded-wall-that-nobody-wants-to-talk-about-turkey-syria/

I'd never heard of that... seems like Trump would be talking about it...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria%E2%80%93Turkey_barrier

-Mike

[Gavin_Sons]

Didn't the great wall of China work well for hundreds of years?

[Jess from VA]

Didn't the great wall of China work well for hundreds of years?

It's still working.   

Nobody want's to invade there.

[¿spoom]

Next, I'll be hearing that walls are bad 
http://www.iamawake.co/the-eu-funded-wall-that-nobody-wants-to-talk-about-turkey-syria/

I'd never heard of that... seems like Trump would be talking about it...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syria%E2%80%93Turkey_barrier

-Mike

He probably too tired. He's already supposed to report on everything the Washington Post, Bloomberg, et al don't bother with. I can't say as I've seen any good "wall" series on CNN & clones, either 

[Gavin_Sons]

Didn't the great wall of China work well for hundreds of years?

It's still working.   

Nobody want's to invade there.

  good point, if we keep taking in all the illegals no one will want to invade us either. Maybe that is the democrats plan. Make the USA so shitty no one will want to come here.

[¿spoom]

Didn't the great wall of China work well for hundreds of years?

It's still working.   

Nobody want's to invade there.

  good point, if we keep taking in all the illegals no one will want to invade us either. Maybe that is the democrats plan. Make the USA so shitty no one will want to come here.

That was pretty much President Obama's plan, also. The "one world" folks want all water to seek the same level, and in that metaphor, the US has to sink to sea level while a few lower points get built up.

I like Jonah Goldberg's column today;

America is often described as a constitutional democracy or constitutional republic. That’s not really true. The best you could say is that our system is constitutional-ish.

Consider the bizarre controversy over President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of Syria. As a matter of policy, I think it’s a terrible decision he will live to regret. Nearly every foreign policy expert feels the same way, including — if reports are true — military leadership and the president’s own National Security Council.

Outside of a few negligible but reliable boosters such as perennially dovish Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), everyone thinks this amounts to a reprieve for ISIS and a betrayal of the Kurds, who’ve done much of the heavy fighting for us. Of course, the Iranian mullahs, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, Turkish president for life Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian butcher Bashar al-Assad are all gleeful.









But as unfathomable as the president’s policy decision may be, the constitutional context in which he made it is far weirder.

On both sides of the aisle, congressional leaders are denouncing the president’s decision, largely for the reasons stated above. But take a step back and consider the fact that all of these outraged senators and congressmen are furious about the president retreating from a war they did not authorize.

The Constitution is very clear: Congress — and only Congress — has the power to declare war. It hasn’t formally declared war since World War II (1942, to be exact, when it declared war on German-allied Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania). Since then, it has sometimes used phrases like the “authorization of military force,” and other times presidents have acted unilaterally, invoking U.N. resolutions or really almost nothing at all. To the extent that Congress has complained, the outrage has usually been partisan. Congressional Democrats hate it when Republican presidents don’t get their approval, and vice versa.

The so-called war on terror, well into its 18th year, is a sprawling enterprise around the globe (one I largely support as a matter of policy), tenuously justified by constitutionally flimsy pronouncements by Congress. The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists passed after 9/11 doesn’t cover ISIS in Syria (or Africa, or the Philippines, or cyberspace).

The president basically has carte blanche to wage war — and retreat from it — without any real congressional sanction. President Obama invaded Syria without congressional authorization. President Trump ramped up that war without congressional authorization. And now he wants to pull out without congressional authorization.

War is just the most grave and appalling example of bipartisan congressional cowardice. Congress gave the president almost unilateral authority over trade decades ago, even though the Commerce Clause gives Congress total authority over trade, both foreign and domestic. I understand why many support the president’s trade policies toward China, but why Congress yawned as the president invoked national security threats to wage trade wars with Canada or the EU is a different matter.

Again, this isn’t about Trump. Congress has been surrendering vast swaths of its constitutional authority to the president, to the courts and to a permanent bureaucracy for a century. Indeed, critics of the Mueller probe have a point when they complain that the executive branch should not be conducting what is in effect an impeachment inquiry. We’ve stumbled into this bizarre situation because Congress handed over much its oversight of the presidency to the Department of Justice and the FBI, which did not even exist until 1870 and 1908, respectively.












The Founders never imagined that Congress would just give away so much of its power. James Madison wrote in Federalist No. 48 that Congress would always be “extending the sphere of its activity and drawing all power into its impetuous vortex.”

While the problem has been worsening for generations, the era of cable television and social media has put the trend into overdrive. The legislative branch is often little more than a peanut gallery — a parliament of pundits, as I’ve often called it — full of people who use their office as a way to get on TV or as a stepping stone to a presidential bid.

Schools often teach that we have three “co-equal” branches of government. But that’s not what the Constitution established. Congress is the first and supreme branch of government, with the power to declare war, write laws, create all of the courts save the Supreme Court, and raise taxes.

We don’t live in that Constitutional system. We live in a constitutional-ish one.