ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
No bio...
User ID: 2935
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
2mo ago
The UN unofficially considers the dissolution of Israel to be one of its core missions. The above may have actually happened in some form, but there's no reason to consider UN reporting on anything related to Israel any more reliable than the white house's statement's on Biden's mental state.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
He's probably used to people not taking what the media says about him at face value and so isn't too worried about negative media portrayal. That appears to have been a miscalculation when it came to comments about Russia/Ukraine. Or it could be that he's simply a very honest person.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
but he didn't actually seem senile
"We finally beat medicare?"
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
Was Obama ever particularly identity-focused in his politics? Honest question, I didn't pay attention to politics during most of his presidency (and haven't paid much attention to him since then).
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
Ah I see. Unfortunately I don't have much to add to what you already said (which I largely agree with) as I just don't have a great sense of the dynamics at play, beyond the most basic ones that most people are aware of.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
Surely there's a lot of scope for policy differences besides actually deploying troops? A big factor of course is whether or not the Hamas/Hezbollah conflicts have died down, but even if they have then there are things his administration would probably do differently, such as not pressuring Israel into accepting the outlines of a two-state solution in return for a normalization agreement with SA as well as providing more diplomatic shielding for Israel and deterrence towards aggressors generally. And if the war is still on, or new wars break out, he'd likely be vastly more supportive of Israel than Biden.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
I'm not sure I understand your question? I didn't mention Ukraine.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
The one exception is probably the ME where I imagine a Trump administration will act very differently from Biden's.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
My opinion of the UN places them somewhere between people who talk in the theater and malaria,
It's lucky that they're so ineffective.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
They have Jewish (and now) Muslim populations, so they have reasons to care. Small numbers of dedicated people make a lot of noise.
The role that Jews play in maintaining outside interest in the region is pretty much non-existent apart from in the US (which is the only country apart from Israel to have a large enough Jewish community to matter to anyone) and even the US is involved in the region for reasons that go far beyond AIPAC.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
Pretty much what JulianRota said. Don't worry too much about it.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
This is the best advice.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
Depends on what you want and what the fame brings you. Having lots of people you don't care about asking for your autograph sounds wearying. On the other hand, your increased SMV (assuming you're something like a famous musician rather a famous chess player) will outweigh most negatives for a lot of people.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
It reminds me of people who disparage Hitler as a "failed painter" or whatever. I mean I'm not a fan of his, but his artwork seems alright.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
Wasn't the whole purpose of making her VP to appeal to black voters? The Democrats appear to at least believe she's valuable for that reason, and I'm not sure they want to risk that.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
but even given that he could get all the "we want a competent adult in office" types and get the base by default.
Does he get the base by default? Are the black and/or female parts of the Democrat coalition going to accept Harris being looked over?
I think people are over-estimating how unified the Democrats will be on this. Pretty much anyone important in the Biden administration relies on him continuing to be president to keep their own position, and will not willingly go along with replacing him. If there was someone waiting and perfectly suited to step into Biden's position that would be one thing, and that's usually the role the VP holds, but it doesn't sound like the Democrats have much confidence in Kamala Harris to lead them to victory. On the other hand, they would be risking alienating many of their voters by passing over the black, female VP to pick someone like like Newsom instead.
There's also the question of how exactly they even could force Biden aside, assuming he wants to stay. Would the party rules allow it? And would he be good-natured enough about it not to cause a significant damage?
Partly why my pet theory about Iraq is that Bush was a good person, maybe even kind of smart,
It's quite funny that the meme of Bush being actively stupid endured for so long. I was just watching a bit of one of the 2000 presidential debates and while not at the same level as Al Gore he was obviously a capable individual. Idiots don't become leaders of major nations.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
No, but what you hope for in an ally is that they'll back your side when it comes to such disputes over territory. I'm not taking a position on whether Russia should or shouldn't have gotten more involved in Nagorno-Karabakh; I'm simply pointing out that the whole episode is unlikely to inspire much confidence that Russia is a particularly useful ally to have.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
Of course, I was just reacting to the comical juxtaposition of what seems to have actually happened and the attempt to paint the whole event as some sort watershed revelation of levels of homophobia in western society.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
But the actual motte is that failing to give trans people everything they want is genociding them by driving them to suicide.
My impression was that the genocide claim is mostly based on the argument that not affirming trans people's gender is supposedly denying their existence, which in some way is equivalent to wanting them dead, or whatever.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
What about compared to cis women?
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
(he'd had sex with one of the men who murdered him).
What a world we live in.
ToZanarkand
Some day the dream will end
3mo ago
They could if they wanted to, of course - gay guys had no issues keeping trans men out
To be fair I don't think it's a similar category of problem, in the same way trans men trying to get into male prisons doesn't cause the same concern as trans women in female prisons.
The simplest answer is that Biden's the one making that decision and he thinks he's as sharp as he's ever been. Im sure he also thinks he won the debate and the current panic is all down to a hostile media environment.
More options
Context Copy link