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Trump has done more to dismantle the American empire than any Democrat could have done even with the best of intentions.
@ 2 where did you get the misguided idea that Democrats want to dismantle the "American Empire" Democrats built it, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower (yeah I know Republican but seriously that decision was literally a coin toss) RFK, LBJ... Republicans are scared shitless of the rest of the world, we Democrats are the ones who recognized the need to lead it.
It is time to strip the Evil Empire of its power. Viva le Resistence!
The entire Trump / Pence team for Prison 2019 (agreed with German Sausage @1--note the fleeing rats deserting the sinking ship en masse).!
@1 - I'm honestly curious: On what are you basing "Putin wanted him to"? No US presence in Syria is, sure, to Russia's benefit in at least 2 ways. But are you implying that Trump followed Putin's instruction? Or acquiesced to some sort of pressure?
It's perfectly possible that Trump announced a withdrawal merely to create a media distraction, and has no actual intention to do so. Note also the recent ramp up in "border wall" blather, and now the drama of a "shutdown" -- With multiple investigations closing in on his throat, his natural tendency is to create media "noise" to distract; and very little of what he says correlates with truth or action, as we know. It's even possible he announced the pull-out in order to push Mattis out for some reason. IDK.
I mean, most Americans didn't even realize until last week that the US even had such a notable occupying presence on the ground there. And pulling our troops out is defensible; but then so is leaving them there. It's a complex situation to say the least. And complex is not a Twumpian strong point.
HEY! I just had an idea for a replacement for Mattis! Whatshisface Jared Kushner! He'd be perfect! He's not busy. Either him or Bannon. Because, clearly.
@4 - You do realize that stripping the Evil Empire of it's power means two things: 1. Dramatic & permanent loss of dollar spending power, which leads directly to global economic convulsions & chaos on a scale we've never seen before, --and 2. a precipitous decline in the American "standard of living". While that has obviously been declining for some time, it would mean a rapid careen into a Depression times 10 above 1930s levels.
While there are good reasons for American economic power to come to an end;, given the current political world (..I mean, have you been reading what China is doing to it's own people?..) the problem remains that massive destabilization is basically rolling out the red carpet for violent authoritarians to waltz in with their thugs and take power.
Given the authoritarian regimes of, oh, Russia, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, and let's throw in India too...just to name the big ones... and also given the now-re-entitled American white supremacists --(to say nothing of the fact that white supremacists have been infiltrating local police forces for 20-30 years now)-- .. we'd be looking at LOTS more violence here and abroad, and against you and me, our sisters & brothers.. Our current progressive cultural gains could be reversed. Rule of Law? whatever, faggot.
Do we think we have the community trust & strength to counter serious authoritarian take overs iwthin an environment of economic chaos and widespread destabilization?
Keep building your networks. Give gifts to those you want as allies. Casually discuss "earthquake" disaster plans with them, and create communication plans. Find out who you would call if you ended up in jail, or who should call you if they got arrested. Create backup plans. Bail money. Group food banks in a friend's large garage. Regular social gatherings.
Rise Cascadia, rise...
Politics has little to do with ideology or core principles. It's about personality cults. It always has been.
The first two American political "parties" were called the pro-Administration and anti-Administration parties. They defined themselves in terms of whether you liked George Washington as POTUS or didn't. And has anything changed since? Today, if you're pro-Trump, it doesn't bother you if Trump violates his own stated platform, because he's still Trump. And if you're pro-Clinton, it doesn't matter to you that she violated the basic principles of her party, either. If you're pro-Sanders, maybe it does, but then again, we never got too the general election stage to see whether he'd change his platform to win votes or not, so we won't know until at least 2020.
In Russia, the United Russia party doesn't even bother with a platform. It's party manifesto is basically a glossy society magazine with pictures of Putin with his shirt off on horseback. In the Philippines, just about every President they've ever elected, from Marcos to Estrada to Duterte, has had the same ideological principle: holding on to power no matter what the cost.
JFK's ideology? Striking great poses for the photographers in nice suits. Reagan's ideology? Camera angles and a soothing vocal pattern. The Clinton ideology? Sound and look like a fratboy's wingman at a dorm party, then boff the intern after slipping her a roofie. The Nixon ideology? Screw them before they screw you.
So yeah, you know, you talk about Trump's Ring of Gyges as if this were a new development, as if Americans had been woke for centuries and then only recently fell into a slumber, hypnotized by this con man. That's a great way fo letting the country off the hook, so nobody's responsible for having actually voted for him. It's bullshit, though. This country has never believed in anything, and nether has any other country, ever. We vote for whoever makes us feel good. And if they drive this train wreck of a country off the rails and into the oncoming traffic, we all just pretend that they were just clever con men that somehow lulled us all into this stupor, like they've got some superhuman power to blind us all to what they're doing. Like they're invisible. They're not. We're blind because we want to be.
Democracy is a joke, because it can only really work if the people doing he voting are fully conscious of what they're doing and take their responsibility seriously. Look around you. How many people do you see who take anything seriously or are fully aware of their responsibility to anyone else? How many people in your immediate surroundings give one flying fuck about anything at all?
And you let these assholes into the voting booth to pick your leaders? No wonder your governments always suck.
@5 treacle: I ....thought we were basically in agreement...?......no? Seriously, I'd far rather return tomorrow morning to an Obama / Biden Administration than the current Trump Pence global disaster.
@6 Andamania: Ah. So you live outside the Divided States. Scary, isn't it?
@7 Andamania: I mean, scary no matter where you are, isn't it?
@6 - "This country has never believed in anything, and nether has any other country, ever."
"How many people in your immediate surroundings give one flying fuck about anything at all?"
NOTHING IS REAL!
Well, don't worry, it could always be worse.
@7 - Oh yes, we're basically in agreement. I was just pointing out that an -overnight- destruction of the Empire would cause unimaginable suffering the world over. ..and open the door to MOAR violent authoritarians. I'm generally on board with the other world powers in their collective efforts to bring down our Empire relatively gently. I'm just not on board with their overt authoritarianism. Just as I'm not on board with ours.
I mean, I look forward to the day I can participate in the local Watershed Council's "Lorax Committee" as a proud citizen of the Cascadian Bioregional Autonomous Federation.... but I also recognize that small regions can go the way of Crimea if not prepared & defended.
-shrug-
@5
There's still a pretty good defense of the "becuase Putin wanted him to" argument available, after you've chucked out the Manchurian Candidate nonsense.
It could very well be that Russia is securing one geopolitical advantage after another these days simply becuase Russia has something the US currently lacks: a department of State. Trump has eviscerated the American foreign policy arm, to the point where there's nobody left who even speaks the languages of the countries they're assigned to. Russia's diplomatic corps, on the other hand, know their languages, regions, players, and brief, and they stick to their brief.