Guest Contributor – ArthurinCali – 23MAR2023 – NeoCon Redux

The same people have apparently gotten lazy in the justifications for NeoCon adventures. The new(old) reasoning for escalating involvement in the Ukraine-Russia conflict is so we can ‘fight’ them over there instead of in the USA. Sound familiar? This convoluted logic was used for Iraq after the WMD business ended up being nothing but smoke. They actually think we should believe that the Russian flag will be planted in Paris if we do not accede to their warmonger whims.

This Red Dawn mindset continues to convince people that these political factions actually care about them. Meanwhile, as we fund pensions and salaries in Ukraine so Zelensky can buy another exotic car and send his wife on Paris shopping trips, the CBO has recommended means-testing for VA disability. To help balance the federal budget of course.

These folks are evil to the core.

ArthurinCali Has a Post on NeoCon Madness

Arthur has a post on what the endless NeoCon wars meant to him on the receiving side:

“If a young enlisted kid could recognize the futility of trying to establish the concept of liberal democracy amongst the former nomadic Bedouin tribes that now, playact as “nations”, surely the men and women at the highest positions of US political power and advisement knew this as well. To believe otherwise is a sure indication of their lack of sanity.”

America’s Pandora’s Box – The Ukraine War

In 2001 when the United States was preparing to invade Afghanistan Vladimir Putin reached out to George W. Bush and agreed to provide logistical aid and political clout to convince the Uzbeks to let their country be a staging ground for the invasion of Afghanistan.  Bush made some statement about looking into Putin’s soul.  Whatever that meant there has never been any indication that we ever considered a way to have a positive relationship with Russia.  And after the numerous CIA color revolutions in the former Soviet lands and now with the existential threat that we have handed the Russians in Ukraine I think we must consider we’ve made them permanent implacable enemies.  And that’s not a good thing.  The Russians are not the Iraqis or even the Iranians.  In addition to a nuclear arsenal, they are intelligent, resourceful and highly vindictive.  That’s not a good combination in an enemy.

I’m not thinking ahead to nuclear Armageddon.  Let’s leave that scenario for another day.  But what Russia might do is make us pay a price at home.  What occurs to me is our porous southern border.  And come to think of it, all of Europe’s borders.  The United States and Western Europe have spent the last two decades saying that the world is welcome to traipse into their countries at will.  Well, what if the Russians start sending some of our middle eastern “friends” with some munitions they provide and direct them to those borders.  That would be a very frightening thing.  Or how about men who claim to be Ukrainian refugees?  Could we really know that they weren’t Russians?  I kind of doubt it.

There hasn’t been much in the news lately about Al Qaeda or any of the other crazies that used to be in the news 24/7.  But I believe they’re all mostly still there and now we’ve left them several billions of dollars’ worth of war materiel in Afghanistan and all that’s lacking is a little seed money and plans.  And let’s not forget the Mexican Drug Cartels.  They aren’t our friends.  They have already set up shop in the border states and elsewhere and certainly wouldn’t object to some arms smuggling if the price was right.  Things like infrastructure sabotage and downing airliners seem like no-brainers.  How exactly would we find a needle of determined saboteurs when they’ll be hiding inside of a haystack of millions of illegal aliens that we’ve allowed to flood our country.  I think the answer is we can’t.

We’re providing the Ukrainians with top-of-the-line American arms and we are assuming that the Russians won’t pay us back.  Somehow that seems absurd.  We’ve attempted to starve the Russians out with sanctions and we give the Ukrainians real time location of the Russian senior staff for missile targeting and we think they’ll just sit back and take it.  That seems incredibly naïve.

In fact, I really wouldn’t want to be Joe Biden, Lloyd Austin or General Mark Milley.  They’ve made this very personal for Vladimir Putin and his government.  I don’t think they’re the kind who think of it as impersonal and just “business.”  I remember reading about the prosecution of the Chechen war.  It was a dirty, nasty slog where vendettas and revenge were an integral part of winning.  I would not be surprised to hear that kidnapping and torture became a part of this war.  The Ukrainians have already declared a blacklist of American civilians that they consider targets for assassination.  It would surprise me not at all that the Russians have something similar.

So, the neocons have their war.  They hate the Russians viscerally and now the Russians hate us too.  Brilliant.

H/T to the Conservative Treehouse for Primer on Ukraine Politics

Sundance at the conservative Treehouse has many great links.  I never thought I’d be linking to a documentary made by Oliver Stone, the grandfather of the conspiracy theorists but I found this long (90 minutes) video very informative. Now without a doubt we are getting the Russian take on what happened in Ukraine but it looks like it describes pretty closely what happened in a “color revolution” staged by the CIA and the State Department.

And of course, the neocons and Joe Biden make their appearances.  I think Vladimir Putin is now my favorite evil dictator.  Maybe I looked into his eyes and saw his soul (or something).

Jonah Goldberg Completes His “Joe Scarborough-fication”

Back in the early 2000’s I used to read Jonah Goldberg’s posts at NR Online.  He was pleasant and witty and struck a balance between ideology and practicality that at the time I thought was warranted.  But over the years Goldberg has “evolved.”  His positions have become establishment conservative to the point that they are just moderate Democrat with a streak of Neo-Con foreign policy thrown in.

When Donald Trump exposed the National Review as a useless pack of losers Goldberg slid even farther to the left and then last month when Tucker Carlson began exposing the false flag nature of the January 6th “insurrection” Goldberg flounced out of his Fox News role.  Now he has completed his transition to CNN’s newest “conservative” stooge.  I guess they really needed a new one now that Joe Scarborough has completed his transformation into a less unfunny Stephen Colbert.  Goldberg will provide the needed gravitas to match Don Lemon when they break out the Point/Counterpoint act over the outrage of the week.

I look back at those times and I have to assume it was more a case of my own ignorance than Goldberg’s deception.  He’s probably still the same guy.  He may even still believe exactly the same things he always has.  What’s changed is the degree to which I’ve learned the hard lesson that the establishment Republicans; both the politicians and the media were always there just to use us for a paycheck.  They never believed in the values they claimed they were defending.  Their job was to get our votes or our dollars and put up an act as if they were fighting a battle against the Left and lose gracefully.

So all of Jonah’s act; his “Liberal Fascism” book, his cultural observations; were all just the window dressing to keep us clicking on his show.  Now his show has found its true home.  And with CNN supposedly reworking their brand to be a “straight news” outlet Goldberg can assume his place as the moderate Republican who can explain the crazies on the right to such sages as Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper.

I’m sure it will be a good gig for him.  He’ll adjust his outlook to match the stripe that CNN/Discover is pretending is their version of objectivity this week.  As I said I don’t think Goldberg has changed meaningfully over the years.  If tomorrow they need him to call himself a liberal or a libertarian or a conservative I’m sure he could tweak his act and make it work.

To me the important thing is to learn a little something from the experience.  What I’ve figured out is never take things at face value.  Look at results.  The scientific method is the operative approach.  Do a thought experiment.  If X claims to be a conservative then when X is in office does he make things more conservative?  If the opposite occurs either X is incompetent or X isn’t conservative.  Either way, eliminate X and look for a better alternative and then try it.  It’s very ad hoc but it’s probably the only way to get results.

So good luck Jonah I hope the viewers at CNN enjoy your act.  At least now you’ll be with your actual team.

Hat’s Off to Vox Day For the Funniest Link of the Day

Dinesh D’Souza nails this one and juxtaposing Bill Kristol’s rejoinder is all that’s needed to freeze in time the current state of  Conservative Inc.

http://voxday.blogspot.com/2018/12/everyone-is-over-bill-kristol-and.html

Let’s hope it’s a “teachable moment” for all involved, including me.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.

Daily Pick from American Greatness – Deion Kathawa’s “Boot Licking the Left”

Back during the Iraq War Max Boot was one of the war’s biggest boosters.  When I still thought W was on my side I would read Boot’s articles to understand what strategy was needed to win the war and allow us to get back to being alive.  It didn’t dawn on me that ending the war wasn’t part of the agenda that Boot and the rest of the neo-cons had in store for us.  These were people who would gladly spill every last drop of American blood in order to advance a global project that none of those Americans wanted.

Well, the mask is off.  Trump isn’t Bush.  So Boot isn’t a conservative anymore.  He’s embracing the left with both arms.  Good.  Now he’s home.  Good riddance.

The narrative would be comical if it wasn’t so repellent.  It seems that most of these so called pundits just want a paying gig, regardless of who is paying the check.  Enjoy?

Boot Licking the Left