lucius septimius 10/7/2019 5:02:12 AM

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Occasional Reader 10/7/2019 5:24:32 AM

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Good morning.  Jonah Goldberg is on NPR right now yammering about how Trump

has  committed all sorts of impeachable offenses.  What a putz.

10/7/2019 5:29:22 AM

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Trump pulls back troops from northern Syria ahead of Turkish assault, Pentagon officials 'blindsided'

The White House announced late Sunday that Turkey will soon move forward with a planned military operation in northeast Syria, as U.S. troops who have been deployed and operating with Kurdish-led forces in the area began pulling back from their positions.

The decision sent shockwaves through the region and Washington, with U.S. officials telling Fox News that top Pentagon officials were “completely blindsided” by the order to pull back hundreds of U.S. troops, a move that effectively green-lights the Turkey operation. President Trump spoke with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by telephone.

Some officials see the move as a betrayal of the Kurds, whom the U.S. supported against ISIS for years.

10/7/2019 5:30:50 AM

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Reply to JCM in 3:

The good; getting out guys out of the line of fire.

The bad; giving Erdogan the green light and abandoning the Kurds.

10/7/2019 5:32:45 AM

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How do you blow the whistle on a conversation that is in the public domain?

10/7/2019 5:42:49 AM

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10/7/2019 5:42:50 AM

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10/7/2019 5:43:29 AM

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This time with link....

Occasional Reader 10/7/2019 6:03:55 AM

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Reply to Unknown user in 8:

Well, given her solid credentials as a... I'll get back to you.

vxbush 10/7/2019 6:04:39 AM

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In #8 Unknown user said: Panicky Democrats beg Michelle Obama to run -- But would she win?

That link looks bad, but I've fixed it here. 

vxbush 10/7/2019 6:05:35 AM

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In #9 Occasional Reader said: Well, given her solid credentials as a... I'll get back to you.

Yes, but how much do we owe to--who was it who predicted she would run? Buzz? Lucius? My apologies, gentlemen; I've forgotten. 

Occasional Reader 10/7/2019 7:15:04 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 11:

Buzz, IIRC.   In any event, she isn't running yet. 

doppelganglander 10/7/2019 7:33:23 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 12:

There was a tweet from Rasmussen Reports (can't find it now) about a big announcement regarding Hillary at 10:30 (i.e. right now). I don't think it's an announcement of her candidacy - probably just Rasmussen flogging a poll that she would win a hypothetical matchup. And we know how accurate polls are, right?

Occasional Reader 10/7/2019 7:38:00 AM

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doppelganglander 10/7/2019 7:39:04 AM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 13:

And I was right. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/elections/election_2020/trump_vs_clinton_is_still_neck_and_neck

This is my favorite part: 

Among her fellow Democrats, 48% see a Clinton nomination as likely, 46% as unlikely. This includes 17% who say it’s Very Likely and 20% who consider it Not At All Likely.

Silly Democrats.

Occasional Reader 10/7/2019 7:40:39 AM

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In #14 Occasional Reader said: "Extinction Rebellion", without a word of skepticism

Related: Note how the only "criticism" noted at the Wiki page about these nutters comes from the left (they're not "black and brown" enough, blahblahblah). 

doppelganglander 10/7/2019 7:58:23 AM

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In #16 Occasional Reader said: (they're not "black and brown" enough, blahblahblah)

Presumably black and brown people have better sense and are too busy working for a living to engage in grievance theater.

Syrah 10/7/2019 9:17:14 AM

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Abandoning the Kurds is a bad idea.

worse, staying there forever to maintain the status quo, would also be a bad idea.

No Golden options. Just a selection of bad choices.

Personally, I hope that the Kurds can make Turkey regret shooting at Kurds.

Occasional Reader 10/7/2019 9:29:10 AM

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Reply to Syrah in 18:

I understand what Trump is saying about "endless wars", but the fact is, the Kurds have been our allies. To abandon them in this precipitate a way harms our national interest, I fear. The old adage of "harmless as a foe, treacherous as an ally" comes to mind; it's not good for the US for either part of that to be widely perceived as true.

10/7/2019 9:56:44 AM

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Reply to Syrah in 18:

Erdogan is dangerous. He sees Turkey as the Central Islamic Power and would like to restore the Ottoman Empire.

He's got ties to all kinds of bad actors, is a fan of Hitler. All indicators of really bad things if he's not pulled up short.

Syria was fumbled early and often, starting with pulling the rug out from under Assad, the devil you know.

Nothing left to be gained in Syria.

We've screwed the Kurds over enough, they a natural ally in the area, Turkey is still in NATO.

Whole thing is one big Charlie Fox.

lucius septimius 10/7/2019 4:03:34 PM

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Reply to Unknown user in 20:

There has to be more to this story.