#obama drone strike program

[news4dzhozhar]

The full 30 minute conversation can be watched on YouTube here:

[reality-detective]

Bombshell by Clint Eastwood 👇

Clint Eastwood’s Stark Warning: “Barack Obama Presidency – The Biggest Fraud on the American People”

Clint Eastwood exposes the Barack Obama presidency as ‘the biggest fraud on the American people.’ Dive deep into the controversies, scandals, and secrets behind Obama’s legacy, from the Benghazi scandal to the SEAL Team 6 tragedy. Uncover the truth now!

Legendary actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood boldly claimed:

“One day we will realize that the Barack Obama presidency was the biggest FRAUD ever perpetrated on the American people.”

Eastwood, known for his fearless critique of Hollywood and politics alike, pulls no punches in his assessment of Obama’s tenure. Eastwood’s statement brings fresh scrutiny to a presidency that was celebrated by many yet criticized for its scandals and failings. Let’s dive deeper into the unfolding story.

Clint Eastwood: A Fearless Voice in a Hollywood of Silence

Eastwood’s words matter. This is not just another Hollywood actor parroting opinions. He stands apart from the Hollywood echo chamber, a space where most actors are afraid to speak out against the political mainstream. Eastwood’s condemnation of Obama comes at a time when the Obama administration is still debated fiercely.

Barack Obama: Nobel Peace Prize Winner with a Kill List

Obama’s controversial actions tell a different story. The Obama administration was marked by military interventions and controversial drone strikes that led to civilian casualties. Critics mention Obama’s “kill list” – a classified list of individuals targeted for drone strikes without trial.

The narrative of peace clashes with extrajudicial killings. The drone program under Obama raises serious questions about human rights and the ethical implications. Was Obama’s portrayal as a peaceful leader nothing but a crafted illusion?

SEAL Team 6: The Tragic Story and Unanswered Questions

One of the most gut-wrenching events is the suspicious fate of SEAL Team 6 in 2011. Conspiracies have surrounded this incident, suggesting the team was set up or used as political pawns.

Was this merely an unfortunate accident, or does it point to sinister dealings within the Obama administration? Critics argue that the truth about SEAL Team 6 has been hidden, and call for accountability and criminal prosecution, placing Obama’s role under intense scrutiny.

The Benghazi Scandal: The Truth Behind the Treason

One of the most haunting legacies of the Obama presidency is Benghazi. An attack on the U.S. consulate in 2012 left four Americans dead, spiraling into a political firestorm. Allegations of negligence, cover-up, and treason were leveled against both Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The Obama administration’s mishandling of Benghazi endangered American lives and demonstrated a betrayal of trust. The symbol of treachery still lingers over the Obama-Clinton era.

Obama’s Legacy: A Tarnished Record or Unfairly Targeted?

Eight years of the Obama presidency left behind a polarizing legacy. To some, he was a beacon of hope; to others, a symbol of failed policies. Eastwood’s scathing critique calls into question whether the rosy image of Obama is based on reality or political spin.

Issues like the Iran nuclear deal, mishandling of Syria, and IRS targeting of conservatives add more fuel. Hero or fraud? Visionary leader or master of deception?

Why the Truth Matters

Eastwood’s statement is a call for accountability. It's urging us to look beyond the polished speeches and uncover the truth about Obama. From the SEAL Team 6 incident to the Benghazi drama, the Obama administration's alleged misdeeds left a mark that can’t be ignored. This is about truth, justice, and the trust between a nation and its leader. 🤔

[ileftherbackhome]

i actually had to look up how old i was when obama reformed the drone strike program and i was already a teenager so i think that's why it really fucking concerns me seeing "gen z lefists" fall for the racist propaganda that obama is just as bad, if not worse than, any of the white men who held that seat before and after him.

like, i see people in their early 20s learn about obama's drone strike program and think that he was out here killing civilians when he neither created the program nor was his reform aimed at killing civilians. in fact, it had the express opposite goal and it's just wild to me that all it takes is 1 racist nazi after him to completely erase how good of a president obama actually was.

[starseedpatriot]

A fact sheet of WAR CRIMINAL Barack Obama

Sent 3,500 U.S. troops and tanks to Russia's doorstep in one of his final decisions as president.

Ordered ten times more drone strikes than Bush.

Dropped 26,171 bombs in 2016 alone (an average of 72 bombs every day).

Put boots on the ground in Syria , despite 16 times saying "no boots on the ground".

Dropped bombs in 7 Muslim countries; and then bragged about it .

Bragged about his use of drones.

Signed the Monsanto Protection Act into law.

Started a new war in Iraq .

Initiated, and personally oversees a 'Secret Kill List'.

Pushed for war on Syria while siding with al-Qaeda and ISIS.

Backed neo-Nazis in Ukraine.

Deployed Special Ops to 134 countries - compared to 60 under Bush.

Drastically escalated the NSA spying program .

Signed the NDAA into law - making it legal to assassinate Americans w/o charge or trial.

Gave Bush absolute immunity for everything.

Pushed for a TPP Trade Pact .

Started a new "war on terror "- this one on ISIS, while waging ,arming,training them.

Signed more executive memoranda than any other president in history.

Signed an agreement for 7 military bases in Colombia .

Opened a military base in Chile.

Defended body scans and pat-downs at airports.

Signed the Patriot Act extension into law.

Launched 20,000 Airstrikes in his first term.

Continued Bush's rendition program.

Waged war on Libya without congressional approval.

Started a covert, drone war in Yemen.

Escalated the proxy war in Somalia.

Escalated the CIA drone war in Pakistan.

Sharply escalated the war in Afghanistan.

Repealed the Propaganda ban, making it legal to spread government propaganda and false stories via news outlets.( white helmets, Sarin gas attacks )

Assassinated 4 US citizens with drone strikes.

Obama dropped 9600 rounds of 30mm uranium depleted amunition in the Middle East.

But 'Orange Man Bad' right? 🙄

@MrTruthBomb

[azspot]

“Serious” politicians gave us twenty years of war after 9/11. “Serious” Bill Clinton ended the federal welfare system. “Serious” Obama expanded the drone program. And “serious” Joe Biden broke the rail strike. All of these very serious people have given us decade upon miserable decade of miserable neoliberal economics. It should take more than an eyerolling reference to Williamson’s alleged unseriousness to get Biden off the hook. Reporters should stop asking whether he’s “annoyed” by the possibility of a democratic election and start asking him when he’ll agree to a series of debates.

Will Joe Biden Debate Marianne Williamson?

[wahoc1]

Obama's 'record'

Among other things, president Barack Obama:

* Dropped bombs in 7 countries (all predominantly Muslim).

* Sent 3,500 U.S. troops and tanks to Russia’s doorstep in one of his final decisions as president.

* Ordered ten times more drone strikes than Bush.

* Dropped 26,171 bombs in 2016 alone (an average of 72 bombs every day).

* Put boots on the ground in Syria , despite 16 times saying “no boots on the ground”.

* Despite campaign pledges, planned a $1 trillion progam to add more nuclear weapons to the US arsenal in the next 30 years.

* Said, “I believe in American exceptionalism with every fiber of my being.”

* Bragged about his use of drones  - I’m “really good at killing people”.

* Deported a modern-record 2 million immigrants.

* Just like Trump, separated immigrant children from their families.

* Signed the Monsanto Protection Act into law.

* Started a new war in Iraq .

* Initiated, and personally oversaw a ‘Secret Kill List’.

* Pushed for war on Syria while siding with al-Qaeda .

* Knowingly Funded a Designated al-Qaeda Affiliate.

* Backed neo-Nazis in Ukraine.

* Supported Israel’s wars and occupation of Palestine.

* Deployed Special Ops to 134 countries - compared to 60 under Bush.

* Did a TV commercial promoting “clean coal”.

* Drastically escalated the  NSA spying program .

* Signed the NDAA into law - making it legal to assassinate Americans w/o charge or trial.

* Given Bush absolute immunity for everything.

* Pushed for a TPP Trade Pact .

* Started a new war on terror - this one on ISIS .

* Signed more executive memoranda than any other president in history.

* Transferred more than $100 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia, more than any other administration in history.

* Signed an agreement for 7 military bases in Colombia .

* Opened a military base in Chile.

* Touted nuclear power , even after the disaster in Japan.

* Opened up deepwater oil drilling, even after the BP disaster.

* Mandated the Insider Threat Program which orders federal employees to report suspicious actions of their colleagues.

* Defended body scans and pat-downs at airports.

* Signed the Patriot Act extension into law.

* Launched 20,000 Airstrikes in his first term.

* Continued Bush’s rendition program.

* Said the U.S. is the “one indispensable nation” in the world.

* Waged war on Libya without congressional approval.

* Started a covert, drone war in Yemen.

* Escalated the proxy war in  Somalia.

* Escalated the CIA drone war in Pakistan.

* Sharply escalated the war in Afghanistan.

* Repealed the Propaganda ban, making it legal to spread government propaganda via news outlets.

* Assassinated 4 US citizens with drone strikes.

[grayheartart]

When the Biden administration was actively engaging in racial discrimination in federal programs I don't remember any calls for impeachment or criminal prosecutions to started against the Biden.

When the Biden Administration violated the Constitution by using the CDC to impose a nationwide moratorium against evictions, there were no calls for him to be held accountable for his unlawful act.

When cocaine was found at the white house, the DOJ refused to even examine the issue for criminality.

Under this administrations DOJ, they deliberately slow-walked investigstions into tax crimes that the presidents son had committed to the point that the statute of limitations ran out.

OP can inhale furious amounts of dick.

"Also, Obama’s drone strikes are wildly unpopular particularly among leftists and many of them would like it if he were held accountable so I’m not sure why you used that as an example, as it weakens your argument"

It doesn't weaken the argument at all, in fact its the biggest weakness in OPs argument. You can say they were "wildly unpopular" all you like but the fact of the matter still remains that not a single fucking Democrat ever breathed a word about prosecuting a former president before Trump became a target.

And what was that prosecution and subsequent convictions for? 34 non-violent crimes related to falsifying business records?

Cool, so "wildly unpopular drone strikes" that fucking kill people gets disapproving frowns from Democrats but God help you if Democrats find out you hide a payment to some prostitute. Democrats have been putting their thumb on the scales of justice for at least the last 15 years and their rabid and targeted treatment of a former president is proof of this

Sotomayor and Jackson's dissent are the wild unhinged shrieking of leftists belief that the sky is falling because they lost a criminal case their party brought in the first place.

Putting this as a meme so maybe y'all will actually read it.

Held: Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.

And this is why we cannot let Trump win another term: he now has complete immunity for any acts he "officially" performs as president. You thought he was bad before? Now he will have zero fear. He will do whatever he wants. And what he wants is outlined in Project 2025.

[veale2006-blog]

Bombshell!!!! Clint Eastwood’s Stark Warning: “Barack Obama Presidency – The Biggest Fraud on the American People”

Clint Eastwood exposes the Barack Obama presidency as ‘the biggest fraud on the American people.’ Dive deep into the controversies, scandals, and secrets behind Obama’s legacy, from the Benghazi scandal to the SEAL Team 6 tragedy. Uncover the truth now!

Legendary actor and filmmaker Clint Eastwood boldly claimed: “One day we will realize that the Barack Obama presidency was the biggest FRAUD ever perpetrated on the American people.”

Eastwood, known for his fearless critique of Hollywood and politics alike, pulls no punches in his assessment of Obama’s tenure. Eastwood’s statement brings fresh scrutiny to a presidency that was celebrated by many yet criticized for its scandals and failings. Let’s dive deeper into the unfolding story.

Clint Eastwood: A Fearless Voice in a Hollywood of Silence

Eastwood’s words matter. This is not just another Hollywood actor parroting opinions. He stands apart from the Hollywood echo chamber, a space where most actors are afraid to speak out against the political mainstream. Eastwood’s condemnation of Obama comes at a time when the Obama administration is still debated fiercely.

Barack Obama: Nobel Peace Prize Winner with a Kill List

Obama’s controversial actions tell a different story. The Obama administration was marked by military interventions and controversial drone strikes that led to civilian casualties. Critics mention Obama’s “kill list” – a classified list of individuals targeted for drone strikes without trial.

The narrative of peace clashes with extrajudicial killings. The drone program under Obama raises serious questions about human rights and the ethical implications. Was Obama’s portrayal as a peaceful leader nothing but a crafted illusion?

SEAL Team 6: The Tragic Story and Unanswered Questions

One of the most gut-wrenching events is the suspicious fate of SEAL Team 6 in 2011. Conspiracies have surrounded this incident, suggesting the team was set up or used as political pawns.

Was this merely an unfortunate accident, or does it point to sinister dealings within the Obama administration? Critics argue that the truth about SEAL Team 6 has been hidden, and call for accountability and criminal prosecution, placing Obama’s role under intense scrutiny.

The Benghazi Scandal: The Truth Behind the Treason

One of the most haunting legacies of the Obama presidency is Benghazi. An attack on the U.S. consulate in 2012 left four Americans dead, spiraling into a political firestorm. Allegations of negligence, cover-up, and treason were leveled against both Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The Obama administration’s mishandling of Benghazi endangered American lives and demonstrated a betrayal of trust. The symbol of treachery still lingers over the Obama-Clinton era.

Obama’s Legacy: A Tarnished Record or Unfairly Targeted?

Eight years of the Obama presidency left behind a polarizing legacy. To some, he was a beacon of hope; to others, a symbol of failed policies. Eastwood’s scathing critique calls into question whether the rosy image of Obama is based on reality or political spin.

Issues like the Iran nuclear deal, mishandling of Syria, and IRS targeting of conservatives add more fuel. Hero or fraud? Visionary leader or master of deception?

Why the Truth Matters

Eastwood’s statement is a call for accountability. It's urging us to look beyond the polished speeches and uncover the truth about Obama. From the SEAL Team 6 incident to the Benghazi drama, the Obama administration's alleged misdeeds left a mark that can’t be ignored. This is about truth, justice, and the trust between a nation and its leader.

[endquire]

[newsource21]

President Biden’s Oval Office address to the nation on Oct. 19 danced around the core issue of Iran’s financing, training, and encouragement of violent, brutal forces across the region and beyond, as well as its nuclear missile program.

Thus, the gathering might of the U.S. Navy off the coast of Israel in the form of two aircraft carrier strike groups and a Marine Expeditionary Unit betrays unimaginative, linear thinking.

If used, American firepower would augment Israel’s own considerable military force. In theory, this threat helps to deter Hezbollah from unleashing its arsenal of 100,000 missiles on Israel, many of them sophisticated.

But, like Hamas, Hezbollah is expert at digging. They hide their missile launchers in an extensive network of tunnels and bunkers — all guarded by an air defense network that is likely to get lucky enough times to raise the specter of captured American pilots.

The last time U.S. naval aviation operated over Lebanon was in 1983, in response to the Beirut barracks bombing in October — an attack that Iranian authorities arrogantly claimed credit for in the past month. Until 9/11, it was the deadliest terror attack on Americans. Two months later, the Syrian military fired on U.S. Navy aircraft, shooting down two A-6 attack jets and capturing an officer.

Optimal Use of U.S. Air Force and Navy

If the incremental addition of American airpower is helpful to the pending effort to destroy Hamas while deterring a wider conflict, that role can more than adequately be filled by the U.S. Air Force.

The U.S. Navy should instead be concentrating 2,000 miles to the east in the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea. There, the U.S. Navy would be playing to its unambiguous strength, enforcing sanctions against Iran by controlling the sea lines of communication that Iran depends on to generate the cash for its empire of terror.

Unfortunately, this would require a Biden administration that was both imaginative and strategic — and not in the thrall of a recently revealed Iranian influence operation that managed to place several advisors friendly to the Iranian mullahs in key national security positions since the Obama administration. Chief among these, Robert Malley, a longtime friend of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and an architect of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran, a deal that focused exclusively on Iran’s nuclear program, rewarding the mullahs with cash and sanctions relief while greenlighting their missile program and global support for terror.

Iran’s Nuclear Program

Instead, Biden’s systematic appeasement of Iran, a continuation of the Obama-era policy that weirdly sought to use Iran as a counter to perceived Israeli intransigence on the Palestinian problem, has resumed. Up until the gruesome events of Oct. 7, Biden’s national security team was willfully blind to Iran’s bloody history of sponsoring terror and its determined drive to produce nuclear weapons and missiles to deliver them.

As a result, U.N. sanctions against Iran’s nuclear, missile, and drone program — never well enforced by Biden — expired on Oct. 18 with the U.S. announcing its own unilateral set of sanctions. The U.S. continues to pretend these efforts are somehow slowing Iran’s drive to push its nuclear program to completion, while Russian use of Iranian combat drones in Ukraine reveals the prior sanctions regime as inadequate to the task.

Reagan-Era Lessons

The U.S. never fully grappled with the Iranian theocracy after the shah was toppled in 1979. During the Cold War, it was assumed that the Soviet Union would come to Iran’s aid and that the military cost of defeating the regime would be too high.

Instead, the U.S. was content to see Iran tied down in a bloody stalemate against Iraq after the latter invaded in 1980.

As the war started to threaten oil exports out of the Gulf, America responded by providing a U.S. Navy escort to six Kuwaiti-owned super tankers in July 1987.  

After an escorting U.S. Navy ship struck a mine on April 14, 1988, the Reagan administration responded only four days later with Operation Praying Mantis. It was the Navy’s largest combat action since World War II, sinking an Iranian guided missile frigate, crippling a second, sinking four other boats, and destroying two militarized oil platforms at the cost of one helicopter with two crew lost.

The operation was thoroughly wargamed a year before, when it was determined that an unambiguously aggressive response to Iran would likely prevent the conflict from escalating. In other words, a disproportionate response would rob Iran of the ability to control the timing and mode of escalation, reducing U.S. casualties and preserving the peace.

Applying Force

This lesson from the Reagan era opens up a final consideration. Rather than following through on the foolish precedent of incentivizing hostage-taking via negotiation and cash payments, America should ditch the carrots and pick up the stick.

Imagine the transformative discussion over the current hostage crisis — and the forestalling of future hostage-taking by Iran and its proxies — if the U.S. were to announce that every hostage taken is worth $1 billion (or $1.171 billion if we wish to account for Bidenflation). That amount would be deducted from seized Iranian assets or taken from oil tankers filled with Iranian oil. The proceeds would compensate hostages and their families, with the remainder used to replenish the Pentagon’s waning stocks of armaments.

This is exactly the kind of naval power application the U.S. Navy was built for.

[aflamethatneverdies]

In Pakistan as well, they used health workers and vaccination campaigns to conduct the raid under Obama Administration. US Government's raid is also the reason why health workers specifically were targeted and killed by taliban militants.

The raid by U.S. forces on bin Laden's compound fueled the anger that many Pakistanis already felt about American involvement in the region, and the revelations about the CIA's covert vaccination plot fed into such rumors and gave them credence, say health experts. "After Abbottabad, these rumors became fact in the minds of many Pakistanis," says an international health worker who asked not to be identified because the attack on Abbottabad remains a sensitive issue for the Pakistani government. [...] After rumors spread that Afridi was connected to the CIA, every vaccination worker in Pakistan fell under suspicion. This was especially true in the mountains along the Afghan border, which were both high-contagion areas and Taliban and al Qaeda strongholds. The Taliban also suspected that polio workers were secretly collecting intelligence for U.S. drone strikes. To the Pashtun tribes that inhabited these mountains, it wasn't so far-fetched. They lived in terror of the drones.

The distrust sowed by the sham campaign in Pakistan could conceivably postpone polio eradication for 20 years, leading to 100,000 more cases that might otherwise not have occurred, says Leslie F. Roberts of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. “Forevermore, people would say this disease, this crippled child is because the U.S. was so crazy to get Osama bin Laden,” he argues. The vaccination ruse also poses a moral problem. Physicians take a Hippocratic oath to do no harm. Humanitarian workers adhere to an international code of conduct that requires that their services be provided independently of national agendas, on the basis of need alone. The misguided vaccine program in Pakistan was started in a poor neighborhood of Abbottabad, no doubt to give it an air of legitimacy. Yet after the first in a standard series of three hepatitis B shots was given, the effort was abandoned so that the team could move to bin Laden's wealthier community. This lapse in protocol proves that the best interests of the recipients were not the guiding principle of the effort—while not coincidently betraying the program for the sham it was.

I know this isn’t a novel observation but I’ve been reading a lot of articles about colonial and imperial policy (specifically demography history papers) & one pattern that keeps coming up is that colonial/imperial governments try to institute what can reasonably be described as “good” social policies in colonised places (like vaccine programs, funding for schools, etc, things that are associated with the smooth functioning of a state), and these are often rejected by local colonised governments and people because like obviously they don’t trust colonial/imperial administrators wanting to become involved with their healthcare or education. And what often ends up happening is this backlash against “progressive” policies because they’re being pushed by colonial governments, so you get shit like the Catholic Church running all the primary schools in Ireland because they refuse to open British-funded state schools, or people refusing to immunize their children because those “public goods” are (rationally & understandably) associated with things like US imperial population management programs. And then these colonial & imperial administrators turn around and say look! These people won’t even accept money for schools and vaccines! Look how backwards they are! And paint colonised populations as Great Rejectors of Democracy which western populations then readily eat up. Just a really horrendous feedback loop of misery that generates a lot of ‘secondary’ death and violence on top direct colonial oppression and plunder

[qqueenofhades]

Re: the post you reblogged about Bush. I'm 21 and tbh feel like I can only vote for Bernie, can you explain if/why I shouldn't? Thanks and sorry if this is dumb or anything.

Oh boy. Okay, I’ll do my best here. Note that a) this will get long, and b) I’m old, Tired, and I‘m pretty sure my brain tried to kill me last night. Since by nature I am sure I will say something Controversial ™, if anyone reads this and feels a deep urge to inform me that I am Wrong, just… mark it down as me being Wrong and move on with your life. But also, really, you should read this and hopefully think about it. Because while I’m glad you asked this question, it feels like there’s a lot in your cohort who won’t, and that worries me. A lot.

First, not to sound utterly old-woman-in-a-rocking-chair ancient, people who came of age/are only old enough to have Obama be the first president that they really remember have no idea how good they had it. The world was falling the fuck apart in 2008 (not coincidentally, after 8 years of Bush). We came within a flicker of the permanent collapse of the global economy. The War on Terror was in full roar, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were at their height, we had Dick Cheney as the cartoon supervillain before we had any of Trump’s cohort, and this was before Chelsea Manning or Edward Snowden had exposed the extent of NSA/CIA intelligence-gathering/American excesses or there was any kind of public debate around the fact that we were all surveilled all the time. And the fact that a brown guy named Barack Hussein Obama was elected in this climate seems, and still seems tbh, kind of amazing. And Obama was certainly not a Perfect President ��. He had to scale back a lot of planned initiatives, he is notorious for expanding the drone strike/extrajudicial assassination program, he still subscribed to the overall principles of neoliberalism and American exceptionalism, etc etc. There is valid criticism to be made as to how the hopey-changey optimistic rhetoric stacked up against the hard realities of political office. And yet…. at this point, given what we’re seeing from the White House on a daily basis, the depth of the parallel universe/double standards is absurd.

Because here’s the thing. Obama, his entire family, and his entire administration had to be personally/ethically flawless the whole time (and they managed that – not one scandal or arrest in eight years, against the legions of Trumpistas now being convicted) because of the absolute frothing depths of Republican hatred, racial conspiracy theories, and obstruction against him. (Remember Merrick Garland and how Mitch McConnell got away with that, and now we have Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court? Because I remember that). If Obama had pulled one-tenth of the shit, one-twentieth of the shit that the Trump administration does every day, he would be gone. It also meant that people who only remember Obama think he was typical for an American president, and he wasn’t. Since about… Jimmy Carter, and definitely since Ronald Reagan, the American people have gone for the Trump model a lot more than the Obama model. Whatever your opinion on his politics or character, Obama was a constitutional law professor, a community activist, a neighborhood organizer and brilliant Ivy League intellectual who used to randomly lie awake at night thinking about income inequality. Americans don’t value intellectualism in their politicians; they just don’t. They don’t like thinking that “the elites” are smarter than them. They like the folksy populist who seems fun to have a beer with, and Reagan/Bush Senior/Clinton/Bush Junior sold this persona as hard as they possibly could. As noted in said post, Bush Junior (or Shrub as the late, great Molly Ivins memorably dubbed him) was Trump Lite but from a long-established political family who could operate like an outwardly civilized human.

The point is: when you think Obama was relatively normal (which, again, he wasn’t, for any number of reasons) and not the outlier in a much larger pattern of catastrophic damage that has been accelerated since, again, the 1980s (oh Ronnie Raygun, how you lastingly fucked us!), you miss the overall context in which this, and which Trump, happened. Like most left-wingers, I don’t agree with Obama’s recent and baffling decision to insert himself into the 2020 race and warn the Democratic candidates against being too progressive or whatever he was on about. I think he was giving into the same fear that appears to be motivating the remaining chunk of Joe Biden’s support: that middle/working-class white America won’t go for anything too wild or that might sniff of Socialism, and that Uncle Joe, recalled fondly as said folksy populist and the internet’s favorite meme grandfather from his time as VP, could pick up the votes that went to Trump last time. And that by nature, no one else can.

The underlying belief is that these white voters just can’t support anything too “un-American,” and that by pushing too hard left, Democratic candidates risk handing Trump a second term. Again: I don’t agree and I think he was mistaken in saying it. But I also can’t say that Obama of all people doesn’t know exactly the strength of the political machine operating against the Democratic Party and the progressive agenda as a whole, because he ran headfirst into it for eight years. The fact that he managed to pass any of his legislative agenda, usually before the Tea Party became a thing in 2010, is because Democrats controlled the House and Senate for the first two years of his first term. He was not perfect, but it was clear that he really did care (just look up the pictures of him with kids). He installed smart, efficient, and scandal-free people to do jobs they were qualified for. He gave us Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to join RBG on the Supreme Court. All of this seems… like a dream.

That said: here we are in a place where Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren are the front-runners for the Democratic nomination (and apparently Pete Buttigieg is getting some airplay as a dark horse candidate, which… whatever). The appeal of Biden is discussed above, and he sure as hell is not my favored candidate (frankly, I wish he’d just quit). But Sanders and Warren are 85% - 95% similar in their policy platforms. The fact that Michael “50 Billion Dollar Fortune” Bloomberg started rattling his chains about running for president is because either a Sanders or Warren presidency terrifies the outrageously exploitative billionaire capitalist oligarchy that runs this country and has been allowed to proceed essentially however the fuck they like since… you guessed it, the 1980s, the era of voodoo economics, deregulation, and the free market above all. Warren just happens to be ten years younger than Sanders and female, and Sanders’ age is not insignificant. He’s 80 years old and just had a heart attack, and there’s still a year to go to the election. It’s also more than a little eye-rolling to describe him as the only progressive candidate in the race, when he’s an old white man (however much we like and approve of his policy positions). And here’s the thing, which I think is a big part of the reason why this polarized ideological purity internet leftist culture mistrusts Warren:

She may have changed her mind on things in the past.

Scary, right? I sound like I’m being facetious, but I’m not. An argument I had to read with my own two eyes on this godforsaken hellsite was that since Warren became a Democrat around the time Clinton signed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, she sekritly hated gay people and might still be a corporate sellout, so on and etcetera. (And don’t even get me STARTED on the fact that DADT, coming a few years after the height of the AIDS crisis which was considered God’s Judgment of the Icky Gays, was the best Clinton could realistically hope to achieve, but this smacks of White Gay Syndrome anyway and that is a whole other kettle of fish.) Bernie has always demonstrably been a democratic socialist, and: good for him. I’m serious. But because there’s the chance that Warren might not have thought exactly as she does now at any point in her life, the hysterical and paranoid left-wing elements don’t trust that she might not still secretly do so. (Zomgz!) It’s the same element that’s feeding cancel culture and “wokeness.” Nobody can be allowed to have shifted or grown in their opinions or, like a functional, thoughtful, non-insane adult, changed their beliefs when presented with compelling evidence to the contrary. To the ideological hordes, any hint of uncertainty or past failure to completely toe the line is tantamount to heresy. Any evidence of any other belief except The Correct One means that this person is functionally as bad as Trump. And frankly, it’s only the Sanders supporters who, just as in 2016, are threatening to withhold their vote in the general election if their preferred candidate doesn’t win the primary, and indeed seem weirdly proud about it.

OK, boomer Bernie or Buster.

Here’s the thing, the thing, the thing: there is never going to be an American president free of the deeply toxic elements of American ideology. There just won’t be. This country has been built how it has for 250 years, and it’s not gonna change. You are never going to have, at least not in the current system, some dream candidate who gets up there and parrots the left-wing talking points and attacks American imperialism, exceptionalism, ravaging global capitalism, military and oil addiction, etc. They want to be elected as leader of a country that has deeply internalized and taken these things to heart for its entire existence, and most of them believe it to some degree themselves. So this groupthink white liberal mentality where the only acceptable candidate is this Perfect Non-Problematic robot who has only ever had one belief their entire lives and has never ever wavered in their devotion to doctrine has really gotten bad. The Democratic Party would be considered… maybe center/mild left in most other developed countries. It’s not even really left-wing by general standards, and Sanders and Warren are the only two candidates for the nomination who are even willing to go there and explicitly put out policy proposals that challenge the systematic structure of power, oppression, and exploitation of the late-stage capitalist 21st century. Warren has the billionaires fussed, and instead of backing down, she’s doubling down. That’s part of why they’re so scared of her. (And also misogyny, because the world is depressing like that.) She is going head-on after picking a fight with some of the worst people on the planet, who are actively killing the rest of us, and I don’t know about you, but I like that.

Of course: none of this will mean squat if she (or the eventual Democratic winner, who I will vote for regardless of who it is, but as you can probably tell, she’s my ride or die) don’t a) win the White House and then do as they promised on the campaign trail, and b) don’t have a Democratic House and Senate willing to have a backbone and pass the laws. Even Nancy Pelosi, much as she’s otherwise a badass, held off on opening a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump for months out of fear it would benefit him, until the Ukraine thing fell into everyone’s laps. The Democrats are really horrible at sticking together and voting the party line the way Republicans do consistently, because Democrats are big-tent people who like to think of themselves as accepting and tolerant of other views and unwilling to force their members’ hands. The Republicans have no such qualms (and indeed, judging by their enabling of Trump, have no qualms at all). 

The modern American Republican party has become a vehicle for no-holds-barred power for rich white men at the expense of absolutely everything and everyone else, and if your rationale is that you can’t vote for the person opposing Donald Goddamn Trump is that you’re just not vibing with them on the language of that one policy proposal… well, I’m glad that you, White Middle Class Liberal, feel relatively safe that the consequences of that decision won’t affect you personally. Even if we’re due to be out of the Paris Climate Accords one day after the 2020 election, and the issue of climate change now has the most visibility it’s ever had after years of big-business, Republican-led efforts to deny and discredit the science, hey, Secret Corporate Shill, am I right? Can’t trust ‘er. Let’s go have a craft beer.

As has been said before: vote as far left as you want in the primary. Vote your ideology, vote whatever candidate you want, because the only way to make actual, real-world change is to do that. The huge, embedded, all-consuming and horrible system in which we operate is not just going to suddenly be run by fairy dust and happy thoughts overnight. Select candidates that reflect your values exactly, be as picky and ideologically militant as you want. That’s the time to do that! Then when it comes to the general election:

America is a two-party system. It sucks, but that’s the case. Third-party votes, or refraining from voting because “it doesn’t matter” are functionally useless at best and actively harmful at worst.

Either the Democratic candidate or Donald Trump will win the 2020 election.

There is absolutely no length that the Republican/GOP machine, and its malevolent allies elsewhere, will not go to in order to secure a Trump victory. None.

Any talk whatsoever about “progressive values” or any kind of liberal activism, coupled with a course of action that increases the possibility of a Trump victory, is hypocritical at best and actively malicious at worst.

This is why I found the Democratic response to Obama’s “don’t go too wild” comments interesting. Bernie doubled down on the fact that his plans have widespread public support, and he’s right. (Frankly, the fact that Sanders and Warren are polling at the top, and the fact that they’re politicians and would not be crafting these campaign messages if they didn’t know that they were being positively received, says plenty on its own). Warren cleverly highlighted and praised Obama’s accomplishments in office (i.e. the Affordable Care Act) and didn’t say squat about whether she agreed or disagreed with him, then went right back to campaigning about why billionaires suck. And some guy named Julian Castro basically blew Obama off and claimed that “any Democrat” could beat Trump in 2020, just by nature of existing and being non-insane.

This is very dangerous! Do not be Julian Castro!

As I said in my tags on the Bush post: everyone assumed that sensible people would vote for Kerry in 2004. Guess what happened? Yeah, he got Swift Boated. The race between Obama and McCain in 2008, even after those said nightmare years of Bush, was very close until the global crash broke it open in Obama’s favor, and Sarah Palin was an actual disqualifier for a politician being brazenly incompetent and unprepared. (Then again, she was a woman from a remote backwater state, not a billionaire businessman.) In 2012, we thought Corporate MormonBot Mitt Fuggin’ Romney was somehow the worst and most dangerous candidate the Republicans could offer. In 2016, up until Election Day itself, everyone assumed that HRC was a badly flawed candidate but would win anyway. And… we saw how that worked out. Complacency is literally deadly.

I was born when Reagan was still president. I’m just old enough to remember the efforts to impeach Clinton over forcing an intern to give him a BJ in the Oval Office (This led by the same Republicans making Donald Trump into a darling of the evangelical Christian right wing.) I’m definitely old enough to remember 9/11 and how America lost its mind after that, and I remember the Bush years. And, obviously, the contrast with Obama, the swing back toward Trump, and everything that has happened since. We can’t afford to do this again. We’re hanging by a thread as it is, and not just America, but the entire planet.

So yes. By all means, vote for Sanders in the primary. Then when November 3, 2020 rolls around, if you care about literally any of this at all, hold your nose if necessary and vote straight-ticket Democrat, from the president, to the House and Senate, to the state and local offices. I cannot put it more strongly than that.

[moonlessnight125]

The incorrect quotes of metal gear rising revengeance part 1 sentence starters

(Feel free to change names/pronouns/ect. I put way too much time into this)

"Drone strike the wedding."

"Why hello there, would you care to see my rgb lighting? I spent 3000$"

"Sir this is a Wendy's."

"I'll just have to give you a demonstration then."

"Oh shit he's got ______ let's get the fuck out."

"I guess you can say he was half the man he use to be."

"My name is _____ I have shit my doodoo ass."

"Don't worry ______ I'll protect you from this sidewalk."

"Where the fuck is _______"

"Hold on, I think I hear boss music"

"Let's hope obama care covers euthanasia."

"I'd loved to, but no. I have a giant fucking robot."

"Why do the politicians hog all the good missiles?"

"Face it _____ you can't even hold a sword."

"What the fuck is a sword."

"I can give you a demonstration, but first. What's your favorite hand?"

"Oh fuck he's using bullets."

"Can you lend me a hand? I promise I'll stop collecting them."

"What the fuck is a dog."

"You are such a fucking phillstine."

"I am pre-programmed with knowledge of everyone."

"I will never eat peanut butter ever again."

"Oh my god. It's a woman."

"Please stay back."

"God I wish that were me."

"That can be arranged."

"You are truly weirdchamp."

"_____ are you wearing a serbaro?"

"It's my disguise, I'm trying to blend in."

"You're trying to give me a fucking brain anerisam."

"Your destination is on the right."

"Oh my god, it's a smash tournament. I have to stop it!"

"It's alright, I don't have a Twitter account."

"You speak English?"

"I don't know what a McDonald's does."

"I'm gonna leave this game for awhile, play some good old Gary's mod."

"Oh my god, I can't possibly cut through glass."

"I don't have time for this conversation. Children are in danger."

"What's a gun?"

"Oh my program is on."

"Sorry officer, I was just playing league of legends."

"Alright I've heard enough, lethal force authorized."

"What's up gamers?"

"Let me tell you something important [name]. You're a normie and a beta male cuck."

"I'm only here to despise justice."

"That's cringe [name] and your setup is weak."

"Your clout doesn't mean anything. It's worthless."

"Cope and seethe [name], why don't you go back to Facebook and post some minion memes?"

"All this murder and you're still not based."

"What the fuck is wrong with his hair?"

"My name is [name] of the sussy imposters."

"There's something genuinely wrong with you."

"Your idea of freedom is enslaving children?!"

"We are all pawns, controlled by something greater: Memes. The DNA of the soul. They shape our will. They are the culture — they are everything we pass on. Expose someone to anger long enough, they will learn to hate. They become a carrier. Envy, greed, despair… All memes. All passed along."

"How about full of shit, is that a meme?"

"No it fucking isn't you amoeba."

"You'll never be based with memes like that."

"You're right, about me I mean."

"I thought I could be like you. But that was a mistake."

"I may be cringe, but that makes me free."

"Doctor, turn off my cringe inhibitors."

"But [name], you'll lose subscriber."

"Do it- AGHHHH! I was fucking joking. Why did you do it?!"

"You think you can just log off, [name]."

"That's rich coming from the likes of you."

"Hey [name] ever been to the Washington monument?!"

"You are decapitated."

"Don't worry, it's just a little trolling."

"Your memes end here."

[wack-ashimself]

So far on the G-word...

(government. which btw, I am not against the concept of government, cuz it's just people uniting and agreeing to terms that benefit all. It's just...all governments, eventually, because of no systemS of real checks and balance, get corrupted and used by the worst of us).

Which started with him having a cameo of Obama...

Fuck obama.

<His show looks like last week tonight: point out all the flaws of the government, with no real solutions on how to fix them besides...hope the government does the right thing. Dumb.>

He started with food. And none of it seemed that...interesting or informative. I know we subsidize corn and other stuff so it can be used to make cheap junk food. My problem is this has been known FOREVER. Don't act like this just fucking happened. He even admitted it started during the great depression era (with good, noble causes) and never stopped, so no new news.

But he did point out something I...had a feeling about, but did not KNOW till now. The fda sells out to big food corporations. No shit. BUT the fda LITERALLY gave the entire founding of the food pyramid to them. THAT is kinda a big deal. I knew that thing was wonky, but to find out it NEVER started with good intentions? Fuck you (and obama, again, for setting the first world record for drone strikes on innocent people).

Then he went on to weather. And I did not know ALL Weather information (like ALLLLLLLL OF IT) is provided by the government, and the weather channel and accuweather have purposely tried to make that publicly funded information private, and resell it*. To the point when they once knew of a possible tornado incoming, and they only warned their PREMIUM MEMBERS!

If you would have asked me 'did you know that the weather channel is also a capitalistic evil endeavor?' the answer would have been 'how much meth did you do today?' But your meth head ass would be right...

*this is how bad it is. EXACTLY like turbotax and H&R block, who regularly pay millions in lobbying to block free public apps & programs to help with taxes paid for by the government, the weather channel fucking made sure there was no government funded weather app too!!!!

[bopinion]

2021 / 50

Aperçu of the Week:

"Home encompasses all people, no matter where they come from, what they believe, who they love. The term is meant to signal that we want to keep society together."

(Nancy Faeser, newly appointed Federal Minister of the Interior and Homeland)

Bad News of the Week:

According to a report in The New York Times, the U.S. has knowingly accepted devastating consequences for civilians in its drone war in the Middle East, which began back under Barack Obama. Confidential government files obtained by the newspaper document numerous errors in the control of air strikes that have caused thousands of civilian deaths. So much for "precision strikes against jihadists."

In the process, there was a transparency promise by the Obama administration and the real goal was to avoid collateral damage and protect both its own soldiers and civilians on all sides. In five years, there were over 50,000 remotely piloted airstrikes in Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. And not a single official report concluded that there was any wrongdoing.

Yet the NYT, after evaluating 1,311 Pentagon case reports, comes to a shocking conclusion: "The American air war has been marked by misinformation, hasty and inaccurate rocket fire and the deaths of thousands of civilians, including many children." A spokesman for the Central Command says that it regrets "every loss of innocent life," but that "even with the best technology in the world, mistakes happen." We learn once again: a guaranteed casualty of any war is always the truth.

Good News of the Week:

"The face of the country will change" headlines the leading German political weekly magazine "Der Spiegel" today. The freshly minted Super Minister for Economy and Climate Protection Robert Habeck of the Green Party wants nothing less than to transform Germans industry and infrastructure. This, he says, will create new industries and jobs - but will also demand something of the people.

A mammoth project. And there is no alternative. The fact that the governing traffic light coalition has taken up this cause is, of course, only a statement. But a credible one. The combination of economy and ecology in a newly tailored ministry alone sends out a signal. And so does the fact that a Green has become its minister. Especially since Habeck has already proven in his vita as a state minister in Schleswig-Holstein that he also knows how to implement projects in real terms. I wish him - and all of us! - much success with it.

Personal happy moment of the week:

My son has the second foreign language in high school: French. Which he can't stand. And therefore shows a - to put it mildly - "manageable motivation". The result was three F's in a row. Yes, F means failure. Since then we force him to do additional homework. A first success can be seen now: the last test was a C after all. Which does not mean that it is over now. We will have to keep the focus on French for the rest of the school year. But apparently he is now on the right track.

I couldn't care less...

...that the "right to freedom of expression" is being discussed right now. When comedian Lisa Fitz presents demonstrably false Corona death figures in her program, or liberal Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki categorizes a possible mandatory vaccination as "revenge and retaliation" against the unvaccinated, these are not only fake news, but also simply bullshit. I am in favor of introducing a "right to intellectual hygiene" in public discourse.

As I write this...

...I am pondering whether this strange feeling in my stomach might actually be rising anxiety. Reduce social contacts, wear FFP2 mask, avoid risks and of course get vaccinated - until now you could feel reasonably safe if you did the bare minimum. And then came Omicron. With its horror reports of unprecedented infection probability, immense dark figure and frequent vaccination breakthroughs. I've been coping with restrictions and uncertainty for the nearly two years of the pandemic. But now I am seriously becoming fearful for the well-being of those most at risk in my personal environment.

Post Scriptum:

The members of the Conservative CDU have elected a new chairman. And it is an old one. Friedrich Merz was already established at the head of the party at the turn of the millennium, including as parliamentary group chairman. Who lost this post at the time to Angel Merkel. Who, in the opinion of many critics, "social-democratized" the party. Merz is therefore seen by many as a representative of a "back to the roots" of old values. This will undoubtedly sharpen the CDU's profile. Whether it will make it more electable, I doubt. After all, many points of Merz's program are clearly outdated. So, with a slightly ironic undertone, I wish him "Good luck with that!"

[grootpoepjeplasjehoofd]

Almost as alarming as the rate of civilian casualties from drone and other air strikes in the Obama years was the lack of information provided about them. The American public couldn’t find out how many civilians had actually been killed, whether their government compensated those who were harmed or not, or even the legal rationale for such strikes. Sometimes, it was impossible to tell whether drones were even behind them. Most of what could be known about the U.S. drone program, in fact, including the CIA’s role in it, how its “targets” were tracked, or even what those in targeted countries thought about such strikes, came from leaked information and independent reporting. On rare occasions when the drone program was officially acknowledged, statements made about it usually turned out to be lies.

Through executive orders just before he left office, President Obama finally put in place modest reforms to make the drone program more transparent and accountable. His key order outlined a process of review and investigation that had to be set in motion anytime reports of civilian casualties from drone strikes came in. Information from all available sources, including non-military or government organizations, was to be taken into account and the government was required to acknowledge responsibility for civilian deaths and injuries while providing redress to the victims and their families. Finally, the director of national intelligence was to release estimates of the number of combatants and civilians killed by military drone strikes since 2009. Another executive order required future presidents to release similar information annually. Although the numbers still proved dubious and many questions remained about, among other things, the CIA civilian casualty count, at least the pendulum finally seemed to be swinging in the right direction.

No such luck. Soon after President Trump took office, his administration began to quietly dismantle the safeguards Obama had just created. His administration would subsequently expand the battlefields on which drones would be used, ease combat rules in Somalia intended to protect civilians, rescind most aspects of Obama’s executive orders, and stop publishing civilian casualty data entirely, while telling the public even less about the program. Not surprisingly, drone strikes across the Greater Middle East and parts of Africa would rise and a lot more civilians would start dying from them. None of this was exactly shocking from a commander-in-chief who had once asked a CIA official why he didn’t kill a terrorist target’s family during a drone strike.

In his Nobel Prize speech, Obama claimed that the reason the United States adhered to certain rules of conduct in war like protecting civilians was because “that’s what makes us different from those whom we fight. That is the source of our strength.” In the first half of last year, U.S. and Afghan air and drone strikes killed more civilians than the Taliban for the first time ever. Those strikes hit wedding parties, farmers, pregnant women, and small children. In Somalia, drone strikes decimated entire communities, destroying not only lives, but crops, homes, and livelihoods. And as the new decade began, President Trump not only carried out a drone strike so drastic and rare that many experts believed it was a straightforward act of (and declaration of) war, but also threatened to bomb non-military targets (“cultural” sites), a move which is generally considered a war crime under international law.

In its recklessness and brutality, Trump’s escalating drone war should remind us all of just how dangerous it is when a president claims the legal authority to kill in secret and no one can stop him. Maybe this decade we’ll learn our lesson.