I'm sure you did until he started telling the truth about Trump. Just like all the others that people now called RINOs. Edit: Sorry I posted this before I saw you got knocked the f*ck out. The proof you are just a Trump sycophant.
I fully agree Putin is horrible and this is a war of aggression by him. At the same time though I also agree that we need to be very careful with how we respond to this situation. As other posters have noted the US and really all country act less out of altruism when it comes to war than they do self-interest. No country really even us can act unilaterally or hegemonically and stop all wars of aggression, ethnic cleansing and other horrible things happening in the World. While we are overwhelmingly powerful that could lead us to essentially always being at war, not to mention a massive burden of resources as we put down and conflicts from Sub-Sahara Africa to the Caucasus. So while the GH Bush Administration framed the first Gulf War in terms of defending the sovereignty of Kuwait there was a vested interest there in not having Saddam control a much larger part of the World oils supply. Later the GW Bush Administration tried to frame the invasion of Iraq as taking out Saddam who was oppressing and killing his own people. He was doing that but there were also interests lingering from the previous invasion of unfinished business and also a Neo-Wilsonian view of geo politics that toppling Saddam could transform the Middle East in the long term. So there was an argument that both our interests lined up with altruism. I'm old enough to have opposed both of those and felt that while Saddam would be easy to defeat the Neocon view was deeply flawed and that we would be bogged down in a costly quagmire, which we did. So the potential costs of what could go wrong had to be weighed with any possible gain of narrow ideological or strategic interests and altruism. In Ukraine there are wider interests regarding Ukraine's strategic position, size and amount of resources. As a large democracy right up against the an authoritarian and strategic rival of Russia it does represent our values and could not only be an ideological ally but also an economic partner. This could be an area where our interests align with altruism. I still say those those interests have to weighed against the potential cost which could be very severe and worse than anything that we saw out of Iraq.
the whole world has changed. we're not the same country we were two years ago, 6 years ago, 12 years ago, nor 20 years ago. to pretend that we are, and that we have to continue to view politics through the same lens, is absurd. I certainly felt at some point that Bolton was worth listening to, but Trump's greatest talent lies in enabling others to beclown themselves, including those in this thread who never put any stock in what Bolton said, but now think he's the great oracle of truth just because he said something unflattering about Trump. the left has zero argument any more except to yell trump! Trump!! TRUMP!!! anytime their world view is challenged. and they will pay for it at the polls in November.
How would that change your opinion on Bolton? Interesting how you did a 180..... Sure sure.... Bolton is just another Trump appointee confirming what saw in Trump. It's just a coincidence his hand picked people keep telling you things you don't want to hear about Trump? About what exactly? We warned you about Russia and you ignored it.
basso is consistent. He's been the same intellectually dishonest poster for almost 2 decades. In the beginning I gave him the benefit of the doubt that he was acting in good faith. It didn't take long to realize that was a bad assumption.
You once said you hated defending Trump yet you consistently do it. Why is it so hard to just acknowledge the fact that Trump was a horrible president? That doesn't change that Obama was too weak against Putin when it came to Crimea and the redline of chemical weapons in Syria. I criticized Obama for that then just as I criticized Biden for the mess of the withdrawal of Afghanistan. I didn't go on about how the Right is all about "LETS GO BRANDON!" but pointed out how Biden appeared to be dangerously underestimating the ability of the Afghan government and ignoring very obvious warning signs. Sure Trump get's brought up here a lot but it's the insistence of many to continue to defend Trump is one of the big reasons why he continues to be brought up. What's changed is that you continue to view things through the partisan lens but because who you consider your ideological opponents ire is focused on Trump you feel you have to defend him. Otherwise why would you even write that you feel obligated to defend him? You talk about people beclowning themselves because of Trump. Have you considered that you feel compelled to defend him so much is that you're one of those beclowned? Now the Democrats might very well lose the majority in the next election. I would put that far more on that inflation and crime are real problems than on how much people talk about Trump. What I will point out though is that Trump clearly cost the GOP dearly in the last two elections. The cost them both houses of Congress and the Presidency.
Another thing regarding this inside baseball Clutchfans debate about posters. I'm sure for many posters I qualify as being on Left. I remember Bigtexxx making a classification of Liberal posters and I was the "Moo Goo Gaipan" of Liberal posters. In this very thread though much of the disagreement lies between posters like myself, Sweet Lou, from other posters who would also be considered from the Left. From our histories posting Major and I appear to be much more ideologically aligned on the spectrum of Progressives to Pro-Trump Conservatives of Clutchfans yet we are very much in disagreement regarding Ukraine. What that shows is that far from the "Left" being some sort of groupthink herd of sheeple there is a big diversity of opinion. While my views seem to match very closely the views of Biden on the need to be extremely cautious in Ukraine in appears that posters like Major, Franchiseblade, DaDokata, Nook and etc.. feel like Biden is being too cautious at the cost of Ukrainian lives being lost. I believe all of us voted for Biden but it's obvious that many don't feel the need to just follow Biden's views or defend those views out of partisan loyalty. I know realistically most of what we write here on Clutchfans is meaningless to what our policy ultimately is going to be on Ukraine or really any government policies even if it is just the Harris County Library district. For most of us this just a way to scratch an itch and to vent out our thoughts. Even so war is about the most serious thing that our country deals with particularly in this case where it could be a war that ends civilization. I would hope that we approach these issues with more seriousness than just looking for partisan advantage or just to troll the other side.
I think Americans did (and continue to do) a huge disservice to our vets by how those wars executed and ended up. We didn't fight against our leaders enough and just accepted what they said. With what they said, humanitarian goals were usually 3-4th on the list. They were bad guys. They had **** to bomb or nuke us with. The oil would make the war pay for itself. These excuses and our apathy continued these policies for almost 20 years. It's why some people are more hesitant about being policemen. Sure we don't want civilians and cities reduced to rubble, but stopping it might require putting boots on the ground. If you want Alanis style irony, Ukraine has enough gas and oil to pay for NATOs involvement in perpetuity...But just like Iraq it's cursed and Russia will in burn it all down to the ground before he even thinks of giving it back. We are broke, our collective will is all over the place, and the consequences range from another depression to cities getting irradiated
I didn't vote for Trump, nor did I vote for Brandon. I don't think I've ever said Trump was a good president; I'll likely never say the same about Brandon. Reagan was probably the last near-great president, and I never voted for him.
dude, Gifford killed you. Just stay dead. Well beyond the subject of John a Bolton, your takes are generally pointless and intellectually dishonest, often worse. Let the other conservatives carry the water here. You are wasting space and embarrassing yourself.
