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Post by jdredd on Dec 3, 2019 14:54:56 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/02/opinion/china-cold-war.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage"If Cold War II confines itself to an economic and technological competition between two systems — one democratic, the other not — its benefits could very well outweigh its costs. After all, the economic spinoff from research and development operations associated with the original Cold War were part of the reason American growth was so strong in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, there was also a political benefit. Once the spasm of McCarthyism had passed, as Americans came to a consensus that they all faced a common foe, domestic divisions decreased notably. It is telling that one of the biggest sources of political and social strife in the Cold War era was a war against communism that the United States failed to win — against Vietnam.If Americans are now waking up to a new external enemy, might it not reduce the notorious internal polarization of recent times, which we can see in the decline of bipartisanship in Congress as well as in the vehemence of discourse on social media? It is possible." I'm starting to get it. The drumbeat for a new Cold War with China is partially motivated by the dream of a "unified" USA like in the original. If that is what it takes to "unify" America, it is not worth unifying.
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Post by jdredd on Dec 10, 2019 19:02:54 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/us/politics/trump-antisemitism-executive-order.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"WASHINGTON — President Trump plans to sign an executive order on Wednesday targeting what he sees as anti-Semitism on college campuses by threatening to withhold federal money from educational institutions that fail to combat discrimination, three administration officials said on Tuesday. The order will effectively interpret Judaism as a nationality, not just a religion, to trigger a federal law penalizing colleges and universities deemed to be shirking their responsibility to foster an open climate for minority students, according to the officials, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the matter before the announcement. In signing the order, Mr. Trump will use his executive power to take action where Congress has not, essentially replicating bipartisan legislation that has stalled on Capitol Hill for years. Prominent Democrats have joined Republicans in promoting such a policy change at a time of rising tension on campuses over anti-Semitism as well as the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions or B.D.S. movement against Israel." The movement for Palestinian liberation will outlive Donald Trump and his Democrat accomplices.
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Post by jdredd on Dec 28, 2019 13:40:13 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/opinion/hong-kong-protests.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage“Our fight for our rights will not end,” he told me. “The rise of China is a threat to the free world and that is what Hong Kong is resisting.” The city is the avant-garde of a world awakening, with a mixture of anxiety and dismay, to the full implications of Chinese ascendancy. The most significant, perhaps the only, foreign policy achievement of the Trump administration has been to get behind the Hong Kong protesters while pressuring Xi on trade and keeping channels open to the Chinese leader. This American pressure, which has made Trump popular in Hong Kong, must not relent. Mike Bloomberg, who has said Xi “is not a dictator,” and Joe Biden, who has said China “is not competition for us,” should take another look. Universal suffrage for Hong Kong is the only endgame I can see to the “one country, two systems” impasse, short of the People’s Liberation Army marching into the city and all hell breaking loose." The drumbeat of China-bashing continues to ramp up, even in the "liberal" press. How far can the China haters push us? The only real solution would be to vote out the politicians who are toadies to the anti-China special interests. But that's kind of hard when both parties are tools.
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Post by jdredd on Jan 1, 2020 3:53:55 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2019/12/31/us/politics/trump-iran-baghdad-embassy.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Trump toughened his rhetoric toward Iran on Tuesday, saying the country would “be held fully responsible” for the attack by Iraqi demonstrators on the United States Embassy compound in Baghdad, an assault that Mr. Trump said was directed by Tehran. “This is not a Warning, it is a Threat. Happy New Year!” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday evening, in some of his most bellicose language of the year toward Iran. The growing crisis has strained Mr. Trump’s aversion to war with Iran as well as his distaste for Middle East entanglements generally, including in Iraq. Mr. Trump faced pressure from hawkish allies in Washington to confront Iran forcefully, while memories of the deadly attack on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, loomed over the administration. Many analysts said Iran had thrown the Trump administration on its heels and was forcing a president entering his re-election year into unpalatable decisions about escalation and the risk of wider conflict." Do Trumpies eat up this childish rhetoric? I guess they do. In a perfect world the Dems would call him out.
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Post by jdredd on Jan 3, 2020 19:08:52 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/01/03/us/politics/democratic-candidates-qassem-soleimani.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"The American strike in Baghdad that killed the Iranian general Qassim Suleimani thrust foreign policy to the center of the Democratic presidential race, drawing expressions of grave concern from the leading candidates and stoking a new debate in the party about the American military presence in the Middle East. The party’s presidential field reacted to the attack with a measure of unity, at least on the surface level, condemning General Suleimani’s role directing violence against Americans but criticizing what they called the Trump administration’s penchant for reckless action and the threat of all-out war. But during a series of campaign events on Friday, the top Democrats began to signal their differences on matters of national security, opening the way for what could become the party’s most serious conversation of the race about war and peace. Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., whose long diplomatic résumé and global stature have been seen as crucial assets to his campaign, seized the occasion to remind voters of his experience, pressing them to elect a president who could “command the world stage with no on-the-job training.” That would be unusual if foreign affairs became an issue. It would be the first time since 2004, when Americans rallied around Bush 43 despite his bungling of the Iraq invasion. Perhaps Trump is counting on a war to unite voters behind him. What is amusing also is Biden touting his "experience". Would you call Obama's foreign policy fiascos a positive on his resume?
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Post by jdredd on Feb 14, 2020 20:47:32 GMT -5
In contemplating the non-difference of Republican and Democratic foreign policy, I do note the demise of Obama's nuclear deal with Iran. And I realize that although Britain, France, Germany, and others were for the deal, Israel was against it. So we see which ally carries more weight.
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Post by jdredd on Jul 17, 2020 12:00:14 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/07/17/nyregion/jamaal-bowman-eliot-engel.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=New%20York"Jamaal Bowman, a progressive insurgent, has scored a stunning victory over Representative Eliot L. Engel of New York in a Democratic primary, beating back the efforts of the Democratic establishment to protect a 16-term incumbent. Mr. Bowman, a middle school principal from Yonkers, was declared the winner on Friday, after a count of absentee ballots verified what seemed clear on Primary Night, when he emerged with a commanding lead over Mr. Engel, the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The victory came with the help of an array of stars from the Democratic Party’s left wing, including Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massasetts." It warms my heart to see a figure in our corrupt foreign policy consensus be retired. It makes me hope, maybe foolishly, that we will see more dissent like AOC refusing to kiss Israel's ass.
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Post by jdredd on Jul 30, 2020 15:40:22 GMT -5
www.nationalreview.com/corner/a-respectable-nation/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=right-rail&utm_content=corner&utm_term=second"During a Senate committee hearing today, California’s Diane Feinstein said the following: We hold China as a potential trading partner, as a country that has pulled tens of millions of people out of poverty in a short period of time, and as a country growing into a respectable nation amongst other nations. I deeply believe that.Does she read the news? The American and German consumer and Western trade policy have pulled tens of millions of Chinese people out of poverty. And the very unrespectable actions of their state threaten to plunge them back into it." I can't believe uber-foreign policy Establishment maven Dianne Feinstein would go against the tide of China demonization.
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Post by jdredd on Sept 18, 2020 2:11:52 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/09/17/world/europe/britain-brexit-biden-ireland.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"LONDON — If there was any residual doubt about how Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s latest Brexit maneuvers are playing in Democratic political circles in Washington, it was erased on Wednesday evening by a carefully timed, unmistakably pointed tweet from the Democratic presidential nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr. “We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit,” Mr. Biden wrote. “Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.”Mr. Biden’s blunt words came shortly after a meeting between the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, and two of Ireland’s most influential advocates in Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Representative Richard E. Neal, a Massasetts Democrat who is chairman of the Ways and Means Committee." It's nice to see a little air between the foreign policies of the two parties. If Joe is elected, I'd love to see him tell Trump ass-kisser Boris to go f&&k himself. I can dream, can't I?
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Post by jdredd on Oct 22, 2020 12:23:20 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/10/22/world/europe/europe-biden-trump-diplomacy.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage"BRUSSELS — Treated with contempt by President Trump, who considers them rivals and deadbeats instead of allies, many European leaders look forward to the possibility of a Biden presidency. But they are painfully aware that four years of Mr. Trump have changed the world — and the United States — in ways that will not be easily reversed. Even if civility can be restored, a fundamental trust has been broken, and many European diplomats and experts believe that U.S. foreign policy is no longer bipartisan, so is no longer reliable. “The shining city on the hill is not as shining as it used to be,” Reinhard Bütikofer, a prominent German member of the European Parliament, put it bluntly. For the first time, said Ivan Krastev, director of the Center for Liberal Strategies, “Europeans are afraid that there is no longer a foreign-policy consensus in the United States. Every new administration can mean a totally new policy, and for them this is a nightmare.” American foreign policy no longer bipartisan? I'm not seeing it, other than Trump's hot air. He still whines about Europe not spending enough on defense. Will Biden admit we all spend too much? Not a chance. And Europe seems to be jumping on our belligerence toward China crazy train.
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Post by jdredd on Oct 31, 2020 13:52:13 GMT -5
Here's another reason a Biden loss won't affect me that much: Biden has been running to the right of Trump on China and North Korea. Trump is not "tough" enough for Biden. What a joke.
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Post by jdredd on Nov 25, 2020 17:02:10 GMT -5
www.nytimes.com/2020/11/24/world/asia/taiwan-china-trump-biden.html"Mr. Trump has attracted a loyal following in Taiwan because of his administration’s criticism of the Chinese Communist Party on issues such as trade, the coronavirus and the crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong. He has garnered praise in Taiwan for moving swiftly to approve weapons sales, including more than $4 billion worth last month. He is also widely lauded for his decision, as president-elect in 2016, to take a telephone call from President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, breaking with decades of diplomatic practice. “Trump’s actions have been very solid,” said Tsai Yi-yu, a lawmaker from southern Taiwan. Mr. Tsai has fervently supported the president, going so far as to wear a “Keep America Great” face mask to meetings with Taiwan’s leaders." Another Trump ass-kisser sad to see him go.
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Post by jdredd on Dec 1, 2020 12:42:36 GMT -5
Perhaps it's time for me accept that even if we have no boots on the ground in Afghanistan, the airstrike industry will continue it's evil ways far into the future. Every country needs a hobby, I guess. Why care?
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Post by jdredd on Feb 13, 2021 14:49:10 GMT -5
www.newsmax.com/politics/biden-blackburn-china-communists/2021/02/12/id/1009842/"Sen. Marsha Blackburn said Friday she hopes President Joe Biden fully understands the threat China poses, particularly after he said he spoke with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for "two straight hours" and the nation is going to "eat our lunch" if "we don't get moving." "We are working every day to protect U.S. companies, U.S. innovators and intellectual property right holders that are being adversely impacted by the Chinese Communist Party," the Tennessee Republican said on Fox Business' "Mornings with Maria." She added that she hopes Biden's understanding of China will be reflected through his cabinet and administration choices. "China is not our friend," she said. "They are our adversary. They practice civil-military fusion. You never know where one piece ends and the other begins. Huawei needs to continue to be blocked. We do not need them in the systems of the USA or our allies." Who's my friend? Not you, Senator. Take your new Cold War and shove it.
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Post by jdredd on Feb 19, 2021 15:30:36 GMT -5
www.newsmax.com/politics/exe-gen-globalmacr-gov/2021/02/18/id/1010652/"New Secretary of State Antony Blinken has held his first virtual meeting since President Joe Biden’s election with counterparts from Japan, India and Australia, showing support for the so-called Quad grouping that seeks to counter an increasingly assertive China in the Indo-Pacific. The talks, held Thursday, included discussions on “the priority of strengthening democratic resilience in the broader region,” Blinken’s spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. The partners also pledged “to strengthen cooperation on advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region, including support for freedom of navigation and territorial integrity.” New administration, same old belligerent China-bashing shiite.
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