How does a nation misplace a trillion-dollar war that’s been going on for 16 years, even as the Pentagon asks to add more troops to the nearly 10,000 still there — and where Russia is reportedly planning to get involved to make matters worse?
We just forgot about Afghanistan. It barely makes the news. Trump doesn’t tweet about it. Political and military officials seldom talk about it, perhaps because it’s a failure nobody can fix.
When I go with my Dad to the local VA Medical Center for his frequent appointments I see many young guys wearing caps or jackets marking them as Afghan War vets. I wonder what they think about their sacrifice, what was it for? I never ask, of course, because we all know the answer, and just in case they aren’t thinking about it at that moment I wouldn’t want to remind them.
War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothing! Edwin Starr, 1969. Same song, same tune…a phony war is just as worthless as a real one!
As someone who is well known at the D.C. VA Medical Center, I get to see the same veterans. Canes, wheelchairs and scooters are mobility devices for many of us. Prosthetic is a popular office. Rehab is crowded and trying to get an appointment is a frustration. I get pissed off all the time about the young veterans, and I get very angry when I see them with little children. A war that should not have happened. As bad as Vietnam was I can put together the how and why we ended up in that disaster. Iraq has no reason.
Telling tales out of school, but this is for Travis if he stops by. 🙂
craig, at least afghan war vets can look to their service as payback for 9/11; but what can the original Iraqi war (dudya’s war) vets look to?
re ky wildcats, they did pretty good for being the youngest bunch at the big dance.
and kudos to s.c. men and women. they done ya proud, flatus.
josh earnest as new analyst at nbc did well this morning. wonder if he has a future as a candidate. has a good name for it at least. think of the bumper sticker mottos: josh, gosh!
on his debut today:
Josh Earnest, who served as White House press secretary under President Obama and is now an NBC News political analyst, tells TODAY that the one unifying principle among House Republicans has been opposition to Obama, so that while they could agree to repeal Obamacare, they couldn’t reach consensus on what would replace it. He says that the American people expect the president to solve problems, not just stand by and wait for Obamacare to fail.
as to Afghanistan according to john oliver
https://youtu.be/JdTMrKhba4g
Published on Mar 26, 2017
above vid is a rerun btw
Ms Bronc,
Iraq had a reason. Gulf Fiasco II quadrupled the price of oil, without which Texas would be a 3d world country. Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana crackers would sneaking across the border in droves, looking for good Mexican jobs. Alaska would be reduced to three tribes : Inuit, Indians, and Park Rangers.
If there is gonna be war between the deadbeat twit and the lemur of the House, I’ll put my $2 on the lemur. If it gets too rough ‘n’ tumble, pol ryan could send jason lewis down to Mar l’Ego with the news that some House folks, in a show of bi-partisan amity, want a presidential impeachment before 2018, and that impeachments always begin in the House.
from last week’s pbs newshour:
PAUL SOLMAN: What are the odds of him being impeached, not convicted, but impeached before four years? Is that the bet?
PADDY POWER: Yes. That’s the bet. That’s the main bet, the most popular one. At the moment, he’s 6-4, and that means he’s about 40 percent likely. The odds would suggest it’s 40 percent likely he’s impeached in his first term, yes.
PAUL SOLMAN: So what’s an odds-on favorite at this point with regard to Trump, that is more than 50 percent likely, according to the prediction markets, to happen?
PADDY POWER: Well, it’s more than 50 percent likely that he won’t see a second term, right? It’s more than 50 percent that he’s going to see his first term out, though, that he will get there in the end.
Well, although I’m not religious, I think John Prine did an admirable job of explaining his opposition to war – back then it was Vietnam, in his wonderful song “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get you Into Heaven Anymore”
While digesting Reader’s Digest in the back of a dirty book store
A plastic flag, with gum on the back fell out on the floor
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside, slapped it on my window shield
And if I could see old Betsy Ross I’d tell her how good I feel
But your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore
They’re already overcrowded from your dirty little war
Now Jesus don’t like killin’, no matter what the reason’s for
And your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore
God, I love John Prine.
And since I’m on the subject of John Prine, here’s one I consider among his top half dozen best.
Paradise
The knuckleheads in WV should listen and take heed. I ran into an old colleague of mine who used to represent coal companies while I worked in big firm law at the same firm as him. He used the job to move into an in house counsel for a coal company and stayed there a few years until the company folded about a year ago. Interesting conversation. There are two types of coal in WV that get dug out of the ground – steam coal (power plants) and metallurgical coal (metals industries). We were talking about drumpfian promises to bring coal back, and he said it ain’t going to happen in WV. I mentioned natural gas and oil and he said, it contributed, but that the real problem is that WV has dug all the easy coal out of the ground over the past 140 or so years and now it costs $40.00 per ton to get steam coal out but the newer, mostly western coal fields can dig it for $10.00 per ton. He said between the two forces, the latter will never allow coal to be profitable in WV, so the idiots who support trump and his promise were duped. Drumpf said it best himself on the campaign trail, “I love the poorly educated.” (2/24/16, Las Vegas NV). Well, he got them here bigly.
Nasty creepy eight legged monstrosities – NCELMs. I hate spiders and am absolutely terrified of them, as Jamie well knows. They sneak and scuttle and show up when you least expect them and always when you aren’t prepared for them. They are all evil and should be destroyed.
**shiver**
There is, however, quite the funny story about one in particular. It’s called “Of
Donuts and Kitty Litter”, if you’d care for a bit of giggle.
Thanks Jamie. 🙂
Wait a minute,,,,,when are we going to start winning anyplace…so far all I see is a lot of losing
I guess the Pussy Grabber’s idea is to ramp up the war in Yemen so people forget there are still wars in Syria and Afghanistan.
KC, Dustin Hoffman would be proud of PG’s attempt to wag that dog.
ny times: Senate Committee to Question Jared Kushner Over Meetings With Russians
Senate investigators plan to question Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and a close adviser, as part of their broad inquiry into ties between Trump associates and Russian officials or others linked to the Kremlin, according to administration and congressional officials.
The White House Counsel’s Office was informed this month that the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, wanted to question Mr. Kushner about meetings he arranged with the Russian ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, according to the government officials. The meetings, which took place during the transition, included a previously unreported sit-down with the head of Russia’s state-owned development bank.
so with this above interrogation coming up, twit & co put him in charge of gov’t redo?
Trump Taps Jared Kushner To Lead Team That Will Run Government ‘Like A Company’
wonder how many of these interrogate-ees gonna be the new ollie norths who are given immunity by cong comm. and get off scot free?
Patd – That’s what I always struggle with. Somebody hip deep in the mire flips first, gets the immunity deal, and walks. But as long as we get to see some serious prosecution, I can figure out a way to make peace with it…I guess.
Jeanine Pirro is a truly disgusting human being
it looks like she is made out of plastic
Here are two developments (at least) that got me focused on this:
General wants surge of US troops to break stalemate in Afghanistan
Trump’s Next Challenge: Russia Returns to Afghanistan
Yep, KGC, are we tired of winning yet?
I’m pretty satisfied watching the russian plant get spotty, covered with tiny webs, and curl up.
If we are going to do War, Vets, and John Prine then this is the classic
So this got you all a sample of Travis writing which over the years has provided an enormous amount of entertainment on subjects ranging from the US military, how to achieve peace, and the proper way to dance the Salsa. You all might want to prowl around the space.
Travis, you definitely wouldn’t have enjoyed the article I just read about the Australian government issuing instructions on how to catch the very deadly Funnel NECLM. It is the height of the season and they want live ones turned into stations to be milked to create anti-venom as an emergency supply for treating people who get bitten. There were pictures and everything … chortle, chortle.
Putin is killing and/or jailing dissidents. He’s supporting Assad. He wants to get back into Afghanistan. The White House remains silent as more civilians die and refugees struggle to survive in this misbegotten foray into insanity. Somebody is raking in the cash on all this carnage.
Jamie,
Sam Stone was what I call Prine’s “bummer” song. Definitely more cutting and poignant than Flag Decal. I like the applicability of Flag Decal to the goddam MAGA caps the followers of drumpf wear.
Jamie, hope our aussie trail friend is safe and no where near this: Category 4 Cyclone Debbie slams into Queensland, Australia
Somebody is raking in the cash on all this carnage.
Jamie…. AMEN!
Travis… I LOVE spiders…. they are my weaving friends. The logo on my business card is a spider’s web. But with that said…. if I run into a big one in the bathroom in the middle of the night… I scream 🙂
Jamie – Thanks for the plug. And the warning. I shall not travel to Australia.
Renee – I have some NCELM lovers in my life, and a few who tolerate them and tell me that they eat the other bugs. That would be fine if they just weren’t so dang creepy and stayed outside away from my living space. And I have been known to scream like a toddler when one of the dang things startles me. I try to keep it to a manly grunt, but sometimes…
Thinking about how popular culture has portrayed soldiers in our history: the Greatest Generation of the ’40s; killer warmongers during the ’60s; mentally unbalanced loners in the ’70s; country song staple/patriotism defined in the ’80s; invisible today except for the “in memoriam” segment scrolled at the end of a local Sunday night newscast.
No veteran should ever be homeless. Sad I have to make that statement.
If spiders ate wood ticks and more mosquitoes, I be less hostile to their presence. Minnesota is abundantly endowed with mosquitoes and wood ticks. dammit. Some tiny web-less jumping spiders and stalking spiders live among our houseplants and occasionally get lost in the rest of our unit. I try to gently corral them and put them back in the pots, where they belong. dammit !
XR – What’s that you say? Jumping and stalking? That should not be allowed at all. Isn’t it bad enough that they scuttle?
I need to go to kitty videos, quick! Puppies and bunnies and kittens…puppies and bunnies and kittens…
Mr C, by stalking, I meant scuttling. I don’t like ’em either. Anything that has more than six legs just isn’t human.
to quote pogo, bwahahaha and snicker snicker
time: President Trump’s Approval Rating Just Dropped to an All-Time Low
President Donald Trump’s approval rating fell to 36% Monday after House Republicans failed to pass their repeal of the Affordable Care Act, marking a new low for the president’s young tenure.
[…..]
With the new rating, Gallup reports, Trump has dipped below the all-time lows of Presidents Obama (lowest: 38%), Clinton (lowest: 37%), and Ford (lowest: 37%). Trump has yet to reach the same lows of some presidents, including President George W. Bush who saw his approval rating dip to 25% and President Richard Nixon, who at one point had the approval of just 24% of the American public.
with a few more boots on the ground, vets on the streets homeless, leaky pipelines and even leakier intel on Russia collusion… he’ll easily beat out dubya and tricky dicky for lowest of the low.
patd
Bill and Lynn live in Canberra but at the moment they are luxuriating in Vanuatu and sending marvelous pictures of people and places on Facebook. If you happen to be on FB https://www.facebook.com/bill.woerlee
As much as I want to go to Australia, the people there must be made of stern stuff. Cracked did a hilarious article about …
Things that will kill you
My favorite line: Its primary spoken language is screaming.
Craig: Beautiful post! Might be good for HuffPo with a bigger audience. Sadly, our current feeble excuse for a government won’t solve this (or anything else) anytime soon. With Russian involvement looming it’s even more worrisome. Tillerson discussing Afghanistan with Russia would be like a kindergarten teacher giving pointers to a group of university professors on teaching methods. So many troubling agendas in the world right now and we have the least qualified government ever in the area of foreign policy. If the Russian involvement really includes re-empowering the taliban, then the future for women in Afghanistan looks pretty bleak and our soldiers would indeed have died for nothing. 🙁
The tragedy and futility of war and the grief of those who survive:
PS Craig: You probably missed my comment last night…it was the last one of the day so I don’t think anyone saw it. I’d still like info on the Hillary graphic if you have it. You can just email me if you like, thanks.
I’m the designated spider remover in our family. About all we get are Grandaddy longlegs – which I simply grab by a couple or 3 legs and take and throw out the back door. Drives Mrs. P nuts that I don’t squash em, but why do that? They are harmless. Now if I happened to run across a black widow or brown recluse (unlikely – they pretty much stay hidden) in the house I wouldn’t be so compassionate. We do have some spiders in the bushes, trees and power lines that weave some impressive webs – and I certainly don’t do anything to disturb them or their webs – they’re very nice to look at on a dewy morning.
Granny,
Here’s the on line link to that cartoon
http://trailmix.cc/home/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/revenge.jpg
Sorry, Granny I did miss that. HRC graphic came from a friend, I’ll ask her where she got it.
While we are looking at wars that are still hot, more or less, let’s not take our eye off North Korea, which we are still technically at war. They may even have the ability to strike the US militarily, unlike the religious zealots from the Middle East.
Amen Prof.
Granny, sorry, my friend who sent graphic said she got it from another friend who got it on distribution list, origin unknown. Would make a nice print if source can be found.
Craig & Granny
It’s been all over Twitter. I’ve seen it several times, unfortunately never with an attribution. This is one location I found but again no claim of authorship https://twitter.com/arethadkitson/status/831827936009412608
Thanks Craig & Jamie! I guess I’ll keep looking hoping to find the origin of the image. The internet is quite full of images without attributions. I don’t use them, especially not on a product created for the store, unless I know where it came from and that I won’t get sued 😮 It’s a shame cause I really like that image…grrrr!
Granny
That particular one was also among Google Images, so I think you would have lots of folks in the line of people to sue.
Before I turn in for the night I wanted to share this, enjoy 😀
Granny, LOL. Sleep well. What a hoot.
Lyndon Johnson and Richard M. Nixon both inherited the same monstrous war, but at least , even though they both escalated involvement to the max, they didn’t ignore that war to the Press Corps.. Of course now there is much less opposition to this war in Afghanistan , none of the passion Cindy Sheehan exhibited down Crawford, Texas way. Except for the recent horrendous murder-bombings of civilians in and around Mosul , Iraq by USA bombers , you’d never know we were still in two wars at all. A few hours ago I was stuck in a hospital waiting room awaiting the discharge from outpatient eye surgery that my wife had done, and like most public places, Fox News was on. Not one word about Mosul, just a bevy of blond women fawning over Eric Trump and his wife, on a loop…I think I saw it six times.Then, still-shots of grandpa The Donald playing with his little g-kiddies. I used to watch old Imus on Fox Business News. Imus was the only straight-shooter of the bunch at Fox, even though he was the first to predict a Trump presidency; I saw that show. Since his show departed, today was the first time I watched Fox News. I would like it to be the last. Not one word about Mosul.
Craig mentioned his dad and the V A. Time defines much: as a Vietnam veteran I find it much easier to converse with WWII vets than vets from the current two wars. Boy howdy, what a change..forty years ago the “Great War” vets wanted nothing to do with us…now we’re comrades. The younger guys are light-years removed, in their memories, from what we experienced in what are now the old days of Vietnam war nights.
And Sam Stone? I ain’t gonna listen to that right now…I know what Sam Stone put into his head.