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Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza!

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Now This: Most heroic first responders of 2019.

Daily Show: Top 10 Obama Scandals.

Mental Floss: 18 weird & wonderful holidays to celebrate in the New Year.

The Dotard Трамп and His Henchpersons:

Now This: Top Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez moments of 2019.

Roll Call: Best of Congressional Hits and Misses in 2019.

Weird History: Hedy Lamarr—The Nazi-fighting bombshell who made cell phones possible.

Now This: Who is Devin Nunes, and why is he always having a cow?

Hasan Minhaj: How to survive 2020:

Chris Hayes: Senate staffer portrayed in “The Report” responds to Mike Pompeo.

Vice News: Inside the cryptocurrency revolution.

Twenty-twenty Vision:

Now This: How reproductive freedoms were limited in 2019.

Sky News: A new climate—What Antarctica tells us about the past…and the future.

Chris Hayes: On the threat of Anti-Semitism.

Vox: Google and Amazon are now in the oil business.

Robert Reich: Why I’m still hopeful about America:

Vice: Why college athletes don’t get paid

Now This: Michelle Obama voted most admired woman in U.S.

Last week’s Friday Night Multimedia Extravaganza can be found here.

Comments

  1. 1

    Dozens of times throughout 2011 and 2012 president RapeFantasy, your Crazy Drunken Uncle Liberty, and the GOP accused Barack Obama of planning to start a war with Iran in order to help him win re-election.

    But if you say anything like that today you will be accused by your Crazy Drunken Uncle Liberty of being a treasonous partisan who hates Murika.

    Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

  2. 2

    @1 Hypocrisy is what Republicans do. It defines them. See, e.g., Lindsey Graham.

    The truth is, Republicans are terrible people. Whatever faults Democrats might suffer from you have to vote for them, because the alternative is Republicans.

    And that’s a choice between living in civilization or a stone age village. Between being civilized or savage. Being modern or primitive.

    The choice is yours. Not you, Doctor Dumbfuck. You’ve already made your choice, and made your choice clear. We know you’ll vote for the tribe of primitive savages every time.

  3. 3

    With the heroic first responders, they can’t even take New years Eve off. Especially the Coast guard in Kodiak. I have a connection to the Scandies Rose. In the spring, it is, or was, moored where I work, fitting out to be a Salmon tender. It was taller than other crab boats. Rest in Peace, crew of the Scandies Rose.

  4. 4

    This last week Doctor Dumbfuck was acting as though his orange moron had stormed the beaches of Normandy. Of course, if Republican fascists get to rewrite history, that’s what the history books will say.

    Here’s a clue, Doctor. You’re both fucking fascist cowards who have betrayed our country.

  5. 5

    We have some reporting:

    Option to kill with drone strike was a single PowerPoint slide that the gangster President jumped on to the shock of most at the briefing.

    No discussion of aftermath.

    No follow up meetings to discuss implications and not a lot of planning just, “Go kill him.”

    Evidence of imminent attacks said by intel and USM sources “razor thin.”

    (Al Jazeera, NYT, NBC, AP)

  6. 6

    An Ohio militia took advantage of the gun show bullet hole…

    SHARONVILLE, Ohio — A gun show vendor shot another Friday afternoon while setting up his booth at the Sharonville Convention Center.

    According to Sharonville police, the shooting appeared accidental.

  7. 7

    What was the single most devastating “peace time” attack against US targets resulting in the most dead ever?

    Got your answer?

    Now ask yourself, if you were the military leadership of a foreign nation and one of your top leaders had just been targeted and assassinated by the US, would your response be in any way influenced by the answer to that first question?

  8. 8

    @ 1

    But if you say anything like that today you will be accused by your Crazy Drunken Uncle Liberty of being a treasonous partisan who hates Murika.

    Except you won’t. What you’ll say instead is something akin to a Rose McGowan tweet, and that’s enough for us. Enough of you have done it to save Team Trump the cost of writing a whole buncha campaign ads from scratch, come Fall.

    Obama got a bad guy. Trump got a bad guy. That’s what we elect our presidents to do.

  11. 11

    Following on my comment @ 8, here’s Michael Moore, who posted a nice photo of your smiling Uncle Qasem, and explains that because Uncle Qasem didn’t have more effective PR representation he shouldn’t have been obliterated.

    Michael Moore
    Verified account

    @MMFlint
    Jan 3

    Hello fellow Americans. Do you know this man? Did you know he was your enemy? What? Never heard of him? By the end of today you will be trained to hate him. You will be glad Trump had him assassinated. You will do as you are told. Get ready to send your sons &daughters off 2 war

    You see, Michael Moore thinks that because you didn’t read Reuters (or NYT) on this day last April

    In unprecedented move, U.S. names Iran’s Revolutionary Guards a terrorist group

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-iran/in-unprecedented-move-u-s-names-irans-revolutionary-guards-a-terrorist-group-idUSKCN1RK1NY

    In 2011, Obama’s Treasury Department sanctioned Soleimani for terrorism:

    Treasury Sanctions Five Individuals Tied to Iranian Plot to Assassinate the Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States

    Background on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force
    The IRGC-QF is the Government of Iran’s primary foreign action arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist organizations and extremist groups around the world. The IRGC-QF provides training, logistical assistance and material and financial support to militants and terrorist operatives, including the Taliban, Lebanese Hizballah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.

    IRGC-QF officers and their associates have supported attacks against U.S. and allied troops and diplomatic missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The IRGC-QF continues to train, equip and fund Iraqi Shia militant groups – such as Kata’ib and Hizballah – and elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan to prevent an increase in Western influence in the region. In the Levant, the IRGC-QF supports terrorist groups such as Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas, which it views as integral to its efforts to challenge U.S. influence in the Middle East.
    …
    The IRGC-QF was designated by Treasury pursuant to E.O. 13224 in October 2007 for its support for terrorism, and was listed in the Annex to E.O. 13572 of April 2011 as the conduit for Iran’s support to Syria’s GID, the overarching civilian intelligence service in Syria which has been involved in human rights abuses in Syria.

    https://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/pages/tg1320.aspx

    But see, ya stupid US citizen, if ya didn’t already know who Soleimani was, it was wrong of Trump to take him out – that’s the public perspective of a guy who will be front and center at the DNC convention in Milwaukie.

    Catch a clue, libbies, and QoS McHillbilly @ 7: We had the chance to kill OBL before everyone knew his name. Had we done so, there probably wouldn’t have been a 9/11.

    Now criticize Trump for killing a global terrorist whose name you might not have already known.

  12. 12

    I bet Hillary’s mirror is telling her the same thing.

    Fired Dallas Stars coach Jim Montgomery enters rehab for alcohol abuse

    The former coach said his job loss “forced me to look into the mirror and decide whether I wanted to continue living a damaging lifestyle or get help.”

    He said he has entered rehab and is taking the steps to be a “better husband, father, friend, coach and mentor.”

    https://www.wfaa.com/article/sports/fired-dallas-stars-coach-jim-montgomery-enters-rehab-for-alcohol-abuse/287-b49011c1-51d2-4657-9e12-8bc0edd862d5?ref=exit-recirc

    One glass of Chardonnay should have been enough, dear. Especially on Election Night.

  13. 13

    Reuters out with a piece that makes Michael Moore look even dumber.

    (Reuters) – In mid-October, Iranian Major-General Qassem Soleimani met with his Iraqi Shi’ite militia allies at a villa on the banks of the Tigris River, looking across at the U.S. embassy complex in Baghdad.

    The Revolutionary Guards commander instructed his top ally in Iraq, Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, and other powerful militia leaders to step up attacks on U.S. targets in the country using sophisticated new weapons provided by Iran, two militia commanders and two security sources briefed on the gathering told Reuters.

    The strategy session, which has not been previously reported, came as mass protests against Iran’s growing influence in Iraq were gaining momentum, putting the Islamic Republic in an unwelcome spotlight. Soleimani’s plans to attack U.S. forces aimed to provoke a military response that would redirect that rising anger toward the United States, according to the sources briefed on the gathering, Iraqi Shi’ite politicians and government officials close to Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iraq-security-soleimani-insight-idUSKBN1Z301Z

    If Michael Moore’s insistence that people with the IQs of The Fucking Morons I and II, and YLB, have to know who a terrorist is before it’s OK for Trump to take him out were to become the standard, we’re all in a lot of trouble.

  15. 15

    So this chick

    Farnaz FassihiVerified account
    @farnazfassihi
    Journalist @nytimes Former @WSJ | War Correspondent | Mideast & Iran Expert Author book on Iraq war Ellis Island Medal of Honor @Columbia & @Harvard Alum

    posted a Tweet of Soleimani reciting poetry.

    Farnaz Fassihi✔
    @farnazfassihi
    · Jan 2, 2020
    Rare personal video of Gen. Suleimani reciting poetry shared by a source in #Iran. About friends departing & him being left behind.#قاسم_سليماني

    “War Correspondent”

  17. 17

    Then:

    Obama notes that Biden opposed bin Laden raid

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/theoval/2012/10/23/obama-biden-bin-laden-raid-foreign-policy-debate/1651377/

    Now:

    “If you were ever handed a piece of intelligence that said you can stop an imminent attack on Americans but you have to use an airstrike to take out a terror leader, would you pull the trigger?” Fox News reporter Peter Doocy asked Biden during an Iowa campaign stop.

    “Well, we did,” Biden responded. “Guy’s name was Osama bin Laden.”

    “Didn’t you tell President Obama not to go after bin Laden?” Doocy asked.

    “No, I didn’t. I didn’t,” Biden insisted.

    https://dailycaller.com/2020/01/03/joe-biden-bin-laden-raid-barack-obama/

    Biden also said he’s actually a Somali-American woman and is descended from Abraham Lincoln.

  18. 18

    Shorter Steve @ 16:

    The upcoming US election is a proxy war between Iran and Russia.

    Maybe rethink your perspective, dude. You’ve still got three minutes for a major edit.

  19. 19

    @18 You didn’t like my joke? Stick around, Doctor. I’m betting you’ll like my posting a pic of your manboobs and orange combover one hell of a lot less.

  21. 21

    Question: “What could be worse than a President sacrificing national security for personal political gain, and violating the law in the process?”

    https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/03/opinions/trump-ukraine-legal-bombshell-opinion-ghitis/index.html

    Answer: An entire political party protecting and enabling the wrongdoer.

    What Doctor Dumbfuck does, though, doesn’t matter — he’s not even a bit player. He’s merely a rust spot on a broken cog on a peripheral gear of a discarded piece of the mechanism.

  23. 23

    @8 “That’s what we elect our presidents to do.”

    Trump’s also done a whole buncha things we don’t elect our presidents to do, which you don’t wanna talk about, but it’s okay because we didn’t elect him, a slaveholder electoral system allowed a minority of us to elect him, so he wasn’t chosen by the people, therefore “we the people” are off the hook and “you the ignorant racist trailerbillies” are on the hook for all the bad things he’s done. God will remember.

  25. 25

    In Australia, the PM is taking heat for the fire response. First being heckled when touring thecstricken areas, and now Social Media posts that may border on political advertising.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-05/scott-morrison-criticised-for-political-ads-during-bushfires/11841458

    They did send in the RAN to help evacuate coastal communities, including the sealift vessel HMAS Choules. A more visible, and perhaps more beneficial response would be the LHD’s HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide, if they are operational. The facilities of a LHD could also work well in a situation like this.

  26. 26

    Lindsey Graham will never, ever be president. Or a Supreme Court justice. Or even a lowly cabinet secretary. And he knows it. That’s why he’s selling his soul to keep the job he has.

  27. 27

    “You’re the frowning clown.”

    We used to have a Klynical Klown. Those were the days.

    Just to say a kind word. Mr. Klynical was a Klown and a goatfucker, for sure, but he was no dumbfuck fascist traitor. Of course, he might be now, though. I’ve also wondered if the Klynical Klown isn’t posting now as Pork Sauce.

  29. 29

    Today I got a letter in the mail from “The Honorable Mike Pence”. I don’t want to bore you with the details of the letter, but you can make all the right guesses on what the letter says. It requests a donation to the National Republican Congressional Committee.

    Did anyone else get one?

    Why would a registered Democrat be sent such garbage. Instead of tossing it where it belongs, in the garbage, I figured this was a good opportunity to send it back with no contribution and a bit of some choice words.

    Would that be prudent to do? Or should I just send it back with “GO MAYOR PETE!” in all caps, then “$0.00 for you” written on it? Any suggestions on what to do with this?

  30. 30

    @10 nevermind the manboobs…..check out that secret service guy in the bullet proof vest. Woooof

  31. 31

    @11

    it was wrong of Trump

    The Hump

    to take him out

    Well, not to be picky, but is the word “wrong” a selective choice on your part? Is the issue(s) really whether it was “wrong” or is it more like was it prudent, or was it really because the fat mother fucker thinks it will get him re-elected, and the only reason why he did it.

    I mean we know more about Kim Jung Un, so I guess Kim Jong Un is really a nice guy then, because he’s still living. Or is it because Netty isn’t so much as bothered by Kim Jong Un’s as he is of Iran.

    Bob you seem to make things sound so simple all the time….Thanks, I guess some of us can just overthink things. The poor brain, it shouldn’t work too hard, like yours.

  32. 32

    @29 how about a giant stolen rainbow, with no words and no money? Or I have a small tiny rainbow flag, maybe I put that in it.

  33. 33

    28) I get a few from time to time, was a Pollbook Judge for King County Elections, and they needed one opposite party judge.

  34. 34

    Bravely charging into the breach and facing down Rose McGowan and Michael Moore.

    Heroes don’t all wear capes.

  35. 35

    We had the chance to kill OBL before everyone knew his name.

    It’s not a question of whether we kill these guys. It’s how we kill them and whether or not we do an embarrassing hip-thrusting endzone dance after. An awful lot of people died so you and Lynndie England could put on a puppet show. I’m okay with you people looking like assholes… again. I’m not okay with the response “y’all” are determined to bring on.

    At least Khamenei appears outwardly to be smart enough to arrange for the real response to come after November. So maybe all those people won’t have to die for nothing.

  36. 36

    @ 34

    Heroes don’t all wear capes.

    When everyone’s a hero, no one’s a hero.

    Ain’t that right. YLB.

  37. 37

    “My understanding is the State Department is working on embassy security as we speak. I do not know whether any of that planning took place ahead of this operation. … This is a terrifying moment for anybody with a security background while we wait to see what Iran’s next move is.”

    https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/04/politics/trump-warning-iran-52-assets/index.html

    Roger Rabbit Commentary: Amateur governing by an amateur politician. Having purged State’s experienced career officers won’t help. Did someone say Benghazi? We may now get a couple dozen of ’em. And, of course, Doctor Dumbfuck will blame Hillary.

  38. 38

    @36 That’s what the draft-dodging hippie freaks who later all became Republicans said about me and my buddies when we came home from Vietnam. They said, “America doesn’t have heroes anymore.” Having wised up (but it took 50 years of thinking about it) they now say, “They were all heroes.” Yes, they were. I knew some of them personally so I can attest to that. I’m proud of every man I served with in The ‘Nam. Every one of them is a hero. I guess Doctor Dumbfuck wasn’t there, because he’s struggling to understand how a whole bunch of people can all be heroes at the same time. It’s fruitless trying to explain it to him, because while you don’t need to have been there to understand how ridiculous his statement “when everyone’s a hero, no one’s a hero” is, you do need half a brain and he doesn’t have even a quarter of one. There’s nothing but dental cement between his ears.

  39. 39

    It’s fruitless trying to explain it to him,

    …because his idea of bravery is picking apart rap lyrics and trolling on a liberal blog. No doubt he has the hemorrhoids and peripheral neuropathy to show for it.

  40. 40

    @39 Trolling here isn’t brave, it’s foolish. We’re liberal bullies and we eat their lunch. But I’m happy to have him, now that we don’t have Klynical Klown, Mark the Redneck, Lost in a Sea of Blue, Puffybutt, or the other idiots to kick around anymore. Without Doctor Dumbfuck we’d have nothing to do, so I sure hope he stays a while.

  41. 41

    “When everyone’s a hero, no one’s a hero.”

    With one friend dying in war and receiving the MOH and another dying from friendly fire, I’ve given this some thought over the years.

    I conclude they are both heroes. One jumped on a grenade and saved his buddies. The other was walking on a trail and then he was dead. One friend died heroically. The other didn’t. One got the MOH, the other didn’t. But to me, both are heroes.

  42. 42

    When one person is a hero and others are not then you put a degree of value on one life over the other.

    Very long ago, over twenty years ago, I’ve discussed with individuals that when you make a big deal out of mourning one individual over another that to some degree it insinuates that that one life is not equal to the other, that it is better or of greater value. I don’t speak about the character of those lives, but the actual life form itself of each. You can’t put varying degrees on human life, otherwise you devalue life itself.

    Pro life people would be very upset to know that one baby’s life is less important or of less value than any other. Or one embryo was less significant than another embryo. At least I think.

    Then there’s also the hypocrisy of pro life individuals who thinks one stage of a life is more important than any other stage in life. For example, an embryo is more valuable than a geriatric individual, or anywhere in between.

    One life is one life, and all lives are equal. Everyone is a hero, and we are all heroes.

    Individuals can let themselves down, and others, by failing to be good and morally outstanding individuals.

    Happy Sunday!

  43. 43

    @ 41

    I conclude they are both heroes. One jumped on a grenade and saved his buddies. The other was walking on a trail and then he was dead. One friend died heroically. The other didn’t. One got the MOH, the other didn’t. But to me, both are heroes.

    Fair enough, Steve. Now compare your friends to YLB’s self-designated

    http://horsesass.org/the-this-.....nt-1327194
    http://horsesass.org/the-this-.....nt-1327196
    http://horsesass.org/the-this-.....nt-1327210

    “HA Heroes”. No bravery necessary. I guess what’s heroic is being in agreement with 97% of the other commenters on this blog. So brave, YLB. All those people around you to have your back and to keep you from falling when you stumble in your staggeringly high heels.

    Bet neither of your friends were wearing kneepads with Obama stickers on them when they passed, Steve.

    If agreement with YLB’s uninformed, unserious perspective is the standard for heroism around here, I’m good without the label, thanks.

  44. 44

    @ 42

    One life is one life, and all lives are equal. Everyone is a hero, and we are all heroes.

    I see someone’s participation trophy doubles as a PrEP medication holder.

    See @ 36. And thank you, gman, for making my point. BTW saying “all lives are equal” is racist in the same vein that “All Lives Matter” is racist.

  45. 45

    On Friday the US State Department designated an Iraqi militia group backed by Iran as a foreign terrorist group. Two leaders of that group were specifically designated as terrorists.

    On Saturday at 1:10a.m. local time a US drone took out a convoy carrying one of the designated terrorists.

  46. 46

    Uh oh.

    Petraeus Says Trump May Have Helped ‘Reestablish Deterrence’ by Killing Suleimani

    FP: Two previous administrations have reportedly considered this course of action and dismissed it. Why did Trump act now?

    DP: The reasoning seems to be to show in the most significant way possible that the U.S. is just not going to allow the continued violence—the rocketing of our bases, the killing of an American contractor, the attacks on shipping, on unarmed drones—without a very significant response.

    and

    DP: It was a defensive response and this is, again, of enormous consequence and significance.
    …
    Iran is in a very precarious economic situation, it is very fragile domestically—they’ve killed many, many hundreds if not thousands of Iranian citizens who were demonstrating on the streets of Iran in response to the dismal economic situation and the mismanagement and corruption. I just don’t see the Iranians as anywhere near as supportive of the regime at this point as they were decades ago during the Iran-Iraq War. Clearly the supreme leader has to consider that as Iran considers the potential responses to what the U.S. has done.

    It will be interesting now to see if there is a U.S. diplomatic initiative to reach out to Iran and to say, “Okay, the next move could be strikes against your oil infrastructure and your forces in your country—where does that end?”

    https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/03/petraeus-on-qassem-suleimani-killing-says-trump-helped-reestablish-deterrence/?fbclid=IwAR364cDVUD4UszwY-wkX5Xx25qy8nlG39g_Yu1LuJYWJEp_1OVIOJSNbscs

    This is a disaster for Democrats. Worse for Democrats than for Iran. Obama flew in pallets of cash. Trump flew in a drone.

  48. 48

    @44 not sure if that’s sarcasm, but what’s so racist about it?

    And I’m not the sharpest here but I didn’t get your PrEP joke, sorry.

  49. 49

    @41 No fire is friendly. They both died heroes. I guess if we’re going to have a hero scale, though, the one that volunteers to die to save his buddies is MORE heroic. But that doesn’t make the other less heroic.

    You have to put this in proper context. They both served. Neither got to watch their kids grow up or play with grandchildren. They gave that up for us. Now compare that with Cadet Bone Spurs, who’s spent his life taking, and giving nothing back. They’re heroes, he’s a piece of shit, the contrast couldn’t be greater.

    Now he’s committed another generation of young Americans to dying young. They’ll be remembered as heroes, and he’ll be remembered as the bungling incompetent who sent them to their unnecessary and avoidable deaths.

    And Doctor Dumbfuck will be remembered as the troll who got his jollies by cheerleading the draft-dodging fool who dragged us into this latest Republican warmongering folly.

  50. 50

    Well the letter is in the mail, hope they like the rainbow ribbons. Maybe they’ll ponder, or maybe they won’t, how my chicken feed could have helped them.

  51. 51

    The racist incel “it doesn’t matter how vile the impeached miserable failure and the republicans are, it’s president Obama fault. ”
    Never do do they take responsibility for their choices and actions.

  52. 52

    @42 One of the ironies of American life is that the blacks and browns rejected by our society go into the military because they find opportunities there which civilian society refuses to offer them and then become our heroes.

    At least one illegal immigrant from Mexico earned our nation’s highest military honor, the Medal of Honor, for valor in combat. He was a legendary WW2 soldier named Silvestre Herrera who held off a German force after both his legs were blown off. He survived and a drive by fellow Arizonans after the war resulted in him also being awarded U.S. citizenship (you’d think it would be automatic in a case like his, but it isn’t).

    I don’t recall pork sauce ever posting about Herrera. He only posts about illegals who commit heinous crimes, because he’s only interested in tarring all illegals because of the actions of a view. That’s both intellectually dishonest and racist.

  53. 53

    @43 “I guess what’s heroic is being in agreement with 97% of the other commenters on this blog.”

    Nothing wrong in agreeing with what’s right.

    Not sure what your motive for trolling this blog is, doc, but it damn sure isn’t standing up for principle or defending right from wrong.

  54. 54

    @44 All lives do matter, but not all people have to worry about being gunned down by racist cops because of their skin color.

    It’s right to demand that change, and it starts by removing avowed racists from our police forces. It’s wrong to attack those demanding such change, which is what you do in your comments.

    You’ve chosen to be on the wrong side of this issue, doc, and we hold you in contempt for it, because your comments on the issue are contemptible.

  55. 55

    The Iraqis are abandoning Donald now too.

    Not only did Parliament vote to expel US forces, the Prime Minister issued a statement.

    In it he states that Donald telephoned and asked him to mediate with Iran over growing tensions between Iran and House of Saud. PM Abdul-Mahdi agreed and the initial proposal from Saudi Arabia was delivered to….Soleimani. PM Abdul-Mahdi believes the general was carrying Iran’s response when hit. The two were scheduled to meet the same day which may be how US forces knew where the target was.

    PM Abdul-Mahdi of IRAQ has declared three days of official state mourning for Soleimani.

  56. 56

    Meanwhile,

    Pompeo took to the Sunday shows and described Iranian retaliations that could kill american servicemen and civilians as well as random civilians in other countries as, “A little noise.”

    Here’s where conservative Media would spend a decade snidely tweeting about how someone did “something.”

  57. 57

    @45 Two previous presidents, Bush43 and Obama, took a pass on doing that because of its potential ramifications. Their better judgment told them not to. This president has no judgment, only impulses.

    As an article in The Atlantic explains,

    “Elissa Slotkin, a Democratic representative and former CIA analyst focused on Shia militias, said in a statement that she’d seen friends and colleagues killed or hurt by Iranian weapons under Soleimani’s guidance when she served in Iraq. She said she was involved in discussions during both the Bush and Obama administrations about how to respond to his violence. Neither opted for assassination.

    “‘What always kept both Democratic and Republican presidents from targeting Soleimani himself was the simple question: Was the strike worth the likely retaliation, and the potential to pull us into protracted conflict?’ she said. ‘The two administrations I worked for both determined that the ultimate ends didn’t justify the means. The Trump Administration has made a different calculation.'”

    https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/01/why-kill-soleimani-now/604441/

    That’s being generous. Trump almost certainly made no calculation of potential consequences at all. The calculation on his part would’ve been limited to fantasizing about creating an “Osama bin Laden moment” of his own, to boost his popularity and aid his re-election. He almost certainly won’t get such a bounce in the polls or with voters, even if this doesn’t drag America into a quagmire.

    It’s also a near-certainty that there was little or no advance planning and preparation by this amateur administration. In all likelihood our foreign embassies and their staffs were left naked and wide open to the retaliation by Iran that will surely follow. Iran has already promised retaliation, and American embassies are an obvious target. So are civilian airliners.

    And what does Doctor Dumbfuck do? He parrots the Trump line, then sits on his perch waiting for one of us to take the bait so he can pounce. No thoughtful analysis or critical thinking is going on in the cement between his ears. He could care less whether this was a good idea or something that might turn out super-bad for America and Americans. He only wants to play a game of “gotcha” on a blog, in a comment section the blog owner labels a “cesspool,” that nobody reads or cares about. Why? Because he’s a dumbfuck, and dumbfucks don’t think, they just knee-jerk and troll.

    Ladies and gents, fellow liberals and forest fauna, Americans and patriots, I present to you: A dumbfuck troll. Awwk!! Flaap!! Polly wants a cracker !!!

    What a dumbfuck. I can’t think of anyone who deserves to be called that more.

  58. 58

    @ 55

    I guess the Iraqis abandoned Obama over their insistence that a revised SOFA would put the US military at risk for doing its job.

    Iraq has been threatening to expel US troops for more than a decade, Cz-252.

    The Stalled Effort to Expel U.S. Troops From Iraq

    https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/78782

    This time around its one of the three factions that wants the US out, so Iran can make Iraq its proxy.

  60. 60

    @55 Well that makes perfect sense, if true. Trump bypasses the State Department when extorting foreign leaders, so why wouldn’t he bypass the CIA and the other intel agencies he despises when setting up a foreign No. 2 for a hit? His staff probably located the target by reading about him in Iraqi newspapers.

    This illustrates why you don’t elect a novice politician to the highest political office in the land. The presidency is not an entry-level job. Electing Trump president is like appointing a taxi driver as Boeing’s new CEO. That’s what Trump voters did and that’s how stupid they are.

    Now the country is going to reap what they sowed.

  61. 61

    @ 57

    Trump almost certainly made no calculation of potential consequences at all. The calculation on his part would’ve been limited to fantasizing …
    It’s also a near-certainty that there was little or no advance planning and preparation by this amateur administration.

    There’s no basis for this.

    December 29:

    Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, surprise reporters with a short evening briefing at Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago.

    Pompeo says he briefed the president on “activities that have taken place in the Middle East over the course of the last 72 hours” and that provocative actions had been happening for weeks.
    Esper describes five targets in western Iraq and eastern Syria, and adds: “I would add that, in our discussion today with the president, we discussed with him other options that are available. And I would note also that we will take additional actions as necessary to ensure that we act in our own self-defense and we deter further bad behavior from militia groups or from Iran.”

    https://www.npr.org/2020/01/04/793364307/timeline-how-the-u-s-came-to-strike-and-kill-a-top-iranian-general

    The fact that the administration chose not to inform Adam Schiff in advance is a reflection on Adam Schiff’s known behavior, not Trump’s.

    This was a surprise because in order for it to be successful it had to be a surprise.

    Your ilk is flailing, Roger Dumbfuck Rabbit. Your senseless comments are an excellent example of it.

  62. 62

    @46 “This is a disaster for Democrats. Worse for Democrats than for Iran. Obama flew in pallets of cash. Trump flew in a drone.”

    Obama gave Iran back their own money which we had frozen, when they satisfied the conditions our government imposed for getting it back. But keep parroting that rightwing specious talking point, Polly.

    I don’t see a “disaster for the Democrats” here. I see the half of our country still capable of thinking seeing the Democrats as the only adults left in the room. That could turn into something not so pleasant for your tribe next November. We’ll have to wait and see.

    Trump isn’t strong, he’s weak. He’s not a leader, he’s a child. And you’re all-in for him, because you’re a dumbfuck. Every day you post here, every comment you post, reminds us you’re a dumbfuck. You believe you’re trolling us, but in fact to the rest of the world you look like a silly juvenile.

  63. 63

    Sure is making us safer, right.

    Pentagon states U.S. Military efforts against ISIS are on hold out of concern for troop safety in the wake of Soleimani killing.

    And yes, Donald did play a round of golf this morning.

  64. 64

    Participation Trophies –

    Not sure why Bob would think I am “pro” participation trophies, when I’ve never participated. Fuck, I should have a trophy just for not participating, fuck!

    Plus, not even sure I believe in trophies themselves. Nor do I have any kids to worry whether they didn’t get a trophy. And to worry whether my 3 nephews and 1 niece get a trophy, why bother when they got bigger fish to fry in today’s world. But if I did have kids that cried about not getting a trophy I’d sit them down and say, “Son, you should be glad you didn’t get a trophy, because the alternative is to go off an be a NCAA athlete and be exploited, consider yourself lucky”.

    See, it’s not that I think sports, team or individual, as an extra curricular activity or recreational activity, is bad. I actually think its good for the camaraderie and physical activity, and discipline, etc., but the commercialization of semi pro and pro and the lure of millions has ruined it all.

    I don’t think anyone needs a trophy. Sure honor their character, but they’re just as human as the others, just different circumstances.

    Everyone deserves respect and should be respectful, no more respect or less respect for doing anything more or less than the other. But the character in which you decide to personify will lead to consequences in life, good or bad.

  65. 65

    @59 Well, I laugh at an apologist for Sulaimani calling himself a “humanitarian,” but you’re right that Soros isn’t paying these protesters, he only pays the subversives working for the Washington Post, New York Times, State Department, and CIA. And, of course, the anonymous whistleblower.

  66. 66

    @61 I see nothing in your comment even pretending to refute my assertion there was no advance preparation for attacks against our embassies or other blowback. Your entire comment is a red herring. This is typical of your MO; when called out, you duck and change to subject or go off on a tangent. Puffy wasn’t the only squid on this blog. Of course you can’t answer my point, because there isn’t an answer. Trump fucked up again and admitting it would be self-defeating on your part.

  67. 67

    @ 63

    Pentagon states U.S. Military efforts against ISIS are on hold out of concern for troop safety in the wake of Soleimani killing.

    This is incorrect, and of course Cz-252 provides no link.

    Here is the statement, in its entirety:

    CJTF-OIR Statement on the ongoing Defeat Daesh Mission
    | Jan. 5, 2020

    SOUTHWEST ASIA – Our first priority is protecting all Coalition personnel committed to the defeat of Daesh. Repeated rocket attacks over the last two months by elements of Kata’ib Hezbollah have caused the death of Iraqi Security Forces personnel and a U.S. civilian. As a result we are now fully committed to protecting the Iraqi bases that host Coalition troops. This has limited our capacity to conduct training with partners and to support their operations against Daesh and we have therefore paused these activities, subject to continuous review. We remain resolute as partners of the Government of Iraq and the Iraqi people that have welcomed us into their country to help defeat ISIS. We remain ready to return our full attention and efforts back to our shared goal of ensuring the lasting defeat of Daesh.

    https://www.inherentresolve.mil/Releases/News-Releases/Article/2050464/cjtf-oir-statement-on-the-ongoing-defeat-daesh-mission/

    Note that the pullback is because of the attacks against our forces by the enemy, not because of our response against Soleimani. In fact, there is exactly zero mention of that operation at all in the statement.

    Cz-252 is a lying shill, and an ineffective one at that.

  68. 68

    But I’m sure glad Tim Tebow is getting his participation trophy….How did I forget that.

  69. 69

    Note that the pullback is because of the attacks against our forces by the enemy, not because of our response against Soleimani.

    Is that a Cut and Run? Or just another Benghazi?

  70. 70

    Everyone, liberal or conservative, says that Soleimani was a bad man and it’s good he’s not around anymore. The liberals ask what the end game is, who this benefited, how does this further american interests.

  71. 71

    The liberals ask what the end game is, who this benefited, how does this further american interests.

    A few hillbillies are still asking why are the Kurds upset.

  72. 72

    @55 “Iraqi Parliament Votes to Expel All American Troops and Submit UN Complaint Against US for Violation of Sovereignty. “What happened was a political assassination. Iraq cannot accept this.””

    Found this comment interesting
    “Trump broke the ancient rule of parlay. He had them invite the enemy to neutral location, and then murdered him.

    This is the grossest violation possible. Trump has shown the world he can never be trusted, that he lacks any honor at all.

    And his supporters CHEER for the ruination of America by an honor less liar who plays them for fools on a daily basis.”

    Organize. Vote. Win Elections. Enact Change.

  73. 73

    Cool Dumbfuck. Did you check the date?

    Why would command be expecting increased rocket attacks today?

    We were just made safer.

    It’s all hunky-dorey now.

    But actively working to defeat ISIS is on hold.

    Tearing up the bad Iranian deal made us safer.
    Meeting Kim made us safer.

    How’s that working out?

  74. 74

    @71 “A few hillbillies are still asking why are the Kurds upset.”

    I was under the impression they didn’t care that our Kurdish allies are now dead because Trump backstabbed them.

  75. 75

    The Trump clusterfuck is in motion, and among other consequences, Iran will test a nuclear weapon within a year or two.

  76. 76

    “Not sure why Bob would think I am “pro” participation trophies”

    The doctor’s snide couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. That’s why HA, heh, heroes never cry liberal tears. But we do suffer greatly from eye-roll fatigue.

  78. 78

    “Iran will test a nuclear weapon within a year or two.”

    North Korea will probably test theirs next by lobbing a nuke at Seattle. That’ll get the doctor’s dick hard and he’ll be posting some serious snide at us until he realizes Kim Jung-un fucked up again and it’s instead heading for the town of Clinton on Whidbey Island.

  80. 80

    Will the trumpers who have loved ones in the military, pause and reflect. on their support for the impeached miserable failure?

    Once again, the difference between liberals and conservatives,……
    Conservatives = I don’t care until it happens to me.
    Liberal = I care because it shouldn’t happen to ANYONE

    Organize. Vote. Win Elections. Enact Change.

  81. 81

    U.S.—A new policy issued by the United States Department of Defense, in conjunction with online platforms like Twitter and Facebook, will automatically enlist you to fight in a foreign war if you post your support for attacking another country.

    People who bravely post about how the U.S. needs to invade some country in the Middle East or Asia will get a notice indicating they’ve been enlisted in the military. A recruiter will then show up at their house and take them to fight in the foreign war they wanted to happen so badly.

    https://babylonbee.com/news/people-who-tweet-in-support-of-foreign-wars-to-be-automatically-enlisted-in-armed

  82. 82

    “Iran reportedly is offering $80 million for Trump’s head.”

    I’d rather they took all of him.

  86. 86

    Someone needs to tell The Fucking Moron II @ 81 that Babylon Bee is a satire site. It’s the right-wing version of The Onion.

    Someone needs to explain to The Fucking Moron II that this:

    U.S.—A new policy issued by the United States Department of Defense, in conjunction with online platforms like Twitter and Facebook, will automatically enlist you to fight in a foreign war if you post your support for attacking another country.

    is satire. As in not real.

    Jesus, even Rujax! would not have fallen for that.

  87. 87

    The Onion is satire.

    Babylon Bee @ 81 is satire.

    Mad Magazine is satire.

    The preceding has been an HA Fucking Moron service announcement.

  88. 88

    STFU, Nancy.

    Zach Parkinson✔
    @AZachParkinson

    This morning, Obama DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson debunked Democrats’ claim that Congress needed to approve Soleimani strike

    Johnson: Soleimani was a “lawful military objective” & the President had “ample domestic legal authority to take him out”

    9:13 AM – Jan 5, 2020

  89. 89

    Upon learning that Iran’s response will be to target Israel, Congresswomen Omar and Tlaib reversed their earlier opposition of President Trump’s decision to take out Qasem Soleimani, and instead announced their strong support for his action.

  92. 92

    Trump accomplished something: He brought together two former bitter enemies, Iran and Iraq, who fought a bloody war in the 1980s. Now they’re united — against us.

  93. 93

    @82 That got a laugh from Mrs. Rabbit, who had shown me the Daily Mail article.

  94. 94

    52)His family said that because he was illegal, he didn’t have to go. He couldn’t send someone in his place. Also, Mexicans came across the border to enlist, because Mexico’s constitution forbade their army serving outside it’s borders. Still, they sent a fighter squadrons, the Aztec Eagles, to fight oversees..

  96. 96

    @88 He’s the final authority on this? More like that’s his personal, biased, partisan opinion. And apparently yours, too.

    In any case, it begs the question. Even if something is legal that doesn’t make it a good idea.

    Everyone who knows anything about the Middle East is saying Trump exercised poor judgment. The Seattle Times and New York Times both reported the Pentagon officials who presented him with options were “stunned” he chose this one, which they described as “the most extreme option.”

    Trump went for it because he’s a fucking moron. Doctor Dumbfuck endorses it because he’s one, too.

  101. 101

    U.S.—A new policy issued by the United States Department of Defense, in conjunction with online platforms like Twitter and Facebook, will automatically enlist you to fight in a foreign war if you post your support for attacking another country.

    Tonight at the gym as I was working out nearby the reception/service counter, one of the patrons, an older white gray crew cut haired biker looking dude was telling the young black girl behind the counter that he think The Hump did the right thing. She kind of just ignored him.

    I told the guy I was training with that she should have told him to go get his boots and gun an fly over there.

  104. 104

    @86. The racist incel was terrified until he puzzled out that Babylon Bee was a satire site.
    Thank you racist incel, I enjoyed that chuckle at your expense. Mission accomplished.

  105. 105

    @102 For now, we still have a volunteer military, sooooo ……

    “When you Reservists jump out of this airplane into Iran I want you to yell THE RECRUITER LIED three times before you pull the ripcord.”

    Buuut, everything’s subject to the needs of the service, soooo ……

    “Oh, and the doctor will be right behind you, in case you become a casualty. What he thought was a joke wasn’t.”

    Because once you become a commissioned officer, you’re never really retired or discharged; you can be reactivated in time of war. It’s in your contract.

  106. 106

    Over on facebook
    “And just like that…
    All those young men wearing those red caps suddenly came down with bone spurs”

  108. 108

    @106 I learned a long time ago the bigger their swagger and the louder their braggadocio, the faster they run from the sound of the guns.

  109. 109

    …to fight in the foreign war they wanted to happen so badly.

    If. Only.
    There won’t be any war. Just ask Israel.
    You guys know by now that is not how Iran and its millions of supporters throughout the region and the globe will respond. Why would they?

    Instead, we get lots more of the permanent security state, with walls, closed borders, millions of violent cops with assault rifles, schools surrounded by concertina, and a surprise waiting in one out of every thousand shipping containers.

  110. 110

    I think what this Country needs at this time is a moderate or two (VP Klobuchar) so partisanship can settled down a bit and people united to getting things done in this Country. I especially like where Mayor Pete says that he’ll go around the politicians directly to the constituents of those Ahole politicians.

    https://youtu.be/tGctvF4xrnc

    I guess we just may need to settle the Middle East down first.

  111. 111

    110 Of your republican freinds, how many are longing for their republican politicians to work with Democrats? How many of your republican freinds are asking to vote for a moderate Democrat?

  112. 112

    If you support trump, strap up your bootlaces, grab the guns you love so much, kiss the heterosexual spouse you pretend to enjoy, wave goodbye to the white kids you believe are an endangered species and get your ass to the front lines.
    Love
    All the snowflakes

  113. 113

    110,
    having abandoned any and all hope of any “moderate Republicans” you put all the onus on the rest of us?

    How well did that work out for Barack Obama?

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