MAGA
Posted: Sun Apr 23, 2023 9:40 pm
I'll be patient. Has anyone in the Clinton family or administration been put in jail or convicted of a felony? Attempts to weaponize the criminal justice system are not new. The extent of the criminality is. Nixon. Trump. Even Reagan with Iran - contra. We'll both build up antagonism when the other side does it, but come on...
To me MAGA has always been about the crisis issues I mentioned before. I disagree with all of them, and am hardly alone. Committing the other way? You can see why sticking to the old ideas can end badly? Do you see the greatest issues facing the culture are going to be fixed? Do you want in a democracy to fight the will of the people?
As for the F16s, it seems one can't by force change another culture. The War on Terror was at best an attempt to spread our supposedly superior culture by force of arms. We learned better. The locals had seen far more colonial imperialism out of the west than democracy, and were not fooled. As in other crises, we learned not to put boots on the ground. In S&H, this is a traditional crisis lesson. Immediately after a big war, the mood of the country is not to fight another. We were not going by force change other cultures in our image. At best, those who agreed most with our culture immigrated, leaving their native lands more deeply mired in religious and authoritarian mires. Biden learned that lesson, ended a forever war that was going nowhere. Some didn't.
In many ways the War on Terror was an attempt to justify a continued fight in Vietnam. In following a policy of containment, I can see where LBJ felt he had to fight. But in fighting against the will of the Vietnamese people, he should have done so with far more care. The legacy of the French Catholic dominant group in the south was contaminated. It was colonial imperialism continued. LBJ wan't going to win. In a similar way, changing by force Middle Eastern cultures was not going to happen either. The days of big powers throwing their weight around is past. Biden saw it.
To me MAGA has always been about the crisis issues I mentioned before. I disagree with all of them, and am hardly alone. Committing the other way? You can see why sticking to the old ideas can end badly? Do you see the greatest issues facing the culture are going to be fixed? Do you want in a democracy to fight the will of the people?
As for the F16s, it seems one can't by force change another culture. The War on Terror was at best an attempt to spread our supposedly superior culture by force of arms. We learned better. The locals had seen far more colonial imperialism out of the west than democracy, and were not fooled. As in other crises, we learned not to put boots on the ground. In S&H, this is a traditional crisis lesson. Immediately after a big war, the mood of the country is not to fight another. We were not going by force change other cultures in our image. At best, those who agreed most with our culture immigrated, leaving their native lands more deeply mired in religious and authoritarian mires. Biden learned that lesson, ended a forever war that was going nowhere. Some didn't.
In many ways the War on Terror was an attempt to justify a continued fight in Vietnam. In following a policy of containment, I can see where LBJ felt he had to fight. But in fighting against the will of the Vietnamese people, he should have done so with far more care. The legacy of the French Catholic dominant group in the south was contaminated. It was colonial imperialism continued. LBJ wan't going to win. In a similar way, changing by force Middle Eastern cultures was not going to happen either. The days of big powers throwing their weight around is past. Biden saw it.