Politics: A new beginning

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Not Me
Agreed.

BTW - Why is Dean so angry? NTTAWWT. He has had such an easy, nice life. There seems to be no reason.

Because he's a Democrat. You'd be angry too.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Not Me
There might be something to that if his demeanor had changed upon learning that his brother's remains had been found or changed upon learning his brother was missing.

He certainly was this way before learning his brother's remains had been found. Perhaps it is all about his brother's death, but I get the feeling this guy has some problems that aren't related to that. I know many, many people who have suffered tragedies in their lives, including children killed or maimed by drunk drivers, relatives murdered, tragic diseases, but they aren't as angry as Dean comes across.

Ok, maybe he's angry because Tiger Woods is marrying a really, really, really white woman and it pisses him off that there are fewer left for his progeny to wed.

Honestly I haven't watched much of his campaign stuff. I just thought the "he's had a really good life" comment was oddly placed at this time.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
Ok, maybe he's angry because Tiger Woods is marrying a really, really, really white woman and it pisses him off that there are fewer left for his progeny to wed.

Maybe he's angry because he's a centrist Democrat and a smart politician, and has found a way to mobilize the left-wing of the party behind him with adopting positions that will play poorly with swing voters next fall.

But that's OK -- y'all just keep on misunderestimating him.

[bilmore]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
Ok, maybe he's angry because Tiger Woods is marrying a really, really, really white woman and it pisses him off that there are fewer left for his progeny to wed.

Honestly I haven't watched much of his campaign stuff. I just thought the "he's had a really good life" comment was oddly placed at this time.

There's an interesting article that I read last night (where? I have no effing idea where I was reading at the time) about an overly-honest-and-open interview with one of Dean's staffers. He said they all went through the possible roles Dean could play in the campaign (middle-roader? mainstreamer? lefty?) and they settled, specifically and precisely, on Angry Lefty. Dean then commenced to Get Mad.

So, it's all a planned, rehearsed role, and said candor-ridden staffer is supposedly in deep Shiites.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
Under this sort of analysis, the Tet Offensive was a rousing success for us.

The Tet Offensive was indeed a rousing, staggering -- near complete military triumph for U.S. forces. It essentially shredded the indigenous-to-South-Vietnam Viet Cong forces --(which some suspect was precisely what the NVA and the North Vietnamese leadership had planned).

It was ultimately devastating to the U.S. war effort, however, because of the impact of the news coverage on the American populace and, I think, in large part because the large-scale surprise attack seemed to so flatly contradict the constant statements from the Johnson administration and the military regarding the progress of the war and the capabilities of the enemy.

The Belmont Club's analysis seems to assume that the Iraqi resistance is attempting to fight a campaign which will defeat the Coalition militarily -- instead of just causing support to erode and the U.S. to withdraw or to disengage too soon. Ty is probably noting that assumption. The U.S. war effort will succeed only if they're able to push through and essentially defeat the resistance before the administration decides to go away and/or before the vast majority of the Iraqis turn against the occupation. I think that is likely to happen here -- because hopefully the admin. won't go away, and because we do seem to be making progress, and because the public does not presently have an unrealistically rosy picture of the situation in Iraq. (i.e. no bubble to burst, as with Tet).

The Belmont Club mocks the recent resistance activities. But it is worthy of note that the Iraqis had good enough intelligence to nearly simultaneously carry out those four assassinations of allied personnel, and enough organization and discipline to field a force of 100+ (mostly uniformed), mount a coordinated ambush, regroup and continue to fight even after taking very serious casualties. Yes -- we kicked their ass -- 0 killed to 54 killed. Yet, a the risk of sparking further flames -- I'll note that this has turned out to be a very different resistance than believed in May-July of this year.

[edited to say: "Oops, should have read ahead. Sorry."]

S_A_M

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
Yes -- we kicked their ass -- 0 killed to 54 killed.

Other reporting casts doubt on that estimate, which was based on our troops' reports during the fighting -- not the most reliable source. As bilmore says, you need to look to other facts. Iraqi police said there were eight fatalities, some [or all] of whom were civilians.

Of course, the insurgents probably dragged all the bodies away. I'll bet they hid them in Syria.

edited to add link

[Diane_Keaton]

Originally posted by bilmore
- Lots of blogs by people who are there.
...
-- Blogs by Iraqis.

Could I get URL's to both blogs? (And you can add the has-been Johnny Depp to your traitorous barometers).

[Not Me]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
I just thought the "he's had a really good life" comment was oddly placed at this time.

He has lived a very privileged existence compared to the average American. Yes, his brother (who was probably a CIA operative) was killed during a war but how many people do you know that have relatives who were killed or maimed in Vietnam? I know several and they don't act like him.

Many people live with hardship and tragedy in their lives. It is, unfortunately, not uncommon. Few are as outwardly hostile as Dean is.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Diane_Keaton
Could I get URL's to both blogs? (And you can add the has-been Johnny Depp to your traitorous barometers).

has-been? wasn't he in one of the biggest movies of the year this year?

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Not Me
Few are as outwardly hostile as Dean is.

Yourself excluded, I presume.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
Maybe he's angry because he's a centrist Democrat and a smart politician, and has found a way to mobilize the left-wing of the party behind him with adopting positions that will play poorly with swing voters next fall.

Or maybe he is just channeling the anger of the left-wing of the Democratic party arising from the continuing shift of political power in the US away from the Democrats.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by notcasesensitive
Yourself excluded, I presume.

Would it change your opinion of me if you knew I was drunk (and horny) when I expressed my thoughts about Tiger's problems?

[Not Me]

Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
I'll bet they hid them in Syria.

Exactly!

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Not Me
quote:
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Originally posted by Tyrone_Slothrop
Maybe he's angry because he's a centrist Democrat and a smart politician, and has found a way to mobilize the left-wing of the party behind him with adopting positions that will play poorly with swing voters next fall.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Or maybe he is just channeling the anger of the left-wing of the Democratic party arising from the continuing shift of political power in the US away from the Democrats.

Typo in what I posted -- I meant that he's mobilizing lefty voters without adopting positions that will play poorly in the general election.

[notcasesensitive]

Originally posted by Not Me
Would it change your opinion of me if you knew I was drunk (and horny) when I expressed my thoughts about Tiger's problems?

I don't know. Were you really, really, really drunk?

On further reflection, no. Are you insinuating that Dean has a drinking problem?