Post B4v3u68Aj868hxtvto by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
(DIR) More posts by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
(DIR) Post #B4stlKbQAFEJ7xqLiK by futurebird@sauropods.win
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"Why can't Trump get his story straight about the nukes?"No one on the CNN panel will *really* answer this question: Trump just ... says stuff.Creates a kind of halting problem:“We obliterated the regime’s nuclear program” (but then there is no reason for war so he says)"They are close to nuclear"(but that sounds like we messed up so he says)“We obliterated the nuclear program” (but then there is no reason for war so he says)♾️ etc.
(DIR) Post #B4stlL34VRLcVimQoS by futurebird@sauropods.win
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It is surreal to watch people who are experts at using the English language, people whose whole profession and skill is centered on communication trying to parse the words this man speaks. Like someone investigating a splatter of bird poop as if it were tea leaves or art.
(DIR) Post #B4stlLP3Bivdbt3z4S by futurebird@sauropods.win
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I don't think Trump even notices he's trapped in a loop of contradictions. He just says what he thinks people want to hear. Sometimes that means that the war is over and we won, but also we are winning and also we will win and it will be over soon and also we will stay as long as need to "get the job done" and "bomb them back into the stone age"Most Americans oppose this war, a small comfort, but some people still eat this mess. Eat it up.
(DIR) Post #B4stlLTIvuKbp53NhY by futurebird@sauropods.win
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There is a cover story for why the US attacked Iran. One that is almost believable. The argument goes like this:Iran was developing a drone and missile program rather like the Iron Dome that would make it "impossible" for the US to bomb them, and that would mean it's impossible to stop them if they wanted to make nuclear weapons. So they had to be stopped from doing this now. Does Iran have the right to defend itself? It's an ugly argument.
(DIR) Post #B4stlM6eZbo5n7So2C by futurebird@sauropods.win
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Trump has said he will "bomb them back into the stone age" -- This is the solution they have. Cripple anyone who might become able to defend themselves. Every time I hear the phrase "bomb them back into the stone age" a little bile rises in my throat. I'm an American. How must this seem to the people of Iran. What will they vow to do because of our childish chauvinism?This view of non-western countries is common. It will be our undoing.
(DIR) Post #B4stlMXaxRMF8g4K1o by futurebird@sauropods.win
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But the other point, (which I got side-tracked from thinking about the phrase "bomb them into the stone age" ... ) is that the cover story I just articulated is too complex for Trump to even attempt to communicate. That is his diabolical populist instinct. He never confuses his base. Never uses big words or ideas. Never makes them learn anything since for some people the feeling of learning makes them feel ... stupid.
(DIR) Post #B4stlMytJxByVKq7Zg by futurebird@sauropods.win
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And how do you unpack that? How do you deprogram someone from a place where learning things, and realizing how little they know is so horrible?It's impossible to learn if you cannot admit that you do not already know everything you need to know about the world. I think people *do* feel bad about what they don't know. Like not being able to find Iran on a map. That can feel embarrassing. But we can look at the maps. Read the history.
(DIR) Post #B4stlNOPn3bnmUmVMG by futurebird@sauropods.win
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I think the shame and that can be induced by learning new things is tied to an essentialist and immutable view of what it means to be intelligent and wise.For them "Intelligence" isn't something that you do, for these people it's something that you *are*But this is false. To be intelligent you simply need to be open to learning new things every day. Willing to grow. That's it.
(DIR) Post #B4uaDxhAnnPNiFpQQq by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
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@futurebird > bomb them into the stone age!> ...why don't they like us and why are they chanting "death to America"? What assholes!
(DIR) Post #B4uaX3uZuldwUhCqhs by hazelnot@sunbeam.city
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@futurebird so basically a repeat of the Cuban Missile Crisis but with even less of an excuse since nukes are actually dangerous 🙃
(DIR) Post #B4uaX49T1PYLEsAjui by futurebird@sauropods.win
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@hazelnot I am shocked by the number of world leaders who do not understand that the only reason our allies and our homes cities are not being attacked is because no one wants to do that. If someone wants to hurt us badly enough, if they don't care about the escalation because the US has shuttered all paths to the nation having any real future, then we are cooked. We could strike back but everyone loses. Some things are beyond US control.
(DIR) Post #B4uaX4Q81Sse4Xy2sq by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
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@futurebird @hazelnot and this is one of the reasons why nobody tries to bomb North Korea into the stone age.And I'm pretty sure that a lot of countries (including Iran which by all accounts never had a nuclear weapons program) are now looking at Iran, compare it to North Korea, and make some decisions. Yay to nuclear non-proliferation!
(DIR) Post #B4ub3SuiUaSzItipLE by pr_ret_lutz@jasette.facil.services
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@futurebird "cover story for why the US attacked Iran"?As the Ukrainian front is a US proxy war against Russia (and as a side bonus, weakening the EU), the Iranian front is a proxy war against China.cf the infamous ret. General W. Clark "seven nations in five years" 2007 clip and Brian Berletic regular posts on the continuity of the US agenda against a multipolar world.
(DIR) Post #B4ub3TI75bBKTSfVoG by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
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@pr_ret_lutz @futurebird you must have missed the part where Ukrainians simply wanted to live their lives and then Russia invaded.(And then used "ah but that's actually the US doing a proxy war against us" as a pretext.)
(DIR) Post #B4v3fht6481pStzIYq by pr_ret_lutz@jasette.facil.services
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@IngaLovinde And you, too, must have missed the part where Donetsk, Luhansk and Mariupol habitants simply wanted to live their lives (without being bombed, without tanks in their streets.)
(DIR) Post #B4v3u68Aj868hxtvto by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
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@pr_ret_lutz yep, until Russian invaders came and tried to annex them and when that failed started the war in 2014.But I guess when western-aligned (as opposed to being Russian-aligned) country does not let Russia annex one more of its pieces, that's USA starting an aggressive proxy war against Russia.Someone is also probably currently telling tales about how the last decades in Gaza are just Russian proxy war against Israel.
(DIR) Post #B4v5cgjY6EM0vSD5Zw by IngaLovinde@embracing.space
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@pr_ret_lutz ah sorry, didn't notice you are a tankie. My bad.