Cont: The Biden Presidency (4)

[Fast Eddie B]

Just like the US, Israel is suffering from Exceptionalism…

In the case of Israel especially, it’s hard to avoid Exceptionalism when you see yourself as God’s chosen people.

Reminds me of lyrics from a great Steve Earle song, “Ashes to Ashes”:

The sea gave birth and it crawled up on the dirt
And stood up and took a look around
Said, "I'm the next big thing and the gift that I bring
Comes directly from God, so there ain't no holding me down"
So he crowned himself king now no one remembers his name
But the seed that he sowed took the show on the road
There was blood on their hands and a plague on the land
They drew a line in the sand and made their last stand
God made us in His image and it's in God that we trust
When asked about the men that had died by their hands
They said, "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust"

 

[Aridas]

Given that Israel has been funding Hamas from its inception until at least 2019, to give themselves an excuse for not being an honest negotiator with the PLO, that's a case of sowing the dragon's teeth.

Not really going to argue there. That doesn't really change much when it comes to the root of this particular discussion, though.

And if Hamas were never interested in peace, neither is Israel who are the very definition of "they would make a desert and then call it peace".

Parts of Israel, certainly.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Did we not fund Bin Laden when they were in Afghanistan fighting the Russians?

 

[angrysoba]

Did we not fund Bin Laden when they were in Afghanistan fighting the Russians?

No.

 

[Random]

Did we not fund Bin Laden when they were in Afghanistan fighting the Russians?

We gave money to people who would go on to buddy up with Bin Laden, but not Bin Laden himself. We fed a bunch of snakes but not that one in particular.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

fund Bin Laden

give money directly to Bin Laden

One of those things is not like the other.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

Did we not fund Bin Laden when they were in Afghanistan fighting the Russians?

No, his predecessors. A majority of his senior leaders were trained by the CIA, but al-Qaeda is a Saudi operation through and through.

 

[W.D.Clinger]

Toward the end of the Soviet-Afghan war, Osama bin Laden became one of the Afghan resistance commanders. Most famously, he commanded a force of about 50 Mujahideen at the Battle of Jaji.

But bin Laden never commanded more than 1% of the forces opposing the Soviets in that conflict.

The facts related above have very little to do with the Biden presidency.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

So Biden let Netanjahu drive his tanks over the Red Line into Rafah. Instead of an arms embargo, Bibi got an extra extra billion in weapons.

Biden clearly has given up on being a peacemaker.

 

[thaiboxerken]

I didn't know Netanjahu was Biden's subordinate.

 

[Delvo]

Biden clearly has given up on being a peacemaker.

In what way has supplying the already-more-powerful side with even more weapons all along ever been about trying to be a peacemaker? Because a certain kind of "peace" results when the weaker side is extinct?

Biden has always loved war; he's never seen one he didn't openly support, neither as President nor as Senator. The only big move he's made for peace, the extraction from Afghanistan, was something he inherited from Trump.

I didn't know Netanjahu was Biden's subordinate.

Well, multiple Israeli government & military officials have said that what they're doing now would need to stop if the USA quit sending a stream of weapons to them. Whether you call that being the USA's "subordinate" or not, it does mean Biden could stop the genocide at any time if he didn't like it.

 

[Delvo]

(PS: "let X happen without Y happening as a result" doesn't mean X couldn't happen without your permission; it just means you didn't do Y in response.)

 

[The Great Zaganza]

I didn't know Netanjahu was Biden's subordinate.

He isn't - Biden is his.
At least as far as Bibi and most of Congress is concerned.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

I didn't know Netanjahu was Biden's subordinate.

If any US president were willing to take away Israel's toys, they'd soon realise how beholden they are to the Bald Eagle.

 

[acbytesla]

One more reason why Joe Biden is great for the economy and the world.

While the Republicans are trying to deprive Americans of their basic rights, Joe Biden and his government outsmarted OPEC and the oil traders as well as made American government more than an extra 5 billion dollars.

He did something no other President has ever done. He used the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to stabilize oil prices. And it worked!

Well worth the watch. 8:11 in length.



https://youtu.be/9-q2PWkZKIA?si=T2rGAc-1FWwO_dfp

 

[Stacyhs]

Unlike Trump who pardoned or commuted the sentences of numerous people for no reason other than they were loyal, arse-licking supporters or it otherwise benefited him, Biden said he will not pardon his son, Hunter, if convicted. And that is a major difference between Trump and Biden.

 

[angrysoba]

Unlike Trump who pardoned or commuted the sentences of numerous people for no reason other than they were loyal, arse-licking supporters or it otherwise benefited him, Biden said he will not pardon his son, Hunter, if convicted. And that is a major difference between Trump and Biden.

QFT and also for the use of "arse"! Well done.

 

[sir drinks-a-lot]

You can say what you want about Biden, but he's definitely not senile.

 

[acbytesla]

You can say what you want about Biden, but he's definitely not senile.

No, not even close. But he does come across as old.

I was very much hoping that members would comment on my last post. Biden made a brilliant move with the SPR that has saved us all a lot of money at the pump. Something Republicans fought against. But more than that he took the leverage away from the traders and the oil producers and stabilized the oil markets.

 

[The Don]

No, not even close. But he does come across as old.

I was very much hoping that members would comment on my last post. Biden made a brilliant move with the SPR that has saved us all a lot of money at the pump. Something Republicans fought against. But more than that he took the leverage away from the traders and the oil producers and stabilized the oil markets.

That's President Biden in a nutshell, unshowy competence which delivers large, tangible, benefits to the US electorate.

Contrast that with President Trump who is all noise and bluster, unlikely to achieve anything, but when he does it's the opposite of what is claimed. Remember when he was going to punish China with tariffs and instead just raised prices for the American people ?