Tag Archives: Assad

America's Future, Politics

The Hits Just Keep Coming–The Trump Funnies

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So Donald Jr. says he’s not interested in running for office in 2018. Really? Despite the unlikely win his father had in 2016, he’s clearly more delusional than dear old dad if he thinks there’s a groundswell of voters anxious to see him in the New York Governor’s office (he’s not inclined toward the NYC Mayor job. Hahahahahaha!!!! Bozo runs in the family, it seems.

Is the dog fully wagged yet? Haven’t heard much about the investigation of the Trump campaign collusion with the Russian meddling in the US election in the last several days. Seems like the symbolic Syrian attack has done the trick. Speaking of tricks, here’s the deal with that:

  • Russia got a one-hour warning of the impending strike
  • That gave not only them, but the Syrians, ample time to move valuable jets and personnel away from the strikes
  • The Trump administration can’t get straight whether it was 20 aircraft, 20% of the aircraft in the area, 20% of the entire air force or something else that was destroyed
  • Most likely, it was 20 aging aircraft that were hit
  • No chemical weapon storage was hit
  • No reports of ANY Russian or Syrian casualties have emerged
  • In simple terms, the 59 Tomahawk missile strike was not highly successful militarily–or not a BFD
  • But it did cost the taxpayers, depending on what source you read, $75 to $90 million!
  • Oh, and the really funny thing–sources say that it was daughter Ivanka’s dismay at the videos of suffering children who brought it all to Daddy Donald’s attention–causing him to call for a response. Oh sure–or, wait, maybe that did play a part.

There you have it, the high cost of deflection. Great praise from hawks. Derision from pacifists and alt-right nationalists. And plenty of discussion suggesting it signified a departure from Trump/Russian convergence. Noteworthy: while Trump surrogates and administration officials have badmouthed the Russians, not one word against Russia has come from Donald himself. Got the clue?

Oh, did you hear about the uber spammer arrested in Spain at the FBI request? The US has an extradition treaty with Spain. The guy’s wife says it’s all about his work for Putin on the Trump campaign. Spammers can make as much as they want in Russia, so long as they do the work that the FSB, Putin, et al asks them to. Guess he’ll be spilling the beans for the right deal to the new special unit of the FBI created for investigating the Trump/Russian connection. (The unit will be headed by an experience counter-intelligence agent and will have as many as 20 people working out of the FBI HQ in Washington, DC). Pay no attention to the Syrian deflection. The investigation continues and the evidence is accumulating.

Sean Sriracha says even Hitler didn’t use chemical weapons on his own people. Oh yeah, he just gassed millions of them with Zyklon gas in the concentration camps–that doesn’t count. Maybe  the Trump team can hire Clarissa to explain it all to Sean so he doesn’t sound so cluelessly stupid when he does briefings.

Trump says Bill O’Really has done nothing wrong. 82 sponsors and counting think otherwise, costing Fox over an estimated $35 million in ad revenue. But hey, what’s a little sexual harassment in the workplace–or anywhere where a celebrity can grab a woman by the p. . .y?

Speaking of which, let’s lighten this up with a tune by that name from a man who never hesitated to include plenty of sexual commentary in his songs but still is a favorite of many–including myself. Humor excuses many such sins. But have no fear, Zappa’s Sexual Harassment in the Workplace has no lyrics–it’s 100% instrumental. For all you fellow guys, hear the pain and sorrow of harassment in the melody even as you listen to the guitar virtuoso.

Applied Buddhism, Politics, War and Peace

Andrey Karlov Pays Putin’s Punishment for Aleppo

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Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey KarlovAn off-duty Turkish policeman shot and killed Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov in Ankara today. The shooter shouted, among other things, “Remember Aleppo. Remember Syria.” The Russian Foreign Ministry called it an act of terror. Of course it was that. Presumably, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey is an innocent civilian.

Notably, killing thousands of innocent civilians in Aleppo with barrel bombs, chlorine gas and white phosphorus incendiary munitions is not terrorism. It’s a war crime. A war crime committed with the help of Russian President Vladimir Putin freely given to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad’s. Russia supplies the jets and undoubtedly much of the munitions used against Aleppo. Russian jets flown by Russian pilots also strike Syrian targets. Putin says they’re targeting ISIS combatants. Only Donald Trump believes that. It takes a liar to believe a liar, one must assume. Oh, sorry, this is about Putin and Russia today, not Trump.

It’s a pity that the Ambassador should pay for Putin and Assad’s criminal behavior, but karma is what it is. He did choose to work for Putin. One day Putin’s karma will come due for Putin himself.

Politics, War and Peace

What to do about Syria?

John McCain says the US should take the lead, but not unilaterally, in defending Syrian civilians by initiating airstrikes against Assad’s brutal military. From a Buddhist perspective, I normally prefer the pacifistic approach. On the other hand, it is most certainly legitimate to defend innocents by attacking and even killing those who would kill them. The question is whether US led airstrikes is the the way to do that. With the memory of the world failing to stop the bloodshed in Rwanda, it is clear something needs to be done. To assert that eventually Assad will fall, as the Obama administration is publicly stating while no doubt working behind the scenes to make that happen sooner, is not enough. China and Russia prevent UN Security Council action. But stopping Assad doesn’t have to be a UN sponsored activity. What it does need to be is a regionally led, preferably Arab, response. The US can supply arms, planes and especially humanitarian aid. But it can’t take the lead. If it does, it invites Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to play too large a role in a subsequent government. They are already there, among the rebels, according to many intelligence sources. They may not be the core of rebels, but they are a part of a multifaceted group opposed to Assad.