The Morning Rant

MSNBC tool Li'l Chrissy Hayes has deep thots about how conservatives used to like Bush and now we don't. I'm actually not sure whether he would include Trump supporters under the label 'conservative', so maybe he's only talking about the NeverTrump/neocons, but I think there is a germ of truth in what he's saying.

That is, I used to (mostly )like Bush, but now I (mostly )don't. And the primary reason is Donald Trump.

First, I'll give Bush credit for what he did right. I thought his immediate response after the 9/11 attacks was practically perfect. I think we all felt pretty stunned. Bush projected an aura of calm and promised a decisive response. He was supportive and kind to the families who had lost loved ones.

And he said, in effect, look, if we kill the terrorists, all they're going to do is make more terrorists. So we need to give them a reason, a stake in a country where they have something to do other than jump up and down with an AK-47 hollering 'death to America.' So we need to take the lead and help them set up an functioning democracy with the rule or law, representative government, economic opportunity for all, etc. Once we do that, they will have something valuable that they won't want to lose, so they'll stop being terrorists and start being farmers and entrepreneurs and tradesman, etc.

That was the theory, anyway.

But after trillions of dollars and thousands of American lives lost, what do we have to show for it? I'm not sure maintaining a constant U.S. military presence in the Mideast is cost effective. For example, Afghanistan. We can certainly fight the Taliban, but the Afghans are going to have to step up their game. If they're not really interested in fighting the Taliban's imposed caliphate then there's not much we can do. It's kind of like being on welfare. If welfare recipients not interested in going to work and supporting themselves, then providing welfare isn't really accomplishing much, and is probably making the problem worse. Because we all know that whatever you subsidize you'll get more of.

There are no perfect solutions, but I'm no longer willing to put young Americans in harm's way, Trump is right to bring our troops home from Afghanistan.

Another thing Bush should've done is worked out a deal with the new Iraqi government to obtain some of their oil revenue as long as we were there. In previous wars (like WWI and II), we ran up the national debt during wartime and then paid it off afterwards. But this time, we ran up a big bill and then just put it on our tab. I like Trump's insistence that other nations we're involved with need to pay their share rather than simply letting us pay for everything. The goal of American foreign policy should not be figuring out how to incorporate the United States into some nebulous global world order but to seek the well-being of our country and to work with other nations when it is in our interest to do so.

And another thing I didn't like about Bush: in many way, he didn't fight. All of the calumnies and abuse that was heaped upon him for 8 years by the progressives (never mentioned by Chrissy Hayes, by the way) he just ignored. I realize there is virtue in appearing "statesmanlike", but simply pretending that you're not getting hammered daily is foolish in the long term. At this point, I prefer Trump's mean tweets, even though some of them make me cringe. I think they keep the enemy distracted, off-balance, and chasing their tails. Which is a good thing.

Bush tried to get along with the media. Trump has made the media his bitch.

One more thing: Consider Trump's recent EO banning the teaching of Critical Race theory in federal government training programs. Do you think Bush, if he were still president, would do something like that? I don't. This is part of the culture war which Bush was mostly oblivious to. But this is something Trump is very aware of, and also why he does things like go out of his way to identify with pro-life conservatives, speak at pro-life rallies, etc. The neocons don't care about this and the country club/CoC/establishment wing abhor it. In fact, they've pretty much thrown in with the other side. Trump, on the hand, is enthusiastically on our side here.

I suppose it's pointless to speculate what Trump would do if he were president on 9-11. I'm sure he'd make some mistakes. With such an unprecedented crisis thrust upon him, how could he not? But I'd like to think that overall, he would've done better.

For Your Entertainment:

Suckerpunching bully gets some instant karma served up hot.
This is absolutely brutal.
Antifa vs. police: Antifa loses.
Trump campaign ad: also brutal.

"Bitch Set Me Up"

Critical Cheese Theory:

Who Dis:

For the 'Ettes:

Wednesday's Who Dis: Last time, one of you morons recommended the 1953 film The Hitch-Hiker, which he described as "truly terrifying". It was written and directed by Wednesday's multi-talented 'who dis' hottie Ida Lupino, who, apart from her acting, directed a number of movies as well as some TV shows. She paired up with commie symp pinko John Garfield for the 1941 gangster flick Out of the Fog. Garfield's heart problems caused his untimely death at age 39.

Today's Edition Of The Morning Rant Is Brought To You By DIY Cheesy Tater Tots:

Tater tot recipe here.

posted by OregonMuse at 11:15 AM

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