The Sam Spade Memorial Good Post Gallery

[MATTROSE94]

Hopefully Hagan becomes the next Feingold, and returns to give One Term Thom a good spanking in 2020!

[MATTROSE94]

Netanyahu has just sent the message that Israel does not want peace and does not want to negotiate.

He's just given the Palestinians an opening to throw up their hands once and for all and act unilaterally. The US response to Palestine's push for greater international recognition is that their statehood should come through negotiations with Israel. But Israel will not negotiate.

I'd expect more EU countries will go the way of Sweden and establish full diplomatic relations with the State of Palestine. You may see a push for economic sanctions on Israel, similar to the ones imposed on South Africa in the 1980s. Israel will continue down the path of right wing identity politics and insist that they are only defending themselves against "terrorists" - not unlike South Africa's fever paranoia about how the blacks were going to turn the place into a Soviet satellite.

Things will get worse for Israel's Arab population. As the Orthodox community and the settler community grow in political power, Netanyahu and whoever succeeds him will likely keep doubling down on current policies.

Israel's future as a fortified, isolated pariah state was already foreshadowed with Netanyahu's rhetoric. His nonsensical ramblings about "foreign influence" seeking to undermine him during the election sounded more like something a Third World despot would say before a ceremonial sham election than anything you'd hear from the leader of a country that likes to think it's a Western democracy.

Obama should instruct Samantha Power to abstain from any UN Security Council votes relating to Israel for the rest of his term. If the Israeli people want to reelect a man who comes to America, embarrasses our president and rhetorically spits in our face, they no longer deserve any protection from the heaping of scorn and retribution that the international community has been wanting to unleash on them.

Elections have consequences. Israel voted for it and now they deserve to get it good and hard.

Amen.

I was going to add this post as well.

[MATTROSE94]

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After his embarassment during the primary over his affair and his dishonesty, and his failure to endorse Trump at the GOP Convention, I do not see any political future for Senator Cruz.

[MATTROSE94]

I mean this question sincerely and it is especially directed to my fellow American citizens.

I, as an immigrant from the United Arab Emirates, was very proud a little more than two years ago when I had the great honor to become a citizen of the United States. Ever since I am very proud to be a citizen of the United States and grateful for the opportunities America and California gave to me. This country was always, and is still of course, a beacon of hope to me and a symbol for democracy despite all the deep seated problems we face. I have always admired the unique history of America and the progress this nation has made: From the declaration  of independence, over the liberation of slaves and women’s suffrage to the civil rights movement in the 20th century. I have every reason to believe, the current problems can be solved in the future.

But as a citizen, I am really ashamed and embarrassed that we have major party nominee for president like Donald Trump. And this is not about political differences, not left versus right or liberal versus conservative. I have the same differences with former GOP contenders like Jeb, Rubio, Carson, Kasich, Cruz or Paul as well, but I do not question their character. But with Trump, we have a candidate who insults an entire religion, attacks parents of a fallen solider viciously, makes sexist comments about women, mocks a reporter with a disability, calls for terrorists families to be killed or denounces a prisoner of war (McCain), although he himself was never on the battlefield. Here we have a candidate who says a judge can’t to his job because of his Mexican heritage and who makes the claim an opponent’s father was involved in the JFK assassination without any proof. And last but not least, who seems totally unable to accept any criticism. No matter from who.

I have nothing against it when candidates speak their mind, make fun of opponents like calling them “low energy”, but here we have a dude who has no respect for anything, except himself. It’s all about him and how bad he has been treated by the press and so on. He did not misspoke, because he did it too often. And he hasn’t had the courage in any case to apologize. To say “I was wrong. I’m sorry”. No, he’s always right. He knows the system better than anybody, knows more about ISIS than the generals. Meanwhile, he hasn’t even a clue about basic things in foreign policy. Let even alone all his other cheating like Trump University, unpaid bills in Atlantic City and so on. I think it’s a disgrace in the eyes of the world to have such a candidate. “The world is laughing at us”, the Trumpster claimed. If that has ever been true, then now, because of his candidacy. But unfortunately, it is not funny at this stage where we are now. Not anymore. As I see it, Trump has already damaged the American reputation around the globe.

I mean, you can agree with some of his proposals like a stronger border, no citizenship for illegal immigrants, renegotiated trade deals and no TPP, less gun control, less taxes and regulations, more military spending, abortions and a repeal of Obamacare. All issues you can argue about. But even if you adopt the Republican positions, aren’t we better than Trump? Do we really want a president with this kind of character? Sure, Hillary is not perfect and she made mistakes. No question. (I’m not even writing this as a Hillary-supporter, only as a citizen.)


Any thoughts on this?

[MATTROSE94]

Doesn't seem like a problem. The US sent political advisors to help Boris Yeltsin get reelected in the 1990s. Putin dining a fringe candidate and a couple Trump surrogates is insignificant by comparison.

I disagree with the Greens on almost everything, but not on a reset with Russia. Continuing a Cold War Era pissing contest over Crimea isn't worth it when Putin could be helping us knock down radical Islamic brutes.

Working with Russia would be great insurance against Chinese ambitions and Muslim caliphates in Western Europe in the next half century too. Make Realpolitik Great Again.

I'm looking forward to the day Russian and US troops can link up somewhere in the Middle East and enjoy some smokes as they did in Berlin in 1945. Bonus - Putin is a benign authoritarian compared to Stalin.

[MATTROSE94]

Abortion is a weird issue that defies most trends, unlike most issues. But still, people want to "conserve" Roe v Wade and its effects.

But look at other issues. Would anyone really say being anti-slavery is "progressive"? Is being against Jim Crow laws and for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 "progressive"? Is believing women should vote "progressive," at least in the United States? Is supporting Social Security and Medicare?

No. They are the status quo, wanting to keep them is conservative. Being a progressive is about making progress, it's about changing things. And there's always those who want to regress to the way things used to be. If you support same-sex marriage in the United States, you're no longer a progressive on the issue, you're a conservative. You may still be a progressive on gay issues in general, since there's still work to be done, but there's no more work to be done in the United States on the marriage aspect of the issue.

Life moves on.

New generations will bring new issues.

If the progressive agenda that exists now as of 2016 is completely achieved in the next 50 years, then that's not what the progressive agenda of 2116 will be. By then the conservative position might be keeping the social systems of the 20th and 21st centuries in place (maybe even things like single-payer healthcare, free college, the EPA, and Social Security), while the progressives would probably be demanding something totally different.

Yeah, a 90-year-old living today in 2016 probably isn't "progressive" on, say, LGBT issues. But they might have been a fierce progressive fighter in their youth, protesting for Civil Rights and women's rights, for the creation of Medicare and the EPA. But today we would mark that person as a conservative, because they're conservative on today's issues. They fought the good fight, they made progress, and  the progressive agenda moved on with new ideas from new generations. To say they became "more conservative with age" would be completely missing the point.