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[Bumber]

The argument I've seen is this:

Assad is winning the conflict.
We blew up an airbase after the first chemical attack.
Assad has nothing to gain from inviting a second attack.
Rebels are losing the conflict.
Rebels are known to also have chemical weapons.
Therefore, rebels stage attack to force US intervention.

However, the chemical weapons apparently require aircraft to launch, which the rebels lack.
Not sure if they could just release the chemicals somehow in a less effective manner.

[Sheb]

Well, some of the rebels did use chlorine barrels (including some probably launched from full-size trebuchet) in the past. However, as far as I know, the official Russian/Assad line is that no chemical attack occured at all and that it was just staged.

[PTTG??]

The argument I've seen is this:

Assad is winning the conflict.
We blew up an airbase after the first chemical attack.
Assad has nothing to gain from inviting a second attack.
Rebels are losing the conflict.
Rebels are known to also have chemical weapons.
Therefore, rebels stage attack to force US intervention.

However, the chemical weapons apparently require aircraft to launch, which the rebels lack.
Not sure if they could just release the chemicals somehow in a less effective manner.

"Your honor, my client could not possibly have committed that bank robbery. If he was guilty, he would have tried not to be discovered, and therefore there'd be no evidence he did it. The vast array of evidence only proves that he was framed."

But for real, I can't think of a good way to solve this without just bringing the unaligned people here and then nuking Assad and the rebels at once.

[Starver]

Friday the 13^th

Gonna be fun(!)

[misko27]

Lot of stuff happening in Trump's cabinent in Congress today:

Ronny Jackson, Trump's doctor and pick to lead the VA, has dropped out, following weeks of bad headlnes. The Senate was already skeptical of him for having never run any major organization before, and with McCain out Republicans needed every single vote. However, they couldn't find many votes at all, after allegations came out about Jackson drunkenly totalling a car, inappropriate behavior towards his staff (not sexual inappropriate, though), and what is called "poor prescription records", i.e. he played fast and loose with giving out sleeping aids and alertness pills in the White Hoose. It's notable because the VA has no director, and historically no VA pick has ever received even a single negative vote before (and not now either, I suppose)

Meanwhile, Pompeo has managed to pass confirmation on a narrow margin. He was opposed by Democrats for his hawkish views. The 57-42 vote was expected after Pompeo managed to squeak by committee earlier this week; he nearly died in committee due to the objections of Rand Paul, but Rand dropped his objections after Trump pressured him.

And the leading contestant for "Most blatantly corrupt member of this administration", Scott Pruitt (head of the EPA) is currently testifying to Congress (live stream). Democrats are criticizing him for being a corrupt arsehole, while Republicans claim that its actually all because Democrats hate what he's done to the EPA (nonsense, really: A cynical democrat would love Pruitt as he appears to be much more effective at graft than stripping down regulations). For his part: Pruitt is blaming his staff. Maybe it's really because Trump just really doesn't want to have to confirm a new person right now, which makes sense given
the above.

Finally, in non-cabinet news - and indeed, barely relevant - news, Kanye West has apparently come out as a big Trump fan, and it is reciprocated. He's apparently under fire, and his fans in an uproar/civl war. Kanye West notably has expressed a desire to run for President, so this is apparently his political coming out or something along those lines.

[Kagus]

I thought he'd been open about his Trump love for ages, but that people just ignored it because... Well, because what else Kanye do?

Also, as far as Scott Prosciutto goes, I'm of the party that mainly just blams him because he tried to convince people that smog isn't nearly smoggy enough for optimal health.

Jackson dropping out is entertaining though.

[Folly]

Cosby found guilty.

Larry Wilmore can finally be at peace.
Also all of Cosby's victims I guess.

[Kagus]

Cosby found guilty.

Larry Wilmore can finally be at peace.
Also all of Cosby's victims I guess.

Took long enough... It's a wonder anything gets done in the world when court cases take several years before coming to a close, but I guess we can at least rest easy in the knowledge that they're thorough.  ...Well, it's a nice thought at least.

Also, did anyone else catch the Fox and Friends phone interview with Trump? It's a doozy!

[Gentlefish]

Hahaha oh man. That phone interview is a goldmine for Mueller and the suits against Cohen. I really wish our president wasn't off his rocker, but at least he's so far off his rocker we don't need to worry about him being smart enough to cover his tracks when given a megaphone.

[Trekkin]

At some point he's going to claim he's too savvy to have actually paid the prostitutes, much like his contractors, because Putin promised him they'd be deported if they tried to sue -- so clearly the whole thing is fake news.

[Starver]

Apparently, if US allies don't support the North American bid to hold the Football* World Cup in 2026, it's almost as bad as the US being badly treated in the UN.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/989650212380692480

Wait, what?


(I'm tempted to support the Morocco bid, now. It can't be worse than however Qatar eventually turns out to be. And we've got to see how it works in Russia before even that!)


* I'm using that particular term deliberately. It's a ball. There are feet involved a lot of the time.

[hector13]

And heads, and knees and shins.

And elbows, Gazza.

[SalmonGod]

So...

The Intercept published a secretly recorded conversation between Steny Hoyer and Levi Tillemann, wherein Hoyer urged Tillemann to drop out of the primary race, and candidly admitted that the party had secretly chosen and begun funding/manipulating in favor of a (reputation for being [I admit I haven't researched it myself yet]) more corporate-friendly/moderate candidate before the primary had even begun.  The conversation is phrased such that it's clear this is standard party practice, basically confirming what frustrated progressives have been complaining about for a long time (and usually getting told they're loony conspiracy theorists).

I understand the line that the party wants to begin building up for the general election as early as possible, and get the best possible candidate out of the primary.  It's logical from a pure strategy-to-win perspective, absent any concern for ethics or the spirit of the voting process.

But... it's bothersome that it just so happens this always leads to a certain style of "moderate" candidate.  Which tangibly amounts to exerting direct control over what issues voters are able to have influence on.  And when primary challengers are pressured into not even contesting favored candidates over these issues, this not only weakens the intended function of a vote to influence the direction of the country, but it even goes so far as to control what issues can be engaged in public debate.

It bothers me enough that I don't want to even think about voting in the mid-terms right now.  I want to glare Nancy Pelosi right in the fucking face and tell her that her ilk are the reason we seriously do not have a future to look forward to.

[Kagus]

Hahaha oh man. That phone interview is a goldmine for Mueller and the suits against Cohen. I really wish our president wasn't off his rocker, but at least he's so far off his rocker we don't need to worry about him being smart enough to cover his tracks when given a megaphone.

It's also a rather curious insight into his psyche. He keeps putting words into other people's mouths, talking about the effect he has had on others as though it's an objective and indisputable fact, rather than a personal observation.

And the speed at which he completely derails whatever he was talking about while getting angrier and angrier is also incredibly disturbing.


The point that he's completely shot himself in the foot here is almost just an aside...

[Frumple]

But... it's bothersome that it just so happens this always leads to a certain style of "moderate" candidate.

Like... have you actually looked at crow's policy stances and whatnot? Dude doesn't exactly seem moderate in what he's saying he's after. He's arguably more center left than tillemann by stint of not endorsing specific propositions, not so much because of notable political lean. Still seems to support the same general goals (healthcare being an example, having not come out for specifically single payer or med-whatever for all, but still being explicitly pro-universal care and calling for a public option) and is, as near as a look can tell, solidly left on basically everything.

Closest thing to an argument on that front has been some of the guy's work history, near as I can tell, much of which seems to have some fairly mitigating circumstances (law work in general, being a junior whatsit when most of the questionable stuff was done, etc.).