The Trump Presidency

sturg33 said:
Seriously?
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I'm quite serious about that. I have a couple very thoughtful Chinese friends (and I want to make clear they are Chinese born in China not Tibetan) who I discuss things like that with now and then. And they happen to agree with me about China and Tibet. In fact, I would say my awareness of this was rather dim before they talked to me about it.
 
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cajunrevenge said:
Our aggressive foreign policy since ww2 is the problem. We actively overthrow goverments to expand our influence but God forbid any other country does it.






Russia is defending itself from our aggression, not the other way around.
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are you aware of how many square miles per year russia has expanded over the past century or so
 
nsacpi said:
Which country did we recently seize territory from as Russia has done with Crimea.

Which country are we occupying as China has done for decades in Tibet, while conducting a massive population relocation program that is turning Tibetans into a minority population in their own country.
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Our President wanted to invade Venezuela like last week.


But you got me though. I cant think of any countries we have invaded and occupied for decades recently. I also cant think of a group of American people who face government oppression via police violence and over incarceration.



If China or Russia had 25% of the world prisoners where a race that was historically oppressed was over representated you would cite that as a reason their government is tyrannical. Do as we say, not as we so.
 
cajunrevenge said:
Our President wanted to invade Venezuela like last week.


But you got me though. I cant think of any countries we have invaded and occupied for decades recently. I also cant think of a group of American people who face government oppression via police violence and over incarceration.



If China or Russia had 25% of the world prisoners where a race that was historically oppressed was over representated you would cite that as a reason their government is tyrannical. Do as we say, not as we so.
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no says we are perfect

and we currently have a dangerous idiot in the White House

but have a little perspective

last time I was in Russia, I had a little discussion with my driver about the camera he had operating all the time on his dashboard...he explained to me that most Russians had a camera like that in their cars...cuz of the cops

and lets see what can I tell you about my experiences in China...once they went through my luggage at the airport in Beijing...they were looking for written material that did not meet with state approval...fortunately I had something good for them...a novel with a painting of a naked woman on the cover...good times
 
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nsacpi said:
are you aware of how many square miles per year russia has expanded over the past century or so
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a tiny fraction of our gains in influence. We practically rule the world. When we invade countries we never leave. Still in Germany. Still in Japan. We invade countries for resources and strong arm our allies into helping.
 
cajunrevenge said:
a tiny fraction of our gains in influence. We practically rule the world. When we invade countries we never leave. Still in Germany. Still in Japan. We invade countries for resources and strong arm our allies into helping.
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we are in Germany in part because Germany's neighbors are nervous about them and have been for a long time

ditto for Japan

we leave tomorrow and i'm quite certain stability and security will deteriorate in both neighborhoods...sorry to offer such an inconvenient perspective

there is a political element in both Germany and Japan that would like us to leave...unfortunately it is the same political element that makes their neighbors nervous
 
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nsacpi said:
no says we are perfect

and we currently have a dangerous idiot in the White House

but have a little perspective

last time I was in Russia, I have a little discussion with my driver about the camera he has operating all the time on his dashboard...he explained to me that most Russians had a camera like that in their cars...cuz of the cops
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okay, so we are the good guys because we are 75% as bad as Russia or China? I would argue those countries have to be more ruthless to compete with the Juggernaut that is America. We can condemn Putin or Xi for being dictators but if there was a real democratic election in those countries there is no doubt we would influence that election much stronger than Russia did to us in 2016. We dont respect democratic elections that dont go how we want it. Thats not spreading democracy.



And Russians use dashcams because insurance claims are virtually impossible without indisputable evidence. Another funny quirk is that in China its cheaper to pay a family for killing a pedestrian while driving than it is to pay for the care and living of a seriously injured person. So in China many times when a motorist hits a pedestrian they come back to finish the job to save money.
 
cajunrevenge said:
We dont respect democratic elections that dont go how we want it.
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I agree. I've been fortunate enough to have friends and acquaintances from all over the world and have traveled widely. A friend from Chile provided a good perspective on what happened with Allende. He wasn't a great guy but his people picked him. We should have left it alone.
 
cajunrevenge said:
So in China many times when a motorist hits a pedestrian they come back to finish the job to save money.
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never heard that one...but have heard other anecdotes suggesting life is cheap there...btw my maternal grandfather was chinese...he was part of a linguistic minority...we think of the Chinese as homogeneous, but there are linguistic groups (and I'm not talking about Mandarin vs Cantonese) there that hate each other for obscure reasons that go back centuries
 
A rather common problem of police extorting money you say? In America, police shakedown is legal.






In Capatalist America you can film police robbing you and in this free country you have to hire a lawyer to prove that your money/stuff isnt related to drugs.



But hey, "tenny mucho mucho dinero in su trucky-trailer"
 
sturg33 said:
Nsacpi cool with US invasions of Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Egypt...

But RUSSIA!
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I'll give a serious answer 1 by 1

1) Iraq. Political pressure on intelligence analysts produced bad intelligence. I was not opposed to the invasion. Once we were in I supported what Bush did, including the surge.

2) Libya. No one liked Gaddafi and he was about to order the slaughter of a bunch of people. Things have turned out badly but I'm ok with getting rid of him.

3) Syria. I think we should bleed the Russians to death there.

4) Yemen. I am somewhat anti-Saudi, especially the crown prince. So I would not have been inclined to join in.

5) Afghanistan. We asked for them to hand over Bin Laden. It was a reasonable request. I think we cater too much to the Pashtuns. We should tilt toward some of the ethnic groups as a hint to the Pashtuns that they need to play ball.

6) Egypt. What about it? I'm anti-Muslim Brotherhood. So I didn't mind Sisi's coup. Its their problem. Sisi seems pretty popular anyhow. I'm ok doing business with him.

Any questions?
 
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Oh Russia

I knew I forgot something.

It is pretty clear that Putin and the oligarchs hate sanctions. So I would triple down. As I said bleed them to death in Syria too. And wherever else we have an opportunity to do so.

Once Putin has departed the scene I'm fine with a rapprochement. But not before.
 
nsacpi said:
I'll give a serious answer 1 by 1

1) Iraq. Political pressure on intelligence analysts produced bad intelligence. I was not opposed to the invasion. Once we were in I supported what Bush did, including the surge.

2) Libya. No one liked Gaddafi and he was about to order the slaughter of a bunch of people. Things have turned out badly but I'm ok with getting rid of him.

3) Syria. I think we should bleed the Russians to death there.

4) Yemen. I am somewhat anti-Saudi, especially the crown prince. So I would not have been inclined to join in.

5) Afghanistan. We asked for them to hand over Bin Laden. It was a reasonable request. I think we cater too much to the Pashtuns. We should tilt toward some of the ethnic groups as a hint to the Pashtuns that they need to play ball.

6) Egypt. What about it? I'm anti-Muslim Brotherhood. So I didn't mind Sisi's coup. Its their problem. Sisi seems pretty popular anyhow. I'm ok doing business with him.

Any questions?
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Right. Like insadi, you're cool with our occupations which have all been disatrous... But RUSSIA
 
But it is worth reminding everyone that Russia did.both Ukraine and email hacking under Obama's watch... The guy who publicly mocked Romney for being concerned about Russia
 
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nsacpi said:
we are in Germany in part because Germany's neighbors are nervous about them and have been for a long time

ditto for Japan

we leave tomorrow and i'm quite certain stability and security will deteriorate in both neighborhoods...sorry to offer such an inconvenient perspective

there is a political element in both Germany and Japan that would like us to leave...unfortunately it is the same political element that makes their neighbors nervous
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sturg33 said:
What we have done is much worse
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well I have no regrets we took out your buddy al awlaki... I guess we'll have to agree to disagree about such matters
 
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